Jpov

"Alright ladies," Coach Taffot said stepping out of the office and into the gym. "We're playing soccer today. Jason, Chase, do your thing."

We walked over to the bleachers where Tani was standing by Alex, and the rest of the class followed suit.

"Heads or tails?" Chase asked pulling a coin out of his pocket and tossing it into the air.

"Heads." I said out of habit as he caught it in one hand, then flipped it to the back of the other.

"Sucks to be you." He said grinning as he checked the coin. "I go first. Lewis, you're on my team."

"Alex." I said automatically.

He grinned and made his way towards me as Chase chose Rachel to join his team.

After about five minutes, the teams were selected. Tani who, predictably, was chosen last, ended up on my team and I heard her talking to Alex as the class set up on opposite sides of the gym.

"Where should I play?"

"No where." He said amused. "Your hands might be able to create beauty with a pencil or a brush but you can't do much with your feet besides walk. Just stand to the side and try not to get hit with the ball."

"I can do that." She said cheerfully and wandered off towards a corner near the net goal that had been set up on our side of the court.

Still laughing slightly, Alex walked towards the middle of the gym with me to face off with Chase and Lewis.

"Ready?" I asked as Taffot tossed me the ball and I dropped it on the center line.

"To win?" Chase asked with a grin. "Yeah, I think we are."

"You guys are going down." Lewis said bouncing on his toes and I could tell he was already amped up. If he couldn't be fighting vampires then sports were the next best thing.

I grinned.

"We'll see." I said then kicked the ball into play.

Now that Alex was, as Lewis put it, 'wolf sized', even without Aster here the teams were pretty even. Neither team's goalies were very good so both sides were scoring a lot.

Alex had just made a goal giving us the advantage at eight to nine and the teams reset to continue the game. Just after the kick off, one of the more aggressive players on Chase's team, a boy named Justin, chased a ball that had deflected off Sarah's foot and landed right in front of Tani who, far from paying any sort of attention to the game, had been staring out into the hall.

Things seemed to move in slow motion as I saw what was about to happen, then very quickly as it did.

He crashed straight into Tani in his attempt to steal the ball and she, being as tiny as she was, went flying. A strange combination of rage and terror flooded through me as helplessly, I watched her slam into the wall, then collapse to the ground.

"Tani!" Alex and I shouted in unison as Taffot blew his whistle and we sprinted to check on her.

He dropped to his knees next to her just as I skidded to a halt, and helped her sit up against the wall.

"Are you ok?" Alex asked and I was vaguely aware of thinking that under any other circumstance, I'd be impressed he'd beat me to her, but that was quickly was being pushed out of my mind as panic flooded through me and my heart slammed against the inside of my chest.

I didn't even realize I was holding my breath until I released it in relief as she answered.

"Yeah," Tani said her voice tight with pain as she rubbed her head then winced, and glancing down at her wrist which was rapidly starting to swell.

"Can you move your fingers?" Alex asked lifting her arm gently and inspecting it.

She nodded while moving each individual digit.

"That's good," he said sounding relieved. "It's probably just a sprain."

But his words were drowned out as anger rose within me as I spotted Justin getting to his feet.

I wasn't aware of thinking it, in fact, I wasn't even aware of moving, but the next thing I knew I'd grabbed Justin by the shirt and shoved him against the wall.

"What the hell were you thinking?" I asked him furiously.

"What the hell man?" Justin shouted his eyes wide.

"She wasn't even playing!"

"It was an accident!" he insisted. "It's not my feet she's like two feet tall!"

"Let him go Jason."

Chase had run over with Lewis and Coach Taffot, but I ignored him and pushed Justin harder against the wall.

"Jason!" Taffot shouted but I ignored him getting ready to strike, sensing danger, both Lewis and Chase grabbed me.

"Alex!" Chase shouted as he and Lewis attempted to pull me away from Justin with little success. In my anger, I was stronger than both of them. "A little help!"

Alex darted forward and together they managed to pull me back a few steps, but I continued to struggle, still intent on beating the crap out of Justin for what he'd done.

"C'mon man!" Lewis shouted. "It was an accident."

"I don't care." I snarled. "Get off of me!"

Chase and Lewis were forced to obey.

"Uh guys…" Alex said awkwardly now that he alone was trying to restrain me, but I easily pushed him away. He stumbled into Chase, but I barely registered this. All I could think about was making Justin pay.

"Jason! Cut it out!" Taffot shouted but ignored him. I started after Justin who looked terrified.

Several people were shouting now, girls screaming, other chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!" Rachel and Sarah had made to our side of the gym. They were trying to get me to stop but I couldn't hear what they were saying. None of their words made it past my heart beat which was pounding in my ears, getting louder with each step I took towards him. I was so angry I didn't care what happened next.

I grabbed Justin again but a new voice broke the fury that was clawing through me, threatening to take me over. A voice I would have recognized anywhere.

"Jason stop!"

I froze as everything but Tani's voice was filtered from my mind. Everything including the intense fear and rage I'd just experienced at seeing her hurt.

