Hey there! So sorry, having multiple stories running is proving very difficult. But I remain a devout wolf worshipper, and this just HAD to go up as soon as I could manage. Here you go, Megan! Enjoy, everyone!

Megan awoke to the scent of wood smoke and an unbearable burning pain in her leg. Giving a small sob of pain as she forced her eyes open, her gaze met with the rafters of what looked like some sort of cabin, complete with a musty deer head on the wall. She lowered her gaze, seeing she was laid on a couch, a warm fleece blanket covering her body, which was...missing some clothing.

She jerked upright, clutching the blanket to her chest and pulling her leg away from Tyler, who held a bottle of Iodine in one hand, and a few cottonballs in the other.

"Easy," he soothed, setting down the medical supplies and raising his arms in a placating gesture.

"Where the fuck are my clothes, you sick perv? Where am I?" Megan demanded, attempting to scramble backwards off the couch; a fresh surge of pain in her leg halted her movements quickly, and she blinked back tears, awaiting an explanation.

Tyler rose to his feet, backing up a few feet and pointing towards the fire. Following his pointing finger, Megan saw her clothes hanging on a cord strung across the front of the fireplace, effectively drying them. All of them. Tyler could probably go accurately bra-shopping for her now. She winced, looking back at Tyler, who shoved his hands in his pockets, looking uncomfortable. "Our clothes were wet...I didn't want you to get sick on top of being injured. And I would never take advantage of a woman like that." He turned on his heel and left the room, leaving Megan to absorb the small exchange of words.

Easing herself back onto the couch properly, Megan rearranged the blanket around her, feeling bad for her accusations. She just...She felt weak, she was in a strange man's crazed recluse-status cabin, and no matter how...attractive he was,she had to sort out what was going on.

She turned her head toward the doorway where Tyler had disappeared, as he returned with a backpack in hand. That backpack looked...familiar...

"How on earth did you get my backpack back?" She asked, running her hands along the familiar material as he placed it on the couch next to her.

"I asked the bears nicely," he joked, winking and moving towards the fire, repositing the rapidly-drying clothes. "You've been out a while...When I brought you back here, I cleaned that gash as well as I could with what I've got here. When I had done all I could, I headed back to where I found you; I remembered seeing a backpack. The bears were gone, so I grabbed it. And to answer your other question, this cabin has been in my family for years. I've...been staying here recently. And you should be glad, otherwise you'd be bear food."

He turned from the fire and met her uncertain gaze for a moment, before her eyes dropped, long lashes hiding them from his. She shifted uneasily, working a strap on her backpack between her fingers. "Thank you."

He smiled widely, breaking the awkward tension completely. "You're welcome. Now, about that wound...it's really not too bad, one of those that is so shallow it just likes to bleed a lot. Did the bear do that?"

She blushed, biting her lip. "No...The larger bear surprised me, and I...fell. But can we keep that between us? I'd like an epic story to take home..." She trailed off as Tyler let out a bark of laughter, shaking his head.

"We'll keep it between us, but I can't speak for the bears. Gossipy things, they are," he said, trying to keep a straight face and failing as another grin broke across his features. Jerking a thumb towards her backpack, he looked at her questioningly. "Do you have spare clothes in there, or should we wait on the ones drying?"

She pulled the backpack closer to her. "I have spare clothes, yeah..." She blushed, glancing up at Tyler. He got the message, heading towards the doorway he'd come from earlier. "I'll, uh, get you something...I know for a fact you haven't eaten in ages." At her nod, he disappeared, and she could soon hear bottles clinking.

Delving into her backpack, she pulled out a spare outfit, setting it aside and digging through her other belongings, finding a hairbrush and a spare tube of mascara. Score. So what if she was in the wilderness? A girl could try to look her best without shame...

The fact that she was indeed in the wilderness suddenly became clear in her head. She was probably filthy. She also still did not know the name of the man who had rescued her. Clearing her throat loudly, she called out. "I, uh, still don't know your name."

He yelled back, "It's Tyler. And the shower is through the door to your left."

Her eyes went wide; it was like he had read her thoughts. Shaking her head, she gathered her things and clutched the blanket around her, awkwardly shuffling in that direction.

A short time later, Megan emerged from the lukewarm shower, simply marveling that she was clean. She had put on a cheerful blue tank top, showcasing her tan, such as it was, and dark capris that she had carefully inched up her legs, trying to avoid her leg wound.

The leg in question was still throbbing, and she winced as she hobbled back to the couch, tossing the blanket onto the back and easing herself onto it. Looking down at her leg, she saw the blood had finally stopped flowing. The low table in front of the couch still held Iodine and other supplies, so she gingerly applied some more antibiotics, gritting her teeth and bandaging her leg.

She had almost finished when Tyler returned, placing a steaming bowl of soup and a bottle of water in front of her. "You better get a decent meal in you, you're practically wasting away. We need to keep your strength up."

