The group of teens spent the rest of the day watching TV, playing board games, and anything else they could think of to keep them from getting bored. Gus at one point suggested they play Monopoly to pass the time, but Luz immediately shot that idea down. The last time they played that game resulted in Amity flipping the board out of anger and chasing Hunter around the Owl House. It wasn't pretty, and it was something Luz didn't want a repeat of. So they all decided to play the game of Life instead.

While they were playing, Camila and Vee were preparing the sedatives and dog blankets the former managed to snag from the clinic. Given the large size of the animal they were after, she made sure to take a half a dozen doses to compensate. She considered it a miracle she wasn't caught, but she didn't mind taking the risk. If it meant capturing this creature and preventing more dog and cat deaths, she would do it ten times over.

After a long and sometimes painful wait, dusk finally rolled around, and the group wasted no time packing their gear and heading off into the nearby woods, the witches wearing hats or bandanas to cover their ears. Even though they were heading into the woods and away from people, they didn't want to take any chances.

Speaking of people, the group decided to head a little ways in so that there would be no risk of any neighbors getting hurt, but not too far away so the animal wouldn't get suspicious.

"Hey." Luz said as they reached a clearing. "This looks like a good spot. It's out in the open and there's plenty of hiding places for us."

"Yeah, works for me." Gus said. "Alright, let's get this trap set up."

No sooner did he say did Gus cast his illusion spell in the center of the clearing. It looked and sounded exactly like a German Shepard, and the group had no doubt it would get the mystery animal's attention. Camila then walked over and set the blankets down next to the decoy, making sure they were underneath it to not look obvious. With the bait set, everyone took up a hiding place in some trees. They wanted the animal to smell the decoy, not them. Willow prepared her plant spells while Amity did the same with her Abomination Goo. Since Luz couldn't use her glyphs in the human realm, she opted to be ready with some syringes of sedative with her mother and sister.

"And now, we wait." Camila said.

"How long do you think it will take for it to show up?" Willow asked.

"Probably not long." Vee said. "With the amount of noise and smell we're making, that animal should come running."

….

The basilisk's prediction ended up being wrong. To her and everyone's surprise, hours passed by with no sign or sound from anything. Not even a squirrel appeared during this time, and it made the group question whether they were scaring the animal away instead of attracting it. That wouldn't make any sense though. This creature had preyed on dogs several times. So why would it suddenly avoid one? Did it suspect it was one of the tracker dogs the police had been using? Was it really that smart?

As more time passed, it became more evident that that could be the case. And before long, the clock struck midnight, with still no sign of anything.

Luz let out a tired sigh and turned to her girlfriend. The purple haired witch was getting groggy herself, and Ghost had already fallen asleep on her lap.

"I think maybe we should call it a night." Luz whispered. "Nothing's happened for hours, and I'm starting to get sleepy."

"Yeah, me too." Amity replied with a yawn. "I don't get it though. What did we do wrong? Does it really know this is a trap?"

"You got me. We don't even know what kind of animal we're after. It would really help if we did."

"Yeah, and it's not exactly like we could have done any research. The only evidence this thing leaves behind are its tracks and the kills it makes."

Luz let out a quiet but annoyed sigh. "I know, and that's what bothers me. This thing clearly knows how to sneak in, make a kill while leaving almost no evidence behind, and then elude professional trackers. How can an animal be that smart?"

Amity shook her head. "I don't know, but I think we should discuss it more in the morning. This is clearly not getting us anywhere."

"Alright let's-"

But before the human witch could finish her sentence, Stringbean, who had been sitting on her shoulder, started frantically nudging her cheek. And when Luz turned to look at her, she had wide and worried eyes.

"What is it, girl? You smell something?" She whispered.

Her palisman shook her head and motioned towards the forest. Even though it was a bright night, it was still hard to see, so Luz leaned in and listened carefully. There was nothing though.

"What?" She asked, confused. "I don't hear anything."

And that's when it hit her like a brick. The barking from the decoy was the only sound present now. The crickets and other animals of the forest had gone dead silent. The human witch knew exactly what that meant, and the look on her girlfriend's face told her she knew too.

There was a predator in the area.

They both nodded to each other, and Amity nudged Ghost to wake her up. But that wouldn't be necessary, because the sound of something tearing out of the nearby bushes did that for her. It was loud, like someone was plowing a bulldozer through the brush. She whipped her head around to see what caused it, and her eyes widened in shock.

Rather than being the exotic cat she was expecting, the animal she saw was canine in appearance. Its head was similar to a wolf's, only the snout was slightly broader, and its eyes glowed red like two burning coals. Its body was extremely muscular, and was covered in jet black fur that was about an inch long.

