Chapter seventeen- Wolf Team


While the rest of the group were looking for Kisa, Miyuki had been teaching Amy how to use her new abilities. To achieve this end, she had set up a mini assault course in the mansion garden. She used each obstacle individually to show Amy a new skill, then after she felt she had gotten the hang of everything, put what she had learned to get through the whole course. Amy seemed to have learned rather quickly, and at this moment in time she had just finished the course yet again.

“Hmm. Two minutes, eight seconds.” Miyuki said, checking her stopwatch. “That’s easily your best time yet. In fact, you’ve improved every time you’ve attempted the course. Very impressive. The others didn’t improve anywhere near that quickly.”

“Thanks!” Amy replied. “I definitely feel like I’m getting better all the time. It’s like I’m getting more used to this body the more I use it. But I guess that’s kind of the point of all this training, huh?”

“Yes, but there’s something else as well. Your movements have quite a bit more agility in them than I’ve seen in other werewolves, your friends included. You’re not as fast as Amanda, but... How can I put this? You move a lot more fluidly than most. It’s quite something to watch, honestly.”

“Cool. I wonder if that’s because of my dance background?”

“Not quite. I’d say it’s more that your overall agility is higher than usual. I’m sure you’re aware that some werewolves that are turned rather than being born as such can develop enhanced abilities beyond that of any other werewolf- like Amanda’s speed or Anna’s increased strength. I think that might have affected you, too- only here it’s your agility that’s better than average.”

“I get ya. Huh, that does sound quite like me, too!”

Miyuki chuckled, but quickly stopped when her ears caught the sound of fast approaching footsteps.

“Hmm? Is something up?”

“Yes. I think we have company. Listen for yourself. Your hearing is now better than ever, after all.”

“I don’t need to. They’re right behind you.”

“I know.”

Miyuki turned to see Amanda, Lucy and another, more unfamiliar werewolf behind her- one who seemed to be rather awestruck at Miyuki’s appearance.

“Hey, guys.” said Amy. “Looks like you managed to bring Kisa! Or at least I hope it’s Kisa. How’d it go?”

“It’s a long story.” said Lucy. “We’ll get you up to date soon, I promise.”

“Amanda. Lucy. You’re both back. I see that Anna and Kelly aren’t with you, though.”

“Nah, Anna decided to go on ahead and do some crime fighting like she planned.” said Amanda. “Kelly went with her. They also said that if they find any information regarding the feral activity, they’d let you know.”

“Good. Let’s hope they find something, then.” Miyuki replied before turning to the newcomer. “Hello there. I assume you are Kisa, yes?”

“Oh wow. An actual nine tailed fox? I-is this real?” Kisa replied. Miyuki could only smile at her comment.

“Yes, I can assure you I am very much real. In fact there are many other creatures you thought were only legends, but are in fact as real as you or me. But I feel I’m getting ahead of myself here.”

“So, yes.” said Lucy to Kisa. “This is our friend, Miyuki. She’s also been a mentor to us throughout the last few months. And the pink werewolf here is Amy Phillips, who I believe you already know. This is her first full moon too.”

“Oh geez, Amy too? That werewolf sure was busy last month, huh?”

“It wasn’t the same one that turned me.” Amy replied. “There’s... a lot we need to talk about. I know there’s a lot on your mind right now, and there’s going to be even more to take in. But hey, that’s why you’re here, right?”

“Yeah. I do want to know more. I must admit though, this isn’t at all what I was expecting. I thought your friend was going to be another werewolf, but... Well, she isn’t. So, what the hell IS going on around here exactly?!”

Miyuki smiled and began to walk back to the mansion.

“Very well. Allow me to explain as much as I can. Shall we head inside first, though? You all look as though you could do with a sit down.”

“Don’t I know it.” said Amanda. “Sure, I’d like to put my feet up for a little while.”

“I might as well put the kettle on then.” said Lucy. “I think a cup of tea is just what we need right now.”

“Yeah, I’m totally down for one.” said Amy. “It’s been a long night of training for me.”

“It’s been a long night for all of us.” said Kisa. “But I’m sure you’ll find out once we’re inside.”

“I’m sure we will.” said Miyuki as she headed back. The rest of the group followed suit.



The Next Morning



Elaine arrived at the main office of The London Daily earlier than usual, hoping to get a bit more work done than usual. She was expecting the office to be empty when she got there, maybe get a few remarks from Ben and Max when they arrived about her arriving first. But to her surprise, she found both Max and Frank there talking to one another. Meanwhile, Ben was also at his desk talking on the phone. So much for being the first one here...

“Oh? I wasn’t expecting to see the lot of you here at this time.” she said. “What’s the occasion?”

“Morning, Elaine.” said Max. “Uh, this is going to be hard to believe. Frank was attacked by what he thought was a wolf last night!”

“Oh shit, really?”

“I wouldn’t say I was attacked, exactly.” said Frank. “Whatever it was jumped off the bonnet of my car then ran off. Caused a fair bit of damage to it, too. All I can say for sure is, it... didn’t look human. It was human sized, but it was also running on all fours and had a tail. To be honest, I’m not sure it even was a wolf. What it really was, though? I have no idea.”

“We’ve been here for a few hours now to try and figure it all out.” said Max. “Ben’s currently on the phone to the police trying to back up a theory he has. You know how there’d been rumours of a wolf attacking criminals the last full moon? Well, it was a full moon last night too. Ben wondered if there had been similar incidents during then, so he’s currently chasing up that lead.”

“Of course, even if he’s right, that still doesn’t mean it’s the same one who wrecked my car. There’s still too many things that just aren’t coming together here...”

At that point, Ben put the phone down.

“Alright, I was just talking to DCI Jason Cunningham, and he had some rather interesting things to say. Turns out, he and the rest of the force were rather busy last night. There had been quite a lot of criminals bagged- some found unconscious and tied up, others found stuck in some strange foam like substance, and others seen running away screaming about wolves!”

“You’re kidding.” said Elaine. “So our wolf actually has been on the prowl again?”

“Maybe. It could be that the crooks were making it up, but then, Cunningham said that they felt genuinely afraid. He didn’t think they were faking it. Then there’s the foam they found on some scenes. They’re looking into it right now, but they had no idea where it came from. I think it’s perfectly clear there’s a vigilante on the loose at the very least. But the question is, is it a human in a costume? Or something else entirely?”

“So, the attacks last night were only on criminals, and they weren’t too badly hurt?” said Frank. “There haven’t been any reports of anything more serious, like the one at the Solstice technologies building a few months back?”

“No, it doesn’t seem as though there were more serious attacks last night. Just on criminals. I did ask Cunningham to keep me informed if anything worse does turn up though.”

“So, what now?” said Max. “There’s clearly something going on, but how are we gonna figure it out?”

“There is one more lead I can think of.” Ben replied. “And Frank just mentioned it. The animal attack in the Solstice building. There was another one as well a few months prior. A woman named Anna Tyler staggered into a Tesco late at night, covered in blood. She was taken to hospital, and was then discharged a few days later having made a full recovery. I think there might be a connection. The other victim, Kelly... Stevenson, I believe? She was also released from hospital less than a week after she was attacked, and again in perfect condition. Now, doesn’t that strike anyone as a little off?”

“Two severe animal attacks, and both victims recovering very quickly? Now that you mention it...” said Elaine.

