The characters within are strictly the property of Showtime and CowLip.

I do not own ANY of them. No copyright infringement intended in any way.

This story contains graphic language, violence, and some adult situations ;)

You have been warned. Enjoy!

Chapter One:

Hair of the Dog

-August 2003, Colorado Springs-

_Brian's P.O.V_

I would never admit this to anyone, but I actually loved traveling for my business. I always complained whenever some high end account would need to meet at their corporate offices to discuss a new ad campaign. But in all honesty, I loved visiting new places. However, when I received a call from Yukon Automotive Co. asking if the top ad executive of Kinnetik Inc. would draw up a brand new advertisement, I couldn't pass it by. Of course, I accepted before I realized that the cooperation was in the middle of fucking nowhere.

Mr. Clay Renfro, the owner, had neglected to mention this little fact. But I made sure that I got a good deal in the end. I had Mr. Renfro put me up in one of Colorado Spring's most beautiful and scenic hotels.

I arrived at the Colorado Springs airport on time. A black Lincoln Town Car was waiting outside as I gathered my bags. I was taken to the breath-taking Broadmoor Hotel on Lake Avenue. I watched as a bell boy rushed to the car and began unloading my bags. I happened to catch a glimpse of his name tag before he turned away from me. Luke. Luke led me into the rustic lobby that was adorned with a chandelier and a gorgeous oak staircase positioned next to the check-in desk. The little man behind the counter saw me approach and greeted me.

"Ahh, you must be Mr. Kinney." I nodded my head briefly and gave a smug smile. "Your room number is 621, on the sixth floor of course. Everything is ready for you and your bags will be taken up by the bell boy."

I took the room key and headed for the elevators at the end of the room. The staircase may have been beautiful, but I was exhausted from the flight. The number 6 in the elevator was aglow as I rode in silence. The doors opened and I was greeted with a young couple, obviously on their honeymoon, staggering into the elevator as I made my escape.

Fucking breeders. I've never understood why people did that to themselves.

I found my room and slid the card key in the slot above the handle. With the little green light signaling my entrance, I turned the handle and walked into one of the most ornately decorated rooms I'd ever seen. The rustic look had been carried over into this room, along with touches of modern elegance. Golds and dark blues were obviously the color pallet for this particular abode, but I didn't mind. I wasn't paying for it. At that, I gave myself a smile and a 'good one Kinney.'

Renfro had told me that whatever I wanted would be on his bill so I picked up the menu for room service and ordered a bottle of Dom Perignon. As I waited for my wine to be delivered to the room, I walked over to the windows and looked out over the amazing scene. Mountains gave the illusion that they were touching the sky as the sun began to set. I gazed over the sky and the faint image of the full moon, waiting to take over for the sun.

I heard a knock on the door. I answered it to find the little bell boy Luke holding my bottle of wine. I looked him up and down, remembering the hot little ass I had followed into the hotel. I reached out and pulled him inside by the front of his shirt, slamming the door behind him.

This was going to be a very good night.

I opened my eyes looked at the clock beside the bed. 1:30am. I leaned up in my bed and realized that Luke had obviously let himself out because of the lack of him being beside me. I breathed in deeply and threw my legs over the side of the bed. The instant my feet hit the floor, I felt an unmistakable pounding in my head. I shut my eyes tight and pulled my hands to massage my temples. When I had had enough of that, I tried once more to stand. This time, my head pounded a little less so I steadied myself and grabbed some clothes. I threw on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a pair of shoes. A walk seemed like the perfect cure for the beginnings of a hangover.

The night sky was clear as I made my way across the garden of the hotel. I lowered my head and watched my feet carry me across the smooth grass. I didn't even bother to look up considering that the resort backed up to a clear field and the mountain range. Every now and again, I would glance up toward the sky and see the full moon. It's powerful radiance shown down on me like a powerful streetlight. There was basically no need to have my own source of light. I had always loved when the moon was full. But if I had ever told anyone that, I'd be mercilessly teased by my friends and "family." There was a lot that I couldn't tell people. They just judge face value. But I guess, in a way, so did I.

Jesus...what the fuck was in that wine?

I finally looked up and saw that I was nowhere near the hotel. In fact, the terrain under my feet had become a bit rocky a while back. I glanced around me and couldn't really tell where I was. I looked behind me but I couldn't see any sign of a hotel. Or anything else for that matter. I took a deep breath and turned around, assuming that if I just back-tracked I'd return to the hotel.

