Typical Disclaimer: This story has the typical violence you'll see in the show along with all the angst. I try not to get too off character or too violent, but I'm giving it a mature rating just to be on the safe side.

I of course own nothing and get nothing but the satisfaction of writing the story and hopefully making it enjoyable for others as well. Comments are always welcome, good or bad. Thank you to everyone and I hope you have been enjoying it.

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''My dear, I doubt you could keep up even with me being hurt," Kim grinned up to him as she passed by and opened the door.

''Oh really?" he smirked. But she could see the dejected look in his eyes. She reached up and touched his cheek lightly. ''Maybe another time," she said softly as she stepped out the door and headed to her own room.

Dean watched her enter her room and then went to Michael's and knocked.

Sam got up from the table to answer the knock on the door. Dean walked in as Sam stepped back. "You guys find anything yet?" Dean asked as he sat down on the end of Michael's bed.

Sam smirked as he sat back down, "where's Kim?"

"She went back to her room; said she needed to work out or something." Dean mumbled with a slight pout that only Sam would notice.

Sam's smirk got a little bigger as he turned back to the laptop, "we're looking up their medical records right now."

---

"Well," Sam finally said after a great deal of searching, "looks like they all reported being bitten by a wild dog in the park. They were treated and released. No one ever found the dog though."

"Not much to go on," Dean paused in his knife sharpening and frowned. "Don't tell me we're going to have to wait a month before we can come back after this thing?"

"Nope," Michael smiled up at them, "because I just found another dog bite victim that hasn't turned up dead from our little excursions yet."

---

"You've got to be kidding me?" Dean shook his head as he read over the profile of

Pete McCrory. "This guy is a vet and a dog breeder. Apparently he got bit by a stray someone brought in after hitting it with their car. Looks like he was the first dog bite victim in the last year or so, but he wasn't bit at the park. He's around dogs all the time, of course he's going to get bit. What makes you think he's our werewolf?"

"Well," Michael began, "he had to go to the hospital for the bite and no one else has reported one. His was the first in the series of dog bite complaints in the park too." "It's our best lead, so I say we go check him out," Sam added as he closed his laptop and packed it away. Dean nodded, "alright," and headed out to the door to get their gear.

---

"I'm sorry, but Dr. McCrory doesn't see anyone normally if they don't have a pet. I'll ask, but are you sure I can't help you with your questions?" the receptionist asked as Sam stood at the counter. "No thank you, I'd feel more comfortable speaking with the doctor himself, please."

It took some waiting, but eventually Dr. McCrory asked Sam back to his office. As they both sat down Pete asked, "so how can I help you?" Sam coughed nervously, "well, I was thinking about getting a dog and I've been reading about their care, but I was concerned about getting bit. I heard that you had a run-in and wanted to get your expert advice."

They spoke for almost an hour before Sam left the office and returned to where Dean was waiting for him in the parking lot. "I need to stop sending you into places that involve doctors. You always leave me waiting out here forever." Dean grumbled as Sam got in the car. Sam smiled and shook his head lightly, "well, I think this might be our guy. Apparently the dog got hit on the road that goes around the park."

Dean frowned, "what is the significance of this park, I mean, why do they all seem to gravitate there? This doctor lives all the way on the other side of town from it. Normal behavior would dictate that he hunt around his neighborhood. Of course nothing about this hunt has been normal."

"Well, my thoughts are this guy is a dog breeder. The way he talked about the pack mentality and how you have to be the 'alpha' dog when you're training them. Maybe, just maybe, when he infects someone that mentality gets transferred. So, when it's transformation time, they have this desire to get back with the pack," Sam offered, though he didn't sound overly confident about it.

Dean nodded, "and I guess our doctor in there is the alpha giving the pack instructions?"

"I don't know, maybe." Sam whispered.

"Ok, so we wait until he gets off work and we take care of him. We can either do it now or later tonight after he's home. Tonight would probably be better," Dean started the car and headed out of the parking lot.

"What? Are you nuts?" Sam blurted, "he's a human right now Dean. We can't just kill him. We have assumptions about him, but no proof. We have to make absolutely sure before we do anything."

"Well we can't exactly wait around for another month before we figure it out. We need to find a way to determine it now." Dean huffed as he drove towards the motel. However, when he reached the intersection, he turned right instead of left. "Where are you going," Sam asked looking out the window. Dean pointed at the map, "Tell me where the doc lives and we'll check his place out while he's at work. Is he married?"