“What about Kisa Justine?” said Frank. “You confirmed it was her blood they found in the shower when she was found unconscious. Was she a victim of an animal attack too?”

“We haven’t had any confirmation on that at all.” Ben replied. “She had no marks on her when she was found. There’s no way of telling what- or who- attacked her. And I don’t think she’ll be willing to talk. Especially not after she was hounded so hard by the rest of the press following the attack.”

“So you were planning to talk with the victims?” said Max. “If that’s the case, I can tell you right now you won’t get one with Miss Stevenson. She’s working on that top secret project for Solstice, and they have a strict policy in place forbidding anyone involved with the project from having interviews- even if it has nothing to do with the project itself. They want to make sure no one blabs any sensitive info about it, you know? Not that I blame them. Rumour has it that the Red Sun Corporation has been breathing down their necks for years now.”

“Well, I was planning to do just that. Sounds like a no go for Miss Stevenson, then. But what about Miss Tyler?”

“Not so sure about her. You might get a chance to talk to her at least. Might be worth a shot.”

“Alright then.” said Frank. “Max, find out which hospital Miss Tyler was admitted to and see if you can ask them for her address. Once we have that, Ben can give her an interview. See if she’s willing to give any details about her attack. We can see if we can connect any of the dots afterwards.”

“Alright!” Ben and Max replied. Max immediately sat down at his desk to dig up information on Anna’s attack.

“You really think there’s a connection?” said Elaine to Ben.

“I don’t know. But it’s the best lead we have right now...”



Anna was woken up by the sounds of drills outside her house. She grumbled and put her pillow over her ears. Of course they’d be doing some maintenance works this morning... She already wasn’t in the best of moods due to the events of the previous night. While it hadn’t been a complete bust- she and Kelly had managed to stop quite a few bad guys, Kisa now seemed willing to accept her gift as a werewolf and best of all, Poppy had managed to go out on her own for the first time in months- things still could have gone a lot better. She hadn’t found anything regarding the feral werewolves and their master, then of course was the fact that she nearly died in that lake. She didn’t blame Kisa for that, but the fact remained that she could have handled the situation better. She only got home a few hours ago, and didn’t get much sleep as a result. Despite that, she didn’t feel too tired. As she thought more about the previous night, her phone started to ring. She leant over to pick it up. It was a text from Lucy:


Hi Anna!

I hope you’re feeling better after last night. Don’t worry about coming into work today. Take the time to recover. Also, we told Miyuki and Amy everything. They’re both happy that Poppy is slowly improving. As for Kisa... Miyuki gave her the location of The Lucky Fox, and said she’s more than welcome to come and see her if she ever feels she wants to hone her abilities. Of course, whether or not Kisa will actually take her up on that offer is entirely up to her. She was never pressured, naturally.

Take care of yourself!


Lots of love,

Lucy

PS: We’ve agreed to meet up at The Lucky Fox at 3PM this afternoon to plan our next move. Hope to see you there!


“Dammit Lucy, you didn’t have to do that.” Anna thought to herself. “It’s nice of you, but there’ll be more situations like that where I nearly die. I’ll take it this time, but I hope you won’t do this after every near death experience I have...”

Suddenly, Anna’s attention turned to her hand, and she noticed something off about it- it was still furry. She jolted up, realising that the same was true for her entire body.

“Crap, I’m still a werewolf?” she thought to herself in a panic. “Why’s that? Shouldn’t I have turned back by now? Wait, I was already a werewolf when the full moon came out, so maybe that’s why? If I shift before a full moon, I don’t immediately turn back at sunrise? Whatever, I just need to change back before-”

“Hey Anna, you awake yet? It’s past eight 0’ clock!”

Anna’s thoughts had been interrupted by the sound of Alice knocking on her bedroom door.

“Ah, dammit! That’s the last thing I need!”

Anna took a quick look at herself, and realised that she was naked to boot. When she got home, she had quickly thrown off her costume, dropped it on the floor and gone straight to bed without putting any pyjamas on.

“C’mon Anna.” said Alice behind the door again. “You’re going to be late for work if you keep this up!”

“Oh, uh... I’m up. Just give me a moment!” Anna said out loud before thinking back to herself.

“Okay, okay. Just relax. Just concentrate on shifting back...”

With that, Anna relaxed herself and imagined herself in her human form. Almost immediately, she felt her fur recede and the rest of her body return to normal. Now human again, she quickly slid her costume under her bed, threw her bedsheet around herself for some modesty and opened the door to Alice.

“Uh, good morning?” Anna said sheepishly. “Sorry about the delay. Didn’t sleep too well last night.”

“I’m not surprised.” Alice replied. “You were still out when I went to bed last night. Where were you, anyway? You said you were going out for a bit yesterday afternoon, but you never said where?”

“Oh, Kelly invited me over to her place after work. Said she wanted to get to know me better. I guess we overdid it a little, though. Didn’t get back until pretty late. Oh, and work? Nothing to worry about. Lucy said I could take today off.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“Uh, well... You know we have the afternoon off once a month for the sake of stock taking? Apparently there’s been some problems there, so Lucy and Amanda have to sort it out. The shop’s gonna be closed today, so that’s why I’m off...”

“I see. Alright. Well, if you say so, you might as well make the most of it. Just... try not to spend all day in bed, yeah?”

“Nah. I was just about to get up. Take a shower and all that. I mean, I’m already naked under this blanket so-”

“Y-yeah, that was more than I needed to know. Anyway, I’ll leave you to it. Just... let me know next time you’re going out, okay. And don’t go taking anymore late nights. I know I’m not your mum, but that doesn’t mean I want to find that you lost your job because you were late too many times.”

“I know. Thanks for looking out for me.”

Anna smiled as she closed the door, her mind finally able to focus again.

“Phew, close one. I’m gonna have to be a lot more careful around Alice in future, that’s for sure...”



Though Anna didn’t have to worry about work that day, Kelly on the other hand was still needed at the Solstice Technologies building. Thankfully, much like Anna she wasn’t very tired despite getting even less sleep. Nonetheless, she was hoping the meeting at The Lucky Fox in the afternoon wouldn’t take too long. She definitely wanted to get some shut eye tonight. Still, that was for the future. For now, Kelly just wanted to get some work done. As she walked down the main hall on the ground floor, she noticed one of the lift doors was open, so she made a run for it in the hope she would get there before it closed. She just barely made it. Stopping to catch her breath, she looked around and saw on of her colleagues by the buttons, holding on to the open doors button.

“Cheers Nina, I owe you one.” said Kelly to the woman.

“No worries, you’re just lucky I saw you before the doors closed!” Nina replied. “So, gonna be pulling another all nighter today?”

“Not this time. Have something important to deal with this afternoon. Besides, I was up way later than I hoped for last night. Kinda hoping for an early one this time.”

“Must have been important if you were up late on a day off. If I didn’t know you any better, I’d say you’re starting to slack off...”

“Nah, definitely not. Things’ll be back to normal tomorrow. Just had a lot of stuff on my plate over the last few days. Been a bit hectic.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

The lift came to a stop on Kelly and Nina’s floor, so they both got out while continuing to chat.

“I don’t think it’ll be much longer before the project is finished.” said Nina as she and Kelly walked down the corridor. “Give or take a few months.”

“Yeah, about another month and Dr. Ellis thinks it’ll be ready for a test. Can’t wait!”

“Do you have any idea what you’ll be doing once it’s all over? Since you’re a freelancer and all that.”

