Chapter One
"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you." I did my best to use a gentle voice, wary of the young woman huddled under the porch. Of course, I didn't expect her to believe me, but I had to try. In the dark, I could barely make her out, but it was easy to tell her clothes were tattered, and she was terrified.
When I heard the noise of my trashcans toppling over, I expected to find a bear, or something. Instead, I came outside, into the rain, only to catch a glimpse of what looked like a wolf covered in fleas darting into the space under my porch. Now, under the cover of a pitifully small umbrella, I reached out to her, trying to coax her into coming out. She remained still, crouching, as if preparing to pounce. Something about the way her hazel eyes looked at me made me feel like the vulnerable one in the situation. Despite her condition, they were the eyes of a predator.
She snarled, bringing me out of my observation, making me jump. The woman had inched closer to the edge of the small alcove, now only about a foot away. For a moment, I thought she might reach out to me in return. I could see her better now, realizing that her clothes were completely torn, exposing most of her body, which was smudged with dark blotches of an unknown substance mixed with dirt. Before I could react, she lunged out and I toppled backwards into the mud. Watching as she dove over me, I couldn't believe my eyes as she took the shape of a wolf before disappearing into the dark.
