When Xander woke up in the middle of the night, his first thought was 'Did I taunt Murphy,' Actually his first thought was 'Ah'! When he realized something was crouched over him in the dark and licking his face. The moonlight from the window was enough for him make out a hairy dog like face hovering above him. It is to his credit that he didn't immediately scream and run, because whatever it was may have just chased him down and eaten him. In a not fun way. The dog like face came close to his again and licked him again. 'Ew,' what is this thing and why does it keep licking me?' After a couple more licks, it settled down on top of him and went to sleep, drooling slightly on his chest, which, fortunately for him was covered by the blanket.

"Cor," he called out softly, "are you here or is this thing you?" When he didn't get an answer, he tried to relax under the weight on top off him, and wait out whatever was going on.

'Well, I'm pretty sure this is Cordy, but what happened to make her like this? And what exactly is she now.' He studied what he could see from his position and decided she looked dog like. Maybe a werewolf? But how, the pus demon couldn't have done this. Wait don't you have to be bit to become a werewolf? In the movies you do. The kid at the mall last week! His mom was worried about blood. Maybe the kid is a werewolf, wait does that mean the kid was bit by someone or did he inherit it from one if his parents?'

Having solved what he could of the mystery, Xander let his mind drift while keeping one eye on the Cordy-wolf. He tentatively reached out to touch her and found the hair was softer than he would have thought, but nowhere near as soft as her regular hair, which Xander liked to stroke when they cuddled on the couch. After a few hours, he noticed the hair seemed to recede back into the body and suddenly he was holding a naked Cordy in his arms. He gently shook her, "Cordy, wake up, honey."

With a jolt, she sat up. Treating Xander to an up close and personal view of her luscious, perfect breasts. "Xander? What are you doing in bed with me? Weren't you sleeping on the floor?"

"I am on the floor, Cor, so are you. Naked, I might add, here," He held the blanket out towards her.

She glanced down at herself and grabbed the blanket and held it to herself. "What happened? Why am I naked again and on the floor?"

"Well, I think I've solved the mystery of what happened to you last night and the pus demon had nothing to do with it. Pretty sure it was that little kid at the mall last week, the one who bit you. Remember, his mother was worried about blood? I woke up a few hours ago and something was licking my face. It turned out to be what I'm pretty sure is a werewolf. After licking my face several times, it fell asleep on top of me. A few minutes ago, it turned into you."

"What, Xander if this is a joke, you are never seeing me model Victoria Secret again."

"Potent threat, Cor, but I assure you, no lie," he pointed to the bed frame near her, she looked and saw a tuft of hair caught on it and reached out tentatively to touch it. Drawing back quickly, when it proved to be real.

"What happened to my nightgown?"she asked.

"I don't know. I haven't gotten up yet."

She stood up and looked at the bed, where she saw the gown. It had been shredded, like claws had been used on it. Looking freaked out, Cordelia felt like she was the verge of a screaming fit.

Xander quickly rose and sat on the bed beside her. He pulled her into his arms and held her tight. "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere, I promise. We'll figure this out together."

She drew his scent in, only then realizing she had been doing that all day yesterday as well. "Xander, I think I know why I ended up in the woods last night and it wasn't just because I ate a rabbit. Which, ew. It's your scent. I could smell your cologne in the woods by the pond, where we had the picnic a couple months ago. My nose must be more sensitive now. I was smelling you all day yesterday. Your scent made me feel calmer. I just smelled you again and it made me calm down. Something about your smell helps me feel better."

"That's weird, I wonder why, wait didn't we learn in science class that smells can trigger memories? You've told me I make you feel safe, maybe my scent is reminding you of that feeling."

"If so, it must be working, because I do feel better."

"Come on let's get cleaned up. I need to run home and change and get a change of clothes for tonight."

"Tonight, you think it will happen again?"

"Maybe, according to the movies, it happens on full moon nights, but it's happened twice now and we don't know yet, for sure, what triggers it. I think, we should set up a video camera tonight and watch to see what happens. In the morning before we go to school, we can watch and then destroy it."

"Destroy it? Why?"

"So no one finds it and uses it against you in any way. Besides," he said jokingly, "if someone else sees you naked, I'll have to kill them."

