A/N: After exploring Steve with real super powers, Yul and I ventured a Steve who is a real Animal…

So this Werewolf AU is the result. And Since I like exploring new stuff, this story, alongside my usual Action and Steve Whump, also includes some more unexplored territories for me:

Fluff (Blame Yul for that. Her Passive-Aggressive hints are at fault. Though I must admit I enjoyed writing it.)

Pre-relationship McDanno (I swear, once upon a time I thought it was way too OOC for my taste, and now I just love them as a couple. I thought of writing a non-slash version of this story, but it just didn't work.)

Serious Danny whump. (Which was really hard. Because he is a father and it is hard for me to imagine a kid put in a situation of being that much worried about a parent. You can also blame Yul for that; she brought it up even though she really doesn't like whump of any kind. We agreed it had to happen.)

Come to think of it, you can just blame Yul for all of it. She's the one that deviously planted wolves in my head.

The story is mostly written, I'll publish the chapters at the pace of polishing it.

Hope you enjoy!

Danny recalled seeing it before only after the fourth or fifth time he saw it. Up till then it was always a short glimpse in the dark, no more than a glint of animalistic eyes from the bushes across the street, a shadow of a four legged beast. His mind was always occupied with other things to bother with it, he assumed one of his questionable neighbors decided to boost his intimidation level and got a big dog.

A very big, and very quiet dog. This, at least, was good. The last thing he needed was having to deal with constant barking. His living arrangements were lousy as it was.

This time, however, it was different.

Grace made him take her on a hike. Some park that she visited with her class, and she just had to show it to her Danno. He feared the day this would happen, but he was also ready for it. Unlike him, Grace was fascinated with what the island had to offer. It was only a matter of time until she actively tried to make Danny share her fascination.

When they reached the viewpoint overlooking the ocean, he had to admit to himself that it wasn't that bad. And the island seemed to make his daughter happy, so as long as he got to observe her fascination first hand, he had to be OK with it.

A couple with a tiny dog emerged from the trail behind them into the small clearing. The mouse-sized animal was ridiculously groomed, and unbelievably noisy. It kept barking at the trees surrounding them, stretching its leash to its end. No matter what the owners tried to do it kept yapping, his bark high and shrill.

"I'm sorry," the woman smiled apologetically at them "there are probably squirrels or a rabbit or something in the bushes…down Kasha!"

Then, instead of taking the noisy thing and leaving, they tied it to one of the picnic tables and stepped closer to the edge, to view the ocean. Some apology.

Danny sighed. "Ready to go back, monkey?" he asked hopefully. Grace was busy collecting...something off the ground, that would probably end up on display in his already cramped apartment. She sent a dubious glance towards the yapping dog. "In a minute, Danno."

At first he felt it, more than heard it, a low vibration in his bones that turned into a barely audible growl. The miniature dog whimpered, and backed away to cower under the table.

Grace was looking at the bushes the dog was barking at up until a second ago. Danny followed her gaze. He caught a glimpse of white, sharp teeth, a black furred snout, a glint of eyes, before whatever it was backed into the lush growth surrounding them. It made him think of the several times he's seen it before. He shot forward to grab Grace and back away.

"Danno!" She called excitedly "Did you see that?! You think it was a wolf?" that girl should really learn some fear.

"I saw it, Gracie. It was probably just a wild dog. Come on, let's go. It sounded angry"

"Yeah, probably at that annoying dog. At least it made it shut up…" She observed.

Danny had to laugh. "That it did."

He held his daughter's hand all the way down the trail, peering suspiciously at the vegetation surrounding them. He caught a glimpse of that large shadow several times, enough to make him wonder if it was following them. Perhaps there was a pack or something roaming in the area.

Sharks, Falling coconuts, and now wild dogs. This island really made it difficult to like it.

After that encounter, he saw the dog everywhere. Maybe saw was a bit of an exaggeration. More like got an occasional glimpse of parts of it, or felt its presence. With the exception of the hike with Gracie, it was always during the dark hours. It was always in the corner of his eye, or just a passing shadow. It grew to a point he was expecting to see that momentarily glint of eyes each time he drew the curtains.

One night he even left a bowl with some leftovers and sat lurking in the dark to see if he can draw it out. It made some alley cats happy, but nothing else.

So he pushed the thing to the back of his mind. He was in the middle of a trying case as it was. The captain rode his back to make progress, but assigned him a rookie as a partner as well.

