Disclaimer: I swear I didn't make up the funny names.

Prologue

I heard a sickening crunch as my bones began to break and rearrange themselves. My organs shift and my skull changes to accommodate the snout that is now protruding from my face. My hands and feet change to paws and I drop down onto all fours. This process is not at all painful. The only thing I feel is a tingle as fur sprouts along my skin. My ears slide to the top of my head and fangs explode from my gums. My tail bone extends outward. I wag my newly acquired tail. My wolf form feels as natural to me as my human form.

I tilt back my head and let out a howl that causes frightened birds to flee their nests and spill across the twilight sky like living water. The rest of my pack answers my call. We are all hungry and ready to hunt.

Chapter 1

"Kagome, get up!" yelled my mother from the bottom of the stairs. "You're going to be late for school!"

I glanced at my alarm clock and groaned. It was only seven o'clock! I had been asleep for three hours.

"Kagome!" my mother sounded frustrated.

"Coming." I called. I threw off my comforter and hopped out of bed. I dressed slowly. It was the first day of tenth grade and I was in no particular hurry to sit behind a desk for seven hours. I paused to examine my reflection in the mirror on the wall of my room. I was wearing baggy black jeans and a black T-shirt that said 'Animal' on it. I buckled on my spiked dog collar and pulled a brush through my shoulder-length purple hair. I sauntered down the stairs as slowly as I could. My mother turned to look at me and growled deeply, an inhuman sound never meant for the vocal chords of a human. I hurried out the door, pausing only to rub my cheek along my mother's. It was the traditional wolf greeting.

I didn't need breakfast. I had eaten well on the hunt last night. Besides, human food makes me sick. I am a child of Fenris, more commonly called, a werewolf. Fenris is the wolf god, once believed to attack the moon each month and slowly gobble it up.

Many human legends about werewolves are false. We can shift our form easily, no matter where, or what shape the moon is in. We are immortal, and never age after our bodies mature. A silver bullet, or any kind of bullet for that matter, wouldn't kill me. Werewolf skin is extremely thick, making it bulletproof. Humans cannot be turned into werewolves, no matter what the circumstances. We are not vampires. We kill only animals and almost never prey on humans. The werewolf council immediately executes any werewolf that has preyed on humans. Rumor has it that human flesh is addictive, and once a wolf has a taste they can never be satisfied with animal flesh again. The humans are aware that we exist, but we try to blend as much as possible. We have to follow human laws, but any punishment is handled by the werewolf council. My father is head of the werewolf council, which basically means that we never get to see him.

When I reached the bus stop I wasn't surprised to find that my twin sister, Sango, was already there. We may have the same face, but personality-wise, we might as well have been from different packs. While I wear black, she wears pastels. She chose to dye her naturally silvery hair brown, while I chose to dye mine purple. Actually, dyeing my hair purple was just a way to get back at my mom for making me die it in the first place. I liked it silver, it showed our heritage as wolves of the Silverclaw Clan. But the look on my mother's face when I came back from the hairdresser's was priceless. I actually thought she might lose it right there, but she didn't. She chose to ignore it, which is fine by me.

Sango is also friendly towards the humans, even though we aren't allowed to befriend them. I am distant from them and lash out violently if they approach.

"Hey, Kagome," she said, snapping me from my thoughts.

"Hey," I reply, stifling a yawn.

"What's wrong?" She asks, the concern evident in her voice.

"Just tired" I sighed.

"You were out hunting 'till four in the morning last night," she pointed out.

"Thanks, mom," I snap back defensively. "I was having fun, besides, school shouldn't be so damn early anyway." I hear a faint rumble that gradually grows louder as the dreaded school bus approaches. I sigh as it creaks to a halt and I step onto the bus after Sango. It's going to be a looooooong day.

I shove open the heavy Cafeteria doors and sigh contentedly as they shut behind me, sealing the chaotic lunchroom scene inside. I blink and let my eyes adjust to the bright Vermont sunshine reflecting off the snow. Even though it is the dead of winter, I'm not cold. I can feel the cold prickling along my skin, but it doesn't bother me. Werewolves don't get cold like humans do because our skin is too thick.

Sango steps out of the Cafeteria behind me and follows as I enter the nearby woods. That's pretty much all Vermont is, snow and woods. I picture in my mind the sleek, black wolf that is my alternate form. I feel the familiar tingle as my skin sprouts fur. My body works to rearrange itself, freeing me of my awkward human form. I pity those who are forever trapped as humans.

As soon as I was fully changed, I took off at a dead run.

Kagome! cried Sango, using the mental form of communication we use when we're not human. What's the rush? Wait up.

I ignored her and ran on. I am not very good at controlling my anger, and today had been no exception. The fact that werewolves have superhuman strength doesn't help much either. Running was an excellent way to cool off my temper.

A boy named Brent, whom I'd had a similar run-in with on my first day at Sequoia High a year ago, had accused me of being a vampire. This may not seem like such a horrible thing to some people, but to a werewolf it' s the worst accusation. Werewolves that get turned into vampires are immediately exiled from the clan. They seldom survive on their own because wolves are gregarious by nature, and without our pack to protect and comfort us, we often die. Werewolves and vampire despise each other, there isn't any really good reason why, we just do. I've been taught since I was a pup that vampires are evil and despicable.

