Sierra had been tasked with keeping a close eye on Aja, and she took that job very seriously. Alpha Daniels had once told her that after a bite, the pre-transformation symptoms of being a werewolf could vary from gradually manifesting over the month leading up to the full moon, to hitting all at once a few days before. In her own case, her werewolf abilities had begun to appear at about the two-week mark, and intensified from there up until her first transformation.

Since Aja wasn't human (what was she, anyway?), there was absolutely no telling. All she could do was watch for signs of heightened senses and enhanced strength. Another thing to watch for was the unmistakable werewolf scent. It was a unique twist of earth and a component unique to the particular individual that let any wolf know that another of their kind was in the vicinity.

One full week after the incident, and nothing really seemed to change. Sierra was sitting in history class in her usual seat, subtly watching both twins with intense curiosity. Her task was Aja, but her mind kept drifting to what Krel really looked like. If they really were twins, did he look a lot more like his sister in his real form?

That fake human scent that barely stood out over their real smell seemed to be what made them seem so metallic. Sierra already missed the authentic, unmasked scent she'd been met with that night in the woods. So fascinating, so unique. But she was getting ahead of herself. She was supposed to be monitoring Aja's behavior.

Monitoring her because I made her a werewolf. Only five months with the pack and I've already broken the code! She glanced down at her hands, silently letting out a breath. I'm pretty sure I'm going to stay an Omega wolf for the rest of my life for this. She was pulled from her thoughts when the twins began to whisper, so quietly only her werewolf hearing could detect it from this distance.

"How long has it been?" Asked Aja.

"About a week." Krel answered. "Why? Has anything changed?"

"No, but we only have three weeks left. Douxie still hasn't found anything useful in Merlin's books. What if he can't find anything in time?" Aja fretted. Sierra pushed down a gasp and looked down at her desk so nobody would get suspicious. Merlin's books? I think I know that name. That's the wizard who made the pact with my pack. It sounds like they're in contact with someone who knows about magic, if Merlin's knowledge is involved. This "Douxie" must know about werewolves, and is trying to find a way to stop the transformation, considering that the full moon is in three weeks. She finally looked up again, lightly tapping a pencil on her desk.

Well, he won't find anything that works. Once bitten, there's no going back.

The many misconceptions about werewolves were mostly born from the fact that werewolves had only shared minimal information to very few wizards who mostly kept that knowledge hidden, anyway. If this Douxie fellow had access to a master wizard's books, then he must be a wizard himself. Only having been a werewolf for this short time, Sierra had never met any other creatures like trolls or magic-wielders like wizards. She'd only learned about them from routine education from her pack. But she knew that a wizard might try very hard to reverse a werewolf if the individual didn't want to be one (which was crazy, in Sierra's opinion). Unfortunately for them, the magic was just too ancient and frankly untouchable.

Fresh guilt squeezed her chest, and she forced herself not to slump. Sorry, Aja. She wondered if, seeing as a wizard was involved, she should reveal her secret to the twins and help them. After all, Aja was going to wind up finding out eventually, right? It's not like Sierra was going to let her spend her first transformation alone and confused. And since they appeared to know a wizard, and furthermore, when you know a wizard you know about magic, they might not be so freaked out. In fact, they weren't even human! They were probably magical creatures anyway! Who else would have such an effective human disguise (unless of course you were a werewolf and could smell them)? Who knows, maybe they even spoke Wolfspeak!

As her last thought seemed most improbable, she told herself to stop jumping to conclusions. Maybe they knew a wizard, but they obviously didn't know much about werewolves. Before she revealed anything to them, she would have to talk to the Alpha. Preferably before Aja started to understand dogs and hear everyone's heartbeat. The disorientation that could cause might be an issue. When Lizzie first found out I could understand her... Sheesh! That was quite a day.

The Tarrons didn't whisper anything else of any interest throughout the rest of the class. When the students were finally dismissed, Sierra decided that nothing could possibly happen in the amount of time it took to go to her locker and put away some books. To her ultimate disappointment, Mary was waiting for her there.

