Sam turned the corner onto her street, carrying Roxy in her arms. The girl had fallen asleep during the walk and Sam really couldn’t blame her. She’d had a long day.

“Hey, Rox, time to wake up,” Sam whispered, gently jostling the girl in her arms. “We’re almost at mine and I’m sure you’d rather wake up now instead of when Carol starts freaking out over your injuries.”

Roxy grumbled unhappily as she snuggled closer to Sam’s chest, eliciting a giggle from the taller girl. “Fine. But I’m going right back to sleep as soon as she’s done. It’s just my feet anyway. Otherwise I’m just bruised.”

“Roxy, you’re literally covered in dirt. I’m not letting you into my bed until you have a bath. Even I’m not that bad. You should probably eat something as well.”

Roxy opened her eyes to glare at her half-heartedly before sighing in defeat. She leaned up and kissed the underside of Sam’s jaw. “Fine, I guess I can manage that too. You gotta be the big spoon in bed though.” She grinned. Sam rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

“I can live with that.”

It wasn’t long before they arrived at Sam’s place. Sam’s hands were occupied, so Roxy knocked for her. It took a few seconds but eventually Ava opened the door for them. Her mildly irritated look was quickly replaced by shock as she took in the sight of the two girls.

“Woah. What the heck happened to you?” she asked Roxy before turning her attention to Sam. “I thought you weren’t coming home tonight.”

“It’s a long story,” the blonde sighed. “Can you ask Carol to get the first-aid kit? Roxy’s hurt her feet.”

Ava raised an eyebrow. “Alright, but I expect an explanation at some point.”

Sam’s eyes darkened as she walked into the house. “Blaine.”

Immediately, all humour dropped from Ava’s face. “Shit,” she whispered, looking at Roxy much more seriously. “Roxy, are… are you okay?”

The dark-haired girl grimaced. “I mean, my feet are all cut up to shit, but I’m fine. He said some pretty nasty stuff but he didn’t manage to actually hurt me.” She hesitated. “Well, he did kinda throw me from the top of a tree but I didn’t break anything so as far as I’m concerned I’m A-OK.” She grinned, giving the brunette a thumbs-up. “Might be dreaming about being chased by weird, half-dog monsters for a few nights, though.”

The casualness with which she spoke made Sam slightly uneasy. She’d witnessed firsthand just how terrified the girl had been and there was no way anyone could come that close to a gruesome death and just wave it off half an hour later. She wasn’t going to bring it up now, but she made a mental note to check up on her girlfriend once they got some time alone.

Ava looked a bit taken aback. “O-oh, so you know about…?”

“Yes, she knows,” Sam cut in, almost grumpily, because Roxy’s feet were literally still bleeding and no one was doing anything about it. “Aves, the first aid kit?”

“Oh! Right, sorry.” She turned to head into the kitchen, before looking back over her shoulder. “Glad you’re alright, Rox.”

—

“... And done. Wasn’t as bad as it looked. A couple of days off your feet and you should be good as new!” Carol explained as she finished bandaging up Roxy’s feet. The raven-haired girl turned to smirk at Sam, who was seated next to her on the couch.

“Looks like you’re on carrying duty for a while, Sam,” she teased. Sam rolled her eyes.

“Oh nooo. How will I ever overcome this great and terrible challenge that has been thrust upon me?” She made a show of pretending to faint as she flopped over Roxy’s legs. Carol smiled at the two girls’ giggling antics and made to leave, but Sam stopped her. “Hey, is it alright if she stays for a few days?”

Carol waved her off. “Of course! There’s more than enough space. Just make sure your parents know where you are, okay Roxy? I don’t need the police showing up at my door looking for you.”

Roxy saluted comically. “Yes, ma’am!”

Carol laughed and made her way out of the room. Sam made herself comfortable on Roxy’s lap as the shorter girl pulled out her phone (retrieved from her room during their supply run earlier) and began texting, presumably, her dad. Sam couldn’t imagine that she wanted to speak to her mom right now.

“Alright, dad says I’m good to stay for a couple days. He said he’s trying to smooth things over with mom, so we’ll see how that goes.” Roxy put her phone away and sighed, leaning back into the cushions. “Man, heck of a day, huh? I thought I was done when I got home from school but nope! Things just kept getting worse.” She looked at Sam and a slight smile adorned her face. “It was a little nicer when you were around, though.”

Sam could feel her cheeks heating up, her heart fluttering with appreciation for the girl above her. She was about to reply when Ava re-entered the room, carrying three cans of coke. Sam sat up as she was handed her can, opening it and taking a sip.

“Blegh, decaf? How do you drink that stuff?” Roxy asked with exaggerated disgust as she took a sip from her own, unadulterated drink. Sam shrugged.

“Well, it’s either drink this or send myself to the ER drinking the regular stuff, so I take what I can get.”

“Ooh, right. Cuz of the whole wolf thing. Got it.” the shorter girl replied, sufficiently cowed.

“You still gotta tell me how you figured that out, Rox, cuz I know for sure Sam was too chicken to tell you herself.” Ava piped up from an adjacent armchair, snickering when Sam flipped her off.

Roxy shrugged. “Well, I was pretty suspicious for practically the whole time we’ve known each other, but I didn’t think too much on it outside of what I could get out of wolf-girl here. Leif and I managed to put it together after we fought that hunter cultist dude, though. Dunno if Sam actually told you about that, but that was a few weeks ago.”

“Wait wait wait, hold up.” Ava interrupted. “You’ve known about her being a werewolf for weeks and neither of you thought to tell me? I have so many embarrassing stories to share!” she pouted.

