5:00 pm, Saturday night, and Holy crap was I hungry. There wasn't any large game in Jump City, and I obviously couldn't go around killing every rat and bird I saw. It was too dangerous for me to try hunting in the ocean as weak as I currently was, and the only other animals in the city were domesticated, which I refused to kill for any reason. My only legitimate options at that point were grazing at the park, which I had previosuly tried and wound up being chased out for, and digging through the garbage.

If this isn't rock bottom, I don't know what it, I thought to myself having realized I was out of options. With hunger in my stomach and shame in my soul, I walk to the back of the pizza joint, which I learned was called Pizza Corner, and find three silver trash cans lined up against the wall. With all of my money being taken from me by my dearest mother, and the little cash I had before in my wallet been spent already thanks to Rancid, that was as close to a buffet I was ever going to see in a long while. I rise to my hind paws and pick up one of the cans. With my free paw I take off the lid and place it on the ground. From there I take the can and gently lie it on its side as quietly as I could. The less people that saw me like this the better.

After about ten minutes of tedious picking through the filth, the only thing I could find that was edible was a stale crust that was torn off of a single slice of pizza. I pull it out of the can and wrap it in my tail so I could use my paws to clean up the mess I made. I had just finished when I noticed a sensation that felt like something grazed my tail with their teeth. A beagle had run by and snatched the crust out of my tail and was darting away.

"Oh, Hell no", I shouted with a roar as I took off after him.

I chased him out of the alley and onto the street as he made a sharp turn to the right. I took a gamble and leapt forward as high and far as I could and landed right in front of the furry thief. I then quickly rose to my hind legs as I turned to face the beagle and struck him across his face with my right paw. It wasn't enough to wound him, but it was definitely enough to get my point across. The dog flies into a nearby car and sets off the alarm. The small dog, now scared shitless manages to drop the crust. It rolls under the car as he sprints away in fear. I trot towards the wailing car and look under hoping that there was a way for me to reach my dinner, but it was at that moment the car's owner arrives, and lucky me, it was the same blonde woman from before, only this time she was armed with a broom.

She swings it at my head as I duck out of the way. She swings twice more, and again I dodge her attacks. I growl at her as a warning to back off, but she ignores it and swings at me a fourth time. Instead of dodging it, I decided on more of an intimidation tactic. I caught the broom in my jaws and clamped it as hard as I could. The woman fell backwards as her broom was split in two with my sharp teeth. She sits up and stares at me in shock for a moment. Thinking that she wouldn't be dumb enough to attack me again, I turn away from her and focus back on the pizza crust under her car. She sees this as an opportunity and jabs at me with her end of the broomstick, now sharpened like a crude spear thanks to my breaking it. It was too late for me to turn and use my paws so I swung my tail at her. My tail strikes her hand as my counterattack causes her to drop the broomstick. She screams upon doing so, grabbing the attention of several other people, now stopping what they were doing to watch us. It was then that she decided to play the part of the victim as she begins to back away slowly. I overheard someone nearby mention Animal Control as I thought, not even worth it at this point. I then turn and retreat down the street, the crowd gasping at my sudden movement.

When I was certain that I was in the clear, I started to walk. I didn't have any particular goal in mind for where to walk to, I was just walking. It was the only thing I could do to kill some time. After all, I had been abandoned by my mother, I had no money, no place to call home, I couldn't call any of my friends, and even if I could, I refused to be anyone's burden, so I had all the time in the world to kill. My walk eventually brought me to the end of the city, right at the edge of the forest. It was there that up ahead towards my right I noticed a little girl, no more than two years old, chasing a moth.

She was chasing it in the small grassy plain that started where the concrete of the city ended and led all the way up a large hill towards the forest. I look around and see nobody else near or with her. The child was completely unsupervised. This fact alone was too bothersome for me to ignore so I slowly walk up to her, dragging my paws on the ground as I did so that she could hear me coming. The last thing I wanted to do was startle her, though I doubted that it would've mattered all that much when she finally saw me.

I was about a good ten feet away from her when she stumbled and fell on her bottom. As the moth flew away, she finally notices me walking up to her and looks at me. I pause for a moment as she stared at me with her large brown eyes and a puzzled look on her face. I wasn't sure what to do, I was afraid of scaring her so I just stood there and waited for something to happen. She then points at me and says, "dog-gy", as her jaw dropped dramatically as she sounded out each syllable. I cock my head to the side, confused as to why she wasn't afraid of me. In the past, even when children thought I was just a dog, my size alone made them nervous to say the least. I wasn't sure if this child was just too young to fear me, or just didn't see me as nothing but a furry play thing. She drops her hand and manages to awkwardly pick herself up off the ground. She then walks towards me in that awkward fashion that babies and toddlers are known for with her hands out in front of her as she repeats, "dog-gy". I walk towards her in response.