As I wandered through what looked like mountain side, I felt the wind pick up speed. It whipped through my hair and blew bits of gravel and rock everywhere. I stopped for a moment and attempted to wait out the wind when I heard what sounded like rocks being knocked from above. In fact, they were because a few of the smaller ones landed on me. I felt my heart rate quicken as I heard rustling above me. Fuck the wind. I decided that I had to get back to the hotel faster than fucking fast.

I tried to move quickly but apparently, my feet had other plans. The shuffling sound above me was also beginning to speed up. My brain was telling my feet to hurry the fuck up but they just weren't getting the memo. My breathing was becoming more erratic by the second and the pounding in my head came back with a vengeance.

That's when I heard the loudest screeching howl...and to make matters worse, it was directly over me. Jesus fucking Christ! I had never been in track but at that moment, I could've out ran the best. My arms were drawing intense friction on my sides as I ran blindly through the night. Hell, I was probably running in circles but I just had the creeping feeling in my gut to keep moving.

I ran past cliffs and towering mountain sides before my lungs started screaming at me to stop. Shit. I really needed to stop smoking. I came to a halt where a mountain ledge and a large boulder came together. Sitting down on the boulder to catch my much needed breath, I began to frantically look around me. Whatever had been chasing me had obviously given up a while back because all I heard in the night was the chirping of crickets and the light wind. When I determined that it was safe, I blew out a gust of breath that I had was unknowingly holding. I began to try and calm myself, breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. I leaned back on the boulder and closed my eyes.

That must've been a wolf. Hell, I'm in Colorado. Those things are everywhere out here I guess.

I just sat on the rock and listened to the gentle rhythm of the crickets chirping combined with the gentle whistle of the breeze through a few nearby trees. I continued breathing and thought about which direction the hotel could be when I noticed that the crickets had stopped chirping. I furrowed my brow. That's odd. Every fucking cricket sto...My thought was ceased my a low throaty sound right behind me. My breath hitched when I heard the sound of nails being dragged across the surface of the boulder. I felt my body begin to tremble and my hands begin to shake.

This was it. The legendary fight or flight moment. I may be a force to be reckoned with in the conference room and at Babylon...but this was neither. This was the fucking *wild*.

I decided.

I slowly placed both of my hands on the boulder, trying with all my might not to move more than necessary. I carefully pulled both of my feet into place and began to lift my body. The growling was growing increasingly louder and obviously more agitated by my actions. I heard more nails scraping the boulder and froze. My curiosity wanted to know just what was behind me but my rationality...did-fucking-not. When the growling reached the low throaty rumble again, I tried to move once more. I successfully planted my feet onto the ground where I needed them. My arms supported my body weight as I slowly reached the upright and standing position. My hands were by my side now balled into fists, palms sweaty, and knuckles white. I rolled my lips into my mouth and made up my mind.

I had to know what the fuck this was.

Slowly turning around, I kept my eyes low to the ground. I guess some things learned in school can *really* be applied to real life...when dealing with a fucking wild animal unexpectedly. When I could see the bottom half of the boulder, I stopped. The growling had grown and I could hear the malicious snarls in between each gasped breath. I decided that looking at this thing was going to be like finding out what prize Bob had on the Price is Right...you don't fucking see it until you see it. With a slow but fluid motion, I lifted my head. What I saw...I had no fucking words for. Fur, claws, big ass teeth, yellowish brown eyes...a wolf. But not a wolf. This...thing stood on two legs...and was staring me down. These things have a damn name. What is it. A...a...

Holy shit. My eyes grew wide as I realized just what the hell this thing was. But these things don't exist...they shouldn't. These things are make-believe. Not roaming the Colorado desert.

I finally knew what I was looking at. A fucking werewolf.

"Fuck this!" I gasped out as I turned to run.

But before my foot could even find the ground again, I was tasting blood and gravel. Everything went dark as the massive form blindsided me and took me to the ground.

I couldn't hear anything...not even a fucking cricket.

I was drifting in and out of consciousness. I breathed deep and smelled an almost iron-y scent mixed with a lemony fresh smell. I must be dead. I willed my eyes to open and was bombarded with the brightest light on Earth. Yep. I'm dead. I shut my eyes and gave in to my fate when I heard what sounded like a door open and close. I heard someone tinkering with something next to me and tried to open my eyes again. No luck. That's when the someone spoke to me.

"Mr. Kinney?" The voice was soft and sounded feminine. "Mr. Kinney? Are you awake?"

I managed to open one eye and look for the source of the sound. A woman, probably in her early thirties, with brownish hair and green eyes was standing next to me. I opened my mouth but no sound followed.

