I woke to the cooling touch of water on my forehead. The sun was down, though my eyes didn't say it was. It was something inside my head that just knew that the last direct rays of light had fallen below the horizon. I sleepily brushed a hand against the wet on my head and pulled away a wet rag. I flung it to the side, pushing myself up and squinting around at my surroundings. The little cave I had fallen asleep in seemed bigger. But maybe it was large in the first place. I hadn't really looked at it last night. Or was it in the morning?

I looked at the damp rag that now lay uselessly on the ground a ways away. How had that come about? I shifted to grab it and heard straw crackle under me. Straw? But I had laid out a blanket to sleep on. And where's my eye cloth? Even with the entrance covered, the light coming in was blinding. But it had a different tinge to it. Not like the last golden rays of sunlight streaming through vines but the bloody red dancing light of a fire against a swath of cloth.

A Fire?!

I pulled back, pressing against the rough rocky wall behind me, wings pulling tight against my body as I stared in horror at the flickering lights of the fire outside my cave-now-prison. Just looking at the muted light shining from the flames made my eyes hurt but I dared not look away. I was trapped. Trapped without a way of escape. I didn't know who was outside, how many guards had been placed out there to keep me in. I could just imagine all the burly, large men waiting out there, laughing over grotesque jokes, trying to prove to each other who was the manliest of them all. But why would they want me?

I'm a demon. They must think that I'm a demon and, like all sane humans, wanted to rid the world of me. Good. Let them come, I told myself bravely, already squaring my shoulders for what was to come. Let them take me on. We shall see who lives to tell about it.

I felt stronger now that I had the resolve to fight for my life. Those pitiful humans wouldn't know what hit them once I break free. I'll kill them all and place their headless bodies in a pile to burn, just as they would have done to me but they won't-

The words that were running through my head made me sick. What was I thinking? I was talking about my fellow people so heartlessly. Yes. Yes, they needed to kill me and kill me quick. I was just a threat to the human world. I didn't deserve to walk among them in this body anymore. I didn't-

The light from the fire flashed brightly, illuminating my prison completely before the light change blinded me. I pulled away, hitting my head against the too close wall behind me before flinging my hands over my eyes to end the pain. My captor entered slowly, pace carefully measured as he came closer. Oh god, I thought, squeezing down into my knees to make myself smaller. Oh god, this is it. I'm not going to live past this moment. Oh god, oh god, oh god…

A hand, rough from exposure to the elements but gentle, reached out and brushed my hair softly, a small caress of sorts. But I pulled farther away, a small whine escaping my throat as fear took hold of me. How could he torture me so? Why couldn't he just end it? End this pain and free me?

"Just do it quickly." I whispered, bracing myself as his hand stilled in my hair.

"Do what?" The man replied, his husky voice triggering an image to flash through my mind. I raised my head, eyes still covered and slowly opened my fingers enough to see through the small cracks.

I could just barely make out the face glancing worriedly down at me but the shape of his body was familiar enough to make out. "Kouga." I let out a hard breath, sagging with relief. "Kouga, oh thank goodness it's you. What are you doing here? Where is here?"

"We found you, me and my pack. We've been searching everywhere for you. And just this morning I was able to locate you. You were passed out with exhaustion, so I was surprised that you were able to find shelter like that. And it's been hours since you fell asleep, since I found you."

"But where am I?" I asked again, draping my arm over my eyes instead of struggling to look up at him.

"With my pack in my territory, the Cavern Mountains. This is my personal cave, though now it also belongs to you." He shifted and I dared to look up long enough to see him crouched on his heels in front of me. His eyes were steady and a bit curious.

"What?" I asked warily, brows scrunched up as I puzzled his expression before the pain in my eyes forced me to cover them again.

"You keep hiding you eyes from me." He said slowly, as if trying to puzzle something out. "You found shelter in a cave. You have wings and smell more like a demon than human. And," His voice took on a sound of awe, "You looked me in the eye."

My throat closed up at the mention of my lost humanity. "Of course." I croaked, rubbing my throat to unclench the sudden knot with my free hand. "I'm no longer human, obviously. I've been changed. I can see, I have wings, all my senses have been increased. Apparently I've had demon blood inside me with entire time. That's what it takes, right? Demon blood? You can't just make a human a demon. They have to have it as a dormant part of them. I've been a monster all my life." A wetness started to travel down my arm, but I ignored it as I forced my voice to be steady.

