The first thing Kate was aware of was the gentle breeze that was filtering through the forest, rustling the leaves and sending a cold chill over her body. Mornings weren't usually this cold. Or..Wet? She blinked her eyes open groggily, becoming increasingly more aware of some type of rather thick liquid that was pooled around her. The bright morning sun made her squint her eyes and she lifted her hand to block it out of her view. As she did, there was a glimmer of scarlet on her hand, that part pooled into a small drop and landed on her face.

She sat up with a jolt as she realized that she wasn't in her usual cage. The night prior had been the full moon and if she had woken up outside, that meant her wolf half must have broken out of its prison. Her gaze flickered to what she now realized was blood around her naked body and paled. Not only had she escaped, but she had also killed. Unfortunately it was just some poor forest creature that had been her victim either.

A crying gasp escaped her lips as her dark gaze fell upon the bloodied and shredded body of what appeared to be a man. His middle had been completely torn up and his face had large claw marks through it making it damn near impossible to tell his age or who he was. Kate felt herself struggling to catch her breath as she stared at the horrid scene. She was a detective, she was used to seeing brutal crimes and murders but it was far more different now that she was the one who had caused it.

Amidst her panic, she also began to notice her bloody hands starting to grow fur. "Shit.. shit.. shit.." she breathed. Her current state was causing her to begin to shift back into her wolf form, something she was not pleased with. Afraid she might not be able to get herself back under control in time, Kate bolted from the gruesome scene.

Even in her current state, she was able to locate her underground hideout without issue. Once she reached it, she dove into her cage and curled up at the back corner as she tried to process what happened. Looking around, her cage still seemed fully intact, which only further made her wonder if she had not locked it properly the night before. Kate shook her head and tried to meditate on getting her breathing even. It was a trick she had discovered during her first year as a werewolf. It helped keep both her emotions in check as well as kept her from turning into the wolf when she didn't want to.

After some time passed—she couldn't keep track of how long—she felt her panic die down enough for her to begin to think straight. Now away from her kill, she would have to figure out her next move. Kate slowly rose to her feet and stepped over to her supply bag, pulling out a canteen of water as well as the clothing she had packed. Carefully she washed off as much of the blood as she could. Knowing that she likely wouldn't be able to fully clean herself until she was back home, she focused on the parts that would be most visible to the public once she put on her clothes. Once she had used up her water, she slipped into her regular clothing and let out a shaky sigh.

Internally, she debated what to do with the body of the man the beast in her had mauled. Logically, hiding it would be her best bet. Kate was aware that it's discovery could cause a lot of trouble for herself. While he had clearly been mauled by a creature, someone might be able to recognize exactly what type of creature it was. Then it would turn into a hunt rather than case handled by detectives such as herself. That being said, it just felt overwhelmingly wrong to make this poor victim just disappear. Being a detective herself, she'd have to make sure his case remained one of disappearance rather than murder. And that was just going against everything she stood for.

But what choice do I have? Kathryn thought dryly. It's either me or him and he's already dead. Taking in a deep breath, she gathered her things and prepared herself for what would come next.

And then a shrill scream cut through the otherwise silent forest.

It seemed she wouldn't have a choice in the matter at all. Someone must have discovered the body. Kate cringed at the thought. It was time for a new plan. She poked her head out of the opening of her hideout, sweeping the area for any signs of people nearby. Not seeing anyone, she make a break for the shelter of the trees. Now her survival out of this situation would rely on her ability to sneak out of the forest and back to the comfort of her small home without being noticed.

His day had started just as any other. His son, six year old Wesley, cane barreling into his room at the crack of dawn to wake him up. The child had a particular love of jumping up and down on his father's bed until the man was fully awake. His child had been born out of wedlock but Charlie had never shunned him or followed social norms and loved him from arm's length. No, he'd been born out of love but not the type of love that made a marriage work. It had been for the best, really, that he and Wesley's mother, Sadie, hadn't tied the knot.
They remained good friends though, often able to confide in each other with no fear of judgement. Charlie cracked open his eyes and looked at the little boy. His light hair and eyes came from Charlie himself; reddish-blond hair and light blue-green eyes. That alone had confirmed that he was the boy's father. His son had the rounded features of his mother and the same mischievous grin.

