I know, two updates in a week! Thanks to those of you who reviewed! Keep it coming!

When dinner time rolled around, Damon looked to Anika, "Hey, Glinda, you gonna go fix some food?"

Anika arched a perfectly groomed eyebrow at him, "It's not the middle ages anymore, Damon. Besides, you don't want me cooking. Potions and brews, I'm the master, but cooking..." She made a face, "not my thing. Matt was the cook in our family, and he and Jeremy are a little busy."

The two older boys were currently trying to catch Henrik, and having very little luck. Hen was quick and much more used to having to evade an attack than Jeremy and Matt were. As the youngest, Henrik had been beat up on more than his share of times, and had learned at a young age when to get out of the way. Right now he had climbed up between two trees and was having a ball, laughing like a fool, throwing pinecones down at Matt and Jeremy who were trying to figure out how the hell he got up the tree in the first place.

"I'll order pizza. That's pretty much all we eat when we're here." Damon said grudgingly, peering up at Henrik in the tree, "If he can climb trees like that, how did he get killed by a werewolf?"

Anika gave him a dark look, "They knock the tree over." She ran a hand through the front of her blond hair. "Wolf packs, they're tenacious. The only reason I wasn't killed was because Mathias was aware enough to stop them. When they lock onto prey, they will follow it to the ends of the Earth. "

Damon chuckled, "I know you're new to this millennium, but you do know the Earth is round, right?"

"Fuck off, Damon." Anika snapped, stomping into the house.

Matt looked up to the porch, hearing the whip in Anika's voice, "Ani?" He saw the door slam behind her and found himself stalking up the porch steps and glared at Damon, "What did you say?"

Damon looked unsettled for once, "I was just joking."

Matt rolled his eyes, "You know what, Damon, sometimes I wonder what's wrong with you."

As he went into the house, Damon called, "I'm ordering pizza!"

Anika was standing in front of the fireplace, staring at the flames, "Damon's a jerk. Being rude is pretty much normal for him." Matt said, coming up behind her to wrap his arms around her thin body.

She leaned back into him with a sigh, "So I've gathered. He didn't mean anything by it. I'm just being a sensitive bitch. I've been all over the place today. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. What did he say anyway?" Matt asked gently, relishing in being so close to her. The entire time he and Jeremy had been getting schooled by Henrik, he'd been resisting the urge to drop what he was doing and run to her.

Anika closed her eyes when he skimmed his lips against the side of her neck, but forced herself to answer, "Something about the Earth being round. I'm not even really sure. I was just lost in my own head and it rubbed me the wrong way." Even though she really didn't want to, she pulled away from him, stepping out of the safe circle of his arms, "I should go apologize."

Matt caught her hand as she started towards the door, "Triska, wait." She stopped, looking questioningly at him, "Why do I want to be near you so badly?"

The corner of her mouth quirked up, "Like I said earlier. Full moon tonight. Instincts are heightened even when you aren't turning. I feel the same way. It's why Hen's able to climb the trees like that. Tonight, he's stronger and faster than any human fourteen year old. So are we. It'll take days for us to all stop being so keyed up." She pursed her lips, "You can't tell me you've never felt it before. The pull?"

Come to think of it, he could. It had never occurred to him that his abnormal behavior a few nights out of the month had anything to do with the lunar cycle, but now it seemed obvious. "I always did play my best football on nights near the full moon. Tyler too."

Anika laughed, sliding her hand more firmly into his, "Exactly. Even before the change is instigated, the instinct is there. Not the senses, but everything else, you get just a taste of it. Now can you see why Nik is such a pigheaded idiot? He has the power you're feeling tenfold coupled with how ever the hell it feels to be a vampire. I couldn't dream of all of that. Yeah, I'm a witch, but for the most part, my witchy ways have zero impact on me physically or emotionally." She shivered, "Full moons always leave me a little on edge. It takes a great deal of control to manage magic, and on full moons that control slips a little. Especially around you. The pull is harder to ignore when you're around others." She gestured to the doorway, "Nik got aggressive, Hen becomes half monkey, and I turn into a hormonal mess." She laughed, "I'd forgotten how much that part sucked." Anika tugged on his hand, "Come on. Pizza has got to be here by now. That place wasn't that far down the road."

The pizza girl was there, and Jeremy was falling all over himself while Henrik and Damon watched from the porch with scary similar looks of disdain. Matt pulled out his wallet and walked to his best friend, knowing the Gilbert boy didn't have his money on him. Anika watched them shrewdly, not liking how close the pizza girl was getting to Matt. The instant Jeremy had the pizza in his hands, Anika was off the porch and by Matt's side, pressing against him and shooting the other girl a look that clearly said 'back the fuck off'.

