You should Fear Werewolves.

Fear the were-wolves.  Really, you might think that a bit of magic, some success in dealing with the everyday chump sorcerer is something to be proud of, and in some ways it is, but were-wolves are without a doubt a league above that.  Let me tell you a story.  It's a good story, got its ups and downs and even a sappy ending that makes you feel good inside in its own way.  It also has some real bummers of moments and powerful horrors that you'll remember as you go about the business when we split at the end of the apprenticeship.

Were-wolf trouble is rare enough, but you need a good background for when you end up dealing with it.  Hence the story.  It starts with a teenage brat like you, yeah I just called you a brat, get over it.  He had been going 'round these parts and keepin' law all under people's noses as was the style of the time, and continues to be by our regulations.  You read that book: first rule of street-walking is to blend in.  Anyway, he was good.  Never any investigations by those not in the know, never any nasties that managed to get away and hold grudges.  He was doin' well for himself, likely to be promoted in fact.  Local coordinator took a shining to him, had him over for suppers every other week.  He put in a lot of hours those days, so everyone knew him.  Some of them for bein' part of the neighborhood and contributin' to the economy, others for the help he did in our sector, the magical one.  Thought he was near untouchable.  Only person who managed to get a scratch on him had been his teacher, and she'd moved on to another precinct a few years back, comfortable to leave the area to him.

Anyway, as things eventually happen, somebody went missing.  He looked into it, but not much came to light other than this guy, Otis, had just stopped opening the bakery in the mornings, so no fresh bread, or even stale bread after a while.  It wasn't like it was some hobo who was passing through.  That can be a problem if they're feeding some sort of malicious sprite or some street-mage isn't being careful and manages to get the police on his trail before we can stop him messing in blood rituals.  Coulda been a normal type crime.  Not our jurisdiction, so we'd just let the police get into it.  If we track down every one of those the police start sniffing at us, and then we get a reputation.

The kid had a hunch, thought that it was a bit strange.  Had a nose for magic that one.  Anyway, he's wandering around the town, just kinda letting an aura out, seein' if everything is in place.  Doesn't find squat.  Police don't find anything 'neither.  No clues in the house, none in the shop under it, and nothin' in the street.

Few weeks go by; he's had his hands busy meanwhile with some pixie dust smuggling, standard summer stuff, when outa the blue poor Otis just shows back up.  Opens his shop in the morning, goes about business as usual.  Tells the people that it was all an unplanned trip to visit the family.  Now Otis was a friend of the kid's, he'd go in and get a cinnamon roll most mornings along with some coffee at the shop one over.  Not an in the know friend as it were, about as normal as they come and not superstitious either.  Now when the kid goes in to get his roll the day after Otis is back he feels something.  Not a big thing, mind you, just a little speck of a difference in the aura.  It happens, as you know, from time to time.  Somethin' in the air or some sloppy magic leaves some residue and it gets picked up.  Still, when Otis got back, more disappearences start happening.  Butcher down the street goes missing one night, wife doesn't know anything, gets the police involved.  They were about to take a trip to visit their kids down on the coast the next day, so it was mighty strange.  'Nother guy after half a week, goes missing from a back alley, a known dealer, but nothin' that gets him too hot as to get picked up.  Part of a finger left, lotsa blood.

The kid's been on the lookout these days, doesn't hear anything, but he's pretty sure it's his turf and his type of problem.  Does some legwork, combs the place at night and doesn't find anything for more than a month.  More bits of bodies pile up, more missing people, some without any evidence, some with a bunch scatered all over.  Police are real pissed, gotta work hard and get nothin' done.  Few of them go missing as well, but no real clues to go on.  All his normal methods keep failing him.

One day the kid goes to get his cinnamon roll and he notices Otis' aura has kept changing a bit.  Was pretty sure that it wasn't connected, but he figures he'll check the place out after dark, do some stealthy snooping.  Pretty easy to see where it's going here, a'int it?  Well, it's worse than you know.  He gets in, decides to check the cellar.  He's an old hand at this criminal type stuff, helped him through a lot of the times.  Walks down in there and sees the refrigerator room.  Not a big one, bakery didn't need too big of one, but it was respectable.  Anyway, he goes in there and a stench just pours on out.  Bacteria was half dead, but the full dead carcasses still left a putrid odor that was worse 'n anything he'd smelled before.  Didn't take much to figure out where the corpses were going.  He shut that door up tight and figured he'd need to explore the rest of the place first, make sure it was safe.  Went up through the first story and into the second, nobody was home.  Everything all dark and silent.  No people there at all.  Finds the ladder to the roof and gets up there only to find himself face to face with the were-wolf this story been leadin' up to.