She then starts to speed up and begins to stumble again, fortunately I was close enough to her that as she fell forward I stuck out my muzzle for her to fall onto. She falls back onto her bottom and explores my muzzle with her hands.

"Dog-gy", she says once again as she sticks both of her hands in my nostrils. My tail shoots up at the unexpected penetration of my nose. I instinctively snort as the girls hands fly out of my nose. She falls onto her back and hits her head on the ground. The grass absorbed most of the impact, causing no actual damage, but it was enough for her eyes to start tearing up.

Her body sort of "pulses" as she starts whimpering as if she had the hiccups. I lean over the small child and start to lick her face. At first she squirms as she continues to whine, but her whining quickly turns into giggling as the child begins thrashing her arms and legs in response to her laughter. I push my nose against her belly and quickly shake my head from side to side as if I were saying, "no". Her thrashing legs playfully kick at my chin as her laughter increases from being tickled. I walk to the girl's side and nudge her with my nose, urging her to roll onto her stomach. Still thinking we were playing, the child giggles again. As she giggled on her stomach, I pondered as to what action I should take to return her home.

This was a tricky process because I had to consider several factors: the child herself, whoever I was returning her to, and whoever I would run into on the way. As far as the child knew, I was a doggy, a very large, carnivorous doggy, but still a doggy. Though I didn't think it would affect her much, I did think it'd be worth her mentioning or remembering at the very least for a short while if a dog came up to her and started talking, walking on two legs, transforming into a human, started flying, or made her fly using magic. It would've also been a strange sight for anyone else who saw it, I mean it usually was. The difference between those previous times and right at that moment was that I had a small child with me, a small child that wasn't mine. One look at me with this child and people were going to assume the worst, that a lone, rogue wolf lived up to a totally old cliche and snatched a child from her home under the cover of darkness. The situation would've only gotten worse if they saw that the wolf in question possesed any kind of supernatural powers as well. It was then that I considered disappearing for a moment, Changing back to my human form, and then returning to take the child back home as a person rather than an animal. I immediately deemed the idea as stupid when I considered what would happen if someone should catch me with a child that wasn't mine. It'd look bad no matter what form I was in, but at least as a wolf they couldn't put my face on a wanted list or put a face on Jump City's newest registered sex offender. Staying as a wolf was my best bet, I just needed to be ready to retreat if things got really bad.

The child wasn't wearing any strong clothing material that would support her weight if she hung from it, so instead of grabbing at her clothes with my teeth, I wrapped my tongue around her waist a few times and hoisted her to my jaws close enough to give the appearance that she was in my jaws. I may have been a werewolf, but fortunately I was part snake as well. The girl quieted down and curiously slid her hand across my tongue in observation. I cringed slightly as I was forced to taste her hand, which was full of the residue of a seriously strong baby lotion as well as traces of mucus acquired from her exploration of my nose moments ago. As she squirmed in my tongue, I considered the possibility of hypnotizing her first before moving her. Unfortunately I deemed that a bad idea as well because I figured her parents would rather see visually that their daughter was alive and healthy than she her unconscious in the jaws of a werewolf. Besides it was going to take a while to track her scent back to her house, and maybe I would get lucky and she would recognize something on the way, ultimately making my job easier. I turn around, the child still in my grasp, and walk back towards Jump City with my nose working overtime as it tried to follow the scent without it being close to the ground as it usually would be in this sort of situation.

I had just passed the city border when I lost the trail of her scent. I place the girl back on the ground for a moment as I walk around the general area searching for her scent. When I couldn't find it, I returned to her to familiarize myself with her scent and searched again. It was then I noticed that the air smelt moist. I look up and notice in the distance towards the coast of the city some storm clouds starting to roll in. The inevitable rainstorm was dampening the air, making it harder to track her scent, and time was of the essence if I wanted to get her home before she got sick. With tracking her scent out of the question, I go for broke and attempt to read her mind.

