Canine sat absolutely still, hidden in shadows and tucked in as tight a ball as possible, she remained like that as a man staggered past her.

          Canine curled her lip when his scent reached her. He smelled like stale chips, vomit, and beer. He was having a hard time walking and didn't seem aware of where he was.

          Canine caught another scent one that worried her much more then the drunken man, werewolf. Canine allowed her magic to swell inside her. When it was just big enough to do as she pleased she released her hold on her power and allowed it to wash over her effectively masking her scent from the werewolf.

          She saw the werewolf just as it turned into the ally. He was a young male not yet past his fourth moonrise. She couldn't tell how old he was in human years but by the distinct warning that curled in her gut she knew he was young and not in control of his wolf.

          Canine sighed quietly; the wolf was rabid. Canine had never seen a werewolf like her, one who could control the beast inside. Werewolves were just as dangerous and murderous as all the stories claimed them to be. Werewolves near the cities always went after humans; they were the easiest prey. Pompous and arrogant, they believed themselves at the top of the food chain and didn't take any precautions when it came to their lives, which made them easy prey for the things that they believed only existed in nightmares.

          The wolf was dark brown with glowing yellow eye's tinted red with its blood lust. As it stalked by her she noted the froth at the mouth and the crazy gleam in its eyes. Rabid was right and she had no choice but to take him out.

          Canine once again closed her eyes and allowed the magic to sweep threw her. She was quick with her magic, often having to use it in a split second. One instant she was a young women tucked in a tight ball and the next instant she was a full blown wolf uncurling itself.

          Canine slinked out from in the shadows, then paused. The alarm system in her head was screaming at her. Canine hunkered down and reassessed the situation. Even as a human her senses were almost triple that of a normal human but as a wolf her senses were almost fifty times that of humans. She could smell countless numbers of people that had been down the ally, including the drunken man and the werewolf. She could hear the rumble of traffic from a distant highway almost five miles to the west, in the next ally over some one was heaving up what was left of their dinner, but nothing she could find led her to believe there was any danger.

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          Julian froze when Carter stalked past him intent on the drunken man. Carter had never been stable enough to be a werewolf; his first change had sent him into madness. It was Julian's job to kill those who couldn't make it through the change.

          Julian prepared to change but before he could he noted a second werewolf. Julian's first reaction was anger that he hadn't sensed the young she wolf. But when he actually noted her, his breath hitched in his throat and he went completely motionless.

          She smelled like the filthy ally they inhabited but under it he smelled her true scent strawberries and sour apples. Her coat was like none other he had ever seen.

          It was short and sleek, the light from the moon actually reflecting off it. She was mostly steel grey but her muzzle, her two front legs, stomach, and around her eye's were black, and her eyes were violet a bright startling violet that compelled him to stare into them.

          She was lithe and graceful, muscles portioned almost perfectly throughout her body, though her size would suggest that raw strength wasn't her thing.  She was barely larger then an average wolf maybe three, four inches taller. Even thou she had changed she still had a pendant of a crescent moon around her neck that flashed silver in the night and on the tip of her right ear was a see through sun pendant.

          He growled quietly and the young wolf froze, plastering itself to the ground. She froze listening for something that would give him away again. Julian silently cursed himself. He doubted she had actually heard him but she sensed him, something no werewolf had done in a hundred years.

 When the she wolf found nothing to confirm she was being watched she started moving again, following Carter down the ally. It was Julian's job to kill Carter but he set back and waited, oddly curious about what the woman wanted.

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          Canine slowly made her way down the ally, careful not to make a sound, even a rabid wolf could hear. The rabid wolf had made it within striking distance of the drunken man, and crouched prepared to take the man down in one pass.

 Canine was faster, charging the brown wolf she was on him before he could comprehend what was happening. Her weight drove him off his feet and sent him sprawling ten feet farther to the left.

          The impact even thou she wasn't the one that had been sent flying momentarily knocked the breath from her. The rapid wolf was small but he was pure muscle.

          Springing she was on him before he could regain his feet. She clamped her jaw down on the back of his neck. If he had been on his back she could have ripped out his throat but the back of his neck wasn't nearly as vulnerable.

