Feedback: Pretty please with a cherry on top! Feedback and criticism (but only constructive) is welcomed and appreciated.

Disclaimer: None of it's mine except the storyline, Chuck and Lucille, Commissioner Newtown, Jonah, Ulrich. If it were, Angel wouldn't have left Buffy in the first place. This is therapy for me. Quotes taken from season 1 and two of BTVS though they may have been changed slightly to suit the authors own storyline.

Rating: Pg - 13, for violence

Pairing: B/A, minor use of other ships e.g. W/O, S/F

Summary: AU. The whole gang are werewolves.

-#-#-

"Buffy!"

She groaned and sat up in bed. "I'm up, Mom!"

"Don't wanna be late for your first day!"

"No…wouldn't want that."

…………

"Hey, Jesse, what's what?" asked Xander.

"New Girl!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"That's right, I saw her. Pretty much a hottie!" Xander smiled.

"I heard someone was transferring…" said Willow craning her head for another look

………….

"Can I help you?" asked Xander squatting down to pick up the fallen textbooks.

Buffy smiled gratefully, "Thanks."

"I don't know you, do I?"

"I'm Buffy. I'm new."

…………

"Uh, Hi! Willow, right?" Buffy asked, slightly unsure.

Willow jumped nervously and looked ready to bolt. "Why? I-I mean, hi! Uh, did you want me to move?"

Buffy chuckled. "Why don't we start with 'Hi, I'm Buffy,' and, uh, then let's go directly into me asking you for a favour. It doesn't involve moving, but it does involve hanging out with me for a while."

…………

"What are you talking about?" asked Willow.

"Some guy was stuffed in Aura's locker!" exclaimed Cordelia.

"Dead?"

"Totally dead. Way dead."

"It's not just a little dead then?"

Willow and Xander exchanged looks.

"Er, Buffy we've got somewhere to be now so, er…"

"Well, that's okay I can come with you if you…"

"No! No, that's all right, er, we gotta go, bye" and without another word they were off leaving behind a very bewildered Buffy.

…………..

"Giles! Merrick! Kendra! Yo, anyone?" called Xander, coming through the library doors with Willow on his heels.

Giles popped his head from around the stacks of books.

"Sorry?"

"You heard about the dead guy, right? The dead guy in the locker?"

Giles stepped into the light and made his way down the stairs."Yes."

"Well?"

Giles sighed and took his glasses off to clean them. "Kendra is on the case and Merrick is helping as best he can."

"And? Does Angel know?"

"Yes." Two pairs of eyes looked at him expectantly. He put his glasses back on and assuaged their unvoiced fear.

"But we think it was a vampire. That is more Kendra's area of expertise and nothing for the pack to worry about."

…………..

She walked down the darkened street; heading to where she thought the Bronze was when she got the strange feeling that something was watching her. Whirling round she saw absolutely nothing. There was a young couple out walking on the other side of the pavement but they were completely engrossed in each other. A cat leaped out of an alleyway to her left, knocking over cans in its wake and she jumped.

"It's a damn cat, Buffy. Get a grip on yourself."

Shaking her head at her own stupidity she carried on walking, but her pace increased and the sensation of being followed haunted her all the way to the Bronze. It was with a sense of relief she reached her final destination. And a pair of glowing, amber eyes watched from the bushes.

………….

"Murder, death, disaster. What else?" Wondered Willow as they walked down the corridor to class.

"Paranormal, unexplained, did you get natural disasters?" said Xander.

"Earthquake, flood," chipped in Faith.

"Rain of Toads?" Offered Spike.

………………

"So, Merrick! Got anything that can make this day any worse?"

"How about the end of the world?

………………

"It comes once in a century, on this night. The Master can draw power from one of his minions while it feeds. Enough power to break free and open the portal. The minion is called the Vessel, and he bears this symbol," explained Merrick to the assembled pack and his slayer, drawing a three-pointed star on a whiteboard.

"So, I kill anyone wearing dat symbol and dere will be no Harvest?" Queried Kendra.

