I smell the fear long before I hear the commotion. It's an acrid mix of sweat and that metallic, indefinable something that makes fear an almost palpable thing. When I get to the alley, the scent is much stronger. Any other girl would probably wrinkle her nose at it. Then again, any other girl wouldn't have picked up the smell at all.

I peek around the corner and see two teenage boys, one much younger than the other. The younger one points a knife at the older boy, who has flattened his back against the wall. His hands are up in a placating gesture. The younger boy looks nervous, but determined.

"I need your wallet!" the boy with the knife demands.

"Look, I already told you, I don't have anything on me. I'm out for a run," says the other boy. His voice is impressively calm considering, but I can still hear the edge of fear in it.

I'm not sure if I want to get involved or not. Mom and Dad always remind me to keep a low profile. The knife definitely looks sharp, but the young boy is wavering, hands shaking ever so slightly, like it's his first time.

And then I smell wolf on him.

He's a Shifter.

I set my doubts aside and step into the alley. The movement startles him and he pushes the knife against the other boy's chest. "Don't come any closer!"

I stop where I am. Pulling my hands out of my pockets, I push my shoulders back and straighten to my full five-nine height. I fix a long, penetrating stare at him. "This isn't your territory."

His eyes widen in recognition when he finally catches my scent. "But I need to get the wallet."

I blink slowly and lift my chin as I've seen my father do countless times. "You won't be getting it here."

The boy scowls, trying to size me up. He can't be older than thirteen. "Who are you?" He attempts fierceness, but his voice sounds strained. Which isn't very fierce by wolf standards.

My head lists to one side. "Do you really want to find out?"

He swallows as he looks me up and down. My intimidating stance finally does its job and he spins around, sprinting in the opposite direction without another word.

My eyes follow his retreat until he disappears around a corner, then I turn my head to the boy against the wall. He's staring at me in shock.

A quick assessment tells me he's unharmed. With the crisis averted, I turn to leave the alley.

"Wait!"

I stop and look back at him as he lopes to my side. He pushes his shaggy blond hair out of his eyes. "Thank you."

"No problem," I say with a half-smile before jamming my hands into my pockets and heading back to the sidewalk.

"Wait!" he says again and touches my shoulder.

I flinch away from his fingers out of pure instinct and face him again, sighing with annoyance.

"Sorry." He steps back. "I just wanted to know your name."

I regard him for a moment, not really wanting to get personal with this helpless stranger. But something about his blue eyes tell me that giving him my name would be okay. "Maddie," I say at last.

"Maddie," he repeats with a nod. "One more question."

I give him a nervous glare. Stay out of other people's business, my parents echo in my head. The more you know about them, the more they want to know about you.

"Last one, I swear."

When I nod my assent, he asks, "Are you a wolf, like him?" He tilts his head in the direction of the alley where the other boy fled.

My stomach drops. I didn't expect the question. How can he possibly know anything about that? As far as he knows, that kid was just your garden variety juvenile mugger, right?

I tug at the black knitted cap on my head. "You don't know what you're talking about." I spin back around to resume walking, ducking my head against the chill November breeze.

"I'm Aiden by the way!" he calls out to my retreating back.

I don't stop. Whatever he thinks he knows about wolves, he doesn't know anything about me.