"Yes." He said softly, confusing me as to what question I had asked that he was answering. "Yes, you do have to be born with some kind of demon blood coursing through your veins. But you have no control over how your born or what your born with. The demon blood could actually attribute towards why you're psychic. It's not unheard of and Bat Demon's have been known to be very prophetic creatures. They have wings like yours and divine powers. But they have a bad time seeing in the light..." The words seemed to register for the first time.

"I need my eye cloth. I can see through it because of the mesh like cloth, so if I can have it back..." I braced a hand behind me on the wall behind me as I slowly pushed up on the wall.

"Yeah, it's all right here." He said quickly, pulling my bag across the floor to my feet and putting one of the cloths in my hand.

I quickly tied it behind my head and sighed happily as the now familiar cloth blocked out all harmful light. I blinked a few times, allowing my eyes to adjust to the blessed darkness and turned to Kouga. "That's so much better." I said happily.

A smile broke out across his face. "Good. That's great. Now come, there is much that we need to discuss. And I've had food prepared for you."

"Let's start with the food." I said, reaching down to my pack and fastening the hip sack around my waist. "I could eat a tree at this point and call it a feast for a king."

"Well, we might not have something that splendid, or big, but we have the next best thing." He pulled aside the cloth doorway and helped me through the opening. My eye grew wide behind the cloth as I took in the splendor before me. A long sheet had been laid out on the floor and was covered in all sorts of edible goods. A roasted pig lay on a wooden plate, birds of many species propped up in a humorous fashion and what looked like a giant catfish was the center piece of the large meal.

But my eyes didn't look at the meat or the fish so expertly cleaned and cooked. No, my gaze fell upon the more subtle foods on the table. In comparison, they were merely side dished and fillers, but to me they looked like the food of gods. Bowls of apples and grapes were placed upon the table at lengths. Watermelons had been split open and their juicy insides just begged to be eaten. And loaves of bread of all shapes and sizes ran among the sheets just as interspersed as the fruit.

I followed Kouga to one side of the sheet and settled down on a stuffed cushion. As soon as we were seated, others began to stream into the room, ranging from large burly wolves to small, delicate female demons. All nodded to Kouga and had to wait for his responding nod before sitting down on the edge of the sheet as well. I found myself next to a large male demon with large rippling muscles and who just so happened to be wearing little more than a very tight loin cloth.

I had to look away fast. It was a Very tight loin cloth.

Once everyone was seated, Kouga sat up straighter, calling everyone's attention to him with that one gesture. The cave became silent as all eyes turned to him. He slowly picked up a Goblet filled with wine made from the juice of fruits and held it up in the air. "To the start of a new beginning, to a complete community and," His eyes turned to me, flashing happily, "To the finding of my Mate."

Cheers echoed in the room, goblets clinking and silence only lasting as long as it took to swig back a sip of the fruity wine. But it felt as if cotton had filled my ears, making everything muffled and disconnected.

Mate?

I stood up quickly, my hearing returning just as everyone fell silent, eyes all turning to me. Heat flushed my skin, racing up my neck and into my hairline. For the first time I was extremely glad my eyes were covered as I looked down at Kouga. "Come." I demanded and turned away, not looking back as he scrambled to his feet and caught up quickly. He was right at my heels, murmuring directions as I led him out of the cave and into the cool night.

The moon was still full and cast her light down on us. But her silvery light only made my heart stronger and icy.

"Your Mate?!" I snapped, turning abruptly to Kouga and poking him hard on the chest.

"Yes. Of course you're my Mate. Can't you feel the connection between us?" He took my hands in his, willing me to feel this electricity he was so sure that ran between us.

"No. I can't. All I feel is your skin. Kouga, I don't understand why you're so infatuated with me. I'm just a human- No. Not even that anymore. I'm a monster. A freak." Tears blurred my vision but I kept on. "I don't deserve to be loved."

His eyes looked down at me, desperately trying to convey a message just through his stare. "No, you're not. You're beautiful and smart and healthy and an amazing fighter. You're everything I could ever want in a partner. Someone to rule alongside me." His thumb traced across my cheek, spreading wetness. "Don't ever think of yourself as a monster. You're so much more than that." His eyes were full of adoration and undying love.

Love that I knew I would never be able to return.

"Kouga, I-"

His eyes flicked up and away from me and I barely registered the fear in his eyes before he took my shoulders and pushed me to the side. And as the world shifted slowly around me, two things ran in my mind.

The first was the battle screech of a bird soaring just over my head.

The second was that my foot caught the edge of the cliff as I stumbled backwards and I was falling backwards down into the endless cavern below.