So! After posting that I had an idea for a Werewolf!Anna AU on Tumblr and receiving an enthused, positive response, here you all are! First chapter might be a bit boring, but we all got to start somewhere, right?

Please enjoy!

.:Still of the Night:.

Chapter I

Never in a million years could Elsa have predicted how her life was about to change. It had started out in the realms of normal, but soon evolved into something else entirely; something akin to those silly teenaged stories about mythical creatures and some sad, puppy-love romance.

That was what Elsa thought initially, but when she found herself dragged into something deeper than she could ever have imagined, and this "silly teenaged thing" turned into something she came to care about immensely, she supposed she'd have to change her opinion on things.

And of course, to add to Elsa's displeasure and belief she had been unwillingly sucked into a book of some sort, it all started one stormy night…

XxXxX

"Elsa! What's the hold up?!"

Elsa rolled her eyes as she exited the kitchen with her arm full of plated food.

"It's right here!" she hollered as she walked through the entryway and into the adjacent dining room. "Cut me some slack; we're short-staffed and you know it!"

"Well, I got five tables waiting on their food; tell the kitchen to hurry it up!"

"Why don't you tell them yourself…" Elsa bit out under her breath. Approaching her table, she put on her best—fake—smile. "Alrighty, who had the Chicken Parmesan?"

Sometimes she hated this job. She worked at a tiny Italian restaurant with a manager who seemed to have it out for her ever since she broke a wine glass on her first night. Luckily, it was only her manager she didn't like—and when one of the waiters didn't show up for work like tonight—but otherwise she couldn't really complain. Surprisingly, she made good money in tips each night, and all the restaurant's regulars adored her, giving her more tables than anyone. Of course, on nights like these, that sometimes came back to bite her in the ass. She had two tables just sat in her section she had yet to get to, as well as two other tables waiting on their entrées.

Damn Flynn for calling in sick. She'd have to call Rapunzel later to make sure he actually was ill, otherwise Elsa may give him reason not to show up tomorrow night either.

Huffing, Elsa swung her braid over to her other shoulder as she approached one of her new tables.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," she said in her most chipper voice. "My name is Elsa and I'll be your waitress tonight…"

Fortunately, the rush died down soon enough and the rest of the night passed in a steady flow; much easier to handle with just two waiters. By midnight, Elsa was throwing on her jacket and preparing to leave.

"Hey, Elsa, about earlier…" her manager, Gaston, said as he came up to her in the entryway. "You know I was just under a lot of stress, right? You do a great job. Better than that bumbling idiot Milo. So…" Arching an eyebrow, he leaned closer. "Can I buy you a drink? Down at that new bar by the river?"

Again, Elsa rolled her eyes. "Gaston, not only is you asking me out breaking work regulations, I'm sure, but how many times do I have to reject your offer and advances before you understand I'm not interested?"

"C'mon, babe," he crooned. "Just this once?"

Elsa pushed past him, disgusted. "Ask me again and I quit," she spat. "I'm not taking this shit from you anymore."

Without waiting for his reply, she walked out of the restaurant. Sure, having to quit or getting fired would suck since she loved her regulars and the fast pace of the environment—most of the time—but she seriously was fed up with Gaston. Of course, taking it up with the owner of the place wouldn't do much good either. Despite being a kind old man, he was pretty far gone in the mind, so Gaston basically ran the place. Elsa was pretty sure the man was Gaston's grandfather, which had to be the only reason Gaston been put in charge in the first place. Surely it hadn't been his actual knowledge of how to run a restaurant or his way with people.

"One of these days maybe I'll just come out right there and say I'm lesbian," Elsa grumbled to herself as she walked the several blocks to her apartment, the cold rain not bothering her in the slightest. "One would think that would shut him up."

Of course, knowing Gaston, that would probably just turn him on, and then he'd be begging Elsa to bring her girlfriend by so he could get off on watching them together. Elsa shivered, repulsed by the idea. This was why she didn't like many guys at all and none romantically; she just didn't understand them.

Busy brooding deep in her thoughts and with a low rumble of thunder, Elsa almost missed the soft whine as she crossed the railroad tracks. Stopping right after them, she spun around to listen.

"Hello?"

Another whine was emitted and Elsa began making her way to the few bushes lining the tracks. Stepping off the sidewalk, she walked parallel to the tracks. Pulling out her iPhone, she turned on the flashlight, shining it in the brush.

