There's a smell around this part of the city. It's very faint, just under all the other smells, but no matter where she walks, Ellie can smell it. She's not sure what it means--apparently when the whole wolf thing started, it didn't come with a manual on what everything meant.

Still, it smells familiar. When a voice comes from behind her, Ellie tenses. Her hands were already in her pockets, but she grabs at her switchblade, though she doesn't pull it out. Just in case she needs to threaten someone--most people don't need to be stabbed to back off. Ellie turns, nostrils flaring without conscious thought, but she doesn't smell anything in particular. She just looks him over. Young guy, maybe a teenager, maybe not. His jaw is set so it looks like he has baby cheeks like hers, but he doesn't walk like a teenage boy. He knows where all his limbs go. Ellie decides he's about twenty, give or take.

"What's it to you?" Ellie's all bristle, not scared but a little nervous. Defiant just for the sake of being defiant.