“Are those... horns?” One of the students inquired, pointing at Luna with a shaky finger. “Where did they come from?”

“From her head. Where else?” The professor exclaimed and clapped his book shut. He slowly got up onto his feet and wiped the sweat away from his brow. “Is this what that old fart was talking about?” He mumbled to himself.

Luna said nothing to them and just stood in the same spot where they had pinned her. The temperature in the room was rising quickly and a handful of students sat on the floor, blowing on their hands. A few seconds felt like minutes and Luna finally whispered, “Who...”, her voice was coarse like sandpaper with a second woman's voice echoing her words.

A brown-haired girl who backed herself into the corner snapped her eyes between Luna and the door. With a gulp, she made a dash for it. Without turning to look, Luna's muscles tensed up and the wide-open door slammed shut on its own. The fleeing lass gripped the doorknob tightly, screamed, and threw herself away from it. Her hands quickly began to blister as bits of her skin sizzled on the red-hot metal.

“Who...” Luna muttered again and started looking from person to person. Voices flooded her thoughts in rapid succession.

The priest said his church grows the flower that made Luna sick, right?

What would happen if we all got our hands on it?

Do you think it would get rid of her for good?

How would we get it? I doubt he'd just let us take them, especially if he asked why.

It's a greenhouse behind the church right? How hard could it be to break in?

I certainly couldn't answer that.

Don't worry, I've got it all figured out. It'll be a piece of cake. That's not all I've got up my sleeve either.

What do you mean?

Think about it. Making her sick won't keep her away if she develops a tolerance for it, so why not try to embarrass her as well? That way she'll be even less motivated to come back.

“Embarrass?” Luna grumbled and shot the photographs posted on the chalkboard a sideways glance.

That was close. I thought for sure I was dead the moment that big-ass dog started growling at me beside the van.

She almost caught me as well. I think this flower is the only thing that bought me the time to escape. It made her recoil just long enough for me to take a picture with her face in it.

So collectively you got her entire body?

Yeah.

Sweet.

More so than you think. This makes me wonder though if one of those dogs that chased you might have actually been related to her.

Are you high?

I don't think so. Take a look at this.

Is that a tail? What is this Kevin?

“Kevin...” Luna stared at a blonde boy beside the teacher, his back pressed against the window. “Ringleader...” She stated and started to slowly walk towards him. “Eighteen...”

“Stay back!” He shouted and started scanning the area wildly. He grabbed at anything he could reach and held a metre stick out towards Luna as though it was a sword. “Get away from me, freak!” He continued to yell.

Luna stopped an inch out from the end of his make-shift weapon and focused on him without blinking. “Seventeen...” She whispered as her right eye dilated. Kevin let out a bloodcurdling scream as a red mist enveloped his dominant arm. Half of it, starting from the centre of his middle finger and down to his pinkie, all the way up to his shoulder fell to the floor, staining it crimson. He dropped to his knees, clutching first his elbow then repeatedly switching positions, unsure of what to do with his intact hand. Luna then grabbed his face and forced him to look up at her. The Ríastrad flared and she barked, “Agita.” Kevin's cries became mute, then he gargled as he shed tears of blood. His face turned purple and his mouth foamed before he finally fell sideways on the floor, twitching.

One of the class football players gritted his teeth and clenched his fist on the other side of the room. He clutched a nearby chair, held it over his head and charged at Luna's back. He took two steps and gasped. His body refused to obey his commands and the chair dropped harmlessly behind him. His veins bulged and he felt like his blood itself was not only holding him in place but all being forced into his feet. His vision blurred and he became dizzy. He blinked hard and when he opened them again, Luna was right in his face, their noses almost touching. “Sixteen...” She tapped him in between the eyes with one blackening claw and they became bloodshot. He crashed to the floor, covering his ears and arching his back, howling in pain.

Bang, bang, bang! “What's going on in there?” Someone shouted from outside, furiously knocking.