“I didn’t even know until tonight when she said my name while I was in my wolf form.” Sam complained.

“In my defence, I was waiting for you to tell me yourself. I knew you were pretty hesitant about it.” Roxy countered. “I do wish you would have brought it up sooner, though, if only so that you wouldn’t have to try and hide it.”

“I told ya, Sam,” Ava smirked. “You had nothing to worry about.”

Sam smiled to herself and leaned further against Roxy.

“Yeah, I guess you were right.” she mumbled, mostly to herself.

Roxy yawned. “Alright, I need to scrub this dirt off of me so I can go to sleep.” She clapped her hands like a noble calling a servant. “Sammie, up. Take me to the bath.” She grinned mischievously.

Sam rolled her eyes and snorted affectionately. “Yes, dear.”

—

After finishing their bathing (separately, as Sam needed a shower too and Roxy insisted she didn’t need any help) and changing into some clean clothes, the two girls retreated to Sam’s bedroom for the night. As promised, Sam was pressed up against her girlfriend’s back, arms wrapped around her middle protectively. She could tell from her breathing patterns that she was still awake, so Sam decided now was as good a time as any to make sure she was doing okay.

“Hey, Rox. How’re you feeling?” She whispered, placing a soft kiss on the back of her neck.

“I mean, my feet are kinda throbby and the rest of me feels like I fell out of a tree or something, so, all things considered, pretty okay.” Roxy muttered flatly.

Sam frowned. “C’mon, Roxy, you know what I meant. It’s not like you to deflect like this.” She waited thirty seconds for a reply, but nothing came. “Roxy?”

She turned suddenly, tearful brown eyes reflecting the moonlight streaming in through the window. “You wanna know how I feel? I’m fucking terrified, Sam! Blaine almost fucking killed me tonight and he’s… he’s still out there somewhere! That’s not even mentioning the other stuff he said he’d do to me! How am I ever supposed to feel safe if I know he’s out there looking for me? You saw how deranged he looked, he’s not gonna give up! How could I possibly feel safe knowing that?!”

Her words grew more and more desperate until by the end the girl was full-on sobbing as she tucked her face against Sam’s chest. Sam suddenly found herself wishing she had gone through with biting out Blaine’s throat instead of switching to his leg. She stroked a soothing hand through Roxy’s damp hair as she cried.

“You’re safe, Roxy. Believe me. He’s not gonna be able to hurt you again, not for a good long while, at least. I broke his arm clean through. I don’t care how fast he can heal, it won't matter if the bone is out of place. He’ll need to see a doctor and unless he can find one that’s familiar with us, he’ll be stuck in a cast and unable to shift for at least a month longer than he’ll need to be. That’s if he can even get to a doctor, which isn’t super likely given the state we last saw him in. Trust me, Rox. You’re safe.”

Roxy held on tighter as her cries quietened a bit. “I’m just s-sick of not being able to defend myself. I’m sick of always having to rely on other people. If you weren’t there tonight I would’ve been-” She choked on a sob. Sam shushed her gently.

“Roxy, you’re not giving yourself enough credit. While he’s not as strong as me, Blaine is no pushover. You holding out until I got there was no small feat. You’ve been improving so much in just the short time you’ve been taking classes. You’ll be kicking ass in no time, trust me.”

Roxy giggled wetly against Sam’s chest and the sound sent a flutter through her heart. “You really mean that?” she asked, brown eyes meeting blue.

The blonde smiled and kissed her on the forehead. “Of course, blackberry. I’ve seen how determined you are. A few more weeks and I have no doubt you could probably put me on my ass if you wanted.”

The girl in her arms snorted. “Blackberry?”

Sam pouted. “Sorry, I was just trying something. I’m not very good at pet names.”

Roxy chuckled. “No, no. It’s cute. I like it.”

The girls curled even further into each other. Sam took a calming breath. Roxy’s scent was muted by her shampoo, but it was still clear enough that the blonde found herself calming down and nodding off. The last thing she heard was Roxy, whispering against her chest.

“I love you, Sam.”

Sam smiled. “I love you too, Rox.”

—

“What do you mean I still have to go?! They get to stay home!”

“Ava, dear, Sam is still suspended today and Roxy is injured. Last I checked you were neither of those things, so you still have to go to school, even if the weather is bad.” Carol chided.

Ava pouted as Roxy snickered into her mug of coffee. Sam assumed a smug expression.

“Sorry, Aves. Roxy and I will make sure to have plenty of fun without you!” she teased. The brunette walked out the door and into the rain.

“Whatever, at least I’m not scared of vacuum cleaners!”

The door slammed shut and Roxy started cackling. Sam felt her face start to burn.

“I AM NOT!” A growl rumbled from her throat. She turned to Roxy, sitting next to her at the dining table. “I’m not, I swear.”

The bottom of Roxy’s face was hidden by her coffee mug, but Sam could tell she was smirking. “Sure, I believe you.”

Right at that moment, a crash of thunder shook the house. Sam yelped and jumped out of her chair, her whole body trembling. Roxy lifted an eyebrow. The blonde shook her head and willed herself to stop shaking. She threw her hands up in a gesture of surrender.

“Okay, in my defence, I’m not always scared of vacuum cleaners. It’s just that near a full moon the wolf part of my brain gets more active and sometimes a few wires get crossed and I subconsciously start reading every loud noise as a threat. Also, my hearing is sensitive and vacuums are fucking loud.”

The brown-eyed girl chuckled. “I said I believed you, puppydog.”

Sam sighed. “This is gonna be a recurring thing, isn’t it?

