Chapter 2

"Come on Courtney let's just get this over with", Kristina grabbed a hold of my hand and pushed me through the door of the town's shelter. The scent of must, sweat, and beef stew clung to the air and assaulted my nose. Dear moon why did humans have to put off such weird smells? The shelter's fluorescent lights flickered above us. All eyes landed on us. Crowds of raggedy looking people stared mouth agape at the sight of us. The line for the supper stopped and the nuns spooning liquid into cracked bowls began touching their shoulders, chest, and head making invisible crosses. You could hear a pin drop (I believe that was the saying humans used).

"Come on it's in the back", Kristina tugged on my sleeve urging me to ignore their staring eyes. I walked towards the back looking straight ahead, gritting my teeth at a man nearby who dropped his spoon on the floor.

"Kristina, why are they staring at us?" I moved my hand to my ear making sure it wasn't pointed or sprouting tufts of fur. They were perfectly round, so why were they staring?

"Maybe it's my teeth", I licked my tongue over in my mouth feeling for my fangs. Why were they staring at us!

"Your clothes, Courtney" Kristina smirked nodding her head to my outfit as if it were obvious.

"What's wro-", I mumbled off taking in my appearance. My jeans were ripped and caked in mud, and my baggy white t-shirt was torn to shreds barely covering my body underneath. The smily face on the front of my shirt was barely recognizable. I wiggled my dirt drenched toes-I didn't even have shoes to cover my feet. Maybe I was a tad bit underdressed for them.

"Forget them, let's just get dressed and leave", she tugged on my shirt again. We came to a stop in front of a rusty metal door with the words free clothes scribbled crudely on a sheet of paper. The duct tape holding it up was curled in the corners and seconds away from falling to the floor. The smell of decay was clear to pick up on. I knocked on the hollow frame creating a subtle creak below its surface. Behind the door someone-from what I could smell it was a boy-who was shuffling around mumbling to himself. Two seconds later he came out with a glaze over his eyes. One look at us and he began gawking just like the rest. I rolled my eyes pushing through the door.

"Excuse me, but are we supposed to see you for clothes?" Kristina stepped forward looking around the dark room uncertain.

"Uh yeah", the boy put down his magazine and kept idly staring not daring to move yet. We just looked back at him expectantly, if he was looking for an excuse he wasn't going to get one. Finally he got the good will to usher us fully in.

"Can we have a little privacy now?" I crossed my arms and glared at him giving him one of those 'what are you looking at?' stares. So what if our clothes were a bit worn and disheveled. Couldn't a girl stretch out in the forest on her paws without being judged?

"Su-sure", he stammered before stumbling out of the room leaving the door slightly open to keep watch.

"Yeah like we're actually going to steal free clothes", I mumbled under my breath. Kristina laughed at my scowl heading towards the racks of clothes.

The clothes were covered with moth balls and dust and had an odd smell to them. Why did humans always smell so weird? Heavy perfume, cheap cologne, it was all revolting. I made a face at a heavy fur coat soaking in a sharp scent.

"They aren't that bad…it sort of reminds me of Charla's old coats", Kristina smiled at the memory of the old widow who first took us in. It seemed like ages since we had last seen her. What was it now-a year or so ago?

I scrunched my face up, I did appreciate Charla for all that she did but sometimes the perfume she wore made me want to shoot myself. Especially with all the hugs she tried to give us. She could never understand why I pushed her away. She probably thought that I hated her (and I did at first) but really it was her perfume that kept me at arms length. Cherries, and lavender…a horrible combination. I wiggled my nose at the memory. My nose was so much more sensitive than the others in my pack. I gave the best of our hunters a run for their money. If there was a rabbit hole a mile away I could find it with ease.

"There's nothing in these racks that's good", I pushed past another floral print button down sighing. The whole rack was full of over sized shirts and ugly coordinated flowers.

"That's because you're looking in the men's rack" Kristina chuckled at my wrong observation and turned me in the direction of another row, where thankfully not a flower print could be seen.

"I knew what I was looking at, I uh", I scrambled to think of a good excuse to cover for my mistake "was looking for something that could've been put there by mistake. You know a hidden gem or something".