The remainder of the class erupted in pleas for help, begging the voice on the other side to call the police while Luna stood over top of her attacker, watching him twitch violently. “What's... wrong...?” She asked and everyone fell silent. They cranked their necks towards her, each of them visibly shaking. The chattering of their teeth could be heard from every corner of the room. “You don't want... to finish... what you started?”

“Stop this Luna!” The professor snapped with a wave of his hand. “You've gone way past defending yourself.”

“Stop? Like you... stopped them?” She turned her gaze towards him with one finger pointing at the pile of scraps that were once her clothes. He flinched and backed up a step as she moved the same finger up to point at his chest. “Fifteen...”

“Don't give me that!” Another student yelled and shot a hand at her. “She can't take all of us. We'll beat her if we all attack at the same time.” The remainder of the class exchanged glances and each took a step closer.

Luna sighed. “Ridiculous...” She lowered her arm and started to whisper, “Disapp-”. Suddenly, the wooden door burst into splinters around the doorknob and swung open. The speaker pivoted on his heel to see for himself and immediately got a knuckle sandwich in the teeth. Luna stopped as a silhouette threw something leathery over top of her torso and grabbed her by the hand. She was dragged through the crowd and out into the hallway, sprinting.

“Are you all right?” The newcomer asked without turning around.

“Who... are you?” She inquired as her skin started to turn white again and her horns began to retract. Instead of answering he started yelling at people to get out of the way. Luna looked down at whatever he had thrown over top of her, noting that it had the school's insignia as well as the school's mascot on the back of it.

They reached the main doors of the building. Her saviour threw them open with such force that they made a deafening clang. They continued at his full speed until they reached a beige sedan. The man fished out a set of keys while panting heavily. Luna blinked at it twice as her vision began to darken and she swayed back and forth slightly. The car beeped and the man pushed Luna into the backseat. “I'm going to get you somewhere safe, all right?” He promised her and climbed into the driver's seat. The engine roared to life and Luna allowed herself to lay down on the fabric. The car jerked forward and her eyelids felt heavy. In mere seconds, everything faded to black.

* * *

“Welcome!” Luna heard a muffled shout and slowly opened her eyes. The sight was fuzzy, she could barely make out the white ceiling above her. She scanned her surroundings, seeing a scratched up oak dresser with a spruce trim. On top of it was a clean mirror that stretched up almost the full length of the yellow wall. She was covered in a brown comforter, laying in a king-sized bed with no one else around.

She sat up and looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a blue dress with white polka dots and her eye had been concealed by gauze taped onto her face. She put her feet onto the floor and stumbled towards the door. This scent is familiar... She thought to herself and moved out into the hallway.

The flooring was made up of chipped wood panelling, the ceiling with spots of water damage. Luna could see three other closed doors from where she was, all of them appeared worn out. A cool draft escaped from one at the end of the corridor. With a quick whiff into the air she confirmed to herself that it wasn't an exit, but just an open window. She turned away from it and set her sights on a set of stairs.

They creaked as she descended although it seemed like no one was around to hear. That, or they didn't care that she was up and around it what she assumed to be someone's house. “What'll it be today?” That same, cheery muffled voice called out again.

Luna made it to the bottom of the steps and peered around the corner. At first, she saw a tall, balding man standing on her side of a counter, his back to her. In front of him was an elderly lady whom Luna recognized. “A shop like this should be put out of business immediately.” The hag snarled.

The balding man crossed his arms and canted his head. “Then why did you come in?”

“I wanted to see for myself, is all. Denise was too afraid to come though. You've heard the news, haven't you? Apparently one of the girls from the local high school isn't even human. She hospitalized a few of the students today when they exposed her as well. I can't believe I've had interactions with that monster. I always knew she was trouble. Supposedly she was a regular here, so I came for one to warn you and two, to tell you that you should probably reconsider career choices. This is just wrong.” She concluded and gestured out to the rest of the store, pointing at the assortments of meats.

The man chuckled and shook his head. “You must be the shrew that she was talking about before...”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Just thinking aloud. So can I help you with anything or did you just come here to stick your nose in other people's business?”