“Yep. I’ve had weeks to think of dog-related pet names and now that the cat’s- err, the dog’s out of the bag, you’d better believe I’m gonna be cashing them in!”

Sam rolled her eyes, trying and failing not to grin. “I can’t believe I fell for you.”

“And yet, here I am.”

Sam scooped her out of her chair, pulling her up and kissing her on the cheek. “Here we are.”

—

The girls lay curled together on the couch. A documentary was playing on the TV in front of them. The ever-present rain was drumming against the windows in a relaxing rhythm. They were home alone. Sam didn’t think there was anywhere she’d rather be right now, cuddled up with her girlfriend. She pressed a kiss to the back of Roxy’s neck and the girl breathed out a sigh.

“Your hair’s getting longer.” Sam mused, pulling back to find a few strands of black hair stuck to her lips. Roxy hummed an agreement.

“Yeah, I haven’t gotten it cut in a while. Since before I met you, actually. I usually prefer to keep it short but I dunno, it’s kinda growing on me a little.” She snorted a little at her unintentional pun.

“I like it. It’s cute. Like you.”

Roxy shifted around until they were facing each other, nose to nose. She placed a hand on Sam’s cheek and pressed their lips together softly. Roxy’s lips were still the softest thing Sam had ever experienced and just like every other kiss they’d shared, she was left feeling breathless.

Roxy pulled back and the girls just stared at each other for a while, memorising the detail of the other’s face. Roxy’s gorgeous dark eyes seemed to contain all the stars in the universe and her faintly freckled and utterly adorable nose slowly crinkled as a grin broke out across her face. A warm blush spread across her cheeks and she started softly giggling, gleeful tears filling her eyes.

“What’s so funny?” Sam prompted, her own smile steadily growing.

“I just,” she cut herself off, sighing happily, “I just never thought it was possible to feel this strongly for someone. I love you so goddamn much that I don’t even know what to do with all the extra emotion.”

Sam pulled her closer and kissed her again before her own emotion spilled over. After a slow, shifting moment, she pulled back for a breath. “I love you too, Roxy. So, so much.”

Roxy surged forward and captured Sam’s mouth with her own, pushing her onto her back and climbing on top of her, straddling her hips. Roxy was filled with an intensity that sent goosebumps shuddering over Sam’s skin. She moaned into the kiss, threading a hand through soft dark hair and slipping her tongue into Roxy’s mouth. A pang of desire wafted through Roxy’s permeating scent and a familiar warmth pooled at the base of Sam’s abdomen as their tongues slid together.

Roxy suddenly pulled back and separated the kiss. Sam unconsciously chased her a little before falling back against the couch, chest rising and falling with heavy pants. The brown-eyed girl looked her up and down hungrily, gaze filled with desire.

“Sam,” she started, “Do you… do you maybe wanna pick up where we left off? Yesterday, I mean.”

The idea sent heat prickling under her skin, but there was something nagging her in the back of her mind. “I’d love that, but… are you sure? You were pretty shaken up last night. I just wanna make sure you’re okay.”

Roxy smiled softly, looking down. “I appreciate that, but I’m alright. I’ve thought about what happened and… despite what he said, Blaine never ended up actually hurting me. I don’t want him to get in the way of our relationship. I really want to do this with you, Sam, and there’s nothing stopping us, this time.” Her face suddenly turned sour. “Unless we keep talking about Blaine, cuz that is seriously a turn-off.”

The blonde grinned. “Well, let’s do something about that, shall we?”

—

Sam and Roxy laid together in Sam’s bed. The blonde was still dazed, panting and sweaty as she slowly recovered from what she had just experienced. Roxy was curled against her, resting her chin on Sam’s shoulder and looking up at her lovingly.

“Wow, Rox… Th-that was… Wow.”

Roxy snorted a little. “How eloquent of you.”

Sam managed to huff out a laugh. “Sh-shut up. I’m s-still… regaining my b-bearings.” She turned her head so that she could look Roxy in the eye, probably giving herself a double-chin from the angle in the process. “How… H-how’d I do?”

Roxy leaned up and kissed her, soft lips pressing against Sam’s gently, still sending butterflies through her stomach despite how tame it was compared to what they’d been doing only minutes earlier. She pulled back after a short while. “You did very, very good.” She smiled.

Sam felt herself flush at the compliment. She turned and squeezed Roxy against her chest tightly, the desire to cuddle suddenly taking over her body. The other girl seemed to be on the same wavelength, shifting herself until they were curled together like perfectly fitting puzzle pieces. Sam wondered how she’d ever lived without this girl.

“I love you, Rox. I’m so glad we got to be together like this.”

Roxy pressed a kiss against the hollow of her throat. “I love you too, baby. I couldn’t imagine anyone else I would rather be with.”

Sam felt herself fill with warmth as she slowly fell asleep, the sounds of her lover’s heartbeat and the rain against the window lulling her out of the waking world.

She was awoken a short while later to the feeling of Roxy gently kissing her face over and over again. Sam would be lying if she said she didn’t pretend to still be asleep for a few seconds just so that Roxy would keep going. Once she eventually opened her eyes, she was greeted by a warm smile.

“Mornin’, sleepyhead. Have a good nap?”

Sam ‘mm-hm’-ed sleepily and tried to snuggle closer to Roxy, but the raven-haired girl stopped her.

“I’d love to keep cuddling, Sammie, but we should probably get ourselves cleaned up and dressed before Ava gets home from school. God knows how much she’d tease us if she found us like this.”

