The howling of the brisk wind woke Lea just before dawn. The strong scent of active animals carried throughout the cave, causing Lea's mouth to water. She rose from her bedding, and she stretched out, giving her muscles a chance to flex and breathe. As she walked through the cave, she stopped at Roxanne's part of the cave, and swiftly kicked her sister in the side.

"Get up," Lea commanded.

Roxanne groaned in pain from her sister's strike, and rolled away from her. It took a moment for the sharp sting to fade, then she lazily sat up. Her auburn locks were in disarray, and there was crust on her eyes. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, the crust being brushed off in the process. She looked over to Lea, who was towering over her with her arms crossed along her chest.

"You're making me wait, Roxanne," Lea hissed as she grew annoyed with her sister's sluggishness.

"I'm sorry, I'm not used to being kicked awake," Roxanne argued, slowing getting to her feet and cracking her back.

"Yeah yeah, I don't care," Lea waved her hand, dismissing Roxanne's statement. "When I said dawn, I meant dawn."

Roxanne sighed, seeing that Lea's attitude was already in full force. Knowing better than to argue with her sister, Roxanne followed after Lea. They walked out of the cave, to see the meadow was just like the morning before, fresh with dew, and a thin layer of fog cloaking it. It wasn't as cold as the morning before, but still cold enough for Roxanne to grab another hide and throwing it on. Lea didn't seem at all phased by the cold, and therefore, didn't grab an extra layer.

"You need to learn the proper position for hunting, and you need to start running like an actual feral. Run on all fours like I do," Lea demanded.

Lea stood in front of her older sister and slid into a stance. She was in a low crouch, with one leg in almost a kneeling position, with a knee pressed against her chest, and her other leg was stretched out behind her. Her arms were out in a sense that she appeared bigger and with her hands flexing as her claws grew.
"Copy this stance, and make sure you are study, yet nimble enough to be prepared for anything on any side," she instructed.

"All right," Roxanne nodded, attempting to mirror Lea's stance. "Like this?"

Leaving her stance, Lea began to circle her older sister. She carefully examined Roxanne before stopping behind her. Without any warning, Roxanne felt Lea's palm crash into the square of her back, which sent her flying face first into the ground. Lea crouched down beside her sister's face, smacking the side of her head.

"Just because you look like you have the proper stance doesn't mean you have the proper stance," she lectured, standing up straight again. "Do it again!"

Roxanne sat up on her knees, brushing the dirt and dust off her clothing. Now that she was actually doing it, Roxanne regretted asking Lea to hunt. She should have known that Lea wasn't going to let her ruin the hunt. Lea was a perfectionist after all, and to have someone that she considered non-feral hunting alongside her, well, it worsened her mood.

"All right, this time I got it!" Roxanne said confidently as she repeated the stance.

She closed her eyes and tried to focus. Sturdy, yet flexible. She tightened every muscle in her arms and legs, becoming rigid, though in her mind she was doing it perfectly. However, when Lea began to circling her once more, she noticed immediately how stiff Roxanne was. With a sharp, annoyed inhale, Lea rose a clawed hand and she quickly slashed her claws along Roxanne's arm. Roxanne yelped in pain, and leaped back, grabbing her arm.

"So…" Lea began, acting as if she hadn't heard her sister's cry. "Were you prepared for anything?"

"You cut me!" Roxanne accused, thrusting her index finger in Lea's face.

The claw marks that Lea had created were already healing, now only three pink markings were left before they too faded back to match Roxanne's fair skin. Lea glanced at her claws, rubbing them together as a smirk lighted her face. "Yeah, yeah I did."

"WHY?!" Roxanne shouted.

"Because you weren't prepared."

Something inside Roxanne snapped at that moment. It was like electricity was coursing through her. She was tired of Lea's "I'm the Alpha so you do what I say" mentality. Out of anger, she reached out and gripped onto Lea's bicep. She had expected her younger sister to lash out at her for her authority being challenged; but all that came out of Lea was a roar of pain, which caused flocks of birds to flutter out of the trees and leave the forest. Alarmed by it, Roxanne released Lea, and the electricity she had felt before was gone.

