CHAPTER 8

If there was one thing Levy McGarden knew, it was that when there was one monster causing havoc in the middle of the night, they were usually joined by a partner.

A werewolf.

A rabid one but the sounds of it. That made the situation especially tricky when there was a city as well-populated as this one. Levy wasn't from around these parts, merely following up on a posted job to hunt down the werewolf before they could spread their virus.

Like vampirism, werewolves were drawn to packs and often had a need to spread their infection. It wasn't always, but when it happened it was often proceeded by an extermination of an entire population. The Red Death, the Plague, and the Killing fog. All were coverups of moments in history where vampires or werewolves had decimated populations.

Levy slid her hand into a pouch at her side, opening the leather satchel and drawing out a handful of engraved stones. She whispered over the script etched on the surface and tossed them into the grass.

"Lead me to the one I seek," Levy commanded.

The river stones shivered in place, vibrating to her words. They shifted in circles before one glowed and separated from the rest.

It floated above the stones, waiting for Levy to scoop up the remaining ones before it shot off like a Star into the night.

She chased after it, dropping the remaining stones into her side pouch. Her direction stones had picked up on her target, excitement jumping in her chest. She raced after it, sliding past streetlights with her eyes glued on the small rock.

It was only when it took a sharp turn into an ally did Levy catch herself on a corner and push herself after it.

And right into a broad chest.

Levy barely managed to stop herself from colliding right into the man, skipping back from the wild haired, red eyed man holding the river stone with some dry amusement.

This wasn't a werewolf. Levy could tell immediately what he was. Despite how he held himself, there was an air of a predator to him. Strength and power in broad shoulders, wild hair and deep ruby eyes.

A vampire.

And an old one at that.

"A seeking stone?" He rumbled with a smirk, and Levy had to immediately steel herself against the smooth sound of his voice, "Haven't seen one o' them in a while." He cocked his head slightly at her, "You seekin' me girlie?"

"Erm…" Levy stumbled, momentarily distracted by his hypnotizing stare, and shook herself, "As it happens, no." She replied primly, "I wasn't expecting to see you here at all."

"Oh?" His gaze sharpened, "Then what were you huntin' shrimp?"

Levy bristled at the name and glared up at him, "That's none of your concern."

"Oh I think it is." He purred, stepping forward a bit, and Levy was suddenly reminded that she was face to face with a predator that greatly outclassed her, "If you're here huntin' anyone under my protection..."

Levy tried not to let her sudden nerves show as she crossed her arms, "Not unless Vampires and werewolves have suddenly started getting along." She sniffed, "He's who I'm hunting."

The vampire snorted and relaxed back a little, "Mangy bastard's further out on the outskirts of town." He replied, "Don't bother goin' after him though." He pinned her with his gaze, "You run back to your little lily white guild girlie and tell 'em that Gajeel's dealin' with the problem."

"Gajeel?" Levy echoed after him. She watched a self-satisfied smirk cross his face and it filled her with an irrational desire to smack the vampire until his arrogant grin was gone.

Still she couldn't ignore that the man had an impressive reputation. He was a vampire elder, and also known to belong to no known coven. Which meant he wasn't a danger to creating new vampires after himself.

She didn't have to worry about him infecting others, but she still wanted to smack him.

"Heard of me girlie?" He smirked at her, clearly unable to stop himself from boasting a little to rile her up.

"Black Steel Gajeel, Yes," Levy admitted, but it looked like she wanted to bite her tongue off, "you have a reputation to back up your boasts, but I don't take orders from you."

"I'm not one of the fledglings that would cower in front of you," Levy shrugged at him, "I took a job and I'm going to see it through so you can just stay out of my way."

"Ballsy, aren't ya?" Gajeel smirked and tossed her stone back to Levy, "what's your name shrimp?"

She caught it, juggling the smooth stone between her fingers before curling it to her chest, "Levy."

"Well Levy," Gajeel bowed his head towards her, "You Can go ahead and leave. This werewolf is making a pack and I don't know how many mongrels it's made yet."