"Here Mr. Kinney." I heard from the woman as I felt a straw being pushed between my lips. I sucked slowly and was treated with a flow of cool, crisp water. I drank every drop from the cup before she removed the straw from my mouth. I began to blink my eyes, focusing was presenting a problem in the blazing light.

"Can you...turn that fucking light off?" I rasped out. Pitter-pattering footsteps and a moment later, the room was a bit darker. "Thank you." I opened my eyes fully, focusing on my surroundings and the woman standing at the foot of the bed that I was in. I looked to my left and saw a tower with an bag attached to it, leading an IV into my arm. This was accompanied by a few other medical machines.

I was obviously in a hospital.

"How are you feeling Mr. Kinney?" The woman piped up as she picked up a chart and looked it over. I put my tongue in my cheek.

"I feel amazing. That's why I'm in the fucking hospital. When am I getting out of here?" I asked, rather annoyed. Why did they always ask you how you were feeling. It's not like I was going to jump up and dance on the bed. In fact, if I did, I think I'd die. "My ribs are killing me and my shoulder stings like a son of a bitch."

The woman walked around the bed and approached the shoulder I'd mentioned. I watched as she pulled gauze away from three huge gashes next to my clavical bone. The deep wounds stretched from my left pectoral over my shoulder and what felt like my left shoulder blade. She redressed the wound and pulled the blanket from my chest, revealing large splotched bruises on my entire abdomen.

"What happened?" I asked as she gently inspected the markings.

"Well, one of the staff at the Broadmoor Hotel found you in the Colorado desert about a half mile from the hotel. He said that you hadn't checked back at the front desk for almost eight hours so they sent out a search party. He found you like this. You'd lost a lot of blood so they brought you straight here." She said as she brought a rolling table next to the bed and began to take a blood sample. "Do you know what attacked you?"

Now that was the million dollar question wasn't it. I could either lie to her or I could tell her the truth and sound crazy. Either way, I had to get the hell out of here. I fucking hate hospitals.

"I think it was a wolf. It was dark and I was lost, so there's that. I don't really remember." I lied. What the hell, it wasn't like there'd be an official investigation or anything. The woman nodded and put the blood sample onto the rolling tray.

I woke up the next morning to the feeling of someone touching me. My first instinct was to jerk away. It had been like that since I was a kid and Jack would drink. I opened my eyes and looked toward the perpetrator. A man in a white doctors jacket was standing to my left with two nurses flanking him. I furrowed my brow at the looks on their faces.

"What? Am I growing another arm or something?" I said with just the right amount of sarcasm. The doctor looked up at me, not bothering to change his shock and awe expression.

"Mr. Kinney...this is just. I don't have words for this." He said with a blatant incredulous tone. I looked down at the object of his surprise and was shocked myself. The wound that was so deep and bloody yesterday had almost completely healed. One of the nurses practically jogged around the bed and lifted the blanket from my chest. I heard her short-lived gasp as she touched my skin.

"Doctor. It's the same for the bruises." She said, looking up at the doctor and then to me.

Were hospital employees always surprised when patients made a recovery. Damn, I guess that deal with the morgue wasn't going through today. I pulled the blanket from the nurses hand and shrugged the doctor from my once bloody shoulder.

"So can I go now?" I said flatly. The doctor just shook his head slightly, still wearing a now dumb looking stunned expression. "Hello? Anyone in there?"

"Mr. Kinney, this is a most remarkable recovery." The older man said as he peeked above the rims of his glasses. "I'd really like it if you'd stay here for a few days while we ran some tests." I laughed out loud at that statement.

"Sorry doc. No fucking way. One day is enough. Two days is maddening. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's somewhere I have to be. Discharge me." I stated bluntly. If I had to spend one more day in this place, I'd go out of my fucking mind. I continued to stare at the doctor until he took the hint and went to discharge me.

I left the Colorado Springs General Hospital at around 4 in the afternoon. I flipped my cell phone open and dialed Mr. Renfro's number. The phone rang twice before I heard the familiar raspy voice.

"Mr. Renfro? This is Brian Kinney. I'm calling to see if there was any possibility that we could meet this afternoon around 6."

"Brian, I heard what happened to you. I'm deeply sorry that you experienced that here and I would be delighted to meet this afternoon. One question though, how are you out of the hospital so soon?" I shrugged my shoulders even though he couldn't see me over the phone.

"I guess it's a modern day miracle." The sarcasm was apparent in my voice but Mr. Renfro completely missed it and chuckled softly.

"I guess so."