"Uh huh, sure"

I turned over to the next row of clothes and scanned through them bored. If it wasn't for the boy that crawled back into the room (like we didn't see him tip toe in- please) I would've gone through this rack in seconds. If he wasn't here I wouldn't have to put on this charade and do everything so slowly.

"Hey I think I found something", Kristina came out of the changing room in a simple blue sundress that cut at the middle of her thigh. The kid in the corner dropped his jaw.

"A dress? Really? Don't you think that's a little bit illogical?" I looked at the tight dress with worry. There was no way we could out run anyone with that tight thing "Besides it looks like it's about to pop at its seams". Her body was way too curvy for that thing.

"I think you may be right" she twisted her form in the mirror "why don't you try it on, it should fit you", she headed back into the dressing room and swung the slinky dress over the door towards me.

"Oh ha-ha", I called after her sarcastically.

She came back out in a few more seconds this time in a more practical shorts and a loose belly shirt from the 80s. I rolled my eyes at her appearance. She also went for clothes that were more out there than necessary. She loved her body and loved even more to show it off. So did all the wolves in our pack. They always saved a howl for her when she walked by. She started a lot of fights back then.

"I guess that's better but what else are you going to bring?" I nodded towards the burlap sack in her hand that was nearly full. One thing I actually liked about these homeless shelters were they had plenty clothes to spare. And if you looked particularly in need they were sure to let you take more than others. This shelter, especially, was really nice compared to the others we had been to. Most of the hand-me-downs here were surprisingly well kept and…pretty for lack of any better words.

"Nothing really just a few more shirts, a pair of jeans and a skirt. We can always get more things later on", she closed her bag up and hung it on her shoulders. "Really though, you should take the dress, I bet it would look good on you", she grabbed the dress from the chair I had put it on and shoved it into my bag persistantly. I unlike her had packed more practically. I couldn't always be in my skin to keep warm so I mostly packed long sleeved polos and sweatshirts-so much different from the racy clothes she chose. The only thing I was missing was a pair of shoes to keep with me.

"Where are your shoes?" I turned back to the boy watching our every move.

"Um yeah, they're near the front", the boy shied out of my way and led us to the shoe section. Without a word he headed back to his station with an embarrassed grin.

"Oh look at that Courtney, looks like the meat-boy was giving you the eye", Kristina laughed at his shy shuffle down the aisles. I looked at her like she was crazy. A meat-boy looking at me? Yeah right. When I was forced to go to public schools by our "guardians" all the boys avoided me like the plague. I could never figure out why though. Maybe they sensed what I was, who I became at night.

"Oh please you and I both know it wasn't me he was looking at", I muttered under my breath and turned towards the sneakers on display. I was instantly drawn to the sturdy pair of nikes in the very back. Next to them was a cute pair of white strapped heels that Kristina naturally grabbed. Sometimes she just made no sense at all.

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"So which way do we head now?" I took a bite of meat and stared into the fire roaring with life. We were only an hour outside of town and still had a few minutes of daylight left. We had decided that we should wait for night's cover before we set off. With the dark as our coat we could easily slip into the shades of the trees and hide from prying eyes. That way we could run in our fur and save time. We would do all our resting and eating during the day.

"Northeast. That's where I last picked up the scent", Kristina put down her meat leg and began stripping. "I don't know why you like charred rabbit over stew…it taste like firewood".

"I don't prefer charred, I prefer deer…rabbit is so gamy" I started ditching my clothes as well and putting them back into the bag.

Kristina just smirked and tied her bag around her neck ready to go. I followed her example ready to get going. I let a small yelp of pain escape my lips as my bones rearranged and snapped in place. My spine tingled and finally the pain was over. And then the sweet, sweet release came urging me to run.

"Come on we have moon light to burn", I stretched out over the tall grass fresh in a new pelt of fur and pushed myself through the forest letting the wind take me away.

"Come on light foot, is that the best you can do?" Kristina called over her shoulder and let out a loud cry of joy. Relishing in the challenge I followed in pursuit quickening my pace. The world around me became a blur and the dark colors of the forest blended into each other. We raced for two days along a river headed north, stopping only when we needed something to drink or when we needed to take a quick nap.

