"I can save him. Save you."
Shock. Disbelief. Her face contorted in such a strange way around these emotions.
"What?"
"I can give you both what you desire."
Angelus seemed to pale even more. Buffy crossed her arms, her eyes misting with tears.
"And what is that?" She asked, like the girl before her had suggested murdering babies.
"Each other."
The dawn rose slowly over the dilapidated mansion, resting weary rays on thick, dark curtains, fabricated just in the intent of hiding from the all seeing sun.
The skylight of broken glass and sloppy repair work told tales from another night, as the suns rays reflected through the shattered remains clinging to the metal frame.
Light danced through the dark, hollow room, illuminating only tiny patches of little significance. The girl lay on her side, staring straight in front of her into the large, simple fireplace. Her weariness ate at the forced consciousness she'd been fighting to keep, fighting to sift through how she managed to get herself into this mess. She pulled the thick comforter up to her chin, her eyes glinting with the fresh onslaught that she'd worked so hard too keep at bay. Their pain was immense. Someone's cruel idea of a joke; This curse. To keep someone from ever attaining full happiness while always living with something someone who shared your skin did... it would drive the strongest person insane after a few months. But this Angelus, he'd been at it for more than a century. She had to fix this. To right the wrong some cruel Satan worshiper produced. No one should have to suffer eternally for someone else's doing. she would fix this if it killed her.
But how?
His arms coiled around her waist, pulling her soft body against him. He loved her, and they both suffered for it. The girl promised release. A way to turn it all around. A way to keep Buffy with him forever. He trusted her. She had soulful, kind eyes. Eyes that seemed to absorb the pain, the suffering, and in turn release goodness, warmth, comfort. She was their only hope. He just wished she knew how to begin. Softly, he kissed Buffy's hair, and she lightly stirred in her deep sleep.
Always and forever. I promise.
The blackness choked her like a wet rag over her face. The pain stemmed forward, kissing her feet, the palms of her hands. Flashes of blinding light showed her the way. The man, Strong and broad shouldered, with a mop of shaggy blond hair, reached towards her; through her. She gasped as his hand passed through her throat like she wasn't there. another flash, and there was a woman. Tall, and willowy, she collapsed in his arms, her body writhing in agony. "Come back," He wept, his tears streaking down her face. Her eyes snapped open, blinding red light escaped from the irises, enveloping her... tearing her to shreds. He screamed in agony and collapsed to the floor, his hands beating at the ground as he wept. The darkness swallowed him, and from it she heard the voice of purity and compassion.
"No soul, no wolf." Her eyes snapped open and she sat straight up.
"No soul, no wolf."
"It's been done before." Pacing across the tile floor, her thumbnail chewed to the nub.
"What's been done before?" Buffy asked from her perch on the circulation desk.
"The transformation. It's been done before, but it failed."
"Well, that's swell. Lets try that route." The dark haired boy, who smelled terribly of canine which made her head spin, snapped.
"Xander-"
"It failed because he tried it on someone without a soul. Just a hollow shell sporting a demonic possession." She said, placing her gnawed nail back into her mouth.
"But, Angel has a soul." Willow piped in.
"Indeed."
"This could work. What exactly do you plan to do to him though?" The librarian, Giles, asked. The girl stopped her pacing and faced them.
"I'm going to destroy the vampire." She said, her mouth breaking into a splitting smile.
"Is this really going to work?" Angelus asked from his position against the wall. No one answered, they all just watched as The girl entered the room, fully in the nude. Everyone was mute.
"Um, Wow." Xander said, averting his eyes in reverence. Angelus focused on her face, while Buffy stared off at the opposite wall.
"Get on with it." She pleaded, sounding tortured.
The girl inhaled deeply, and pulled her long honey colored hair over one shoulder, and bent to Angelus's level.
"Drink." She commanded in a slightly uneven voice.
Angelus hesitated for barely a moment before she grasped the back of his neck and forced him to come to her. His teeth sliced through her skin and she groaned in pain. Angelus clung to her like a life line.
Her blood was so sweet, so unlike any blood he'd ever tasted before. He felt his stomach rising with warmth and power. He stopped before he'd fully drained her, and pulled away slowly.
She cleared her throat, let her hair fall back into place, and placed her hands on Angelus's bare chest. Focusing her energy, She pulled with all her strength; absorbing the demonic entity and the vampirism until she had every last drop. Oh how her body quaked and rippled with agony. She slipped to the ground, her bare body convulsing on the floor as her inner self fought for control of the vessel. The strongest of the two, the one who lived the longest in her won, and cast the demon and the curse into the air about them in a thick, choking fog. Wafting up to the rafters above.
