A/N: Hi muffins! I'm sorry if you hate the fact that I haven't updated my stories. Their all on hiatus until further notice. This one I promise I will try to update regularly. Anyway, our main characters are Stephanie and Derek. Stephanie is a werewolf, but she was never messed with by the Edison Group. She just happened along. You'll find out soon enough. Enjoy!

Stephanie's POV:

A loud shrieking noise shocked me awake. I panted, fear rising as I scouted out what made the noise. I calmed slowly as I realized it was a large brown spotted owl. I sighed and stood up, continuing down the path. I could hear voices, a large rumbly one and three higher voice. I turned and bolted toward the noises. A small house appeared in a large clearing. The lights were on and there were people inside. A large male with emerald green eyes and hair black as night swept across his eyes, emerged from the house, laughing with a small blonde girl. I could smell that he was a werewolf, but her, I had no idea. She was at least half his size with bright baby blue eyes.

I snuck backward a bit, but Mother Nature was being a bitch, and the wind blew my scent toward the two people. His sharp gaze looked up in my direction. She looked up too. They couldn't see me, or at least, she couldn't. I bolted back into the woods and grabbed a pair of hidden clothing and quickly changed, throwing my old clothes in the stream nearby. I walked slowly back to the clearing, but I didn't see anyone else. The blonde girl was walking back into the house. I made sure I stayed out of sight as she scanned the area. The boy– no, the male,– was nowhere in sight. I heard a growl behind me and whipped around to face him.

"Who are you and what do you want?" He growled at me. "Are you with the Edison Group?" I shook my head, fear making my heart pulse faster.

"N-no, I'm not. I-i'm sorry. I-I-I didn't mean to c-cause any trouble. P-please d-don't hurt m-me." I cowered in front of him. He'd been walking slowly toward me, making me back up into the clearing. I added, "I just w-wanted to know what th-the sounds w-were that c-c-came from h-h-here. I'm sorry." By now, a tall male stepped out and saw us..

"Who is this? Derek?" The male said quietly

"I w-wasn't trying to c-c-cause trouble. I was j-just c-curious. I'm sorry." I started to cry and I backed a few feet away from them. The adults stepped forward and said, "Derek, calm down. I'm not sure she's with them." He emphasized the last word, 'them', and I could tell whoever they were, this man hated them. He stepped toward me and said, "What is your name?"

I had calmed down enough to answer by now. "Ste-Stephanie." He nodded and said, "My name is Kit. This is Derek. He's a werewolf, if you haven't already noticed." He didn't add anything else. There was a long pause, so I added, "I'm a werewolf." That caught both of their attention.

"Are you with the Edison Group, or the Pack?" The man, Kit, asked again. I shook my head, then said, "I w-was at th-the Edison G-Group facility, but I escaped. I haven't seen the Pack in four years." Kit nodded, as did Derek, slightly.

"Do you have anywhere else to go?" Kit asked. I shook my head then said, "I've just been wandering. For 2 years actually." There was a long pause, then I added, "I sh-should go. I ha-hadn't m-m-meant to i-intrude. I'm sorry." I turned to leave, wiping the tears from my face. "Don't go. We can help." I turned back to see Derek staring straight at me. Our gazes locked and I audibly gasped, then covered my ears with my eyes shut. Nadya, my wolf was going crazy.

It's him! MATE! It's our mate! Calm down. That's impossible. It's almost impossible to find a mate for any number of werewolves. Especially so soon. No, it's not. You can find your mate anytime between the ages of 12 and death. You know that from the book you read a week ago. I know... Damn. Okay, focus. Obviously, we need help, right? And we should stay with our mate... Right? Yes! Yes! Let's go. Also, you might want to open your eyes...

I opened my eyes and noticed Derek had just been doing the same. "Are you two alright?" We both nodded and our gazes connected again. I looked away and mentally swore, then Kit said, "You welcome to stay with us. Our housekeeper, Izamani, would be delighted to have you with us. Are you comfortable with this?" I shrugged then looked at Derek, He nodded ever-so-slightly. Kit didn't notice.

"Thank you, but I really don't want to be a bother." I stepped back again, intending to leave, but the look on Derek's face stopped me. A look so full of sadness and something else I couldn't make out.

"You won't be. I can promise. The girls, there are two of them, would love to have a new best friend, as talking to ghost gets kind of boring." I quirked an eyebrow and my eyes darted to Derek, to the house and then back to Kit. My only response was, "What?"

He chuckled and said, "We have a necromancer, a with, three sorcerers and Derek would be our only werewolf... Until now. Come on in." He turned and Derek and I followed.I dragged my fingers through my hair during the 20-meter walk, trying to make myself look at least the smallest bit presentable. My stomach roiled with nerves.

