Buffy moved around Cordelia's car, inspecting the hole on top. She turned to Xander. "And you're sure this was a werewolf?"
"Well, let's see, um, six feet tall, claws, a big old snout in the middle of his face like a wolf," Xander said, counting on his fingers as he talked. "Um, yeah, I'm sticking with my first guess."
Oz nodded. "Seems wise."
"And then there was the part where it tried to bite us..." Xander said.
Cordelia looked at the car. "My daddy is so gonna kill me when he sees this!" she cried.
They all turned around to see Giles walking toward them, newspaper in hand.
"So what's the word?" Buffy said.
"Well," Giles started. "It seems that there were a-- a number of other attacks by this creature. Several animal carcasses were found mutilated." He handed the paper to Buffy.
"You mean like, bunnies and stuff?" Willow asked, her eyes wide. "No, don't tell me!"
Oz patted her back. "Oh, don't worry. They might not seem like it, but bunnies can take care of themselves."
Willow smiled. "Yeah."
"Yeah."
"Hey," Buffy spoke. "It seems that there weren't any people hurt. That's a plus."
Giles nodded. "For now, maybe. But I believe this werewolf might be back the next full moon."
Willow frowned slightly. "What about tonight?"
Giles looked at her. "Pardon?"
"Well last night was the night before the full moon..." Willow said.
"Traditionally known as... 'the night before the full moon," Xander added with a smile, feeling the need to say something.
"But aren't werewolves supposed to only be out during full moons?" Buffy asked.
"According to accepted legends, yes," Giles said. "This would mean that those legends are erroneous."
"Our they could be fake..." Cordelia said, earning a glare from Giles.
Buffy gasped and everyone turned to look at her. "Does this mean that there is something that Giles actually doesn't know?" she asked. "Maybe the apocalypse is tomorrow..."
Giles raised an eyebrow. "Well, I must admit that I am quite intrigued. Werewolves... q- quite fascinating," he said and started back to the library. "I, um, I have a date with my books." He grinned at his joke and left.
Buffy frowned. "Did Giles just make a funny?"
Xander scratched his head. "I think so..."
******
Buffy, Willow, Oz, Xander, and Cordelia all sat in the gym later that afternoon. The self-defense coach was talking about how Sunnydale was a dangerous place and how they need to know how to defend themselves.
Buffy leaned toward Willow. "Here's a suggestion," Buffy muttered. "Move away from the Hellmouth."
Willow smiled and nodded. She felt Oz's hand on the collar of her neck and turned to face him. "Tag," he explained and Willow turned to Buffy again with another smile.
Xander glanced at Willow. "He's all over her," he said to Cordelia.
Cordelia looked at Buffy, Willow, and Oz and rolled her eyes. Xander leaned forward. "Psst... hey, buddy," he told Oz. "We're in public."
They all turned to glare at him. "I think you splashed on a little too much 'Obsession for Dorks,'" Cordelia told him.
"Okay, everyone," they all turned to look at the coach. "Get into your assigned groups."
They all got up and went to check which groups they were all in. Xander noticed that Larry's arm was bandaged. "What happened?" he asked Larry.
Larry shrugged. "Some huge dog jumped me from the bushes. Thirty nine stitches."
"Ouch..." Xander muttered.
Oz came up next to them and held out his finger. "My cousin, Jordy, just got his grown-up teeth in. Does not like to be tickled," he informed them.
Larry shook his head and went to get in his group, while Xander laughed. Larry noticed Theresa doing some stretching exercises. "Hey Theresa," he said into her ear. "Be still in my shorts. I may have to attack you." He chuckled.
"A- actually, I think there's a few of us in our group," Theresa said.
"Yup," Buffy said as she came up from behind. "Like me."
Willow came up to Buffy and pulled her aside. Buffy didn't take her eyes off of Larry as Willow spoke. "Remember, you're supposed to be a meek little girlie girl like the rest of us."
Buffy looked at Willow with a pout. "Fine."
Willow released her hand and went to get in her own group. The self-defense coach gave instructions and they all formed lines, girls in front of boys.