Damon gritted his teeth as the three teenagers returned to the porch and grabbed a slice out of the box, ignoring Jeremy's protest and retreating out of the way of the Mikaelson girl who suddenly resembled her sister a whole hell of a lot more. Anika glared at the pizza girl's truck the entire time she was pulling out of the dirt drive way, and the instant she was out of sight, all the males saw her take a deep breath and then relax completely, looping her arm around Matt's waist and leaning against him as they followed after the pizza.

Henrik, standing next to Damon, looked up at the vampire, "She's scary, isn't she?"

Damon laughed at the boy's expression and nodded, "She's a woman, kid. They are all scary."

Anika glared at them, "Damon, stop messing with his head. Hen, come get some pizza."

The fourteen year old bounded after his sister, leaving Matt and Damon alone on the porch, "She's a mess."

Matt grinned goofily, "It's the full moon."

Dinner was an awkward affair that entailed Matt and Jeremy eating pizza while trying to play video games at the same time. Henrik had tried to play, but he proved to be no match for them and was sulking at his sister's side as she watched every move Matt made with a predatory expression. Once she had finished eating, she slipped out the back door, Matt and Damon's eyes following her.

"I'll stay with her." Damon said, following her out the door. "What's up, Barbie?"

Anika grinned up at him from where she'd sat down on the porch, "Just watching the moon. It's strange not to hear the Pack running around."

"Having some separation anxiety?" Damon said, leaning against the railing next to her.

Anika shook her head, a smile on her face, "Nah, I just need an after meal meditation session. Full moons, they're for working magic you know. Living in the city's been an adjustment. It feels good to be out here."

Damon snorted, "Mystic Falls isn't exactly the most suburban city."

"I know." Anika said with a smile, "But Damon, I lived in the woods. Beka's house, it's huge, like crazy huge. I lived in a one room house. This adjustment is a big one. Being out here is better." She sighed and closed her eyes, "Does the full moon affect vampires?"

Damon looked up at the glowing orb, "No, I can't say it does."

The corner of her mouth quirked up, "That's a good thing. Someone needs to have their head on straight." A raven cawed from the woods, and though Damon was startled by it, Anika laughed, "He says you ate his brother."

"What?" Damon said, staring at the witch like she'd grown an extra head.

Anika opened her eyes and stood, holding out an arm. A black raven swooped in and landed on her proffered limb. She held the bird in Damon's direction, "He says that even though you killed his brother, he likes you." The bird cawed and Anika laughed, "Says you're part raven."

Recollection dawned on Damon's face, "I was in a tight spot and I drained a crow. That was his brother?" He shook his head, "You can talk to animals?"

Anika laughed again, "Not really, most animals can't really understand human speech. Being a witch is about being one with nature, and as a witch, I can understand what they say if I focus. It's like a part of my brain translates for me without letting me in on the finer details. I don't speak raven. He seemed like he had something to say though." She peered at the bird, and stroked a hand down the side of it's face, "What are you doing so far from home, Munin? Asgard is far away for one such as yourself." The bird made a laughing noise in reply.

Damon was giving her that look again, "You two know each other?"

She smiled like he was a stupid small child, "No, Damon. Munin was the name of a raven Odin used to transport his thought and mind. Asgard is what we called our heaven, the country of Valhalla." The bird cawed softly, as to back up her story, "I simply called him Munin because I knew it would make him laugh. Raven's have extraordinary memories, and they, like humans, pass down stories. Just a little joke between new friends."

"You are nothing like any other witch I've ever met." Damon admitted, thinking about all the witches he'd had contact with over his long life.

"Probably not. I'm half werewolf, which is strange, and I'm from a time when the magic was accepted. I was taught from birth the ways of being a witch. Ayana taught me everything she knew. I've heard Jeremy talk about spell books, but in my time, there were none. Everything a witch knew came from those before, and everything had to be put to memory. Your Bonnie is woefully untried. The more I think about it, the more I'm certain she needs a guide." The bird squawked. "Would you?" Anika asked, receiving another bird noise that to Damon sounded rude. It wasn't though, because Anika smiled and popped the bird into the air, "He's going to go check on her. He chastised me, said I should be looking after the young better. He's very disappointed in me. Also, he wants to chat with you once he returns."

Damon sighed, watching her sit down, "Why does the bird want to talk to me?"

Anika shrugged, "I don't know. He didn't say. He does like you though. It's a great honor to be favored by a raven." She could hear his why before he even said it. "Ravens are very loyal, Damon. That bird will do anything you ask him to."