As expected, she was still too young to retain and organize memories effectively, making it difficult to navigate through the various images and events that she kept in her mind. With a little luck, I happen across a recent memory of her when she had first noticed the moth. She found it resting on a light post when she tried to grab at it. When it flew away she followed it. I notice that the memory showed the same street I was walking down that ultimately led me to her. Upon realizing that, I exit her mind and look down the street. The same light post was just a few yards away on the first left. I pick up the child in my tongue again and trot down the street to the light post. I was on the sidewalk about to cross the small street to the light post on the corner when I notice that to my left, the street led to a tiny cul-de-sac consisting of four apartment buildings.

Counting from left to right, the fourth building had a police car parked in front with the flashing lights turned on. Two male police officers were conversing with two women, one looked to be a middle-aged business woman, and the other was a teenage girl. I cautiously back up and hide behind the chain link fence I was walking by, while staying close enough to the corner so I could still overhear the conversation. From what I gathered, the teenager was babysitting the other woman's daughter and at some point brought the child onto the porch. The teenager stumbled over her words as she tried to explain how a two-year-old was left so unsupervised that she managed to walk all the way down the street and leave the cul-de-sac without her noticing until it was too late. I look down at the child as I think to myself, damn. You're a regular rugrat, aren't you, I ask in reference to one of my favorite cartoon shows from my childhood whose plot revolved around bad parenting. Running out of excuses, the girl finally confesses that she had friends over and that one of them was a particular boy.

At this point I was just prying at useless information. I needed confirmation that this was the child they were looking for. From the safety of my hiding place, I enter the business woman's mind. Apparently she was a happily married lawyer with her partner being a nurse. Unable to have a child of their own they decided to adopt. My investigation then brings me to a recent memory of her and her partner, both African-American women, leaning over a baby crib. In the crib laid their beautiful baby girl of Asian decent, the same child I held in my grasp. Having all the proof I needed I cautiously emerge from behind the gate to the corner of the sidewalk. I place the child on the ground before anyone notices me and I bark twice. The four concerned humans stop their conversation and look in my direction. The child's mother immediately barrels past the cops and runs towards us.

That's my cue, I thought to myself as I turn back up the street and start trotting away. I could hear her crying with joy and relief behind me as she picked up the child and violently kissed her cheeks. Before I was out of earshot I overhear the little girl say, "bye-bye, Doggy". I stop in my tracks and turn my head back at her. Her little hand waved at me. Her mother then turns to face me and clicks her tongue. Puzzled, I cock my head to the side, and she clicks her tongue a second time. She was calling me over. Slowly and cautiously I approach the two of them. The woman lowers herself to her knees and sticks out her free palm at me. I play my part as the sweet stray as I sniff her palm and then lick it. She then takes her palm and scratches the back of my ears. In response, I close my eyes and wag my tail in delight. I may have been a werewolf, but there was no denying it, it felt good getting my ears scratched, and this woman had magic fingers. Her daughter, trying to mimic her action, reached out trying to pet me. When she couldn't reach, I lift up my muzzle and lick her little fingers. She smiles a wide smile in response.

"Is that your child, Ma'am", asked one of the officers now joining us.

Naw, Dumbass. This is her other daughter that went missing on this exact same day that she forgot to mention earlier, I think to myself as I look at the ignorant cop with my head cocked to the side. The lady nods her head.

"In that case, have a good evening", he says as he tips his cap. He and his partner turn and walk back to the porch to confront the babysitter. I overhear a conversation about contacting her parents beginning when another car pulls up. The child's other mother had just arrived on the scene.

"Is she alright", she asks as she rushes towards us.

"She's fine, Liv." Liv then takes one look at me and goes ballistic.

"Hey! Get going! Ah", she screams as she flails her purse at me.

Guess you're more of a cat person, I think to myself as I start to walk away.

"Come on, Babe, don't be like that. That little dog brought her back."

"Little? There is nothing little about that, that thing."

That's it, I'm outta here. I pick up the pace as my walk turns into a trot. With my detour now taken care of, I return to my path I was originally on and head towards the forest. I run for about a mile or two into the forest's depths until I reach an area that consisted of several large trees growing so close to each other that their braches were tangled together with one another, which was fortunate because it was then that a crash of thunder sounded and the rain began to fall. Score, I think to myself as I run under the tangled branches.

I hadn't been there for a full two minutes when I heard a strange humming sound. It sounded close, and was getting closer, but I couldn't see where it was coming from. Eventually the sound got loud enough to where I could pinpoint the direction it was coming from. I look directly at the source of the sound, but actually saw nothing.