“You know. I haven’t really given it much thought. Kinda been focusing more on the present rather than the future.”

“Well, you know you’d be more than welcome to work here full time. Dr. Ellis thinks very highly of you, and I doubt he’d really want to let you go so easily. I think you’d want to work here permanently too. You do seem to like it here.”

“Oh yeah, I love it here. I’d love to stay, honestly. But whether or not that’s what’s best for me I don’-”

Kelly suddenly stopped in her tracks. Her ears had caught the sound of voices coming from the meeting room, which wasn’t too far from where she was standing. The room itself was mostly soundproofed, meaning no one could usually hear any sound coming from it, but Kelly’s improved hearing was able to pick it up quite faintly.

“You okay, Kelly?” said Nina.

“Shh shh.” Kelly replied as she tried to tune her ears to the voices. One of them was Dr. Ellis, and he did not sound happy. Kelly tried to focus on what he was saying.

“Look, I don’t care how much you offer us, I don’t care how much you bother us. This company is not for sale. We are not looking to merge with you. And most of all, you are NOT getting any kind of control over our project. You’ll just have to learn that you’ll never control everything in this city. Now, I highly suggest you take your money and leave immediately, Miss Bridges. We’re not interested in anything you have to say.”

“I see.” said another voice that sounded familiar, though Kelly couldn’t quite put her finger on it. “I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but it’s clear you’ve made your stance known. But know this. We always get what we want. This won’t be the end of it. Goodbye.”

Kelly shook her head as she heard footsteps leaving the meeting room.

“Kelly?” said Nina, giving Kelly a short jolt.

“Oh! Oh, yeah. Sorry.” Kelly replied. “I just thought I heard Dr. Ellis in the meeting room. He sounded pretty pissed about something.”

“Really? But the meeting room is nearly sound proof. And it’s far enough that no one could hear anything from there. Are you sure you’re not imagining things?”

“Maybe. But it was quite vivid. I don’t know, maybe I’m just tired.”

Kelly knew she wasn’t imagining things. Her heightened senses as a result of her werewolf genes were very much the reason she was able to listen in. Not that she was about to tell that to Nina, though. At that point, the two caught sight of three important looking people heading down the corridor. Two of them were burly looking men in smart suits, neither of whom looked like they were to be messed with. In between them was a woman with black hair tied into a bun, and an elegant green dress. It was clear that the two men were body guards to the woman. She walked past Kelly and Nina without even looking at them, and Kelly felt a shiver down her spine.

“Oh man, that’s one cold looking lady.” she said.

“I’m not surprised.” Nina replied. “That’s none other than Wanda Bridges herself.”

“Oh snap, the Red Sun CEO? No wonder she gave me the heebie jeebies... But what’s she doing here?”

Suddenly, Kelly and Nina caught sight of Dr. Ellis walking down the corridor in a sour mood.

“Good morning Kelly, Nina.” he said with a sigh as he approached them.

“Morning.” said Kelly. “Is- everything okay? Or am I better off not talking about it?”

“No, I may as well tell you.” Dr. Ellis replied. “I’m sure you’ve just noticed Wanda Bridges storm off. She was here to make another attempt at taking control of us. Tried paying us a lot of money, especially for the energy project. But the higher ups and I stood our ground. We weren’t having any of it. We let her know exactly what we thought of her and her company, and she left. Not without threatening us, though. I’ll be honest with you both. I’m... a little bit worried about her. I think she might get a bit more desperate.”

“All the more reason to finish the project as soon as possible, then.” said Nina. “Once it’s up and running, we’ll have Red Sun with their tail between their legs. Just you wait.”

“I hope so. That doesn’t mean we can rush, though. We need to make sure it’s fully ready before we start it up. I just hope it’s sooner rather than later.”

Kelly said nothing. The project clearly meant a lot to Dr. Ellis. To the entirety of Solstice Technologies. And all Red Sun wanted to do was add the company to it’s long list of businesses it controlled. And if they refused, rub them out entirely. Just one look at Wanda Bridges and Kelly knew she was the kind of person who wouldn’t hesitate to do such a thing. She just hoped that everything would turn out fine in the end...



That afternoon, Anna and Alice were washing up following a big lunch Anna had made for them.

“I gotta admit, that lunch was great!” said Alice. “You’re getting good at cooking!”

“I’ve learned a lot from you these last few months.” said Anna. “I wouldn’t say I’m at your level, but I’m learning. I’m learning.”

“Yeah, you really are. Are you sure you didn’t mind going through all this trouble, though? You didn’t need to.”

“I know, but I didn’t want to spend my day off being lazy. I wanted to do something fun and productive. It wasn’t any bother at all.”

“Haha, I can’t complain then. I guess you’ve earned an afternoon in front of the telly, huh?”

“Nah, I’m more in the mood for a walk, actually. It’s a nice enough day for it.”

“Oh. Okay, sure. I guess after all you’ve just eaten, I don’t blame you.”

Anna laughed. She certainly had eaten a fair bit. However, her decision to take a walk had nothing to do with burning off the calories, and was more an excuse to leave the house so she could meet up with the others at The Lucky Fox later. However, the pair’s conversation was cut short by the doorbell.

“I’ll go get that.” said Anna.

“Sure thing. I’ll finish things up here for you.”

“Cool. Thanks.”

Anna rushed downstairs to answer the door, wondering who it could be. She wasn’t expecting anyone, that was for sure. She opened the door to see a man with black wavy hair, and wearing a white shirt with black jeans and blue trainers.

“Uh, hi. Can I help you?” she said.

“I hope so. Are you Anna Tyler, by any chance?”

“That would be me, yes.”

“Ah, excellent. My name is Ben Carter. I’m a reporter for the London Daily.” the man replied, showing his press badge to Anna. “I’ve been investigating the recent spate of animal attacks in London. I believe you were one of the victims?”

“Y-yes, I was attacked a few months ago.”

“I see. Well, as you may be aware, there have been more attacks since then, and I’ve been trying to get to the bottom of it all. Perhaps even try and find a way to stop them if I can. Is it alright if we have a little talk, please? I’d like to know more about your attack. Of course, there’s no obligation to if you’d rather not talk about it...”

Anna looked at Ben’s face. Normally, she was distrustful of people she’d never met before. She certainly never thought much of the media, so she never trusted reporters either. And yet... there was something about Ben that seemed trustworthy. He didn’t look particularly slimy or suspicious. Even though she wasn’t about to tell him about her experiences as a werewolf, she at least felt he could be trusted with one or two details. Even more so if he could help find out the truth about what was going on...

“Well, I don’t know how much I can help, but sure. I can chat for a little while. Come in.”

“Thank you. I promise I’ll take up as little of your time as possible.”

Anna let Ben inside and lead him up the stairs to the living room. Alice popped out from the kitchen door, still with a plate and towel in her hand.

“Oh hey, you brought some company back up with you.” she said. “Who’s this?”

“This is... Ben, right?” Anna replied, gesturing towards Ben. He nodded.

“Yeah. This is Ben Carter, and he’s from a local newspaper. He said he wanted to talk about the animal attack back in February.”

“Huh. Alright. Well, don’t let me stop you. I’d ask if you want some tea, but I’m in the middle of drying the dishes, so it might have to wait.”

“That’s fine.” said Ben. “I had something to drink before I came here, so I’m good thanks.”

“No worries, then. I’ll leave you two to it.”

