For a moment all Sasha felt was pain and he swore. The hit had been so unexpected it had actually landed smack on the bridge of his nose. Immediately his eyes started to tear up unable to ignore the strike to his sinuses. He moved his hand to underneath his nose and pulled it away to see the blood. Aw, for fuck's sake. He knew it wasn't broken and it only mildly throbbed but he was going to be stuck with his nose sniffling and possibly bleeding for the rest of the day.

Fine. She could go, let her get caught by Slayers and Sentinels. If she was going to be a bitch about the whole thing then she could die for all he cared. Trouble was he did care, a lot. There was an anxiety swirling in his stomach at the thought of any one of his hunters finding his female. She might not have accepted him, but he was still hers and he'd be damned if anyone else but him touched her.

Swearing again he ran upstairs. He had to follow Faith before she got herself into trouble. He would have normally turned straight into a wolf and loped after her. But with his nose bunged up with blood he wouldn't be able to scent her very well. He would have to wait 'til it healed a bit before transforming. Running into the bathroom he hunted through the cupboards; the warm blood now trickling onto his upper lip.

It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for and he delved into the box of tampons. It would be better if he could cut one in half, but he didn't have time to hunt for scissors so he shoved one tampon up each nostril, wincing in a very unmanly way at the sharp pain. Satisfied he grabbed his shirt out of the bedroom before rushing out the house and after the Slayer.

Outside he followed his instinct and turned left. It was a hot day, no surprise, in New Orleans. He felt strained, he didn't like being in human form during the day, it itched underneath his skin. Unlike some of the younger wolves he had no problem holding this form in daytime, but it still didn't feel right.

Rushing off in the direction he hoped she had taken. He knew people were staring, he wanted to snarl at them but he had pressing matters, and he did have two tampons sticking out of his nose so he kind of understood where they were coming from. He heard her voice so he slowed to a walk. If he caught completely up to her she would probably freak out again and he didn't need another hit to the nose. It had stopped hurting but he still felt bunged up and his eyes were still watering.

She was asking about mates. That was a good sign, until she said she didn't want a partner. But at least that meant it wasn't a personal insult. He could to a certain degree understand how she felt. He was independent, ruthless not to mention hunted, he was in no position to accommodate a mate, nor did he want to. He didn't even know if he liked her. All he did know was he would be impotent if they didn't accept each other and he did not want to spend the rest of his life without sex. Especially after last nights example.

He didn't know where she was heading, just some sort of aimless journey, they were on St Ann's street and he thought for a moment she might've been heading down Bourbon but she just kept going. Despite his nose still feeling bunged up from the hit he could smell the sandalwood on her easily. He enjoyed stalking her, made him feel like the wolf he was, chasing his prey. She probably knew he was following her, she wasn't a slayer for nothing. But he doubted she could pin point his location. He was good.

Ah, she was going to Decatur Steet. She made her way to Café du Monde and he waited outside, hidden. His senses were on high alert. He didn't want to run into anyone today. Especially anyone who worked at Sanctuary, he didn't want it getting to anyone he was now mated. The queues were often long in the café but he knew when she hadn't come out for a while she was deliberately sitting inside.

He heard a noise behind him, he turned and immediately snarled at the man he was now faced with.

'You're fine then,' Zarek stated looking down at the Sasha. He didn't know why the pyschopath had decided to drop by but he wasn't happy. Just what the hell did Astrid see in this moron. 'Tampons?' Zarek didn't laugh but the humour was in his eyes.

'Shut up,' Sasha snapped.

'You should learn not to take your PMS out on strangers. Do you want to talk about your feelings?'

Sasha growled low in his throat. 'Why are you here?'

'Astrid was worried.'

'Why?'

'Overheard her sisters talking about you. She wasn't that bothered at the time but she tried to see you at Sanctuary. Obviously you weren't there.'

'She could have come now herself.'

'She was up with Bob all night. I offered.' Sasha often considered himself tough, but while Sasha may be a grade B badass Zarek was grade A and top of the class. Yet, when it came to Astrid the man was softer than a kitten. Would Faith make him act that way?

'What did the fates say?'

'She didn't hear anything more than your name,' Zarek replied. He looked at Sasha for a moment his staring into him. 'You've found your mate.'

'Yes.' There was no point in denying once Zarek had sensed it. It just made Sasha hate him more. There seemed to be a smirk in Zarek's eyes but as usual his face remained impassive.

'Poor woman.' Zarek stated and then he was gone. Sasha just stared at the space for a moment. On the bright side Zarek would probably tell Astrid about the mate but no one else. When it came to personal things Zarek was the prince of keeping silent. However, the fact he was wearing tampons in his nose would be circling through everyone he knew this very moment.

Sasha was brought back to Faith when he scented her leaving the café. She was probably annoyed he was still stalking her, tough, he was going to keep at it anyway. Her safety was far more important than her liking him. After all it's not as if she could like him if she was dead. Though, if the Katagaria Slayers got hold of her she'd face something worse than death. They weren't known for their mercy.

He looked around the corner to spy her swaying hips as she sashayed out of the restaurant, she was doing it deliberately. That much was obvious by the way she looked behind herself to smirk. He was struck again by how she made his blood race. All he wanted at that moment was to take her home and repeat the previous night's escapades. As a Were-hunter he had no problems with stamina, but after their first time Faith had rolled over and fell immediately asleep. It had shocked him, he was ready for round two and she was out for the count.