The woman scowled and put both of her hands on the glass top. “What will you do if she comes back here?”

He scratched his chin. Luna couldn't see from where she was, but she got the impression he was smiling. “I've got just the thing.” He then bent down and grabbed an over-under with a rusty barrel out from below the counter.

“How vulgar.” The woman clicked her tongue. “Isn't there a better way of handling these situations apart from violence? It just makes us seem more like beasts.”

“It isn't for her.” He chuckled.

“Then who-” She cut herself off as he pushed the end of the barrel into her cheek.

“Get the fuck out of my store and don't you ever talk down on that nice lass again.”

“How vile!” She shrieked and stumbled backward. “I'll call the cops!”

“And tell them what? That I threatened you for harassing me in my workplace? Get out of here already.”

The woman grunted once more and quickly backed outside. “Despicable brute!” She cried out and vanished around the corner.

He sighed and placed the firearm down on the glass. “Close up the shop.” He instructed.

“Roger.” Someone responded from out of sight and a teenager in a school football jacket stepped into view. He locked the front door and closed every blind, preventing anyone from looking inside.

The balding man turned around and looked directly at Luna. “I'm sorry you had to see that. I was hoping I could get rid of her before you woke up.”

“The butcher?” She mumbled and emerged from her hiding spot.

“How are you feeling?” The teenager asked as he stepped beside the elderly man.

Luna's eyes widened. “Ian?”

He scratched his head and looked away. “Yeah, it's me.”

“You're the one that pulled me out of there?”

“Yeah. I got the impression that something wasn't right when George didn't show up at the gym for the morning workout. I left it early and heard screaming from inside the classroom. I broke down the door, saw you in that state, and immediately knew what had happened.”

“You did, did you?” Luna squinted at him. “Somehow I doubt my recent number one bully has any notion of an idea of what had happened.”

He flinched but it was the butcher who spoke. “That eye is dangerous stuff, isn't it? Listen up, Ian. Eva said that the gauze will only keep the curse manageable while she's calm. No teasing her until she gets another replacement eye patch.”

“I know, dad.”

Luna's eyes widened again. “Dad?” She looked up at both of them and scanned their faces carefully. They both raised a brow but said nothing. “I guess I see some degree of resemblance. I never would have considered you two to be related though. The butcher is too nice and Ian is too much of an ass. Also, how do you know anything at all about my eye?”

Ian looked away again and his father shook his head. “There's no point in hiding it now. You're way past the point of drawing attention to yourself. You just dragged a naked wolf girl through an entire school in the middle of the day after all.”

“I'll explain everything soon. Just... give me a minute to figure out how to say it.”

He's like an entirely different person. Luna thought to herself.

“Fine, fine. Just tell her before she leaves else you might not get a chance to. As for how we know about your eye,” he turned back towards Luna. “Eva told us about it.”

“Eva?”

“Ian's mother.” The butcher declared.

“Step-mother.” Ian corrected him.

“Close enough.”

“How would she know about it then?”

The butcher looked at Ian again and he put his hands up. “All right, all right. I'll tell her.” Ian then stepped forward and took a deep breath. His fingers fidgeted as he released the air in his lungs and he yelled, “I'm sorry!”

Luna jumped back in surprise from the sudden apology, one arm raised in front of her chest. “Uh... what for?”

“For always treating you like shit.”

“...Right. Is that it then?”

He shook his head. “I only did that to avoid drawing attention to myself. I was worried that if the others saw me being nice to you, they'd start looking more into me and putting my step-sister at risk. In an attempt to protect her, I often took the initiative in harassing you so that nobody would get suspicious.”

“It wasn't his first choice.” The butcher spoke up from behind him. “Both of us were against the idea but couldn't come up with anything better in time. In the spur of the moment during school one day, he took said initiative, and by that point, it was too late to back down.”

“But today, when I saw what they were doing to you, I couldn't just sit back and watch anymore. What they were doing was inexcusable so I made the split-second decision to stop them. I'm terribly sorry that I wasn't there to stop it right from the beginning. I had heard that Kevin and them were planning on nabbing the Bestia Nocuit from the priest but I didn't think they'd actually do it. I let my guard down.”