Otis under it all, but all furry with a snout and big blood-soaked teeth.  Not much in the way of humanity when they're like that but that doesn't mean they aren't cunning.  Would get caught more if that were the case.  Only had a torso that time, musta ate the rest of the body when he killed the girl, left some too he found out later.  Otis goes and drops the body as he crouches down low, seein' the kid.  He knows the kid don't have time to outrun him, most things don't.  So he's makin' sure he gets a read on his new prey.  This one saw him comin', unlike most of the previous ones, so this one's a bit different.  Not 'cause Otis knew him, mind.  Lotsa his good customers had gone missing in that month, some better and closer than the kid.

Anyway, the kid's good, manages to get back down to the second floor inside before Otis sinks them big bloody teeth into his arm.  Thinks he's still in control, getin' the thing back out of sight so that he can resolve this all quiet, leave it as a mystery on the local news.  Doesn't realize that he's in a big mess.  Not 'till he can't get his arm free.  Vice-grip in that bite, hard to slip out of.  Kid manages to stay outa the claws, keeps his belly from offering up some steaming organs as dessert.  Hasn't gotten loud yet, but he's holding back a scream.  Pulls in some magic, a real feat of concentration to charge up given the situation and pops off some lightning in the astral.  This scorches it some, but the deal with were-wolves is that they have an obscene amount of magic in 'em.  Not seen much when they're human cause it's all goin' toward keeping the fur and teeth and claws in check, all bundled up as just a speck in their aura.  When they let it all out it covers 'em up like armor, thick and heavy.  Kid still manages to get his arm free in Otis' shock.  Hadn't gone after anybody who really knew any combat magic, least not before they could fire it off.  Gets him mad, takes away a bit of the inhibition.  They were in the bederoom by then, glass doors and curtains out onto the balcony.  Otis rushes the kid, gets a hold of him and they both go crashing through.  Not too bad of cuts 'cause of the curtains, but a big sound and enough force to break the railing.  Midair they break up, much as they can all tangled up in the curtains and hit the ground.

Police are on patrol tonight, had been for a while, and they start gettin' calls from the neighbors.  Woulda said they were pranks but there were enough that the car got there pretty quick, and backup soon after.  Kid's just trying to stay alive by now, pretty drained by then what with the spells and the bite and all the dodging.  Plus he'd picked up some scratches and cuts and a big bruise from the fall.  Otis wan't that great, but he woulda won out in the long term if the police hadn't started puttin' rounds in the thing.  Still took another half hour 'fore Otis really snuffed it; got some hits in on a few officers, one of 'em died.

Kid had to really pull some control after that.  Called in some mind experts from higher up to deal with it.  Spent half a year before he couldn't feel an ache somewhere from it, first month just bein' monitored for infection mostly.  Lucky to have gotten out alive.

See, when the higher ups put some effort into it, they traced him back.  Seems like an enterprising were-wolf had found him out one night and decided to expand his clan.  It was somewhere out in a rural place.  Otis managed to get away, got himself home.  He was sneaky, even for a were-wolf.  Still didn't know how to stay low-key, fly under the radar.  Didn't get trained to deal with the urges.  Maybe he just liked them so much he gave in.  Only reason they found the place he got taken so fast was because the pack moved.  Sudden end to missing sheep and cows, a few farmers left town quickly.

That's the hard part.  He was really only one wolf, a lone wolf.  Took a trained professional in a fight and would have, should have won.  If it were two or three there, each of them more used to things, better at keeping snooping mages like us off the scent or just luring us in in a trap, well, that kid wouldn't have made it.  Anyway, that's how I got those arm scars you were asking about that first week when you were just some newbie in training.  It's a good story, a sad story, and an important story to remember.  You should fear were-wolves.