Tom backed up into the middle of the clearing as his brown eyes darted nervously, his chest heaving in anticipation of the rising moon. He threw a glance towards the two girls standing close together as Dan walked towards him. "They should go."

Dan turned. "He's right. This isn't going to be pretty."

Aneisha shook her head and stalked towards Tom, taking his face in her hands. "I'm staying, okay? Not matter how ugly it is."

Tom gave her a grateful smile and kissed her gently. "I love you."

Dan turned to Zoe, his blue eyes pleading. "Please tell me you're going. You don't want to see this."

"Not a chance." Zoe said, hugging him tightly. "Someone needs to be able to make sure that Neish doesn't get herself into trouble."

Dan sighed, dropping his head onto her shoulder and squeezing his eyes shut. "I really hate how smart you are sometimes."

"I love you." Zoe breathed, tightening her hold on Dan's neck and burying her face in his chest. She felt Dan's lips in her hair as he murmured back a reply, his fingers gently massaging the back of her neck. Zoe pulled back from his embrace a little, her green eyes suddenly very wide and childlike.

"What?" Dan asked.

"Can you do me a favour?" Zoe asked softly, staring up into his blue eyes. "Try not to get bitten."

Dan gave her a small smile, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "I've done this before, remember? And look, I'm still here."

Feeling stupid, Zoe looked at her feet. Dan tucked her hair behind her ear and touched her chin, making her look at him. Then he pressed his mouth against her's, cupping her cheek as she pushed herself closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and tangling her fingers in his hair.

Abruptly, they both pulled away as a loud scream ripped through the air, followed by the sound of bones cracking, echoing through the forest around them. They turned to find Tom crouched on the ground, screaming, with Aneisha kneeling down beside him, pushing his dark hair off his forehead.

"What's happening?" Zoe asked in panic as Dan stalked towards Tom.

"It's starting." Tom managed to choke out, before the sound of his voice was lost in the sound of bones breaking.

"Tom . . ." Aneisha whimpered as Dan placed his hand on Tom's shoulder and the Changing werewolf screamed.

"Neish, go." Tom moaned, painfully reaching out with one hand to push her away. Her eyes thick with tears, Aneisha shook her head. "No. I'm staying. I'm staying."

"Zoe, get her back." Dan said. "Now."

Zoe nodded and moved towards Aneisha, pulling her to her feet and dragging her backwards. Naturally, Aneisha fought, elbowing Zoe in the stomach, biting, kicking, but it had no effect on the vampire. Aneisha even tried to use her powers to impale Zoe on a tree, but her emotions were swirling too wildly within her and she couldn't get a hold on them.

"Shh." Zoe whispered. "This isn't helping. Just relax."

Even without compulsion, Zoe's words had a calming effect on the darker-skinned girl, and she stopped fighting.

"I can't help him. I can't stop his pain." Aneisha cried.

"Yes, you can." Zoe replied, the grip on her friend's arms loosening. "Use your power. Try to take some of his pain away."

Aneisha looked at Tom, who was gritting his teeth as his arm bent at an odd angle and Dan tried his best to soothe him. Taking a deep breath, Aneisha stretched her arm out towards Tom and closed her eyes. Now that she was calm and focused, she could touch her powers again and she pushed as much of it as she could towards Tom. She watched as the tension drained from Tom's body and he looked around, confused, as the pain in every part of his body faded to a kind of numbed stinging that thrummed through his muscles. He held one hand up curiously, watching as his fingers all bent at odd angles. "What's happening?"

Dan rocked back on his heels and looked over at Zoe and Aneisha, both standing close together. Aneisha was slowly lowering her hand and Dan felt a smile teasing at the corners of his mouth. "Your girlfriend, Warrior."

Gasping, Tom raised his head and his gaze met Aneisha's as he gave her a small smile. Before he could even say anything, his eyes flashed silver and there was a flash of light, so bright that Aneisha had to squeeze her eyes shut and bury her face in Zoe's shoulder. Zoe and Dan's vampiric eyesight immediately adjusted, but Dan got to his feet and took a few steps backwards.

When the light disappeared, Tom was gone and in his place stood a large wolf, its shoulder as high as Dan's waist. It was covered in dark brown – almost black – fur and it had strangely human-looking eyes that glittered with intelligence and emotion.

Blinking against the black spots that danced across her vision, Aneisha turned towards Tom, taking in his intelligent eyes, his dark fur, his new form.

"Tom . . ." She breathed, pushing away from Zoe. This time, the redhead let her go, watching as Aneisha stumbled a few steps forward before she suddenly stopped, watching the wolf sadly. As if on cue, Tom padded forward and pushed his nose into Aneisha's palm, whining softly. Aneisha smiled gently and knelt down, pushing her fingers through his fur. Tom's silver eyes fixed on her's as she ruffled his ears. She smiled as she watched his eyes drift shut and when he opened them again, they were the same deep brown she loved.

Zoe looked from Tom and Aneisha to Dan, who reached out for her with one hand. Smiling, Zoe walked towards him until she was close enough that he could wrap his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close as he pressed a kiss to the side of her head through her hair.

"See? I told you I'd be okay." Dan breathed in her ear, his hand running up and down Zoe's side.

Zoe turned to look at him, the corners of her mouth quirking up into her smile. "I knew you would. I trust you to take care of yourself. I just . . . worry, that's all."

Dan smiled as her shirt followed his hand as it continued to move up and down her side, his hand brushing against her bare skin. Zoe made a small noise and squeezed her eyes shut, resting her head against his neck. "Dan . . ."

"Hmm?" Dan asked, wrapping both arms around her waist and pressing his nose against her shoulder.

"If you keep touching me like that, I'm going to have issues waiting until we get home to start ripping your clothes off."

Dan sighed, but he let her shirt fall back into place so that it separated his hands from her skin. He took a deep breath as he dropped his head onto her shoulder. "Damn you, Zo."

Zoe heard Aneisha laughing and she looked at her friend and grinned, seeing Tom lying across her lap.