Okay so this was a story I wrote under a differnt account a while ago. I couldn't log into my other account anymore so I kind of forgot about it. I just found it and now I am adding it to this account. Don't forget to R&R. Hope you like it. And if you find any mistakes, let me know.

Chapter 1

"Hey, mama?"

"MMM"

"Why did we move again?"

I looked down at my three year old daughter. We had just moved to the Tri-Cities. I got kicked out at eighteen for being pregnant. Here I am three years later, still eighteen and hiding two terrible secrets.

"You know why."

"Oh…Mama?"

"Yes, baby girl?"

"Where are we going to live?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure I can think of something soon."

She smiled up at me. I looked over to the tabloids that littered the checkout stand just before the cashier. My basket was filled with a small amount of food and diapers. I sighed. This trip to supermarket would take the last $50 I had. Samantha wiggled in the front seat of the buggy and started giggling. I smiled and kissed her on the forehead. I went back to tabloid shopping as two men got in line behind me. I froze.

"Hey, mama?"

"Yes?"

"That man is just like daddy."

I looked at the man she was referring to. He was short, muscular, and dressed in a flannel shirt and blue jeans. He reminded me of a cowboy. The man with him was just as short and muscular but was dressed to impress. I recognized him from a commercial back at the motel we were staying at. He was a hotshot divorce lawyer. Boxes of popcorn and cookie mix filled the tiny basket the cowboy was holding. He noticed I was looking at him and he smiled. I smiled back and turned toward Samantha.

"What did I tell you about doing that?"

"Not in public."

"That's right."

She looked down at her hands and I patted her on the head. Samantha and I are not what we seem and neither are the two men behind us. I was having trouble keeping my cool. As soon as I was done placing all the food and diapers on the counter, I pulled my last bit of money out of my back pocket. Samantha was waving at the cowboy. He smiled and waved back.

"Excuse me, miser."

"Yes, sweetheart?"

I quit paying attention to the total and focused on Samantha. The man had answered her in a thick southern drawl.

"Are you a werewolf?"

The man stilled and I swatted Samantha on her head.

"Samantha René Taylor, what did I tell you about asking people that?"

I turned to towards the man.

"I am so sorry, sir. She's been asking everyone that lately. She recently found out there are werewolves.

He relaxed and smiled at me. I knew he was a werewolf because I was one as well. Not that he or anyone else would ever find out. I have a shield that lets me hide anything I wanted to. I could hide the fact that I was a werewolf. I could hide pretty much everything except for lying. There are few people who I can't lie to. When it's completely up, my wolf is hidden and it stops her from doing anything along with some things that come from being a wolf like healing and super strength. I can partially let it down so my wolf can control my body or I can let it completely down and let her become her own person.

"It's alright, ma'am."

Samantha went back to fidgeting. I paid the cashier and piled the bags back in the cart. Samantha looked a little sad then started her giggling again.

"Bye, Mr. Wolf Man."

She waved and he waved back. I pushed the cart to the car and unloaded it. I was beginning to think I couldn't take her anywhere. For a three year old, she was extremely intelligent and had a real talent for knowing things she shouldn't. Everyone had secrets, and when she was around, none of them were safe, not even mine. I pulled into the motel's parking lot. We were staying at a small beat up motel that you paid up front instead of when you left. It was out of the way, but it was cheap. I felt bad for bringing my daughter here, but hey, I could protect her from the few lousy men I saw in the lobby.

The next morning, I loaded Samantha into the car and went to search for a job and a more permanent place to stay. The week I'd paid for at the motel was up tomorrow. By the afternoon, I was out of options and hungry. I stopped at a place called Columbia Park on the way back to the motel.

I let Samantha loose on the park, and she took off running. There weren't many people here so I wasn't worried about her. I found a nice, shady spot in the grass and unpacked the lunches and blanket I'd brought. I soaked up the sun as my worries relaxed away. Samantha came running toward me and tackled me. We ended up in a mess of twisted arms and legs. She was laughing without a care in the world. She settled on the ground and picked up a sandwich. In one bite, it was gone.

Stretching out on my stomach, I dozed off while Samantha finished the rest of the food. I didn't eat much although I should have. I awoke to the sound of Samantha laughing hysterically. I opened one eye to see what she was laughing at. A dog that looked like a coyote was lying on the ground as Samantha rubbed its stomach. The dog jumped up and licked her face. She giggled. Samantha looked at me when I sat up.

"Oh mama, can we keep her?"

I sighed. There was no way I was going to let her keep it. I couldn't even support us and besides she was wearing a collar with only a number on it which meant she belonged to someone.

"I'm sorry, baby girl, but she belongs to someone else."

"How do you know, mama?"

"See the collar, there is a number."

"Oh"

She paused in a thought and smiled with a goofy grin.

"Then can we call and return her?"

She looked so sad. I didn't like it when she pouted. I sighed.

"If someone doesn't claim her by the end of the afternoon, then I will call."

"Thank You, Mama!"

Samantha got up and ran around playing with the puppy. Satisfied that Samantha was preoccupied with her new friend, I laid back down and fell asleep.

I sat up with a start as something landed on my back. I heard Samantha's hysterical laugher. She thought it would be funny to drop the puppy on my back. I slept longer than I wanted to for the Sun was setting.

"Hey mama?"

"MMM"

"Can we call now?"

I looked at her. Samantha had the dog in her lap and was roughly petting it. The she growled and Samantha stopped petting it so hard.

"Sure…just let me clean up first."

