Prologue

The boy ran quickly through the woods, his heart feeling like it jumped up in to his throat. He gasped as he tripped over a root, landing on the soil beneath. "Stupid forest," he muttered, scrabbling to his feet to continue bolting through the trees. Behind him, he could hear the raging laughter of the witch chasing him. He gasped as he ground suddenly disappeared below him, making way for a huge drop right in to the river.

Icy coldness blasted against him. Blonde strands hovered around his face whipping back and forth. The boy broke through the water's surface, gasping for precious air. A scream of anger came from the witch, piercing the eternal blackness. The boy struggled against the rushing water, every instinct in him demanding he keep fighting. The boy finally got his way to shore, hands digging in to the frigid mud. The wet dirt squeezed between his fingers, seeped in to his clothes, soiling them.

A frightened, settling peace fell over him. He placed his head on his hands, hoping for a moment, praying desperately that he could no longer be haunted by the phantom chasing him.

For only a few moments he rested. But even as he thought of this, his mind rejected it. No. He couldn't rest. There was no way he could give up.

Renewed with an energy he didn't know, he scrabbled to his feet, running back to the depths of the forest. A face flashed in his mind, familiar blonde hair swishing around soft girlish features. He pumped his legs harder as he ran, urging his heart to work harder to keep up his pace.

Help. He needed help.

Chapter 1

Wolf sat back in the chair of his new, (well, new to him) trailer. He settled comfortably in to it, closing his eyes to sleep for an afternoon nap. The TV continued to play on in front of him. Nothing, I repeat nothing could disturb him from this moment. He felt exhausted from the most recent mission he came back from, with an evil mermaid trying to force her love on a sailor. It ended badly, with the sailor getting injured severely from fighting against the love-struck mermaid. It was a miracle any of them were able to get out. If Red didn't use her quick thinking they all probably would have drowned.

After a fresh shower when he got home, Wolf thought he finally got all of the seawater out of his fur. He knew his fur would feel stiff for a week at least, his eyes would burn from the saltwater for a month. Being a wolf part of a secret agency wasn't always easy. On the contrary, it could be pretty hard, especially when your partner tended to be perfect at every single mission you were assigned to. Wolf felt pretty useless most of the time with Red to do most of the work. What could he do though? Never would he be able to tell her to do something. That, he felt certain, would be impossible. She was so headstrong, so stubborn on so many levels. Wolf found it surprising her Granny could tell her to do anything.

His eyes just stared to close shut when his cell phone went off. He opened one dark brown eye, looking at it with pure hatred. Who would be calling him at a time like this? Oh please don't let there be another assignment from the HEA.

Reaching a furry paw to the phone, Wolf flipped it open. "Hello?" he asked in to it in his deep monotone voice.

"Wolf? It's Red."

"Oh hey Red. Something up?"

"Eh, not really. Just wondering if you want to go out."

Wolf felt his heart pick up, mind going blank in confusion. "Uh, go out?"

"Yeah, just go somewhere to hang out. I'm still feeling kind of restless."

Wolf felt himself relax more in his chair, muscles losing their tension. "Oh. Sure. Okay. Where do you want to go? Any specific place in mind?"

"I don't know. Anywhere. I'm kind of tired of being in the forest. Want to go bowling?" Her voice sounded hopeful from the other end.

"Um, yeah sure."

"Meet you there in half an hour?"

"Sure. Hey, anyone else coming?"

"Don't know. I'll ask around. Want to bring Twitchy?"

"Yeah I'll bring him. He hasn't been bowling in a while anyway."

"Okay. See you later Wolf."

"See ya."

The line clicked from the other end. Wolf snapped his phone shut, settling in to the chair. His muscles still ached. A part of him didn't really want to go bowling right now, but he said he would go. That enough prompted him to stand up from his chair. He exit the trailer, going over to the smaller one several meters from his own. Not a sound could be heard from the trailer inside except a loud snoring. Wolf tapped his knuckles on the door, "Hey, Twitchy."

It took exactly three seconds for the snoring to cut off and the hyperactive squirrel to open his door. "Ohheybosshow'dyousleepI'mstillprettytiredbutI'mreadytogowhenyouare!Heywherearewegoinganyway? ?"

