Yes, Sofia had gone home, not only to act out the lie she had told her friend but also because she had to take Kas out. When she arrived she found her mother dressed in her uniform as was customary every full moon. As usual, she had her crossbow and dagger hanging from her belt, as well as other items Sofia preferred not to think about. As she walked past her, Sofia didn’t make the slightest pretense of hiding the contempt she felt for her trade. That contempt was something she had taught her by force, by showing her human being’s most disgusting and repugnant face; the one that fed on hatred and created destruction in its wake.

“Aren't you going out today?” asked the woman, as cold and impassive as ever.

“Later,” said Sophia, kneeling down to hug Kas, who had come to greet her.

“Have you located him yet?”

“No. I'm working on it.”

“You're an efficient tracker. What's taking you so long?”

“I have other obligations. I have to study and I have to prepare for the Civil Guard exams. I can't devote as much time to it as I'd like to,” Sofia explained, still stroking Kas.

“Undoubtedly this new friend of yours has nothing to do with your distractions,” said the woman as if it was nothing to do with her, but her voice’s tone was enough to awaken a burning rage in Sofia.

“Don't you dare go near him!” she roared, jumping to her feet and curling her lip to show her teeth, including four small and somewhat sharp fangs, not unlike those many humans had.

The woman held the young girl's burning gaze with her own, icy, impassive, absolutely devoid of any recognizable emotion beyond the steely, unwavering determination to do what she did. Although Sofia was no longer a child and her meter seventy was no small height, the woman, accustomed to fighting beings armed with powerful claws and fangs, did not seem at all intimidated by a pup who had not even gone through her first change.

“Why would you think I have any interest in a mere human? What do you think I would get out of that boy that I could sell to my clients?”

The tension on the young woman's lips eased as she realized her mother's words were true. The woman was a true monster, as cold as a glacier and as efficient and lethal as a goshawk, but her targets had always been cinanthropes. She never attacked a human, not even by accident. Abruptly Sofia looked away and grabbed Kas's leash. Helena, as if that warning from a potential weredog had been nothing more than background noise, resumed her task of getting ready to go out. She took the balaclava and put it on, putting great care in hiding her golden curls within the fabric. Without another word, and hoping she was gone when she returned from her walk with her dog, Sofia went out.

As she walked with the Dobermann down a practically deserted street, Sofia stared distractedly at the nearby houses. Smoke emanated from the chimneys, and the warm, artificial lights flowed out of the windows. It was cold and people were already at home, eating dinner, resting and getting ready for next day. There was something else in Sofia’s warning, in the fear that prompted her to give in to her innate behaviors, and it was something Helena knew as well. Sofia was afraid that Angel's story would repeat itself. She was afraid that he wasn't human either, and that he would fall at the hands of a hunter.

“She would have noticed, she would have told me,” she told Kas, who just wiggled his stump.

After the walk Sofia left Kas in her room and hurried to the forest. The moon was almost up, something she knew because the energy in her chest began to stir and push against her ribs. As always it was a slightly more intense sensation than on any other day, but it didn't seem that it would be enough to drive the change. Still she ran, using her nocturnal predator's eyes to be able to move easily through that world colored in a pale shade of blue and gray. She ran, leaving behind the lower forest area, the one she knew best. She ran, moving deeper into the woodland’s depths, where the smells were becoming unfamiliar and the landscape was strange to her. She ran until she felt the moon rise and then stopped to let its light wash over her skin.

The energy in her chest responded. Threads began to slide through her veins, and the caress of the silver rays against her skin tingled softly. With her gaze fixed on the sky above, on the unquestioned queen of the night, Sofia recalled the conversation she had had with her friend that evening. The idea of changing, of becoming a wild wolf so that she could become one with nature and disappear had seemed appealing to her in her darkest moments, when she had felt lost. Right now she no longer craved it so eagerly. She no longer had any reason to want to run away, to just disappear. Little by little she was rebuilding her life, and she no longer needed that escape route. That night it didn't happen either, and with a last kiss the moon continued its passage through the sky.

Sofia was not going to deny that she felt somewhat relieved. Things were changing, her life was changing and not necessarily for the worse. If everything went well in less than a year she would be starting her training at the Civil Guard academy in Baeza. She would leave her home and all that life full of secrets, lies and supernatural creatures behind. With a little luck she could start again, forge a normal life, a human life, although her blood would always be that of a cinanthrope. There were some who never changed, and it was possible that Sofia was one of the latter. In fact she wished she was, because now she had two very good friends she loved dearly, and she didn't want there to be any more secrets and lies between them.

A rustle in the undergrowth behind her made her turn around sharply, with her heart pounding and her breathing quickening. Intently, she focused on her surroundings, trying to make out something in the darkness, a darkness she could pierce with her privileged sight. The forest was quite dense, with thick undergrowth, rocks and a wall of towering trees that stretched as far as the eye could see. Even though she was able to see clearly, Sofia could not tell what was hiding in the vegetation. However, something caught her attention, something that had gotten caught on the branches of a bush. Trying to make as little noise as possible, she walked over to it and picked it up. It was a tuft of white undercoat that gave off a familiar forest scent, as if the creature was a spirit born from the very roots of the pine trees.

