The moon had not yet risen, it still had a couple of hours to go, but Sofia had put on her huntress uniform again and had gone into the forest. This time, however, she wasn’t trying to frighten the white cinanthrope, but Rodrigo. Considering how angry he had been that morning, she suspected that he was also going to go into the woods with the intention of shooting down his werewolf. Killing a cinanthrope was not easy, their intelligence was human and they had an extraordinary healing capacity, but it was not impossible either. A shot to the head or heart resulted in instant death, so healing was not an option. If the projectile lodged in their body and could not be removed, they would still die depending on whether it had hit a vital organ or ruptured a major artery. They were not immune to poisons, and silver was absolutely lethal to them. A silver bullet caused a very powerful anaphylactic shock that could kill them in a matter of thirty minutes. Even is the bullet was removed there was no guarantee that the allergic reaction would not be fatal.


    Rodrigo knew nothing about this, but he was a hunter and knew where he had to aim to bring prey down. The sensitive organs were precisely the heart and the lungs, and in both cases the hydrostatic shock of a rifle bullet intended for big game could kill a cinanthrope without too much trouble. Although proportionally to their size they were stronger and faster, they were still the size of a human, anda weapon like that was designed to shoot prey three times the average weight of a man. Sofia knew all this because her mother didn''t teach her how to shoot against a practice target, she introduced her to the hunting culture and she had shot many deer, roe deer, fallow deer and wild boar, all of them exquisite. It didn''t help that due to her predatory nature she enjoyed it, although she was not interested in trophies, she just wanted the meat.


    “I wonder what it would be like to hunt with him,” she wondered as she moved through the woods as quietly as possible.


    When she approached, she saw that it was a tuft of white undercoat, and it smelled of him. This wasn’t so weird, considering Dave had to be entering the spring shedding period, but there was something strange. Normally they lost fur because it got caught in the vegetation, but that tuft was stuck between two small rocks in a very visible area. On closer inspection she saw that one of the rocks had been moved a little. That was not a natural track, Dave himself had placed it there. Looking around she noticed a trail of canid footprints leading off into the depths of the forest. Next to it was another set of footprints; the soles of boots. Sofia shivered. Rodrigo was after the cinanthrope, and he was being led towards an ambush. Dave wasn’t dangerous, she knew that, but Rodrigo had pissed him off, and he was armed. Surely her friend was only trying to give him a good scare to drive him away, but that psychopath won’t have qualms about shooting, and a wounded, cornered cinanthrope could become very dangerous


    “


    After about fifteen minutes she slowed her pace and began to use the vegetation for concealment. She had just heard footsteps, and that meant she was close to the hunter. As quietly as her soft slippers would allow, she slipped through the undergrowth until she managed to find an angle from which she could see Rodrigo without being seen. As blind as any human, the boy moved through the forest using only the light of a very weak headlamp. He held his rifle in his hands, ready to fire. He walkedcautiously, keeping an eye on the tracks he was following, and on the surroundings. From the way he moved, in erratic circles, he seemed to have lost the trail. Sofia got ready herself. That was the ambush site.


    The warped tree shot up like a catapult. The wire hidden in the ground rose up, catching Rodrigo''s foot and lifting him about two meters. Seeing himself jerked from side to side, the boy let go of the rifle, which fell to the ground, but the trap was not set by any expert. It was a sloppy thing, and the snare did not close on his ankle, it just swung him around and tossed him onto a pile of ferns, which cushioned the impact. Dazed Rodrigo looked around, desperately searching for his rifle, but he was disoriented and his poor night vision was not helping. Sofia drew her dagger and prepared to spring into action. She didn''t think it would stop there. He had gone through a lot of trouble to set up the trap, and seemed more than willing to throw the hunter out.


