I awoke with a start when my alarm went off, instantly alert, body tensed. Laughing at myself, I shook my head and stretched out, revelling in the feel of my muscles contracting then relaxing. All of a sudden, the previous night came rushing back into my mind. Had any of it actually happened or was it all just a dream? I chastised myself, there was no way I could have dreamt all of that, it was way too intense in my memory.

My back up alarm went off at that point, pulling me from my thoughts. With a shock, I realized I only had 15 minutes before I was supposed to talk with Jason again. After eating a stack of toaster waffles and chugging a large glass of orange juice I changed into shorts and a tank top before running out my back door and into the cover of the woods. I didn't want to be in wolf form while in my house, I shuddered at the thought of how much unintentional damage I would probably cause.

I inhaled deeply, searching for anybody in the area before shedding my clothes, stowing them in a knot in a large tree. Then I cleared my brain and focused solely on my wolf form and the tingles spread, followed immediately by the popping and seconds later, I fell forward onto all fours, a wolf once again. This was going to take some getting used to.

"I was beginning to think you stood me up or something," Jason's voice startled me and I jumped slightly, making him chuckle. "A little reactive are we?"

"In the past 24 hours, I found out that I turn into a giant hairy wolf which hunts down vampires, forgive me if I'm a little paranoid," I snarked back. My voice dropped into a softer tone, "Sorry, still trying to come to terms with everything I guess."

"No worries. Like I said, we can be quite volatile the first few weeks after the change, I pretty much expect it."

"Well, I'm still sorry for biting your head off," I chuckled at my own choice of words.

"Don't laugh at that, if you really wanted to rip my head off, you probably could."

"What," I remarked, caught off guard by another of his strange comments.

"We are incredibly strong, we have to be to hunt down vampires."

"Oh," I stated, still trying to wrap my head around that. It was just hard to imagine having that much power.

"Swipe at an adult tree with your paw, you'll kind of get an idea of what I'm talking about," Jason suggested.

I tentatively approached a large spruce, hesitant of actually hitting it for fear of breaking something.

"Trust me, you'll be fine," Jason assured me and I couldn't deny the confidence in his voice.

I pulled back my front right leg before swinging it forward, striking the spruce with a full blown hit. I didn't feel a thing, but the tree cracked where I had hit, falling forward onto one of its neighbors. I gasped in shock at how easy it was to break a fully grown tree.

Jason laughed at my surprise, "Pretty awesome, huh?"

"More like unbelievable. How do you honestly get used to something like that?"

"Trust me, you will, it just takes time. Soon enough, your strength, senses, and all that will be second nature and you won't notice it as much. You still need to be careful, though, especially if you interact with people in the near future. So, are we going to actually do this or what?"

"Sure, where do you want to meet?"

"Why don't I come to you? It will be easier for you if you're in an environment you're familiar with."

"Easier?"

"I want to show you different aspects of being a wolf to make sure you're comfortable with everything. Then, I will tell you more about vampires and the dangers they present. I also want to check for any that might be in your area. I don't want one of them to surprise you while you're still so new to all of this."

"Ok," I agreed a little reluctantly.

"Don't worry, I won't make you do anything you're not comfortable with yet. Are you in the same place as last night?"

I nodded before realizing he couldn't see me. "Yeah, but I'm not at the lake, I'm closer to my house."

"And you're sure that you're okay with me being there," he asked.

"Now who's the one hesitating," I couldn't help but tease.

"It's just you're so new to this, I don't want to risk either of us getting hurt."

"Are we really that uncontrollable?"

"In the beginning, yes. But I've also never encountered another wolf, so I'm not sure what type of reaction your scent will trigger. I don't think it will be negative, after all we have some odd connection with the thought thing. I'm just going to run to Denali Park then make my way slowly to you. That way, I will be able to find your scent before actually meeting face to face."

"Okay," I said, now a little unsure.

"Don't worry, I have a feeling there won't be any problems."

"Are you already running?"

"Yes, I'm still near Ontario, but it will probably take me about fifteen minutes to reach Denali Park. I've been there once, but it was years ago when I was really young."

"That quick?"

"I told you we're incredibly fast, otherwise we wouldn't be able to keep up with the vampires we hunt."

"Is our strength comparable to theirs, too, then?"

"Exactly. Damn you catch on quick."

"You seem to be surprised by my intelligence often," I growled lowly.

He chuckled. "Well, you certainly put the pieces together quicker than I did."

"I also have your expertise to guide me," I admitted a little sheepishly, again ashamed of my quick temper.

"At least you're able to get that temper under control quickly. When I first changed, it was so hard to snap back from the rage."

"Well, I appreciate you helping me. I couldn't imagine going through all of this solo, that must have been very difficult."

"You have no idea," Jason mumbled.

We both fell silent at this point, trying to keep our heads clear so Jason could concentrate on where he was going.

"I'm crossing the Alaska state line."

I was taken aback by how the time had flown by, and anxiety at my possible reaction to another wolf began to rise.

"Crystal, you need to calm down, you're making me nervous, girl."

"Sorry, I just don't want to hurt you after you've been so helpful and willing to put up with my attitude." I was worried about driving off the only thing that made sense in the past couple of days.

"Just breathe, and focus on calming down, okay?"

"Alright," I whispered, still uneasy, but forcing my brain to focus on deep breaths.

"I'm passing into Denali Park now... Motherfucker!"

"What? Are you okay, what's going on?"

"This park reeks of vampires, there's gotta be at least four unique scents," Jason growled, agitated.

"You can tell how many there are by scent alone?"

"Yeah, it's just another thing that seems to come naturally to our kind. While all vampire scents have an acrid tinge to it, there are subtle differences we can pick up on. I just wasn't expecting to come across so many of them so soon. I've only seen them in pairs or by themselves before, I didn't know they made such big groups. I may have to rework how I want to proceed with everything, though. One of them is dangerous enough, but if a group that large came across either of our scents, we would have no chance if they attacked."

I was stricken by how strong these things must have been if they presented a real threat to us. Then something else Jason said clicked in my brain. "Wait, you said if they catch our scent... So are their senses as defined as ours?"

"I think so, but we'll talk more about how to deal with their presence later. How do I get to you from the park?" Jason was feeling really uneasy being out in the open alone so close to the vampires' scents.

The anxiety of finally meeting Jason started to creep back in and I fought to control my breathing as I replied, "You just entered the east end of the park, right?"

"That's what the sign said."

"Head straight south, and you'll come across Talooska Lake after about twenty miles. Head southeast from there, or if you want, you can follow my scent. That's where I was last night."

We went back and forth during the impossibly short minutes until he reached the lake. He picked up on my scent immediately and stopped, testing himself. When he was certain he had full control over himself, he slowly began making his way towards me, scanning my thoughts the whole way. The wind shifted when he was only a few miles away, and I picked up on a slightly musky, woodsy scent with a touch of pine. A tremble spread through my body and Jason paused briefly.

"It's okay," I thought, not sure if I was trying to convince Jason or myself.

He moved forward again, going even slower than before until he was only two miles away. "I'm coming through the clearing now," he warned.

The woodsy scent became stronger and before I knew it, I could just barely hear what sounded like giant pads hitting the forest floor. If my hearing wasn't so good, he would have been completely silent. A knot formed in my stomach as the paws came closer, weaving through the trees until the unmistakable form of a giant wolf emerged from the treeline...