Every city has a learning curve.

Sacrosanct was no different in that aspect.

And while Lucas was not innately a patient individual, learning to navigate the ins and outs of a place like this took time. Time, at least, he finally had to call his own.

He wasn't a demon on the end of a leash anymore. There was no agenda, no need to wait for someone's signals. This dog wasn't heeling pretty next to someone as it prowled along the city streets, sniffing, watching, and entirely unforgiving in its mission to simply move forward wherever it pleased. It didn't look like a creature that would take kindly to being diverted, and rightly so, not many people tried.

They were smart.

After all, there was something almost alarming about a giant black dog roaming the dingy west side streets without tag or collar in sight. It seemed uninterested in people, large with dusty-looking black fur. Thick, if not slightly matted, with a stare that often made others stop cold in their approach. It could have easily been compared to a shepherd if not for the cropped, erect ears or sheer size of its body. ...Some strange mastiff mix, perhaps, or other type of large unfriendly dog that hunted... bears. Or wolves. Whatever large breeds were bred to say, 'hey. fuck you' and walk away still breathing after a fight.

A 10 foot catch-pole might bring someone more comfort or luck if they so desired, but even that didn't seem quite adequate enough to walk away without losing a limb in the process. Fortunately it hadn't yet come to that. Lucas had been left to wander as he pleased, with fewer teeth barrings than he might have first expected.

The west side was... an interesting place. It felt like home.

This brought the beast some bitter-sweet comfort but also led him to an area that made his bones tingle and nose twitch. The air down here was filled with more of that static he had smelled upon his first arrival in this city. It was an odd, subtle sense of magic. Of other-ness he couldn't quite explain.

Lucas wanted to know what it was, to follow that intangible scent he swore he could taste upon his tongue. It was different than the dead-ones. Different than weres. It wasn't like anything he'd come across before until here, now, in this place. It was hard to admit that he felt drawn to it or why - but if there was something more out there that he needed to know? Then Lucas needed to know. And he'd wait, as patiently as he could, until he found it.

There wasn't anything particularly different about the afternoon that followed. Light foot traffic, grey skies with threats of rain and a cold breeze. It wasn't until that static pulled a little stronger that it caught Lucas's attention from a dead sleep. It was so subtle, so light, that he almost missed it - a twinge of magic, wrapped in the faintest scent of floral perfume.

It made his hackles rise.

But the dog was quickly up on all fours loping out of the alley it had been resting in and out onto the streets. It wasn't a direct lead. There were people, cars, noises, smells - all things that could easily lead him askew in his search for the one scent he intended to follow. With more effort than he normally cared to extend, Lucas followed as diligently as he could, nose up to the air as he trotted along on all fours. It wasn't subtle and it wasn't stealthy - but nothing about Lucas usually was.

Even when he found the source of the sickly sweet floral scent, the dog didn't bother stalking like someone trying to go unnoticed. Oh, he kept a good distance back alright, but once he had the woman in his sight he made sure she stayed there. He was content to study, to watch, to pad along silently from a good half block away, but that was all the range he was willing to afford either of them.

Those dark eyes never once averted, pace speeding up or slowing down as needed to make certain he could watch. Those large ears of his twitched every now and then, splaying from side to side as he contemplated the confusion growing the longer they walked.

Had he gotten it... wrong? Did this seem right?

His lip twitched slightly in agitation followed by a flick of his tail.

Because really - what was so special about her?

Lucas