I woke up the next morning to Snow snoring. I looked at my clock and realised I'd overlaid. I got up, got Snow up and ran downstairs. I shoved her outside but she stood on the doorstep looking at me annoyed and also bombarded me with displeasure before I turned and found a note and a key taped to the fridge.

You slept through your morning cuddle with Nicky you were so exhausted so I left you to sleep. Don't worry about feeding Snow or letting her out, I've already done it. Just take her for a walk and feed Buck. This is the spare key, DO NOT lose it before I get another cut for you.

See you later! Emily xx

P.S- Be discreet too if you decide to have a transformation. I don't think a wolf sighting in the middle of New York would go down very well.

I pulled the note off and scrunched it up. I let Snow in and she gave me an indignant nip on my leg as she passed. I followed her back upstairs and she settled back on her bed and watched Buck as he squeaked at me to be fed, which I did.

I raked my fingers through my hair and searched in one of the unpacked boxes and found my toiletries. I carried them off to the bathroom and showered and did other things a person must do in a morning before sorting my hair out.

I decided to give my eyelashes a coat of mascara before I dressed in a simple long sleeved beige top and dark brown skinny jeans. I put some boots on before digging Snow's lead out.

She jumped up right away, yipping excitedly not even bothering with mental images. I managed to get her to calm down before clipping the lead on her, pulling the key off the fridge and heading out, locking the door behind me.

It didn't take me long to find the park. It was full of families enjoying the last few days of the summer holidays before their children went back to school. I walked around the woody bits so I could sneakily let Snow off her lead.

I also transformed down, enjoying the freedom of running quickly on four legs, being able to sniff things in the park. My Lycanthropic form wasn't like most would imagine and most imagine a hairy person with a long dog face. I transformed into a full wolf with fur that matched my hair. It was also easier to communicate with Snow like this and we ran together happily.

I couldn't shake the feeling of being followed though but every time I looked around, I couldn't see anyone. Snow seemed to have a similar feeling because she kept close and barked at everything that moved.

I found a stick and tried to initiate a game of tug and war with it and get us both at ease but she wouldn't play properly and I couldn't concentrate. In the end I morphed back to being human, clipped Snow back on the lead and we ran home.

I shut the door and locked it behind us. Emily and Nicky still weren't home. I put the tv on to try and distract myself. I felt better now I was home and Snow also relaxed a bit.

'Creepy' I muttered

Snow trudged upstairs and I heard her nose my bedroom door open. I heard Buck squeak faintly at her, no doubt Snow was trying to tell him about what had happened in the park.

A few hours later Emily came home, her arms full of groceries. I helped her unpack everything. Nicky wandered around and Snow came down and greeted everyone. At some point she passed me and wofted an unfamiliar scent on her clothes towards me. I stopped and sniffed at her slightly. She rolled her eyes and shoved me away, not nastily but making a point.

'Stop it! Stop acting like a dog!' She exclaimed

I gave her a toothy grin 'Can't help it, you smell funny' I stuck my tongue out at her

'I met the neighbours today' Emily said in explanation.

'Oh, the Asian family?' I asked

'Yeah, the older woman is Susan Long, her husband is American and he's called Jonathan, she has two children too. A boy your age and a younger daughter' Emily said

'I'm not being funny, but how does an American man give his family on oriental sounding name?' I asked

'I don't know, she's invited us for dinner tonight though' Emily said

I frowned 'If their house is the same as ours, won't it be a bit cramped with seven people inside?'

'It's summer, they're having a barbeque. I think it was very nice of her to consider us. She was excellent with Nicky' Emily said 'So are you going to come or not?'

I hesitated, normally I would've said yes without hesitating but the way the boy and his friends stared at me yesterday had put me on edge to be meeting him again. I opened my mouth to say no thanks but the pleading look in Emily's eyes made me change my mind.

'Yeah, okay' I said, hoping I wouldn't regret it.

'Thank you honey, I didn't want to go alone' Emily said

'You would've had Nicky' I replied

'He's two'

'Touché'

I went upstairs and pulled on a hoodie and tidied my hair up a bit, pulling it into a high pony tail. I normally kept it tied up anyway. I powdered my face off a bit and then put a bit more mascara on.

I wasn't looking forward to going into an unfamiliar house, especially one that made so many unusual smells I couldn't even identify. I hated all the different scents of a new house at the best of times and then I hated coming home with my clothes smelling like them.

It wasn't long before Emily was ushering me next door though. I'd insisted on taking Snow with us, knowing she'd stick with me anyway but she tended to make me feel more secure. Emily supported Nicky on her hip while I led Snow on her lead.

Susan Long opened the door when we knocked. I resisted wrinkling my nose at the overwhelming and sudden fiery and spicy kind of smell that billowed out of the door and hit me like a head-long run into a brick wall. I instead focused on the woman in the doorway. She was very pretty with a smooth bob, curvy figure similar to Emily's (I was starting to wonder if this was something women got after having babies) and dark glittering eyes.

