Anna was woken up the next morning by her alarm clock. Since she was starting work as of today, she had to start using it to make sure she got up on time. She hadn't had a huge amount of sleep, though. After enjoying her meal and drink at The Lucky Fox the previous night, she spent her time chatting with some of the regulars before heading home in the early hours of the morning. Since she knew Alice would be asleep for sure, Anna had entered the house as quietly as she could, hoping not to wake her up. Having made it to her bedroom, she quickly took her outfit off, threw on a baggy nightie that just about fit over her werewolf body, and immediately went to bed. That was at around three o'clock, and it was now...

"Six Forty Five... I only slept for less than four hours. Guess that doesn't matter too much, though. I don't feel particularly tired."

She got out of bed and patted her belly. She didn't feel particularly hungry, either.

"Gotta say, Ethyl sure knows how to cook. And how to look after her customers. I don't think I even need a cooked breakfast today. Just cereal will do. Hmm. Now that I think about it, I wonder if my little escapade made the news?"

Anna got ready as she usually did, then went to the kitchen to get some Lucky Charms for breakfast. She started eating as she went to the living room and saw Alice watching the TV.

"Morning. How are you feeling now?" said Anna.

"Fantastic! You're not going to believe this, but they caught those two rapists last night!"

"You're kidding! Really?"

Anna tried her best to feign surprise at the news.

"Yeah. Apparently they were initially arrested for kidnapping a woman and being in possession of a banned substance, but then they confessed to raping Poppy, not to mention many other women across the country. They said the current number of victims is over thirty, and it's possible there may even have been more. It's quite disturbing..."

"So, how'd they get caught?"

"That's the strange thing. They literally ran into the police while screaming about a wolf."

"A wolf?! What do you mean a wolf?"

"You know, a wolf. Like a dog, but bigger and more vicious, like to howl, tend to move about in packs..."

"Thanks, David Attenborough. I know what a wolf is. What I mean is, what do you mean they were going on about a wolf?"

"No one knows. They just kept shouting about one, but nobody saw anything. Everyone thinks they were just making it up. Honestly though, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that those two have been locked up. All we can do now is hope Poppy'll recover from this..."

"Me, too. And let's also hope those two get put away for a long time..."

Suddenly, Anna and Alice turned their attention to a breaking news story on the TV.

"The main laboratories of Solstice Technologies was the scene of a horrific attack believed to have been by a wild animal. The victim in question was twenty four year old Kelly Stevenson, a freelance inventor who had been working at the company for a top secret project."

Both Anna and Alice looked at the TV in horror.

"Oh my god... Kelly... How did..." said Anna.

"N-no way." said Alice.

"The victim was found with deep scratch wounds around her body and a big bite mark on her left shoulder." the TV reporter continued. "She was taken to intensive care shortly after she was found and is currently in critical condition. The staff are currently trying to figure out how the beast entered the building-"

Anna turned off the TV in disbelief. It seemed as though Kelly had been attacked in a similar manner as she was. But by what? It certainly hadn't been her. It couldn't have been Amanda or Lucy either. It had to have been the same creature that attacked and turned her a few months ago. But if that was the case...

"Dammit..." said Alice as she turned off the TV. "Why do these things always happen to us? If it's not you, it's me. If it's not Poppy, it's Kelly. Why can't we just have some peace and quiet around here?"

"I always say trouble has a habit of following me. This isn't doing much to change my mind..."

"It's not your fault. It's just bad luck is all."

"Yeah. Bad luck that seems to hit way more often than it should."

"Well... Yeah, I guess. Things do seem to be going from bad to worse at the moment... Think Kelly'll be okay? I mean, it looks kind of like what happened to you back in February."

"I don't know. I- I really don't know. I think you should check with the hospital to see. As much as I'd like to check up on her, I do have a job to go to..."

"True. Alright, I'll call them up as soon as I can. If we can visit her, I think we should do so as soon as possible. I just hope she'll be okay..."