"Papa!" Wesley cheered, seeing that he'd succeeded in waking the man. "Mama says that breakfast is almost ready." Because of the nature of werewolves and the comfort they gained from pack life, they lived communally. Hatchetfield was small but they'd carved out a living by farming wheat and using it for their own breads, pies and cakes. Charlie was a damn good baker but Sadie made a mean mincemeat pie.

"Okay, Wes. I'm up." Charlie said, sitting up in bed. His son was already dressed for the day, no doubt his mother's doing. The pack lived on Charlie's small farm just outside of Hatchetfield. There was a large farm house and a few small cabins strewn about the property. Most of the pack lived in the farmhouse but a few with families of their own occupied the cabins. They still ate meals together despite their living quarters. Sadie was usually in charge of cooking breakfast and dinner. Lunch duties were passed off to whoever was around while Sadie was helping in the bakery.

He greeted his pack once he was dressed for the day and downstairs. Arthur, his second-in-command and annoying adopted brother, waved. Half a piece of fresh bread smothered in jam was hanging out of his mouth. Sadie swatted the back of Arthur's head and scolded him for his poor table manners. Arthur held the back of his head and whined. "Oh hush up. I didn't hit you that hard." Sadie rolled her eyes as she helped Wes into his chair.

"Yes you did. Now I'm going to go loony." Arthur said before shoving some fried ham into his mouth once he'd swallowed his bread.

Their breakfast had been pleasant, as it usually was, but once a majority of the pack was done and they'd gone to work in the fields or the bakery in town, there came a knock at the door and the frantic, near incoherent shouting of a woman. Charlie opened the door to see a woman with wide fright filled eyes. "There's a monster!" She cried, pointing back towards the forest. Charlie recognized her from town and assumed that she must have been in the forest gathering up herbs or something similar when she'd come across…whatever she was babbling about.

"Calm down, miss. Tell me what you saw." They had a few unstable werewolves but none had gone out by themselves to the forest recently, even last night. They'd all roamed on the farm rather than in the forest because of the children. The woman described finding a body, mutilated beyond recognition. Hatchetfield was on the small side and most people knew each other but she said that there was nothing familiar about the man, even in his current state.

"S-something ripped out his innards...scratched his face and the earth...oh Heavens there's a monster!" Charlie paled. Her description fit what was typical of a werewolf killing but his pack was innocent. That left only one option and it wasn't a good one. He called for Sophia, one of his calmer werewolves, and told her to escort the woman back into town. Charlie was going to have a look at the scene to determine if it really was a werewolf.

"I'm coming." The sound of Sadie's voice caught his attention and he turned back to look at her. She was already pulling a shawl over her shoulders. "You forgot that I was a hunter, once." Her lips quirked into a small smile. She'd been raised to hunt the very things that she'd become. Her parents had taught her every trick to tracking the beasts and learning their ways of killing.

"What about Wes?"

"Arthur has him and the other kids. They're going to the bakery." She said, looking up at him. "Please, Charlie, let me help." Sadie pat his chest before walking by him, not really giving him the option to say no. With a sigh he stripped down and allowed the transformation to take hold. He was a lighter colored wolf, being more red tones than anything else. Blue-green gave way to gold and his bones snapped and shifted into place. Where the tall man once stood was now an even taller beast. "Come along, Charlie. We'll need your nose." He followed along behind Sadie, eventually scooping the woman up so they'd move faster.

When they found the kill both confirmed that it was a werewolf. "We'll need to hide this." Sadie said, toeing the deadman with her foot. "We should go stop that woman as well. Once word gets out that a werewolf, or even suspected werewolf, is around it'll only be a matter of time before the hunters come." Their pack wouldn't be safe then. Wesley was in danger, even though he was fully human despite being born of werewolves. They disposed of the body in an old hollowed log. It wouldn't be a permanent resting place but it was better than the open.

Charlie carried her again as they headed towards Hatchetfield. He returned to the crime scene to find any clues of who could have done this while Sadie did a bit of damage control.

