Author's Note: I feel like I need to apologize because I feel like this chapter is pretty horrible, but I just couldn't find a better way to write it. Hopefully I'll get back into writing this story and others soon.

Chapter 37

It was only minutes after the plans were finalized that they were put into action. B, Kate, Emmett, Rosalie, Sly, Tanya, Sam, Jacob, and Jared would go to track the hellhounds, hopefully to their master. In the meantime, Carmen, Eleazar, Irina, Alice, Jasper, Esme, Edward, and the rest of the wolves would be staying behind at the house. What B's party decided to do was head towards where they were attacked and work back from there, so that's exactly what they did. As they left the home, B was completely focused on sensing magic that nobody should have been able to escape her notice.

However, something did. This something managed to slip right by B's notice, all because it knew how to hide its magic.

As soon as B and the group was out of sight, the hellhound slipped from the cover of the trees and shifted. Shadows seemed to come right out of the ground and cover the creature, melting and churning until a petite and beautiful girl, looking only to be eighteen at most, stood in its place. The girl had brown skin, medium length hair the darkest of blacks, and dark eyes with a hidden flame inside of them. She was also completely naked, and looking between the inhabitants of the house and herself, made the shadows incase her body, turning into a long black dress.

A smirk slid onto the girl's face as she skulked towards the house, still undetected. That is, until Edward stiffened at the creature's thoughts.

Mine. Taste. Devour. Ravish. Mine. Desire. Hungry. Take. Mine!

Edward collapsed to his knees with the power of the thoughts, and everyone's attention turned to him, some people letting out exclamations of alarm. People asked him what was happening, but he couldn't even speak.

Then the front door exploded inwards, and he didn't need to speak at all.

Letting out hisses of warning, all of the vampires save for Edward jumped to their feet to face the threat. Alice rubbed at her temples as everyone's futures went dark, and she had to wonder how she couldn't have seen this happening sooner before focusing on the danger at hand.

The girl strode in like she owned the world, and many vampires believed that this was the girl behind the attacks; nothing else made sense after all. What other reason would a girl have to destroy a door and storm someone's house?

The girl looked around the room, clearly unconcerned with any possible threat, before her eyes landed on a certain blonde. "Irina," she said in a soft, smooth, almost exotic sounding voice, one that coaxed the vampire to look into the girl's eyes.

Immediately, Irina's breath caught, and she stared. She stared, and stared, and stared, and couldn't look away. As she stared, Irina felt something shift under her feet, and it was like everything had fallen into place. She swallowed and took a hesitant step forward, shaking off Eleazar's and Carmen's attempts to grab her. The entire time this took, the girl simply stood there, a small and clearly pleased smirk on her face.

"Who are you?" Irina asked in a breathy whisper, now standing only two feet away.

The girl took a single step towards Irina, putting herself in Irina's personal space. It would be all too easy for Irina to wrap her arms around the girl and pull her against her body, but she didn't. She was still so confused, it felt like everything Irina was was in turmoil.

"Malik," the girl said, pronouncing it like "Mal-eek," in that same amazing voice, looking up into Irina's eyes as the girl pressed a hand against her own chest. Then the girl grinned hugely, showing off a set of sharp fangs. "Irina," the girl repeated, this time pressing a hand to Irina's chest, right above her heart. "Mine."

Here. Mine. Want. Take. Dominate. Have. Soon. Need. Irina.

Edward cried out and fell to his arms and knees as he clutched at his head, the power behind the thoughts getting even stronger, but only Esme seemed to worry about him. Everyone else was completely focused on the spectacle happening right there in the house.

Irina's lips parted, but nothing came out. For so long, she wanted to find her mate, to the point that she deluded herself into thinking Laurent was the one. And now, here was this girl; this tiny, beautiful, most likely dangerous tiny, gorgeous girl. A girl that, while Irina knew nothing about, filled a piece of Irina's heart that the vampire had long known was missing.

"Irina," the girl said, but now she sounded frustrated, almost whiny.

Touch. Taste. Have. Desire. Need. Hunger. Mine. Do not scare.

In the background, Edward let out a pathetic whimper.

"I, um...I'm sorry," Irina stammered, and the girl's expression darkened, lips skimming back from her teeth in a snarl.

Denied? No. Have. Devour. Touch. Mine. Mate.

Now Edward was openly groaning, all but writhing in pain, feeling like the girl's thoughts would split his head open.

"This...I didn't expect this to happen, not now...I'm just a little shocked. But...I am so undeniably happy right now as well," Irina said, her voice dropping to a low murmur as she dared to reach out and touch the girl's cheek. The girl leaned into her touch, giving Irina such a charming grin that would have taken Irina's breath away if she needed it. "You said you were Malik, right?"

The girl's grin widened.

Yes! Mate. Have. Take. Name. Mine. All mine...Irina. Mate. Accepted.

Edward's eyes snapped open and he gasped, seeing all sorts of horrifying images in the girl's brain. Already, Malik was thinking about performing all sorts of sexual acts on Irina, wondering of Irina's taste, the feel of her, how she would sound, everything...it just made Edward want to puke.