"Let him go." She said and my hand released Justin's shirt without conscious thought.

I looked at her, everything around me seeming to move in slow motion as people continued to run and shout, but unlike the rest of the faces in the gym, hers didn't look scared. Her expression was hard to place, but when her eyes met mine I had a feeling she knew just as well as I did, that at that moment, I would do anything she told me to.

It was Alex's voice that brought me back to reality.

"Coach, I'm going to take Tani to the nurse." He said helping her to her feet. He was supporting most of her weight, and I noticed she'd refrained from standing on her right foot "I think she sprained her ankle too."

"I'm fine." She started but no one was listening to her.

"Have Jason do it." Chase said quickly, clearly worried that if she left the room my anger would return.

"I think Chase is right." Taffot agreed. "Jason walk Tani to the nurse. Take the time to cool off."

I didn't answer, but crossed the gym to where Alex was now leaning next to Tani supporting with her arm around his shoulders. He made to step out from under her arm but I didn't bother to take it. I simply picked her up and started walking towards the front of the school.

Neither of us spoke, and I could tell she was annoyed I was carrying her but was putting up with it just to make things easier.

Several of the administrators stared at us as we went through the main office to get to the nurse's room and when we got there she didn't tell us anything we didn't already know. Tani had sprained her ankle and her wrist.

The nurse asked Tani if she wanted to go home early, not that it would have mattered much. We had less than an hour left in the day.

In the end she gave Tani some Tylenol and a couple of ice packs, and told us to come find her in the main office if she needed any more. She then left us in extremely awkward silence to go file some medication forms.

"Alex said that it's been a while since you got into a fight." Tani, said as I wrapped her wrist with medical tape.

"Yeah." I agreed quietly. "It's been a while."

If you didn't include clashes between supernatural beings…

"So why'd you attack him?"

"You know why." I said adding another layer of tape for some reason afraid to look at her. She didn't sound angry, but I almost wished she was. I would have deserved it. I couldn't believe I'd almost lost control again. After all this time, when it came to her it was like all my sense was thrown out the window.

She shrugged.

"It wasn't that big of a deal."

"I don't like seeing you hurt." I said curtly.

"Like when Chase pushed me off the swings?"

"Well Chase of all people should have known better." I said.

"I guess you haven't changed much either."

"I guess not." I mumbled. "But I'm trying."

"Why?"

"Because at this rate, if you get hurt again I'm going to end up killing someone."

"I really don't understand you sometimes." She said quietly and I looked up from her wrist to see her giving me a cautious look.

She didn't look upset, more just curious. Like I was a puzzle she couldn't quite solve.

"I'm not really that complicated." I said unable to hold her gaze.

"Then how come no one knows what you and your friend's get up to?" she asked and I couldn't help but look at her.

"You're not supposed to ask me about that."

"I don't really care what the council thinks." She said her eyes searching mine.

"Well you should of all people should." I said cutting the tape.

"Me of all people?"

My answer was to look at the scars on her arm, the ones she hated so much and I as so very responsible for.

"What happened to you that night?" she asked. She'd obviously noticed me staring.

"I can't tell you Tani." I said softly.

"Because you don't want to, or you're not allowed?" she asked. I could tell by her tone that she really wanted this information, but was trying not to show it.

"Because I don't know." I said honestly brushing my thumb over one of the scars. I expected her to pull away from me but she didn't. "I don't remember."

"What do you think happened?"

"I don't know." I said honestly. "What I do know is that you shouldn't have been out there that night. You got hurt and that it's my fault."

She hesitated.

"Whatever I'm not supposed to ask you about. It's happening to Alex, isn't it?"

I didn't answer. I wanted to lie and tell her everything was fine but I couldn't. Not when she was looking at me with those eyes. They were beautiful, but they were also sad, and I could tell she knew something was happening to him that she couldn't stop.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" she asked eventually after a sigh.

"No." I said, hating myself for it.

"Why?"

"Because you're safer if you don't know."

"I don't care." She said fiercely.

"I do." I said softly.

"Why do you get to decide this for me?" she asked and I could tell she was starting to get angry.

I shook my head and let go of her wrist.

"You don't understand." I muttered turning and putting the tape away for an excuse not to look at her.

"I don't have to." She said. "I can see it. Whatever's happening to him, it's what happened to you. You think I don't remember?" she asked. "Do you really think I haven't noticed what's going on?"

Again I didn't respond.

"I don't want to lose my best friend again." She said quietly. "I don't want to lose Alex like I lost you."

She sounded so upset, I couldn't help but look at her no matter how difficult it was for me. It didn't seem hard for her though, her gaze didn't waver. She was looking at me as if she was daring me to say that she was wrong.

Just as it always did when I was around her, my restraint was starting to break. I stepped closer to her and placed a hand on the side of her face, not caring how much harder this would make staying away from her.

"You could never lose me." I said softly.

She blushed and turned away and as she did, something caught my attention. Her braid had slipped and I spotted it, the scar Rachel had mentioned.