Anna said nothing else. She knew that even if Kelly was fine, she would never be the same again if she had been attacked by a werewolf. One thing was bugging Anna more than anything at this point- when the time came to visit Kelly at the hospital, should she tell her about what was about to happen to her?



That very question continued to plague Anna as she arrived at the costume shop for her first day at work. Checking her watch, she saw it was nearly twenty past eight. Though she wasn't due until half past, she wanted to show up early so she would make a good first impression. She knocked on the door of the shop and was let in by Amanda.

"Hi, Anna. Ready for your first day on the job?"

"Y-yeah. I suppose so. Is Lucy in the back again?"

"Yup. She spends most of her time in her sewing room. These costumes won't make themselves after all. Until you came along, it's mostly been me taking care of things on the main floor."

"You were really okay with that?"

"Well, I do have more stamina than the average human so I can handle it. It's not like Lucy doesn't work hard either. I'd say she works even harder, and she does help out on the main floor regularly. Still, I can't say the extra hands are unwelcome here. It does take a little pressure off. Anyway, I'll take you out back and give you your first job for the day, if that's okay with you."

"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't."

Amanda took Anna to the back room, which had a big table in the middle with a few costumes on it. There were also a few shelves with various things like price tags, sticky tape, felt tip pens and much more. To the left of the back room was a closed door with a sign saying "Sewing room- Please knock before you enter." Anna could hear a sewing machine in use behind the door, so she assumed Lucy was working at it. Straight ahead was an open door which had a kitchen behind it. The sounds of the sewing machine in the next room soon stopped, and Lucy came out to greet Anna.

"Good morning, Anna." she said. "Nice and early, I see."

"Morning. Yeah, I didn't want to be late on my first day. How are you? Now that I think about it, what did you two get up to last night?"

"Amanda spent most of it worrying about you. Judging from what we heard on the news this morning, it looks like she needn't have done."

"It's true I managed to bring those rapists to justice, though it didn't go quite how I expected it. That's not the only thing that happened last night, either..."

Anna explained to Amanda and Lucy what had happened that night and about what had happened to Kelly.

"So you think your friend was also attacked by a werewolf?" said Lucy.

"She had to have been." said Anna. "No human could have inflicted those kinds of injuries. Alice is gonna call the hospital later to see how she's doing. If she turns out to be fine, I think it's a safe bet she's been turned. In a way, I wonder if that's worse than her dying..."

"Only if she chooses not to accept her gift." said Amanda. "You never know, she may embrace it as much as we have."

"Yeah. If she pulls through, I'm thinking about telling her she's going to become a werewolf. I'm a little conflicted though. In a best case scenario, she'll believe me and accept it. In a worst case, she'll either think I'm nuts, or she'll believe me and freak out about it. But if I don't tell her, she'll definitely freak out when the next full moon shows up, and maybe end up causing trouble. We were all lucky on our first nights, but that doesn't mean Kelly will be too..."

"Well, try not to fret about it right now." said Lucy. "The next full moon won't be for a while. You'll have plenty of time to make your mind up. For now, we should get ready to open up shop. Now Anna, can you help Amanda clean up?"

"Sure thing." said Anna as Lucy gave her a broom.

"All right." Lucy continued. "Before you start though, I do want to make one thing perfectly clear. You got this job because we felt it would make things easier for you given the circumstances. However, I still want you to work very hard and give it everything you've got. Just because we're friends doesn't mean I won't fire you if you prove a lousy worker. Hopefully, that won't be the case, but I thought I'd give you the heads up. Do you understand?"

"Absolutely." said Anna. "Don't worry. I won't let you down!"

"Good. I think you'd best get started then. The hoover is in that corner over there if you need it. Good luck on your first day, eh?"

Anna smiled and headed into the main shop to help Amanda clean up.



The morning had proved to be a busy one. There had been quite a few customers coming in, so Amanda had been showing Anna how to properly greet and assist them. When she wasn't doing that, she was in the back sorting through new stock that had arrived. There were a couple of breaks for tea, with Amanda, Lucy and Anna alternating between making it. Despite the busy morning everything was going alright, and Anna was doing an acceptable job. Eventually it was midday, which meant lunch. Anna and Amanda retired to the back for another cup of tea, which Lucy was making. Shortly after, a man came into the shop with a big bag.

