Volume One:

Chapter One - The Girl

Lexa sat on a wobbly bar stool twiddling her thumbs absently. Solaris - an ironically named converted basement - was packed, as was usual for eleven o'clock on a Friday night. The room filled with an all powerful, driving beat. People head banged religiously while friendly laughter and the familiar stale smell of sweat and beer circled the room. But Lexa was oblivious to all of this.

Enclosed in her own thoughts, the surrounding room might as well have not existed.

"Refill?" A distant voice brought the real world flooring back in and Lexa looked up to see the bartender hovering over her. She stared at him with a confused look spread across her face as she re-adjusted to reality before he nodded to her empty glass and once again asked, "Refill?"

Nodding, Lexa placed a finger on the cool glass and slid it across the bar towards him. As he slipped away, she caught a glance of herself in the mirror opposite her: a girl in her late teens, with soft ivory skin and silky mahogany curles resting on her shoulders, gentle features and dreamily sad expression. She was beautiful. But there was something different about her; something behind her cool grey eyes that twinkled in the light, looking almost inhuman.

But then Lexa wasn't human. She was a shapeshifter. A wolf.

She smiled politely as the bartender placed a new glass of icey water in front of her. Carefully, she wrapped her hands around it and felt the chill in her palms, sharp but pleasant. It was then that Beryl strolled over and pulled a chair roughly next to the seated animal, who smiled upon the arrival of her best friend. Beryl was human and like most of her kind, had no idea that there were creatures roaming around, posing as your average person. Lexa had, on various occasions thought of telling Beryl the truth, but fear had always managed to hold her back. Ashamed, Lexa always scolded herself because she couldn't trust her best friend with her most precious secret.

Beryl grinned brightly, her cornflower blue eyes bright and cheerful as always. She was tall, with long dark hair, falling perfectly straight on either side of her mischievous, pixie face. Staring at her bright expression, Lexa couldn't help but smile.

"C'mon Lex," she cried, in her sweet but not to be argued with voice. "What you doin' sittin' here all on your lonesome?" She cocked her head and gave Lexa a questionable stare.

"Nothin'," came the reply. "What you doin'?" Lexa's voice was quieter, softer.

"Oh, nothing' much…" Beryl spun on her stool, leaning her back against the bar and looking straight ahead, past Lexa and into the crowd of people. She waved and without turning added, "Just making us a bunch of new friends."

Curiously, Lexa turned to the group of people Beryl was waving at. One pair of dark eyes, belonging to a good looking man holding a beer, caught her attention. He smiled. And Lexa had smiled back before she knew what she was doing.

"What was that?" Beryl - who'd had one eye on her friend - asked.

Lexa instantly turned back to the bar, looking as well as feeling guilty and angry at herself for it. "What? Nothing," she lied.

But Beryl wasn't that easily fooled. As though all her attention was suddenly pulled back and tied to Lexa with tiny, invisible strings, she was focusing on her friend closely. "I saw that!" She exclaimed. "Do you like him?"

"No!" Lexa replied, a little too quickly and with her eyes focused intently on the bar.

Beryl rolled her eyes. "What's wrong with this one?" She asked, for what seemed like the millionth time.

"He's just…not my type," Lexa replied.

"You haven't even spoken to him yet…"

"I just know! I mean, he's wearing sneakers! What kind of person wears sneakers to a bar?" She knew what she was saying was completely inconsequential, but for lack of a better excuse, it would have to do.

Beryl looked both bored and annoyed. "Hon, everyone's wearing sneakers. You're wearing sneakers," she explained, raising her eyebrows as she did. Then with a sigh, she relented. "Ok, not this guy…but what guy? What you waitin' for? Mr. Right? You're never gonna find him unless you look."

"Humm…" It was the only reply Lexa had. She couldn't explain it to Beryl; she wouldn't understand. So, with a sigh, Lexa slipped off her stood and with a small, forced smile said, "I think I'm gonna head out…"

Beryl nodded. "Fine. I'll meet you back at home." She smiled and gave Lexa a reassuring pat on the arm. "So, if you don't want him," she continued, sneaking a quick glance in the direction of the man, who seemed to be caught up in a heated discussion with one of his friends. "Can I have him?"

"Go for it." Lexa grinned. "Really, I wish you the best! Get married, have lots of a kids and a big house in the county. And lots of dogs."

"Alright! Now you get outta here." Beryl shoed her away, playfully.

"Gone." And with that, Lexa turned and made her way out into the cool April air.

She didn't feel like going home. Not yet. She just wanted to be out, under the full moon which was diminished unfortunately by the bright city lights. With her hands deep and warm in the pockets of her long and slightly worn midnight black, leather coat, she set off walking through the cold, loud streets.

The wind whistled in her ears, headlights blazed and the dirty smell of pollution and garbage hung around her nose. Strolling along the uneven pavements, Lexa felt instantly calmer, freer and relaxed. She shut her mind off from the present, the past - everything. The wolf took over. The wolf, which had no cares or worries; she just existed in all her purity.

Her senses came alive. A thousand new smells, sounds and sights now surrounded her and Lexa immersed herself in them. It was like she was in a new world. A world that humans could never know or understand. And it was here, Lexa felt most at home.

But then there was something different. Something, almost unnoticeable, down wind and hard to settle on. It wasn't any one sense that was affected, more an all round sensation and Lexa fought to discover its location. Her eyes, capable of seeing clearer and further than any human's, scanned everything within view but there was nothing unusual to be seen. The scent was constantly moving; its location was impossible to track and the sound was so slight, she lost and found it amongst the others around her.

It made her uncomfortable, nervous and confused. She suddenly felt all too visible. She could feel eyes on her from all directions but other than that, there was no evidence she was being watched at all. Still, she felt she had to get out of there. So, she spun on her heal and set off at a quick pace towards her high rise apartment located only a few blocks away.