"Okay, in this situation, you would bend down, using your back and shoulders and flip the assailant to the ground," the coach explained as she bent down to demonstrate.
Buffy grunted as she pretended to try to flip Larry over. Larry bent down. "Oh, Summers, you turn me on," he said and grabbed her butt cheek.
Buffy wasn't going to take that and instinct kicked in. She flipped Larry over her shoulder, sending him hard into the ground. Larry groaned but didn't try to get up. Receiving stunned looks from her classmates, she smiled sheepishly.
Oz pointed at Larry. "That works, too."
******
Later that night, they were all gathered in the library as Giles explained to them the phases of the moon. "And, uh, while there's absolutely no scientific explanation for lunar effect on the human psyche, uh, the phases of the moon, uh, do seem to exert a great deal of psychological influence. And th-the full moon is, is, seems to bring out our darkest qualities," he was saying.
"And yet, ironically, lead to the invention of the moon pie," Xander cracked.
Giles chuckled. "Oh, yes the, uh, moon pie," he said and laughed harder. They all looked at him strangely. Giles was acting weirder and weirder every day.
"Y-you see, uh, the-the werewolf, uh, is such a, a potent e-e-extreme representation of our inborn animalistic traits that it e-emerges for three full consecutive nights: the full moon and, uh, the two nights surrounding it," Giles continued.
"Quite the party animal," Xander muttered.
"Yes," Giles answered. "It, uh, acts on pure instinct. No conscience, uh, predatory, and aggresive."
"Sounds kind of like a vampire," Angel commented.
"Sounds like a typical male," Buffy added from her place on Angel's lap.
"On behalf of my gender, hey!" Xander said.
Buffy shrugged. "Present company excluded," she said.
"My point is," Giles said forcefully, "that this could be a wolfman or someone bitten by a werewolf."
"So, I'm guessing standard silver bullets?" Xander said.
Giles shook his head. "No, of course not," he said.
"Why not?" Xander asked.
"This werewolf is human the other twenty-eight days of the month, Xander," Angel said.
Buffy got up. "So tonight, we bring it back alive."
******
"So, uh, anything here?" Giles asked Buffy and Angel later on as they met at a park.
"Yes. And you won't believe what I saw. Brittany Podell was making out with Owen Stadeel, but he goes with Barrett Williams," Buffy said quietly, getting a look from Giles. "If she ever found... no, um, no, no sign of the werewolf. How about you?"
Giles shook his head. "I'm afraid I haven't found anything either."
"You know?" Buffy said. "Xander's right. You do talk using large sentences."
Giles glared at her. "At least I don't butcher the English language," he said.
Buffy shrugged. "Toché."
"Maybe we should ask around," Giles said.
"No one's seen anything," Angel stated.
"How do you know?" Giles asked. "Maybe we could tap a few windows.."
Buffy took his arm. "Giles, NO ONE has seen anything," she said firmly.
Giles frowned slightly and then widened his eyes. "Oh, uh, of course not. No... alright."
He took off the other way to look some more. Buffy giggled and turned to Angel. "This is kinda romantic," she said wrapping her arms around his neck. "Full moon, park..."
"We're hunting for a werewolf, Buffy," Angel said.
"So? Remember when we were hunting for the Gorch brothers?"
Angel chuckled. "Giles is a few meters away."
Buffy pouted. "Fine. Spoil the fun," she said. "You have no sense of adventure."
Angel raised his eyebrows. "No sense of adventure, you say?" he said incredulously.
"Okay," Buffy muttered. "So that doesn't work for you."
Angel laughed this time and took her arm gently. "Come on," he said. "We've got a werewolf to catch."
"Oh, by the way," Buffy said. "My mom says you can come to dinner on Friday."
Angel nodded. "Friday it is."
They began walking the other way into the bushes. Buffy flipped the flashlight around, looking to where it lighted. She took a few more steps and heard a snap, like a latch being released. She let out a yelp and reached out to Angel, just as she was pulled up by a net trap. He ran forward, but was too late.
"Gotcha," a voice said from behind.
To Be Continued...