There's a place in the dark where the animals go

You can take off your skin in the cannibal glow

Juliet loves the beat and the lust it commands

Drop the dagger and lather the blood on your hands, Romeo

The Sharpest Lives – My Chemical Romance


The moon was nearly full.

In a few days it would be completely full, and I'd no doubt have to deal with werewolves running around town. I could smell the scent of an alpha sticking to the trees in the forest, and I knew it would have had to have been there only hours, if not minutes before me. I sighed tiredly, pulling out a cigarette and slipping it between my lips, cupping my hand around the end as I lit it up. I tucked the little blue lighter into my pocket, walking towards where I'd heard the sounds of a search party making their way through the forest, their dog's barks echoing off the trees. It'd be easy enough to tail them until they hopefully found the murderer of the young woman, or at least I stumbled across him myself. I trudged through the dirt, holding my bogie in one hand, my other one trailing across the rough bark of the trees I was striding passed.

I paused, cocking my head as I listened to the sound of heavy footsteps stomping towards me, young sounding voices ringing out through the woods, chattering as they moved through the trees. They sounded innocent enough, and in the blink of an eye I was standing behind them. I purposefully stepped on a large stick, smirking with satisfaction as it snapped under my weight loudly. The two teenage boys gasped, spinning around, hands held to their chests.

It was hard for them to see me in the darkness, my black clothes blending into the shadows. Their eyes followed the glowing end of my cigarette as I took a drag, and I assessed them carefully. One was ethnic, with large, innocent puppy-dog eyes and floppy dark hair. The other had a buzz cut and an attractive splattering of freckles across his face. Both of their hearts were pounding with fear, and I gave a smirk I knew they could barely make out, deciding to play with them while I waited for some new development to occur. "What are two boys like you doing out in the woods on a night like this?" I asked lightly, leaning my weight against a tree and watching as they scrambled for a believable lie.

"Uh-nothing," the freckle-covered one stuttered unconvincingly. "Just out for a stroll. Doing some brotherly bonding. What-what are you doing out in the woods, huh?" he turned the conversation around on me, and a smirk flickered on my lips in response.

I sucked in another lung full of chemicals, watching them carefully for their reactions as I spoke. "Hunting." The smoke slid out of my mouth with my word, lighting up from the silvery moonlight drifting through the trees.

The boy with the puppy-dog eyes sucked in a breath, then coughed loudly, pulling out an inhaler and taking a puff. The one with the buzz-cut didn't seem as affected, merely crossing his arms and narrowing his dark eyes at me suspiciously. I tilted my head at him, blinking innocently, though I doubted he could tell through the darkness. Though he put on a calm front, his heart was beating wildly in his chest. A gust of wind brushed past their heads and hit me full on, enveloping me in their scent. One of them smelled like animal, they obviously either owned a lot of pets or worked closely with them. The other's scent was intoxicating, mint and chocolate, mixed with a musky aftershave. My gums tingled and my eyes burned as I, with much difficulty, shoved down the instinct to snap the animal boy's back and sink my teeth into his friend's neck. "Hunting what?" mint-and-chocolate asked suspiciously when it was obvious I wasn't going to elaborate.

I smirked tauntingly, one eyebrow sliding up my brow. "Stay safe, boys," I told them flippantly, turning on my heel and slowly blending back into the shadows. "Who knows what's out there? Wouldn't want to run into the big bad wolf."

I grinned at my private joke, thinking about the wild, probably unrestrained alpha running through the woods. "Wait-" one of them called from behind me, but I didn't bother to turn around, simply continuing to walk further into the trees, mind already on my next meal.

I wandered towards the sounds of the search party, wondering how much of a bad idea it would be to pick off one of the deputies. I immediately scolded myself for thinking like that. I couldn't afford to slip up – I'd been doing so well.