Invisible, maybe, I ask myself trying to figure out why I could hear the sound but not see where it was coming from. When I thought it was close enough I bound forward once and then pounce forward as hard as I can. At the last minute, Cyborg deactivates the T-Car's cloaking mechanism and exclaims in shock as he swerves out of the way. With my target now gone, I crash into the ground and tumble for a moment, finally stopping when I landed on my side in a mud puddle. Cyborg then steps out of the car wearing a large, yellow poncho with a matching set of boots and a hat and walks towards me as I rise to my paws and shake out my fur.

"Man, look what you almost made me do", said Cyborg as he points at his car, only inches away from the nearest tree. "You almost made me crash my car."

"How's that my fault?"

"Who lunges at a moving car?"

"Who sneaks up behind a werewolf in an invisible car?" Cyborg then lifts his index finger in the air and opens his mouth as if preparing to say something in response. When he thought of nothing he started to laugh.

"Hahaha, you've got a point there. My bad."

Stunned at his immediate acceptance of losing our little argument, I ask him, "is there a reason why you're following me?"

"Man, I've been following you since that dog from the alley."

"Why?"

"Be glad to explain, but wouldn't you like to get out of the rain first", he asks as he points to the tangled trees behind him. I nod my head and trot behind him to the dry cover of the branches. Once there, I shake my fur once again attempting to rid it of as much water as possible. "I come offering a proposal."

"A proposal", I ask in suspicion. He then reaches into his pocket a pulls out a roundish, yellow communication device with the letter "T" on it and tosses it into the air. Since it was high enough, I immediately Change back to my human form and catch the device in my right hand. I pull it down towards me to get a better look at it.

"You bet."

"I've got questions", I challenged.

"I've got answers."

"Who are you? And why are you giving me this?"

"Don't you know? They call me Cyborg."

"I'm aware of that, but who are you? Who are any of you for that matter?"

"The five of us are a team of young heroes with the self-appointed duty of protecting the city from evildoers and criminals. We've been dubbed the name, Teen Titans."

"I see. And this proposal of yours…."

"We'd like to offer you a spot on the team."

"Why, exactly? I haven't really proven anything after having met you all. And the last time I checked I was unwelcome in the eyes of a certain member of your team. How do you know you can trust me?"

"A fair point. This might be a good time to point out that the idea was suggested by Robin."

"Robin sent you?"

"He sure did. He thinks you have potential, and I trust Robin with my life."

"That doesn't really answer my question all that much. I may have potential, but you all hardly know me. One doesn't simply bring home a werewolf off the streets. What's the catch?"

"Just that you move into the tower to live and train with us."

"I gave no reason for any of you to trust me as much as you're doing, yet you not only offer me a job, but a place to live. Why? Why does Robin want me on the team?"

"You'll have to ask Robin yourself."

"Fine, then what say you?"

"Well as I said before, I trust Robin and his judgements. I found you earlier back at the alley with that dog, but you seemed busy at the moment and you didn't notice I was there, so I just watched and observed."

"So I get ambushed and you just sit and watch?"

"Chill, dude, it was just a broom, which you destroyed by the way." I chuckle a little. "I also saw how you handled that situation with that little girl. Not to mention the way you practically single-handedly scared off Johnny yesterday. There's a Titan in there", he says as he points to me. "Besides, it'd be nice to have somebody with some common ground to talk to." It was then my mother's comment about my white friends echoed in my mind. As much as I hated to admit it, she had a point. Though I loved my friends and play siblings more than anything, the majority of them were white. The few black friends I did have I met under special circumstances and even then, the majority of them I wasn't entirely close with. "Cyborg to Wolfman, come in Wolfman", he says as he sticks out his right hand for me to shake as if to ask, "do we have a deal?".

It was then that I knew what I had to do. Though it was Raven that truly was my main interest when it came to the Teen Titans, Cyborg, seemed to be a cool guy as well. He was beginning to see me for who I was and was offering me a new home. Though I knew I'd have a lot to prove, and that there was maybe more to this than I realized, at the end of the day I literally had nothing and these young people would also give me an excuse to get to know Raven. There was also a chance that maybe through being connected with this team, I could get closer to Doctor Light and save Taiyo and the others. With my mind made up, I Change my right hand into a paw and grasp Cyborg's hand.

"Wolfman to Cyborg, reporting for duty."