"I picked up a scent only a few minutes ago…it seems fresh" I slowed down letting Kristina catch up to me. "We should be there in a matter of seconds now" I shifted back to my skin and dived into the icy river.

"Ahh", I sighed contently floating on my back. The slow tide brushed against my skin so gently it wore away the ache in muscles. I loved running, but running day and night constantly took a lot out of me. I swished around in the water and scrubbed my limbs clean. I stepped back to the grass and used an old shirt to dry myself off.

"Kristina, can you pass me something out of my bag", I drained my hair above the water and ran my shirt through it drying each strand. A piece of blue fabric came sailing towards me.

"Oh no" my eyes widened in terror "there is no way I'm wearing this…" I flipped the ghastly sundress in my hands and put it up against my body. It was so unnecessarily flashy. And it was the last thing I wanted to wear when we were coming across a new pack. First impressions were so crucial. And I had to be extra careful if I wanted them to accept us. I mean, what if they kept to the trees like us or even more than us. Something flashy like this could set them back.

"Look you only have two other shirts and they're dirty. You don't have a choice" Kristina pulled a pink belly shirt and shorts on. "Besides you want to make a good impression right? Well dirty shirts just don't make good impressions" Darn she knew me too well.

"Ugh…fine" I pulled the dress on defeated. I wanted to just go in my fur so badly but I couldn't. The scent I picked up only a few minutes ago could have been of wolves on a hunt. To come in our fur could make them defensive for. And we couldn't have that. We needed protection not more enemies.

"You look fine in it. Now quite your whining and come on" Krisina started walking on the path of their scent. Looking down at the snuggly fit outfit one more time I resigned following after her.

"This stupid dress, I can't even run in it" I clumsily ran up to her stumbling over a few rocks.

"Then rip it on the side that should help…" Kristina yanked at the hem of my skirt ripping a long split on each side of my leg.

"It's becoming a lot stronger" I sniffed the air again. Yeah we were definitely getting close now. It was only a matter of time before we crossed them. Following my nose I led her through the thick trees to a clear meadow where I stopped to wait. There was no point in going any further. They were on a straight path towards us and it was better for them to spot us first than the other way around.

"Courtney, there's no one here", Kristina looked around the field expectantly.

"Just wait, they're coming towards us", I ignored the crazy look she was giving me and turned towards a tree outside of the meadow. We had a few more seconds of waiting and I was going to spend that time resting as much as possible. The last thing I needed was for their first impression of me to be slumped over, worn down.

"Woo hoo!" a whoop of laughter came hurling through the trees as a group of half changed teens swung into the clearing right on cue. The first to come through was a boy that looked about 18 maybe 19. He had long blonde hair that stopped at his cheeks. His blue eyes were surrounded with bushy light brown eye browns and he wore a tattered cow boy hat. His toothy grin was already showing fangs. His open pink shirt had patches of blonde fur sticking out. Behind him came another boy with shaggy black hair and green eyes. His shirt was already off and most of his torso was covered in fur. His hair came down to his shoulders and he was walking hunched over with a curve in his spine. Finally the last to come out was a young man not yet changed. His hair was jet black that was nearly completely shaved besides a green streak off hair that stood up in the middle. His eye brows were covered with metal studs and his light blue eyes looked stern. He calmly walked behind his laughing friends with an amused grin.

"Kristina put a little muscle on just in case", I whispered as I stepped up to her side. My muscles thickened and a lump grew in my throat. This was the moment we had been waiting for. I stepped forward into the moon light and showed my face. Their laughter immediately came to a halt. The two changed boys looked up at us and crouched into a defensive position. Crap, they thought we were one of them.

"My name is Courtney, and this is my sister, Kristina", I put up my hands in defense stepping forward.

"Duncan" the boy with the green streak stepped in front of the group- he must have been the leader-"this is Geoff"-he pointed to the blonde-"and that's Trent"-he nodded to the other one. He looked calm and at ease but from under his white t I could see his muscle tense. He didn't think we were a threat like the other two, but he was still ready to pounce at any moment just in case. "And what would two sexy girls like yourselves be doing in these big bad woods". He took another step forward meeting us in the middle.

"We're from Demitri's pack in the west and we need to see your pack leader", I rolled my eyes and leaned back.