She'd caught up to the woman, who was banging on the door of the detective's office, screaming and hollering about what she'd seen in the forest. Sadie was trying her best to silence her.

Ann groaned as someone hollered and banged on the front door. She had just gotten into the office a short while ago—usually Kate opened but her partner was late for some reason or another—and had been hoping to get a couple more peaceful minutes in. Unfortunately it seemed that morning would be busier than the detective had hoped. She slowly rose to her feet and sauntered over to the front door, opening it to find two women. One was screaming her head off about some terrible attack while the other was trying to get her to quiet down.

By now, the ruckus was already attracting the attention of other townsfolk. Ann glanced over at near passersbys that had slowed to a stop to eye the group, clearly trying to listen in on what was going on. Not wanting the situation to get out of hand, she stepped out and waved her hands to get the attention of the two women.

"Alright, alright calm down now. What the heck is going on here? What happened?" Ann asked, placing her hands on her hips as she glanced between the two other women.

The one that had been hollering and making a scene quickly stepped forward, looking pale and frantic. "T-There was an attack out in the forest!! Oh it was so horrible!" she wailed.

"An attack?" Ann prompted, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes! This poor man he-he had his innards ripped out and everything was scratched up.. It.. It had to be some sort of monster!" the woman whimpered. "No man or animal could have possibly done that!"

Ann let out a long sigh as this woman claimed it must have been some type of monster. Monsters were nothing but stories to scare children when they were misbehaving in her opinion. Of course, she knew some people actually took those stories quite seriously but having never seen any true proof for herself, she didn't believe in such things. She was just about to open her mouth to respond when a passing figure caught her eye.

"Hold on." she told the two and flagged down Kate. "Kathryn! I think we have a case to deal with!"

Kate had just left her home, managing to sneak out of the forest. She had washed up properly there, ridding herself completely of the blood that still stuck to her. The detective had just been on her way out to the office when she had heard the woman reciting what she had seen out in the woods. Realizing that the woman was reporting her crime, she had been tempted to make a bolt for it instead of going into work that day. Unfortunately, there was no way for her to avoid it as Ann spotted her. For now, she would just have to pretend to be as clueless as everyone else.

"Morning... What's going on here? What do you mean a case?" Kate asked putting on a calm demeanor as she trotted over to the other women. For a moment, her gaze lingered on the third woman. She didn't seem particularly panicked, unlike the one who had seen the body. The detective wondered if perhaps she was just someone the witness had grabbed for support, since she certainly didn't seem as upset.

When the other woman approached them, Sadie caught the scent of the forest and something that was unmistakably werewolf. It was veiled under the smell of lye soap but it was still there. She sized up the other woman, hunter background coming in to play. She tore her eyes away from the other woman, Kathryn, and looked back towards the panicked woman. "There were no monsters." She said. "I went to check with my friend. We have children on our farm and we want to keep them safe." Sadie remained calm, knowing that her anger could trigger a transformation. It helped to soothe the other woman as well, although it seemed to be rapidly backfiring. "There was no monster nor was there any human body. We searched. It was a deer."

"I'm not crazy! There really was a man with his f-face scratched off. H-his blood was everywhere ." The other woman began crying, hiding her face under her hands. Sadie felt horrible for pushing her towards that state but she needed to deflect this somehow.

"It was a deer, I seen it. They get away from hunters all the time and then the little creatures of the forest eat them." Sadie said gently. She laid a hand on the woman's shoulder, fully expecting her to brush her off. Instead she leaned into the touch and Sadie realized that the woman could barely call herself such. She looked to be fresh out of her girlhood. A youngster like her being so spooked made her maternal instincts kick in and she pulled her into an embrace despite being total strangers. Hopefully the women would take the girl's age into account. It'd only help Sadie's story more if they realized that the girl had probably never been in the forest alone before today. "I'll talk to you. Give you all the information on what I saw." Sadie's words were directed as Kathryn. There was a reason why she wanted to talk to her specifically.

"My friend is Charlie Rhodes. He owns the bakery. Should be there by now if you want to talk to him too."