Sam huffed. “She’s just jealous that she’s still single. But I do see your point. Shower time it is.” She slowly shifted into a stretch, arching her back until it popped and letting herself fall back onto the bed. Roxy watched the display with a certain kind of look in her eyes, a satisfied smile on her face.

“I feel like I should warn you, you’ve got quite a few, uh… marks on your neck that will probably be pretty hard to hide,” Roxy said.

“Oh, that’s no issue,” Sam replied, bringing her wolf to the surface. She could see the amazement in Roxy’s eyes as she watched the bruises heal and disappear in seconds, leaving only clear skin in their wake.

Roxy chuckled a bit, shaking her head. “Werewolves, man. I swear.” Her expression turned a little disappointed, though it was clear she wasn’t serious. “You could’ve kept them for a little longer, at least. They suited you.”

Sam laughed, her insides fluttering a little bit. “I’m sure you’ll get the chance to make more, don’t worry.”

“I’d better. That was way too much fun to only be a one-time thing.” Roxy sighed, a reminiscing smile on her face. After a moment she sat up and clapped her hands. “So, shower?”

Sam nodded. “Shower.”

—

After a shower (in which they definitely didn’t resume their activities together for a short while, because that would be a waste of water, of course) the girls got dressed and resumed their place on the living room couch, just in time for Ava to walk through the door dripping wet and missing an umbrella.

“Ugh, why did we have to live in the state with the worst weather?” she whined.

Sam let out a hearty laugh. “I see you’ve had a wonderful day.”

Ava sighed deeply. “I was seriously considering beating up some random freshman just so I could get suspended too.”

“Mm, let me know how that works out for you!” Sam teased. Ava waved her off and went to her room to change and dry off. Once she was done she came back into the living room and flopped onto the couch next to the other two girls. Roxy was lounging in Sam’s lap, the blonde’s arms wrapped around her waist and her chin resting on the top of her head.

“So, what’re we watching?” Ava asked.

“Planet Earth. Y’know, the documentary?” replied Roxy.

Ava hummed in acknowledgement and settled in. It wasn’t long before the scene changed to a pack of wolves and Roxy felt Sam stiffen around her.

“Oh, this’ll be good,” Ava said with an audible smirk.

“What is it?”

“Just watch. You’ll know when it happens.”

It took a little bit, but sure enough, when it happened, Roxy knew. A wolf on the TV howled and Sam started squeezing Roxy with quite a lot of force. She swore she could hear a slight whine slipping from her throat.

“Right now,” Ava explained, “Sam is trying her very hardest not to howl along. Happens pretty much every time something howls on TV.”

“I’m… n-n-not… g-gonna… do it.” Sam managed to say, with great difficulty.

Ava pouted at Sam condescendingly before shooting a wink to Roxy and mouthing ‘watch this.’

The brunette threw her head up and made her best impression of a howl.

Straw, meet camel’s back.

Sam broke, throwing her head back and letting out an ear-splitting howl. It was discordant and screechy, breaking occasionally as Sam hit pitches that her voice box wasn’t normally capable of creating, but unmistakably lupine, nothing at all like the clearly human howl that Ava was producing. It was so unequivocally Sam that Roxy found herself smiling despite the fact that her ears were currently stinging from the sheer volume of the blonde werewolf’s howl.

Eventually, Sam’s howl petered out. Her pale complexion immediately went bright red once she realised what she’d done.

“Uh… Please pretend you didn’t see that.”

“Oh, absolutely not. That looks like fun.”

Roxy gave howling a shot and sure enough, Sam wasn’t strong enough to resist the urge to join her. The room rapidly devolved into discordant howling of both the human and werewolf variety, interspersed giggles mixing into the melody as Roxy and Ava couldn’t contain their laughter.

It truly had been a perfect day.

—

Sunday rolled around and Roxy was more than grateful to be back on her feet with only minor pain. As fun as it was getting carried around everywhere, the novelty wore off quickly after the first day and it became more embarrassing than anything.

A tinny sounding bell rang as she walked into the dingy downtown diner that Ross - for some reason - wanted to celebrate his birthday at. Her friends waved at her from the booth they were seated at. Leif, Ava, Ross, and Ross’s boyfriend, Lukas, were already there, but otherwise the place was relatively empty. Roxy was pleased about that. It was a full moon tonight and that meant that Sam’s senses were going to be on overdrive, so the less overwhelming stimuli for her, the better.

Roxy greeted everyone and wished Ross a happy birthday as she slid into the booth next to Ava. Leif, Ross, and Lukas were sitting across from her and there was room for Sam to her left for when she arrived. She was wearing a sleeveless black turtleneck, partially for the fashion and partially because she just wanted to show off the new definition in her arms gained by her MMA training.

“Yo, Rox, where were you on Friday?” Ross asked once she sat down.

“Yeah, dude. We missed you!” added Leif.

Roxy lifted a hand to scratch the back of her neck nervously. “Uh… I kinda had a little… accident on Thursday night and I couldn’t really walk afterwards, so I stayed home.”

“I want you to know I am doing a very good job of refraining from making a sex joke right now.”

“Hardy har, Leif,” Roxy chided, face subtly reddening as memories of what she actually did on Friday flooded her mind. “No, I just fucked my feet up running through the woods in the dark without shoes on.”

“Wow, Roxy, impressive. I knew you were smart, but this is really taking the cake.” Ross teased.

“It’s a long story, okay? I wasn’t exactly expecting to go on a nighttime hike in my PJ’s, but my life has certainly taken a turn recently, so I can’t say I was very surprised, either.”

“You,” Lukas began, stretching a dark-skinned arm over Ross’s shoulders. “Are very cryptic.”