"So I have a pet raven now?" Damon asked her, trying to wrap his head around everything.

Anika's nose wrinkled, "No, and don't let him hear you say that if you don't want to get bit. Just because he's your familiar, doesn't mean he won't have a temper towards you. I remember on more than one occasion Ayana being bitten by her sparrow because she'd insulted her. It's a great honor to be chosen to have a familiar." She smiled slyly at him, "I see what Elena sees though, and you are honorable."

"I'm not honorable. I'm lusting after my brother's girl. What's worse is she might only be feeling the things she's feeling because I want her to." Damon growled.

"Damon, back in my day, the girl was a free agent until someone put a ring on her hand. Don't push her away. Besides, Elena is more like Tatia than she'd like to think. I don't think those feelings are entirely fabricated." Anika advised him.

"So you and Matt." Damon said, wanting to vacate the Elena subject. He had enough pressure from everyone else. He was just glad that Elena hadn't come back to the lake house with them.

"Yeah." Anika said softly, "We're mates, you know. That's why he didn't kill me that first night." She groaned, taking in a deep breath of night air, "When I woke up and found out he was here, it took everything in me not to run to him, but I didn't want to hurt him. Now...he's confused, I'm confused, and those are just our issues. This cure thing has my head spinning. And that damned April girl..." She snapped her teeth together and made a hissing nose, "It's so like him to want to help her, but he's predictably bad about letting others in on his plan."

Damon peered at her, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about the sire bond, would you?"

Anika frowned at him, "Beka was yammering on about something like that... I could look into it, but Damon, vampires, they came after I did. I mean, besides this Silas tool, but I never heard of him." She bit her lower lip, "Actually, let me see..." She stood up in a move faster than any a full human could make and bounded off the porch with a childlike grace. She was humming to herself and looking at plants when Damon managed to pull himself together to catch up with her. She snatched a flower out of the ground with a triumphant cry, "Got it! Deerstongue." Anika held it out to him, "Keep this in your pocket once we get back to Mystic Falls. Also..." She spun away again, searching the underbrush, "Sage." She said, coming back to him with her hand out stretched. She took the deerstongue back and twined the two stems together. "That should work better. I'll see about coming up with a charm, but for now, Elena shouldn't be getting any supernatural feelings off you."

"Why are you helping me?" Damon scoffed, but pocketed the herbs anyway.

Anika smiled pleasantly, obviously in her element, roughing around in the forest, "Damon, I'm a witch. We are meant to live our lives in service of others. I did a terribly selfish thing, taking my own life, but I intend to make up for it." She looped her arm through his as they walked back to the house, "Besides, you could use a friend."

"Don't remind me." Damon grumbled.

Henrik was sitting on the porch when they got back, and Anika pulled away, "Hen, what's wrong?"

Henrik pointed to where Klaus was standing, his foot on Matt's chest as he flung Jeremy away. "Niklaus!" Anika yelled.

He looked over at them lazily, "Oh, sister. There you are. I was just helping Jeremy out. He needed some incentive." He punctuated his words by pressing his foot harder into Matt's chest, causing the boy to grunt in pain.

"Niklaus, get off of him right now." Anika said through clenched teeth, trying not to lose control and kill someone.

Klaus seemed to understand that it was in his best interest to listen to his sister and moved his foot off Matt. Anika was at Matt's side in an instant, glaring up at her brother, "Matt, are you okay?"

He coughed slightly, "Yeah, fine." Anika took his right hand in her own once she saw the cuts across his knuckles. Staring into his eyes, she drew her tongue gently along the wounds, and smiled in satisfaction when they closed. Matt hissed at the sudden tightness in his pants.

Anika grinned knowingly, "I told you you liked that." She helped him stand and glared at her brother, "Why are you really here, Nik?"

"They are here to grow Jeremy's mark." He said stiffly, "The real question is, what are you and Henrik doing here?"

Anika rolled her eyes, "Whatever we damn well please, Niklaus. We don't need your permission to go anywhere. You don't own us. Besides, I figured Hen and I could teach Jeremy a few things."

"Let's see it then." Klaus said crisply. "Because I need that mark done sooner than later."

Had to bring the raven back, for those of you that had forgotten the creepy fellow from season one. No, Anika isn't going to turn into a crazy person and talk to every animal she comes across...she's got too many siblings and hot dudes to worry about as well as just trying to survive being a supercharged teenager.

So I took things in this chapter a little farther in regards to more intimate scenes, and just wanted to know if anyone had a problem with that. At the beginning of this story, an 'M' rating wasn't really needed, but I'm getting the feeling more and more that there needs to be some more skin! Let me know what you think!

-Jenn