But that wasn't what Amity was focused on. The part that shocked her was that this creature was enormous, far bigger than any wolf she had ever seen. It was about three feet tall at the shoulder, and it looked more like something she'd see in the Demon Realm rather than the Human Realm.

She only had a second to process all of this though. Because in that instant, the large canine pounced onto the decoy, only to pass right through it and slide on the ground. It quickly turned around and tried to attack again, but got the same result. As it turned around again, it tilted its head in confusion. This hunting strategy had worked for it before, so why couldn't it hurt this dog?

This presented the perfect opportunity for the group to strike.

"Now!" Luz yelled.

Amity and Willow flew out of their hiding spots, their palismans turning into staffs as they did, and cast their spells at the canine. It growled in surprise as Willow's vines wrapped around its body while Amity's abomination goo formed hands that held its legs and head in place. It let out another growl as it struggled, this one sounding much more annoyed.

"We got it, guys!" Willow yelled. "Quick! Use the sedative!"

Luz, Camila, and Vee all rushed over with their syringes. Even though its head was being held, they didn't want to take any chances. So they opted to approach their adversary from the sides. With a yell, they all stabbed their syringes into it and injected the sedative, the animal yelping as they did.

"Alright boy, time for a nap." Luz said.

But that's not what happened. To her shock, the canine didn't fall asleep. In fact, it didn't even get remotely tired. Instead, even with the abomination hands holding it, it turned its head to face her, letting out a deep growl as it did. The look it gave her made her heart skip a beat. It wasn't the look of a predator. This creature was giving a look of pure malice and hatred, like the human witch had insulted it, and perhaps maybe she did.

Then it did something that caught everyone off guard. It got up off the ground, ignoring its restraints, and stood on two legs. It had to have been at least seven feet tall, and it towered over the group. It was then that they saw another shocking detail. Its forelimbs didn't have paws at the end. It had hands. Human looking hands, only the fingers were longer with each having a large claw at the end. Luz felt her heart pound in her chest. She was absolutely terrified, because she now knew exactly what she was looking at.

This creature was known by many names around the world, but she knew it as a werewolf.

With a roar that could probably be heard for miles, the monster yanked its arms away from the abomination hands holding them before grabbing the human witch by the throat with its right hand, while it used its left hand to rip and tear at the vines around its waist.

"LUZ!" Camila screamed in horror. She instantly went into protective mother mode and pulled her baseball bat out of her bag before charging at the werewolf with a roar of her own. She hit it in the leg as hard as she possibly could, hoping that the blow would shatter the bone into a million pieces.

But the beast didn't even flinch. With an annoyed grunt, it swung its free arm around and clocked her so hard it sent her flying through the air.

"MOM!" Vee yelled as she rushed to her aid. The werewolf actually gave a smirk as it saw the human crash in a heap on the ground.

But then it let out a yelp when a sharp pain shot through its right arm. When it turned back around, it saw that Stringbean had taken the form of a knife, and Luz was using her to stab the monster to break free, and it worked. The shock of the pain loosened the hand's grip just long enough for the human witch to wriggle out of its grasp and land on her feet.

She immediately took a battle stance, her heart racing. She had no choice but to fight. She wouldn't abandon her family. And even if she did run, she would be caught in an instant.

"Alright, pal." She said. "You want to play hardball? Bring it!"

The werewolf let out another roar and swiped at her, but she ducked under it and lunged forward, plunging Stringbean into its stomach over and over again. It let out an angry growl and attempted to grab her, but she ducked again and rolled between its legs before it did. Wasting no time, she then started stabbing it in the back, but was only able to get in a couple hits before a swift kick from her opponent sent her tumbling back.

Luz was quick to get back on her feet and face the werewolf once more. She knew she couldn't lose focus for even a second. The beast raised its arm for another swipe, and again she ducked. But the clawed hand didn't swing down this time. Instead, the monster disappeared in a flash of red light and reappeared again behind her. Luz's eyes widened in horror. The werewolf had just used a teleportation spell similar to the one Hunter used. It had tricked her.

Before she could move, the beast clamped its jaws onto her shoulder, which caused her to scream in agony. The pain was intense, like she was being stabbed with red hot nails instead of teeth. She tried desperately to free herself, only to be thrown aside like a rag doll.

She tried to get up, but the pain was so bad she doubled over with tears in her eyes. Her heart pounded as she heard the heavy footsteps of the werewolf fast approaching her. When she turned, she saw it actually smiling. It was enjoying the pain it was causing her, and now it was moving in for the kill.

But before it could reach her, a fireball collided with its back and exploded, singing fur and skin in the process. It howled in pain and spun around to see Amity. She was preparing another fireball, and had a look of pure murder in her eyes.

"Nobody. Hurts. My. Luz." She said with a venomous tone.