"Sandwich delivery!"

He was from Sandwich Express, a small sandwich shop not too far out from the main shopping district. Lucy and Amanda always got their lunch from there since they made great food and big portions. Lucy came out to greet the delivery man.

"Alright, that's six sausage and bacon sandwiches, for you." said the man. "This is more than you usually have. You ladies are going to have a heart attack if you keep eating this much!"

"Haha, we have a new person joining us today, so the extra ones are for her. And you'd be surprised how much we can put away." said Lucy, handing the man the money for the food.

"A newcomer, eh?" the man said while looking out back. He saw Anna, who gave a quick wave.

"Hi. I'm new." she giggled.

"Haha, you'd better watch it with these two. They'll be making you all fat if they keep making you eat all this!"

"Nah, my metabolism is on par with them. I like a lot of meat too."

"If you say so. Anyway, I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot more of you in the future. Do a good job for Lucy here, won't you?"

"I will."

As the man left, Lucy handed out the sandwiches, and the aroma filled Anna's nostrils. They smelled delicious! They had all ordered the same filling- sausage and bacon. However, Anna had ordered ketchup in hers, while Lucy had lettuce and Amanda had mayonnaise and cucumber in theirs.

"Mmm! This is good." said Anna which eating her food. "You guys can sure pick 'em."

"Yeah. Sandwich Express makes the best sandwiches in London. I don't care what anyone else says." said Amanda. "Plus they pack plenty of meat into these things, which is great for the likes of us."

"Which reminds me." said Lucy. "Were you serious about what you said earlier? About using your abilities to be a full time crime fighter?"

"Yeah." said Anna. "We all know the crime rate in London is pretty bad right now, and the police can't seem to do much about it. Criminals just seem to laugh at the law. I think it's about time they stopped laughing and started being afraid. I can do it. During the next full moon, I'm gonna give them something to fear."

"Are you sure you won't just make everything worse, though?" said Amanda. "You did say things could have gone better last night."

"That's my main concern too. I know I need to be better prepared next time. But... I have these powers, and this is what I want to do with them."

"I guess." said Lucy. "Well, as I said yesterday, it's not our place to tell you what to do. Just promise us you won't do anything stupid."

"Not unless there's no other option." Anna replied as her phone rang. "Hold on, it's Alice. Wonder if it's about Kelly?"

"Let's hope so." said Amanda as Anna answered her phone.

"Hi, Alice. What's up?"

"Hey, Anna. How's your first day been so far?"

"Not bad, thanks. Been a little hectic, but nothing I haven't been able to handle so far. Did you call the hospital?"

"That’s why I'm calling. She's actually awake and doing okay. What's weird is... Well... You know when you were attacked and your wounds healed really fast?"

"Kelly healed up just as quickly as I did?"

"Yeah. They said her wounds were awful when they found her. Apparently it was a miracle she was even still alive in the first place. But now her wounds are almost gone. The doctors are trying to figure it out, but it's really stumped them. I don't blame them. It's just crazy..."

"No doubt. But at least she's fine. Are we going to visit her, then?"

"Yup. When do you finish? Steve and I will pick you up from the shop."

"We close at five, but I have to stay until half past to clean up afterwards."

"That's okay." said Lucy. "You can leave at five today. Give your friend some company."

"Really? Thanks!" Anna said to Lucy before going back to Alice. "Okay, scratch that. I'm good to go at five."

"Alright then, five it is. See you later."

Alice hung up and Anna sighed as she put her phone away.

"That confirms it." she said. "Kelly's been turned. So what now? Should I tell her or what?"

"We'll leave that up to you." said Amanda. "At the very least, I think we should let Miyuki know. I'm not sure if she'll be willing to help Kelly hone her abilities as well, but if worst comes to worst and she refuses to accept her gift, Miyuki might at least help her come to terms with it."

Anna remained in thought. She still didn't know what to do about the whole situation.