He was so horrified by Malik's erotic images, that he didn't even notice another thought that slipped into Malik's mind-her desire to slaughter Laurent. She hated him, hated that he escaped her, that he got to live after touching her mate in such a way. Hated him helping the other vampires to try and keep her chained, away from her mate.

Four people needed to die. The dark skinned man, the blond man with the ponytail, the redheaded woman, and the one who summoned Malik in the first place. Then, everything would be okay; no one would dare try to take Malik away from her mate ever again.

Oh yes, Malik was still very pissed. After all, the man who summoned her had taken her away from her mate when Malik first laid eyes on her nearly five hundred years ago, and he would try to again. He needed to be killed in the most painful way for not letting her have Irina then, and for trying to keep her from them now.

Mine. Irina...Mate. Kill them. Protect her.

Irina, of course, had no idea what Malik was thinking at the moment, but she could tell how happy and content the girl was. She couldn't stop caressing the smaller girl's face, still amazed she had found her mate, and even more amazed at how all she had to do was look at the girl to feel desire blaze to life inside of her. That dress certainly wasn't helping Irina keep her desires in check.

"Who are you?" Irina murmured in clear wonder, continuing to caress Malik's cheek.

At her question, Malik simply blinked. "Hellhound," she answered, not even considering telling Irina anything but the truth.

The entire room tensed, even Irina, at Malik's confession, with many hisses and snarls echoing through the room, sounds that Malik didn't even bat an eyelash at. However, most of the house's occupants settled down just as quickly, although clearly uneasy at the thought of having a hellhound in their home. After all, regardless of what Malik was, it was clear that Irina was undoubtedly the center of Malik's world.

Irina, however, was still tense as she stared into Malik's warm eyes. Her mind flashed back to those same eyes, this time blazing viciously as a hellhound attacked Laurent. How that hellhound had originally been aiming for her, although at the time Irina hadn't felt any actual killing intent. This is the one, Irina realized. This is the same hellhound as back then. The one who had nearly killed Laurent and ripped off his arm in the process.

"Oh dear," Irina murmured, realizing why Malik would have attacked Laurent in the first place; either because Malik thought he had been trying to claim Irina as his own, or keep Irina away from her. She had to make it clear to Malik not to kill anyone. "You're the one who...listen to me, Malik, you can't kill-"

As she spoke, the front door opened, and in stepped Carlisle, an exhausted and seemingly half dead Laurent leaning heavily on him, an arm thrown over Carlisle's shoulders.

It all happened so fast, that even the vampires couldn't react in time.

Malik, being the closest to the front door and the one who immediately realized who had just arrived, tore away from Irina and lunged. Neither Carlisle or Laurent had time to process what was happening, or even protect themselves, as Malik attacked, shifting halfway into a huge, roaring hellhound.

Somehow, Carlisle hadn't just been unhurt, but was left standing, Malik somehow attacking Laurent and Laurent alone, knocking the man right out of the house and onto the front lawn.

It was only three seconds after she first latched her teeth onto Laurent's neck that both vampires and wolves-save for Edward, who was still rolling around and moaning pathetically on the floor-jumped into action to try and pull Malik off of the french vampire, but Malik suddenly set herself on fire, burning everything she touched and forcing the vampires and wolves to step back.

KILL. SLAUGHTER. HURT. KILL. DARK MAN. DIE. DESTROY. PAY. MY IRINA.

Back in the house, Edward screamed from the pain forced on him.

"Malik, stop!" Irina screamed, and the flames instantly died. Malik lifted her head, cocking her head in a confused manner that was almost cute, and trotted back up to Irina, shifting back into a human shape, remembering to add her dress to her body at the last moment.

Everyone couldn't help but stare at where Laurent had been mauled, feeling a cold terror at how easily everything had happened.

Yes, Irina's scream had stopped the vicious attack, but it had been too late. Laurent was dead, and not even ashes remained.

Only a few miles away, B's group was still actively searching for any signs of the hellhounds; they had managed to find the spot the hellhounds had disappeared to using portals, but after a brief probe, B realized that the portals had simply transported them back to hell, not to whoever had summoned them in the first place. With nothing to feel but disappointment and worry, the group turned in the direction of the Cullen house and started heading home, believing they now had no way to find their attackers until the next battle happened.

B was hit the hardest, feeling pretty useless, and even Kate's jokes and groping didn't seem to do much to cheer B up.

No one was aware of what had transpired in the house while they had been away; they had no idea that they had lost a great source of fear for two cat shifters, and gained a hellhound in the process. Otherwise, Sly and B's next plan would already be underway, and the two would be feeling more cheerful than ever before.

Of course, even those at the house had no idea that Malik's appearance would be the turning point. The most dangerous battle any of them had ever faced would soon be upon them, and even the hellhound herself had no idea.

Many more miles away, James and Victoria sat, both confused as to why it appeared that the lose hellhound hadn't appeared to kill anybody yet. However, once they would find out the news of what would happen, they would be forced into action.

After all, they couldn't risk losing their prey, right?