          The brown wolf heaved itself to its feet effectively dislodging Canine, but she had predicted that exact move. She didn't weigh much and the brown was much too strong and much too crazy to be pinned by one small werewolf.

          Before the brown could follow up the advantage of being on his feet Canine was on him again, lowering her head until her chin almost scraped the ground she thrust her head and shoulders under the browns stomach. Her neck muscles strained as she heaved. The brown yelped as it crashed against the brick wall of the ally.

 The wolf tried to stagger to its feat, but Canine had heard the unmistakable sound of breaking bones. No broken bone would keep a werewolf down for long, it would heal in less than an hour and many wolfs could easily work through most broken bones especially in their madness where only the sharpest pain penetrated the layers of violence they cloaked themselves in but the brown was to weak from its recent change to have accumulated enough strength deal with the pain adequately. 

          Canine only hesitated for a moment before once again jumping over him but this time her mouth closed on the soft underside of his throat. Snapping her jaw together she cleanly severed the jugular, if the werewolf had, had the strength to bind the wound he still could have healed but he didn't even have the strength to stand much less to staunch the flow of blood.

Canine backed away from the werewolf, its life blood creating a dark halo around his head. Already her stomach was revolting at the blood that had made its way there. Killing had become easy but eating the kill was nearly impossible. It was odd for a werewolf to be a vegetarian but she couldn't help the revulsion that she felt at the thought of eating another animal's flesh.

A soft growl brought her instantly alert. The brown wolf was as dead as dead could be. Without looking she jumped in front of the drunken man who had fallen into unconsciousness at the end of the ally, it was rare for her to meet two werewolves in one night. It had never happened before and Canine worried she wasn't up to another fight, her side hurt from ramming the brown wolf and her neck and shoulder muscles were screaming from over use. But she had no choice but to protect the human that was too stupid to protect himself. Years before she had witnessed a single werewolf demolish a town and all if its inhabitants by itself and she wasn't willing to let a single human be hurt again by those savage monsters.

She had heard the werewolf but she still couldn't see it. She raised her head to the wind and scented the air for the werewolf. But there was nothing in the air to suggest a living presence other than herself and the human, but then again she could hide her scent it was possible there was another werewolf strong enough to do the same.

A movement to her right put her on her guard. Pivoting on her back feet she turned, and only a few inches away from her stood the second werewolf. Luckily werewolves weren't able to gasp or she would have given away her surprise and fright before the fight had even begun.

The werewolf smelled cold almost like an artic wind but his coat was as red as fire, long and sleek it swayed with his every movement. From a distance he looked like a pure red wolf but a scattering of black and white hair accented the gold in his fur making it look as if he had gold high lights. The small amount of light from the moon caught those gold strands and made is seem as if he glowed. His eyes were chunks of jade ice, flat, cold, emotionless. And he was almost double her height. He was heavily muscled, yet incredibly graceful on his feet, and to top it off he excreted so much power she could practically smell it.

Canine growled and took a step back putting a little more space between her and the male werewolf. His head and tail went up and a deep growl rumbled in his chest. Canine stopped amazed was he trying to force his dominance on her? Like a common wolf. O this was a new kind of rabid wolf he was fucking crazy to try to force dominance on her like he would a common wolf bitch.

Canine snarled and dropped her head.

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          Julian felt triumph surge through him as she dropped her head giving into his dominant nature, only to feel it die away as her ears pinned back against her skull and her head stopped half way to the ground. Hunching her shoulders she snarled at him showing tooth. She was in fight mode and she didn't give a damn that he was male, and dominant.

          Julian froze to contemplate this discovery. No woman was more dominate than him. He could have been the alpha of his pack if he had wished but he was too close to a rogue to spend all his time in the presence of the pack. He studied her closely for signs of rabies or some other disease that would account for her odd behavior but there was no sickness in her eyes and her heart beat a steady rhythm.

          Julian took another step toward her. Her snarl rose in volume and she edged around him until she was once again between him and the drunken man. Julian felt amusement bloom inside him. She thought to protect humans from him? He was the one that went after the rapid and insane to stop them from going after humans.

          It was apparent she wasn't rabid, yet she seemed to think there was something wrong with him.

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          Canine felt grim amusement at the stunned and confused look that swept across his eyes when she didn't yield to him. The look was gone almost as fast as it had come, o ya this guy was used to hiding his emotions. 