---

He'd searched for a while, following the scent of stale blood mixed among the decaying undergrowth. It ended abruptly and he'd been forced to give up his search for now. He'd come back later with several others in the pack. Charlie had redressed at home and was headed towards the bakery. Sadie was probably there already since dealing with the woman wasn't a difficult task. To his surprise she wasn't there. Arthur confirmed that he hadn't seen her yet and Charlie wondered where she was at. It wasn't like her to be gone for a long time when there was work to be done.

"Papa!" Charlie opened his arms as his son ran towards him. He scooped the boy up and smiled.

"Let's go check town for your mother." He said, wanting to find Sadie quickly. They needed to plan their next move since the blabbering woman could spill enough to warrant a visit from the hunters. Wesley cheered as his father carried him in his arms. He was a little small for his age but he fit comfortably in the arms of most adults. Charlie remembered when Sadie had told him that she was with child. It hadn't come as a shock, not really. They'd lain together and had been foolish, and he'd had a feeling that just to spite them for their 'sin' God had given them a child. The day that Wesley had been born was one of the most exciting and terrifying days of his life. Thankfully he hadn't lost both of them during the birthing process. The first time he'd held Wes had been magical. Charlie was pretty sure the first time he'd seen Sadie hold their son he'd cried. Even if they weren't together, she was still his family.

Kathryn kept a straight face as she listened to the two women talk. What caught her off guard was that the older one claimed that it had just been a deer. The detective's eyes widened subtly, surprised by the claim and also confused by it. She knew what the scene had looked like when she had woken up that morning. There was no way it was a dead deer, so it lead her to wonder why this woman—a complete stranger—was covering up the murder. Lost in thought, Kathryn barely registered that she had begun to address her specifically.

Kate tried to ignore the feeling of Annabeth's gaze on her. Her partner was likely confused about why this woman wanted to speak with her alone and honestly, the detective was too. This stranger clearly knew something and that was quite worrisome for the lone wolf. It made her reluctant to go anywhere alone with this woman. However, curiosity outweighed her cautiousness.

"Alright. I'll speak to you and this friend of yours then." Kathryn said nodding her head in confirmation. She glanced at the crying girl and then turned to Annabeth. "Why don't you help her get home while I speak with them?"

Ann glanced between Kathryn and the strange woman before nodding her head. "Alright. I'll see you once you get back then." she sighed and placed an arm around the younger girl to lead her away from the other two.

Kate watched them for a moment before looking at the strange woman across from her. "Name's Kathryn Wells. Shall we walk and talk?" she asked, gesturing for her to lead the way to the bakery.

They'd walked for a while until Wesley spotted his mother speaking with three other women. He wiggled out of his father's grasp and ran at her once he was on his feet. "Mama!"

"Wes? Where's your--Charlie!"

Charlie looked startled for a moment at the tone of her voice. "We were just speaking about you." He didn't like the way that Sadie seemed a little too thrilled to have him there.

"Mama, papa and I came looking for you!" Wesley said, tugging at her skirts. She smiled down at the boy and picked him up, settling him on her hip.

"Oh...that was the little one..." The woman said, looking at Wesley with wide eyes. "I-I didn't mean to upset them." Her voice was quaking. Her apology quickly caught both Sadie and Charlie off guard.

"No, ma'am, it's fine. The children were gone by then." Charlie said, stepping into the conversation. He towered over the women, and he'd ducked a little to hide his true height. Charlie was always a little self-conscious about his height. He hoped that his son wouldn't grow to be as tall as he was. He watched the two women walk away, the arm of the more composed one around the young one's shoulders.

"She's pretty, mama." Wesley, being six, was still learning how to whisper so he wasn't very good at it yet. His words made both of his parents smile. Charlie looked at Kathryn and had to silently agree.
Sadie smiled at the boy in her arms, finding the shy way in which he hid his face away in the crook of her neck to be adorable. Often she wondered if people could tell that he was their son. He did look like a decent mix of his features and hers.

"Ah, forgive me. You've introduced yourself but I forgot my introductions." Sadie looked back at Kathryn. "My name is Sadie Rothschild, and this is my son, Wesley."

