"Don't touch me!" Samuel cursed, practically leaping to the far side of the wooden pew.

  ?"I'm sorry, Samuel." Father Jeffery kept his voice calm, reaching out a hand. "It's just that you seemed to be hurting."

  ?"It's gonna kill you!" Samuel cried, backing away, his chest heaving.

  ?"Son, I'm in my eighties. Something has to eventually," the old priest said gently. "But I don't think it'll be you."

  ?"Me neither," a dangerous female voice growled from the back of the church.

  ?Jeffery turned to see Sarah standing in the aisle. Her face was twisted into a snarl, though she looked jarringly innocent in a Mickey Mouse t-shirt and blue jeans.

  ?"Sarah!" Jeffery exclaimed warmly, skillfully ignoring her lethal tone. He stood up and genuinely smiled at the charismatic girl, holding out his hand.

  ?Sarah stalked toward Jeffery, her eyes locked on Samuel the entire time. She moved with a predator's grace, coming to rest under the priest's arm, but she didn't relax. She remained stiff, a coiled spring poised to pounce.

  ?The boy, for his part, stood shocked and distant, pressing his back against the wood paneling. "Aren't you the girl the football players howled at?"

  ?"Wanna see why?" Sarah growled.

  ?Samuel didn't understand why he found that so intimidating coming from someone dressed as a Mouseketeer, but his inner wolf knew. It began to growl in the back of his mind, loud enough that his muscles began to twitch uncontrollably.

  ?"Now, now," Jeffery said, patting Sarah's arm. "Let's not ruin our reunion with... conflict. It's good to see you, Sarah." He said desperately trying to lower the tension in the sanctuary.

  ?She uncoupled herself from the old priest but moved to stand protectively between him and Samuel.

  ?The church doors opened again.

  ?"Sarah, it is three in the morning, why are you-"

  ?Kim stepped into the nave.

  ?Lightning struck again.

  ?The boy with the gold flecks in his eyes was there. He was doubled over in pain. Grunting and stepping back.

  ?They stared at each other intently across the rows of empty pews. The air in the church seemed to vanish, sucked out by the sudden, violent tension between them. It wasn't just surprise. It was a longing for something they couldn't name, a pull as strong as the tide. His sudden growl snapping her out of the strange trance.

  ?For Samuel, it started with what felt like a kick to his ribs from the inside. The beast saw her, and it wanted out. It wanted her!

  ?"Samuel, please!" Jeffery warned, seeing the boys breathing become rapid.

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  ?Sarah growled loudly, dropping into a defensive crouch. She sensed the danger in the air.

  ?Kim felt the danger, too. But it was different. It wasn't the danger of a threat; it was the danger of standing on a cliff edge and wanting to jump. She felt a connection to this boy that terrified her. It was real, and it was burning. She wasn't terrified for herself. She was terrified for whatever was happening to him.

  ?She moved before she thought, stepping between Sarah and the boy.

  ?"Please, children, it's late and I'm very old!" Jeffery pleaded.

  ?Something like a low, tortured growl ripped from the boy's throat. He looked up, his face pale with sweat.

  ?Kim froze.

  ?She saw the eyes. Brown, swirling with familiar gold flecks. The eyes of the creature she had fed in the moonlight.

  ?This was her Coywolf.

  ?This was her Dog Man.

  "I have to go!" Samuel screamed, scrambling backward over the pew. He didn't look at Kim; he looked like he was running from a fire inside his own skin. He bolted toward the side door leading to the lower levels.

  ?The predator instinct in Sarah triggered instantly. She leaped over the pews, clearing two rows in a single bound, hunting him down.

  ?Kim turned to look at Father Jeffery, who could only give her a helpless, terrified look. She turned and sprinted after Sarah.

  ?She found her in the basement hallway, in front of the reinforced steel door to the sub basement.

  ?Sarah was no longer a girl. She wasn't a wolf, either. She had taken the Hybrid form-a towering, bipedal monster of fur, muscle, and claws that she reserved for the most dangerous battles. She was banging on the giant metal door furiously, dents appearing in the steel with every blow.

  ?From the other side, something else was banging back. A desperate, heavy rhythm.

  ?Kim grabbed the Hybrid's massive arm. "Sarah! Stop!"

  ?Enraged, Sarah roared and tossed Kim aside like a ragdoll. Kim hit the concrete wall hard, but she didn't stay down.

  ?By the time Kim stood up, the girl was gone. In her place stood the White Wolf's War Form. She was massive, a hulking creature that moved like a gorilla but possessed the head and teeth of a primordial wolf. She roared, the sound shaking dust from the ceiling pipes.

  ?Sarah turned to face her, looking like the world's scariest Mouseketeer, her shirt stretched tight over her transformed muscles.

  ?They growled at each other, the air thick with aggression.

  ?Kim forced herself to stop. She lowered her center of gravity, un-curling her lips to hide her teeth.Shifting back to human form.

  ?"Come back to me, Little Wolf," Kim's voice was a distorted rasp. "Father Jeffery is old. He's human. We can't go crazy here."

  ?She stood down, making herself smaller, hoping Sarah would mirror her calm.

  ?It worked. The rage in Sarah's eyes flickered and died. She slumped, her bones cracking and shifting as she returned to human form, panting heavily.

  ?"That's a Dog Man," Sarah said, wiping sweat from her forehead.

  ?"Probably," Kim agreed. "But shouldn't we talk to Jeffery first before we tear his home apart and give him a heart attack? He's our friend."

  ?Whatever was behind the metal door banged again-a lonely, heavy thud. A part of Kim's heart pounded for him.

  ?Sarah flinched, looking back at the door, conflicted. She was worried about her friend now that the beast was locked away.

  ?Kim stepped closer to the door. She placed a hand on the cold metal. The banging stopped.

  ?"What was that!" Sarah yelled at her, seeing the reaction. "We should put the Dog Man down! If my dad was here..."

  ?"Your Dad knows!" Kim snapped back, her voice echoing in the hallway. "Your mom knows! Do you want me to tell you what they told me!?"

  ?Sarah looked at Kim, breathing heavily, the adrenaline still coursing through her.

  ?"Sometimes, Pup, things are complicated," Kim pleaded, her voice softening.

  ?Sarah didn't argue. She turned and marched back up the stairs to the sanctuary. "I swear I'm gonna start dating a Sasquatch just to piss Dad off!" she grumbled.

  ?Jeffery was seated on the steps leading up to the altar, looking every day of his eighty years. Sarah ran to his side, guilt washing over her features.

  ?"I'm sorry," she offered, kneeling beside him.

  ?"Sarah, I love you. And I respect what you are," he said, his voice trembling slightly. "But you must do the same for me. Do you understand?"

  ?She stared at him blankly. She didn't. To her, a monster was a monster, and protecting the pack was the only rule that mattered. But she nodded anyway.