The Taxi Ride

Chapter Eight: The Offer

I was angry.

I was mad.

I was furious.

I was beyond livid! Of course Bella just so happened to be friends with a damned mutt! And it was just my luck that he had caught me in the car with her. He knew. He knew what I was doing in this town, or more correctly, to it. He knew I was the one who sucked dry those people. And that I was a potential threat to Bella.

He was going to try to stop me, that much was certain. The only question was how? Did he have other mutts here with him? Or was he the only one? I knew they usually traveled in packs.

Shit, would I have to move places? I had left early the car ride so I could lay down a false trail in case he decided to track me. But it wouldn't work for long. I had to come up with a plan to get him off my case.

Damn it, if only I had scented him earlier. But I had been so focused on Bella's scent that I had failed to notice anything else of importance and this was very fucking important, the fact that there was a werewolf on my ass.

I paced around my room in a blur of nervous and agitated energy. What was I going to do now? I had to substantially speed up my plan, either that, or kill the mutt. I really didn't like fighting and putting myself in danger. I was all about self preservation and if that meant turning tail and running and abiding my time then so be it. I wouldn't mind looking like a coward as long as it meant I had survived.

But he had no right separating me from my long awaited prize.

Which meant I would have to take him on head first.

I stopped my pacing and squared my shoulders. It was time to find him.


It helped that he was looking for me, because it made my job in finding him much easier. I found him pacing the radius of where I lived, hands in his pockets and smelling like dog and alcohol. "You sure you should be looking for me, given your inebriated state?"

He snapped his head to me, dark eyes gleaming in the night. He stopped in his searching and stood still, glaring at me from the street. I lounged carefully on the store roof, my relaxed posture a front. My muscles were all tensed, ready for a fight.

"I know it's you who is behind all the murders in this town."

"Are you really sure it's me? Could be a group of kids interested in the pagan arts," I loftily reiterated what the news had told me.

"You and I both know that's not true-"

"I don't know, I think it might be true." My light tone of voice was insulting to him.

I could hear his rising growl but he made no hasty moves. "Stop joking around. You're terrorizing this town and I won't let you continue doing that."

"It's a free world, pup. Who died and made you protector of this town?"

"It doesn't matter if I'm the protector or not. I simply cannot let a cold one like you harm other humans. It's my job and my duty to my pack to bring you down."

"Seems you're a long way from your pack. Where are they?" I needed to find out if there were more like him. If there were then I needed to split town and quickly.

"I don't need my whole pack to bring you down. I'm enough to do that." He stood up taller, drawing to his full height to intimidate me. I wasn't intimidated. I was right. He was a young pup. Probably hadn't undergone the werewolf transformation too long ago, and he was struggling to learn the ropes, without his pack. Everyone knew that werewolves never took on opponents alone unless they were pack-less.

I no longer felt as threatened by him, and I allowed a lazy smirk to grace my lips. "How adorable. But it seems to me you're more bark than bite."

He wasn't fond of that statement given how he growled but he didn't move to attack. "I'm going to give you a day to move out. By tomorrow sunset I better not see or smell you around here, got that?"

"You're not going to outright kill me?" I asked, a touch surprised. Werewolves always leapt at the opportunity to tear vampires apart, as the two of our species were mortal enemies. Was it because he didn't have the support of his pack?

"I'm being generous. I like to avoid conflict and killing when possible, something you don't share a sentiment for, given the trail of dead bodies. But don't mistake my kindness for weakness. If you are not out I will destroy you, and in the most horrid of ways." He bared his teeth at the end and I bared mine right back as my mind whirled. He was not going to attack me and was giving me time to go. He was scared to take on a full fledged vampire like me, that was certain. And it was possible he was also scared for Bella and for the residents of this town. He didn't want to take unnecessary risks. Which gave me leeway to work with this opening.

"I'll take your offer."

"Really?" he choked out in surprise, then coughed to cover it up and said more gruffly. "I mean, that's a really good idea."

"I don't have any particular quarrel with you, and I'm done here anyways. I've had my fill of college students." I licked my lips at this and saw the unmistakable flash of anger in his eyes. I knew it was hurting him to let me go without some sort of punishment for the chaos I had reeked. But he would only get himself killed. It seemed he was a smart mutt. I had to give him credit there. And since he was letting me go, as long as I moved my new residency somewhere out of his range and took my meals from a neighboring town, then I could continue to stay here and hunt down Bella. I just had to be more careful about where she could see me.

I jumped down from the roof, landing in front of him. He didn't wince at the sound of my impact, or the way I had made sure to crack the concrete in a show of power. "But if I were you, pup, I would be more careful with how you deal with strangers. The next vampire might not be so kind."

He said nothing, just clenched his jaw. I smiled at him, then zoomed off, ready to pack up my stuff and make the move. I got everything ready in half an hour and made the switch the same night.

Using my vampire charms I was able to secure a new location for me. It wasn't as cozy as the last place. The outside looked like a run down warehouse, metal doors graffiti-ed and rusted. The inside was nicer, but was going to need some sprucing up. Nothing I couldn't easily do. This location I would be more secure in. It was in the lesser traveled to parts of town and I had made sure to mingle in with as many human scents on my way here as possible. It would even be hard for me to find my own trail.

As I flopped down on one of the beat up couches there, I closed my eyes briefly. I couldn't believe I was doing this all just for one human- first changing my form of lifestyle, then facing a werewolf, and then moving locations just to stay in town next to her. What was going on with me? It wasn't healthy for a vampire to act this way over a meal.

But some part of my mind told me she wasn't just any meal. But the meal of a lifetime.

And it was finally about time I tasted her.

A/N: So it seems Victoria has gotten Jake out of the picture...for now.