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“You have seen me. How can I make you understand that I mean you no harm, that I am only trying to help you?” She said aloud, aware that he could hear her.

She heard another rustle of movement through the vegetation, right behind her. The creature had circled her like a predator would. Biting her lip, Sofia turned around and tried to make out something among the plants. Again she saw nothing but a dense forest with a thick foliage of ferns and bushes where anything could hide. However, she was certain of one thing, that cinanthrope was capable of moving very stealthily. The noise she had heard had been deliberate. The creature was not trying to ambush her, he was giving away his location. He wasn’t letting himself be seen, but the simple fact of making his presence known meant that he was giving her the benefit of the doubt. Sofia took that one opportunity, she didn't think she would have another.

“They're trying to hunt you down. Even though you've moved further into the forest they know you're around here and they won't stop until they kill you. You have to go far away.”

For a moment she heard absolutely nothing, not even the sigh of a breath. Sofia wondered if the cinanthrope was still there, or if he had used the cover offered by the vegetation to leave without her noticing. Not like she could blame him if he had. Supernatural hunters had made them elusive, especially on nights when the moon was full. They had to be if they wanted to survive.

“I don't want you to get killed,” she said in a quieter voice that was almost a whimper.

Then she saw it, a slight movement among the vegetation, just enough for the silver rays to reflect in the creature's pupils, making them glow. Under any other circumstances that would have been a terrifying sight, but Sofia knew the cinanthrope was not going to do her any harm. Attacks on people did happen, but they were very, very rare and almost always in self-defense. Cases of cinanthropes preying on humans to devour them were simply unthinkable. Despite that, her mother hunted them, firstly under the excuse of their unproven dangerousness, and secondly because fur, fangs and claws fetched a high price on the black market.

“Man, we're in the middle of nowhere and it's freezing cold. Are you sure it's this way?” said a voice that was approaching their way, along with the sound of two pairs of boots stepping on the frosted ground.

“I heard some howling in this area today when I was setting the traps. The fucking beast is around here,” said a second voice.

Sofia recognized them instantly. They were Luis and Rodrigo, the Zipi and Zape twins, as Sara called them. They were always together and were generally harmless and unproblematic, although it seemed that lately they had taken to doing evil. Considering how trigger happy Rodrigo was, she decided it was better if she remained unnoticed and ran into the undergrowth to hide.

“Look, man, I've had it with the fucking dog. If it's so far away from the meadows, why do we have to worry about it anymore?”

“Tchis! Didn't you hear something over there?” said Rodrigo in a quieter voice.

“Now that you mention it, I thought I saw something move.”

The click of the rifle's bolt sent a shiver down her spine. Scared, she looked in the weredog’s direction, and to her surprise their eyes met through undergrowth. There was no malice in that creature. Only the most absolute incomprehension of why they were chasing him when he had already moved away from the humans. Why they wanted to eliminate him as if he were vermin. Why his life was worth less than that of a lamb that would have ended up on some plate anyway.

Suddenly the creature broke into a run, at which point Sofia was able to make out some details through the vegetation. His fur was completely snow-white, and as thick as a lion's mane. His ears were small and straight, his muzzle shorter than a wolf's, and his dense tail curled over his back. They were the origin of werewolf myths, but this was not a wolf but a dog, an anthropomorphic Samoyed who was able to walk on two or four legs as he pleased, with prehensile-fingered hands and as intelligent as any human. To the untrained eye he would simply look like a large dog, the size of a mastiff. To hers, the telltale features were unmistakable.

To Sofia's horror the cinanthrope was not fleeing into the depths of the forest. No, he was running in the direction of the two hunters, and barked to get their attention. She saw him use the vegetation to his advantage, putting trees, bushes and rocks between him and the hunters, and showing himself just enough to keep the two boys' attention. The moonlight made the white of his fur stand out, and even those two blinded humans would have no trouble seeing him, which made that stunt very dangerous. As he ran away, he turned to her for a second, and in his gaze she thought she caught an apology.

“Look! There he is!” Rodrigo shouted.

There was a detonation, and the crackle of a trunk wounded by a bullet that had penetrated its tough hide. The cinanthrope barked again and ran, pounding the ground with his paws in such a way that he could be heard dozens of meters away. He was doing it on purpose. He was able to move stealthily. If he was not doing it, it was because he did not want to. Two pairs of boots started running after the creature and the footsteps of the three of them faded into the night.

Silence settled again in the forest, broken by the occasional echo of a faraway shot. Sofia was still hiding in the undergrowth, trembling like a newborn puppy and panting as heavily as if she was under the scorching summer heat. She still didn't know if the anxiety she felt was because of the two hunters, because the cinanthrope had approached her, or because of what he had just done. She didn't know because she didn't quite believe it had happened.

“You... have protected me.”

Sofia looked at the place the weredog had been standing on before leaving, and bit her lip. A sudden doubt began to bloom in her mind.