He knew it was mostly because nobody wanted to work with the haole, and no one really asked the rookie her opinion in the matter, but he actually liked her. Kono Kalakaua was young, enthusiastic, smart and a real badass. She had his back, and though she referred to him as 'Haole' on occasion, it never felt as disrespect or an insult. He was happy to teach her the right way to do things, and she did need a guide. Her tendency to solve issues violently needed some toning down.

There was a serial killer, or killers, out there. Four bodies turned up till now. But except for the Killer's MO, there was nothing at all connecting the victims. Different genders, different ages, different occupations, different external features, different hobbies, different economic status. Four completely different persons, found dead in dumpsters across the city. one victim found in Kahuku, the others in Honolulu. All of them naked, with several GSW, but the cause of death was blood loss. The bodies were almost completely drained, throats cut open.

The only possible lead was the traces of silver found in the bondage marks, where they cut into the skin of the victims, around the wrists and ankles. Max suggested that the rope used for the killing was actually a silver chain. So Kono and himself visited every silver supplier on the island. it turned out not many of them were able to provide the type of silver rope chain in the appropriate gauge, of those who did, only two sold such a rope recently, and so, at the end of the day, they had a short list of jewellers they needed to visit.

Kono was more than ready to do just that, regardless of the late hour. She almost convinced the very tired Danny to go for it, but then his cellular started chiming the psycho theme.

"Yes dear?" he answered his ex-wife in his usual exasperation

"Daniel, Please don't freak out," Came the not-very-promising request from Rachel

"What happened?" He straightened "Is Grace OK?"

"She's fine," Rachel assured him immediately "but they had a little snag on their camp trip…"

"A little snag? What does that mean?!"

"Well, if you let me talk, I'll explain!" she shot back. He thought it was better to not respond, so after a couple of silent seconds, Rachel continued "I am not aware of the specific details, but she got lost, apparently she spent the better part of the afternoon alone in the jungle…"

"What? It's eight p.m., why on earth was I not informed about this earlier? Where is she now? How could that have happened? Who was..."

"I don't know the details, Daniel" She interjected "but I'm on my way to pick her up right now, and you are more than welcome to come and bite the instructor head off yourself. They are at the parking lot of the Kahana park"

Kono was out of the car the second Danny explained to her what happened. "Go, Brah, it's fine I'll find my way home, we will continue this tomorrow"

Later that night, when Gracie was tucked safely in her bed in her mother's house, and said mother was gracious enough to leave the room and let Danny have some alone time with his daughter, Grace crawled out of the covers to snuggle in her father's lap once more. He had a feeling though, that she was doing that to comfort him rather than herself. In fact she was so calm and composed this whole time, Danny suspected she was in shock and waited for the break down. But she seemed happy, excited even, like it was a great experience rather than harrowing one.

"Danno?" she whispered into his chest hesitantly.

"Yes, Monkey?"

"I need to tell you something, but…" she trails off

"What is it monkey? You can tell me anything, you know that."

"Will you keep it a secret? Because I know no one would believe me."

"Well, I did plan to post it on facebook, but I don't have a facebook account, so, that's out of the question anyway." She looked up at him, nose wrinkled in displeasure, but her smile and the glint in her eyes softened it. "And I will always believe you, Gracie."

She studied his face for a few seconds, Danny made his best to look open and attentive. But when she spoke again, she did it with her face borrowed in his chest.

"I was frightened at first, when I realized everybody were gone. But then the dog helped me."

Danny remained quiet, processing what 'dog' might mean.

"Danno?" Grace didn't look up and the hurt in her voice reached his heart

"What dog, Monkey?" he did his best to keep his voice neutral

"A wild dog, like the one we saw last weekend? It was big. And he sat and watched me, then he wanted me to follow him, and I did, and that is how I found the group again."

Danny didn't know what to say to that. Maybe his daughter encountered an intelligent Lassie or something, maybe she imagined it just to calm herself down. Did it really matter?

"You believe me, Danno? Right?" Her voice was so desperate, pleading, and she was still not looking at him. "The dog was gone once I found everyone, and no one believed me…"

"Grace," Danny said firmly, pushing her chin up gently, forcing her to look at him. "I mean it. I'll always believe you. It means that you can always tell me the truth, but you also have a responsibility to never lie to me. I trust you, Monkey. And if you say a wild dog helped you, I say that if we ever find this dog we are going to adopt it." He smiled at her, and she smile back, a relaxed happy smile that set that evening's events to rest.

He helped her snuggle back between the covers, kissed her brow then shut the light while reminding her that 'Danno loves her'.

"Danno?" she called softly again before he left the room

"Yes, monkey?"

"I think it was a wolf."

A/N: I'd love to hear what you think :-)