"Uhh, doesn't say that he is. That's weird too. There were no pictures of family in his office either that I can remember. Just pictures of pets." Sam frowned at his papers as he sifted through them looking for information about a possible family.

Pete's house was out in the county where he had plenty of land for the dogs he was raising. They drove down the long driveway to the house. It was pretty open, with only a few trees throughout the front yard that looked like it hadn't been cut for a month. The house was well kept otherwise and there didn't appear to be any other vehicles parked in front. They stopped the Impala and went to the front door, ringing the bell and listening to its chiming inside the large house. After ringing it a second time, they decided to head around to the back of the house where they found a large fenced in area surrounded by other smaller fenced in sections joined to the larger section by gates. In each of the smaller sections were dogs. German Shepards and Siberian Huskies all stood up as they came around the house, some barking and others just wagging their tails. A couple of them had pups running around in the cage with them.

Sam nudged Dean's arm with his elbow and pointed to the very back. A section, larger than the kennels, but smaller than the main caged area, was constructed of thicker metal slats that caused Sam to shiver as it reminded him a little of the cage he was put in by the Benders family. They could see there was a large dog in the cage, but it was just sitting there staring at them. Dean led the way as they moved around towards the back cage to get a closer look. A deep growling greeted them as they got close and fierce eyes that shone through made Sam shiver again. "It's a wolf," Dean's voice distracted Sam and he blinked trying to keep from looking at it in the eye.

Sam started looking around at the other dogs, "they're all female." Dean smirked at him, "dude, you're checking out the dogs?" Sam frowned, "shut up. The wolf is the only male. He's breeding hybrids." Dean glanced at him, "so." Sam shrugged, "just an observation, I guess."

Dean noticed the frown on Sam's face that he gets when he concentrating or thinks something that he's afraid to say. He watched as Sam moved closer to the wolf and looked into the cage. The wolf just stared at him intently making the hairs on the back of Sam's neck stand on end. As he stood next to the cage and placed a hand on one of the bars the wolf stood up and walked over to where he was, still watching his every move. Not once did it look towards Dean, just always Sam. Just as the wolf was getting up to Sam's hand, Dean grabbed Sam's arm and jerked his hand way. This caused the wolf to suddenly growl, bark, and claw at the cage towards Dean. Both the boys took quick steps away from the cage, almost tripping over themselves in the process.

"Damn!" Dean cursed as he drug Sam backwards with him, not that it was much effort since Sam was backpedaling himself. "Ok, we hide the Impala and wait for the doc to come home," Dean whispered, then grabbed Sam's arm and pulled him a little towards the front of the house. Sam nodded and followed. They parked the Impala down the street at the first area they could find that actually had some bushes and trees to hide it. They quickly grabbed their guns and made sure the silver bullets were loaded before walking back to Pete's house and hiding behind the bushes that grew out of control because they were never attended to in the back yard against the house.

Dean glanced at his watch impatiently. The dogs had settled down and just lie in the sun or shade for the few that got evening shade from the sparse trees. Sam shifted uncomfortably and nervously chewed on either his lower lip or his thumb nail.

The dogs standing up or shifting their attention towards the house was their first indicator that Pete was home. Then they heard the car pulling into the driveway and stopping by the house. After typical noises from doors opening and shutting they finally saw Pete coming around from the side of the house with a wheelbarrow full of dog food and a large while sack on top. The first thing he did was enter the main portion of the kennel and go all the way to the back where the wolf was. He grabbed the white bag and opened the door, immediately snapping orders in a harsh tone before emptying the contents of the bag into the cage. He then proceeded to take the wheelbarrow and feed each of the other dogs in the other kennels. As he headed for and opened the kennel gate one the side closest to Dean and Sam the wolf began howling and barking.

After a second or two Pete turned towards the house and yelled, "Come out and show yourselves!" Dean and Sam tensed, but didn't move so Pete yelled again, "if you don't show yourselves I'm calling the police." They saw him reach into his pocket and pull out his cell phone. "Ok, ok!" Dean yelled back indicating to Sam that he was to remain in place and quiet. Sam frowned, but remained in his hiding place. Dean stepped from behind the bushes and casually started walking towards Pete; "I'm with the local animal protection agency …" he started but was cut off by Pete. "Tell you friend to come out too."