"Simply put, yes."

"Any idea where this little get-together is being held?" Asked Spike, inhaling a deep drag on his cigarette.

"There, there are a number of possibilities…" began Giles.

"They're goin' to the Bronze," said Xander.

"Are you sure?" Willow asked.

"Come on. All those tasty young morsels all over the place? Anyway, that's where Jesse's gonna be, trust me." There was no uncertainty in his voice.

"Then we should get there. The sun will be down before long," said Angel seriously and muttered low under his breath, "and I'm getting hungry."

……………

"I take it it's over," said Giles sheathing his claws.

"Did we win?" Asked Willow, her red- brown fur retracting into her skin.

"Well, we averted the apocalypse. I give us points for that," said Faith, brushing vampire dust off her self.

"One thing's for sure: nothing's ever gonna be the same," said Xander as they left the Bronze, trouping off into the night.

Angel paused for a moment and scanned the Bronze but found nothing and ran to join the others.

"Yes," muttered Buffy to herself, coming out from behind a pillar in the bronze where she had been hiding. "You got that right."

…………….

"Well, I heard it was rival gangs. You know, fighting for turf? But all I can tell you is they were an ugly way of looking. And there were these huge like, dogs! Which is just too weird. I mean, I don't even remember that much, but I'm telling you, it was a freak show! " Exclaimed Cordelia.

"Oh, I wish I'd been there!" said her friend.

Cordelia nodded sympathetically. "You should have been there. It was so creepy…"

"What exactly were you expecting?" said Giles as the pack walked past the two chattering girls in the corridor.

"I don't know, something. I mean, the dead rose. We should at least have an assembly," said Xander in disbelief.

"People have a tendency to rationalize what they can and forget what they can't," said Angel, pushing open the library door. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"What, what is it?" asked Xander, pushing past Angel until the entire group was inside.

Buffy, perched on the library table glared at them.

"Care to explain what the hell happened at the Bronze last night?"

Angel sighed. "Then again, there are always exceptions."

………….

She raised an eyebrow. "And you're all werewolves, 'cept for Kendra and Merrick, who are in fact, human with nifty powers."

"Actually," said Merrick "Only Kendra has the powers, as her Watcher I just…"

"Watch?" offered Buffy.

"Yes! No!" He exhaled loudly. "A watcher, he, he trains her, he prepares her…"

"And what? Now she's got her own lil' group of blood hounds? Like Lassie?"

There was a loud growl from Angel. "We are NOT dogs…"

"But not human?"

Giles took his glasses off and cleaned them needlessly again. It seemed to be a habit of his, Buffy noted.

"In Mythology werewolves are entities that are human but shape shift into animal form during certain lunar aspects which affect their DNA.The word 'werewolf' or 'lycanthrope' actually comes from the Greek words lykoi, "wolf" and anthropos, "man". In reality the change can be voluntary (at will), or can be forced by certain cycles of the moon, for example the full moon and the two nights surrounding it."

"He loves saying that," said Xander to Buffy with a smirk.

………………….

"So were you guys, like, born this way or did you get bitten?" asked Buffy, idly flipping through her history textbook in the library.

Willow looked up at her from across the table, where she was completing an essay.

"Um, well Giles was bitten ages ago by this guy. He's dead now by hunters," she said answering Buffy's questioning look. "Anyways, most of the pack were bitten by each other or infected people, but Faith, her brother Penn, and Angel were all born into werewolf families."

……………….

The flashes came quicker now. People and places, family, friends merging into one another, scenes morphing into memories of the past…

…………..

Angel settled back onto the bed and folded his hands under his head. "Does Xander know he doesn't stand a chance?"

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "We're going out for coffee on Friday."

"What?"

Buffy smothered a grin at Angel's decidedly frosty tone. "Will's coming with us and Faith and Spike said they might drop by too."

………..

"Ah, Miss French. You two are probably a little young to understand what an older woman would see in a younger man."

"Oh, I understand," said Buffy smirking.