"You like him." She stated, tossing her straight, black hair. Sierra was dreadfully worried her eyes would flash.

"Think what you want." She said flatly, opening her locker to block Mary's face with the door. The girl simply walked around to the other side as she put away her books.

"You stare at him every day!" Mary laughed. Sierra rolled her eyes. She'd heard the whispered rumors this gossip girl was spreading.

"You have been bugging me all week. It's very distracting, and I'd appreciate it if you quit." She said, putting on a little aggression. She'd tried to make Mary stop the gentle way for a long time now, but that was obviously quite ineffective.

"Well, fine, girl. No need to get hostile. Geez." Mary muttered as she walked off. Sierra sighed and rolled her eyes again.

"Are you coming?"

"I just need one more mekron; I'll catch up."

Her wolf hearing picked up the brief exchange. Mekron? What a weird word. She turned around and saw Aja standing across the courtyard at her locker, by herself. Krel was already on his way to the next class. I have another minute or two. Maybe I should take this chance. She scampered across the courtyard and tapped Aja lightly on the shoulder. The blonde girl whirled around and looked ready to punch someone, so she took a step back.

"Oh, stars! I didn't mean to startle you! Sorry!" She exclaimed quickly. Aja relaxed and rolled her eyes.

"You?" She deadpanned.

"It's Aja, right?" Sierra asked, wringing her hands.

"Yes, that's correct. What do want?" Aja replied, seeming to be mildly annoyed. Sierra smiled in what she hoped was a friendly manner and extended her hand.

"Oh, nothing. I just never introduced myself last time we talked. I'm Sierra. Sierra Woods." She said. Aja didn't respond. She looked a little bit like she wasn't sure how to react.

"Nice to...meet you?" She finally said, somewhat tentatively. She cautiously shook Sierra's hand.

"I know this might seem a little weird. I mean, it was only about a week ago I confessed that I like your brother, you don't know me, but I just thought I should introduce myself." Sierra explained politely. "You are really awesome in gym class, by the way." Aja seemed to appreciate the compliment.

"Thanks... Um, we should probably get to class now. We can talk later, I guess. If you want." She said. Sierra let out a nervous laugh.