"Keep it together Courtney. Just have to get through this cretin and you're home free. Just remember first impressions are what count the most" I thought trying to calm myself down from his "flirtation". Kristina looked pleased. Typical.

"Demitri you say…Eh ok, you can see Jeremiah. Boys keep your eye on them", he turned his back on us and headed back in the trees. Kristina and I followed silently looking back every now and then to see the boys were still following us closely. We came close to a suburban town just near the woods. The neighborhood was quiet and peaceful. Low lights dimly shone like a festival.

"You live in a town", I hurried my pace to catch up with Duncan. The blonde, Geoff tried to hold me back but one glare set him straight. I understand he was worried for his friend but really there was only so much I would tolerate. No one touched me like that unless they wanted a broken wrist-first impression or not!

"Of course", he kept walking without looking my way. I made a disgusted face that I shot back at Kristina. What had she gotten us into this time?

Duncan's POV

We traveled through the streets quietly with nothing left to say to each other. The younger girl, Courtney stayed by my side for the rest of the walk. Her arms swung by her side so close to me that I could practically feel her heat burn my skin. Every now and then when we bumped into each other (really it was just her bumping into me and me letting it happen-what can I say, she's hot) she would blush and mumble something that sounded close to an apology. We walked nearly a foot a head of the others. Kristina, her sister was trapped between Geoff and Trent who were still half changed.

"Damn I wasn't that serious", I thought shaking my head. They always had my back and I appreciated that but when it came to "business" they always took it a little over board. These girls I was sure couldn't do any harm. They were obviously our kind and not a part of the others so what did they expect from the girls. Besides they were hot! I looked over at Courtney her skirt barely skimmed across her thighs and had rips up the sides. Her hair was disheveled and leaves were sewn deep into its chestnut surface. She had a small scowl on her lips probably because she was still thinking about the whole "we live in a town" thing-which was kinda hot, definitely was digging the angry look on her.

I had heard about Demitri from Jeremiah some time ago and he mentioned that Demitri's pack had lived in the sticks for generations. They had tried to live in the cities but eventually made that rare choice to finally just go back to their good old sticks. And if Courtney was really from this guy's pack then she had to be from the sticks too. And I had only met one guy that lived that way before and the transition to a city had been hard on him. Poor girls didn't know what they were getting themselves into.

We stopped in front of my house not too far away from our field. Most of the lights were off except for the living room light where Jeremiah was most likely waiting for us.

"Aw man", Geoff moaned behind me sharing my thoughts. I could never sneak out without him knowing about it. He always knew exactly what time I left and what time I got back in no matter how quiet I was. Sometimes he would even set traps. He would be sitting in my room patiently waiting for my return in the dark. And when I got back he would pounce. God he was good. It was like he had a hidden tracker on me somewhere. It was only a matter of time before I found it then I could go out whenever I wanted to.

"It's gonna be fine", I whispered back to him keeping a low profile. If we played our cards right we still had a chance out of this. "We've got them this time". I pointed to the two girls. If we looked like we were on some kind of mission because we heard a "noise" then we might be alright. It was business after all and in the name of the pack. I unlocked the door and squeezed myself through the screen. It was pointless at this point because he had to know it was us by now but habit controlled me.

"Duncan come in here…and bring your new friends", Jeremiah's voice rang through the hall way guiding us to the living room where he was waiting. He was sitting calmly in a green arm chair with a hard cover western novel open on his lap. The tall lamp was barely on above him.

"Geoff, Trent, why don't you two go home now. I'm sure your parents are wondering where you are by now" he put his book mark in and folded his book closed flashing the cover of an old man and a horse.

"Um sure dude", Geoff backed out the door again even more slowly with Trent following right behind. They both gave me apologetic-yet relieved-looks before running out tail between their legs.

"Thanks", I sighed plopping down into the chair opposite him. It was a policy of mine that if I was getting punished then I minus well be comfortable doing it. Jeremiah ignored me and looked towards our guests.

"Courtney, Kristina, it's good to see you again", Jeremiah smiled and laid back in his chair looking between the two girls.

"How do you know our names, we didn't even introduce ourselves" Courtney took the initiative and sat down on the couch next to me. Her sister followed.