"Good!" said Xander triumphantly.

"The younger man is too dumb to wonder why an older woman can't find someone her own age, and too desperate to care about the surgical improvements!"

"What surgical improvements?" he asked bemused.

"Well, he is young", said Willow smiling patronizingly at Xander.

"And so terribly innocent!" added Buffy.

.………..

Owen left and Buffy stared after him. She sighed. "That was Owen."

"Yes, I know," said Giles, picking up a handful of returned books. "Does Angel know?"

"Is it a crime now to date anyone else in this school?" She glared at him. "Angel and I aren't even a couple!"

Giles raised an eyebrow. "I was merely saying..."

"Well don't."

………...

"Come on, Angel pushes your buttons. You know he does," said Willow leaning forward conspiratorially.

"I suppose some girls might find him good looking...if they have eyes, alright, he's a honey, but... it's just he's never around at school, and when he is he ignores me, plus there's the whole werewolf thing – no offence Will- but he isn't gonna want to date some one who's human, someone like me …" she trailed off miserably.

………..

"Angel showed up. He could smell it."

"The blood? There's a guy you wanna party with."

………….

"Did... she have a date?"
"Well... Well, why do you think she went to that party? Because you gave her the brush-off Angel!"

……….

Angel

Angel

Angel

ANGEL

"ANGEL!"

Buffy woke up suddenly, her screaming still ringing in her ears.

She scrunched up her eyes tightly, trying to slide the images of her past back into her memory as they crowed and jostled in her head for a place. She found she was breathing hard and her heart was racing. Trying to calm herself down she finally took in her surroundings - only to gasp in astonishment.

She was curled up next to Angel, her head pillowed on his chest, rising and falling with each gentle breath he took. She smiled bemusedly but contentedly and snuggled further into his embrace. His arms tightened unconsciously around her and for the first time in days Buffy felt protected, safe, loved.

She debated waking him up and asking how she had been rescued but thought better of it – her curiosity could wait – and decided to enjoy the moment. She must have dozed off again because someone gently opening the door woke her.

Willow peeked her head around the door and spotting Buffy smiled. She walked in and closing the door softly behind her sat on the edge of the bed. Although Willow was smiling she looked rather melancholy.

"What's up Will?" asked Buffy gently.

Willow looked at her but it almost felt like she was looking through her.

"Hey Buffy, well you'll be glad to hear that today Connor got married to that girl I was telling you about, remember, the one he met at college? Amy Phillips, you know? The pretty shy one, with the long blonde hair." Willow smiled sadly.

"It was really nice, not too posh, quiet, close friends and family – you'd have liked it. Amy looked really beautiful and Conner, he's grown up fast, quite the gentleman now. You'd have been so proud of him Buffy." By this time Buffy was now growing seriously worried and not a little scared.

"Will, what the hell are you talking about. Since when was Connor getting married or for that fact going to college?" She looked concernedly at her best friend. "Do you feel sick? Maybe you're running a temperature…"

She went to put her hand on Willow's forehead only to find it went straight through her. She jumped back yelling. "What the-"

And suddenly they were no longer in Angel's bedroom but sitting on the grass in a cemetery.

"What is happening here?" She asked no one in particular, stamping her foot petulantly. "Willow?" she turned to her friend who was now standing up from the grass and getting ready to go.

"I wish you could have been there Buffy. Angel missed you. We all did." And without another word she turned and began to walk out.

"But I'm right here. You were talking to me I…" she trailed off as everything clicked. She was standing in a graveyard. Her hand had gone through Willow's head. And her friend wasn't talking to her. No not to her.

To her gravestone.

-#-#-

The next time that Buffy woke she was curled up next to someone but it wasn't Angel. Her head was pillowed on someone's (and it appeared to be male) chest, rising and falling with each gentle breath that person took. But she did not smile contentedly; neither did she snuggle further into the embrace. Arms did tighten unconsciously around her and not for the first time in as many days did Buffy feel slightly worried, confused and, most importantly, very, very annoyed.

