Hmmm . . . I'm not receiving many reviews . . . one of three ideas here: 1) You're not fond of wolves; 2) You're not fond of this story; or 3) You're a little shy. =) Oh well, I'm not taking it offensively.



Emmanuelle: One of my favorite little reviewers. =) Even if you are the only one reviewing this story, it's worth it. I love your criticism and raves. I can't wait until you update your story. Landing on your head does usually result in slow response time, hehehe. I should know, oy. As for the cup of blood, I imagine it's not cheap. Key Lime pie usually isn't that expensive, so unless she was giving Seria a huge tip, I'd say the "juice" was costly. And yes, the world would be a much better place if it was filled with cute groveling men.



*Chapter 4*



She didn't trust him. Trust was a huge concern of Tala's, especially when it came to her partners, and she couldn't trust Monroe for the life of her.

Sitting at the red light, she saw that the vampire was sleeping again. She was fighting the urge to flick him in the nose. Anything to stop that horrible snoring.

She turned onto the dusty road that lead to the girl's house. Mangrove's lined the road, letting absolutely none of the moonlight onto the street. A cold wind filled the car. Tala was tempted to go into her half-way form just so she could get the warmth of her thick fur. Then she thought of the look of disgust on Monroe's face.

*What do you care? It's not like his opinion matters to you anyway.* She shook her head, turning up the radio. She was not in the mood for a mental battle with herself.

Pulling up into the driveway, she nudged Monroe's chest. Still not budging, she poked his cheek quickly. She pulled back, getting a quick static shock.

He sat straight up, giving her an odd look. "What?"

"We're here." She shook out her hand, still feeling the charge. She got out of the car, shocking herself again on the door as she closed it. "Damnit. Are you wearing wool or something?"

He shrugged, walking up toward the house. She joined his side, walking up to the dark porch. *Funny,* she thought, *Doesn't somebody know we're coming?*

Knocking on the door received no answer. Neither did ringing the doorbell. Worry crept through Tala's mind. She looked to see that Monroe had the same concern in his eyes.

"Listen, I know you don't like this, but I'm going to change into wolf form." *What do you care-* she cut herself off mentally. "I thought I'd warn you so that you'd know what I'm doing. Something's going on, and I can get more work done in that form. While I'm changing, I want you to do a mind search of the house, see if anyone's in there, including the girl." She started to walk off of the porch and stopped to say one more thing. "Not that I need to add this, but shield your mind. If there's a Night person in there, I don't want them to suspect that a vampire is probing the house and a wolf is changing in the shadows."

She stepped behind a group of palm trees just past the front steps. Letting her mind take control, she felt the change take over her body. That second of pure nothingness, feeling like a soul floating in the wind. Her shoulders pulled in, her muscles realigning into the sinewy arms of an animal. The blond hair spread over her arms, white stripes showing bright like highlights. Emerged in the painful pleasure of the change, she shook herself out. *Here we go.*

Slinking out of the shadows, she saw Monroe leaning with his hands on the door. His mind was in deep concentration. Tala almost started when he jumped back, backing down the stairs to her side.

He took a knee next to her, talking to her mentally, obviously trying not to look at her. *The girl's there, sleeping. Her mother is on the floor in the living room, having been knocked out mentally. As I can tell, she was coming to answer the door when it happened. There's a made vampire and a lion in human shape making their way up the stairs to the room she's in. They're going to take her.*

Tala nodded, directing her thoughts at him. *It's going to be hard, but we can take them. We'll let them grab the girl and we'll surprise them on their way out the door. Good?*

He nodded, finally meeting her eyes. Something between surprise and revulsion took over his expression.

Tala grimaced, looking away. She trotted promptly to the side of the house, ignoring the heat in her mind. She perked up her ears, straining her supernatural senses to hear what was going on in the house. There, a small cry quickly muffled. A little scuffling, and then footsteps.

Suddenly, a light came forth from the house. This wasn't a dull, yellow light bulb though. This was fire.

*Screw the plan,* she sent Monroe with her mind. *We're going in.* And with a bounding leap, she crashed through the window.