"I know Demitri, we met when we were just pups. Well when I was just a pup. He was actually almost a man by that time. Our packs used to be fairly close when we lived in the woods and as the messenger for my pack I was sent back and forth a lot. On one of my trips I encountered some of the huntsmen clan. There weren't that many of them, just four young clansmen itching to prove themselves, but I was young as well. Long story short I barely managed to get away with my life. I was running around for days a complete wreck until Demitri found me. He took me back to the inn and took care of me. After that we kept in touch even though my pack had to relocate. I came when he was being inducted as pack leader and he did the same when I got the title. When he did, he brought his daughters with him", Jeremiah folded his hands and nodded towards us finished with his story.

My memory started to click together, now that the pieces were laid out for me. After our father had died, Jeremiah was first up for the role. He was the first born after all and it was his right to be the first in line. No one had any issues with him or challenged him in anyway so it was a unanimous decision he would lead us. He was perfect for the job, smart, wise, easy going, everything our dad was. He was the pride of the pack and he never let down their expectations. The day he became the leader was nothing special really. We didn't do much for things like that. We threw a party but that's mainly it, no ceremonies, no special intiation rituals, it was pretty straight forward. This Demitri guy came later that night with two girls at his side. They were both around my age, one older than me and the other younger. I was too young to remember everything that went on that night I was only about 5 at the time so things were sketchy.

"Oh now I remember you", Kristina's eyes lit up with recognition "I knew I recognized those blue eyes from somewhere". She looked proud at herself for making the connection.

"So how is my friend? Is he not here because he's ill?" Jeremiah looked anxiously towards Courtney. Even though Kristina was obviously older, Courtney looked like the one with the answers. Well she acted like the one with the answers.

"That's why we're here actually…Our pack was killed", Courtney bowed her head unable to met anyone's gaze "D-Demitri, Angela….all of them killed by a trap the clan set for us".

Kristina grabbed her hand, "we're not sure how many died but as far as we know we're the only ones who made it out in time". I sat there shocked, immobile. I knew the clan were cruel and cut throat but never that bad. It was their goal to wipe us out, every one of us. But never have I ever heard of them wiping out a whole pack. They were lucky if they got only one of us every two years.

"We were wondering if-"Courtney bit her lip unable to continue her sentence. In the corner of her eye was a single tear struggling to stand its ground.

"We were wondering if we could stay with your pack-", Kristina cut in saving her sister the trouble. "They always find us no matter how many cities we go to or how many times we elude them."

"Say no more, Demitri was like a brother to me. To refuse you would be to refuse my own" Jeremiah lifted his hand in the air to stop her from finishing. His mouth was curved into a sad smile. "You can stay here as long as you wish, and an invitation to the pack is of course open to you both".

"Now I think that you two have had a long night. We all have, so we can finish this talk tomorrow. But the most important thing right now is that you rest", his eyes crinkled and he looked warmly at them. "D get them some rooms, jenny and Greg's old ones should be good".

"Yeah sure", I got up from the couch and walked up the stairs too tired to protest. I hated playing tour guide but really I was just happy I was off the hook for now but after all the stories I heard tonight it would be just plain cruel to ignore them. Even I wasn't that bad. I led them to their rooms.

"So this is it really", I opened the door to Jen's old empty room. "Bed, mirror, dresser for your clothes"- I looked down at Courtney's deflated bag uneasily. Maybe I could steal the dresser now after all. With so little clothes what need would she have for a dresser. Sure she might get some more later but personally I wouldn't mind seeing her in that dress everyday.

"Um thanks then", she awkwardly looked away from my stare and to her new room with nothing left to say. Her cheeks flushed a deep red.

"Sure thing", I stepped out of her sister's way and headed up to the attic towards my room. What else could I really say to them, sorry? They were probably sick of that word by now. So I left. Tonight definitely turned out to be a lot weirder than I thought it would be.

whew! my second chapter finally finished. Sorry it took so long but the next chapter will come a lot faster than this one. Promise. anyway thanx for all the reviews so far and hoped you liked it. oh yeah for future referrances i wanted to know who you from tdi you guys wanted to be in the story. im not exactly sure who's gonna be in it yet and where so i need a little help. (btw im not putting them all in it maybe ten tops). again thanx for reading and please review! :)