(Reliving your past, and then waking up next to your mate thinking you had been rescued, only to find out you were still dreaming was oft known to make a person extremely grouchy).

She threw off the arms that were holding her to it and tried to move.

Emphasis on the word tried.

White-hot pain lanced through her legs as she attempted to move them, stabbing knives of agony attacking her body. 'Ow!' would have been an understatement.

"Are you alright?" said the corpse next to her.

She would have jumped, but the movement hurt too much, so she stayed were she was and folded her arms defiantly, ignoring the question and gritting her teeth.

"Okay, Ulrich, tell why I'm lying next to you in your cell before I rip out your voice box very slowly."

"Obviously you're not a morning person," muttered Ulrich. Buffy's hearing picked it up though and her eyes narrowed. "Look it's like this, last night the soldiers actually got lucky and captured some demons – four or five I think. Anyway they've run out of cells so you got put in with me."

Buffy looked at him incredulously. "What, do these guys need a cell each? How big are they?"

Ulrich smiled. "Oh it's not size that matters, it's the fact that the are prone to attack members of their own species or anybody else and digest their bodily fluids; that means they've got a cosy cell all of their own."

Buffy wrinkled her nose. "Eew, and I thought Xander was gross." She paused. "That still doesn't explain why I was using you as my personal bed. Care to explain?"

He shrugged and raised his hands helplessly. "You were shivering, your leg was throbbing and you were muttering in your sleep, what was I meant to do? Leave you where they chucked you? If it makes you feel any better I wouldn't have touched you with a bargepole otherwise." He rolled his eyes in despair. "Women!"

If Ulrich thought he'd dug himself out of that one he was sadly mistaken.

Buffy's eyes became slits. "What do you mean you wouldn't have touched me otherwise?

-#-#-

The werewolves growled at each other and circled warily.

"I don't give a damn about how you think you've been taking care of her – you've obviously been doing a completely crap job of it!"

"Oh lay off it old man, who's pack leader here, Angel or you?" asked Spike contemptuously from the sidelines.

"Who's older and wiser and…"

"Yeah, the key word there is old…"

Giles growled in warning. "Be careful Spike about how you speak to your elders, otherwise one day I might have to teach you the meaning of respect. And believe me I'll enjoy every minute of it."

"Spike, leave it," said Angel glancing at his beta.

"I'd like to see that," muttered Spike but he was cowed and slunk back to join Faith.

Giles turned back to Angel.

"I thought that I could ensure the pack's safety in your hands and clearly I was wrong."

"Do you think I don't care about her as much as you? Is that it? She's my …"

Angel

Angel

Angel

ANGEL

"ANGEL!"

Buffy's pain filled tones echoed round in their heads and the argument that was in full flow stopped immediately. Angel staggered slightly as Buffy cried out his name in distress.

"Buffy, where are you, love?"

-#-#-

Thanks to all of my reviewers!

Rbritsmom73 Well I'm glad I have your continued support : )

Kerry Thanks for reviewing. Soz, can't kill off Dawn, at least not in this one.

Sarah A. David I am so glad you like my story. And thank you for reviewing. And now you won't have to miss Giles because his wonderful werewolf presence is now here.
Angelic Evility Oh that's another person hooked. I really need to start a clinic soon for you all junkies to go into B/A rehab. Thanks for the lovely comment.

Britt I hope he does soon too, I don't know how much of this writing malarkey I can keep doing ; ) Guess you'll have to keep reading and see.

RedsLover03 You assume correctly my dear.

Charli Aaw, thanks Charli.

Anna Thanks for your lovely comments and thank you for reviewing.

Samhain Vampiress No they weren't predestined mates, they just really liked each other and have grown extremely close – they are soul mates. It also seems you like a bit of torture hmm? I'll see what I can do…

RedsLover03 Giles is her father figure and he treats her like a daughter.

PLEASE REVIEW THIS STORY! I got ten reviews last time - a record achievement for me, thanks to you guys!

Please continue to write your support, ideas and general comments, they really are appreciated.