'Come in'

She ushered us inside, greeting Emily by clasping her gently on the arm, greeting Nicky by tickling his chin and then she turned to me.

'You must be Selena, I'm Susan Long' She introduced herself

I shook her hand and she chattered away at me pleasantly. She scrunched Snow's ears and insisted I let her off her lead.

'We're on the back garden. My father has his dog with him' Susan said

She led us out to a far neater garden than ours. A few chairs had been set up and the family was already out there. The small Asian man I had noticed was there with his dog sat beside him.

Snow and the other dog approached each other politely and sat down next to one another, nudging each other gently with their noses before she got up to follow me. Emily and I found ourselves being introduced to various members of Susan's family.

There was her husband, Jonathan, who was positively dorky but very comical. I found to my surprise that he smelt quite normal as most humans did. Of things like fabric conditioner from his clothes and personal hygiene products with only a hint of the strange smell that was probably due to living in a house that smelt so strongly of it.

Her daughter, Hayley, was very sassy and brainy. She, unlike her father, carried a strong smell of the strange scent but it was on a slightly spicy level and reminded me slightly of chillies but it was masked with the smell of perfume and the two mixed weirdly. She immediately took a liking to Nicky and the feeling seemed mutual. She took the two year old in her arms, rested him on her hip and carried him around.

The old man introduced himself as Lao Shi, he had a very wise persona but I could tell he was a little aloof with new people. He carried a stronger sample of the smell but it smelt more like a bonfire. It wasn't entirely unpleasant and it wasn't a chore to be around him.

Finally, the son, who'd stared at me yesterday, also introduced himself.

'My name's Jake, I hope you'll like living in New York'

'Very nice to meet you' Emily said politely before she was drawn into a conversation with Lao Shi and Jonathan.

That left Jake and I very awkwardly alone. Unfortunately because everyone was further away now all I could smell was him. The smell of hot coals and pure fire radiated off him. It seemed to surround me completely and every movement he made released a wave of scent. It wasn't unpleasant; in fact it was the exact opposite.

His scent was the first to stir my curiosity. He didn't smell like a regular human, in fact on hindsight, only Emily, Nicky and Jonathan smelt human. I suppose, looking back now, my curiosity was ignited over Jake was because his scent was the strongest, maybe it was because his scent was the one that appealed the most and that made me feel uncomfortable.

I think Snow could tell I was slightly uneasy because she stood close to my leg with her head low, she watched Jake closely. He scratched the back of his neck, sending another wave of his strong and heady scent at me. I switched to breathing through my mouth instead of my nose to try and get some relief.

'So, I'm sorry if I freaked you out the other day. You look a lot like someone I knew' Jake said

I looked at him with one eyebrow raised, letting his tenseness hang in the air slightly before giving him a small smile. Snow stood upright now too, she looked around at the other dag before wagging her tail and going over to him.

'No problem' I replied

We sat in chairs next to each other and chatted quietly. I found I was going to attend the same school which shouldn't have been much of a surprise seeing as it was the closest school. He seemed genuinely nice even if he did have a bit of a habit of showing off.

'How long have you been in America?' He asked

'About ten years but we were mostly down in California. We've been in the suburbs for nearly two years and coming in and out of the city' I explained

'Nearly the other side then! Do you like it in the city?' Jake asked

'It's like nothing I've ever seen to be honest. I thought California was out there but that was nothing compared to here but I do really like it' I replied

Jake nodded and genuinely seemed to be listening to me. While I spoke, I casually brushed my mental communication towards Lao Shi's dog. The contact immediately made me stiffen. Right away I could tell the dog wasn't an ordinary dog and the communication he used to tell me literally 'to get the hell out of my head kid' was way too advanced.

I did as he said immediately and backed off but my curiosity was well and truly stirred now. Who the hell was this family? With their odd smells and a dog that was clearly not just a dog. Unfortunately I seemed to have sparked his interest in return because he sniffed the air around me and circled a lot.

Jake also watched him curiously but soon seemed to forget about it and carry on his conversation with me.

The food was wonderful and was so much more satisfying than our meagre meal the night before. Everyone mixed together wonderfully and the conversation went smoothly. Not much personal information was given away about the family to my disappointment but then again neither me nor Emily gave anything away.

At some point Jake asked if I wanted to meet up before school during the week and meet his friends to see the city a bit. I tried to get out of it by saying someone had to look after Nicky while Emily was at work to which she dropped me in by saying Nicky was going to the childminders before term to give me some time to settle in.

I ended up agreeing and when I went home, as I thought it would, my clothes had absorbed his scent and it then polluted my bedroom. I went to bed that night wondering what the hell he was.