"Now!" She croaked, flinging her hands toward the mass of energy.
Giles, Xander and Willow threw three jars of holy water straight up, drenching the cloud of darkness in purifying rain. The cloud seemed to scream in agony as it sizzled into oblivion. Catching her breath, she turned to the unconscious body on the floor. Stretching her arms above her head and willing her all, She shifted into her purest form.
The wolf was large, thickly banded with muscle and sinew; but was somehow graceful and beautiful. The gray and brown-red of her coat trembled slightly as she approached the vessel. Nudging her way in, she grasped his neck in her teeth and bit down.
Blood pooled into her mouth and down her throat, nearly strangling her with the massive amount that sprang forth almost immediately. Slowly she pulled back, letting her tongue dance lightly over the wounds to stop the bleeding. She felt the others watching her with fascination and fear. She could smell the fear.
"She's not like Oz," Willow whispered from somewhere behind her.
The body at her feet writhed and contorted in strange ways as the change overtook him. Buffy rushed to his side and grasped him tightly, willing him to make it through this. Angelus's eyes snapped open, darting around him, not focusing on anything. Buffy's tears landed on his face, streaking down his cheeks and into his mouth. He licked the saltiness from his lips, and pushed himself up, looking straight into her eyes.
"Buffy," he whispered as buried his face in her hair.
She began laughing and crying with Joy that the transformation had worked.
"You smell like juniper."
The wolf relaxed, sitting on her haunches as the couple embraced for a time. Soon, though, she would need to introduce him to his new world. Slowly, the wolf became a girl once again and everyone watched as Giles draped a blanket over her shoulders. Angelus looked alert and ready.
"It's time," She whispered to him.
A deep growl reverberated in his core, and she joined him.
"Time for what?" Xander asked.
"to prove himself," Giles whispered.
The girl stood, letting the blanket hit the floor at her feet as she reached her hand towards him.
He grasped it as he stood, watching her every move.
"Are you ready?" She whispered.
Angelus nodded slightly.
"Hope you can keep up," She lightly challenged.
Lightening fast, she dashed through the room and towards the door, leaping over the sectional and landing as a wolf on the other side. The need was primal, and Angelus followed, easily copying her and tearing after her. Buffy smiled slightly at seeing him shift. He made a gorgeous wolf. Larger than the girl, but that was to be expected. A light gray pelt with slivers of black slicing through the length of his body.
Her claws dug furrows in the soft earth as she skidded around a tree, panting happily. Racing the moon, and her newest pack-mate. The others will have to be informed; Her alpha mind formulated. Yes, but for right now, let's enjoy the hunt.
The massive gray and black wolf closed the gap between them and stretched to keep up with her. Sure, he was large, But his muscles were new and unaccustomed to this rigorous challenge. She, on the other hand, had been at this for years, and was more wolf than human, and completely capable of leaving him eating dust. He began gaining ground in front of her, and she wasn't about to have that. Howling happily at the half moon, she launched forward and let the wolf have her.
She lay curled up in her bed; the mass of comforters seeming to swallow her. Quietly, he slipped into her bed, wrapping his arms around her body and kissing her soft neck. For the first time in a century, blood lust was the furthest thing from his mind. Softly, she stirred and rolled deeper into his embrace, absently kissing his bare chest. His heart raced in his chest, the feeling of having her in his arms, of knowing that nothing, not even himself, could ever come between them ever again made him swell with happiness and pride. Buffy would always and forever be his mate.
Despite the hangover like headache thumping in her mind, She carried herself as an alpha, looking every threat in the eyes and refusing to show weakness. Her senses seemed slightly dulled and her back ached. The adrenal rush of creating a new wolf from impossible odds had fueled her body past normal, or perhaps, abnormal standards.
Oh, now she was suffering for it.
A small flash of blonde slammed into her from down a corridor on her side. She barely had time to react.
She growled murderously, and Buffy jumped back.
"Um, sorry... I don't usually do things like that..." She said, messing with the tip of the braid flung over her right shoulder.
She had to force herself to focus on what Buffy had said.
"No- no, it's fine. Totally understandable." She readjusted her camouflage pack uneasily.
"Look, I just wanted to thank you. What you did for us- for him; I know it couldn't have been easy."