Anyway, I totally snapped and beat Brent into a bloody pulp. I was sent to the principal's office, they called my mother, and I got a lecture on 'controlling my anger.' The school can't suspend or expel me because I'm a werewolf and human punishments aren't applied to us. I'll be disciplined by my clan later. Brent, on the other hand, was sent to the school nurse and a short while later, the hospital. I heard from some gossiping cheerleaders in the hall that he suffered a broken nose, fractured wrist, and a mild concussion. It turns out the human body wasn't meant to be flung headfirst into a cafeteria table. Who knew?

KAGOME! screamed Sango. I shook my head from the force of her mental scream. What's the big idea running off like that?

I needed to blow off some steam. I grumbled.

Are you still pissed at that Brent guy? she inquired.

Yes. I snapped. He accused me of being a vampire!

I know, but he's just a stupid human so stop being so dramatic already.

I am not being dramatic. I insisted.

Whatever. she replied. Look, we've run about five miles and lunch ends in twenty minutes so we'd better be heading back.

That's my sister: the responsible one. I am not going back to that hell house. I demanded. Ever.

Well you have to go back sometime. You can't just live out in the woods forever. she replied.

Sure I could. I retorted.

Grow-up! she snapped. Sango whirled around and headed back in the direction of school. After a few minutes, I followed.

That evening I was banned from hunting with the pack as punishment for kicking the crap out of Brent. I was forced to stay at home and Sango brought me a deer leg, which was cold. Cold meat just doesn't have the same appeal as hot meat that has only been dead for a few seconds. I didn't eat that night.

Sango and I traipsed out to the bus stop together early the next morning. I wasn't tired because I'd actually slept last night. I was hungry though. Very hungry. Although wolves can go for long periods of time without eating, it wasn't what I was used too. I rounded the corner to the bus stop and stopped dead in my tracks. Every muscle in my body froze and I scented the air. My senses were not as keen as a wolf's when I was in human form, but they were still better than your average human's. And that squirrel smelled like food.

"Kagome?" Sango said.

I dropped my backpack carefully, silently, on the ground and shifted to my wolf form. I am much better at shifting than Sango, I am much quicker, and quieter. The squirrel had it's back to me, and it turned just as I pounced. The overwhelming but delicious scent of terror rolled off it's little furry body right before I sank my teeth into it's flesh. I bit down hard, relishing in the taste of the hot blood in my mouth, and I shook my head violently, spraying blood onto the sidewalk and the stop sign. I tore open the squirrel's body to get at the intestines. There isn't much meat on a squirrel, so the intestines are the best part.

When I was finished I used my muzzle to flip the carcass into the trees before I shifted back to human form. The whole little episode had only lasted about five minutes, wolves don't take very long to eat. I turned to scoop up my backpack and found Sango glaring at me.

I shrugged. "I was hungry." I was saved from having to explain myself further by the arrival of the school bus, the big yellow transport to hell.

"How was your day?" Sango asked cheerfully as we walked towards the busses together after school.

"Since it was the second day, I got a shitload of homework, you?"

"It was good." Sango replied guardedly. She could sense that I was pissed and she didn't want to make it worse. I sighed and turned to apologize when a car horn honked and our mother's voice drifted over the noisy din of the students.

"Kagome! Sango! Over here!" We turned in unison to see our mother waving from the rolled down window of her silver Chevy pick-up.

Sango and I glanced at each other and we both knew something was up. Mom never drove the pick-up unless we had to drive to the Clearing for pack business. There were no paved roads that led to the Clearing, and we weren't allowed to arrive in wolf form because it 'disturbed' the humans to see large masses of wolves moving around in the daylight. We couldn't hold the meetings at night because no one would have time to hunt. Living dual lives really sucked sometimes.

"Hey mom, what's up?" I asked as Sango and I slid into the front seat.

"I don't really know yet." She replied. "Your father just called an emergency meeting in the Clearing as soon as the schools got out." She paused to squint into the crowd. "We're supposed to be picking up Miroku and Kayla too, do you see them?"

"There they are!" Sango pointed off to the left where Miroku's brown spiked hair was hard to miss. That and the fact that he had his eight-year-old sister, Kayla, perched on top of his shoulders. Miroku and Kayla were home schooled, but they lived right near the school. Most werewolf children were homeschooled, but because we were the head of the werewolf council's daughter's, Sango and I were expected to set an example by attending regular school. Lucky us.

Miroku and Kayla slid into the back seat of the pickup. Sango turned around as far as the seatbelt would allow.

"Hey Miroku." It was supposed to be a secret that Sango had a crush on Miroku, but any idiot with eyes could see she was crazy about him. I personally didn't find him that attractive. He had nice eyes though, they were a bright clear blue.

"Hey Sango." He replied.

I sighed and settled deeper against the window, shoving the shoulder strap of my seatbelt behind me. I didn't see why we had to wear them. Any one of us in this car could take a trip through the windshield and walk away from the accident. Seatbelts were for humans.

"Kagome, are you listening?" My mother's voice broke me from my thoughts.

"No, what did you say?"

"We were talking about what the meeting could possibly be about." Sango replied.

"Oh, is that all?" I asked. "You made me think I missed something important."

Sango rolled her eyes and went back to talking to Miroku and Kayla. I shut my eyes. The drive to the Clearing was several hours. Plenty of time to take a nap.