Being careful to avoid hitting her girlfriend, she threw several more fireballs covering a wide radius around the beast. She had seen it use its teleportation ability, and had dueled with Hunter enough times to know how to counter it. Realizing teleporting wouldn't work this time, the werewolf opted instead to try and deflect them with its claws. But this only got it so far as many of the projectiles hit their mark, knocking it down and causing even more burns. They didn't do much damage though. And when the monster stood up again, it gave a smirk before all of its injuries started disappearing.

Great. Not only is this thing powerful, but it heals fast too. Amity thought. I need to try something else.

She formed her abomination goo into a dozen large spikes and threw them at her opponent, but these didn't do a lot of damage either, and those wounds too quickly patched themselves up. The werewolf was angry now. These humans were really starting to get on its nerves.

With surprising speed, it lunged through the air towards Amity. She quickly blocked the attack, using her abomination goo as a shield. Infuriated, the monster's claws suddenly began glowing red before it started striking the shield repeatedly, breaking it after only a few blows. The beast's strength was incredible, and it was clear now it was using some kind of dark magic.

It raised its claws for another strike, but was stopped when a thorn covered vine collided with its jaw, staggering it off balance. Amity turned and saw Willow with a look of determination and rage almost on par with her own. She lashed out another vine, but the werewolf sliced it in half with its glowing claws. It then slashed at the air which created three glowing blade-like projectiles that were launched at the two witches. It was only because of their fast reflexes that they were able to dodge them.

They put some distance between them and their opponent, prepared to cast more spells. By now, Camila had recovered from the blow she had received and ran up with Vee and Gus to join them. Everyone stood ready to fight the enormous monster standing before them, and it let out another loud roar, ready for another round.

But before either side could make a move however, the sounds of people shouting came from the treeline drew everyone's attention. This was soon followed by the sight of flashlights cutting through the trees before the source was revealed as two police officers. They had been patrolling through the area when they heard the roars and screams, and came in to investigate.

For the first time, the werewolf formed a look of concern on its face. It knew what the authorities were capable of. And while it could certainly fight these two, it couldn't fight all of them. It turned and growled at the group one last time, almost like it was saying they got off easy, before dropping back down on all fours and taking off towards the brush.

"There it is! Shoot it!" One officer yelled. Him and his partner pulled out their side arms and fired, but the beast shrugged off the shots and disappeared into the darkness. The two officers stood there for a moment in shock.

"What was that? Was that a bear?" One officer asked.

"It looked more like a wolf." His partner replied.

"It was way too big to be that. It had to have been a bear."

"No, I saw its head. It was definitely canine."

They then heard a pained whimper coming from their right. When they looked, they saw Luz on the ground surrounded by her family, and they immediately rushed over to help.

Luckily her injuries weren't as serious as they had feared. The wounds from the canine teeth had sunk in deep, but thankfully they didn't seem to hit anything vital as there wasn't any heavy bleeding. The wounds from the carnassials were surprisingly shallow and didn't seem to require any stitches. What they didn't know was that Amity had used some healing magic while they were distracted, incredibly thankful Emira had taught her how to use it. In reality, the bite had been far more horrific.

"What happened?" One officer asked. "What were you guys even doing out here?"

Luckily, Gus was good at thinking on his feet. "We were coming back with Luz to hang out at her place when this thing came out of nowhere and grabbed her off the porch! It tried to drag her into the woods, but we stopped it."

This thankfully worked, and the officer looked horrified. "Then that animal is clearly not afraid of humans. We better get your friend out of here in case it comes back."

The officer reached over to pick up Luz, but the human witch surprisingly refused, insisting she could walk on her own. Amity and Camila weren't having it however, and they demanded that Luz hold on to them for support.

As the group walked out of the forest, Amity held her girlfriend's hand while whispering reassuring words to her, but it didn't really work. Luz seemed to be getting more and more panicked by the second.

"Amity." She whispered. "That thing bit me. Does that mean…?"

The purple haired witch tensed. She knew why her girlfriend was so scared. The monster they had just encountered was known in both human and demon realm folklore. And if the legends were true, it had just infected Luz with a horrible curse.

Putting it out of her mind for now, Amity kissed the human witch on the forehead. "Don't worry about that, Batata. Even if that is the case, I promise you everything will be alright. Eda will know what to do. She knows this situation better than anyone."

Luz finally gave a slight smile and nodded. "Yeah, she really does. Titan, she's going to be so mad at me."

"I don't think she will." Camila said. "I'm not."

"You're not?" Luz asked, surprised.

"No. I mean, how were we supposed to know it was a werewolf we were after? That was probably the last thing we were expecting."

"Heh, I guess you're right."

"Exactly. It's not your fault, so don't beat yourself up over it."

She then gave her daughter's hand a reassuring squeeze. "We'll talk more about this later. Right now, let's just get you patched up."