"I'm sorry, Lea! I don't know what happened, I didn't mean it!" Roxanne blurted out, the omega inside her panicking at seeing her alpha injured.

Lea was on her knees, greedily taking in air, her healing factor had already allowed her to recover from the pain, but something else had caught her attention. Roxanne's consist apologies were soundless noise in the background to Lea as the wind carried a scent to her. It was powerful, and overwhelming. The scent consumed her, like a veil was draped over her. However, it was also an unknown scent, and it had an undertone of danger mingled into the otherwise unidentifiable scent.

"Get in the cave, and do not leave it until I get you," Lea ordered, the instinct to protect the weaker members of her pride rose immediately.

Roxanne didn't hesitate to obey Lea's command, and bolted into the cave. It was clear to Lea that her sister didn't pick up on the smell like she had. Her icy eyes followed Roxanne before she turned back to the clearing. She ran her claws lazily through her earthy brown locks, and a discontent sigh left her. Her instincts were conflicted at the moment. Part of her was compelled to go towards the scent, while part of her wanted to stay near the cave to protect her sister.

Lea glanced over her shoulder after deciding to go investigate, debating on whether or not she should let Roxanne know she was going to leave for a bit. When she realized that it would probably throw Roxanne into a panic, she decided against it and began walking slowly across the clearing towards the scent. Her movements were careful and cautious, curious about why someone would be dimwitted enough to explore so deep into the woods. Her territory was marked so no one would come within a 5 mile radius of her home.

However, Lea became alert when the scent had crossed into her land. Her slow movements changed into a run as she leaped forward, onto all fours. Her hands pounded into the dirt while her feet kicked off the ground. It was similar to how a wild cat ran, her movements were fluid and not forced. Her pupils became slits as the sun broke through the trees, washing over her as she ran towards the source of the scent.

Lea skidded to a halt, her eyes widening in horror at the sight before her. The scent was coming from a man, a large man. He was crouched over the corpse of a freshly killed doe; and from what Lea could see of the man from her angle, he had dark brown hair styled in a crew cut fashion, and mutton chops. He was also wearing all black: a nice button up dress shirt, dress pants, leather shoes, and an unusually creepy trench coat. Her eyes flickered to his hands, noticing that like her, he had claws; though his claws were thicker and larger, accommodating to the size of his hands, and she also saw that his claws were drenched in blood.

After her eyes drank in the sight of the man, she was hit by his scent, now much stronger since they were only a few feet away from one another. He smelled like evergreens, earthy and cool, and there was a tinge of something rustic. It had to be blood. His scent had an odd effect on her, a weird heat had began to pool between her legs.

She took a step back when he rose to his feet. He was about a foot taller than her, and a lot more muscular than she had originally thought. He had stormy gray eyes, and they were solely on hers. They dung into her in a hungry, predatory way, and his fangs were showcased as he spoke, stepping over the doe to get closer to her.

"Don't be afraid, Kitten," he said in a smooth voice, taking another step towards her.

"I'm not," she argued.

While she usually had a strong, authoritative voice, when she was face to face with this man, Lea's voice was small, shaky, and lacked confidence. Her knees felt wobbly and her throat seemed dry. Her instincts called for her to let this man near her, and yet, she felt so powerless against him. Weak, even. She didn't know how to reaction, and despite her claim of not being scared, she turned on her heel and broke into a sprint.

She ran quickly throughout the forest, weaving through the trees as she went. Behind her, she could hear the man running after her. She glanced over her shoulder to see the man running in the exact same manner as she was. A chill ran down her spine when she noticed he was baring his fangs at her. She raised an arm as she ran, twisting and turning through the trees, slashing at the branches, to try to throw him off her trail and stun him. She looked back once more after she circled around a bit, and saw she had lost him. Now she went back to Roxanne's direction.

"Roxanne!" Lea called out to her sister as she ran towards the cave.

"Wh-What!? What is it?!" Roxanne asked in a panic as Lea crashed into her.

"You need to run away from here, as far away as you can get," Lea panted, trying to catch her breath.

