Maura didn't know what to do.

She didn't want Jane to hurt anyone else, but she couldn't tell anyone her girlfriend was a werewolf. She could get the detective killed or sent to some lab. And Maura wouldn't accept either option. She was in love with Jane Rizzoli and she wasn't going to leave her side.

Beast or not.

As Jane explained what had happened, that Frankie was okay but probably scared to death, Maura cleaned her bullet wound. It was a through and through and didn't hit any major arteries, but an ER doctor could do a lot more for her than the medical examiner could. Jane refused, though. Said it wouldn't take long to heal on its own with her new abilities. That Maura could believe. Afterall, the wound caused by the wolf that had made her what she is now had healed in just a few days.

As soon as the wound was dressed, Maura glanced up at Jane and sighed. "What are we going to do, Jane? We can't tell anyone. They'd want you as a lab rat."

"I-I don't know, baby. Hell, I'm surprised there aren't hunters out there looking for me so they could stuff me and set me up as a trophy." She sighed as she headed to the bedroom to get dressed, Maura following. The clothes she'd worn during her transformation were now ripped to shreds. "If people find out I'll loose my job, my home, you. People will want me dead."

Maura shuddered at the thought of some hunter killing her detective in the middle of the night. "Maybe we could chain you up or cage you at night. So you won't go out and kill anymore or get killed yourself." She shook her head. "I just got you. I've been in love with you for years and I just got you. I'm not giving you up. No one will find out. We'll figure something out."

Jane walked up to Maura and kissed her feverishly. Pulling her body against her own and running her fingers through the doctor's blonde locks. Pulling back just slightly, she moaned. "I'm not going to leave you for any reason. You have a basement, right? We could put me down there at night. Cage me." She sighed. "I'm going to miss sleeping with you."

That kiss left Maura a bit out of breath and she nodded. "We'll try the basement. We're going to have to reinforce the door with some steel bars or something though with that super strength." She kissed Jane again softly. "I'll miss you in my bed, too, but maybe you'll figure out how to control your transformations and we won't have to cage you up."

Jane nodded, but worried she'd never get control of herself. "We'll be okay, just gotta keep me fed I guess."

"I could always leave you a plate full of raw meat from the store." Maura couldn't help but cringe a little at the thought. At least it was better than what Jane had been eating.

The detective didn't answer. She suddenly looked toward the front door before the knock came. When it did, she was already halfway toward it. Seeing her brother through the peep hole, she opened the door. "Hey, Frankie. What's up?"

"I saw it! I saw that wolf tonight. That thing's huge and it came charging at me." Frankie nodded a greeting to Maura, who had followed Jane curiously, before looking back to his sister. "I thought I was a goner." He was still a little shaky. "I would've called but my phone's messed up. I just wanted you guys to know it killed two more people."

"What did it look like? I'm just glad you're okay." Jane hugged him and brought him inside. When Frankie said that it killed two more, she looked at Maura then looked down. "Maybe it'll... leave town and stop killing here." She whispered.

"Did I mention it was freaking huge? It had dark fur and glowy eyes. I found it in an alley, ripping some poor guy's throat out." Frankie sat on the couch and Maura kept her eyes on Jane. "I think I hit it with a bullet. Some of the guys were talking
about getting a hunting group together."

"They can't do that! I mean…" Maura cleared her throat and locked eyes with Frankie as she moved around the couch to face him. "The unis don't have the right sort of equipment for that. They could get hurt or worse. It'd be foolish." She looked at Jane.

Jane made sure her sleeve was covering the wound on her arm after Frankie said he thought he'd shot it. Her eyes darted up when he said something about hunting. She shook her head. "No. You can't hunt it. People will be killed on the force. I'm pretty sure that thing doesn't like a threat." She looked at Maura and then back to her brother.

"That thing is a threat, Janie. It's killed what? Six, seven people? Something has to be done."

Maura moved closer to Jane, taking the detective's hand in hers, and looked at Frankie. "There's a wolf expert coming here tomorrow, well, later today I should say. Let her figure out the course of action, Frankie."

"Frankie... if you go after that thing... I can't promise you'll be okay and get out of it alive. The one that bit me seemed to be weaker than the one out there now. Promise me you wont go after it." She squeezed Maura's hand, "She's right, Frank. Let her decide what to do."

Frankie sighed but nodded. "Yeah, okay, I won't go after it." He looked up at his big sis. "The last one almost killed you. To be perfectly honest, I was pretty damn scared." He stood and raised a brow at their linked hands. "Is there something I'm
missing?" He grinned.

Jane grinned, too, and looked at Maura then back at her brother. "I'm surprised you haven't heard. Eh, well we have been keeping it low key. Maura and I are together. We love each other." She smirked then turned back to Maura and kissed her cheek.

"Well if I'd actually spent any time at the station today I'm sure I would have heard." Frankie chuckled. "Gossip spreads like wildfire. Anyways, I'm happy for you two."

"Thanks, Frankie." She smiled. "I'm very happy with Maura. Been in love with her for years, it's about time we did something."

"Yeah, you do make a great match not to mention you've been doing the whole eye sex thing for years." He shivered. "Man I got tired of seeing my own sister so obviously frustrated."

Maura laughed then looked at Jane and bit her lip.

Jane narrowed her eyes at him. "Really, Frankie? Really?" She laughed and shook her head.

"She's a ton better than that Dean guy. More interesting, better looking…" He grinned. "And, yeah, now I guess I have to worry about you coming in to work glowing instead." He chuckled. "I'm heading out now. Let me know what the wolf expert says."

