Disclaimer: I do not own any max of fang. they are property of James Patterson. I do not own the Cullen's or the Werewolves, they are property of Stephenie Meyer.

Warning: this does involve violence and death. please, if you do not like it do not read it. I wrote this to try and improve my writing skill and to get this story out of my head before I went insane. Reviews and constructive criticism is welcome.

The Nephilim Child

It was raining when they found us. Or was it sunny? I can't remember. It doesn't matter really, we were in the middle of a forest and the trees were so high and full that they covered the sky. The sky that I loved so much.

I do know that the hand I held was strong and warm. That the hand belonged to my soul existence in this harsh world. He was determined to find some kind of civilization for us to return to, but we had been wandering in this forest for seven days now and the only living creatures we had found were the rabbits we cooked for food.

He refused to leave me for any amount of time alone. It grated my pride just a bit but I couldn't dissuade him. Of course he was right though. I couldn't risk fighting, I couldn't run anywhere for very long, and I couldn't carry myself into the air. I was too heavy and unbalanced. My wings couldn't take the strain.

But if we didn't get out of these woods soon, things were bound to get messy. I would give birth to my child within the next two weeks and I didn't want to have any wolves, bears, or mountain lions catching the smell of blood.

"Fang, stop a sec." I said breathlessly. Oh, how I hated being weak, but it wasn't just me I had to take care of now.

Dark eyes caught mine before doing a quick sweep over my body.

"Tired?" he asked, his voice soft.

I loved his voice. Deep and somber as it was. Like listening to the rolling thunder and yet the swiftest rushing river all at the same time. I didn't get to hear it often. Fang didn't talk unless he had too and then it was only three words at a time.

I leaned against one of the thousands of trees surrounding us and let out a sigh of relief as I closed my eyes.

"Just my back again." I told him quickly, instead of having him try to pry the words of weakness out of me.

I could feel my rapid heart beat against my chest and tried to take deep breaths while listening to my surroundings. It was habit to always be aware of what was going on around us. We hadn't been attacked in six weeks and the bruises had finally healed. We were sure we had lost them this time. Not to mention ourselves.

I felt the shift of air in front of me before I felt the tips of his fingers on my face. Tracing my eyelids, my nose, my cheeks, my lips. He brushed my hair from my face and neck. Then resumed skimming his fingers along my jaw and throat. My breath caught hopelessly in my chest.

"Your not helping my breathing situation." I said half-heartedly. We both knew I relaxed better when he touched me.

He hummed non-commitally, moving closer. The snap of a branch made us freeze, our muscles locking together in a familiar sensation. We locked eyes, both of us reading the same frantic dread.

"Run" he breathed.

I lunged away from him and started running back the way we had come. When I mentioned that I couldn't run far, it didn't mean that I couldn't run fast. And I was, fast I mean. The trees were a blur as I loped my way through the trunks and roots. I could sense my Protector behind me, keeping between me and the danger we both felt.

I could hear it now. The danger. Running behind us on four legs, the paws making soft thuds as they closed in. And now they were coming from either side of us too. So, more than one, again. We were surrounded.

I skidded to a stop and went back-to-back like we had done a million times before when fighting for our lives. There wasn't enough light to see them at first, even with our raptor vision, just shadows emerging from the forest like wraiths come to take us back to hell. And that's where we would go. To our own specially crafted hell.

They were larger and bulkier than I remembered. More natural looking than the monster movie horrors we were used to. Graceful too. But the menace was still there. I could hear the growling and teeth grinding together. There were five of them, which was strange, since they usually sent dozens to take us on. And they didn't attack at first like they usually did.

I stayed in a fighting stance while remaining completely still, only flicking my eyes back and forth. All discomfort I had felt moments ago had washed away in fear. If I was tackled to the ground I could land on my stomach, killing or damaging my baby. This was the first time I had ever felt afraid for myself in a fight and it upset me more than anything else could. I was usually the first one to throw a punch and the last.

He was as still as stone behind me and yet I could feel the tension in his back. Not to mention the coiled animal ready to spring at a moments notice. He was lethal when it came to any danger directed at me and it made my stomach tingle in response, even with the situation we were in. He loved me.

I realized the growling had stopped and that a curious but wary stance had taken over the pack surrounding us. They shifted towards the largest one of them. A black wolf as large as a horse and as muscled as a bull. Or, at least, that's what it seemed like. He stepped forward and Fang angled himself subtly in front of me, so that half his body shielded me from the leader, for that was surely who the black wolf was. He also growled low in his throat, warning the wolf leader not to come further. This pack was different and we both knew it the second they hadn't attacked. We just had to figure out if they were a danger to us.