She reddened, glancing down at her curvy figure and back again, appreciating his subtle compliment but feeling awkward. She reached for the bottle of water, smiling her thanks at him, and downed a mouthful quickly.

Tyler left a moment later, heading out the front door and saying something about needing to chop more wood. Megan occupied herself trying to visualize him chopping wood, all sweaty in his plaid shirt, no, wait, shirtless...Resisting the urge to fan herself, she rose, pacing around the main room as best she could, trying not to jar her leg against anything. She paused in front of a large wall calendar, staring at a date circled multiple times in red ink.

Peering closer, she saw it was tonight, the night of the full moon. She frowned, seeing red lines drawn through the days before and after it as well. They were all marked. Curious, she lifted the page showing this month, and looked at the next month, and the previous month. They were marked exactly the same way. Why? She hurriedly re-tacked the calendar to the wall, nearly shrieking when she turned to find Tyler right behind her, staring hard over her head at the circled dates. How had he entered so silently...?

She was almost too startled to notice how sweaty he was, how unbuttoned his shirt was, how his chest heaved a bit...Almost. But in the split second they held each other's eyes, Megan could have sworn she saw a predatory glint in Tylers'. Just for a moment. Then it was gone, blinked away as he moved past her to adjust the calendar on the wall. "I...like stargazing and stuff, if you were wondering." He nervously patted down the tacks holding it in place one last time, then turned to her. "Do you feel alright now?"

Megan nodded numbly, awkwardly wringing her hand and turning away to disguise her movements. Something didn't add up...stargazing on the few days the moon was at its brightest, and most likely to overshadow the actual stars? She was forced to abandon that train of thought at the next station, as Tyler flopped down on the small couch with a gusty sigh and motioned to the spot next to him. "That's great you're feeling better. Not sure what I would have done if the situation had been any worse. So...can you tell me why you were out there?"

Megan had moved to sit beside him, and the way she had to posiiton her injured leg to stay comfortable put her in alarmingly close quarters with Tyler.

She managed to stutter, "Umm...I...was...researching something for horticulture class?"

Tyler stared at her. "Deep in the Cascade mountains? You were potentially risking your life for HOMEWORK? You must know the dangers, are you from around here?"

Megan blushed, folding and unfolding her hands, trying to ignore his arm, spread across the back of the couch, that seemed to be inching towards her. She could barely breathe, but she drew in an unsteady breath and deadpanned. "I'm a bit of an overachiever, and I'm actually from Virginia, a place called Charlottesville. I took a horticulture class online, to keep my mind off unpleasant things during the slow time in summer. Figured I could blame a vacation on wanting to accurately research some project or another, though that's no lie. I was trying to find a rare type of tree when you found me." She stopped herself, wary of revealing too much about herself to a stranger, and yet wishing for Tyler to know it all.

She shifted forward on the couch, under the pretense of checking her leg, when in reality she was trying to get some space between them. Tyler's presence was inexplicably soothing, and tempting, though she had an odd feeling that there was some massive, creepy fact about him looming over her head.

"So what brings a gentleman such as yourself out into the middle of nowhere? Woodshop project?" Megan joked, settling herself again, as far from him as she could be and still be on the couch. She didn't miss the quick flash of pain that pinched his features for a moment as she said "gentleman".

"It's...nothing like that," Tyler muttered, moving towards the fireplace and stirring the flames back to life, and pulling down her now-dry clothes, setting them on the coffee table. "I'm not doing school or anything, no...I just...I had to leave where I was. I'm from Virginia too, weirdly enough. Mystic Falls."

Her eyes widened in mild shock before Megan grinned. "Well howdy, neighbor...Was it like family issues, girl issues?" She stopped and covered her mouth.

"I'm sorry. I'm just so curious. I'm sure it'll kill me someday." She laughed lightly, but Tyler's expression had darkened, his brow furrowing as he passed a hand over his face.

"Yeah, it very well could," he said shortly, moving her clothes to the couch, next to her backpack. "So on a scale from one to ten, ten being absolutely fine, how well do you think you can walk right now?"

She blinked. Had she really offended this guy with her questions to the extent that he was willing to send her back into the wilderness now, on foot, with a hurt leg? There had to be something else. "Umm...I guess I'm about a seven, now that it's been treated a bit..."

"Great," Tyler said quickly. "If we leave soon I can get you to the nearest trailhead. Did you drive here?" At her nod, he continued. "Someone can give you a ride to your car, I'm sure."

Megan's mind was spinning, her thoughts racing each other at Nascar speeds. What the hell brought on this complete 180 in the attitude department? "I'm sorry, uh, Tyler...Did I upset you somehow? I didn't mean to..."

He sighed, kneeling before her and taking her hands. "I'm so sorry I'm coming off like an insensitive jerk all of a sudden, but you can't be here another night. It's...dangerous, out here."