    “


    The answer was not long in coming, but it did take her completely by surprise. The cinanthrope had climbed to the top of a tree, and dropped from it like a bird of prey. It was an imposing sight, as white as snow and as big as a mastiff. To mistake him for a common dog was absolutely impossible at that point. Rodrigo screamed as the creature landed about two meters from him, and Dave responded by standing as tall as he was. As a human, he was a meter eighty tall, but as a dog he stood on his toes, so he easily surpassed the meter ninety. Without any regard whatsoever, he threw something at the hunter, something he was carrying in one of his hands. The hunter covered himself, thinking he was being attacked, but when he looked around and grabbed one of those things, he saw what they were. The snares, all the snares he had placed hoping to catch the weredog. He had picked them all up to throw them at his face.


    Suddenly, Dave bent down and grabbed the hunter by the jacket, causing Rodrigo to yelp and thrash about. Sofia got ready to jump. She didn''t have to, all her friend did was get him up to his feet to look him very hard in the eyes, his tail very straight and a quiet growl rumbling in his throat. He didn''t even bare his fangs, which had to be something truly menacing. He merely looked at Rodrigo, who was way shorter than him, and growled slowly to let him know that he was very annoyed with his constant interference in his wild life.


    “


    The cinanthrope growled louder and stepped forward, making Rodrigo flinch in fear. Not wonder, since before him was a formidable beast who was much bigger and stronger than him, and had been capableof ambushing him. However, the creature gave him no respite. From the ground, he grabbed some of the traps he had thrown at him and placed them on the hunter''s hands. Then he pointed in the village’s direction with one of his fingers and growled again. He could not speak. Cinanthropes lost the ability to speak when they changed, but you didn''t have to be very smart to understand what he was trying to say.


    “


    The cinanthrope followed him with his gaze, and Sofia was able to see his face as he turned towhere she was. His expression was one of absolute annoyance, and no wonder. Rodrigo had not only filled the forest with traps, even trapping him on one occasion when he stepped on a foothold trap. The continuous incursions into the woods had forced Dave to adopt a low profile, which meant that he had had to change in some enclosed place, most likely his human home, or not change at all. Sofia still remembered the hard time he had during the months when he was forced to repress his nature, and how liberated he seemed while he rolled on the snow after changing. His anger was totally understandable, especially since all he wanted was to be left alone.


    Dave suddenly tensed and flicked his ears forward. He had noticed where Rodrigo was moving to. Bristling, he leapt forward, landing on all fours, and ran towards the rifle. The hunter also broke into a run in an attempt to reach his weapon before the animal did. Naturally, the weredog was faster. He stoodover the gun, and this time he bared his fangs and let out a hoarse, warning growl. Those four fangs were so terrifying that Rodrigo stopped abruptly, skidded and fell right underneath him. Dave could have done anything to him right then, but he merely snarled just a few centimeters from his face. That was his undoing. He was a pacifist, he didn''t want to hurt his classmate, he just wanted to scare him so he would leave him alone. The problem was that Rodrigo also saw through the bluff.


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    From his belt he drew a knife, one similar to Sofia''s dagger but made of steel instead of silver. Hunters used to carry them as it was a very useful tool. It was used both to cut weeds or anything that might have become entangled, and to start skinning downed prey. Rodrigo used it to stab the cinanthrope onhis side. The creature let out a yelp and staggered away from the hunter, clutching his side with one of his paws. Blood gushed from the wound, staining his white fur, but it took no more than a few seconds for it to close. It had been enough time for Rodrigo to pick up his rifle and aim at the unfortunate canid. The weredog, aware of his precarious situation, lowered his ears and whimpered.


    “


    The shot never came because Sofia stepped in, and she was not a pacifist. She didn''t want to send a message, she really knew how to threaten another until he pissed himself. The huntress emerged from the shadows, grabbed Rodrigo’s arm and pulled at it to divert the rifle’s barrel, while placing the dagger’s edge against his bare throat. This time she did not repress her instinctive impulses. She lowered her voice until it was no more than a dry, harsh whisper, practically unrecognizable thanks also to the balaclava, and growled menacingly against the hunter''s ear. Satisfied, she felt him tense up and begin to tremble.