"Why?! What about you?" she questioned.

"She's going home," the already familiar voice to Lea chimed in. "with me."

Lea turned and pulled Roxanne behind her, taking a protective stance. She glared at the man who stood not even a yard away from them. That caused a growl to slip through Lea's plump lips, and have her bare her fangs towards the feral male before them.

"Stay the hell away from us," Lea ordered, finding her strength again as her instinct to protect surfaced.

"You know I can't do that, Kitten. My instinct won't allow it," the man said in an almost taunting tone. "I'll come for you, because it is my nature."

Her fangs began to grow as Lea's lip curled. She flashed them in warning to the stranger when he took a step towards the two sisters. No matter how intoxicating and mind numbing his scent was, her protective, alpha instincts kept her focused, making sure Roxanne was safe behind her. She knew that whatever was about to happen, she had to protect her weaker pride member. It was her duty as an alpha.

"You'll come for me, or use my family members to get my attention?" she challenged.

For a moment, he looked at her with a puzzled expression, his brow arched. His eyes then flickered to Roxanne, who was now clinging to Lea's arm. A dark chuckled left him, his fangs flashing as he grinned. It was like he had just noticed her.

"Her? She's no concern of mine unless she gets in my way," he said.

"Is that so? Well then, let's see how far you'll go, dickhead," she sneered.

Lea jerked out of Roxanne's grasp, and launched herself towards the mountains above her cave. She easily leaped from rock to rock, scaling up the mountain with great speed. She didn't stop or waste time trying to make the path behind her more difficult to climb. She had let go, allowing her instincts to take command and guide her up until she reached the snowy region of the mountain and the sun was beginning to set. His scent was no longer following her, so Lea retreated into a cave and began to insulate it. She piled and jammed rocks of all sizes to close off the cave and keep the bitter cold wind from getting in.

"That should do it…" she sighed, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow.

She slid down the cave's wall, her eyes adjusting to the darkness almost instantly, and sat down to take in everything that had happened. In one day: She had tried to teach Roxanne how to hunt, Roxanne had managed to harm her, she had encountered another feral who seemed hellbent on hunting her, and that said feral had a scent who drove her inner beast wild, not to mention she was forced to flee from her home.

A heavy sigh left her, and she closed her eyes. Her mind wandered over to the conversation she and Roxanne had had with their grandfather the night prior over to all of this. Mates. The first time you smell them, it is...overwhelming. She couldn't help but groan and buried her face into her knees.

She tried to remember the man's scent, and began to concentrate. He smelled like trees, and the soil that a tree was rooted into, and it was incredibly soothing to her. It made her frustrated, mainly because it conflicted two parts of her. Her body longed for more of the man, while her mind was confused yet refused to obey its own temple. She unconsciously sniffed, then became even more confused when she started to smell wood burning. Her eyes fluttered open, and was greeted by an orange flame sitting in front of her. She felt something heavy be draped over her shoulders, and she looked to her right side, to see the feral man she had been running from sitting down beside her; and that creepy coat of his wasn't on him, but her.

"Ho-How did you?!" she asked in shock, too stunned to get angry with him.

"I told you I'd find you, Kitten," he replied calmly, reaching out and taking a lock of her hair into his paw.

"Who are you?" she choked out, feeling uncomfortable as he brought her hair to his nose and inhaled her scent.

He leaned in, moving so close to Lea that he was practically on top of her. She was oddly comfortable with him on her, his blazing body heat radiated onto her. She wasn't exactly sure if she found his actions to be creepy or soothing. Mentally, she knew she should have been creeped out, but his presence was calming to her.

"You know who I am, baby," he said, their eyes meeting. He let go of her hair, and wrapped his arm around her, sitting back up and pulling her into his lap. "I'm your mate."

That made Lea's head spin. So he had smelled her, just as she had smelled him. It caused a wave of emotions to come over her at once, something she wasn't accustomed to. Lea tended to only have two emotions: bloodlust and anger, or at least, she considered bloodlust an emotion. Her confusion transitioned into an emotion she was familiar with however: anger.