The little boy looked up at the sound of his name. "You forgot papa." A chubby fingers was pointed in Charlie's direction.

"And this is Charlie Rhodes. Now we don't have to go all the way to the bakery." Despite having the past six years to try to explain their situation, it was still a little awkward. Society frowned upon women like her. Unmarried and a mother. Her only saving grace was that Charlie wanted anything to do with Wesley. He was such a good father.

Charlie caught the scent of wolf and a few things fell into place in that moment. This was a wolf unaffiliated with their pack and a scent they'd all faintly caught around town before. "Giving a statement, Sadie?" He smiled at her. "About that deer, right?" Anytime there was a werewolf related kill the default was to claim it was a deer. It seemed to have worked well for them in the past to claim such.

Kathryn blinked as now as a child suddenly came charging up to the woman. She stood back as the newcomers spoke with each other and then the girl who Annabeth was leading away. Her gaze tracked her partner for a moment longer before suddenly shifting onto the young boy who was apparently named Wes as he attempted to whisper to his mother. The flattering words managed to crack a smile onto her lips, finding amusement in them despite still feeling tense about the situation.

She gave a small nod to Sadie as she introduced her and her child. As she went onto introduce Charlie, the detective subtly raised an eyebrow in mild confusion. She had figured that the tall man was her husband, seeing as how Wesley resembled them both. Now she was unsure of what the situation was between the two, she wondered what was between them. It was rather uncommon for women and men to have children without getting married and often looked down upon. Of course, being both a werewolf and a female detective, she wasn't one to judge others for something that, simply put,'wasn't normal'. Unwilling to pry into their private life, the detective merely offered a polite smile and dipped her head to Charlie.

"Well, I'm glad that saves us time then." she mused, focusing back to the matter at hand. As Charlie too brought up the deer, Kathryn's defenses went back up, reminded of why she needed to be wary of these strangers. "Right well, let's go into my office then. It'll be more comfortable to talk there I'm sure." she said, narrowing her eyes slightly at them before turning to lead the way inside.

This was a delicate subject and they needed to approach it carefully or else they'd end up with a bigger problem on their hands. They'd probably try to identify the man later and give him a proper burial. Charlie followed them into her office, ducking his head in order to get through the door frame without injury.
Once they were settled in, with Wesley sitting on his mother's lap instead of her hip, both looked at Kathryn.

"So how long have you been a wolf?" Now that they were in the small room with her, the smell of wolf became stronger. It had to have been her. Charlie leaned against the far wall, arms crossed over his chest. "I don't think you've been one all that long. Lone wolves tend to go crazy after their isolation. Can't figure pack from prey and attack everything." It was something that Sadie had told him. She'd dealt with lone wolves in the past, something that he hadn't done.

"Be gentle, Charlie. She is a lone wolf, judging by her scent being the only one here." Sadie scolded, her arms tightening slightly around the boy in her lap. "But do not worry, we are werewolves too."

"I'm not." Wesley pouted.

"In time my boy, in time." Charlie smiled at his son. Werewolves weren't born, they were made. Wesley was human. Sadie had been human, and Charlie had been human. "But back to the matter at hand. We seen the kill and we'll help you."

"Yes. If word gets out then we'll have hunters to deal with. A...persistent bunch bent on wiping werewolves out. They won't stop at just you." Sadie said, gesturing down to her son. He was in as much danger as anyone, despite not being a werewolf himself. For female werewolves, carrying a child was hard. They didn't change with their mother's moons. They stayed human. To compensate for this, any pregnant werewolf was locked away to protect the baby growing within her. "The man wasn't from town. We don't recognize his scent." Sadie passed her son to Charlie, who took the boy outside. He was the alpha but right now what the woman needed was someone with the experience of both worlds.

"That either means he's a stranger or he could even be a hunter. We all have markings." She said, bearing her wrist to the woman where her family's symbol had been branded into the tender flesh their. "I'm not with them anymore, in case you were wondering. But I know how they operate. We'll scan the forest and see if perhaps he'd been traveling along the road when he was pulled into the woods. If no sign is found then we'll assume he's a hunter."