The leader stepped back into the shadows and I could see his outline shudder and then fold into itself. He was transforming back. The figure stood up and quickly pulled something on before striding boldly back into the lighted patch where we stood. His features surprised me, more than seeing a wolf turn back into a man. He was beautiful, but not with the perfect plastic beauty of the ones who hunted us. It confused me even more. What was going on?

"I am Sam Uley of the Quileute tribe and this is my pack and my territory. We are the Protectors of this land and the lands surrounding us. One of us sensed you were not human during his patrol and yet you have a heartbeat. What are you?"

For my entire eighteen years in this world, I trusted implicitly my instincts and those of the one I loved. They've saved us more than a dozen times before. And now, when surrounded by what seemed like the very creatures we loathed, I could only sense truth being spoken. I wasn't entirely convinced, I wouldn't be alive today if I wasn't still cautious, but the gut wrenching terror had subsided.

I straightened, as Fang did the same, and looked him in the eye before taking a step forward, bringing myself from behind him and facing the leader. I saw the leader's eyes widen slightly that I would be the one to speak, but other than that he remained poised.

I, too, was a leader and yet after years of being a smartass and trying to annoy our evil captors my old self kicked in and I couldn't help what came out of my mouth.

"Kinda rude to put yourself in the human category while attacking us don't you think? Or is the turning into a wolf trick just an illusion?"

The words came out with a sort of warmth that surprised even me, though I didn't show it. Perhaps I sensed some kindred souls trying to figure the whole freak issue out too. They didn't seem like they knew too much about taking care of strange intruders.

The wolf leader, Sam, raised an eyebrow before giving in to a small smile as he studied us.

"I apologize then. The only non-human creatures besides ourselves that we've ever encountered have been vampires and they are, technically, not alive," he informed us casually.

I stared at him to see if he was joking and then shifted so I could turn my head sideways and direct my words to Fang without taking my eyes off Sam.

"Vampires, that's a first."

"Can you imagine?" he muttered back.

I shuddered a bit in response. If the School succeeded in that experiment…I couldn't imagine what would become of us once they were unleashed.

"You're not shocked at our appearance or the mention of vampires?" Sam asked, curious.

I spoke slowly and matter of factly.

"We've never met a vampire, but monsters are not new to us. Neither are men who can turn into wolves. But their different from you. They were genetically created in labs in order to be a sort of guard hound at this place where we grew up. They kept other experiments from escaping. Or tried to at least." I said the last part as an afterthought and it seemed to confuse him.

"And where does that leave you?"

Now it was my turn to study him. He had said they were Protectors, that would make them good right? I shifted slightly to get Fang's reaction of the situation and was surprised when he spoke softly, while staring at the ones still in wolf form.

"Our instincts have never failed us, Max. The ones deep down I mean. Our intuition." He paused before looking me in the eye, "It's your call. I'll follow you anywhere."

I kept his gaze in our own silent communication and slowly nodded, turning my attention back to Sam. Fang trusted me, that was good enough.

Again I spoke slowly, although this time with a bit more caution. I had kept myself a secret for so long, it was difficult to finally open up.

"We are the only surviving successful experiments left created by the School. Our genes were mixed with avian DNA. We grew up in cages. We grew up tortured. We grew up angry and mistrustful to the world around us. Until we escaped when we were ten. They've hunted us ever since. They're hunting us now. We'll leave and never come back if you let us go."

I stopped there. It was all he needed to know in order to make a decision. Whether that decision was to kill us or let us go. And he never glanced away from my eyes. He just kept looking deeper and deeper and I stared right back, bearing the truth of my words for him to see.

His answer came after two very long minutes, but I liked him instantly for the way he handled it.

"Our pack is larger than what you see here and any member of our tribe will be more than willing to protect you from those who seek to harm you. Under my word the elders will grant you our tribes' protection if you wish for it," he paused, then added more quietly, "the Cullen's will also add their strength and vigilance to ours. They are vampires, but do not wish any harm on humans. They only prey on animals and under mutual respect they are our allies."

"Those who hunt us won't hesitate to kill anyone who stands in their way." I warned him, not worrying about the detail of vampires or a whole tribes' protection. He needed to know the risks in order to fully understand what he was getting into.

He pulled his lips back to reveal teeth sharper than a humans should have been and growled, "We won't falter."

Undaunted by his display I smiled. It seemed we now had an army. That's a first, I thought.

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I decided three days later that I loved Washington. Once you got past the wetness of it all, it wasn't so bad. With a proper bed in the Uley's household the rain had provided a nice lullaby to fall asleep to. With strong arms wrapped around me I no longer had the trouble I normally did trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in either. The baby liked to kick, all the time!