"We're in a cabin," Megan pointed out stubbornly, confused.

"Deep in the woods, Megan, and things...find their way in. The full moon changes how animals...behave," said Tyler, in a tone that chilled her blood. "I don't want to see you get hurt again, so it's best I get you back to civilization as soon as possible." He stood and left the room, leaving Megan thinking about nothing but how good it had felt when he held her hands.

Tyler stepped out onto the back porch, running his hands over his face, wondering where the hell it all went wrong. He'd been here on and off for a few years now, he pretty much had the whole I-turn-into-a-wolf routine down, and...Now, of all times, a pretty girl, who appeared just as interested in him as he was in her, was in his cabin. The night of the damned full moon.

He let out a frustrated groan, kicking an old, rusted bucket that had been on the porch; he watched angrily as it sailed into the forest, past the tree line and out of sight, far further than a human would have sent it. He could feel The Wolf stir inside him, as surely as if the animal itself stood in front of him, stretching its legs and sniffing the wind, readying for the hunt. The Change was tonight, and it was hard to predict exactly when, the precise moment when the moon was at its apex...Either way, it was extremely dangerous for Megan right now. He was torn between keeping her here, and keeping her safe...For the two were certainly not the same.

The guilt he still felt over the murder that had triggered the curse, guilt over the pain he'd caused with the following transformations, the anguish he'd even caused by leaving...Here he could ignore it. Until now. Her presence was forcing him to confront his demons...Assuming Megan would stay in the cabin, getting herself ready to leave, Tyler set off for a short walk.

He strode briskly toward the tree line, hands in pockets and head bowed against the brisk wind. Damned full moon; always made it that much colder out. Tugging a hand free, he pulled up his collar, entering the forest. Pinecones, dead leaves, and tree branches crunched underfoot, but Tyler kept walking, running through every thought and feeling about Megan he'd had since he first saw her on the ground in front of that bear.

Something had drawn them together, and was continuing to do so. It wasn't mere animal instinct, though that could easily be blamed in his case, little did she know...He sighed heavily, thinking of her innocent curiosity, and how casually she'd tried to accept that she'd woken up in a strange cabin in the middle of the woods. And the process of carefully removing her wet clothes...Suddenly, the chilly air no longer bothered him.

Reaching a cliff, he could walk no further, and stood looking out at the expansive woodlands in the next valley. The breeze caressed his face, and Tyler closed his eyes, savoring the feeling. There would be enough discomfort tonight.

The thought of tonight snapped his eyes open, and his head lifted as he sought the sun's position in the sky. His blood ran cold as the only evidence the sun had ever been in the sky was a reddish tinge visible over mountaintops to the west. He had to get back.

The Wolf was so close now. He could feel the inhuman speed he employed as he ran through the forest, could scent which path he had taken originally...The Wolf helped him return quickly, and yet it was the problem itself.

A spasm of pain overtook Tyler, and he doubled over for a moment, gasping for breath as the trees around him seemed to spin. His insides were already rearranging themselves...

He forced himself to keep moving, relieved when the cabin finally came into view. He staggered up the front steps and tried to compose himself. How was he going to explain that Megan needed to barricade herself in the wine cellar? The Wolf wouldn't think to go down there if he ended up back inside the cabin, but it would want out if he himself was the one locked in the cellar. That made sense.

Trying to smooth his facial expression, Tyler wrenched open the door and called for Megan. No answer. He made his way inside, making a quick search of the cabin. She was nowhere. Her belongings were gone, as well. Shit. She had to be in the woods somewhere...trying to make it back on her own? It was getting dark, and very cold...Even if he wasn't a werewolf, even if it was broad daylight, this was insane.

He looked out a window; it was definitely well past dusk now. The sky was a deep indigo shade, the moon already high above the mountains. How on earth was he going to find her? His senses were enhanced, it probably wouldn't take long...but what would happen when he did? He shuddered at the thought. He honestly didn't know what to do. Casting his glance around the valley, he guessed which direction she most likely took, and set off in the opposite direction. He had to keep The Wolf away from her.

He'd made it a few miles into the trees in the dark, sharpening reflexes making it easy to avoid obstacles. He pushed himself as fast as he could go, hoping against hope that Megan was nowhere in the vicinity, wherever she had gone.

He was crossing a stream, wading quickly through, when the transformation really began. He collapsed in the cold water, flailing a bit as he struggled to keep his head above the water amidst the debilitating pain. He could hear his spine crunch as it broke itself, only to shape into that of a wolf's...His fingers made snapping noises as they formed wicked claws, fur sprouted along his arms, ripping his clothes...

He let out a frustrated howl just as The Wolf overtook him; his last coherent thoughts were of Megan.

What'd you guys think? Please read and review, it means so much. Aroooo! xoxo Bon