"Then it's good there's some more fire power in the background to knock some of them out," Levy replies.

"Thanks for the tip about their location," She smirked at him, "I'll be sure to go check them out."

Gajeel glared as she flashed him a cheeky smirk and skipped off back the way she'd come. He shook his head after a moment and lifted his nose to the wind. He had some hunting to do. If little miss white mage wanted to play at werewolf hunting that was no business of his as long as she stayed out of his way.

-::-

It turned out the new pack wasn't just one or two furballs.

Gajeel swallowed a curse as he stared down at the swirling mass of fur and flesh. Even more irritating was that most of them were stupid cubs. Weaker than him yes, but also possessing an underdeveloped sense of self-preservation. Even worse was that they'd have some right to their arrogance. Two or three of the puppies were easy pickings, the nearly fifteen he counted could get overwhelming quickly if he wasn't careful.

Fortunately, their collective inexperience meant that they weren't experienced enough to pick him out of the shadows. Not even their alpha knew more than the basics, and although he had to wonder about the cause of that given how meticulous the packs usually were about their cubs, he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Because although he'd never developed the seething animosity most of his kind felt for werewolves he'd learned the hard way that the weres were only too happy to take advantage of his neutrality.

He made a mental note to send a message to the were elders after this to pay better attention to their cubs. He liked the unspoken live and let live treaty he had with the packs and wasn't interested in spanking their cubs when they broke it.

He studied the growing pack for a moment, idly wishing he could at least understand the lupine language, and decided an indirect course was best. It would take longer, but as long as he kept moving and in the shadows he could run rings around the cubs and pick them off one at a time.

Gajeel shifted more deeply into shadows, getting ready to move, when the light, tapping of footsteps caught his and the Cubs attention.

He held still, not moving in the darkness as he became interested in the werewolves new visitor. His eyes widened as he caught sight of a blue mop of hair coming into view. Levy, that light guild mage was boldly walking right into a pack of nesting wolves.

One of the wolves stepped up to her, growling with long fangs coated in thick saliva. Levy met his eyes without concern and merely smiled at the sign of aggression.

She opened her mouth and spoke, but no words Gajeel recognized in all his centuries of life. The werewolf seemed confused by her words, but the woman made an impatient noise and set her hand on her hip.

She clicked her fingers imperiously to get her point across, and much to Gajeel's surprise,the werewolf complied after glaring at her.

Gajeel didn't know what the little shrimp was saying, but he was a little impressed that she was even getting some of the betas to listen to her.

The beta returned moments later with a large, hulking man that easily stood over each of his cubs. He had scars over his thick, muscular arms and bare chest. He was clearly unimpressed with being pulled out from whatever he was doing. This man was clearly the alpha.

And quite a bit older than Gajeel had anticipated before.

"You told my cubs you refuse to talk to anyone but me?" The alpha snapped at Levy, speaking in a language Gajeel could understand, "why shouldn't I just bite your head from your shoulders for trying to negotiate in on my territory little girl?"

Levy lifted her chin to the man and crossed her arms, "I think it's a little premature for you to call this your territory don't you?"

"Are you referring to that covenless vampire Gajeel?" The alpha sneered at her, "why do you think I'm here in the first place? For fun?"

"Perhaps?" Levy asked lightly, her eyes scanning around her surroundings. Gajeel thought he felt her eyes land on him for a moment before they slid off his hiding spot and back to the alpha.

"I wouldn't be here if you were having just a little less fun," Levy tapped her fingers on her arm, "The light guilds aren't interested in making another coverup for your kind when you get out of control. Are you teaching your cubs the proper tools for control and limitations?"

She waved a hand to his cubs, "in a group this big, I find it difficult to believe you would have had the time to teach and stress this to each of your new members."

"They know what they need to," The alpha thumped his chest, "to follow their instincts, to take what they want, and follow the wild thrill of the chase!"

Levy made a sound of impatience and glared at the alpha, "don't be dumb. You're telling me you made all of these newbie werewolves as part of your pack because you want to horn in on a vampires territory? Even if you survive it with your pack intact, do you really believe the covens will let one of their elders die without retribution?"