Alice went back to the kitchen as both Anna and Ben sat down.

“Uh, so that was my best friend and housemate Alice.” said Anna. “We’ve been living together here since January.”

“I see. You haven’t lived here long, then?”

“No, I’ve been living with my mum in Essex until we moved here. This is where Alice’s boyfriend lives, and she wanted to live closer to him. We ended up splitting the pay on this place, and that gave Alice the idea of having me move in with her. She felt it would help me get my life back on track.”

“So, you didn’t enjoy living in Essex?”

“I really didn’t, no. I was bullied a lot, and I barely ever went out because of it. So yeah. Alice had a few other friends who lived here too, so she felt that if I was introduced to them and we hung out together, it would help me come out of my shell.”

“And has it?”

“Yeah, I’d say so. I’ve even made a few friends of my own here as well. But I’m just rambling, aren’t I? You didn’t come here to talk about why I moved here in the first place.”

“No, but I don’t think you’re rambling. A little extra background information won’t hurt.”

“I guess not. Well, that’s pretty much the important stuff leading up to the attack itself in any case. You probably may have already guessed it happened well after a month after we moved.”

“You did mention February. And that was when the attack was reported. What happened that night?”

“Uh... Alice and I went out for a meal with her friends that night. It was something we’d been planning since we first moved in. Alice wanted me to meet everyone, and we felt this was a good way to do it. The restaurant itself was a little out of town, but we all had a good time there. Afterwards, Alice realised that we’d run out of milk back home, so I decided to go to the shops and get some. I cut through the forest as I knew it’d be quicker, but as I went through it, something felt... off.”

“How so?”

“Even now, I still don’t know. But whatever it was, it just didn’t feel right. At first I just wrote it off as nerves. I was always like that when I was out on my own at night back home, you see. But I just couldn’t shake that feeling off. And... that’s when I saw it. The thing that attacked me.”

“Did you get a good look at it? Could you tell what kind of animal it was?”

“It’s hard to say. It looked like a dog, or a wolf. But it was pretty big. Too big to be either. It had these weird yellow eyes, and it’s growls were just awful. Almost like a monster. I tried to run away from it, but I didn’t have the stamina to keep it away. It knocked me down and took a chunk out of my shoulder and my side. Thankfully, a car alarm scared it away before it could do any more damage. If it hadn’t, that thing would definitely have killed me. Afterwards, I had just enough energy to get up and get some help. I ended up passing out, and I woke up the next day in the hospital.”

“How bad were your wounds, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“From what I was told, I was in critical condition. The doctors even doubted I’d live. In the end, I needed about fifty stitches In my shoulder and side, and I was told it would leave a big scar. But... yeah. I’m honestly lucky to be alive after that. I was out of the hospital within a week, and I’ve just carried on as usual. Obviously, I’ve been a lot more careful since then. And that’s about all there is, really.”

Ben wasn’t so sure. He already knew that Anna had made a full recovery after her attack, so it was clear she wasn’t being entirely honest with him. Maybe there was a way to coax the truth out of her? Just then, Alice came out of the kitchen.

“Really?” she said to Anna as she sat down beside her. “You’re not going to tell him about how your wounds completely healed up the day after the attack? You were more or less fighting fit by then, and the only reason you stayed in the hospital even as long as you did was because your mum and the nurse made you. If it wasn’t for them, you’d have been out of there much sooner.”

Alice’s words caused Anna’s blood to run cold. She knew that mentioning anything about how quickly her wounds healed would undoubtedly arouse Ben’s suspicions, so she had tried not to mention anything about it. Ben, on the other hand, felt more at ease. Now he didn’t need to press Anna any further about her wounds...

“Uh... Um, yeah.” Anna said quietly. “There was that. Though they said it would leave a scar, it did kind of disappear by the time I woke up. The doctors ran a few tests, but no one was able to figure out why it happened.”

“Was this a one off? Or have there been any instances since where you hurt yourself and healed up more quickly?”

“Not... really? I’ve been super careful since the attack, so I haven’t really hurt myself since? Forgive me if I’m in no hurry to find out, either. That’s still about all I can say. None of us know why I healed up so fast, and we don’t know if I still can. It’s all in the past now, so I try not to think about it and move on.”

By this point, Anna was hoping Ben would decide to leave it at that and head off. In all honesty, he seemed okay, and she didn’t want to turn him away. However, she really didn’t want anyone finding out about her secret. The sooner he left, the better.

“Well, you say you try and move on, but that’s been pretty hard due to everything else that’s happened to us since then.” said Alice. Anna groaned internally at her words. The last thing she wanted was to have to talk about the other attacks on her friends. It would only lead Ben even closer to the truth...

“Everything else?” said Ben. “You don’t mean the other attacks, do you? Do you know anything about them?”

“Yeah... There was our friend Poppy.” said Anna. “She was the last victim of the Neuro-Lite Rapists before they were caught. She’s... not been in the best of ways since. Even developed a fear of men and going out on her own with it. But she’s actually been improving since then. She managed to leave her house on her own last night, so we’re hopeful she’ll beat her fears over time.”

“That’s horrible. But it’s good to hear she’s making some progress. I hope she gets better too.”

“Actually, I was thinking more of Kelly, since she was attacked the same way you were.” said Alice “But... yeah. Poppy might not have been attacked by an animal, but she was still- wait, what?! She went out on her own yesterday? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Oh, right. Yeah, she also came over to Kelly’s yesterday and did so without anyone with her. She said she wanted to try and beat her fears, so she made an effort to come over on her own. Sorry I didn’t mention it earlier. I guess it must have slipped my mind?”

“Geez, you really are something... Still, it’s great to hear she’s taking steps to overcome everything. If you see her again before I do, let her know I’m proud of her, okay?”

“Hold on a second.” said Ben. “Kelly... As in Kelly Stevenson? The second victim? Do you know her, by any chance?”

“Yeah, she’s a friend of ours.” said Anna.

“Huh.” said Alice. “Now that I think of it, isn’t that strange? Both you and Kelly were attacked by an animal, then there was the incident at the Natural History Museum. You think it’s a coincidence?”

“I take it you mean the vandalism incident that happened last month?” said Ben.

“That wasn’t vandalism, believe me. My boyfriend and I were there when it happened. This’ll sound crazy, but all that damage? It was caused by two creatures that were like wolves, but a little different. They were both bigger than your average wolf, and they both stood on hind legs. But one one of them was really bulky and vicious looking. Like... I don’t know. Like it could easily tear a human in half. It tried to attack us, which makes me think it might have been the one that attacked Anna here.”

“And the other? Was that one the same?”

“Not at all. To start with, the other one was clearly female. She was wearing clothes, had normal looking human hair, which she wore in a ponytail... Oh yeah, she had blue fur, too. And unlike the other wolf, she didn’t attack us. In fact, she saved us both. The reason she fought that thing in the first place was to give us the time to escape.”

“Interesting. So there’s more than one of them out there. Was there anything else about these wolves that stood out?”

“Yeah. The blue one could actually talk. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the fact she was a wolf, she would almost have seemed human. The other one wasn’t like that at all. Definitely more of a wild animal.”

During all this, Anna was thinking. What Alice said about a possible connection between the attacks didn’t seem impossible. First herself, then Kelly, then Amy and Kisa... Even Alice and Steve had been attacked by the ferals. The more she thought about it, the more it bugged her. Were they all specifically targeted? And if so, why? Suddenly, Ben’s voice perked up her ears again.