The light lit up underneath and inside the bushes, though it was hard to see through the now steady rainfall, and it was then Elsa spotted a flash of reddish-brown. Going back over the spot, she steadied the light as the color seemed to shuffle back further into the foliage, letting out another whimper as it did. Setting the phone down so the bush was still lit up, Elsa got onto her knees.

Obviously she had no idea what was even in the bush, but it was definitely an animal of some kind. Being an avid lover of anything with fur, Elsa was committed to not leaving it alone this cold, wet night, especially if it was hurt—which its cries seemed to indicate it was.

Now laying on her stomach, Elsa moved a branch of the bush aside, revealing to her two bright teal eyes staring back at her. Those eyes widened as they locked on Elsa's and a yelp sounded as the eyes moved further back into the brush.

"Hey, hey," Elsa cooed softly, pulling back another branch. "It's okay, I won't hurt you."

The mass of fur had now retreated as far back as it could go, its body pressed against the metal base of the railroad gate.

"Are you hurt?" Elsa asked, inching her hand out towards the animal. A soft growl was her response, but the way the eyes were closely examining her seemed more curious than threatened. "I can fix you up."

Okay, so she knew the animal couldn't understand her, but Elsa really did find she had a different personality with animals than she did people. She was compassionate and loving towards animals, while distant and quiet towards humans—except when she couldn't be, like at work. She attributed her deep love for animals to the fact that growing up, all she had was a fish, and she always longed for something more. Her mom being allergic to cats, and her dad to dogs, as well as her mother not being too keen on anything in the rodent family—rabbits included—Elsa was really just left with either fish or anything amphibious or reptilian for companionship.

Her body was now almost halfway in the bush, her uniform black shirt and pants soaked through with rain and mud, as she strained to gain the trust of the animal huddled within. Pulling more branches away, Elsa could begin to make out its species. Two tall pointed ears were presented to her, along with a brown nose and one canine tooth showing from its upper lip. Following the length of its red-brown body, Elsa distinguished four paws and a thick tail wrapped around the animal as a form of protection.

"Are you a dog?" she asked the animal, still using a soft voice. "You don't have a collar on, but you look like maybe a shepherd or large terrier of some sort." The teal eyes blinked at her and Elsa smiled. "Can you come out so I can see you?"

Elsa stretched a hand out towards it, letting the animal sniff it to familiarize itself with her. Tentatively, a small pink tongue darted out and licked a finger before it pushed its head into Elsa's hand. Laughing, Elsa began to softly scratch its head, ecstatic that it seemed to trust her.

"I'm going to pull you out now, okay?"

Gently, her hand moved from the creature's head to its body, lifting it up slightly before pulling it from the bush. Eventually, with only a little bit of difficultly after Elsa realized the animal was heavier and larger than it had made itself seem, she released it from the tangled greenery. Free from any obstructions, Elsa noted that it didn't really look like a dog at all now—or any breed she knew of—but more like a wolf. It was smaller than full grown, but larger than a cub, about the size of an Australian Cattle Dog or the like.

"You… You're not a dog at all, are you?"

The teal eyes only blinked at her again. Pushing her damp bangs back, Elsa knelt before it.

"Well, let's assess your injuries," she told it. "I can see you've hurt your paw, huh?"

It was true, for the pup had been keeping its front left paw in the air ever since being freed. From the light of her phone, Elsa could barely make out a tint of darker red in its fur. Moving the phone down across the pup, she also counted three other bleeding wounds: one near its right ear, one on its right side, and one of the left of its rump.

"You poor thing," Elsa muttered. "You were attacked, weren't you?" Looking down at it, she was met with the most adorable puppy-dog eyes—she now knew why the phrase was named such—as the wolf looked up at her with its ears flat against its head. "Well, don't worry," she told it. "Come home with me, and I'll fix you up."

Hesitating only momentarily, Elsa put both hands under the pup's belly and lifted it in her arms. It whined pathetically before snuggling into the light jacket Elsa wore.

"Don't worry, my place is only one more block," she said. "I know you have all that fur, but it's soaked and it's still pretty chilly out here, don't you think?"

Elsa's chin received a nudge in response, causing her to chuckle.

Upon reaching her apartment, Elsa discarded the wolf pup on the couch before dashing to the bathroom and coming back with a roll of medical tape, bandages, and a washcloth. Turning on the overhead light, Elsa was finally able to get a better look at the creature she had brought into her home.

It was definitely a wolf, now that she looked at it properly. Its features were more hardened than any dog's. Its fur—while partly red from blood—was a rich auburn with a few highlights of an even brighter shade of red. Its muzzle was decorated with a smattering of lighter, almost blonde dots which looked like freckles, causing Elsa to smile amusedly. While most of its fur was matted with blood and dirt, two identical tufts stuck out at each side of its head underneath its ears, almost looking like an attempt at human twin-pony tails.