"I'm surprised you don't look all that tired, considering you said you'd been quite busy today." said Steve as he, Anna and Alice walked down the hospital corridor.

"Well, it's not physically demanding work." said Anna. "Aside from cleaning, there's nothing that really needs much physical labour. I think Lucy pushes herself harder than the rest of us. She spent most of the day at her sewing machine."

"I can imagine, considering how many outfits there are in there." said Alice. "It's amazing she has the stamina to make that many."

"Yeah, she's pretty amazing all right." said Anna as the group entered the ward where Kelly was staying. She was in the bed in the far left corner, and Amy was already sitting down beside her, chatting away. Anna had a quick sniff of the air, and quickly noticed Kelly's scent was different to how it was the last time she saw her. It was only slight, but she definitely had the scent of a wolf. If Anna had any doubts about Kelly being a werewolf before, she didn't now.

"Oh, hey guys!" said Amy as Anna's group approached the two.

"Hi Amy." said Anna. "Hi Kelly. I bought a little something for you."

Anna handed over a box of Quality Street, just as Kelly had done when she was in the hospital.

"One good turn deserves another, eh?" said Kelly. "Thanks. That'll keep me going a little."

"How are you doing, anyway?" said Steve. "We heard your wounds were pretty serious."

"That's what they said." said Kelly. "But right now I feel like I got hit by Mr. Bean rather than a truck. Maybe a little sore in some places, but that's really it. But believe me, when I was attacked it sure as hell felt a lot worse. If it hadn't hurt so much last night, I wouldn't have believed you if you told me how bad it was. But here we are. My wounds are almost gone and I'm feeling pretty damn good at the moment."

"What happened last night, anyway?" asked Alice.

"Well, I was working late at the lab. I was done for the night and was on the way home. I took a shortcut through the storage room, when suddenly the door closed behind me and locked. Then the lights went out and I got attacked. I lost consciousness right afterwards, but apparently one of the other workers found the door to the store room was locked, and he had to get a few people to break the door down. They then found me on the floor, bleeding quite heavily. They said it was a miracle I even survived, I'd lost so much blood."

"It's just like what happened with Anna." said Amy. "They both went from critical to just fine in around half a day. What's up with that? It's not normal."

Anna said nothing. The question of whether or not she should tell Kelly the truth was still on her mind. But even if she decided to do so, it would have to be in private... Everyone spent the next few hours making idle conversation. Anna was congratulated on her first day at her new job while the events of the previous night were also talked about. Eventually, it was time to leave.

"Right, we'll leave you alone, then." said Steve. "Let's hope they'll let you go soon."

"I hope so, too." said Kelly. "I hate lying around doing nothing. Always gotta be doing something."

"Just take it easy, okay?" said Alice. "We don't want to hear you ended up back here due to you pushing yourself too hard."

"I will, thanks." said Kelly as everyone stood up, about to leave. As they were about to walk out, Kelly shouted over to Anna.

"Hey, Anna! You forgot your phone!"

Anna had been looking at her phone a few times to see if there had anything new to say about the attack, which there hadn't. Afterwards she had set it down on the table next to Kelly and had forgotten all about it.

"Oops, that was silly." Anna thought. "But maybe this is the perfect time to tell her..."

"You... uh... gonna get that, Anna?" said Amy.

"Oh yeah, I will." Anna replied. "Actually... I need to go to the toilet too. I might be a little while, so can you wait for me?"

"Sure." said Alice. "Try not to take too long though, okay?"

Anna nodded and walked towards Kelly as the others left. Once they were gone, Anna pulled Kelly's curtain over so they could have some privacy.

"What was that for?" asked Kelly.

"Sorry Kel, but I need to tell you something." Anna said quietly. "Something I don't want the others to know. It's pretty important."

"And that is?"

"Now, what I'm about to tell you is going to sound... ridiculous. You're probably not going to believe me, but I can assure you this is the one hundred percent, bona fide truth. Also, try not to freak out about this, alright?"

"What's going on?"

"Well... the reason your wounds healed up so fast... That's because, well... Remember the thing that attacked me a few mpnths back? It was kinda... sorta... a werewolf."

