Hello Readers,

This is just a quick chapter I thought about, especially the reveal of who the wolf was. There will probably two other chapters that go with this one. Criticism always welcome!

-CG

Beatrice Howlington was getting ready for a night on the town! Well at least that's what her story was, and she was sticking to it. The she-Wolf had been staking out the "Cat's Meow for over three months. To make matters worse her back-up and been banned from the club and no new officers had been assigned to the mission. She did have a supervisor, an Elk Sergeant by the Tapio Hervi, but said supervisor didn't even bother showing up to the club! What made it even more annoying was that before Beatrice, Precinct Six was unsuccessful in to have an officer infiltrate the club, and in one instance an officer had been stopped before they even made it there!

Her first several nights were exhausting for the she-Wolf. Never finding an interest in clubbing when she was younger, her first thought for blending in was to stay on the dance floor. Instead of her blending, she apparently stood out. Beatrice lost count of how many canines, felines, cervids and on one interesting night, Bison bouncers she had to ward off. Eventually she realized that the best thing to do was order drinks slowly and sit at one of the smaller tables. She would still get hit on, but at a much lower frequency. This also allowed her to keep vigilance over the club.

Beatrice started to notice some suspicious individuals heading in and out of the club. There was the usual suspects in Ivan Svinya who seemed to work as a floor manager at times for the club, making sure things never got out of hand. Ikan Skaal would skulk around the edges, the maniacal grin the Pangolin wore always sending shivers down her spine. Kedi Puankulak, the Bobcat owner would make his rounds like clockwork. He never lingered in the club and always his himself away in his office behind the disc jockey. Every now and then she caught sight of a very suspicious Weasel. She didn't know his name, but the little mustela was responsible for having her back-up banned and had seemed to gain some influence in the club since. The mammal that the she-Wolf had hoped to make contact with, the accountant Herbert Himils, never seemed to be alone. The Pika always had one of the three mammals around him, or staff of the club itself. It was impossible to tell who were legitimate hires and who were brought in for possible illegal activity, so Beatrice had go be careful about who she talked too. It seemed to Precinct Six that the rodent was being held against his will, and therefore a,secondary goal for the undercover operation was making contact with Himils.

In a stroke of genius, if the she-Wolf does think so herself, Beatrice had been able to get a drink sent to the Pika when he was talking with a badger bartender the last time she was at the club. She made sure that the waiter delivered the glass on the napkin she had written on. It had been a simple message, "If you need help I'm here" but the simplicity seemed to work as the lupine watched from a distance. Himils questioned the waiter, and when the arctic hare pointed towards the she-Wolf, Beatrice couldn't help but raise her glass in acknowledgement. The young officer hadn't told her superior that she had made small contact with the Pika, not seeing a need too as the Elk rarely seemed interested in her reports. This would be the first night going to the "Cat's Meow" since having her message delivered, and her hope was that Himils would talk to her and reveal all the dealings happening in the club. If this worked out, than Beatrice would be celebrated as a hero!

"Come on, grumbled the grey she-Wolf as she pulled a tight fitting black dress down and tried to get this slim garment to at least halfway up her thighs. Her black ears were pinned back as her black paws tried desperately to deal with the dress. She hated what clothing she had to wear to the club, but apparently a nice blouse and jeans weren't "proper attire" for the club. Granted the only "proper attire" in that club was either neon or next to nothing. Beatrice snorted at the thought of the ridiculous multi-colored eyesore's the officers wore for that one night. They looked like they just lost their jobs at the paint factory. The lupine finally pulled the dress to an "appropiate" length, but needed to check to make sure her fur wasn't sticking up.

The Wolf was standing in the middle of the bedroom of the safehouse apartment used by Precinct Six. It was made with medium to large mammals in mind which made the area feel quite homey. The apartment was a simple one bedroom with a small kitchen area with a two mammal table, living room with couch and television provided, and bathroom attached to the bedroom that also held a separate washer/dryer unit. Beatrice enjoyed being in the quaint apartment because of how much more space she had compared to her own apartment. Even though it was located only a pawful of miles away, Deputy Chief Howlington had decided it was best for her to live away from the Howlington pack.