It was faint, it must have happened years ago, but the sight the jagged, crescent shaped mark made my blood run cold.

"Tani." I said my voice low but it was shaking. I willed myself to keep calm as I brushed back her hair, running the tips of my fingers over the scar. There was no doubt in my mind what it was, but it couldn't be.

She didn't answer, but winced obviously realizing I'd seen it.

"Tani." I repeated my voice stronger now. "How did you get this scar?"

"You wouldn't believe me." She said shaking her head trying move away from me but I held her in place.

"You have to tell me." I said. "When did this happen?"

She looked up, her eyes searching mine obviously wondering if I would believe her, and I knew instantly we were thinking of the same thing.

"The night in the woods." She said softly looking down. My hand was still resting on her cheek and she seemed to gain a sort of comfort from this, because leaned towards it slightly as her eyes shut. "After you disappeared. I went looking for you and then," her voice trembled. "He, it, whatever that thing was just stepped out of the trees."

She shook her head, tears slipping from her closed eyes, and I held her face between my hands horrified, as she continued to speak.

"I tried to run but he, it's faster than anything I've ever seen. Jason you wouldn't understand it-"

"I know." I said softly and her eyes met mine.

"Well, like I said. After I went looking for you, that thing found me, and the next thing I knew, it had grabbed me and, and."

But she couldn't bring herself to say it and I couldn't blame her. How many times had I seen it? The monsters grabbing on to people, sinking their teeth into them, their screams of pain as the venom entered their body.

Fear coursed through me as I realized what had happened, how close Tani had come to being another one of the bodies the pack had found.

"How are you still alive?" I whispered confused, but forcing myself to remain calm.

She didn't respond at first, and I didn't know what she was doing. She pulled herself out of my grip and reached for her book bag which Rachel had brought her from the girls locker room.

"Tani, what are you-" I started but she unzipped it and pulled out her sketch book, opening to a page where I saw the profile of an animal sketched with such detail, it almost looked like a photograph. The wolf had dark eyes that stared fiercely off the page and I realized with a jolt, that I was looking at myself.

While I knew Tani hated people looking through her personal sketchbook, she didn't look embarrassed. Her expression was hard to read, though her gaze was steady as she watched me for a reaction.

"You've seen it too." she said evenly.

"It hurt you." I said looking away from her, disgusted with myself.

"It saved me." She said softly and I felt a shock go through me.

"Saved you?" I asked, surprised into looking back at her. "But I thought," I said hardly able to get it out. "The scars, isn't that how you got them? You were attacked…"

"It didn't attack me." She said indignantly. "Its claws caught me as it tore that thing off me and chased after it as it ran away, but if it hadn't been there…" she hesitated as if she didn't want to finish her sentence, but after a moment, she seemed to regain her nerve. "If it hadn't been there. I'd be dead."

"It didn't attack you?" I asked softly realization flooding through me. The world felt like it was spinning and I had to sit down.

"It's the only reason I'm alive."

As she spoke, it was as if each word she said were a reprieve, freeing me from a guilt that had been weighing so heavily on me for so long, I hadn't realized just how painful it had been until it was starting to lift.

With this revelation came with many others as the events from that night finally started to make sense. So, this was the reason I'd first phased out of nowhere. It had been triggered by the vampire that was in the woods that night. I didn't lose control and attack her. I'd been protecting her…

For so long I thought if Tani had found out I was the monster that had hurt her that she'd never forgive me, but she didn't seem to hate the wolf at all and it opened a world of possibilities.

If I hadn't attacked her even when I'd been totally out of control, if I'd been aware enough to try to protect her, well, that changed everything. I had learned control now. Was it possible to be around her? For her to be safe?

"I know it sounds crazy." She said softly. "But as horrifying as that night had been. Part of me has always wanted to see it again." She shook her head. "It might seem insane, but I never got to say thank you."

She let out a slight laugh.

"You probably think I'm nuts for wanting to talk to a wolf, but I know it would understand me."

"You're not afraid of it?" I asked quietly and she looked at me in surprise.

"Why would I be afraid?"

"Because it hurt you. You hate your scars."

"It protected me." She said shaking her head. She seemed adamant to defend it. "You wouldn't understand. If you'd seen the way it was looking at me."

"So you forgive it?" I asked quickly.

"Forgive it?" she asked sounding confused. "For what?"

"For hurting you."

"I was never angry. Jason, it saved my life. Why would I be-"

But the next thing I knew, I'd stood and pulled her into a hug.

"Jason, what are you doing?" she asked going stiff but I pulled her closer.

"I'm sorry Tani." I said quietly closing my eyes and resting my chin on her head like I had when we were little. "I'm sorry about everything. Everything that happened to you and all the stuff that I did. I don't expect you to forgive me I just…"

But I let my voice fade as I felt her arms wrap around me and her head lean against my chest.

"I'm glad you're home Tan." I said pulling her closer to me but she didn't complain. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." She mumbled into my shirt.