Eliza opened one eye to see what Toby was up to.  Her basement apartment was cooler than the higher floors but it was still uncomfortably warm.  The fan on her dresser, aimed directly at her, helped some but she was going to have to get an air conditioner.  Watching Toby try to catch a fly that had made the mistake of finding its way into the great hunter's domain, she wondered how you put an air conditioner in a basement apartment.  Then she remembered and she felt butterflies in her stomach.  Tonight was the night she and Christa were going dog hunting.  Not the normal dog, of course, but the kind that wanted to and could kill and eat them.  She shuddered.  Tonight was the night of the full moon and Christa assured her that tonight their activity would peak.  They would be easier to find and more prone to seek confrontation.

Over the past week, there had been reports of odd events and there had been one mauling of a street bum.  He'd never regained consciousness and the city was tense.  The stories of hulking presences lurking in dark alleys, the tales of strange howls and the police had chased and fired at a creature they had describe as a very large canine.  The reporter writing the story insisted that they would not positively identify what they had been chasing but more than forty shots had been fired and the officers seemed totally confused why it did not go down.

"I was less than ten feet from this thing and I opened up on it with the riot gun.  I swear I saw pieces of it flying off of it but it howled and ran. Damn, that thing could run."

The police would not confirm that quote and the reporter would not name the source, but she stood by it.  The buzz on the street was BE CAREFUL.  Bad things were going down.

Christa opened both eyes, fully alert.  Cat like, she stretched and sat on the edge of her bed and brushed her hair.  The sun was down, not that it bothered her, but night was when interesting things happened and she was a natural night person anyway.  Since she'd come into the inheritance, she'd had a lot more freedom to pursue a more pleasant life style.  She knew she should be doing something more productive with her life but she didn't have a clue to what it should be.

She pulled a few loose hairs from her brush and put them into the trash and walked over to her dresser.  She shivered a little as she considered what she was going to do tonight.  She'd have felt a lot better if Sandy was here but Eliza seemed to be a very competent lady and she sure was a quick study.  Grinning, Christa remembered what Eliza had done to her with that knife.  She sure hoped Eliza had done as she asked and gotten some silverplate for a knife.  It may seem silly but a lot of fey beings seemed to have a very bad reaction to silver.  It was like a very bad metal allergy that some people are afflicted with.  Contact with the metal could cause a severe burning and itching sensation that would blister and take a long time to heal and then leave a nasty scar that would last and last.  A cut with a silver blade made her shudder at the thought.

She decided to dress in really old clothing tonight.  She'd carry a decent change in her bag, but if things happened too quickly, she might lose another outfit she liked.  That would really piss her off.  Trying to kill her was an irritation.  Ripping her favorite shorts would put you on her short list of people to really mess up, and no one in their right mind would want a were-cat, in the prime of its life, mad at them.

The moon was rising and she felt the lure of the change.  It made her tingle all over.  It made her want the change, want to feel her flesh twisting into new shapes and want to experience the thrill and excitement of experiencing everything in a new, exciting, more vibrant way. When changed, she felt so alive, so free, so spirited with such wonderful sensations.  She shuddered and held her hand out.  The golden hair on her arm and the rounded pad of her hand was an absolute sign that she'd soon change, want to or not.  She ran her hand down her body and felt wonderful sexual rush.  She hissed and quickly slid into an old t-shirt and some torn shorts.  If she fooled around, Eliza would be in the park with no support and that would not be good.

Vicki looked in the mirror.  She was reasonably happy with what she saw there.  She may not be beautiful but her features were pleasing and she knew how to use make up.  You'd look at her and never know she had any make up on, so subtle was her approach.  She stepped back and viewed her nude reflection in the mirror.  She pinched the skin on her tummy.  She smiled and nodded.  "Not bad at all," where her thoughts.  She turned to the side and smacked her ass.  "Good," she thought.  "Not rock hard, but firm, and I don't jiggle like jelly."  She faced the mirror and looked at her breasts.  She sighed and the sour expression on her face made it clear she was not happy with what she was seeing.  She leaned forward and moved her shoulders from side to side, watching her breast movement in the mirror.  She straightened up and pulled her stomach in and shoulders back.  She sighed.  "Guess it's time to start doing push ups again," she groaned.

