Tara did not have a good feeling in the pit of her stomach. Oz was leading them into darker and darker parts of the forest, and he didn't her want to cast more than the dimmest light by magic, lest it attract the attention of whoever had kidnapped Willow. But Tara had pointed out that if they couldn't see at all, they'd be crashing around so much anyone and anything would know they were coming. So she'd created a small flame, but kept it covered with her hand most of the time because what Oz said had scared the hell out of her.

"It's pretty neat, the way you do that," he said, suddenly.

"T-th-thank you."

"I'll bet you've taught Willow a lot."

"Well...you know…"

"Bad choice of words."

"No. I mean…you...I never…"

"Just forget it, okay? There are a lot of things we just shouldn't talk about, and some things we shouldn't even get close to."

"O-okay."

They trudged on in further silence for a while.

"How is she?"

"Happy."

"That's good. And you're happy too?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Everybody's happy."

"I mean…not now, obviously, but in general, yeah, we're pretty happy. How have you been?"

It sounded so stupid and trivial the moment it came out of her mouth that Tara wished she could force it back, but it was too late.

Oz stopped and looked at her. "The woman I love is in love with somebody else, she may be in mortal danger, and oh yeah, I'm a werewolf."

Tara couldn't help herself. "So you've had better days."

Oz had to smile. "I've had better decades."

Just then a woodland mouse went running in the opposite direction from the one in which they were walking, and he was struck by a sudden desire to grab it and eat it. He hoped it didn't show.

"He sure seemed to be in a hurry."

"Yeah. Tara…you've got the gun handy, right?"

Tara felt in the bag. "Yeah…why?"

"Just checking. There's a "clip" of about four tranquilizers in there. Any one of them should be enough to take me down if I…if anything happens. But don't be afraid to use more if you have to."

"I won't. Does it hurt?"

"Being tranqued? I never remember. I just wake up from a deep sleep kinda groggy, like when you take a sleeping pill."

"No, I meant—"

"The change? It's excruciating. And it's glorious. And I want it to happen right now more than almost anything in the world."

"What's stopping you?"

"You know what is."

There didn't seem to be anything to say after that, so they walked in silence again for a while.

"Do you know who has Willow, Oz?"

"I have…not even an idea. A fear."

"What?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why?"

"Because it terrifies…but mostly because I'm a werewolf and you're not. Aren't there things you can only tell other witches?"

"Not that many."

"Well, this is one of the few. Legends that werewolves don't even speak about amongst themselves except in the quietest of whispers."

"That bad, huh?" She was trying to keep her voice light, but Oz was really scaring her.

"Let me put it this way. If werewolves had a king…"

"The Alpha-Wolf?"

"The Alpha and the Omega-Wolf."

They had just stepped into a thicket which was pitch-black apart from the light of Tara's flame.

"And he's here," Oz said.

"What?" said Tara.

"He's here. I can feel him. I think all of us can. I think even the dogs and field mice can."

Her hand was on the gun in her bag and she was watching Oz very, very closely.

"And you think he has Willow."

"Yes."

"And if he's already as powerful as you say he is…if he…if this Witches Moon thing is true…"

"Not even Buffy might be able to stop him."