Once she was down on the ground, most of the fight went out of her. She tried to put her hands up to cover her face, trying in vain to protect herself, but the wolf was just too heavy and too strong. She could barely move, and she was sure that it was over, she could smell the blood on it's breath, and it was surely going to just take one big chomp and take her whole head off..

But then all of a sudden, she could get air again, the wolf wasn't on top of her anymore. She gasped for breath, feeling better with the weight literally lifted off of her, and the sharp rows of teeth out of her face. Hearing it yelp, she finally opened her eyes up to see what was going on around her, just in time to see the animal retreating reluctantly back toward the way they had come. When Leland yelled, she jumped, and felt her eyes beginning to well up with tears.

She was terrified, but she was alive, it was something.

In all honesty, she had been planning her last wishes, her last thoughts. She had been trying to think about Mack, about Sera and her parents, trying to remember all of their faces before she left the mortal coil. But now that she was okay, she was just plain shaken. She stared up at Leland's offered hand, only just realizing who it was. "U-Uh huh.. I mean, I g-guess so," she managed to get out, sounding choked up as she reluctantly accepted his hand finally.

They didn't normally get along so well, he frankly scared the crap out of her, but he was Mack's friend.. and he did save her life. She would be a bloody mess on the pavement right now if he hadn't come along, and she owed him her thanks, even if she was intimidated just by standing beside him. She searched for words, but all that came out was some surprisingly high-pitched crying.

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Leland stared at her dumbfounded for a while and clapped her on the shoulder. "Come on now, yer all right," he said awkwardly. "Just... come on, I'll walk you home er... to Mack's." Yeah. Mack. Mack would know what to do. He adjusted his baseball cap and fumbled for the right thing to say.

"Come on nerd, just... take a deep breath," he was still holding her shoulders awkwardly.

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Tatum almost stumbled a little again when he clapped her on the shoulder, he probably hadn't meant for it to be so heavy but her legs were shaking and she was already normally so weak. She peered up helplessly at him, trying to keep her lower lip from trembling. "P-Please," she agreed weakly. "Mack's, I wanna go to M-Mack."

She didn't even flinch when he called her a nerd, something that usually made her face flush like a tomato because it usually got Hunter laughing too if she was around, but just turned her head away a little instead. "What was.. w-what was that? Is it g-gonna die? I mean did y-you.."

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He winced when she stumbled, perhaps he had been a little too rough on her. There was something unnerving about the whole thing, aside from the attack. Seeing girls crying, especially a girl like Tatum, was just... he couldn't deal with it. He nodded and gently started guiding her toward University house, his arm around her waist for support.

"It was a big damn wolf," he said, looking down at the silver still in his hand. Had it really been smoking earlier? He couldn't even imagine that there was a werewolf on campus, not with everything else that was happening. "I put a hurtin' on him but he aint gonna die. Not tonight anyways," he said darkly. "What the hell were you doing out here alone?" he asked suddenly.

"I mean... I don't wanna be hearing Mack blubber like a little bitch when you get hurt," he said trying to quickly cover up anything that could be taken for a soft side.

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"T-That's what I thought," Tatum whimpered back, feeling a chill. There was nothing normal about that wolf, it definitely wasn't some run of the mill wolf just hanging out in the forest. It had been out for blood, but it didn't seem rabid. Almost calculated, like it was.. messing with her. But that couldn't be. Or she at least didn't want to think that it was.

She was slightly rigid against the arm around her, but she did feel a bit reassured. Taking a nervous glance behind them, as if she expected to see that they were being followed, she turned back around and looked away before she answered him. "Uhm," she murmured slowly. "J-Just smoking, I.. I always go back there. L-Like every day, I never-- that n-never happened before," she tried to explain, trailing off. Getting it all out wasn't easy. This was, really, the most that she had ever talked to Leland one-on-one. She felt stupid explaining anyway, since she knew she should have known better. School wasn't safe anymore, that was why they had the watch groups she was so upset about after all.

"S-She probably would blubber," Tatum sighed finally, trying to crack a smile but not quite getting there. She sniffled a little. More than anything, she just wanted to see the older girl. "Don't t-tell her I said so though."

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"Mighta been something wrong with it," he said looking forward. "Did it bite you? Scratch you?" he asked gently. "Fuck, I never seen one that big before," he shook his head. He just hoped there wasn't more of them out in the woods. That would be a nightmare.

"Well next time come out with someone, aight?" he asked trying to keep his voice cool like he didn't give a damn. "Just 'bout anyone round here would be willing to smoke with you if you just asked. No need to put yourself at risk..." That's when he looked up at the sky and noticed the moon. "Fuck..." It had to be full or close to it.

Leland cracked a little grin. "I wont' even tell her you were stupid enough to go out in the woods by yourself," he said putting his finger to his lips.

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"Yeah.. m-maybe it was sick," Tatum offered back weakly, hoping it was true though she generally never wished any harm on any woodland critters. It being sick was better than it just being.. awful. If it was sick, it wasn't really the wolf's fault. Or so she reasoned.

"Uhm, n-not really.. I'm k-kinda sore, but I don't think it like.. actually got me," she explained. She felt like a train had hit her, her clothes were sort of ruined, and there were twigs and junk tangled in her hair, but there didn't seem to be any mass amounts of blood or anything. Just a few cuts on her face from high-tailing it through the underbrush in the forest.

"W-Who's gonna smoke with me? I-- well, I guess.. other nerds," she trailed off again, following Leland's eyes up to the moon and feeling a shiver traveling down her spine. It was still totally full, illuminating the grounds in a light glow. "C-Crazy moon," she commented softly, "You d-don't think it was a.. well, y'know, l-like a werewolf. R-Right? That's silly.."

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"You're fuckin' lucky kid," he said gruffly, giving her a once over to make sure there was no blood she wasn't seeing. He was pleased with his findings. "Yeah, yer prolly gonna be feelin' like hell in the mornin'. That damn thing pinned you good. You hit your head when you fell?" he asked, consciously trying to keep the gruff tone in his voice. "We can prolly clean you up no problem once we get to Mack."

"Fuck kid, I'll smoke with you so long as I don't have to deal with a weepy as Mack if your ass gets killed," he smiled over at her teasingly.

Her comment about the moon had him tensing up a bit. It had been exactly what he had been thinking but he couldn't admit it. "Don't be silly girl," he said darkly. "Aint no weres here," though he wasn't sure if he believed it or not. "Just... you gotta watch out for yourself a little better."

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