A/N: I did some revising to this. There's a few minor tweaks. Also I don't own The Nine Lives of Chloe King. Thank you for reading.

He'd been in San Francisco for a week now. It felt like so much longer. He was amazed at just how much his life had changed in the span of seven days. For one, he had moved to a completely different continent. From London to California, it made his head spin. He missed London, but San Francisco wasn't so bad.

For two, he had changed, and not just the normal changes of a fourteen year old boy. This was way beyond that; perhaps even more confusing. It was small stuff at first, his hearing; he could hear everything that went on around him. Then he noticed the speed and agility. That was incredible. He could run and jump for long periods before he got tired. There was a strength he never knew he had. He'd always been athletic, but now with these abilities, he felt almost unstoppable. He also found he could see better, even in complete darkness.

Then everything came crashing down around him. During a particularly intense argument with his adoptive parents, he felt his fingertips itching, and before he knew it he had claws. He stood there stunned as he examined his fingers, the argument momentarily forgotten. He heard a sharp gasp that pulled him from his thoughts. As he looked up to see their shocked expressions, he locked eyes with his father, who quickly pulled his startled and obviously fearful mother to his side like he was trying to protect her from him.

"Your eyes?" His mother whispered her voice bewildered.

"What are you?" His father asked with almost the same tone.

Alek ran to his room and collapsed against the closed-door. He was just as startled and frightened as they were. He had no clue what was going on. As he looked up and into the mirror attached to his dresser he saw something that scared him even more. His once warm chocolate-brown eyes had turned to yellow cat-like slits. 'What am I?' He asked himself.

Alek stood there staring at himself in the mirror. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Thoughts were running wild through his mind. He could see his parents' fearful faces realizing what they must have thought. Suddenly he knew he had to get out- like now. Walking out the front door didn't seem like a particularly good idea, so out the window it was!

As soon as his feet hit the ground he began running with no particular destination in mind, just trying to escape everything in his head. Soon he realized where he had ended up. He shouldn't have been surprised. This was where he always ended up when he was upset, sometimes like now, without even thinking about it. He took a seat on the nearest bench, and sat there in silence listening to the sounds of the Thames River that ran through the heart of London. It was late into the night, and this was a quiet, usually empty area of the riverfront, so he was startled when someone sat on the bench next to him and began speaking.

"Hello, Alek." The dark-haired woman next to him said.

"Hello." He responded instinctually. "Wait- how do you know my name? He quickly added, fear snaking its way into the pit of his stomach.

"I've been waiting to see you again for a very long time. I'm your Aunt Valentina. Your biological father's half-sister." She explained.

An aunt? He had an aunt, a link to his birth parents? Would she know what was going on with him? What he was? There were a million questions running through his head that this woman could have the answers to.

Valentina must have known this, "You must have many questions. I can answer those questions." She said knowingly. "We should go someplace else though. It's not safe here." She continued scanning their surroundings.

Go somewhere else? Alek very much wanted answers, but this woman was a stranger. A stranger claiming to be his aunt. "If you're my aunt, why haven't I met you before? Why didn't you look for me sooner- like say after my parents died?" He asked.

"We had to keep you safe-hidden. It was too dangerous for me to make contact before now." She responded trying to give him a reasonable explanation quickly. "I kept an eye on you, but now the consequences outweigh the dangers, but this is not the place for this conversation Alek. We must go." She continued looking slightly nervous.

"Dangerous?" Alek questioned, but before he could continue he realized he could sense whatever it was that was making Valentina look nervous.

"Follow me." She said starting to walk away. He followed quickly behind her.

Before they got very far a men dressed in all black was suddenly in front of them. If Alek didn't know better he would think it was a ninja. "Going so soon?" the man questioned almost mockingly.

Valentina turned slightly toward Alek to have him go in the opposite direction only to see another man behind them. There was no way for them to run. They-well she- had to fight. Alek was untrained, and Valentina couldn't risk her nephew's life.

"Alek stay back." Valentina ordered looking from one man to the other.

As if on cue the men both swung at the same time. One for Valentina, the other for Alek. Valentina easily dodged the punch while landing one of her own in the man's stomach. Alek, however, wasn't as lucky. He'd never been in a real fight before. Sure he'd tussled with a few boys in the school yard. He'd even taken a punch or two, but nothing in comparison to the exploding pain he felt as the man's fist connected with his cheek. He stood there dazed for a moment not knowing what to do.

"Oh is the poor kitty hurt?" His attacker asked in that same mocking tone, which pulled Alek from his dazed state.

"Kitty?" Alek thought to himself as his claws came out. Instinctually Alek started circling the man as he crouched down low. "A moving target was hard to hit right?"

Alek took a moment to glance over to see how Valentina was faring against her opponent. He had to admire how well she could handle herself in a fight. Unfortunately, his attacker noticed his momentary distraction, and took the opportunity to charge Alek, tackling him to the ground. He was now pinned with the man on top hitting him mercilessly. Alek was getting in a few hits of his own, including the three deep gashes on his cheeks caused by his claws, but no matter what Alek did the man wasn't quitting.

Valentina was frightened when she noticed Alek's current predicament. She started pushing the assassin faster and harder, waiting for that inevitable moment when he would make a life ending mistake.

Alek was tiring quickly. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up, but he saw the answer in his attacker's eyes, as he reached for his dagger.

"Are you ready to die, demon?" The assassin asked with disgust, blood running down his face.

Alek's breath caught in his throat, and his eyes grew big with surprise and fear. "Die? No he was certainly not ready to die! He was fourteen. He hadn't even kissed a girl yet! You couldn't die before you'd got to kiss a girl, right?" He thought to himself unable to answer.

"I don't have time for this." Valentina muttered mostly to herself as she ran her claws across the man's throat. There was blood running down her arm as the assassin fell to the ground gasping for air.

She quickly ran to Alek as his attacker placed the dagger to his throat. She grabbed him from behind pulling him backward & effectively cutting his throat. She threw him to the side to get to her nephew.

"Alek." She said soothingly her voice filled with concern. "Can you move?" She asked kneeling next to him and surveying his wounds. His left eye was swollen shut, his lip was busted, and there was a small cut on his throat where the dagger had been. She was unsure of what other damage he might have taken.

He groaned in response trying to push himself off the ground. "Quick, we must get out of here." Valentina urged, helping him up and making for her car.