“Thank you, it’s one of my many charming qualities.”

Leif ran her finger along the table, collecting a noticeable amount of grease. She grimaced. “Remind me why you wanted to come here, Ross?”

“This place has the best burgers in all of Dewsbury!” he replied. “Plus, the staff is practically family. Me and Nat always used to come here when she couldn’t afford groceries and we needed a cheap meal. We don’t need to as much anymore now that I have a job too, but I always make sure to stop by every now and then, and I wanted to share it with you guys, too.”

“Aww, that’s surprisingly sweet.” Roxy cooed. “And if the burgers are as good as you say, Sam’s probably gonna lose her mind. Girl goes crazy for a good burger.”

Ross laughed. “Where is your blonde counterpart, anyway? I would’ve thought you guys would come together.”

“Oh, she had a morning shift at the library. She should be here soon.”

“Woah woah woah, hold up.” Leif interrupted. “Sam works at the library? Since when?”

“Uhh, like, last week, I think?” Roxy replied. “It’s a pretty new job, but she says she likes the quiet atmosphere.”

“Huh, wild.”

“Anyway, speaking of people not showing up, where were you on Thursday, Leif? I had to eat lunch all alone!”

“Ugh,” Leif groaned. “I was avoiding Kimberly and her gang. They’ve been giving me the stink eye all week and without Sam around as a deterrent I didn’t wanna get caught out in the open.”

Roxy frowned. “Is she giving you trouble? ‘Cuz I’ll fight her for you if she is!”

“Didn’t you get your ass kicked last time you tried to fight her, Roxstar?” Ross cut in.

“Yeah,” she admitted, “but that was before I started MMA. It won’t be so easy for her next time.” She flexed her arms comically.

Leif snorted. “You realise we’re taking the same classes, right? I don’t need you to fight her for me, I could do it myself.”

Roxy chuckled. “Yeah, I know you could. Still, let me know if you ever need a hand dealing with her. I’m eager for a rematch and I’m not just gonna sit here and let her keep bullying my friends.”

“I’ll be sure to let you know.” the green-haired girl smirked. “Honestly, I was mostly just surprised. Like, with everything that’s happened lately, I’d kinda completely forgotten about her. Then I’m just minding my own business and it’s like, ‘oh, you again?’ It just seems kinda inconsequential after all that stuff with the stalker and Blaine.”

Roxy stiffened, almost imperceptibly.

“Wait, what happened with Blaine?” Lukas cut in. “I know he was expelled, but I never heard the full story. He was on my football team.”

“Well basically-”

The bell at the door rang, thankfully distracting the green-haired girl from her retelling. She loved Leif like a sister, but the girl had a bad habit of oversharing and Roxy didn’t want her to accidentally let the werewolf thing slip. That, and she had been doing a fine job not thinking about Blaine and she really didn’t want to hear a summary of their history.

Sam walked into her field of view and Roxy swore her heart stopped. The girl had her hair tied back in a braid, highlighting her sharp jawline and framing her face with fluffy blonde bangs, which in of itself was already momentous, considering that Sam had never once worn her hair back in the time Roxy had known her. She was wearing a white button down and a dark pink full-length skirt, accompanied by a light pink cardigan. Safe to say, Roxy was utterly speechless. She was so cute!

She said her greetings and apologised for being late before sliding into the booth next to Roxy, who still couldn’t bring herself to look away.

“Sam, I think your outfit killed Roxy. She’s literally drooling.” Ross snarked.

“I- I AM NOT!!” Roxy screeched, suddenly snapping back to herself and very unsubtly wiping her mouth to check if she actually was.

“Y-yeah, I thought I might try something different for once,” Sam said, nervously looking down and blushing. “I was mainly late because I had to run home to get help with the braid. S-sorry about that.” She laughed, albeit still nervously.

“Don’t be, you look amazing.” Roxy complimented, smiling at the blonde.

“Th-thanks.”

“Oh my GOD, guys. You’ve literally been with each other like twenty-four seven for the past three days. How are you still acting this gay?” Ava teased, lifting her attention from her phone.

“Wait, What do you mean?” Leif asked, sensing the opportunity for gossip.

“Roxy’s been staying with us since her ‘accident’ on thursday.” the brunette explained, adopting a devilish smirk. She leaned across the table, speaking in a conspiratorial whisper. “They’ve been going at it like rabbits. I can hardly get a wink of sleep!” She joked.

“Har har, Ava. Leif already made that joke.” Roxy chided, only just noticing her girlfriend’s reaction. Sam had a very confused, slightly embarrassed look on her face and Roxy’s stomach dropped.

“Wait, that doesn’t make any sense, we only did it once and you were at school! How did you know?” she questioned, completely innocently and far too loudly.

Ava blanched, clearly not expecting that response. Leif and Ross started cackling, along with Lukas, who looked equal parts confused and amused. Roxy buried her face in her hands and groaned loudly.

“What?” Sam asked, looking around helplessly.

“Sam. She was joking. She didn’t actually know.”

It clicked for Sam all at once. A bright red blush spread from her cheeks all across her face and down her neck, disappearing into her collar.

“Oh.”

—

“ROSS!! Blue shell?! Go fuck yourself! I was winning, you motherfucker!” Leif yelled, looking like she was about ready to throw her controller across the room. With the amount of sheer vitriol in her voice, it definitely wasn’t an empty threat.

“Actually, I think the correct term is ‘fatherfucker,’ at least in my case.” Ross replied, leaning back to kiss his boyfriend. Leif made a gagging noise.

