Leah eyed the suddenly alert group around her. Their reaction did not fit the situation. She cocked her head to the side and focused on her hearing. There must be a road nearby since Leah heard a car slowing down nearby. Most of the gathering disappeared into the wood.

Leah stood facing the direction of the sound, her body tense. Sean and Penelope stood beside her, Fabian was behind her. It occurred to Leah that she was vulnerable and would soon be boxed in. Leah didn't even consider before morphing into an eagle shape and flying into the trees. She alighted onto a strong branch, her senses still focused on the group beneath her.

None had moved in the past few minutes. The car approached slowly and halted within feet of the motionless trio. It was some red sports car. Leah tried not to know about cars and tried to forget everything she found out when running with the pack. She knew it looked new, flashy, and expensive. A huge man emerged. Leah smelt vampire, sweet and cloying, even from far above. She wanted to vomit. If it were possible, Leah became more stationary, focusing all her energy on hearing and seeing the exchange so she could give a full report.

"Sean, Penelope." The man paused. "Fabian." The last name obviously tasted bad in the vampire's mouth. "Where is the rest of your people?"

"They are safe. What do you want Morgan?" Sean's voice was cold. The vampire stood in front of Sean as if daring him to attack. The bloodsucker's mouth was shaped into a cruel smile.

"I'm afraid we may have found a couple of your people on your own near Laramie." He shook his head in a hideous parody of sympathy. "I hope you won't miss them."

The trio tensed, and then relaxed. "Of course, it was unavoidable." Sean looked at the woman beside him. "Penelope, can you find out who it was?" Penelope simply nodded, her eyes not leaving the creature.

"I'm sorry I can't help. You know you all look alike." The vampire was patently insincere.

"You've done enough." Fabian said through gritted teeth. The bloodsucker's smile widened and he glided to a stop in front of the gentle giant.

"It will never be enough until you are all exterminated." He bent close to Fabian and whispered something Leah could not hear and backed away. Fabian's face was white.

The vampire laughed. "I'll be seeing you all again soon." The vampire got back into his car. His tires squealed as his car whipped around and he returned to the dirt road.

Leah spent several moments debating her next move with herself. Should she join them? Technically she was allied with a vampire coven, but this vampire was obviously not human-friendly. Deciding not to care, Leah flew to the ground where the trio had once stood. The camp looked deserted now. She morphed into her mountain lion shape and followed their trail. It led to the North, toward her Nick.

Leah's grin was feline as she followed the path. It took her less than a minute to catch up to the 3 humans. They did not seem surprised by her appearance and she would have morphed into a human again if not for her smelling more people. She still had no clothes and wasn't going to walk all naked among them again.

It took several hours, but they met a small group of humans containing Lillian, Nick, Maggie, and Reina. They were obviously on guard but allowed Leah to pass with the others into the center of the group. Most of the group were standing around, a few weeping. There were humans from many ethnicities and of many ages, quite a few teenage and younger, and all wearing the odd uniform of jeans and a tshirt. Leah looked for any spare clothes. She wasn't modest or anything, but she didn't want to be naked in the circumstance. Leah spotted a large parka within feet and morphed and grabbed the parka within seconds. This had to be one of the quickest transformations she'd ever accomplished.

Suitably attired, Leah walked up to Nick, who stared at her impassively. Leah couldn't tell what he was thinking. Somehow, Leah could not hold onto her anger in the face of his awesomeness. She did try and turned away from him for a moment to look at the Sean, Penelope, and Fabian who were speaking in hushed tones with others in the group.

Leah felt hands on her arms and they turned her back to him. He was holding her tightly, tight enough to bruise. It looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn't. Leah knew this was not the time for a private conversation. They were still surrounded by others and Leah didn't know if she wanted to hear what he would say. Who was the mother of the 2 urchins anyway?

"Attention People." Sean yelled and everyone stared at him. "We have a situation. The Bloodsuckers have found us again." Leah almost grinned at his use of the familiar, and uncomplimentary, term. "Ideas."

A older woman, with gray streaked blond hair and an ample figure said, "We have to prepare to fight." Others around her nodded.

"No." A short man with brown hair and beautiful green eyes shouldered through the crowd to stand beside her. "We cannot risk more death. We need only move on again."

"Where is there left to go?" The blond woman countered.

The man paused before answered and gathered his breath. "We need to go back to Transylvania. They will never look for us there since they drove us away."

The woman's laugh was bitter and most of the crowd looked at the man as though he were crazed and foaming at the mouth. "We will NOT go gently to our deaths. We must fight and battle like those before. We are an ancient and venerable race and if we are doomed to destruction, it must be on our terms, not as a herd of gazelles with stragglers picked off one by one by the suckers." Several of the group cheered.

"We will be slaughtered." The short man looked at Sean with pleading eyes.

"Not before taking a good many of them out." The woman's voice was determined.

"Silence Dimitri, Sariah. We have much to consider. We are the last of the werewolf race and cannot squander ourselves on hopeless vendettas." Sean turned away from the crowd. His back to them, he said, "If this is all you can think of, I am going to the river to meditate."

Leah realized Nick was still holding her arms. He noticed in the same instant and dropped his hands as if burned. Leah grabbed his right hand and gestured to the woods. He was hesitant, but nodded. "Dimitri, can you watch Maggie and Reina?" The little man nodded and Nick allowed Leah to pull him into the woods.

After a few moments, Nick began to pull against Leah's hands. "They shouldn't be able to hear us out here. Most lose their werewolf gifts when human."

Leah didn't know where to start, but knew her questions would need to be answered and soon. She was having trouble maintaining her shape in her frustration.