The cubs shifted and glanced at each other nervously, whining softly amongst themselves.

"Silence!" The alpha snarled at them and several subsided, but one young male crept forward, warily keeping an eye on his alpha and Levy at the same time.

"Is it true?" He growled haltingly, normal speech clearly still quite difficult for him in his current form, "We're here to roust out the vampire?" He narrowed his eyes in near challenge, "You told us he was neutral. That he'd share."

"Don't be stupid boy!" The alpha snapped aggressively, "I told you we'd have no problems living in his territory, and that's the truth! So what if we have to kill him first?" He pounded his chest furiously, "We're werewolves! Why should we have to submit before a filthy undead? He shuns even his own kind! How powerful can he be?"

"Powerful enough to survive to be an Elder." The wolf replied hotly, and looked at Levy, "I want no part of this." He told her with a hint of desperation, "I have a new mate... we're hoping for a cub..."

Levy's expression softened at him, "What's your name?"

"Alzack." The wolf replied with a toothy smile, and reached for a shapely female nearby, "This is my mate. Bisca."

"You dare desert your pack?!" The alpha roared furiously, and Alzack bared his fangs in open challenge.

"Six months ago I was a man!" He snapped, "And just because I'm were now doesn't make me an unthinking animal!" His hackles lifted, "I can still reason as a man! And I will not fight for a pack that would throw me into the line of fire against an elder we can't beat!"

"Alzack's right." Bisca growled roughly, "An' anyone who says different is a damn fool."

The other cubs glanced around at each other, some nodding in agreement while others looked outraged.

"Are you... seriously... challenging me?" The alpha asked dangerously and Alzack snorted.

"Don't be stupid." He replied, "I know I can't beat you." He lifted his chin, "I'm expelling myself from the pack. I would rather be a lone wolf than follow this madness."

"And I'm goin' with him!" Bisca snarled, "We can start our own pack!"

"If you leave this pack, we will hunt you down and kill you as an example of what will happen to anyone who dares to leave us!" The Alpha snarled at the two.

His massive form shifted and rippled, taking shape of a huge wolf with tawny fur glaring down at them with ice blue eyes.

Levy scratched out a rough barrier in the air with her magic, sending out a burst of flames to slam into the charging words.

"Get out of here!" Levy shouted to the two startled wolves as the othersin the pack not already changed began to shift and transform, "He's real mad now!"

Levy sprinted back around as Alzack and Bisca ducked out of the way. She wrote the words 'Silver' in her script magic, working on caging the werewolves in the circling. The alpha let loose a furious howl, one that Levy glared at him over.

"Oh shove it you over stuffed Petland reject!" Levy snapped, "You don't give your pack any real choice in the decision to turn them! You belong in a cage!"

The cage she was building around the werewolves had been working up until that point. And Levy knew she had poked an angry dragon in the eye when the Alpha let loose a sound so deafening that she actually staggered.

He smashed right through the silver wall she had built up, thickest in front of him. He sprawled his mighty paws down on it, the smoking and blistering steaming up in angry puffs of air.

"Uh oh," Levy blinked, realizing a bit belatedly that perhaps this werewolf was much older than she originally anticipated. Perhaps heckling him hadn't been the brightest of ideas, but she had hated his arrogance and the belief that his pack owed him the honor of their transformations.

She scrambled away from him, throwing her arms up a fire escape and clambering up the ladder just as the Alpha smashed his way through some crates underneath her.

She got her leg up just in time before his jaws could wrap around her ankle, climbing up on the metal grating walkway.

Alzack and Bisca were not in any position to help her, and at this point their presence would only serve to aggravate their former Alpha's temper. Levy grabbed a hold of the railing as the ground abruptly shook under her feet.

The alpha was standing on its hind feet, massive and huge with its paws and jaws around the walkway. Levy's eyes widened when his eyes met hers and he began to tug down, dragging the platform down and popping it from the cement wall.