“Ugh, you guys are almost as bad as Sam and Roxy.”

“Hey! Don’t bring us into this just because you’re salty that you’re losing.” Roxy retorted, flipping the taller girl off jokingly.

“Fuck off, you’re not even playing!”

While everyone was bickering, Natalie, Ross’s older sister, silently crossed the finish line and won her seventh consecutive game in a row. Leif roared in anger, dramatically tugging at her hair and rolling around on the floor. Natalie had shared a few drinks around after dinner and the green-haired girl had clearly had too much, as evidenced by her overly emotional behaviour. Roxy laughed at the display as she rested her head on Sam’s shoulder. All the drinks had really done for her was make her tired and a little bit giggly. She was more than ready to fall asleep.

Sam hadn’t reacted at all to the hilarious display of childish rage. She was incredibly tense, staring at the floor, flexing her hand into a fist and splaying it out over and over again.

“Sammie? You alright?” Roxy whispered, concerned.

She startled a little bit as she was drawn out of her funk. “Hmm? Oh, uh, I’m just a little antsy cuz of the full moon. Everything is really loud and all I want to do is go home so I can shift. N-not that I’m not enjoying myself, of course!” She quickly added with a nervous laugh.

“Babe, it’s fine. It’s getting late anyway, I’m about to fall asleep over here.” Roxy chuckled tiredly, standing up and pulling Sam with her. “Hey, guys? It’s getting sorta late, Sam and I are gonna head out.”

“Whaaaa? It’s like, barely even ten!” Leif slurred from the floor.

“It’s a school night, dude, and Sam’s suspension finished on Friday, so we don’t really have an excuse.”

“Ugh, you’re so lame. You guys are probably just going home so you can fuuuuck.” Leif mumbled, prompting laughter from across the room. Roxy noticed Sam turn bright red out the corner of her eye.

“Very funny, Leif.” Roxy replied, rolling her eyes at her friend’s drunken childishness, while simultaneously slotting the idea away for when they got back to Sam’s. “Either way, we’re gonna head. Happy birthday, Ross, thanks for having us.”

“No problem. Get home safe, guys.”

Everyone said their goodbyes and the girls made their way out of the apartment building and onto the street. The night air was calm, the full moon shining down and illuminating their path. Ava had left early for a work shift, so it was just the two of them.

Sam sighed, stretching her arms high above her head as they walked, her joints popping satisfyingly. “Man, I can’t wait to get home and tear these clothes off.”

Roxy raised an eyebrow with a smirk, remembering Leif’s ‘suggestion.’ “Yeah? I could help with that.”

Sam sputtered a little, cheeks reddening against her pale skin. “Y-you know what I mean.”

The shorter girl laughed good-naturedly. “Yeah, I know. Just messing with you.”

There was a lapse in conversation as the two just walked together, only the sound of their footsteps and the occasional passing car breaking the silence. It was a peaceful night by every definition of the word, yet Roxy couldn’t shake the odd sense of something’s off that had overcome her. She did her best to ignore it, instead distracting herself with a conversation she’d been meaning to have.

“Hey, Sam?”

The blonde cocked her head. “Hmm?”

“I think I might head home tomorrow. Like, my home.”

A look of hurt flashed across Sam’s face before she could hide it, though it was pretty obvious through her poorly executed poker-face, too. “Oh. Okay.”

“Hey, don’t get me wrong,” she quickly placated. “These past few days have been amazing, Sammie. I would stay if I could, but I don’t want to keep imposing and I can’t keep putting off facing my mom.” Roxy reached out and took Sam’s hand, squeezing it consolingly. She knew her girlfriend could have trouble with separation, especially after long periods of time together, so she was always careful to make sure the other girl was okay. In some ways it reminded her of a puppy, though she would never say that out loud.

Sam suddenly stopped in her tracks. Roxy would have thought it was about what she’d said if she hadn’t noticed the clear alarm on Sam’s face. She squeezed Roxy’s hand tightly, seemingly without realising. Roxy’s previous feeling of foreboding was now back in full force and a spike of anxiety shot through her.

“...Sam? What is it?”

“I smell blood.” She spoke quickly, her blue eyes darting around the empty street frantically.

Well, that’s not good. Roxy swallowed thickly. “D-do you think someone’s hurt?”

“Definitely,” she replied. “I-I smell something else, too. It’s familiar, but… there’s something about it that’s throwing me off. I don’t like this, Rox.” Her voice shook.

That only deepened the awful churning in Roxy’s stomach. “Sam… If someone’s hurt we can’t just ignore it. What if we could help?”

“With just how strong it smells, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was already too late…” She paused, scrunching her face as she considered. “...But you’re right, we’ll see what’s going on. If someone is hurt, we can’t do nothing.” She turned and looked Roxy in the eye, red seeping into her irises. “Stay behind me.”

“I…” Roxy wanted to protest, to say that she could protect herself, but she knew Sam was right. If what she said was true, she wanted all the backup she could get. “Alright.”

The two girls crept forward slowly, keeping their eyes and ears peeled for anything amiss. It wasn’t long before the smell hit Roxy’s considerably weaker senses and she had to resist the urge to gag. Sam wasn’t kidding when she said it was strong. It reminded her of the dissections she had to do in middle school biology, the coppery scent of blood mixing with an odor that could only be described as ‘death’. It didn’t instil her with a strong sense of hope for what they might find.

They approached an alleyway that appeared to be the source of the vile stench. There was a strange sound emanating from within; a tearing noise followed by a sound similar to that of a dog eating wet food. Looking into the alleyway, they saw a large form hunched over in the darkness, the light from the moon temporarily blocked by cloud cover. Roxy couldn’t make out what it was, but she felt Sam stiffen beside her. She started growling.