Before we could even make it to the door, I heard a hiss, whipped around and growled loudly. Derek followed suit, while Kit rose his hands to perform a spell. A small snake slithered out of the bushes and Derek and Kit chuckled because they'd been so fast to attack. I gasped and jumped back about 10 feet. They stared at me, but I was frozen in fear. My only phobia was ophidiophobia. That would be, you guessed it, an intense fear of snakes.

Derek came over and waved his hands in front of my face, while Kit shooed the snake away. It wasn't until The snake was out of sight and Derek shook me too get me to snap out of it.

"Oh my god." I started to shake and Derek rubbed my arm to help, but I guessed he wasn't very good at that kind of stuff.

"Are you okay?" Kit asked I nodded and we turned back to the house. We reached the front door and Kit opened it and stepped inside. He'd had us wait a minute, so he could "warm everyone up to the idea of another werewolf."

"Where's Derek?" A small girly voice asked quietly.

"Hold on. I'll get to that, but could you all pay attention for a minute?" There was a pause and then he added, "Okay. Derek is outside, but he's not alone. Don't freak! He's with a girl named Stephanie, who was walking on the path earlier. She's not with the Pack, but she is an escapee from the Edison Group. She is a werewolf, and I've told her it's okay for her to stay with us for a while. Is this okay with you?" I heard three different version of a yes and Kit called, "Derek, Stephanie, will you come in?"

I stared at Derek, wide eyed. What if they hated me, or if they wanted me gone immediately? He said quietly, "You'll be alright. I'm sure they will love you. C'mon." His hand went to the small of my back and we stepped inside a large spacious living room. The TV was a plasma screen and was hooked to the wall. Maroon-velvet couches lines the wood-paneled walls. Two girls, one with black spiky hair and one with blonde hair and red streaks sat on one couch, to the right. A Korean-looking blonde haired boy sat to my left. I could see the obvious resemblance between the black haired girl, the blonde boy and Kit.

"This is Chloe, Tori and Simon." He gestured to each of the teenagers as he said their name. "Simon and Tori are my son and daughter, along with Derek. Chloe is a family friend who'll be staying with us. Chloe is the necromancer, Tori the witch, and Simon and I are sorcerers. You've already met Derek, obviously." He paused and then said, "I'll be right back," and went through a brown swinging door a few meters behind me.

I turned to see three people looking at me, plus Derek's concerned gaze. "Alright enough with this suckfest. I'll be right back." She left the room and went up the rickety staircase next to the couch where Chloe was sitting.

"Oh no." Chloe moaned and I said, "What?" She replied, "Tori's getting her emergency kit. By the way, Tori can be a bit abrasive at first, but she'll soften up and you'll get used to it. I did." Simon nodded in agreement and got up to sit near Chloe and swing his arm around her shoulder.

I looked at her in alarm as Tori came down the stairs with a large metal box in her arms. She Clunked it down in the middle of the floor (they didn't have a coffeetable) and opened it up, then went through the mysterious door and brought a kitchen type chair in the living room and made me sit in it. I clicked the pieces together and realized I was about to be turned into her own personal barbie. Damn.

~Page Break~

After an hour of brushing my hair, it was finally sleek like it had been so many years ago. It was thoroughly brushed through and I was wearing a small amount of natural eye shadow and no lipstick. Tori put her materials away and stepped back to admire her handiwork. "Done," she announced and I looked in the mirror, feeling the sleekiness of my hair. "Wow" was all I could think of to say at the moment.

Derek came in and stopped, staring straight at me. "Wow." Tori smiled and went upstairs. Simon and Chloe followed. Kit came back through the mysterious door and called up the stairs, Dinner is ready, kids." Then he turned, smiled at us and walked back through that door. Turns out, it lead to the kitchen.

~Page Break~

After dinner, Derek showed me a guest bedroom where I would be staying. I thanked him and closed the door as he walked away. I turned and examined my surroundings. There was a twin sized bed on the far left wall, a bureau next to that and a window near the foot of the bed. There was an empty closet and a few stray clothes hangers in it. I sighed, went to the window and locked it. Then I pulled the deep purple curtain across it and turned out the light.

As I buried my self under the covers I thought of Derek and how to proceed with our... relationship. I drifted off into sleep, dreaming a boy with dark hair and green eyes.

A/N: HWey muffins! Did you enjoy? I hope so. I gotta jet, but I can promise to update within the next few days! Byeee

XOXO, PissedOffTheVamp ;)