The meeting with Renfro went as good as it possibly could have. I nabbed the account and called my accountant Ted Schmidt to notify him. I decided to leave out the tidbit of information about the attack. No one needed to know about it if there weren't any marks. Except for the hideous scar that now adorned my left shoulder. But that wasn't anything that good old fashioned plastic surgery couldn't take care of. Shit...more hospital time.

I've got it. Scar cream. Well...that's solved.

I boarded the plane headed back for Pittsburgh when my head began to pound. I brought my hand up and massaged my temples when my ears were suddenly assaulted by a barrage of noises around me. I could hear the footsteps from a man at the coffee shop, a woman whispering on a cell phone at the other end of the terminal, and the sound of toilets being flushed simultaneously. I felt like my head was going to explode when I was brought out of my thoughts by the flight attendant's voice.

"Mr. Kinney? Mr. Kinney?" I looked at her questioningly. "Your ticket?" I handed her the ticket and let her examine it.

I boarded the plane and found my seat quickly enough. I popped a few Excedrin and leaned back in the seat. I drifted off to sleep and remained that way until I landed in Pittsburgh.

-September 2003-

For the past week, I had been suffering from near crippling migraines. I would wake up in the morning and be completely fine. But toward the end of the day, these overwhelming sounds would harass my ears and cause a migraine to follow. I went to a doctor but all the diagnoses were the same...stress. Well, owning an advertising company is kind of difficult without stress. In fact, it's damn near impossible.

I was sitting in my office at Kinnetik on Saturday night around sunset, running through some new client contracts. I had another migraine and I had read the same contract three times when I tossed the papers onto the desk. I covered my face with my hands and spun my chair around, facing the large windows behind my desk. As I ran my hands over my face and into my hair, I noticed the faint full moon as the sun set.

Fuck this. I'm not going to be stuck behind a desk on a Saturday night. I got up from my desk and made my way to retrieve my coat and briefcase. I reached down to pick up my briefcase when I felt a sharp pain shooting through my ribs. The intensity of the pain was so great that I doubled over and let out a short, breathy sound. I waited a moment until the pain subsided and stood up straight again. I took a deep breath and reached down once more.

This time the pain spread. I felt my muscles twisting and burning. I didn't even hold my screams back as I fell to my knees. I heard the distinct sound of bones breaking, the volume of my screams rose significantly. I brought my hand to my chest when my heart began to beat with a harsher thudding. My breathing was erratic and I felt like my lungs were going to explode within a moments notice. I doubled over again, planting one hand on the floor. When my eyes opened slightly, I was stunned to see my hand covered in a thick fuzzy mass and blood. The source of the blood had been when newly sharper and more grotesque nails had ripped through my fingertips. I closed my eyes tight, not wanting to believe anything that was occurring.

My chest felt so constricted under my shirt and suit jacket that I violently ripped them off. At this point, my fucking clothes were not important. The rest of my clothes accompanied the shirt and jacket on the floor. With every movement I took, violent and searing shots of pain were coursing through my body. I opened my mouth, thinking that a scream would flow out, but nothing followed. I felt my lungs constrict and a wave of nausea flooded my entire body.

Flesh ripped and torn, fur covered limbs and body, and newly heightened senses.

Then, everything was lost.

-The Next Morning-

I woke up and felt a huge relief overtake me. I felt as if I had just gone through a deep body massage. I blinked my eyes, letting them adjust to the blinding light. My surroundings were a bit blurry as I stood up from the hard surface I had been sleeping on. I stretched my arms above my head when my eyes had finally focused.

Kinnetik. My office. My fucking *trashed* office. I dropped my jaw and looked around me, at the shreds of office that was left. Papers strewn all over the floor, furniture not only knocked over but shredded, lamps busted, a completely fried and useless computer. And to top it all off, my glass desk had been shattered into a million pieces. Even the metal frame was twisted and mangled beyond recognition. What the fuck had happened here last night? I wracked my brain, trying to remember what had happened.

It was unusually cold in my office so I was running my hands over my body, trying to create some much needed warmth, when I brushed them over the scars on my shoulder. My eyes widened and I spun around in place, looking at everything again.

Did I? Was I?

That's when bits and pieces of last night were stitched together and I remembered. I dropped my hands to my sides and balled them into fists.

"This is fucking perfect! I'm a goddamned werewolf!" I shouted, not even worrying whether or not someone could possibly hear me.

I grabbed what was left of my clothes and put them on, probably looking like a homeless person. I glanced around the room, wondering if I should clean it or not. Fuck it. I decided that I would call in the repairmen and not even file it as damages. I could afford it. Not even looking back, I practically ran out the door to my Stingray.

I sped toward the loft, not even obeying the speed limit. The only thing on my mind was that I was fucking starving.