Its most striking feature, and what threw Elsa for a loop, were its eyes. A sharp, deep teal, they didn't look like any eyes she had ever seen before on an animal. Even with blue-eyed Huskies, their eyes were never this round, this…human-like. Yet, despite their unique color, a glimmer of yellow was present as well.

The pup cocked its head after a minute of Elsa observing it, its left paw still hovering in the air. Elsa saw this and giggled.

"Sorry, I know I'm supposed to be helping you, but you're just so beautiful," she told it. "I've never seen a canine colored this way."

Elsa wasn't sure, but she could have sworn the pup quirked a smile at her compliment. Casting it aside with her long night of work, she ignored it and sat down in front of the couch, facing the pup.

"Now, none of this is going to hurt too much, okay?"

The pup just stared at her with its wavering teal eyes and Elsa shivered inwardly at the gaze. It was intense; almost like the pup was looking into her very soul.

"O-Okay," she stuttered, looking away from the animal and to the supplies beside her. The pup blinked when Elsa broke its gaze and an innocent look took over. "So…"

In little under half an hour, Elsa had cared for the pup's wounds as best she could. The blood had been cleaned up, the cuts treated, and its paw wrapped in tape. The mutt was now wandering around Elsa's apartment, investigating each and every thing available to it, nose pressed flush against anything. Elsa watched it with a small smile for a while before her empty stomach alerted her it was way past dinner time.

Stepping into the kitchen, Elsa left the pup to its own devices. Since it was so late, Elsa didn't feel like making anything so she just poured herself a bowl of cereal. The sound of the cereal hitting the dish sent the pup skidding into the kitchen, staring up at Elsa with wide eyes, its tail wagging slowly for the first time that night.

"What, you're hungry too?" she asked it with a grin.

The pup licked its lips.

Rolling her eyes, Elsa tossed it a piece of cereal which it caught easily in its mouth. Teal eyes blinked at Elsa once more. She rolled her eyes again and reached for another bowl.

"Okay, so apparently wolves like cereal," she muttered to herself as she poured another—smaller—bowl. Setting it down before the mutt, it blinked at her once more before diving in, sending pieces of cereal flying each and every way. "Messy eater," Elsa grumbled, yet couldn't hide her giggle.

Almost like it got offended, the pup lowered its ears as it pulled back from the bowl. Looking to Elsa, it then began to pick up the stray bits of cereal on the floor before returning to what was left in the dish at a much slower pace.

"I'm impressed."

The pup's ears became upright and its tail wagged once more.

When she and the pup were done with their cereal, Elsa retired to her room, the mutt right on her heels. Laying out several blankets in a corner by her bed, Elsa threw a throw pillow down too as a second thought.

"There," she huffed, looking to the pup. "You can sleep here for the night. I'll figure out what to do with you tomorrow."

The pup walked over to the mass of blankets and lay down obediently before it began licking the bandage on its paw. Another smile flashed across Elsa's face as she turned to go to the bathroom to change and get ready for bed, unknowingly with the pup's eyes trained diligently on her the entire time.

Brushing her teeth, Elsa took a moment to think about the night's events. She had brought a wolf into her home. Granted, it wasn't full grown, but it wasn't a cub either and could still potentially be dangerous and harm her. But then again, if it was going to, wouldn't it have done so already? Aside from its one growl back in the bushes, it hadn't acted aggressive towards Elsa at all. And she had a feeling that growl was only done in hopes to scare her away, not threaten to hurt her.

Still, while a wolf in her house may be slightly less awkward than inviting a random stranger home for the night, something still had to be done. Elsa wasn't even aware wolves were common where she lived, so she had no idea where it could have come from. Not only that, but wolves weren't your typical pet. It's not like you could walk into any pet store and buy wolf food right off the shelf.

Wait, why am I even thinking of buying it food? Elsa thought as she let her hair out of its braid. It's not like I'm going to keep the thing. I'll just take it to Animal Services tomorrow; they'll know what to do with it.

Exiting the bathroom, Elsa looked to the corner to find the pup sleeping peacefully, its tail curled back around its body like in the bushes. Smiling softly, Elsa climbed into her bed and turned out the lamp on her nightstand. Rolling over, she closed her eyes.

Half an hour later, on the verge of sleep, Elsa felt the bed shift with added weight before a warm, furry body pressed against hers, the calming breathing of the pup next to her luring her to sleep. Elsa grinned.