Wolf didn't understand how someone could be so awake all the time. He answered, "Red called and said she wanted to go bowling. You up for it?"

"SureI'?"

"I told her we'd be there in half an hour. We should leave soon. Are you ready?"

"OfcourseIamI'mreadywhenyouareboss. Canwegonow? Maybegetsomedonutsontheway?"

"I don't know. I'm not really in the mood for donuts. Maybe some pizza."

"Surethingsurething. Pizza'sgreattoo!" Twitchy responded eagerly. His tail flicked back and forth as he spoke. Wolf looked at the watch on his wrist. "We better get going now. You wanna walk or just take the bike?"

"Idon'tknowthebikeisgoodbutI''tmattertomeoverall. Whatdoyouwannadoboss?"

"Let's take the bike. Maybe it'll help dry my fur out more."

"YeahIknowwhatyou'retalkingaboutIthinkit'lltakeamonthformyfurtodryout."

The pair jumped on Wolf's motorcycle as they started to ride through the forest. The sun lay high in the sky, lighting up the trees and animals all around. Most scurried away when they heard Wolf coming. He felt used to this, not many animals liked being around wolves, what with his sharp claws and pointed fangs, he wouldn't want to hang out with himself either.

They parked at the bowling alley a little while later. As Wolf got off he saw Red's bike parked against the building. Wolf felt his fur fluff up with the wind buffeting against him. He tried to keep it down, knowing he'd look like a poodle when he got inside.

"Heeheeebossyoulookfunny!" Twitchy laughed when they entered the air conditioned building. Wolf glared at him, trying to smooth down his fur with his paws.

"You're not looking that fine yourself, puffball," Wolf growled at him, shaking out his fur to settle it.

The fluffed up squirrel laughed. "Windy day out," a deer at the counter commented when they passed.

"You're telling me," Wolf answered.

The bowling alley was a small one. With only six lanes it couldn't exactly be a mission to locate the red hooded girl. Wolf held up his paw in a wave when he saw her starting to set up the game. "Hey Wolf," she smiled. The canine could see the dry skin cracked over her face after swimming in the ocean. She noticed his stiff fur. "Looking good," she commented with a smile.

"Oh you know it," he said to her. "Don't forget the puffball."

"Hey Twitchy."

"'?"

"Thanks Twitch. You guys ready for this?"

"YeahI'mreadyforanything!"

The trio bowled for a while. Of course by the time they neared the end Red gained the most points with Twitchy coming in second tied with Wolf. Red laughed when Twitchy scored a strike near the end, just barely passing Wolf's score. Wolf didn't mind though. It was nice enough to just be here with his friends.

"Why couldn't the Granny come?" he asked, walking out with the Red, Twitchy residing on his shoulder.

"She had a swim meet today. It's okay though, we can go another time," Red smiled at him.

"Yeahbossthere'salwaysnexttime!" Twitchy said excitedly, downy tail flashing back and forth in quick jerky spasms.

"See you guys at work," the nineteen year old called, mounting on to her bike.

"Yeah. Bye."

"ByeRed!" Twitchy called, jumping down from Wolf's shoulders to skitter on to the motorbike.

"Thatwasfunwasn'titboss?" Twitchy asked, sitting up on his little seat.

"Yeah that was fun. It'll be nice to actually rest when we get home though. Wolf put the key in the ignition, turning it to start the bike. Twitchy put his little squirrel helmet on while Wolf turned the motorcycle out of the parking lot, going back to his trailer.

When they arrived, Wolf collapsed on to his chair, falling asleep as his head hit the cushion.

Yay for first chapters! :D sorry if Twitchy's way of speaking is too hard to read. Tell me if you want me to change it :3

haha. Greetings. I am LionshadeSC. Just call me Lion ;p I started this fic a few months ago and have been working on it so im on like chapter 12. I started it, went through some of it, dropped off, and just came back to it yesterday

yes I do plan to finish this. I think im about halfway through from where I am. I'll try to upload chapters at least every other day at most. I'll get the next chapter up tomorrow :D but I think i'll try to space them out so I dont rush the creativity. Thank you for joining me on this ride! :D

NOTE: most chapters wont even be HALF this length xDD