“Okay. I think I’m starting to get the picture of what’s been going on here. It’s interesting you say this more human like wolf has blue fur. I found traces of some when I looked around at the museum, and I found similar traces about a month earlier at the Intercity shopping center. As you may know, there was a bombing attempt, and the people responsible said something about a wolf. So too did the Neuro-Lite Rapists, and a colleague of mine who had been investigating them said that she also saw a wolf like creature the night they were caught. Not to mention there have been reports of other criminals being captured in strange circumstances, with some also mentioning a wolf. With this in mind, I think this blue wolf you mentioned has been the one who’s been catching criminals, while the more animal like one has been the one attacking more random people like yourselves.”

“That... doesn’t sound too off, actually.” said Alice. “I guess she did have that superhero vibe to her. Even her name seemed that way. Luna, she said it was.”

“Huh. That’s a pretty name.”

“I know, right? She even had a few gadgets on her, like this disc thing that slows things down. I wonder if that’s what she’s been playing at?”

“W-well, we don’t know anything for sure.” said Anna. “How do we know this Luna didn’t save you because she wanted to maul you herself?”

“Nah, I really don’t think so. She specifically told Steve and I that she helps people and catches bad guys. Since we’ve learned that all the crooks that have been caught by this wolf weren’t hurt anywhere near as badly as you and Kelly were, I think Ben could be right. I think it might actually be this Luna character who’s been catching them.”

“I see your point...”

“Hmm. This is quite interesting, but I do have one more question for you.” said Ben. “What are your thoughts on the situation with Kisa Justine? As I’m sure you’re aware, she was found unconscious in the museum after the alleged vandalism incident, with blood all over the walls. Do you think she was attacked in the same way you were, Anna?”

“I honestly have no idea.” Anna replied. “They said there weren’t any marks on her when they found her, didn’t they? The thing is, we haven’t heard from her at all since the attack. Apparently she went to a friends house to escape the press after the incident, but that’s about all we know.”

“You haven’t heard from her? Wait, do you know her too?”

“Yeah, we do. We met her through Poppy, as it goes. They’ve been friends for a long time. But not even she’s heard anything from Kisa lately. She’s pretty much been off the grid for the last month. I’d say she’s about the only person who knows for sure what happened, but I doubt she’ll be willing to talk about it.”

“I was thinking the same thing. I can’t say I blame her, though. The media had been a bit overbearing with the whole thing. So, you really don’t know anything?”

“Nope. Your guess is as good as mine. Unless you know anything, Alice?”

“If I did, you’d know too.” said Alice. “All I can say is that before we got out of the museum, I told Luna that Kisa was in there. I kind of wonder if the big werewolf was the one that attacked her. If anyone actually did, of course. I mean, no marks and all that.”

Ben had considered telling Anna and Alice about the blood found on the scene belonging to Kisa, but in the end he felt it would only make them worry about her more. Besides, he didn’t think they would really know any more than he did.

“Okay, then.” he said. “I think I’ve learned some interesting information. So, let me get this clear: The incident at the museum was caused by two wolf like creatures, one that seemed like a wild animal, and the other was a more humanoid one with blue fur, a human hairstyle and gadgets, and called herself Luna. She saved you from being attacked by the other wolf, and told you she fights bad guys and helps people. Am I correct?”

“Yup.” replied Alice. “You’ve pretty much hit nail on the head, there.”

“Alright. Well, in that case, I’ll let you both carry on with your day. Thank you for your time.”

Ben stood back up, with Anna and Alice following suit. Ben then held out his hand.

“Uh, y-yeah.” said Anna as she shook his hand. “No, uh... No worries.”

“If nothing else, it’s given us a few more things about this whole thing to think about.” said Alice. “Hope you can find out what’s really been going on here.”

“Thanks. I hope so too. As I said earlier, this is about more than just a story. If something really is attacking innocent people, I want to help put a stop to it. Oh, I almost forgot...”

Ben took out a pen and piece of paper, and wrote on it before giving it to Anna.

“Here. My work number and E-mail address. If you remember any more information that may be helpful, then please, give me a buzz.”

“Sure.” said Anna. “I’ll do that. I’ll, uh, see you around then?”

“Maybe, maybe. The two of yourselves take care of yourselves, alright?”

“Yeah, we will.” said Alice as Ben made his way out of the living room. “Take care, now!”

Anna and Alice stood still until they heard Ben leave through the front door.

“He seemed nice enough, wouldn’t you say?”

Anna remained silent. There was a lot on her mind.

“Hellooo? Anna?”

“O-oh! Y-yeah, he seemed okay. Uh, I could use a cup of tea right now. Want one?”

“Geez, what’s gotten into you? You’re acting all distant all of a sudden.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. Just kind of thinking about things is all. I’ll go put the kettle on.”

With that, Anna headed for the kitchen. There was a lot to think about. A possible connection between the attacks, for one. But what bugged her more than anything was how much information Alice gave Ben. Thanks to her, he now had more details than she’d hoped he would get. At worst, it would put his life in danger. At best? It would mean he would most likely find out about the existence of werewolves, maybe even the Inner World. And what would happen then? Those thoughts continued to chip away at her...




3PM, The Lucky Fox.


Anna arrived at The Lucky Fox to see Kelly, Amy and Poppy at the main bar counter watching the TV, while Amanda and Lucy were enjoying a drink at one of the tables. There was no sign of Miyuki, or Kisa for that matter. Nor did there seem to be that many people around. Not even Orion, Angus and D’argesh were there. Anna figured that things weren’t so busy because it was a weekday and everyone was at work or something.

“Hey guys.” she said as she sat down next to Kelly. “Anything good on?”

“Hi Anna.” Kelly replied as Amy and Poppy also said their hellos. “Not really, just the news. How’s your day been? Feeling better after your little dip in the lake last night?”

“Yeah, I’m doing better now. Lucy gave me the day off to recover. As for my day... It’s been eventful. I’ll save the details for later, though. There’s a lot we need to talk about first. Speaking of, is Kisa here too?”

“No, she definitely isn’t here.” said Lucy as she came over to the counter with Amanda. “I already told you Miyuki gave her the choice of letting her hone her abilities, but whether or not she will is another matter entirely.”

“Have you seen her at all today, Poppy?” Anna asked Poppy.

“No, not since last night.” Poppy replied. “She just seemed to have vanished.”

“She’s probably taking time out to process everything.” said Amy. “This did seem to hit her hard.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t join us.” said Anna. “Whatever happens, I just hope she realises we’re still here for her if she needs any help.”

“Now that I think of it...” said Amanda. “Where’s Miyuki? She doesn’t seem to be here either. I spoke with Ethyl when we got here, and she said she hadn’t seen her all day. It looks like she’s disappeared too.”

“Weird...” said Kelly. “Kisa, I can understand. She probably didn’t want to get involved with all this. That, or as Amy said, she just needed time to think things over. Miyuki, on the other hand? I wonder where she could be?”

Kelly got her answer almost immediately. Right after she spoke, Miyuki walked into the pub. She wasn’t alone, either. Right next to her was Kisa, in her human form. She had a towel around her neck and she was drinking from a bottle of water. It seemed as though she had just come back from a workout.

“Oh, hi guys.” she said. “Wasn’t expecting to see you h-”

“Kisa!” yelled Anna, jumping from her seat and giving Kisa a big hug. Kisa was bemused by her sudden outburst of affection.

