After Dale left, I didn't do much work. I tried to find any mention of Lazar both in the police system and on the Internet. Not that I knew how to spell his name, but I was still amazed that I didn't find a single mention of him… As if he didn't even exist. The only thing I managed to find was the legend of La Bête du Gévaudan, the Beast of Gevaudan, from the south of France. I really hoped it had nothing to do with him, but the more I read about it, the more convinced I was that some werewolf was to blame.

When my shift finally ended, Simon offered to take me home, but I refused. I didn't want to go with him. So Simon gloomily walked over to his car. I wandered through the city, not feeling like going home yet. Dale was surely waiting for me there. After our earlier conversation, however, I needed a moment alone to think. Now I knew Lazar's name and appearance, and yet I was no closer to finding him. The stupid badge was completely useless to me now… I could hardly begin a search on him for no reason.

What was I going to do when I found him anyway? Could I beat him? The Beast against the Demon… Even with Dale’s help, I wasn’t sure. We needed a plan. A damn good one at that. However, every time I tried to come up with one, I always got stuck on the first step; Finding the Demon. Dale might know more.

I wasn’t too surprised when I found myself in the forest. I didn't feel anything here though… Dale’s words played over in my mind. We are the children of the Forest. The Forest welcomes you... Now that I was standing here, it didn't feel like it... The wind was playing with my hair, but it was just the wind, the forest was just a forest. Beautiful and loud with life, full of smells and light. But it was still an ordinary forest.

I found myself simply wandering aimlessly, my mind going too fast for me even to catch a single thought. It wasn’t until the Beast inside me started to pace nervously that I noticed the sun has set. I realized I was terribly hungry.

"Well, there you are. Where have you been all day?” I turned to see Dale leaning against a tree behind me. His hat was gone and so were his boots. He wore only a gray t-shirt and black sweatpants.

"Why are you barefoot?" I frowned at his bare feet. "And where did your hat go?"

"I don't want to destroy it during the shift." He shrugged and headed somewhere. "Come on, there are a few things I'd like to tell you."

The Beast inside me growled at the command, but I shook my head and followed. "You have shifted four times, correct?" he asked without looking at me. I nodded and he continued even though I doubted he saw me. "That means you're still a Pup."

"A pup?" I frowned at his back and sped up to keep up.

"Yeah, that's what we call wolves that have shifted less than ten times," he explained. "After ten shifts, the balance between you and your wolf will stabilize and it will be easier to control and use the wolf's abilities in the human body. You are still looking for that balance, so during the day man predominates, and at night wolf predominates. It's almost impossible for you to influence your wolf's behavior, so you couldn't stop him from taking me home.” He grinned at me.

"And why did he do that anyway?” I would not expect the Beast to be so hell-bent on taking another wolf into our house. Weren’t we supposed to be territorial? Dale stopped and a heavy sigh escaped him.

"Alright, fine... How do I explain this…" he muttered to himself, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Your wolf… Well…" he began, but then shook his head frowning, and took a deep breath. "The whole world of wolves revolves around dominance," he said. "When there were still enough of us, we used to live in packs which were led by the strongest - the most dominant wolves. We fought for every position until we were beaten by someone stronger. It might sound horrible, but it was necessary to build trust. If someone is stronger our wolves believe they can protect us. This trust breeds loyalty which is the most important rule of the werewolf world. When we submit to a wolf, we follow them, respect them, and watch their back until death or until they go insane.”

"And you submitted to me?" I guessed. It made sense to me… It would explain why my wolf howled Mine! Mine! Mine! every time we saw Dale.

"You're stronger than me, more dominant." Was it just me or did he seem almost flustered? "I'm yours. You're my Alpha and I belong to you." I stared at him, my body suddenly forgetting how to breathe. Alpha… Damn, I kind of liked that word. I could practically feel the Beast inside me grinning arrogantly.

"So what does that mean exactly? Can I boss you around however I please?” I grinned jokingly. He couldn’t actually mean all this? I liked the word, but it also brought on a weird sense of responsibility that I didn't like so much.

"Theoretically." Dale grinned. "But I don't promise to always listen." He winked at me and went deeper into the forest.

"Then what's the point of the title?" I snorted unimpressed.

"It's not just a title." He frowned, and gold poured into his eyes, paralyzing me for a moment. He seemed to want to start a lecture, but in the end, he just shook his head. "It doesn't matter. You're still a puppy, and two wolves don't form a pack anyway." He shrugged and ran his fingers through his golden hair. "To answer your question. Your wolf was lonely, and I voluntarily gave in to him. It was quite stupid of me to be completely honest.” He smiled at me. "Your wolf just didn't want to give me up. He wanted to take me to his territory and make sure I was safe, that I would stay with him - with you."

"That's weird." I grimaced a little, and Dale rolled his eyes at me. I thought I heard him mumble 'stupid pup' but I wasn't sure. After a while, Dale finally stopped at a clearing, where he already had a backpack with some spare clothes and two water bottles.