"Yeah... Easy." She felt herself sway and snapped at herself to stay still.
"Are you okay? You're not looking so hot." Buffy inched towards her.
"I'm fine." She swayed again.
"Okay, you're not fine. C'mon." Buffy grabbed her forearm and dragged her one corridor over and through the swinging library doors.
She straightened her back and rearranged her face to alpha composure. Xander sat slouched on the table in the middle of the room, his face buried in a thick volume. As the doors swung shut, he looked up and closed the book.
"Hey, Buff." He said as he slipped off the edge of the table.
Buffy returned the greeting and watched him, his eyes cautiously darted between the two. She gazed straight into his eyes when they would meet her. He adjusted uneasily under her scrutiny. Why? Why do you smell so of canine, yet are fully human? Why do you carry yourself as an Alpha? He cleared his throat. "So, um, how's Angel?"
"He-"
"Angelus is doing well. He is a strong wolf, and will be a profound hunter." She knew the question was directed to Buffy, but she thought the jab at strength might twist in his gut; maybe cause him to give something away.
No such luck. He looked at Buffy again, his mind no doubt replaying the question.
Buffy shifted her weight uneasily, her hands rubbing her crossed arms.
"He's fine, I guess. He took off this morning right before my mom came in." Xander took a step back.
"He slept with you?"
"Yeah. I mean, no. Um... Kind of?" Buffy floundered, trying to say what she meant.
Xander's eyes demanded that she explain herself. Once more, Buffy shifted uneasily.
"No, Xand, we didn-"
"Buffy, it's a simple question,"
"And one that is none of your business." The trio turned to find Angelus standing in the shadows in front of the library doors.
He stood taller, his head tilted forward in the scrutinizing gaze of a predator. She could sense his wariness from across the room.
"Old habits die hard," He whispered.
She smiled and held out her hand, inviting him into the light. Angelus grasped his Alpha's hand tightly and let her lead him slowly into the light. His eyes slipped shut, and she watched as he reveled in the warmth.
What must it be like to never watch a sunrise? To never rest in the shade of an oak? She pondered this heavily, sorrow eating at her core for her pack-mate. Coming back to reality, she realized she was facing a standoff. Angelus towered over Xander; his body quavering with authority. Xander's body was slightly crouching, but his eyes remained locked on Angelus's. If she didn't step in, someone could be killed.
"Enough. Stand down, The both of you." She commanded, her voice ringing with authority.
Angelus deflated, breathing out and snapping to focus on some far off object. Xander scoffed.
"What are you, My mother?"
Bad move, Kid.
Inches from his nose, her extended canines gnashed together in a threatening manner.
"Do not make me remind you of your place, Human." She growled.
Xander trembled lightly, perspiration dewing on his forehead. She barked a light snarl, and turned away; Suddenly disinterested in this human who smelled of her kind.
"You smell so amazing." His hot breath sent shivers through her body.
His mouth inches from her throat, now her ear, now resting on her collar bone. deliberately, he let his tongue dance over the sensitive spot where her neck and shoulders met, then his lips assaulted her already abused neck. Not that she minded in the least.
"And you know, I could bite you. Hell, I could give you a hickey, and it would do nothing for me; except make me need a cold shower." His words reverberated through her, making her mouth dry.
"Shut up and kiss me." She moaned breathlessly.
He obeyed. His mouth smashed down on hers, his hands running through her blonde hair, pressing her against him, keeping her close.
"Buffy," He moaned and he trailed his way down her body
. He openly worshiped her; every inch of her. He kept waiting for the blood lust to return, for the pain of being this close to her to ignite the burning in his throat that he had endured for so long. Hell, right now all he wanted was to make sure she was his forever. The thin little tank top she had worn to school provided no protection whatsoever, and now lay shredded to pieces on his bedroom floor.
"Angel," She moaned against his mouth.
His hands ripped open her bra, exposing her feminine mounds. He rolled her under him, spreading her legs and wrapping them around his torso. Bending at the waist, he brought her left breast to his lips. He exhaled heavily, finding satisfaction in the way the skin beaded up, and how it grew taught. His mouth engulfed it, swirling his warm tongue around, loving the way her nipple responded to him. Buffy arched her back, pressing herself into him, grinding against him; Making him sex crazed. He growled haughtily at her teasing.
"Keep that up and this won't last very long." He threatened, his voice mimicking the deep rumbling in his chest.
"Just keep going." Her voice breathy and light, she pleaded with him not to stop.
"I love you,"