Luna rubbed the back of her head. “It's not like you were the only one to let your guard down. Forget it, apology accepted.”

Both of the men looked up at her in shock. “But-”

“You did it to protect your sister, right? I would have done the same for mine if she was still alive.” When Ian only continued to stare at her she sighed and put her hands on her hips. “If you really want to make up for it that badly then just get me a smoothie to drink instead of wear and we'll call it even. That work for you?”

“If that's what you want... It still seems like so little-”

“For fuck's sake, just accept it. My father put his family before the entire world and I would gladly do the same. Why should you be any different? The world is much more likely to walk out on you, so why bother helping a stranger? You didn't know who I was but you knew you needed to keep someone safe. As far as I'm concerned, you made the right choice. I'm able to stand in front of you now and tell you that, aren't I? There's nothing you need to feel guilty about. Now shut up and tell me why your step-mother knows about my eye, though I think I've already figured it out.” With that, Luna turned her back to the two.

The butcher slapped a hand down on Ian's shoulder. “There you have it. Congratulations, she doesn't hate you.”

Ian kept his eyes low but nodded anyway. He then lead Luna back up the stairs and to the room where she felt the draft coming from before. Ian knocked on the door twice and Luna squinted at it. I don't smell anyone inside, just the city stench.

“It's open.” Someone responded and Luna blinked hard. Ian pushed the door aside, leading into a room almost identical to the one where Luna had awoken. Inside, a pale woman pushed herself up into a sitting position on the bed. The pillow jumped slightly as a long, orange tail emerged and drooped off the side of the mattress. Two long ears to match extruded from her warm, red hair. The woman stared right at Luna with murky green eyes. “It's nice to finally meet you, our Guardian.”

“A fox?” Luna inquired. She nodded in reply and Luna continued. “That explains why I didn't detect you through the door. Fox types are naturally stealthy so they were often chosen to either be hunters or bodyguards to the rabbit scouts. Is that correct?”

“More or less. Wolves were either military leaders or at least warriors. Is that correct?”

“According to my father's memories, I believe so.”

Ian and the butcher exchanged glances and shrugged their shoulders.

“Now that I'm in here though,” Luna peered over her shoulder and into the closet, “You must be the little sister?”

A bag stacked on top of other junk fell over when Luna directed her attention to it and one small hand cautiously gripped the trim. A little girl, no older than six, poked her head around the corner and whispered, “Nice to meet you, our Guardian.”

Luna smiled at her warmly. “You as well.”

The mother coughed once and hushed herself. She put one hand on her chest and smiled again. “I'm Te. This is my daughter, Grian. I trust you've already met my husband, James, and my son, Ian.”

“Step-son.” Ian muttered from the door.

“James?” Luna echoed and looked at the butcher.

“Ah, that's right. I suppose you only ever called me boss, huh? Yep, I'm James. The pleasure is all mine.”

“Likewise.” Luna stated without any change to her expression. She turned her attention back to Te. “Are you perhaps ill? You don't look to be in stellar condition.”

“She's in pretty rough shape, has been for a little over a year now.” James answered, his usual cheery tone nowhere to be heard.

“It can't be helped.” Te interrupted. “Demi-humans can't risk going to a human doctor lest we desire to become science experiments. Especially now with you having been discovered combined with the atrocious reputation they're forcing on you, it could be a particularly dangerous time for us to come out.”

“Reputation? Now that you mention it,” She looked at James, “That old bitch said something about me attacking people. What was that about?”

Ian spoke up instead. “The school was quick to twist the turn of events. They claimed that you hospitalized other students to silence them after they discovered your tail. They completely glossed over the fact that they stripped you down and humiliated you. The professor is even getting a stupid amount of praise for supposedly having quick thinking and getting you out of the classroom. Of course, that's got the city somewhat panicked that you're on the loose in that area.”