Levy shrieked as the entire thing went sideways and she went sliding off. Her hands wrapped around the railing to stop her descent, seeing the werewolf eagerly waiting to rip her apart.

She cast her magic using magic, dropping a block of Silver right on top of the alpha's face and burning him right in the eye. However that wasn't her only problem now. All of the other werewolves had now escaped her cage and were converging on her location.

Not for long though.

A pained yelp sounded and one of the pack dropped with a howl of agony, his side smoking. As one the pack paused to stare at him and look up. Gajeel smirked from his hiding place in the rafters, "Real big man there puppy." He taunted, "Beatin' on a woman tryin' to do her job peaceably."

"Black Steel." The Alpha snarled furiously without any of the stumbling Alzack had displayed with his changed throat.

Gajeel's grin widened into something truly horrifying, all of his very pointed teeth on display, "Got it in one." He praised and flicked another projectile at a different wolf.

This one also yipped and began dancing around as his flesh scorched, "He's using silver!" The wolf screamed in their own language, "Help me! It hurts!"

"You dare to use silver?" The alpha demanded, though Gajeel had already moved, "You'll kill yourself before you pick us off!"

"That ain't quite right." Gajeel's voice sounded from the shadows as he began pelting the pack with more silver projectiles, "See... back in the day before I was turned... I was a metallurgist. Created my own metals with magic an' forged 'em into weapons and treasures kings an' dragons would fight over. That included silver."

"After I was turned..." He chuckled darkly as three more went down, "Well it took a while, but I learned how to handle it again." He paused, "Now... them flicks ain't gonna kill your pack. Not yet. See, lil miss white mage here reminds me of a human I knew a real long time ago. She was a stubborn thing too. I respect that. So I'm gonna give you one chance to clear off as fast as your furry hide can move."

His eyes glowed menacingly, "You know what I can do now." He rumbled, "An' I ain't got a problem with haulin' out something a bit more lethal. Leave my territory before you and your pack wind up dead." He flashed his fangs, "I haven't fed yet tonight and I hear werewolf blood is nice an' rich."

He waited a beat for dramatic pause, and when it became clear he had no problem with following through with his threats, several more werewolves broke ranks to run.

The alpha roared out in anger and dropped down from where he was trying to get to Levy. The ice blue eyes burned with rage into Gajeel's and the wolf advanced towards the vampires position.

"Cowards! We can take down the vampire and then this territory will be ours! anyone who runs will be marked a traitor!" The alpha snapped at the remaining wolves, who slunk in to close ranks around their master while the others fled.

The alpha lunges forward, slamming his body against the wooden support structures, snarling as it began to splinter under his weight.

Gajeel swore as it along with the other wooden beams he was fond of perching on began to collapse. One of the heavy beams slammed directly into the metal walkway Levy was clinging to and ripped it the rest of the way clean off the wall.

The human let out a startled shriek, but was able to catch herself by writing out a large "SOFT" underneath herself that made the plummet less brutal.

Still, she found herself on level ground with the wolves. Ground that Gajeel also found himself standing on much to his displeasure.

"Now," The alpha smirked, looming over them with his pack, "It's time to eat."

The alpha sprang after Gajeel while the younger ones wrapped their jaws around the vampires arms and legs. Gajeel snarled in pain and threw them off, barely managing to dodge the Alpha trying to chomp his head off.

Levy could see that while the bites couldn't infect Gajeel, he could lose quite a bit of the blood he had in his body currently. And he had let it slip he needed to feed soon.

The alpha would be sure to hammer that point, to bleed Gajeel dry. Well things were looking quite bad at the moment for their individual chances, so Levy wasn't about to let that happen to him.

She scrawled a handful of silvers in her hand before she threw the entire mess directly into the crowd of the smaller wolves.

They yelped and scattered at the sudden stinging rain of silver on them, leaving only the alpha and elder vampire to fight head to head.

Levy whistled for the werewolves to follow her, smirking as they growled at her interference.

"Come and get me!" She teased and ran off, leading them outside the warehouse and into the woods.