Samantha had made a mess of the food so it took ten minutes to clean up. The puppy followed us to the car. I put everything in the trunk and got Samantha in her car seat. She was so small that she had to sit in a rear facing car seat. The dog jumped up after her and settled in her lap. Samantha was smiling with the biggest grin I had ever seen. I bent down and kissed her head. I loved her so much. I sat in the driver's seat and called the number on the collar. Someone picked up after the a while.

"Hauptman."

"Hi, my name is Kelly Taylor, and we were in the park and my daughter found you're…um…dog."

"You did, did you?"

"Yes, sir. If you give me your address, I can drop her off."

Samantha started laughing and he paused for a minute.

"Sure."

He gave me his address and 20 minutes later, I was driving down his mile long driveway. As I neared the end, cars filled the driveway.

I looked back to see the dog in Samantha's face. I smiled. She was so goofy. I got out of the car and let Samantha out. The dog jumped down and pranced up to the door. I walked up to the door and froze just before the door. I could smell them and knew I shouldn't be here but I knocked on the door anyways. A man answered the door. He had white hair, blue eyes, and he was tall and muscular. I stiffened.

"Can I help you…?"

He spoke in a British accent but stopped when he noticed Samantha holding the puppy.

"I'm looking for Mr. Hauptman. We found his dog."

He looked down to the dog and started laughing shaking his head.

"Adam, it's for you.

A man came up behind him. He had light brown eyes that reminded me of peanut butter. Short curly black hair covered his head, and his skin looked as if he had a permanent tan. He was shorter than the man who answered the door.

"There you are Mercy…I was beginning to think you would miss the movie."

Mercy wiggled and parked at him. Her tail was hitting Samantha in the face so she put her down and watched as she disappeared into the house. Mr. Hauptman was thanking me when Samantha's high pitched scream pierced the night.

"Wolf Man!"

Samantha ducked under Mr. Hauptman's legs and ran into the house. Fear and rage rose in me. I saw her disappear around the corner. The fear got worse.

"Samantha René Taylor, get back here right now!"

I was shocked that she ran into a stranger's house. I looked at Mr. Hauptman. He seemed to notice my distress and a warm smile spread across his face.

"Why don't you come in and we'll see about collecting her?"

I paused. I didn't feel right, but I walked into the house after Mr. Hauptman. We walked into the foyer then turned left into the living room. Samantha giggled, and I found her hanging upside down on the arm of the cowboy from the market. I was freaked out. I shouldn't be in this house.

"Samantha, what do you think you're doing?"

"It's wolf man, mama."

"I can see that. Why did you barge into Mr. Hauptman's house without asking?"

"Because, it' wolf man!"

I sighed. Once she made up her mind, nothing was going to change it. For a three year old, she was incredibly stubborn.

"Samantha, stop being rude, climb down from him and quit calling him that!"

He laughed as Samantha did a flip off of him and landed on all fours. The cowboy chuckled.

"It's fine, ma'am. By the way, I'm Warren and this is Kyle."

Warren held out his hand, and I shook it. His friend reached out and did the same. There were a few other people in the room, but I only focused on Samantha.

"Samantha, it's time to go. We have somewhere to be."

Samantha looked at me. She had that look on her face; the one where she was about to reveal the unknown to everyone. A look I knew very well.

"Samantha René Taylor, don't you even think about it. Get down and walk your lollypop out the door."

She stayed where she was. She made a face at me and decided she was going to silently fight with me.

"Samantha, I will not ask you again. Get your M&M's out that door right now."

She just glared and poked her tongue out at me. I got extremely angry at her and got in her face.

"If you don't march your licorice butt out of this house right now, you won't be able to walk for a week, do you understand me?"

"Yes, mama."

With that, she hopped down from the lap she was sitting in and headed for the door of the room. A woman walked in as Samantha left the room. I ignored her and turned to Mr. Hauptman.

"I'm sorry for trouble I caused. My daughter can be quite the handful sometimes."

"It's okay, Ms. Taylor. Let me introduce you to my wife. This is Mercy."

The woman next to him stuck out her hand and I shook it. She had tanned skin to go with her dark hair. Her eyes were almost the same color as her skin. She stood just a few inches shorter than Mr. Hauptman.

"You named your dog after your wife?"

"What can I say…. I love my wife!"

I smiled at them. They were so cute together. I heard a car pull up outside. The door opened and I about died. Seriously, I couldn't stand this house anymore. He was tall, taller than anyone in the room. He had the prettiest grey- blue eyes I had ever seen and his hair was light brown with sun highlights. He regarded me with curiosity. He smiled as something wiggled behind him.

"I found this standing on the porch."

He reached over his head and pulled Samantha to sit on his shoulders. Seeing her on his shoulders put me at some kind of weird ease. I was totally freaking out about all the people in the room, yet I was relaxed somehow. He reached out a hand and I took it.

"I'm Dr. Samuel Cornick ."

"Kelly Taylor and that stowaway on your shoulders is Samantha."

"Nice to meet both of you."

He smiled and put Samantha on the ground. She reached up and grabbed his hand and held on for dear life.

"Are you staying for the movie?"

"No, Dr. Cornick, we were just leaving. I have somewhere to be soon."

The expression changed for a moment then the smile returned. I was instantly uneasy. Of course he knew I was lying. He was a Cornick. They're the ones I can't lie to because they are so dominant. Everyone else just disregarded my comment. I picked up Samantha and said good bye then walked out. I packed Samantha into the car as quick as I possibly could and drove off without glancing back.