I kept out of the light of the officer's torches, dropping what was left of my cigarette onto a wet patch on the ground. Rain filtered through the canopy above me, and soon my long, dark hair was sticking to the leather of my jacket, my bangs sticking to the sides of my face. I brushed it away from my ear, cocking my head as I concentrated on what the police were saying. Most were silent, diligently searching for the other half of the missing woman. Some were muttering between themselves about what they'd found, one of which being one of the two boys from before. I listened as he was chastised by the man who was obviously his relative, and as they walked further away from where I was standing, I wondered what'd happened to the other boy.

My train of thought stopped immediately as I heard a growl from somewhere deep in the trees to my left. I spun around, fangs dropping instinctively as I let out a warning hiss. I wasn't planning to get into a fight with a werewolf. After all, one bite and I was dust.

I knew I might as well properly assess the threat. And if I was going to live comfortably in this town for the foreseeable future, that threat would probably have to be eliminated. Another growl vibrated through the trees surrounding me, and I heard the distant rumble of a stampede. I groaned in agitation, leaping in the air and grasping a low-hanging branch, pulling myself up with ease and making myself comfortable, one leg swinging in the air as I watched the deer sprint through the trees, desperate to get away from the monster in the shadows. Sensing me, they steered clear of the tree I'd pulled myself onto, leaving several feet on either side. My alert eyes watched the shadows, my perfect eyesight searching for any hint of the alpha.

He stayed away, or at least, out of my sight. Once the stampede was gone I dropped from the tree, landing on my converse-clad feet silently. I tilted my head up, sniffing the air cautiously. A familiar dead, rotten smell met my nose, along with the stench of blood. Hunger surged through me and for the second time that night I shoved it down, focusing on finding the body. From there, I'd hopefully have a scent with which I could track the killer, and then I'd be able to finally have dinner.

It wasn't like I couldn't survive without from-the-source blood. Blood bags did just fine, but they didn't give me the same rush, the same mind blowing feeling of drinking from a human. It was a way to relax, and I knew from now on I could only ever do it from killers, from terrible people who deserved it. Ever since Macy...

A twig snapped to my right and I slid behind a tree, out of sight of the boy stumbling through the forest. It was the animal boy from earlier in the night. I watched as he clicked his mobile phone on, using the glow from the screen to illuminate the ground in front of him, frantically searching for something. I stayed hidden, my eyes darting to the dead body – the source of the scent I'd been following.

I sniffed in again, but found only the stench of blood and rotting flesh, mixed with faint traces of werewolf. I deflated. Of course the alpha was behind this. I huffed silently, crossing my arms and beginning to leave when I was stopped by the sound of paws hitting the moist earth. I froze, stopping my breathing completely. My natural instincts screamed to run, but I ignored them, glanced to the boy worriedly. This innocent kid was about to be killed by an alpha, or worse, turned. The new me couldn't just let it happen while she sat idly by, she had to do something. I exhaled sharply, hands clenching into fists, prepared to fight. I didn't know what shape this alpha would take. Would they be normal? A half-turned man-wolf with canines and facial hair? Or would it be a real wolf? Sleek and slender, smaller but just as deadly. Or would it be something else entirely?

I spun around as the boy cried out, slipping from my defensive position. While I'd been distracted by the alpha I'd failed to notice him slipping back in shock at finding the body, all but throwing himself down a steep hill. I rolled my eyes, dashing to the top of the hill and staring down at him, trying to make sure he was okay and keep an eye out for the alpha. I watched as the boy panted for breath, clamouring to his feet and brushing leaves off his hoodie.

Yet another threatening growl sounded, this one louder than any other I'd heard that night. I'd been distracted, I hadn't noticed it until it was too late. I jumped down the hill, sliding across the ground and shoving myself at the giant beast. Looks like we were going for option three, then.

I tackled it, but not in time to stop it from sinking it's teeth into the poor boy's side. I frowned but knew I had to focus on the fight at hand. Luckily I didn't have to worry about the kid, he scrambled to his feet, sprinting in the other direction as fast as he could. I wrapped my arm around the werewolf's throat, but couldn't get the strong enough grip that I needed to snap it's pathetic neck. Nonetheless I squeezed, and it reared it's head up towards the nearly-full moon, letting out a piercing howl that made my sensitive ears ring. With one powerful shake it threw me off of it, sending me slamming into a nearby tree. I sprang up from the ground, my eyes a bloody red as I let out a feral snarl.