She sighed, rubbing her temples. "And please, if you have loved ones we need to know. The pack can and will help protect them. If he was indeed a hunter they will most likely be targets." Taking out a werewolf's support meant they didn't have people to hide behind and could be dealt with easier.

Kate walked into her office and moved over to her desk. She hopped up on top of it, sitting with her hands resting on the edge as she waited for the others to get settled in. Even though the appearance of the child had lessened her suspicion of these strangers, she still remained on edge with their knowledge about the so called 'deer'. As Charlie finally spoke up, Kathryn gripped her desk. The man wasn't even accusing her, he spoke with the confidence of already knowing.

Growing defensive of herself, she curled her lip slightly, preparing to chide him for such a ridiculous accusation. However, before she could, Sadie spoke up. Her dark gaze flickered over to the woman as claimed they were all werewolves. A pack. she realized tensely. That didn't make the detective any more at ease though. In her experience, packs were violent, cruel groupings of wolves who had forgotten the human parts of them. It wasn't something she had ever been interested in getting involved in again.

For the moment, she remained silent as Sadie went on to talk about the possibility of her kill being a hunter. She had heard of them before and knew bits of what to be on the lookout for. However, she had no personal experience with them. As Sadie finally finished, Kate let out a sigh. "If you can help hide what happened to avoid attracting hunters for the good of all of us then fine. I'll help in whatever way I can. But that aside, I don't want anything more to do with this pack and I certainly don't want them around my family." Kate snorted.

"My family doesn't know about this.. part of me. And I certainly don't intend on ever letting them find out. I might be a lone wolf but I've been able to handle myself fine. Whatever screw up happened last night was not part of whatever your friend, Charlie, was saying." she waved her hand dismissively.

"Very well. We all have our own ways of handling things." Sadie said as she stood to her full height. She brushed her skirts free of wrinkles. "However, if you find yourself to be wrong, just stop by the bakery. We welcome anyone with open arms. Good luck out there." Sadie said before she left the office. It wasn't wise to try and make someone believe that they needed some form of help. The hunters would come if he was certainly their own and she knew if that happened then it wouldn't be just the hunters after Kathryn. She met back with Charlie, who was frowning. Sadie simply shrugged at him. "It happens. Don't let it get to you." She oat his arm as she walked by to collect their son.
Together the trio returned to the bakery. Wesley was allowed to play with the other children just out front. There were three other kids, with Wes being the youngest.

Inside they could hear Arthur barking orders on how to properly bake a loaf of bread. He was always a little animated, often times coming across as obnoxious. He was a good man though. He paused when he caught Sadie and Charlie giggling at him. "What?" He asked, brows furrowing.

"Calm down, it's just bread."

"It's our livelihood!"

Charlie sighed. Arthur did have a point. "Fine. Just don't tell at everyone. We don't have nearly enough people if you make everyone quit to work the fields instead." They shooed everyone out of the room, letting them get in an early break. "She's a lone wolf, seems to think that she's fine."

"She says that until she kills someone else. Ow! That's it, I've got a damaged brain!" Arthur rubbed the back of his head where Sadie had smacked him. Again. "But it's true. Even if she isn't so far gone at the moment she sounds unstable." Arthur had a valid point. They'd not really considered the idea of her being unstable in addition to being a lone wolf.

"So you're suggesting that we wait another month in order to see if she kills someone again?" Charlie didn't like that idea. It was dangerous and he didn't want anyone to get hurt.

"Yes. Will you please stop hitting me?!"

"Stop being an idiot then. The more people that are in danger the more we have to worry about the hunters. They will track any lead, no matter how faint. One disappearance is enough to get them intereste, two leads to an investigation." Sadie growled.

"But there haven't been murders before...at least ones not caused by our pack." Charlie pointed out. "Something changed for her. We need to figure out what it was and quickly. After work you and Sadie will head out to investigate. I will take the kids to pick up some supplies and we'll ready the pack just in case something else happens." His word was law. Arthur didn't want to go with Sadie (partially because it didn't matter what form she took, she'd still lash out at him when he was being dumb.)