As she dressed, she worried.  Rent was due, and as usual, she was short of cash.  She was not stone cold junkie, but a toot every now and then wasn't a bad idea, and it did help the figure.  Since the weird stuff had started, she'd been a lot more careful and business was way down.  If she'd seen Eliza, she'd have considered asking for a loan or maybe even tried get her to double with her.  When she was with Eliza, she did feel safe.  She tied her blouse at the midriff, opened another button and gave herself a thumbs up sign and headed into the night.

The sun was down and the full moon was making its presence felt, even to Eliza.  If she wasn't so nervous about it, she'd have been enjoying the tingles and body sensations she was getting.  Even though it was hot as hell out, she was dressed for a fight.  Her leather vest was a kevlar sandwich and her leather pants were heavy riding leathers.  She'd felt silly, but she was carrying a silver plated knife and her .380 was armed with hand loaded silver bullets.  That had cost more than she'd expected, and even though no questions were asked, the looks had been embarrassing.  Oh, she had felt silly, but money is a powerful argument, as is a pretty face and an imploring smile.  She was buckled up, strapped down and ready for bear . . . or was that dog?

The walk to the park, from her apartment, was interesting.  It was through some of the rougher areas.  She'd often gotten wolf whistles and sometimes a man would even walk with her and try to pick her up, but she never been touched or harmed.  She secretly wondered how bad this area of town really was.

Eliza was tense and alert.  Even though she was comfortable in this supposedly bad area, she realized that under the current circumstances, nowhere was safe for her.  "Might as well have a damn target painted on my back," she muttered sourly.  As she approached an alley, her sense of danger and alarm stopped her dead in her tracks.  There was danger, tremendous danger, but it was not for her.  She focused and she saw it in her mind.  She saw Vicki. Eliza flashed into the alley and struck with full fury.

It was like was like running into a mountain.  She bit, she clawed and she really got attention when she slashed with the silver plated blade.  An eerie howl echoed through manmade canyons, making her blood run cold.  She was hit in the chest and felt herself flying backwards.  She landed hard and skidded on her back.  "Run, Vicki!" she screamed.  She flickered and was between Vicki and the thing.  A deadly dance began.  She was more than aware of the danger of the jaws and she was careful to dodge the occasional attempted grab and she slashed and parried claw strikes.  The short stubby claws were not as dangerous as Christa's but the powerful jaws were immense in comparison.

She danced, bobbed and weaved, drawing the creature away from Vicki.  Vicki's eyes were big, but as far as Eliza could tell, she was unharmed.  Suddenly Vicki sprinted by the creature and passed Eliza, clearing the alley like an Olympic champion.  The creature lunged at her, fangs leading and Eliza stepped in and slashed with the knife and felt the jaws close on her shoulder and neck, just as Christa had grabbed her.  These jaws were so much bigger and the force was not muted.  She heard bones crack and she was unable to move for a fang strike.  She screamed in pain and terror and struck wildy and futilely with the silver knife and the beast shook its head from side to side, trying to break her body and end her life.

An ear piercing screech and an impact and she was free of the crushing jaws.  She raised to her hands and knees and vomited blood.  Darkness claimed her as he collapsed onto the concrete of the filthy alley.

Pain crashed through her body and she gagged and managed to breathe.  The screeching and growling was unbearably loud, and she managed to stagger to her feet and focus on what was happening.  She saw a fur ball.  The great golden cat must be Christa.  Eliza had never really seen her in full moon transformation and she was awesome.  As awesome as she was, the huge were-creature was obviously stronger than she, but her speed and claws were somewhat equalizing the fight.

Eliza heard a sickening crunch and a catlike scream of agony.  Christa was in the same grip that had nearly killed her.  The shaking had begun and Christa was vainly trying to rake with her hind claws but the shaking was too violent.  Eliza, in panic, grabbed for her gun.  Her arm moved and she heard bones grating and pain shot through her body.  Using both hands, she was able to free the gun from where it had been concealed, on the inside of the thigh in her riding leathers.  Aiming with the left hand, she fired low, fearing that she'd hit Christa with all the movement and her uncertain aim.