The creature rose on its massive hind legs, turning to face them. The clouds shifted and moonlight washed over the scene. A body lay unmoving at the end of the alley, blood and viscera spilling from its torn abdomen onto the concrete. Roxy’s eyes were drawn to the monster that now stood before them and her breath caught, her heart skipping a beat.

She almost didn’t recognise him at first. His body was bulging as though his muscles themselves were trying to break free of his skin, most of which was covered in thick, dark fur. The skin of his face had split to make way for his half-grown snout, revealing bloodied fangs. His hands were tipped with razor sharp claws that seemed to erupt from his fingers with little care to the flesh they were connected to. Despite all this, it was still clear who was standing in front of her, from his shaggy hair to his piercing green eyes to his crooked left arm that Sam had snapped not three days prior.

Blaine.

He rose to his full height, towering far above both girls. Each heaving breath he took was accompanied by a huffing growl, as though he was constantly struggling to breathe, his body too large for his lungs to supply for. His eyes found Roxy and she saw no recognition in them, only sheer, all-encompassing rage. A twitch was all the warning she had before he was bounding at her with murderous fury. Roxy couldn’t get out of the way in time, her legs refusing to move. Thankfully, Sam was much quicker on the uptake, surging forward with a roar and tackling Blaine around the waist just before he reached them, attempting to push him back further into the alley as her own body began to shift.

In seconds, her limbs had lengthened and grown, her already muscular frame now bulging with sinuous fibres, although not nearly to the level of Blaine’s current body-horror situation. The sleeves of her cardigan ripped under the strain of her growing muscles, revealing that her elongated arms were already covered by a coat of golden fur.

By the end of her transformation, Sam looked much closer to the hulking monster she was fighting than a regular human, yet she was still nowhere near his sheer size and bulk, a fact that filled Roxy with dread. Blaine reached down and grabbed Sam around the waist, his huge hands wrapping almost entirely around her body, before simply twisting himself and heaving, chucking Sam down the length of the alleyway like a ragdoll.

She landed with a thud but was otherwise unharmed, quickly pulling herself up and charging at Blaine again. She jumped at a wall and sprang off of it, using her momentum to deliver what should have been a devastating kick to his face. He barely even flinched, grabbing Sam’s leg as it flew past and using her own momentum to spin and slam her face-first into the wall.

The concrete cracked and Sam fell to the ground, unmoving. Blaine’s burning gaze returned to Roxy.

Fuck.

Logically, Roxy knew that she should run. Just one hit from Blaine in the state that he was in would likely smash her weak human bones to dust, if it didn’t just outright kill her. Also logically, Roxy knew that running was not at all an option, mainly because there was no chance she’d ever leave Sam to the mercy of this monster, but also because she ultimately knew it would be a futile effort, given what had happened the last time she attempted it.

So, where did that leave her? Fucked. It left her completely and utterly fucked.

Her hand closed around the taser in her pocket. If she was going to die tonight, she was gonna go down swinging, that was for sure.

Blaine swung a clawed hand at her and, engaging every single instinct that her MMA training had drilled into her, Roxy ducked. The claw flew over her head, creating a breeze from its sheer speed. Roxy stood up and Blaine had the gall to look confused, like there was no way he could ever fathom his attack not landing.

He swung again. And again. And again. And somehow, Roxy kept dodging, ducking and weaving under his wild swings, her heart pounding and her muscles singing as she came inches from brutal laceration over and over again, searching for any opening where she’d be able to jab the business end of her taser into his torso. Thankfully, she didn’t need one.

While she was keeping Blaine busy, Sam recovered, pulling herself up and sneaking up behind the towering monster. Her face was a mess of blood, both from a definitely broken nose and a cut on her forehead, but that didn’t stop her from plunging her own claws deep into Blaine’s side.

Roxy would have been filled with relief if Blaine hadn’t reacted as though it wasn’t anything more than a mild annoyance.

He grunted and swung around, slashing his claws at Sam, leaving three distinct lacerations across the right side of her face. She screamed in pain, pulling her claws out of his side and backing away, desperately trying to stem the flow of blood with her hands. He gave neither girl any time to react, charging the blonde and smashing her across the jaw with a punch that Roxy was sure would have crushed her skull if she’d been on the receiving end of it.

A strange clattering sound filled the alley. Roxy realised with abject horror that it was the sound of Sam’s teeth hitting the pavement. She was barely even given time to let out a muffled sob before Blaine was grabbing her by the neck and slamming her against the wall, her hair sticking to her bloody face as her braid came apart.

Sam was thrashing desperately, slashing at Blaine’s ruined face with her claws, kicking him with enough power to shatter ribs, all the while tears were streaming down her cheeks as she whimpered in submission. He barely even acknowledged it, darting out and catching one of Sam’s arms in his jaws. He started to bite down.

“ROXY! HELP ME! PLEASE!” Sam shrieked, finally prompting Roxy to move. She hadn’t even realised that she’d been completely frozen since Sam had re-entered the fight. She willed her shaking legs to move, pulling out her taser and charging forward. It was too late.

crunch

Sam let out an ear-piercing wail of pain, thrashing even more against Blaine’s unwavering hold on her now broken arm. Roxy screamed in rage, plunging her taser into the monster’s side as it came to life with crackling electricity.

It didn’t seem to affect him much aside from making a few of his muscles lock up and spazz out, but it had the intended effect of drawing his attention away from Sam and getting him to drop her, at least. Now all of his attention was focused on Roxy.