“Haha, okay. Someone’s a bit over excited!”

“Ah, Sorry. Just happy to see you here, is all.”

Anna let go of Kisa while blushing.

“So, you decided to let Miyuki train you in the end?” said Lucy.

“Yeah. She told me a bit more about this Inner World too, even showed me The Garden. Lovely place, that. More importantly, she told me all about you, and that you’ve formed some kind of crime fighting group?”

“I also pointed out that you were searching for more feral werewolves to try and find out more about the one who’s supposedly controlling them.” said Miyuki. “But anyway, yes. Kisa came here this morning and asked me to show her the ropes, so to speak. So, we’ve been out in the field doing just that.”

“So, does that mean you’re gonna join us?” said Kelly “No pressure, of course. It’s important that you make that decision on your own.”

“I think I will, actually.” Kisa replied, much to Anna’s delight. “I mean, I can’t say I’m still totally happy about this whole werewolf thing, but since I’m stuck like this I may as well make the most of it. Besides, I want to know more about who’s been doing all this and why just as much as the rest of you. There’s another reason I want to help you, too...”

Kisa looked over at Poppy with a somewhat sorrowful expression on her face.

“I still blame myself for what happened to Poppy you know. If I’d just kept an eye on her, she would never have been attacked. I don’t want to be that negligent ever again. If I can do anything to stop others suffering like Poppy did, then... I’ll do it. So I think more than anything, I just want to make up for what happened. So yeah, that’s really why I want to join you.”

“Thanks, Keese.” said Anna, giving Kisa another hug. “I-no, we- all appreciate it. We could use as much help as we can get.”

“I’m just surprised you’re not mad about last night.” Kisa replied.

“Hey, I already said. Don’t worry about it. You were clearly in a lot of shock and weren’t thinking straight because of it. Everything turned out okay in the end, and that’s all that matters.”

“Glad to have you with us, then!” said Lucy. “But will you be okay if we have to fight? Or are you okay with Miyuki teaching you, too?”

“I wouldn’t worry about that.” Kisa replied. “I’m actually well versed in Kickboxing, so I can handle myself in a fight just fine.”

“Oh, really? That sounds great!”

“Like I always say, there’s quite a bit more to me than my looks. I do frequent the gym pretty often too, so I’d say I’m quite capable.”

“Anyway, we were here to have a meeting and discuss things further.” said Amanda. “It looks like Kisa will be joining us for this as well, so shall we go somewhere more private and get down to business?”

“Sure. There’s a lot we need to discuss anyway.” said Anna. “I guess we’re heading to the back room, then?”

“I guess so.” said Amy “Right, let’s get going then.”

The group moved to the back room. This had been the first time Kisa had been here, and she was quite surprised by how big and empty it was. There weren’t even any chairs...

“Okay, feel free to sit wherever you like on the floor.” said Anna as everyone stopped at one of the walls. “Or lean against the wall if you prefer. Miyuki isn’t fussy.”

“I think I’ll lean against the wall.” Kisa replied. “I can’t really sit on floors for too long.”

“Think I’ll stand up.” said Kelly. “I’m not one for sitting on the floor either.”

“No worries. Whatever suits you.”

In the end, everyone followed Kisa and Kelly’s suit and stood up while Kisa leaned on the nearest part of the wall. Anna, still standing up, cleared her throat and started speaking again.

“Right, so it seems like Kisa’s been clued in to what’s been going on at the moment, so we may as well get straight to the point. So, as you’re all aware, Kelly and I patrolled the streets last night hoping to find more ferals. Well, the bad news is, neither of us found anything. If there were any more of them out there, we didn’t see any. So there’s nothing else to report on that front. The good news is, we managed to bag quite a few criminals while we were at it. If nothing else, I think it’s fair to say that side of things is working out alright...”

“Still, it’s a shame you were unable to turn up anything else about this master.” said Miyuki. “I still worry that there may be even more out there, and even more people may be attacked. It’s still very possible there is even more to this than meets the eye as well. There’s still so much we don’t know about all this.”

“Yeah, and we all want to find out the truth.” said Amanda. “I also think there may be a connection between these attacks and the werewolf that originally turned me as well.”

“True.” said Anna. “It could well be that the one that turned you might be one of the ferals that attacked us as well. Then again, maybe not. That’s why we need to get to the bottom of it. There’s something else I need to get of my chest as well. Don’t you think it’s a little weird that we were all targeted?”

“Come again?” said Amy.

“I mean, think about it. We all know each other, and we were all attacked, including Alice and Steve. I dunno, I just find it strange that we’ve all been the victims in these attacks.”

“That... is kind of strange.” said Kisa. “But if we were all targeted for a reason, then why?”

“That’s what I’d like to know.”

“Well, what I know is, we definitely won’t find anything else if we don’t find any more ferals.” said Lucy. “If there really is a pack of them out there, then the two Anna and Kelly encountered last month can’t surely be the only ones?”

“No doubt there.” said Kelly. “Which means we have to keep looking. Maybe it’s possible that they can shift outside of a full moon like we can? If that’s the case, maybe we won’t have to wait until then to track them down?”

“Unfortunately, I’ve never heard of any cases like that.” said Miyuki. “Unlike normal werewolves, ferals have little to no control of their abilities. That includes being able to shift, meaning they can only do so during a full moon.”

“Guess that rules that out, then.” said Amy. “But hey, that doesn’t mean we can’t keep looking, right? You never know, we might find out something even during the rest of the month.”

“Exactly.” said Lucy. “We just need to stay out there. Even in a worst case scenario, at least we’ll be cleaning up the streets while we’re at it.”

“Hell yeah!” said Kelly. “Finding ferals or not, while we’re on the scene, the bad guys will be counting up their sins before you know it!”

“Ooo, neat catchphrase.” said Kisa. “You thought that one up by yourself?”

“Nah, it’s from Kamen Rider W. There’s a nice vibe to it.”

“Right. Of course.”

“Well, it looks like everyone is completely behind the whole superhero team idea at least.” said Anna. “Which does bring me on to our next subject. We’ve got gadgets, we’ve got costumes, and some of us have codenames. Namely, Kelly and Amy and I. However, Amanda, Lucy and Kisa still need their own. Kisa’s also going to need her own outfit too.”

“Costumes as well?” said Kisa. “You really are going all out with this. Not that I have a problem with it though. Did Lucy make them?”

“Yes, I did.” Lucy replied. “The outfits I made for ourselves is made of a special material invented by Kelly that stretches with us whenever we shift, meaning we can wear them under our normal clothes and we can change quickly and easily while not worrying about ripping them when we shift.”

“Ah, yeah. Miyuki said it’s possible for us to shift whenever we like, didn’t she?”

“That’s something I still need to teach you and Amy.” said Miyuki. “I intend to do that tonight, if that’s okay with you.”

“Okay, no worries.” said Kisa.

“I’m fine with it too.” said Amy. “Then, all Kisa’s gonna need is a costume and a codename and she’s ready!”

“Just be sure to give me your measurements and what you want your costume to look like before I leave tonight.” said Lucy. “Then I’ll be able to make it for you within a week.”

“Sure thing.” said Kisa. “Guess that leaves a codename, huh? What do you guys call yourselves?”

“My codename is Luna.” said Anna. “Kelly’s is Brains, and Amy’s is... Swan, I believe?”