"I meant a name," Lea growled, trying to ignore that she was pressed against him, being forced to inhale his intoxicating scent.

"Victor," he said lazily as he ran his claws up and down her back, something that was relaxing to her, despite her better judgement. "And yours, Kitten?"

Lea bit her lip, taking a moment to consider her options. She could tell him to go to hell, and attack him, which was her preferred option but it could also escalate the situation to a dangerous level, or she could give him the silent treatment, or she could follow his lead and remain civil as long as he did.

"Lea," she finally answered, though she shoved away from him, giving herself a bit of much needed space. "And stop calling me 'Kitten', it's demeaning as all hell."

Victor growled and threw Lea onto the ground. He was on her in an instant, his paw around her throat, but not enough to harm her at all. His canines were shown once more, making her skin crawl when she realized how large and sharp they were. She tried to push him off, which caused him to grab her wrists and pin them above her head.

"Lea Creed, I like the ring of that," he murmured, surprisingly calm, most likely because his lips were brushing against hers. "You're rather fiesty, Kitten, another thing I like."

"Can you fucking stop?!" she growled, beginning to struggle against Victor. "That's not my last name, by the way."

Victor sighed, and shifted his weight to keep from crushing his fiery mate while also attempting to have use of his hands. He ran his claws slow down her arms, which seemed to ease her tension and the struggling stopped. He was careful not to cut her as his hands traveled to her chest. She snarled at him in warning when his hands went towards her two mounds. His eyes flickered back to hers at hearing her growl before moving his hand to rest on her waist again.

"I know, it's mine," he smirked, getting up and pulling her into his lap once more so she was straddling him.

"Well it isn't mine," Lea spat, squirming against him and pushing at his chest, despite feeling his claws threatening to dig into her hips. "My last name is Flanagan."

"You're Irish," Victor noted, ignoring her struggles.

"And you're a psychotic prick!" she snapped.

"You must be one too, otherwise you wouldn't be my mate," Victor countered, not at all bothered by her accustion.

"I'm not your mate, and you want to know why?" she said in a strained voice, she had pushed herself off of Victor, which caused his claws to drag deeply through her flesh until he no longer had a grip on her. She plopped down onto the ground, her hips healing instantly. "Because I choose not to."

"It isn't a damn choice, Kitten!" Victor growled angrily.

"I said stop with the stupid fucking pet name!" Lea growled back, getting in Victor's face. "And there's always a choice!"

"Oh yeah? So you chose to be a mutant?!" Victor countered, feeling proud because he was sure he had stumped her.

"No, but I chose to accept it and be open about it," Lea said, not even taking a breath before answering him.

It was her turn to feel proud, because she had stumped him. She could smell his irritation about being outsmarted by his mate. Wait, did I just say I was his mate? Ugh. No! I'm not his mate. Lea thought, wanting to throw up because she had even thought of calling herself his mate.

"Open about it?" Victor said harshly, "I hate to break it to you, Lea, but living in the forest away from all of society isn't being open about it."

"Oh, so where the hell do you live, Mister Creed?" Lea sneered, she didn't want to admit it, but he did have a good point. Was it really living openly if she remained far away for humans?

"Canada," he replied, a smirk on his face once more. "And we'll be living in one of my many houses there."

"You can go back to Canada by yourself." Lea huffed, scooching away from Victor as he crept towards her.

His approach made her feel like prey, and he was her predator. She was pinned against the wall with nowhere else to turn, becoming caged in by Victor. He leaned into her, his eyes locked with hers as his thumb brushed her bottom lip. He seemed calmer by his being able to touch her.

"You're coming with me, and you know that," he spoke in a soothing tone, which actually made her relax.

"I know you won't stop, but that doesn't mean you'll ever succeed," she whispered, not entirely confident in her statement.

Victor picked up on the weakness in her statement and chuckled, "Get some rest, Kitten, we have a long day tomorrow."

Fact for the Chapter: Roxanne is a Class 2 Feral mutant, and since her base mutation isn't strong enough to protect her, a secondary mutation developed, which was first used against Lea (as we saw in this chapter). Her secondary mutation is: Electrocution by touch.