"Friend? What friend?" Dean asked, trying to put his most confused expression on his face. Pete scowled, "I know there is someone else there with you, now tell him to come out as well." Dean held his hands out to the sides and walked towards Pete, "there's no one with me. I'm just here to check up on your dogs that's all. Make sure you're taking care of them properly." Pete opened his cell phone and started dialing, "you tell him to come out right now or I'll have the police arrest your for trespassing!" As Dean grew closer Pete looked at him hard, it was then he noticed a sudden expression of recognition and fear swept over Pete's face, "you?" Pete started backing up, his eyes wide in fear. Dean stared at him in confusion as he turned and ran back towards the wolf's cage.

"Pete?" Dean yelled at him, "Pete, wait!" It didn't help, Pete ran to the wolf's cage and opened the door. The gate to the kennel was still open and, after Pete barked a command, the wolf began running full speed towards the gate and Dean standing beyond it with teeth bared and a snarl coming from deep in its throat. Dean took only a fraction of a second to compose himself and began a full run towards the gate in hopes of reaching it before the wolf could reach him. Sam yelled and stepped out from his hiding place pulling his gun from his belt, but he couldn't take aim on the wolf because Dean was between them.

Dean ran as fast as he could, but the wolf was just coming at him too fast. He was concentrating on the gate but could see the wolf past his focus and for a brief second he thought the saw red in the eyes. As much as he wanted to verify, he had to get that gate. As he reached the fence he allowed himself to slide and hit it hard, but that kept him from wasting any time slowing down. The impact with the side of the fence knocked the breath out of him but he grabbed the gate quickly and pulled it to him just as the wolf jumped towards him, hitting the gate instead of Dean. The latch caught and Dean crawled backwards as fast as he could as the wolf tried to bit through the gate and started digging under it. Sam moved up quickly with his gun pointed over Dean's head at the wolf.

Dean sat, leaning back on his hands, panting heavily as he tried to regain his breath. He rubbed his chest lightly where the fence pole had hit him; it'll be a rough bruise to be sure. He heard Sam walk up behind him and glanced up smirking, then picked himself up off the ground and watched Pete walk across the kennel heading for the fence. Sam stepped in front of Dean, "stay away from the gate Dr. McCrory. Please." Pete looked at Sam and spat, "so you just want to know about having a dog as a pet, huh?" The wolf continued to dig at the ground where the fence and gate met, quickly making a hole. Its head could get under, but not his body yet.

"Call off the dog, dude," Dean told Pete as he stepped up beside Sam. "Don't think we'll hesitate to shoot that mutt it if it comes at us." Pete walked up close to the wolf and barked a "Heel" command and it immediately obeyed. He gave a "stay" command and walked to the gate, the wolf staying behind where it was. Dean looked at Pete as the doctor's features began to twist into something Dean could only describe as insanity. His lips twisted into a snarl and his eyes widened as he almost stomped his feet in the grass walking and opening the gate, "How dare you come onto my property after what you did them!" Pete flung opened the gate so hard it swung around and hit the fence, the wolf shifted and snarled, showing Dean his teeth again, but didn't move from its spot. Sam kept the gun trained on Pete and Dean drew his not sure of Pete's intentions.

Pete was near foaming at the mouth as he spat curses in their direction, but it was several phrases that caught their attention the most, "… killed my pack … have to start over … time it takes to train …" They were so caught up in his ranting that they never saw the hand signal he'd given or the wolf slowly making its way out of the kennel.

"Stay back!" Sam warned as Pete got closer. In his rage and ranting, they finally got their confirmation that he was the one. Pete's eyes changed, they yellowed and grew wider, his teeth grew and his jaw began to jut forward and expand. They'd let him get too close and when he moved it was so quick and unexpected that Sam almost didn't see the wolf in time. Pete lunged at Dean, grabbing the gun and picking him up by the throat before throwing him backwards. Sam started to fire on him when he saw the wolf leaping towards him. He dropped backwards and rolled quickly to his right as the wolf landed behind where he'd been standing and would have certainly knocked Sam to the ground if he hadn't moved. Rolling to his side he aimed the gun as the wolf turned to attack again and fired two shots into the head and chest of the canine.

Dean landed roughly almost hitting his head on the concrete porch of the house. As Pete rushed forwards, his face continued to distort as did most of his body. Clothes began tearing as his legs and arms lengthened and his chest broadened. His snout grew along with the fangs and Dean had lost his gun.