Jane laughed and nodded. "Okay. Be careful, Frankie." Once he left, Jane looked at Maura and kissed her forehead. "Hopefully there won't be a gang of cops and civilians hunting me. I really don't like the thought of my head mounted on a wall."

Maura sighed. "I know. I keep picturing a mob like from that Frankenstein movie you made me watch." She looked into Jane's eyes and kissed her softly. "You're not going to become some hunter's prize, though. We'll start locking you down in the basement tomorrow night. They won't find you."

"We have tomorrow off so we should shop for some stuff, but what about tonight?" She asked, looking worried. "I know it's only 7 a.m. now but, I don't want to sleep tonight."

"I don't think that basement door is going to hold you and we don't really have the time to get the supplies we need today with work. I was thinking I could drive you outside the city." Maura wanted to do all she could to prevent Jane from getting hurt or hurting others. "To a wooded area sparse of human life. You could hunt deer instead."

Jane looked at her and nodded. "We could do that. Maybe I can figure out how to tame myself." She looked down. "You'll stay with me until before the sun sets?" She asked, taking Maura's hand in her own but still looking at the floor.

Maura gently grabbed Jane's chin and tilted her head up so the detective was looking at her. "I'll stay with you for as long as I can. I'm not just going to dump you out there." She kissed her softly. "We should get ready for work now. I hope you can one day control it, Jane. The bed is going to feel so empty without you."

"I hate being this animal." She whispered and sat down on the couch and brought Maura to sit in her lap. "I love you for putting up with me. You're such an amazing person, baby. If I was with anyone else, they would have already ran." She rested her head on her shoulder. "It's like I've moved in. I feel at home in here and in your bed. I'm going to miss it."

Maura wrapped her arms around Jane and kissed the top of her head. "Underneath all the new muscle and all the new abilities, you're still my Jane. You're still the person I fell in love with. What you are at night and what you do isn't your fault." She rested her cheek against Jane's head. "We'll get through this together. And, since you are going to be staying here and have already spent multiple nights here…" Maura smiled, "I think you should just move in completely. It doesn't feel like home without you anymore."

"Move in completely?" Jane grinned. "I love that idea, baby. It doesn't feel like home without you either. And Jo is quite content here." She smiled. "Plus, I think she takes comfort in you now anyway. She's... gotten scared of me." Jane sighed. "Understandably."

"I think she's only scared of you at night, baby, when she can sense the transformation. But maybe, if you learn to control it, she'll get over that fear. I do love her, and I think Bass is growing quite fond of her, too." Maura smiled. The blonde kissed Jane's cheek and then got up to get ready for the day, the brunette following her to the bedroom and the two heading out together shortly later. They left work early that evening, Maura driving Jane out of the city. A little over an hour away, there was a densely populated, heavily wooded area. The ME pulled onto a dirt road and drove way out, parking on the side of the roadway and taking Jane's hand in her own once they were both out of the Prius.

Once in the middle of the woods, Jane looked over at Maura and then kissed her hand. "I love you so much." She brought her girlfriend close and hugged her. "Thank you for loving me back. You're the best part in this dark life I now call my own."

Maura hugged Jane tight. "I'll always love you. Things will get brighter, I promise." She kissed the detective deeply before pulling away. "I imagine you won't go hunting too far from this spot. I'm going to leave your cell here and call in the morning so you can find your way back with that excellent hearing." She set Jane's phone on a tree stump, the sun beginning to set and the temperature dropping. "I'll be waiting with warm clothes when you get back."

When the sun started to set, Jane's eyes started to glow more. "Thank you, baby. I'll be waiting with my tail waggin'." She grinned.

Maura laughed. "I'd love to see that."

Pulling her doctor close, Jane kissed her lips deeply. "I'm going to miss you, baby."

The doctor was reluctant to let go of her detective once the kiss ended, but slowly stepped back. "I'll miss you, too. Before you know it, though, it'll be morning and we'll be together again. I love you, Jane, but I better get going. See you soon."

Jane watched her lover walk away. "I love you, too." Taking a deep breath, she let out a whine like the one sad dogs make. Once the blonde was out of sight, Jane turned to look at her surroundings. Part of her was nervous but then she kept reminding herself that she was the top of the food chain out here.

Maura's heart clenched as she heard Jane's whine. She hated leaving her girlfriend out in the woods alone, but she couldn't think of any other solution for the time being. Once she made it back to the car, she began to head for Boston but stopped at a small hotel instead. The drive back was only about an hour and a half, but Maura wanted to stay close to Jane. As close as she safely could.

After a few hours, hunger took over. Jane tried to find a way to fight it off and she did. She could control it as long as she wasn't asleep. "Okay…" She whispered to herself and got down on her knees and thought about it. Soon she changed and was off on the hunt with a loud howl.

The hotel was about 10 miles away from the woods, but Maura could almost swear she still heard a howl she figured to be Jane's. It was dark and she lay in bed alone watching the Discovery channel, already missing her girlfriend. She just hoped Jane was safe, and that there weren't any people out in those woods. It wasn't hunting season, so they had that going for them at least.

Jane had killed three deer by the time she saw the morning light. When Maura got back to the spot she dropped Jane off at, the detective was no where to be found. After five minutes of the blonde standing and waiting, Maura turned around just to face Jane up on her hind legs still in her wolf form, staring at the woman, eyes shining bright. Locking eyes with the doctor, the beast let out a growl.

Maura froze when she spotted her, unable to break eye contact. She didn't know if she should even try to run or remain standing where she was. With the sun coming up, she wasn't expecting the detective to still be a beast.

"Jane..."