"A... werewolf?"

"Yup. And as result of that, I'm... kind of one myself now."

"You. You're a werewolf?"

"Uh huh. I transformed for the first time the full moon after I was attacked. I know it's hard to believe, but-"

"I... believe you."

"You believe me, or you believe I'm nuts?"

"No, I actually believe you. It makes sense when I think about it. No human could have healed up as fast as you did back there. Then there's that Tennis game we had last month. You ended up being more Hulk smash than tennis smash back there. That wasn't normal either. Then there's last night. I mean, we were talking about that earlier. Those rapists were going on about a wolf, but there's something I didn't mention while everyone else was here. The bed next to me had this woman in it earlier today. Said she woke up here with almost no memory of what happened last night. All she could remember was what she saw before she fell unconscious. She said there was some kind of wolf, but it was no normal one. It looked more humanoid than an ordinary wolf. She also said she noticed it was a full moon, so she wondered if it was a werewolf."

"Yeah. That was me. I was the one who got those two arrested."

"Ah, now it’s all coming together. Anyway, she left earlier today since she was found to be in good shape despite her memory loss. But I don't think it's a coincidence all this happened, and now you're telling me you're a werewolf. It all fits perfectly."

"Nothing gets by you, does it? It wasn't a random attack either. I planned to scare them off all along."

"So, you're in full control? You don't go on random rampages, then? Wait, you're not the one who bit me, are you?"

"No, that definitely wasn't me. Attacking and turning innocent people is something I swore I'd never do. As for the whole being in control thing, it turns out what you hear in stories is only half true. There are werewolves who lose control and attack people, but I'm not one of them. I'm still me through and through. If anything, I'm way sexier as a werewolf."

"Come again? Sexier?"

"Oh yeah. I'm quite a looker when I'm transformed. Not to toot my horn or anything, but I'm definitely a babe in my werewolf form. Not at all like in the movies."

"Sounds like you got a pretty good deal, then. But if you were attacked, and your wounds healed quickly and you became a werewolf, and then I got attacked and my wounds have nearly healed... That means..."

"Right. Come the next full moon... You'll become one yourself."

"I'm... gonna be a werewolf too?"

"Yeah."

"That's... awesome! Holy shit, I'm actually gonna be a werewolf! Oh man, I'm hyped already."

"Wow. I didn't think you'd take it so well."

"If it's anything like you told me, then yeah! Bring that right on! Wait, does it hurt? I've seen so many movies and read so many stories about it, and I always heard it's painful as hell."

"Quite the opposite, actually. It feels amazing. Especially when you howl at the end of it. I do love howling."

Kelly laughed.

"Looks like I have plenty to look forward to then. So, uh... What'll I do when I change?"

"That's up to you. I've personally decided to use my abilities to be a crime fighter. A superhero, I guess. But how you use your gift... That's your call."

"Being a superhero, eh? I could join you. I could even cook up some gadgets for you to use while I'm at it."

"I wouldn't mind having a sidekick. If that's what you want to do, knock yourself out. You'll probably want to spend your first night getting used to your new body, though. It takes a little getting used to. I can give you some pointers, if that helps. Plus I made a few friends that can help too. I'll introduce you to them sometime."

"Sure, I'd like that. Probably not right now, though."

"No, I didn't think so. Oh yeah, it goes without saying, but you'll want to make sure you're not in public during the full moon. Make sure you're alone. You don't want people seeing you transform. Probably won't end well for you."

"Common sense, really. Anyway, I think you'd best get going. Alice and the others are waiting on you, and you still haven't been to the toilet."

"Oh, that was just an excuse to get you alone. I don't really need to go. But you're right. I should be off. Just remember- what you've been given is a gift, as long as you treat it as such."

"Sure." said Kelly as Anna pulled the curtain back open and left. She laid back in her bed, a little bewildered at what Anna had just told her. But she didn't seem to be scared at all. In fact, she was getting excited about it.

"I'm going to be a werewolf... Man, I can't wait for that."