Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or anything related to the amazing show, sadly.

Chapter 2

After a tour of the house, Amaris had asked to stay for a bit longer, just until the other Halliwells arrived. Then she would leave.

It was both an effort to protect Piper and Lila from the demon, as well as explain herself to all of the Charmed Ones when they came back home. Straight from the horse's mouth was better than secondhand information from a witch who didn't understand much about werewolves other than what the Book had told her.

And whatever the Book had told her was most likely far from the truth, if Piper's amount of fear when she first heard that Amaris was a werewolf was any indication. The Book was most likely just biased. Everything else magic related seemed to be.

Surprisingly, Piper had agreed to her request to stay/ Then again, she didn't know Amaris was only staying to protect her. That might not sit well with her at all, for she seemed the type to not like herself being viewed as weak.

The eldest Halliwell was a very good hostess and had offered her hot chocolate and cookies, a sentiment which Amaris greatly appreciated. She had, after all, skipped breakfast in order to come here.

Who knew barging in unannounced and without warning would grant such a warm, hospitable welcome?

And so here they were, sitting on the couch in the living room and talking about past memories of theirs. Both women had agreed it would be best not to let the little girl out of their sights. So Lila was just ten feet or so away from them, coloring and humming to herself. She seemed content enough with what she was doing, so the wolf didn't bother worrying.

"...and then I told him he was a big brave man with legs and that he could do it himself. He just looked at me like I'd spoken Pig Latin to him. It was a sad day for us werewolves, and I almost regretted being one."

The two laughed, sipping at their still warm hot chocolate while they chatted like old friends. In Amaris' mind, they were. They had similar personalities and interests, so it really did feel like they were old friends.

She was surprised that the Charmed One had accepted that she was a werewolf so easily and that she wasn't afraid of her. Her sisters might not, not at first, at least, but the elder sister did, and that was enough for Amaris. She was glad for Piper's easy acceptance, but even in the magical realm, it was very rare for people to be so okay with werewolves. Werewolves weren't as bad as others made them out to be. They had their flaws, sure, but so does every other creature. What made them so horrible?

Then the answer hit her. The wolf-shifters may be a neutral being, but when you're something that hunts animals for fun, well...

She opted not to mention this fact to Piper. It might not go over with the witch very well. That didn't mean she wouldn't be honest, however; whatever piper asked Amaris would tell her the complete and honest truth. Lying would just hurt the both, and Amaris didn't want that.

Piper was just opening her mouth to share another personal story of hers when a jingling sound emitted from the left of her. Both women turned towards the sound.

Amaris had heard the sound enough times to know that the jingling came from a whitelighter orbing somewhere. A pit of uneasiness wedged itself into her.

A whitelighter wouldn't trust her. They would have been warned beforehand that werewolves should not be relied upon by their oh-so-angelic Elders. The Elders reasons for not trusting werewolves were the very same as why the rest of the magical community didn't trust her kind. They were, as a whitelighter had once put it, "too savage, too unpredictable, and too wild to be trusted." Amaris wasn't sure why he had said this about her kind, since she had, after all, just saved them from a darklighter attack. The ways of the whitelighters and Elders would always remain a mystery to the werewolf.

Piper's face broke out into a smile when the whitelighter's features were finally made clear, and some of the tension leaked out from Amaris' shoulders. If Piper knew and trusted this whitelighter, then maybe they could trust Amaris, too.

"Hi Paige. What are you doing home so early?" Piper questioned, but the whitelighter wasn't listening. Her attention was all on Amaris.

So much for getting the whitelighter to trust her.

"Who's this?" the newcomer asked, gesturing to her. Amaris tensed, ready to bolt if need be.

"So, um, you remember that werewolf we met in the forest? Well, this is her in her human form," Piper explained, picking at the edge of a blanket on the couch while she talked, refusing to meet the eyes of this "Paige."

There was silence for a long moment.

"What?" Paige hissed through clenched teeth, eyeing her sister as though she were mad. In Paige's mind she probably was.

Piper took a moment to think about her response. Finally, she said, "Well, she's been nice to me and Lila so far, and I've kept an eye on her this whole time. She hasn't done anything that screams 'evil' to me yet."

When Paige still looked unconvinced, Piper added, "Look. She can prove she's the werewolf from before."

At this Paige raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really. How?"

Amaris, however, had already caught on to Piper's meaning. She wanted her to shift into her wolf form. That was fine-she could do that.

She glanced woefully down at her clothes. They would be destroyed in the Change, but if she went to the bathroom to Change, then they might doubt that she was a werewolf.

With a sigh she took off the cardigan, shoes, and shirt she was wearing and handed it to a surprised Piper.

"Please hold these for me," she instructed, then began to Change, not knowing if Piper had listened to her or not.

Changing from human to wolf was a rather long and painful process, but maybe, since this house was full of magic, her Change might be quicker. Magic often affected the speed of a Change; usually it made it quicker, but if the magic refused to aid the wolf, then it would make the Change slower. Amaris hoped for the former. The Halliwells' magic deciding to trust her might inspire the witches to trust her, too, so there was that to consider also.

Finally, after what seemed like hours but was probably only five minutes, the Change was complete.

Piper and Paige stared at her in shock, but surprisingly with no revulsion in their expressions. Amaris' gaze flickered over to Lila. Thankfully, the little girl was still coloring and hadn't noticed that a woman had just suddenly turned into a wolf.

Secretly, Amaris hoped Lila never would.