Emily, who I decided must be a goddess among us lesser mortals, had chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven nearly all day. She had found my weakness to them when we first arrived after the meeting with the tribe elders. Sam had opened the door for us and the smell carried me in straight to the kitchen. I hadn't realized the grin on my face until Fang gave a chuckle from behind me.

She hadn't seemed surprised at taking in two strangers or at the news of us being genetic mutants. What she did freak out over was the fact that I was pregnant. She didn't show it at first, but later the first day she caught me alone while Fang and Sam were outside. She was busy baking more cookies and I was standing on the other side of the kitchen eating the ones that had just come out. She had turned around suddenly as if forcing herself to say something.

"Max? Are you sure you know the consequences of what you've done?" She looked kinda of disturbed, which only confused me.

"What do you mean?" I asked warily. Did she not like the fact we were taking the wolves she loved and putting them in danger?

"Your so young and you have an entire life ahead of you. Why would you have a baby and ruin that?"

Realization hit me after taking a second to study her and the meaning behind it. I gave her a sad but warm smile. It was sound advice for anyone other than me.

"Emily…I…" deep breath, "My life is standing out in the rain helping your fiancée fix the car. In this world, the world you live in, I don't exist. I don't have a birth certificate or a social security number. I grew up in a cage in the middle of nowhere by a secret and underground evil scientist convention. Whatever normalcy I could have ever had was gone the second I was stolen from my parents."

I wasn't railing at her and I wasn't trying to make her pity me but she needed to understand where I was coming from.

"School's out of the question. It's too public and if they found us they wouldn't hesitate in hurting those around us. Innocent people could get killed. Besides, we're kind of geniuses. In the four years we had to ourselves after we escaped we taught ourselves everything we could get our hands on. Stole books from the libraries or schools around us. Watched the news and movies to learn about people. Fang loved math and science the most. I think it helped him to understand himself better. Before, we had thought we were freaks that didn't deserve to live. That changed pretty quickly. I loved languages. I can speak six fluently right now. I want to learn Egyptian next. So I can read the hieroglyphs."

There was a look of disbelief on her face and I couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"So you see, we only need each other to get through this life. A place to stay is hard to find when you don't have any money. We can't buy food, or clothes, or any luxuries but we don't need much. Well…except the food part." And I took another bite from the warm cookie in my hand.

She contemplated what I said for a moment before adding under her breath, "Well, that's going to change now that you have us."

I didn't know what she meant by that and the conversation seemed to have ended. I do know that it gave me a warm feeling in my heart that she seemed to care about us. I felt a kick against my stomach and rested my hand lightly there. For the first time, everything seemed to be alright.

We met the Cullen's and the rest of the Pack the next day at the request of Sam. He said we should tell our story all at once so that everyone would be on the same page. Fang and I agreed, although warily. It wasn't that we didn't trust them, which was strange because we rarely trusted anyone, but we weren't used to having such a large number with their focus on us. It made me jumpy.

"Relax, love, I'll be right there with you." The voice was soft and low but full of promise that I couldn't help but let all my nerves wash away under the current of his voice.

The clearing was three football fields long and nearly as wide. The pack stayed close to the trees in wolf form while eight pale figures stood in a line out in the open. The walk had been a long one and my back had started to hurt once again. It took most of my attention, so I let Fang do most of the talking once the introductions had passed.

The Cullen's were just as curious about us as the wolves were. We hadn't fully told the Pack everything about us yet and so it was a first for them too. They all immediately took the situation to protect us quickly enough when Fang had finished and the conversation soon revolved more around our abilities than on strategy. It seemed they had done this sort of thing before. A conclusion I came to as most glances kept returning to the brunette vampire, Bella.

Carlisle and Edward were the most interested of anyone there. Since they had more than their share of doctors degrees. But they were also outraged that anyone would do this sort of thing to a human being.

"To experiment on them against there will is barbaric!" Carlisle looked ready to run off in search of the 'barbarians' and give them a piece of his mind. Or just tear them apart. I couldn't decide. Whichever, his anger was shocking to the rest.

Fang turned his attention to me with such a look of relief and happiness all of a sudden, that I forgot the discomfort in my back for a moment.

"What is it?" I asked quickly.

"He's a doctor."

That's it. Three words! I was going to shake him. It seemed my hormones would be his downfall. Everyone knew Carlisle was a doctor. That's why they introduced him as Dr. Carlisle--And then I got it.

"Carlisle, have you ever delivered a baby before?" Edward asked. I think he caught on a bit too quickly considering I hadn't said anything, but brushed that aside as everyone stopped and stared at me and then Carlisle.