Amy nodded.

“I see.” said Kisa. “Hmm, then what shall I call myself?”

“How about Athena?” said Poppy. “After the Greek goddess of wisdom? You’ve always stuck me as being wise. At least, for a Page 3 girl. And you’re definitely smart, so I think it’s a good fit.”

“Not sure I approve of the “Wise for a Page 3 girl” remark, but that otherwise sounds good.” said Kisa. “All right, Athena it is then. Thanks, Poppy.”

Poppy blushed as Kelly spoke up.

“Well, that was simple enough. What about Amanda and Lucy, though?”

“I wouldn’t worry about me.” said Amanda. “I’ve gone with Bolt for my name. Because I’m like a bolt of lightning with my super speed!”

“And I’ve decided to call myself Freya.” said Lucy. “As in, the Norse goddess. There’s no particular reason why I chose it, I just thought it sounded like a good superhero name.”

“Haha, Athena and Freya.” laughed Amy. “Now that’s one hell of a team. Wouldn’t want to mess with that!”

“Quite.” said Miyuki. “However, there is one more thing you need. A leader. Someone to bring the team together, especially during the toughest times. I don’t think you’ll get very far without one.”

“Got someone in particular in mind?” said Anna.

“I think I do. I was thinking about you, Anna.”

“W-wait, what? Why me?!”

“Because this whole superhero idea was mostly yours. I may have come up with the idea of you all teaming up, but you’re the one who started it by wanting to use your abilities to fight crime in the first place. That’s a big responsibility, so I think it’s only fair that you take it all the way.”

“Sure, I guess, but me... a leader? Do you really think I have what it takes? This is kind of different to just going out there and doing our stuff...”

“You still have a lot to learn, yes. But I believe you can do it. You’re a lot stronger in spirit than you give yourself credit for. I saw that shortly after I first met you. It will take time, but I feel that would be the case with anyone else here. Yes, I think you’re the right pick here. Trust me.”

Anna looked nervous, but she ultimately decided to take Miyuki’s word for it. She turned to the others.

“Does anyone have any objections?”

“No, Miyuki’s right.” said Amanda. “The rest of us would be just as inexperienced, and it was you who decided to be a superhero from the start. You may as well be our leader.”

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

“Well... Okay. I’ll do it. Guess I’m the leader of this little wolf team, then. Ooo, you know what? I kind of like the sound of that. Wolf Team. That can totally be the name of our group!”

“Wolf... Team?” said Kelly. “Not very imaginative, is it?”

“Maybe not. Or maybe I was thinking about the old video game developer of the same name. That just kind of popped into my head, and I kinda liked it.”

“Oh dear.” said Lucy. “Are you sure this was a good idea, Miyuki?”

“So, Anna’s naming leaves a lot to be desired.” Miyuki replied. “That doesn’t mean she won’t grow into a good leader.”

“Anyway, speaking of.” said Anna. “If we’re going to do this, we need some ground rules. We don’t want to go out of control and start abusing our powers, after all.”

“That’s a good point, actually.” said Kisa. “What do you suggest?”

“I’m thinking our own three prime directives. First, and most importantly, we do not kill. We’re not above the law, and should the public ever find out about us, we need to reassure them that we’re not a threat to them. So, by all means give criminals a hard time, but never kill them.”

“Er... You say we’re not above the law, but isn’t what we’re doing vigilantism? Which kind of IS above the law?”

“Eh, true enough. I think a better way of putting it is, we’re not judge, jury and executioner. Plus, I still stand by my point of making the public aware that we’re on their side and we aren’t monsters. Killing kind of goes against that.”

“Fine by me. I’d prefer it if the pubic didn’t find out about us though...” said Kelly. “What about rule number two?”

“We never turn anyone. Even if they ask. I promised myself I’d never turn anyone into a werewolf myself- it’s not something I want to burden anyone with. I think everyone else should respect that as well.”

“No worries there.” said Lucy.

“And our final rule, at least for now. We always keep in touch, and if we do encounter a feral or anything else that’s really dangerous, we try not to take it on our own. If anything happens, we have to let each other know immediately. That’s why we have a communication feature in our watches, and why there’s now a tracking feature in them too. Of course, the circumstances may make it harder to contact each other, maybe even impossible at times. But if there’s even a tiny chance of letting each other know what’s going on, we do it. If we can’t communicate well, we fall apart as a team.”

“Well said.” said Amy. “Maybe you might just cut it as a leader after all. So, is it just those three rules?”

“For now, I think. As things go on, we may need to come up with some new guidelines, but for now these three rules will do. With all that being said, there is one more very important matter to talk about. And it could, unfortunately, turn out to be a big problem.”

“Well, I don’t like the sound of that.” said Amanda. “What is it?”

“Well, this ties in with what Kelly said earlier about the hope the public never finds out about us. Earlier today I was visited by this newspaper reporter, I think he said his name was Ben Carter? So, he’s been investigating the feral attacks, and he interviewed me since I was one of the victims. I tried my best to be as vague as I could, but Alice... kind of opened her big mouth. She told him all about how my wounds healed up the day after the attack, and the truth about the incident at the Natural History Museum. That means he now knows about the fight between me and the feral, and that werewolves are a real thing. In other words, Alice gave him way too much information, and there’s now a very real chance he could find out about both us and the Inner World. And if that happens, the public will almost certainly find out the truth...”

“Ah, shit.” said Kelly. “No offence to Alice, but she’s always been a bit too chatty for her own good. Does- does she actually know that you’re a werewolf?”

“No, she doesn’t. Perhaps if she did, she wouldn’t have been quite so eager to say anything to Ben. Still, can’t change it now. On the other hand, he did tell me he was less interested in the story and more concerned about future attacks. He even said he wanted to help try and put a stop to it all. The crazy thing is, I think he meant it. I don’t know, something about him makes me think he really want to help end this. That doesn’t mean I’m not worried about him, though.”

“So what do we do?” said Kisa. “I’ve only known about all this Inner World stuff for about a day, and even I can tell this isn’t something regular humans should be finding out about.”

“I don’t know. But he seems pretty determined. I fear it might only be a matter of time before he blows this thing wide open. That wouldn’t be good for any of us...”

While listening to Anna, Miyuki stroked her chin before finally speaking up.

“Hmm. Ben Carter, you say? Of The London Daily?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” replied Anna. “You’re familiar with him?”

“Yes, I actually am. He’s mainly known for his pieces on urban legends and ghost stories around London. However, he always focuses on the origins behind them. Many stories have some degree of reality behind them, and that’s what Mr. Carter focuses on in his reports. I haven’t read a single one of his articles where he over exaggerates or tries to play things up to get the reader’s attention. He instead shows a real enthusiasm for the subjects he writes about, and that’s what makes his articles so compelling.”

“So, you’re saying he’s trustworthy?” said Amy. “Forgive me if I’m pressing X to doubt here.”

“What I’m saying is, I know he’s being genuine when he says he wants to find the truth behind the attacks and help stop them. And... maybe someone like him would be good to have on our side.”

“Wait, seriously?” said Kelly. “You’re actually suggesting we team up with him?!”

“Of course, we would have to make sure he stays quiet about us. But since he does want to do something about the attacks, he certainly could help. He’s also a very good investigative reporter from what I’ve seen, which means he could get information the rest of us would struggle with. Since he’s a reporter, he could also get into places you all couldn’t. Yes, it’s clear to me your goals are aligned, so I think you should try and talk to him and see if he’s willing to join forces with you. I wouldn’t underestimate how helpful he could be.”

