Disclaimer – all the usual stuff – Wolf Lake, Kindred: The Embraced & Vampire the Masquerade do not belong to me, blah, blah, blah . . .

A/N – This is going to loosely be a crossover btwn Kindred:The Embraced (or more accurately Vampire the Masquerade) & Wolf Lake, and heavily focused on L/S. For those who aren't familiar with Kindred or Vampire the Masquerade (the live action role-playing game) – it involves various clans of vampires, so don't be surprised when the show up. Sometimes it might get a bit complicated, so I'll try to include descriptions as they pop up. So if you like what you've read & you want to see more, please review. Let me know what you like, what needs improvement & what (if anything) you outright hate. LOL – oh yeah & please enjoy ;)

Sophia stumbled through the woods, trying desperately to regain a sense of control, because she knew that if she could just calm down then she could stop herself from changing. Hearing a soft, barely audible noise behind her, she turned slightly ready to bitch Luke out for scaring off Scott earlier and suddenly froze. Something was out there, but it wasn't Luke and somehow she knew it wasn't human or anyone from the pack – this was entirely different threat. Every instinct human or otherwise urged her to run and run quickly, without looking back. The sound continued to travel closer and her muscles froze as her thoughts began to spiral in a panicked frenzy – when from behind, a hand suddenly clapped her mouth.

"Shhh, "Luke murmured in her ear, as he drew her back against his tensed body. "We're standing downwind for the moment and if we stay silent, it should pass us right by and then we can get the fuck out of here."

While Sophia knew it might not be the smartest move, considering Luke's somewhat . . . primal behavior earlier, she couldn't help relaxing against his warm body. Luke's hand slowly trailed down her body, the back of his fingertips roughly brushing her erect nipples, before he fit his hand snugly below her breast and wrapped the other one around her waist, pulling her more tightly against his, despite their situation.

"Luke, " she hissed and tried to arch her body away from his, "what in the hell do you think you're-"

His hand once again covered her mouth as he abruptly cut her off.

"Are you trying to get us killed?" He whispered fiercely in her ear, as she struggled against him, trying to break free from his grasp. Turning her head, she could see his eyes begin to dangerously flash and she deliberately relaxed into his embrace. "Now if I let you go, are you going to, for once, listen to me?" He demanded in the same low whisper. Sophia glared at him for a moment, before reluctantly nodding. "Good," he smiled smugly, his breath tickling her neck as he leaned in to take a nibble of her pale and tantalizingly close flesh. Biting back her gasp of excitement, Sophia let her head fall back against his shoulder, allowing him full access.

'What the hell, ' she though to herself, 'I'm stuck here in the woods with Luke and since it doesn't look like we'll be getting out any time soon, I might as well enjoy myself.'

Suddenly Sophia felt the rough edge of bark digging into her back, as Luke thrust her behind him, effectively trapping her between the tree and his back.

"Luke – what the fuck!?!" She began to protest, trying to get free.

"Shut up Sophia. It didn't pass us by." He growled out, as his green tinted eyes began scouring the darkness before them.

"What is it?"

"I don't know, but I'm about to find out, "he snarled, trying to shake off her hand.

"I think we should just try to get out of here & tell someone – my dad, your mother, the watcher, maybe?" Sophia tried to keep the edge of panic out of her voice, fearing that might really set Luke off. Considering they had no idea what they were up against. The idea that Luke might try to fight this thing without knowing it's weakness or strengths bothered her more then she like to admit. Not that anything would seriously happen to Luke, of course, she rationalized her emotions, but if anyone was going to fighting with Luke, well, she was definitely going to be the first in line.

Luke, on the other hand, was torn between flipping and going after whatever the hell was out there and staying right where he was – between it and Sophia. This girl was driving him insane – between trying to seduce her into turning, to being forced to watch her hitting on and then actually kissing a human, to avoiding her father and his mother, while still trying to keep a tight rein at school, now he had to deal with this shit?!?! There aren't too many things in this world that Luke was afraid of, but the possibility of losing Sophia definitely topped that short list and unless he could figure out a way to get both of them out of here alive – no, he refused to continue that thought. There had to be a way, he knew it, now if he could how to figure out what it was. He looked over his shoulder at her and he felt his heart turn over in his chest when he saw how pale she was. The fear in her eyes only incited his anger further.

"Hmmm, perhaps you should listen to the pretty young one? After all, it's not very smart to interfere in matters that you couldn't possibly begin to understand." The voice was quiet, his words laden with smugness and in a vaguely foreign accent.

Luke's head whipped around to confront the speaker.

"Now, why don't you run along and leave the little one with me. I promise not to hurt her, "the man smiled cruelly, exposing momentarily the white tips of his unusually sharp edged teeth, "too badly."

Luke's eyes widened in shock for a moment as the man's words sunk in, before narrowing and glowing amber as he took a step forward, shaking off Sophia's restraining hand.

The man's eyebrows arched up in surprise. "Ah, so the rumors are true. Good, this should make for an interesting adventure. All right, boy, " he emphasized sarcastically, "you may leave with your pet . . . this time. But never fear, we will meet again." And with that the man seemingly vanished into the woods.

"Oh my god, Luke, Sophia breathed, as she walked up to him, "what – who the hell was that?"

He didn't answer her for a moment, his senses focused on the searching out for him, because although it felt safe, he still couldn't shake off a lingering sense of uneasiness. "I don't know, but we should leave, I'm pretty sure he's gone for now, but we should definitely get back to town."

His eyes focused back on her, "I said now, Sophia, "as she stood still looking back at the forest. He sighed impatiently, before grabbing hold of her arm and dragging her off, ignoring her protests. From the trees a shadowy figure watched them leave, a smile curving his thin lips.


TBC