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    When he saw her, the cinanthrope''s blue eyes widened like saucers. His gaze swept over her body, taking in her attire, and landed on the dagger she was still holding in her hand. A silver dagger, a metal that burned them at the mere touch, and would kill them in a matter of minutes. Dave laid back his ears and, whimpering, looked into her eyes. Sofia bit her lip, and had to blink several times to control the tears that were threatening to flow. She had already imagined this would happen, but she hadn''t thought seeing the disappointment in his gaze would hurt so much.


    “


    “I never killed anyone, I never got to that point in my training. I''m no saint, I did terrible things. I tracked down several cinanthropes and left them at my mother''s mercy, and you have no idea how much I regret what I did. When I learned the truth... when I realized that you are people, that you are harmless, that you are only being hunted because you are not human, I walked away from the guild and the hunt,” she hugged her knees and she cried even harder. “I understand that you are disappointed, and I would understand if you never wanted to speak to me again. I told you, I’m a monster...”


    She looked down at her hands, barely visible through the blur of her tears, and began to shake. She heard a deep sigh, and then the sound of footsteps on the ground, and Sofiashut her eyes tight, thinking he was walking away from her. That was just what she had feared would happen, that he would reject her when he knew the truth, but she had not imagined it would hurt so much. Suddenly his scent hit her nose, that masculine musk mixed with the smell of pine, and hairy hands gently wiped away her tears. Surprised, Sofia looked up to find him sitting in front of her, looking at her so lovingly that she shuddered. Unable to stop crying, she threw herself at him and hugged him tightly, and he held her close.


    “You''re my best friend, Dave. I don''t want to lose you...” she whimpered, her voice barely a whisper.


    She felt him tense, and his breathing quickened. It was only for a few seconds, for almost instantly the tension seemed to melt into a quiet whimper, and Dave hugged her tighter. Sofia felt his hands resting on her back, and his muzzle’s vibrissae tickled her as he nuzzled her neck. Then he shuddered in her arms, and the fur disappeared, leaving in its place human skin, covered in thick body hair, but human skin nonetheless. The hands that rested on her back were no longer clawed, and the damp truffle was now a nose breathing against her neck.


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    “Sorry, I didn''t know that happened...” She murmurred and looked away.


    “


    “I''ve suspected it for a long time. I''d seen your eyes glow in the dark, and that''s a trait only cinanthropes have, but I didn''t know if you had already changed. I knew it for sure the night you stepped on the foothold trap. When you stopped right in front of me I recognized your scent,” she said.


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    Their joy was interrupted by the sound of something approaching at full speed, something moving on all fours. Bristling, both Sofia and Dave raised their heads and sniffed the air. The scent that reached her was that of a person, a grown man, but not anyone she knew. She had no trouble deducing that it was another cinanthrope, because their scent was indistinguishable from that of a human being.


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    Dave responded by tensing even more and stared at the other weredog straight in the eyes. His fangs were bared and a low, menacing growl rumbled in his throat.


    “


    To Sofia''s surprise, the white cinanthrope stood even taller and his threat became clearer. His whole body, from his tail held high, his chest puffed out, his ears forward and his fangs visible, clearly indicated that he was accepting the challenge. This was no mere pup, this was a sub-adult that was beginning to seek his own independence and was questioning his godfather’s rules. The adult responded by changing again and dropping down on all fours to adopt an identical pose in response. The adult was as large as the younger dog, but neither seemed intimidated by the other. They studied each other as they growled, baring their fangs as a warning to the other that they would have no qualms about using them, their gazes fixed and their whole body tense.


    “I know you hate this whole situation, that you don''t understand why you have to hide if you haven''t done anything wrong, but that''s the way it is,” said the adult, changing back to the human form so he could talk to the pup. “Maybe someday it will change, but you won''t achieve it by threatening and scaring hunters. You''ll only achieve the opposite. You need to keep a low profile. If you find it so unbearable to change in a small area, go to another place and let go, hunt, sleep in the brush and behave like the dog you are if that makes you happy. You cinanthropes without humanity are complicated, I know, and I also know what a hard time you have when you don''t follow your nature, but you have to be smarter, stay away from people and not let yourself be seen. If you want to continue living among humans you will have to accept the rules of the human world.”