“Is that how it is? Did I actually hospitalize anyone?”

“You don't remember?”

Luna knocked herself on the head and stuck her tongue out. “I don't have control over the Ríastrad yet, so it effectively controls me instead when it activates. I don't know who I would have attacked or how far I would have gone.”

“Well, if I had to guess, I'd say everyone there will have some lasting psychological wounds. Kevin might have to get his arm amputated because you cut it in half, right up the middle. George was on the floor screaming when I arrived though I really can't say what you did to him. He didn't have any obvious injuries.”

“By up the middle, do you mean along the elbow?” He shook his head and drew a line from the tip of his finger all the way to his shoulder. Luna pressed her lips together, nodded, and went, “Oh.” Ian watched her in silence for several seconds before she finally asked, “What?”

“Does it not scare you to learn you've done such things?”

“Should it? If a mosquito bites you, do you flick it away and shake your fist at it or do you squash it? In the case of the latter, do you feel bad about it? Why should I care what I do to them in retaliation for what they did to me?”

“I get that, but you said you can't control it right? What would you have done if Ryan had been in the room and you attacked him?”

Luna's lips parted slightly and she looked away. “I... see your point.”

“From what I've learned from previous generations of my family, I don't think you really have to worry.” Te spoke up. “Your father managed to keep himself under control even after fully awakening in most cases. There were a couple of times where he lost himself, but each time he brought himself back. If you weren't capable of the same, it would have stolen your sanity or killed you a long time ago.”

Luna turned to her. “Do you know then? Have I progressed to the next stage?”

Te nodded. “That's right.”

Luna pressed one finger against the gauze and closed her other eye. When she opened it again she changed the subject. “Why didn't you try to track down Aileen, the Dove guardian, if you were sick?”

Te coughed again and clutched the brown comforter. “She's here as well?”

“You didn't know?”

She shook her head. “I didn't even know you were the Wolf until Ian brought you in here. He just pieced two and two together so long ago when he saw your extraordinarily fluffy 'belt'.”

“The Dove?” James asked.

“A demi-human doctor.” Te explained briefly.

The moment the word left her lips, two strong hands grabbed Luna by both shoulders and turned her around. James pressed his face into hers, shouting, “When would be the soonest we can go see her?”

“Um... Tonight if I can get back and warn them about it.” She stuttered.

“Tonight?” He echoed as his eyes became glossy. He tore away from her and wrapped his arms around Te, lifting her right out of the bed. “We can finally get you the help you need!” He cried out with tears streaming down in his cheeks.

“Dear,” Te started to say with a smile, her voice strained. “I can't breathe...”

Ian grinned then became serious again. He turned to Luna and told her, “We'd better get going then.”

“We?” She asked.

“The entire city is going to be on the lookout for a girl with wolf ears and a tail. We don't have any hats for you to borrow and even if we did, who's to say people won't try and force it off of your head to see if you're what they're looking for? I can drive you back, which will make it easier to get you there unnoticed. The car's electric, so you shouldn't have to worry too much about your beliefs in protecting the planet.”

“Will I have to pay enough attention to give directions?”

“No, I know the way.”

“You do?”

“Big brother?” Grian stepped out of the closet and leaned forward to get a better look at Luna. “Is she the one you bought those flowers for?”

“Flowers?” Luna echoed and Ian started to turn pink.

“The pink ponies or something like that?” The little girl continued.

“Peonies I believe they were called.” Luna turned to Ian. “That was you?”

“Squirt!” Ian snapped. “You said you wouldn't tell her!”

“I thought it was Ryan who got them. Why-”

“Let's just go.” He yelled and retreated out the door.

“Oi!” Luna cried after him and gave chase. “Don't get too far ahead. I still need you to show me how to put on a seat belt.”

Te began to laugh and put a hand on her ribs. She smiled a bit wider than before when she silenced herself. “What's got you so happy?” James asked.

“It's nothing.” She answered. “I was just thinking about how much of an honour it would be if the Wolf Guardian would eventually become our daughter-in-law.”