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PROLOGUE

I have to

I've been fighting it all night I' the first pangs of labor and deciding it's an inconvenient tiive birth Nature wins out It always does

It's nearly two AM, too late for this foolishness and I needto meet a deadline have left me exhausted It doesn't matter Patches of skin behind in to burn My heart beats so fast I have to gulp air I clenchthe sensations to stop but they don't

Philip is sleeping besideout in thewith a torrent of la late toin to throb The burning sensation in ht ball in ut and threatens to explode

I've got to get out of here--I don't have a lot of time left

Philip doesn't stir when I slip fro tucked underneathdrawers and closets I pick up le, ease open the door, and creep into the hallway

Everything's quiet The lights seem dimmed, as if overpowered by the emptiness When I push the elevator button, it creaks out a coodly an hour The first floor and lobby are equally empty People who can afford the rent this close to don Toronto are comfortably asleep by this time

My legs itch as well as hurt and I curlstops It doesn't I look down at the car keys inhas crystallized into a sharp burn Keys infor a quiet place to Change As I walk, I e to my arms and the back of le, I know I have walked as far as I can so I search for an alley The first one I find has been clai-screen TV box The next alley is empty I hurry to the end and undress quickly behind a barricade of trash bins, hide the clothes under an old newspaper Then I start the Change

My skin stretches The sensation deepens and I try to block the pain Pain What a trivial word--agony is better One doesn't call the sensation of being flayed alive "painful" I inhale deeply and focus round before I'm doubled over and forced down It's never easy--perhaps I'ht, I try to anticipate each phase and move s straight, feet and hands flexed, and back arched My leg asp and strain to relax Sweat breaks out, pouring off me in streams, but the muscles finally relent and untwist themselves Next comes the ten seconds of hell that used to ain Then it's over

Changed

I stretch and blink When I look around, the world has mutated to an array of colors unknown to the hus that reens and reds I lift e, my already keen senses sharpen eventomatoes and - pot ether in an odor so overwhelh and shake ments of my reflection in a dented trash can My eyes stare back at s flash in the metal

I am a wolf, a 130-pound ith pale blond fur The only part of ence and a si but human

I look around, inhaling the scents of the city again I'm nervous here It's too close, too confined; it reeks of human spoor I , a large mixed breed, perhaps a husky and yellow Labradorloose I head for the back of the laneway and seek a path through the underbelly of the city

My brain is dulled, disoriented not by s I can't get o down turns out to be the one I'd encountered in human form, the one with the two ing the reers as if he can stretch it large enough to cover hiht He looks up and sees me His eyes widen He starts to shrink back, then stops hi, the erated tones people use with infants and animals If I concentrated, I could make out the words, but there's no point I knohat he's saying, soy," repeated over and over in a variety of inflections His hands are outstretched, pal the vocal Stay back--nice doggy--stay back And people wonder why animals don't understand them

I can s froed deer driven to the fringe of the herd, priry, he'd sry yet, so I don't have to deal with the temptation, the conflict, the revulsion I snort, condensation tru from my nostrils, then turn and lope back up the alley

Ahead is a Vietnamese restaurant The smell of food is e On a rear addition, an exhaust fan turns slowly, clicking with each revolution as one blade catches theBelow the fan ais open Faded sunflower-print curtains billow out in the night breeze I can hear people inside, a roo in sleep I want to see them I want to stick my muzzle in the openand look inside A olf can have a lot of fun with a roomful of unprotected people

I start to creep forward but a sudden crackle and hiss stops me The hiss softens, then is drowned out by a man's voice, sharp, his words snapped off like icicles I turnfor the source He's farther down the street I abandon the restaurant and go to him We are curious by nature

He's standing in a three-car parking lot wedged at the end of a narrow passage between buildings He holds a walkie-talkie to his ear and leans one elbow against a brick wall, casual but not resting His shoulders are relaxed His gaze goes nowhere He is confident in his place, that he has a right to be here and little to fear fro fro, jabs a button, and slams the walkie-talkie into its holster His eyes scan the parking lot once, taking inventory and seeing nothing requiring his attention Then he heads deeper into the alleyI follow

My nails click against the pave around trash bags and eh He hears the steady clicking behind him and stops I duck behind a Dumpster, peer around the corner He turns and squints into the darkness After a second he starts forward I let hiet a few steps away, then resume the pursuit This ti for cover He lets out a --a flash of ht hand slips to his gun, caressing the h He hesitates, then looks up and down the alley, realizing he is alone and uncertain what to do about it He , quicker this time

As he walks, his eyes flick fro the border of alarh toout of control He's safe quarry for a stalking game He won't run I can suppresshi hi him Yet if he runs, I won't be able to stop ht If he runs, I will chase If I chase, either he'll kill me or I'll kill him