Gajeel didn't have time to spare any concern for Levy dealing with an entire pack snapping at her heels, though he was grateful for the distraction.

"Jus' you an' me." He smirked darkly at the alpha and wrapped his fist in steel before slamming it into the wolf's gut.

The resulting crunch was quite gratifying. As was the sound of cracking bones as he shoved the wolf away to slam into a wall. He would have to act fast. He was losing blood rapidly, and it wouldn't be long before his make magic retracted in a desperate attempt to keep him alive.

Fortunately, he had something to help. It would burn like scalding soup on the way down, but it would be worth it for the energy boost. Thankfully Levy had been generous in her magic silver.

He grabbed the nearest chunk, ignoring how it felt hot and made his palms itch, and sank his fangs into it to the utter shock of the recovering alpha.

Sure enough, the silver burned like hot soup going down, but once it hit his belly it warmed with an entirely different type of fire, and he smirked.

"How is that possible?" The werewolf asked, "You ate it!"

Gajeel smirked over at him as he dropped the silver and dark scales began covering his skin, "I told ya... I'm a metal maker." He cracked his neck a little, "So happens I trained with an apocalypse dragon when I was a fledgling. He taught me that little trick." His smirk widened, "And a few more."

He didn't give the alpha time to do more than gape before rushing forward to slam his fist into him again, sparking a flurry of blows between them that left the werewolf burned in more than one place as he laced his steel with silver. Something that, unfortunately, slowed him down a little as well.

"You... bastard..." The wolf panted as he swiped at Gajeel, "I won't let you win. I deserve my own territory! Not listening to those stupid bastards yap around the fire every full moon!"

Gajeel narrowed his eyes, and transformed his hand into a silver edged spear he slammed through the werewolf's chest, "Too bad." He grunted, "You coulda been great if you'd payed attention."

He shoved the werewolf off the end and dropped to his knees, staring at the tainted blood mournfully. He was resistant to silver, but not that much. He needed fresh, untainted, blood to heal from the damage he'd inflicted on himself by eating the silver. Blood he was very unlikely to find if he didn't get up and move.

He was just so tired.

He blinked as the edges of his vision started to go black and tried to force himself up.

His strength drained out of himas if bleeding into the very ground. He let out a soft groan, his arms buckling as he dropped down to the ground. His stomach roiled and he dragged an arm around his stomach. Nausea burned within him and it made it difficult for him to think much less breathe.

So when he felt small hands drag themselves around his chest and force his arm up to roll him on his side, Gajeel barely even noticed.

It was only when something warm and wet touched his lips did he stir.

Curious, he licked his lips and felt his body come back to life at the touch of magical blood on his tongue. It was the most exquisite blood he had ever tasted, velvety deep and rich.

Levy's face came into focus as did her pricked finger hovering over his face.

The scent of her blood came to him at once and his stomach clenched brutally with hunger.

"Come on you big lug, this isn't any place to die. Let me get you home, I'll take care of the rest from there okay?" Levy said soothingly, and Gajeel barely had enough sense in him to nod.

The scent of her blood was hypnotizing to him and his thoughts were narrowing down on the source of that exquisite taste. Mumbling, he gave her his address and stumbled after her.

"The werewolves?" He asked.

"Handled, don't worry about it. My partners are coming to collect them and bring them back for a guild payment. I'm going to make sure you're okay," Levy sighed, "I was over my head with that Alpha. It would have taken a wizard saint or a vampire elder to take that guy down."

Gajeel didn't respond, but his silence didn't seem to bother Levy. She pushed him into her car, speaking soothingly to him the whole time even as his stomach clenched and roiled painfully.

Gajeel didn't even notice when they arrived at his house, or when Levy was opening the door and dragging his sorry ass though the threshold.

As such, he didn't think to warn her about his two guard dogs.

"Gajeel's back!" A boys voice picked up from deeper inside the house and Levy was just settling the vampire down on a couch when two children ran to the living room.

The smiles on their faces fell off at once at the sight of their bloody guardian laying on the couch and a stranger standing over him.