          He took a step back and begin to shift. Canine's jaw fell open, she had never witnessed another werewolf shift, they had always been in wolf form. His bones cracked and popped as they struggled to realign themselves, fur disappeared and skin contorted. Over all it took him only a little over a second to shift but it was a frightening ordeal. As a human he was also tall at least six five. His hair was silky fine just long enough to fall tousled in front of his eyes and was the same red gold color as when he was a wolf. His eye's hadn't changed they were still the same color and still just as cold. He skin was darkly tanned, evidence that he rarely spent much time indoors. His shoulders were wide and his arms and legs were heavily muscled. His left ear was pierced and from it hung the tooth of a wolf. He wore a tight black t- and snug blue jeans. There wasn't a once of fat on him, Canine could even see the outline of his stomach muscles through his shirt.

          As he stared at her his mouth curved into a small smile, which was completely feral. Canine realized he didn't smile much. "Shift," He murmured his voice velvet soft and cajoling.

          Canine found her self obeying before she even had time to think about it. His eyebrow rose questioningly and his eyes swept the length of her. She scowled fiercely. "What?" She demanded. His smile was slow and languorous. "Only the strongest werewolves can keep their clothes when they shift." Before she could even process the fact that he was mentioning other werewolves her mouth opened and out came an uncensored comment.

          "What? Disappointed, wolf man?"

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          She was just as strange as a human. Her hair was black with streaks of silver as if her hair was about ready to turn as grey as an old women's, it fell to her waist in an unbroken sheet. Her eyes were just as violet as they were when she was a wolf. He could see curiosity in her gaze before she quickly hid the emotion under lowered eyelids, which drew his eyes to the crescent line of her eyelashes. She was lightly tanned with a full mouth and sharp cheekbones. In her right ear was the same earring as she had as a wolf and the same necklace circled her throat. She only reached his shoulders yet the height difference seemed not to bother her in the least. She wore a plain black t and plain black sweats obviously designed to draw as little attention as possible. 

          Ignoring her comment he went on to ask the question that nagged at him. "I don't believe we've ever met, I thought I knew every wolf at least by scent in this area. What pack do you belong to?"

          Her eye's immediately sparked with fire, and a line that was caused from clenched teeth appeared across her cheek. "I belong to no one. And what the hell do you mean pack? You're the first werewolf I've ever met that wasn't so damned crazy I had to kill it."

          Julian paused surprised. "You're telling me you've never met another werewolf?" His voice was soft and relaxed but skepticism was clear in his voice. Canine immediately bristled. "Do you have the hearing of a human, wolf? I meant what I said or do you just believe a female can't survive with out the help of a big strong he man to tell her what to do?"

          Julian shook his head. "Ok, I think we need to try again. My name's Julian and you are?"

"Getting really pissed at you."

"Is that your first name or your full name?"

"First, my last name is you're an arrogant bastured."

"O, well that explains a lot."

          Against all her wishes her mouth curved into a smile, she sighed and pushed her hair out from in front of her face. "My real name's Luna but I despise that name so everyone who whishes for me to acknowledge them calls me Canine." 

          "Yes, I can see there's a lot less irony in being called Canine when you're a werewolf." Canine just scowled. "What did you mean by packs?" Julian attempted to flick his hair out from in front of his eyes but it just settled back in place.

          "All werewolves live in packs, were social animals. There is the rare rogue; I'm very close to rogue myself. We live as wolfs same ranks same rules a little more intercit to accompany our higher intellect."

          "And by same rules you mean the women are less then the men." Julian flinched by his smile remained in place. "Why don't you come back to the pack with me and find out?" Canine's eyes shrunk to slits. "And why do you want me to go with you?" Julian slammed the heel of his hand against his forehead. "Hell, how long have you been on your own? You're completely suspicious of everyone. Even I'm not like that and all I do is..." Julian's mouth snapped closed, and his face returned to its blank mask. "Just come and meet the pack."  He stated blandly then unable to stay around some one that made him want to spill his secrets any longer he turned on his heal and started off. Canine didn't fallow him. Julian couldn't do anything about it at the moment he had to leave and collect his wits before fencing with Canine again.