I doubted Lazar would stay close to the body, and I also doubted the witness would be able to say anything other than: A demon! Yet there was that little hope that I would actually get some leads. Simon parked almost in the middle of the street next to three other police cars. One narrow alley between two buildings was covered with yellow tape and other police officers stood there. There was also an ambulance.

I jumped out of the car and practically ran into the alley. Oh my God… As a soldier and a police officer - and a werewolf - I should have probably been used to this already. But one could never really get used to this kind of carnage. The young man was torn to pieces, his blood covering the entire alley. There were even pieces of flesh stuck to the walls. Lazar liked to play with his prey, there was no doubt about that… The alley smelled of garbage and death, but mainly of blood. Sweet, tempting blood. Damn. I was glad the Beast was sulking today, otherwise, I would have probably lost control. The man's blond hair was covered in blood, and his eyes were already covered with the cloud of death. He had a large visible bite on his neck, the rest of his body was just a pile of flesh, blood, and bones protruding here and there. Officer Corradi was photographing the body and seemed about a single second away from throwing up.

Then suddenly the wind changed direction and brought to me the faint smell of cinnamon. Feeling a bit stunned I followed it to a plastic bag on the ground just a few feet behind the body. I peeked inside. Cinnamon buns. Cinnamon… Fuck didn’t I smell cinnamon when I bit Dale? God, did Lazar kill someone just to mess with my head and force me to kill Dale?

"Andrew!" Caroline grabbed my shoulder and pulled me away from the scene. I didn't fight back, I was too sickened by Lazar to offer any resistance. How many more people will die because of me? "The witness is of course in shock. They found her kneeling by the man and crying hysterically, but she wasn't the one who called the police. I think she sat there crying all night. She hasn't spoken to anyone," Caroline explained as she pulled me to the ambulance.

Why did we even bother with interviews anymore? No one could tell us anything useful. And how could they? No one would believe them. But Caroline looked quite desperate and frustrated, so I didn't argue with her. Did she suspect this wasn’t just an ordinary wolf?

A young woman probably in her thirties, with black hair and dark brown eyes, was sitting in the ambulance. She had a blank expression on her face and held the silver thermal foil blanket around her shoulders so tight her fingers were white. Someone called Caroline, so she left me and the woman alone.

"Madam? I'm Officer Cross, I need to ask you a few questions," I started carefully. The woman just stared ahead. "Madam, I know—"

"Cross?" she suddenly spoke softly. I probably wouldn’t have heard her if I didn’t have werewolf super hearing. "Andrew Cross?" Her eyes met mine. I glanced quickly at the little nametag on my uniform. It said: A. Cross. How did she know my full name? Did she hear Caroline saying it? Wait… no. I forgot I was a TV star because of the attack. Of course.

"The church of St. John Luther." I looked at her in disbelief. What? “Be in front of the church at eight am. He told me to tell Andrew Cross. You have to come alone. At eight am in front of the church. Alone, otherwise more people will die. The church of St. John Luther. I have to tell Andrew Cross. He must come alone, or he will kill us all," she kept repeating, her eyes wide and terrified. Dread settled in my stomach like a rock. Eight am in front of the church... It drew in a shaky breath, my whole body trembling. Alone, otherwise, people will die.

Well, it was what I wanted right? To find Lazar and kill him, to end it once and for all. So why couldn't I stop shaking? Why was my mind screaming at me to run away from the church as fast as I could? Lazar could control my mind… But Dale said it was because of my wolf, didn't he? And now that the Beast was hiding away, maybe I could keep Lazar away from my brain… Be careful, Dale’s words played over in my mind. My hand itched for me to pull out my phone and call him. I knew there was no way Lazar was bluffing though. If I didn’t come alone he would kill many many people.

"Andrew?" Simon grabbed my shoulder. I jumped a little as the world around me came back into focus. I had to go… I had to… I looked at the watch on Simon's wrist. Ten minutes till eight. I didn’t have a car here, so I had to walk. Which meant I had to go now or it would be too late.

"I have to go." I shook off his hand and ran.

“Andrew? Andrew!” Simon called after me, but I didn't look back. After a while, I slowed down into a hurried walk. Was he going to try and kill me? Or did he perhaps want to invite me to hunt with him in daylight? Would he even want to talk? A thousand possible scenarios were going through my mind. In each one, I either ended up dead or with innocent blood on my hands. My brain was obviously rejecting any optimistic suggestions. It was quite unrealistic though that we could talk things out and walk into the sunset hand in hand.

It felt like the walk took me forever and yet not long enough. The church was a small gray stone building surrounded by a cemetery. There was no one here… That just made me even more anxious. I looked at my phone, two minutes past eight. I tried to take a deep breath and find his scent under the smells of the city, candles, incense, and the freshly dug-up earth. Was Lazar digging me a grave? I shuddered. I didn't smell him. I didn't hear him. I didn't see him. Could the woman have been mistaken? Or did Lazar lure me here to hurt my friends? The church was small, one-story, and more like a house on the outskirts of the city. Should I go inside?

"And so, the desperate pup runs to his Maker,” his voice poured into my ears like honey. All the muscles in my body immediately stiffened. I knew that voice very well. It called to me in the night with promises of hunts and power. It was less rough though, less wolfish. I felt his gaze on my back and forced myself to turn slowly.

And there he stood…