The explosion was deafening in the closed alley but the creature screamed, dropping Christa, staggering and grasping at its crotch and moaning.  It lunged at her and the next shot she fired went wild.  Fangs closed on the hand holding the gun, and again, she heard and felt bones break.  Her body had repaired some of the damage done to her right arm and she was using her razor sharp claws to rake the slathering beast's eyes.  Sensei had never taught her how to free herself from a wolf's jaws.  Nearing panic, she struck at the muzzle that was causing her so much pain with her fangs.  She grasped and bit with her full strength.  Again bones cracked.  She stared into the hate filled eyes and saw the pain as she tasted the blood.  She projected her total rage at those evil eyes.  She snarled and hissed and bit harder feeling the fangs penetrate cartilage.  She seemed to be looking down at the creature. With her right hand, she grasped the bottom jaw and pried her hand out of the maw.  Using both hands she sank her claws into the upper torso and lifting the beast from the ground, tore at its face with her fangs.

It kicked and screamed and she tore pieces of flesh and fur from its body and spit it to the ground.  Pulling it close to her, she grasped its throat with her fangs and bit as hard as she could.  She projected, pain, she projected fear, and a choking, coughing howl that was suddenly cut short was the reward.  She chewed and spit, chewed and spit.  She couldn't bring herself to swallow.  The taste was just too foul.  The stench of the thing was enough to gag a maggot and the taste was worse.

"Eliza!  Eliza!"  She heard her name being called.  "Eliza, let go, we have to get out of here.  The police are coming."  She opened her mouth, releasing the thing and stared at Christa uncomprehendingly.  She felt herself being scooped into strong soft arms and then all was black.

It smelled good.  That surprised her.  She took a sip as she was told to and it tastes good.  "Um," she grunted, "that's really good."  She took another sip of the tea and closed her eyes.  Then she remembered.  Her eyes flew open and she sat bolt upright and looked around, not knowing whether to fight, run, or what.

Christa sat next to her and put her arm around her.  "It's ok.  You know, you are hell on wheels when you get going."

Eliza shook her head.  "I wasn't ready for that.  I had no idea what I was getting into."

Christa hugged her.  "Hey, you did ok.  You saved my ass and I only returned the favor."

Eliza jerked.  "Oh my god!  Vicki! That's why I was in that alley.  Vicki!  Hand me your phone, please hand me your phone!"

The phone call was answered by a very upset Vicki who had called the cops.  She was absolutely relieved that Eliza was ok and thanked her profusely for saving her again.  She kept referring to her attacker as the mugger and Eliza realized that her mind had totally blocked the nature of the encounter.  Either that or she really didn't see what she was facing.  As they were talking, Jimmy came in and Eliza could tell that she was almost calm and felt secure now that Jimmy as there.  From what she could overhear, she knew what Vicki and Jimmy were going to be doing.  She was so relieved that she giggled, much to Christa's pleased surprise.

As she hung up the phone, Christa commented, "You are one tough little lady, you know that?"  As Eliza opened her mouth, Christa held up her hand.  "No, you don't need to say it, and if your body is small you have the biggest heart in town!"  She leaned forward and hugged Eliza so tight, Eliza squeaked in mock dismay.

Christa jumped up and went into the kitchen.  "You know, " she called, " The night still has some hours left.  Seems a shame to waste them."

"You have got to be kidding me," Eliza replied in shock.  "I am not leaving this nice soft couch!"

Christa walked into the room carrying a large bottle of plum brandy, grinning.  "Who said we should go out?" she asked with a coy smile.  She sat the bottle down, lit a scented candle and turned off the lights.  "I'd say we have a little R&R coming to us, wouldn't you?"

Eliza twisted the cork out of the brandy and smelled it.  She put the bottle to her lips and took three good swallows.  "Ah," she exhaled.  "I know that's unlady like, but I really needed that, and yes, we sure do!"

Christa sat next to her and did the same.  "Wow We!  That stuff has some bite!"  She chuckled. "You have some bite too.  If you show me yours, I'll show you mine," she said skinning back her lips and letting small, semi-formed fangs be seen.

"Aw, "Eliza said, "aren't they cute!"  She reached forward and tickled them.  Then she reached behind Christa's head and pulled her down to her neck.  "Are they sharp?" she whispered, huskily.