The gunshots attracted both of their attentions, fear shooting through Dean like lightning when he heard the wolf's snarl and then yelp. He took the chance to look in Sam's direction when Pete did the same thing and was relieved to see Sam starting to get up and the wolf laying still on the grass. Pete became enraged and turned his attention to Sam, using all four limbs to accelerate and propel his body quickly over the short distance as Sam tried to stand up.

Whether he had been interested in biting them to begin with, he definitely wasn't interested now. As Pete impacted into Sam's side and sent them tumbling, he used his claws the rake Sam's back, chest, and neck. Sam cried out in pain, trying desperately to angle his gun to shoot, but all his body wanted to do was curl up onto itself in an attempt to relieve some of the burning pain he was feeling. He heard gunshots and felt a burning sensation through his arm that made him cry out again. He felt a heavy weight on him and it was making it difficult to breathe. He looked at the ground curiously as a small pool of dark liquid began forming in front of him as his sight darken and he fell unconscious.

---

"You're damn lucky you were able to get him to the hospital before he bled out. You should have never done there without me." Sam could hear the woman's voice and it sounds familiar, but his mind was still foggy. "We were just checking the place out and things just happened." Sam was pretty sure that had been Dean's voice. "You could have both been killed or worse, you could have been bitten and become one of those things." Sam was now positive that the woman was Kim.

"Hush! Both of you, he's waking up," Michael snapped at them as Sam began to shift in the hospital bed. Sam opened his eyes to Dean hovering over him. "Hey there kiddo, how ya doing? You had me a little worried there," Dean said with a smirk on his face. Sam blinked a few times and looked around the room. Kim was sitting over on a small couch and Michael was walking around to sit next to her. She looked angry, but her features softened when she saw Sam looking at her, "glad to see you're awake." Sam looked back to Dean, "how long have I been out of it." Dean shrugged, "only a few hours. I was afraid Pete had hit your artery or something the way you were bleeding, but the neck wound wasn't as bad, you just bleed like an opened dam," Dean teased before turning towards Kim and Michael, "so what now?"

"Nothing more to do." Kim's face suddenly became taunt and Michael looked down at the floor. She stood up and walked out of the room saying over her shoulder as she left, "I'm glad you're ok Sam." Michael stood up and stopped Dean as he started to follow her out, "what does that mean?" Michael frowned, "she took care of all the dogs and Pete's body. She didn't take a chance on any of them not being infected." Dean frowned, "damn." Michael nodded, "yeah."

Michael shook Dean's hand and waved to Sam as he left the room, "see you guys back at the motel." Dean nodded and sat down in the chair next to his brother. The doctor came in and out and wanted to keep Sam overnight, but Sam refused. He was feeling sore and light headed, but he knew how much Dean hated being in hospitals. He would have signed himself out AMA, but Dean actually told him to stay put. Dean stayed on the small couch frowning for most of the evening, but he refused to leave Sam's side and refused to let Sam leave the hospital until the doctors were confident that he was going to be ok.

It didn't surprise Dean in the least, as they drove up to the motel room; the parking space where the Tahoe had been parked was empty. Sam noticed his brother's frown and subtle pout, "I'm sorry man." Dean looked up at him, "for what?" Sam smiled lightly, "I know you wanted to say good bye or see her again before she left," the smirk on Sam's face almost made Dean blush, so Dean did as he always does and huffed, "shut up." Sam laughed as they entered the room and found a small note on the laptop that read simply:

Thanks for the help. Take care of Sammy and yourself. –Kim.

---

Kim and Michael packed their bags in their respective rooms. Kim gathered everything and threw it into the Tahoe. Michael had asked her if she wanted to wait for Dean and Sam to come back, but she'd refused and left a note in their room.

Michael was alone in his room packing his things. At the sink he removed the bandage from his arm and looked at his smooth skin. He threw the bandage into the trash can and pulled the bandage from his chest. Glancing at himself in the mirror he smiled lightly. He threw the white bandages into the trash can and replaced them with fresh ones and then got dressed.

They climbed into the Tahoe, Michael driving. Kim took a couple of the prescribed pain pills since it was going to be a long ride and her shoulder was bothering her a little. As they traveled on the Interstate and Kim began to doze off, Kim mumbled lightly, "I'm glad that's over with … I hate werewolves …" Michael just glanced over towards her and smiled lightly before returning his eyes to the road.

end