Yeah, she didn’t really think this one through.

His hand wrapped around her wrist and he tugged upwards, lifting Roxy with such force that she felt her shoulder pop out of its socket. She wasn’t even given a second to cry out before she was thrown against the opposite wall like a ragdoll. The back of her head made harsh contact and her vision went completely white.

She could hear the sound of his hulking footsteps coming slowly towards her. She tried to lift herself but was promptly reminded of the fact that her shoulder had literally just been dislocated when a deep, burning pain shot through her muscles. Opening her eyes, she could just about make out a large dark blob, approaching her and filling her vision.

Right as she was making her peace with her fate for the second time this week, the blob suddenly stopped. Blinking away the fogginess, Roxy could see a golden-furred arm locked around Blaine’s neck, wrenching him away from her. He grunted, slashing deep furroughs into the arm with his claws, but Sam was tenacious. Her legs wrapped around his waist and her head peaked up from behind his shoulder. Roxy wasn’t sure how many teeth she had left after the brutal hit she took earlier, but it was clearly enough for her to bite down on his neck with enough force to draw blood.

He thrashed around, trying to shake her off, but it was futile. Sam was holding on for both their lives and the only way he would get her off was if he killed her. Unfortunately for both of them, that was very much on the table.

Blaine threw himself back against the alley wall with enough force to dent the concrete. Sam’s head slammed against it with a sickening crack and she dropped like a sack of bricks. Roxy could only watch helplessly as the monster laid into her, stomping on her unconscious body with reckless abandon, her bones snapping like twigs with every gut-wrenching hit. She couldn’t help herself, she started sobbing.

Apparently deciding that Sam’s broken body was ruined to his satisfaction, Blaine turned and faced Roxy once again. He stalked towards her, no doubt revelling in her fear as she cried. She pushed herself up on her good arm, desperately crawling away from him, only for her back to hit the alley wall.

Roxy looked upwards, letting the light of the full moon capture her attention away from what was no doubt going to be a particularly gruesome death. It didn’t matter, Blaine was so monstrously tall that he blocked that out, too. He was close enough that she could smell the blood on his breath. This was it. At least she’d be with Sam, wherever she goes.

Then, half of Blaine’s head exploded.

…huh?

Something wet and warm splattered across her face as the unmistakable sound of a gunshot rang through her ears. Blaine’s body jerked to the side and slumped over, sanguine liquid leaking onto the pavement from the mess that remained of his head.

whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefu-

“Well, it appears the test was a resounding success.”

Roxy’s head jerked in the direction of the voice. Or, she’d intended to jerk it, but in reality it slowly and shakily turned to the mouth of the alleyway as her mind struggled to catch up with her senses. An older man in priestly garb stood there, holstering a revolver. He was flanked by three men in simple black clothing, one with a digital camera hanging around his neck, and each with a sword and a gun holstered at their belt. Roxy almost choked when she realised she recognised one of them. After all, how could she not? His face had haunted her nightmares for weeks.

The stalker.

He locked eyes with her and grinned menacingly. Her mind finally caught up and she quickly turned her gaze to Sam. If she wasn’t already dead, the hunters would definitely finish her off once they saw her beastly features. Thankfully, though, her body seemed to have reverted to its human form when she was knocked out. She didn’t have any time to feel any sense of relief, however, when her vision was blocked by someone kneeling down and looking her in the eye. The priest.

“It is alright, my child.” His voice was oddly soothing, almost reminding Roxy of her grandparents. He reached a hand out and placed it on her cheek in what was likely meant to be a placating gesture, but only really succeeded in sending a shiver down her spine. “You are safe, now that we are here. The Lord’s chosen have protected you from the beast. Come with us, we will tend to your wounds.”

Roxy couldn’t form words, blubbering slightly as she dragged herself away from the men. The priest frowned and stood up. He was about to start approaching her again when the sound of sirens echoed down the street, someone no doubt having called the police in response to all the screaming and the gunshot.

The priest sighed. “It appears we are out of time.” He turned to his men. “K, take the photo and let us take our leave.”

The man with the camera walked up to Blaine’s body and quickly flashed a picture before following the rest of his grim procession into the darkness of the alley, leaving Roxy alone with two corpses and one hopefully-just-unconscious werewolf.

Coming to her senses, Roxy quickly scrambled over to Sam’s body as the sound of the sirens became louder. She frantically searched for any sign of life, her heart breaking more with every passing second of agonising stillness. A horrible lump formed in her throat.

“No, no, no, no, no. C’mon Sam, don’t do this to me. Sam, please! You can’t!!”

No fluttering of the eyelids. No rise and fall of the chest. No squeezing of the hand Roxy was frantically holding onto along with the last vestiges of her hope.

Nothing.

Roxy felt her heart snap cleanly in two.

She broke down sobbing, placing her head against Sam’s bloodsoaked chest as the squad cars pulled up outside the alleyway. Roxy didn’t even hear the officers approach.

“What the… Shit! Greg, call an ambulance! We got casualties!”

Roxy didn’t have the heart to tell them that it was already too late.

Someone grabbed her shoulder gently. She barely even registered it.

“Hey, kid. Are you hurt?”

Irrational anger gripped the shattered remains of her heart and she turned her head, about to give this clearly dumb-as-rocks cop a piece of her mind, when a series of wet, broken coughs grabbed her attention.

She whirled her head back around. Sam sucked in a rasping breath, coughing up little droplets of blood on the exhale. She was breathing.

Sam was alive.

Roxy cried harder.