"Yes, of course. I'll catch you later." She agreed, and they parted ways. Well, I think that went well. If I can successfully make friends with her, I can keep a close eye on her without drawing her suspicion. Naturally, making friends would take some time. Hopefully not too much time.

~~~~~

"Make friends with her? But you bit her!" Lizzie said after hearing Sierra's plan. "And furthermore, why didn't you think of this last week? You've lost seven whole days of progress!"

Sierra lightly tugged the leash. "First off, she doesn't know it was me. And secondly, I felt so terrible I could hardly face her. Do you know how much courage I had to muster to even tell her my name today?"

They were walking around the park, enjoying the warm afternoon in the few hours of free time Sierra had after school. She was wearing a red T-shirt now, opposed to the green hoodie she always wore to school. A few people glanced at the bite scar on her right forearm, but they didn't say anything.

"Alright, fine. So, when are you gonna talk to her again?" Lizzie asked, absently stopping to sniff a random patch of grass.

"I don't know. Probably tomorrow at school." Sierra answered.

A corgi suddenly came barreling past at top speed, nearly tripping her as he ran between her feet. She quickly reached out and steadied herself against a tree, looking back at the dog as he continued to run. Lizzie pulled on her leash and growled.

"Hey! Watch where you're going! You nearly knocked over my human!" She barked at the top of her tiny lungs. The corgi skidded to a stop and turned around.

"Oh, sorry! Didn't mean to!" He barked back.

"Where are you even going?" Lizzie asked him. He trotted over to her and wagged his stumpy tail.

"I have no idea! I just like to run! It's like a sensation comes over me and I just gotta zoooooom!" He barked excitedly. Sierra leaned down to look at him better. He was bigger than Lizzie by a good bit, and his energy was terribly unconfined. And then his scent hit her: the old-carpet smell of a dog, but with that energy scent the Tarrons gave off. Another one?! A dog?!

"What's your name?" She asked him with a friendly smile. The corgi looked up at her.

"It's Luug, but of course big people can't understand a thing I say, so even though I'm talking to you my person will have to tell you my name, and actually here she comes now so I gotta go bye!" He turned to bolt, but Sierra grabbed him just as Aja skidded to a stop near her, looking quite out of breath.

"Luug! There you are, you gloober!" She exclaimed. Sierra passed the wiggling animal to her without being asked to do so.

"This is your dog?" She asked.

"Yes. He likes to run off." Aja replied, securing Luug in a tight grasp so he couldn't escape.

"Maybe you should put him on a leash." Sierra suggested, gesturing to the leash she had on Lizzie. Aja looked down at the little white dog and gasped.

"Hey, I know her! She's yours?" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, this is Lizzie. You know her? How?" Sierra asked, even though she knew all too well how she knew her dog.

"I saw her in the woods. I was exploring with my friends." Aja explained, reaching down to pet Lizzie, who wagged her tail happily. Sierra decided to risk a tiny bit of prying.

"The woods, huh? There's rumored to be wolves there, even though they're not supposed to live around here. It's not much of a rumor for me." She said, glancing at the scar on her arm. Aja stared at it for a hard minute before speaking.

"A wolf bit you?" She said slowly. Sierra nodded.

"Yeah, it was pretty big. I guess I wandered into his pack's territory. It's actually kind of cool, y'know? Wolves in Arcadia, when we thought they didn't live here." She said casually. Aja looked very, very suspicious.

"...what kind of wolf?"

"What do you mean? It was just a regular wolf. I'm actually kind of glad; they're numbers have been down recently. It's nice to know at least a few have carved out a safe place to live."

Sierra's answer seemed to be acceptable to the taller girl. She nodded slightly, then pulled back her sleeve to reveal a much more recent, only mostly healed bite mark. Sierra fought back a wince as her guilt returned again.

"I saw a wolf, too. We don't have them where I come from, so I was pretty scared. Got away with just this, though, so I guess I'm lucky." Aja told her simply. Yes, but where do you come from, strange, glowing girl?

"Looks pretty bad... Does it still hurt?" Sierra asked, trying to sound sympathetic instead of apologetic. Any hint that she was the one who bit her could blow her cover, and that would be bad at a time like this. Besides, keeping her pack a secret was the most important duty she had, according to the Alpha.

"Not much." Aja replied casually. She let out a sudden, short laugh. "I just realized that we'll have matching scars. What a coincidence." She pulled her sleeve back down and covered her wound. Sierra was beginning to like her happy-go-lucky personality, which seemed to show through when she wasn't being suspicious.

"It was Sasha, right?" She asked.

"Sierra, actually." Sierra corrected with a small chuckle.

"Well, Sierra, you seem nice." Aja said brightly. "Maybe you should stop hiding in the background if you really want to get to me or my brother, which I think you do."

"I'll do that." Said Sierra.

"Well, thanks for grabbing Luug. It was nice meeting you're cute dog. I shouldn't keep my brother waiting, so I guess I'll see you around?" Aja continued as she made to walk away.

"Yeah, sure. You too." Sierra replied, smiling to herself as Aja gave her a brief thumbs-up and then went on her way.

"Okay, so you talked now. Keep going like this and you'll be besties in no time." Lizzie concluded.

"She does seem to be warming up to me. But she still thinks I like her brother. I don't like perpetuating that lie, but it's my only cover. I'm worried that it'll make our relationship more awkward." Sierra said to the dog.

"But is it a lie?"

"No, don't you dare go there."

"Ha! Your face turned red."

"That doesn't mean anything. Stop it."

Lizzie smirked in the way only werewolves could see on a dog's face, but didn't say anything more. Sierra rolled her eyes.

I just keep getting myself into more and more trouble, don't I?