The memory of her pack and grandfather, the Deputy Chief, never put Beatrice in a good mood. She sighed heavily as she walked into the spacious bathroom and started to examine herself carefully. Her father had been a Beta in line for Alpha, but after it was decided that Beatrice was supposed to be an Omega, he had stepped down from that position and became an Omega in her place. The sacrifice of her father, and later her mother who could have divorced him by Pack law because of his fall in position, is what motivated the she-Wolf to become a member of the police. Because of the change in rank from her father, it also meant that him and her mother were limited in the litters they could have. So instead of having six to ten brothers and sisters as some of her aunts and uncles had, she was one of three from the one litter. Her two brothers were lucky enough to be born middling wolves, those who could rise or fall from the rankings in the pack, but she had to be "allowed" into it. The stigma of being an Omega, the lowest wolves without being social outcasts, had followed Beatrice like a rotten smell.

The lupine's vision became blurry as she examined herself. She brought a paw up to her cheek and felt it slightly damp, how had she not noticed that she had been crying? "You done it again Beatty, crying for no reason." She huffed in annoyance at her own weakness. Becoming a member of the Z.P.D. was supposed to make her strong and brave. At least that's what she believed when she joined the Academy. Beatrice grabbed a wash cloth and wet it with cold water, she then dabbed her eyes to try and remove the swelling and redness around them. There were several other members of the Pack that worked in law enforcement. One of the other officers assigned with her was a second cousin of hers who lived two doors down from her in the Howlington compound. Said wolf had a glass broken over his muzzle and later she heard was knocked in the groin by the same perpetrator.

Beatrice smirked, her Amber eyes slowly losing the redness, at the thought of that was getting what he deserved. The cousin, a smug white wolf named Thaddeus, had been told by his parents that he would eventually become Alpha. Said smug male had found that his ceiling in life was middle of the middling wolves, neither moving up or down in any significant fashion. Her smirk slowly vanished as she remembered her own place in the rankings, dead last. For her father's sacrifice, Beatrice had only just stayed a middling wolf. Regret welled up in her chest, as tears threatened to spill out once more. "No Beatty!" commanded Beatrice as she stared daggers at her reflection in the mirror, "you aren't going to cry again. You're going to go to the Cat's Meow, make contact with Himils and blow this case wide open. Is that clear?" On the last three words, the she-Wolf jabbed the mirror with a claw. She wanted...no...NEEDED to show her worth. Not only the Z.P.D., but also the whole Howlington Pack that she was worth it. Beatrice Howlington wasn't just another middling wolf, she would rise through the ranks to the top, and maybe even become a Beta female!

"Yes, it's all going to work out!" Beatrice exclaimed, a smile reappearing on her muzzle. Hopefully this would be the last night she ever had to go to the "Cat's Meow." The she-Wolf excited the bathroom and bedroom, stopping by a small coffee table that her pawbag was on. A simple black spaghetti strap big enough for some cash, her "I.D." and the apartment keys. She hummed to herself as she locked her door and headed down the small hallway to the exit. The dress wouldn't do much for the cold, but once she grabbed a taxi the lupine knew she would be warm enough.

The sun had set and a cold gust of wind greeted the she-Wolf as she stepped onto the snowy sidewalk. There didn't seem to be any taxis on the street at the moment, but Beatrice was confident that once she reached the intersection one would appear. She folded her arms across her chest as another gust hit her. "Brrrr, cold night," she muttered to herself as her ears pinned back from the stinging pain, "hope this wind let's up."

"That's the last of your worries lady," a voice giggled from behind.

Beatrice stopped dead in her tracks. Slowly, the she-Wolf turned towards the voice. Her gaze fell on a small mammal, dressed in a heavy, black winter coat whose claws were peeking out of the sleeves. The face of the mammal was elongated and ended with a pink nose. From the bridge of the nose revealed grey scales that disappeared beneath a black beanie. The eyes are what caught the lupine's attention. Behind the eyes of the much smaller mammal was violence and insanity. So much so that the she-Wolf's tail tucked between her legs and she clutched her purse in both her paws in front of her. There was no doubt who this mammal was...Ikan Skaal. "Ca...can I help you?" Beatrice stutters out.

Skaal scratches the bottom of his snout with a claw, a maniacal grin never leaving his face. "Hehe. Yeah, can you turn around?"

The crunch of snow comes from behind the Wolf who whirls around quickly, only for a heavy blow to smack her above her left eye. Beatrice stumbled as her attacker came into shaky view. A Brown Boar wearing a white suit jacket buttoned up and a white scarf around his neck. In his paws was a heavy metal pipe. The lupine swayed on her hind paws, her left paw going where the blow landed. She felt a sting in her right calf and gave a surprised yelp. Beatrice started feeling woozy, and fell hard onto her back. Skaal moved into her now failing vision, an object in his paw. The final thing she heard was the Pangolin speaking what sounded like miles away.

"Nighty night, wolfie."