He waited till she had turned into the next street before following her. He stopped. They had found her. Pulling the tampons out of his nose he transformed himself to his natural state, not caring for the ripped remains of his clothes. He couldn't scent who it was which meant that he had never met them before, they smelt like Sentinels. Katagaria may be vicious with their punishments but Sentinels were humans and they would be more sadistic with their torture. It was often the case that if an Arcadian woman ever mated with a Katagaria they would punish her by handing her over to the unmarried Arcadians to be raped, so she was treated like the animal she was mated to, apparently not many survived. It made Sasha sick, they said Katagaria needed to be put down because they were nothing but violent animals, it seemed to Sasha they needed to look closer in the mirror.

He darted around the corner.

Faith was standing facing three Arcadians, only one was a Sentinel. They must have only stumbled upon her by accident. They may not even be interested in him. He stayed back, they may not pay attention to his scent on her but they would notice him parading about in public.

'Sasha's mate,' one grinned. Oh well, so much for that theory.

'He's the one that got away with murder,' another one said. This one was had short dark blond hair, he was masking the scent of his animal. Faith wasn't moving, she just stared at them, if she was smart she would have worked out from what Sasha said that these men were deadly.

'And?' She commented. 'Who hasn't gotten away with murder at one time or another?' Ok so maybe she wasn't smart. The blond haired one was obviously offended by the comment.

'He rallied against a god! He is obviously a Slayer. He was judged incorrectly!' the Arcadian shouted.

'Against a god, hmm? I would say I have as well but that would be a lie. Buffy did that. Unless you count the First as a god; in which case yes I did.' She placed one hand on her hip and even in wolf form Sasha wanted to cover that hand with his own.

'You're not Katagaria,' the third one stated. He was shorter than the other two with black hair.

'Wow, you're clever, sorry I'm all out of gold stars. I'm leaving now.' She began to walk around them but one grabbed her shoulder. She turned to face him. 'You're powerful, I get that. But I will make you suffer if you lay your hand on me again.' Pride swelled within Sasha, she was magnificent. The Arcadian genuinely looked shocked at what she said and loosened his grip. She continued walking. The one with the blond hair transformed into a jackal and he pounced. She reacted instantly; she spun round and landed a kick on the jackal's jaw. He landed poised ready for another attack.

Sasha sprinted forwards and positioned himself next to Faith. He fought his urge to stand in front of her; he felt if he did she would pull his tail. He crouched low, his ears flat against his head. The jackal stepped back looking to the other two. He was probably waiting for orders.

'Hello Sasha.'

What do you want with me? He projected the thoughts into the Sentinel's head.

'One more animal that needs putting down. Where is Bast to help your blood lust now?'

That was nearly four hundred years ago, you need to stop living in the past.

'Is your insanity in the past?'

I am not Slayer. I never was. Leave her out of this.

'She is mated to you she is equally responsible.'

She has declined.

'That is unfortunate for you but changes nothing. She shall be killed along with you.'

'You can try,' she scoffed. Sasha had to appreciate her confidence no matter how much it was misguided. Then again it was two against three; they could be in with a chance if the other jackal was as shit as the first. The sentinel would prove the issue, he wondered if Fury was around. He hated that damn alpha but he knew he would fight alongside him as Lykos if the jackals attacked. Would Constantine get involved then? If he did this would end up on a large scale, maybe even being brought before Savitar. No one wanted that. So utilising the help of Fury, Fang or Vane was not an option. Not to mention he had no way of getting their attention.

He growled. Snapping his jaws in their direction as a warning. Faith was in a stance. The one already transformed didn't wait for an order, he launched himself at Sasha who moved to the side and went for the jackal's neck. The jackal was quick though and managed to move out the way and go for another attack. They continued this way for a while. He risked a glance out the corner of his eye to notice Faith fighting with the other Arcadian in human form. She seemed to be keeping up well enough. However, the brief moment he wasn't focusing on his fight was all the Jackal needed. He locked his jaws around Sasha's neck.

The bite wasn't deep but it hurt like a bitch. Sasha reacted instantly to bite his way through the jackals throat as he moved away. The blood filled his mouth soaking his teeth. The jackal backed off. His neck crimson with blood. He would live, but not if he didn't get help. Sasha looked back to Faith ignoring the pain blossoming over his neck. He ran to attack the Sentinel but he was already transporting with the injured jackal. The one fighting Faith also vanished. He had no doubt they would be back later.

Faith turned to look at him. She had a bruise appearing at the corner of her mouth and she had a couple of claw marks on her arms but nothing major. She frowned and knelt down in front of him. She had dark coffee eyes and they roamed over his wolf form. He felt agitated, he fought the urge to attack her on instinct. Her hand reached to his neck and examined the injury. She pulled it away, her fingers crimson with his blood.

He wanted to tell her he was fine but he didn't think he could communicate with a Vampire Slayer, so he returned to his human form; summoning clothes from his room at Sanctuary. His injury hurt even more as a human but it wasn't bad enough for him to need to stay as a wolf.

'Are you ok?' Sasha asked.

'Five by five,' she replied eyes locked firmly on him. 'Hungry?'

'What?'

'I get hungry after a fight and you have some more explaining to do. I fancy gumbo. But then I would miss watching Maury if we went out. We could get takeaway and head back to mine?'

'They will be back. If we head to Sanctuary we will be protected while we talk. You can watch your Maury in my room and they serve gumbo.'

'Alright.' Sasha was shocked she had agreed and even more perturbed at having all of Sanctuary realise what was going on. But if he was going to explain why every Were-Hunter wanted him dead he didn't want to get interrupted by angry jackals. 'But I want beer with my gumbo.'

'Done.'