"Your not the only one feeling proprietary, wolves mate for life you know, and I'm pretty sure both I and the wolf consider you ours." She smiled, not quite up to her full thousand watts, but closer than it had been.

"Note the not objecting that I'm doing."

"Xander am I a demon now?"

"I don't think so, you seem to be you still. Wolf-Cordy didn't seem interested in hurting anyone. Even if, technically, you are, we've seen in Giles' books that not every demon is evil. We can handle this, we just need to take it one day at a time. So go get ready for the day, I'll go home and get myself together. Why don't we go to the boardwalk. Spend the day just walking, browsing, and not think about this for awhile. When we get back, we can pull out your guys video camera and get it set up and see what there is to see, sound good?"

"Yah, sounds good. Xander could you leave your t-shirt? I think I'd feel better if I have something of yours here, in case I get upset again."

"Sure, no problem."

Cordelia headed for the bathroom, after tossing the blanket on the bed and not registering that she was giving Xander a thrill. Which he quickly got under control as he saw she was still too out of it to notice. He dressed quickly and headed out to his car.

As he drove home he thought over everything that had happened. It felt good to know Cordy trusted him and felt safe with him. He was determined to live up to that trust. Cordy and Cordy-wolf both seemed to need him. This was a head trip, but what Hellmouthy thing wasn't. When he got home, he saw his dad passed out in his chair and eased past him as quietly as he could. He showered and dressed, then packed an overnight bag, before heading back out again. His father was still asleep in the chair and he wasn't sure where his mother was, but he wasn't as interested in that as he was in getting back to Cordy. He wondered how they would handle school tomorrow.

'Looks like that research sesson will need to be on werewolves, instead of the pus demon, if Giles catches us we can just say we're trying to ID it in case there more of them or if there is something about them to be concerned about.'

Once he arrived back at Cordy's, he headed back up to her room. She was sitting on the bed dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, looking good as usual. 'Is there anything this girl can wear that she doesn't look good in?' he thought, 'probably not, she could make a potato sack look good.'

Cordelia looked up as he came in. "I found the video camera, it's over there," she nodded towards her vanity.

"Good, let's get something to eat and then head out. Some fresh air, a little time away from things will help us deal with everything."

"Ok, sounds good. Your taking this rather well, I'm barely holding it together."

"Cor, you're not the only one freaking, I promise you. But I also promise, no Xander shaped hole in you door, ok? What ever happens, we'll deal with it together."

She smiled, "good to know." He watched as she tucked his t-shirt into a bag. They headed downstairs to get something to eat, before leaving to explore the shops on the boardwalk.

After spending the whole day out, they headed back to Cordelia's place, where they watched TV until deciding to go to bed. Xander setup the camera, while Cordelia got ready. She climbed into her bed as Xander took his turn in the bathroom. She was disappointed that this time he was wearing a pair of pajama bottoms, instead of the underwear he'd worn the night before.

Xander settled down on the floor and called out softly, "Good night, Cor, see you in the morning. I love you."

Cordelia jolted as she heard him say that. It was the first time he'd ever said it. 'You do?" she asked.

"Yeah, not how I planned to say it, but it felt right."

"I love you too, you big Doofus. You're right, it does feel right to say it."

"I'll see you in the morning, Cor. Sleep well."

Xander wasn't nearly as surprised the second time as he had been the first time, when he was awaken by something licking his face again. "Hey, Cor, guess you need some cuddle time, huh? Well, alright settled down, we've got school tomorrow."

The Cordy-wolf studied him for a moment like she was trying to figure out what he was saying. Then she licked his face again, before cuddling down on him again, like she had the night before.

'This isn't going to work long term,' he thought, 'I can't sleep here every night and what if she tries to break into my house, sure that won't go over well with the folks. We'll have to come up with a way of keeping her safe and away from people when she wolfs out. I don't want anyone thinking she's a danger. Seems as long as I'm around she's calm, so somewhere, where we can both be that's isolated, but still keeps us nearby so we can do school and stuff. Don't want the guys getting suspicious. Buffy might decide 'slay now, ask questions never'. Xander felt his face harden, no one was going to be allowed to hurt Cordy. No one. She had put her trust in him and he was going to take care of her, regardless of what it took.