"Of course," he had caught on too, "I would be honored to help you, Max. I could even perform a checkup on your condition just to make sure everything is perfectly fine and healthy if you'd like."

Yes, I thought, everything was going to be okay. We were protected, had a place to stay with our own personal cook, and a doctor to help deliver my baby. A thing I had placed so much worry on, it was a relief to finally feel taken care of, even if they were vampires and werewolves.

Fang Pov

Five days had passed since Max and I had arrived on Quileute land. And it was on that fifth day that my life changed forever.

Carlisle was going to perform the checkup for Max today, who was still asleep in the guest bedroom. Her hair spread out across the pillows around her. The quilt wrapped around her like a cocoon. Just looking at her you would never know that she carried something precious. It took my breath away just thinking about it. I think we both needed this little miracle after everything we had been through.

The house was warm and already filled with the smell of Max's favorite cookies as I made my way to the kitchen. I noticed the clock on the stove and wondered what could get me up at 6:30 in the morning when I had a comfortable bed and Max to sleep next too.

"Good morning, Fang. You're up early." Emily kept her voice low, not wanting to wake up Max or Sam. With both of their sharp hearing it's a wonder they could sleep through the constant rainfall, at all.

"Early bird gets the prize." I told her.

Her face broke into a smile at my attempt at humor and I couldn't help the sudden pang of shock I felt at seeing only one side of her face move into a beautiful smile while the other half stayed torn and broken. I still couldn't get used to it. Max and I had had our fair share of scars but they had always healed.

"What would you like for breakfast today?" she asked sweetly. Just like any mother would have.

"You know we'd eat anything you'd put in front of us."

"Yes, I know. But what do you want?" She kept her voice kind but there was still an underlying desperation to her eyes. She couldn't understand why Max and I didn't put desire to things normal kids would jump at the chance to voice.

"It's best not to want anything, Emily." Sad but true, I thought. The second we started to want normal things in life, like eggs every morning for breakfast, was the day they'd break us.

"You want Max, don't you? You want her happy, you want that child happy, don't you?" Now, I could hear the frustration.

"And those are the things that I'd kill or die fighting for." I told her simply. The only things worth wanting were the only things worth fighting for, I had learned.

A sharp voice came from the entryway of the kitchen.

"The second you die, I die." Max stood, beautiful and graceful as ever in the blue dress she wore to bed last night, looking like she would take on a dozen Erasers for posing a threat to the delicate balance between my life and theirs.

I was caught up in the humor of seeing Max, the indestructible fighter Max, in a dress, that I didn't catch the importance of her stumbling and catching the counter for support as she made a little 'oh' sound while clutching her abdomen.

She looked at me then and I saw the shock in her eyes before Emily broke the frozen moment between us.

"SAM," she screamed, "Max, why don't you go lie down on the couch. Fang, get some sheets from the closet."

She sounded like a drill sergeant and I couldn't help jumping up and going for the closet down the hall.

I heard a bang as Sam crashed into the floor before the door down the hall burst open and he came running into the kitchen, looking like he'd rip apart whoever made Emily scream like that. Max had already lied down and I shoved my way past him to get the sheets Emily had ordered for.

"Sam, run to the Cullen's house and get Carlisle, I think it's time."

His eyes went wide for a moment before flicking towards Max and back to Emily and then he was out the back door and transformed before I could place myself next to Max and take her hand, the sheets forgotten on the floor.

"Fang." A whisper from her lips.

"I'm right here." Whatever she needed I'd get for her.

A pause and then, "Start thinking of names."

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Violet eyes. She had violet eyes. Ten little fingers. Ten little toes. And the softest tuft of black hair. And she would have wings, thank heaven!

Seraphina Amber Ride.

The genetic mix could have made it possible that she would be completely human and yet the protruding bumps on her small back told us that she would fly right next to us above the clouds.

At the moment she was asleep, cuddled in the soft pink baby blanket Esme had made when they had all found out five hours after that first contraction. I rocked her back and forth unable to take my eyes off her. She was the most wonderful creature, apart from Max, that I had ever laid eyes on.

Speaking of Max, she was currently asleep too. Exhausted from giving birth, she had stayed awake long enough to hold Sera and eat something and then Carlisle ordered her to rest. An order I had to reinforce when she stubbornly refused to let go of the child she had carried for five months.

Yes, only five months. It must have been the avian mix in us but I wasn't going to dwell on the scientific facts. They didn't matter. Only the alive and healthy daughter in my arms mattered.

I grinned and thought of the life she would have here. We'd have a house, thanks to the Cullen's, in the middle of the forest. Close enough to both of our new families that we'd never be alone and yet we'd still have our own little world to raise her in.

I couldn't wait.