“Yeah, when you put it that way, it could work.” said Anna. “Maybe you’re right. Okay, I guess it’s worth a shot to try and ask him for help. We’ll need a plan, though... But we can think about that later. The question is, does everyone else on board with it?”

“I guess if Miyuki thinks he can be trusted, I see no reason to doubt her.” said Lucy. The rest of the group nodded.

“Yeah, I guess I can go with it.” said Amy. “I just hope you all know what you’re doing...”

“Okay, then.” said Anna. “With Amy and Kisa being taught how to shift on their own tonight, I say the rest of us try and think up a plan to get Ben to join us while they’re doing that. Tomorrow night, we start our crime fighting crusade properly. Every night, we’ll go out on patrol and tackle any crime that we come across. If we find any more information on the ferals as well, then that’s also awesome. But whatever happens, I think this is the start of a new beginning for all of us.”

Anna held out her hand palm down. Kelly already knew what Anna was going for, so she held out her own hand and put it over hers.

“So, we’re all partners, now?”

“Definitely partners.” said Kisa, putting her own hand on the pile. The rest of the group followed suit, including Poppy.

“You know it.” said Amy.

“Let’s do the best we can.” said Amanda.

“I may not be a werewolf and I can’t fight, but I’ll try to help as best I can as well.” said Poppy.

“Better watch out, because Wolf team are on the prowl!” said Lucy.

“Thanks, everyone.” said Anna as the group all lifted their hands away. Miyuki watched on with a smile on her face.

“It seems like everything’s set in motion.” she thought to herself. “I just hope they’re really ready for what’s to come. If what Minerva said about the balance falling to an all time low is true, then they may find themselves being pushed harder than they could have ever imagined...”



“... And that’s everything I know.” said Anna as she finished telling her story to Ben. She had told him everything from her move to London to her attack, to her first meeting with Miyuki and her run in with the Neuro-Lite rapists, as well as her encounter with the feral at the Natural History Museum. In the meantime, Ben listened closely, stopping her only to press her further on certain points of the story. Anna could only tell him what she knew, but she was happy to share more information.

“Wow, that’s quite a story.” Ben replied. “And a lot of it checks out with what I know as well. So, have you all been able to find out anything else about these feral werewolves in the last month?”

“If we did, I’d have mentioned it when I told you everything. And if they found anything tonight, they’d have let me know by now. We’re still very much in the dark about it all.”

“I see. Is this why you said you needed my help?”

“You did say you wanted to help put a stop to the attacks. I’d say this is the perfect chance to do so. Heck, if anything else bad happens, we could work together on that, too. Like, a really big crime that has us stumped or something. Or maybe you could let us know if something big is going down and it’s too much for the police or something. Maybe we could do something about it.”

“Like an inside contact or something?”

“Sounds good to me. It’s your call, though. Don’t want to force you into anything. All we ask is that you stay silent about everything I’ve just told you, like I said earlier.”

“You won’t have to worry about that. I wouldn’t tell a soul even if I didn’t agree to help you. To do so would put your friends from the Inner World in danger. So don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.”

“Thanks. But I take it from the “Even if I didn’t agree to help you” part that-”

Ben nodded.

“Sure, I’d be happy to help out. I want to get to the bottom of this just as much as you do, and perhaps working together would be the best thing to do.”

“Great! Hold on a sec...”

Anna fished around in her pockets and pulled out a high tech looking watch.

“Here you go. A little gift from us.” she said, giving the watch to Ben. “Kelly whipped it up just in case you agreed to help out. This watch has a communicator so you can keep in touch with us if anything interesting comes up. If you find any info that could help us, or see anything weird you think we should know about, contact us with that. Just be sure to keep it with you at all times, okay? It’ll be your main link between us.”

“Sure. I’ve been needing to get a new watch anyway. This one I’m wearing is getting on a bit.”

Anna and Ben’s attention suddenly caught the sky. The sun was rising.

“Oh geez, I’d been talking for that long?” said Anna. “Guess I really got lost in it all, huh?”

“I probably didn’t help.” said Ben. “I did stop you often to get more details.”

Anna laughed.

“Hey, that’s perfectly natural. You wanted to know more, so I let you know more. It’s all good. Quite a nice sunrise, looking at it...”

With that, Anna’s appearance started to change as the last signs of the full moon faded. She grew slightly smaller, while her fur and tail receded and her face became more human. Ben looked at her, and saw she was human again. Anna smiled.

“So, yeah. Haha. I would say this is how I look as a human, but you kind of knew that from when we last met.”

“Impressive. Your outfit shrank with you.”

“Yup, that’s the material Kelly invented. It stretches with us when we shift, and goes back to normal when we do the same. Not bad, huh?”

“Not at all. I must say though, your costume is a little bit dramatic, wouldn’t you say?”

“It was Lucy’s idea. I don’t normally wear this when on patrol, it’s usually a different outfit. But Lucy wanted to do something with a bit more flair, so we decided to wait until the next full moon to meet up so I could make a big entrance. Lucy felt the outfit would add a little extra.”

“I get you. But weren’t you worried I’d find out your secret before then? It’s been nearly a month since I spoke with you last.”

“There was that. But we decided to risk it, and if there was any sign you’d find out sooner, we would have made our move sooner. But you didn’t, so I’d say it all worked out just fine.”

The pair looked out to the sunrise.

“So, what now?” asked Ben.

“We just do our stuff. You can carry on your own investigation and let us know if you turn up anything useful. One day, we’ll get lucky and find out something about these ferals, and then... Hmm. I don’t think any of us have thought that far ahead yet! In any case, looking forward to working with you!”

Anna held up her hand.

“Same here.” said Ben, smiling as he shook Anna’s hand.



Louisiana, United States


The eerie silence of the woods was interrupted by the sound of footsteps running frantically. A young werewolf was trying to make his escape, pursued by a mysterious figure. He couldn’t remember how long he’d been running for, but what he did know was that his attacker was somehow able to keep up.

“Got to shake him off...” he thought to himself. “I need to warn the rest of the pack...”

His ears caught the sound of something launching towards him, and he leapt to the side to avoid the net that flew his way. His pursuer was definitely not giving up. There had to be some way to get him off his tail... Before he could think any further though, he heard a faint click. He immediately felt his feet give way, bound up by the bolas that had been launched at his feet. He’d run straight into a trap, no doubt set by the man chasing him. He fell to the ground and tried desperately to remove the bolas, but it was too late. The figure had already approached him. He was a tall man, dressed entirely in black with a long leather coat and large hat that hid most of his face. Only his mouth was visible to the werewolf.

“Ah warned you.” said the man in a southern accent. “Y’all can run, but ol’ Victor Karzak always gets his prey eventually. Ah know these woods better’n anyone else. You werewolf bastards should have known better than to set up shop around here.”

The man reached into his coat and pulled out a shotgun, which he aimed at the werewolf’s head.

“P-please...” begged the werewolf. “We’re not doing anything wrong. We just wanted to-”

“Don’ go givin’ me that shit. The number of people ‘round here that have been killed by you assholes? Only good werewolf is a dead one. And you just run outta luck.”

The werewolf stared down at the barrel of the shotgun, terrified. Within seconds, the sound of a single fired round rung around the woods.

And then... The silence returned...