It charged at me, and we met with a loud bang, smashing together. It may have been stronger, but I was definitely faster, and I darted out of it's reach before it could wrap it's monster jaws around any part of me. It's paw scraped my thigh, ripping right through my dirty old jeans and slicing the skin underneath. I pressed my lips together to swallow a cry and shoved my other, un-injured leg out as hard as I could. It connected with what I assumed were the beast's ribs, and I heard a satisfying crunch that made me grin with pleasure. It whimpered and scrambled back. I pressed a hand to my bloody thigh and decided, now that the boy was out of harm's way, that I had tempted fate enough for one night. Biting my tongue through the pain I turned and got the hell out of there, running as fast as my injured leg would carry me, all the way home.


I tried not to show I was limping as I made my way through the crowd of students heading towards the front doors of their school. My tattered converse slapped against the pavement in an uneven beat, making it obvious something was wrong. I absent-mindedly patted the swollen part of my leg, cursing the mutt that did it to me. Scratches from werewolves took longer to heal than anything else, so I was stuck with the ache running through my leg every time I stepped on it.

People stared as I walked, but that was usual, so I didn't pay much attention. I adjusted the bag thrown over my shoulder and pushed passed a freshman walking too slow for my taste. I sucked in a breath, wincing as I caught the scent of humans, trying not to think about how it would be all too easy to let my fangs slide free and munch on their delicate little necks.

I grumbled a profanity under my breath, digging in the pocket of my jeans to pull out a cigarette, lifting it to my lips and lighting it in one smooth movement as I walked through the front doors. I'd just turned the first corner when a soft warm body slammed into me. "Oh-sorry," a voice began to say as he looked up. I tilted my head, staring at him blatantly as I recognised him: he was the mint-and-chocolate boy from last night. I couldn't tell right away if he recognised me, because his eyes were immediately drawn to the cigarette between my teeth. "You can't smoke that in here."

I took another puff, the corner of my lips twitched up into a smirk. "Watch me."

"Hey," he said, recognition lighting up in his honey-brown eyes as he gestured wildly while he spoke. "You're that girl. The one from last night, in the woods."

I narrowed my eyes, flicking the ash from my stick and watching him carefully. "What of it?" I asked nonchalantly, listening to his heartbeat as it elevated slightly. He was clearly surprised by my blunt question, blinking at me uncomprehendingly. I stared at him, once again unwilling to elaborate.

"Well-well you go to school here," he said, stumbling over his words as he stared back at me.

I frowned, wondering if he had a disability or was just stupid. "Obviously."

He scowled, looking like he was cursing at himself in his head. "I meant: I haven't seen you around before. Are you new?"

"Yes," I responded blankly, lifting the cigarette to my lips to take another puff.

"Um, where did you move from?"

I stuck with the story I'd had woven for as long as I'd been jumping between schools and colleges. "I'm from New York," I said, shrugging. That's what it said on my falsified records, at least.

"Ah, the empire state!" he said with an awkward grin. "The big apple!" I stared at him with an impassive expression, not even allowing my lips to twitch for a second. "Right," he muttered, glancing over his shoulder at where his friend from the other night was pulling books out of his locker; the one who was bitten.

Immediately I knew this was another aspect of the threat I had to figure out, and I perked up, slipping a bright but fake smile on my face. "Who's your friend?" I asked lightly, fluttering my eyelashes at the dumbstruck boy. He looked floored by the sudden change in my demeanour, but went with it like a champ, moving over to introduce me to the floppy-haired boy.

"Scott," he called, making the dazed looking boy park up, turning to face us expectantly. "This is the girl from the woods last night," he told his friend, gesturing to me.

"Scott McCall," he told me, holding out a hand to shake.

He didn't look like he was dying, which meant he was probably going through the change. I had to know for sure, so I stepped forwards, wrapping my arms around the shocked boy and letting my face bury in his neck. I discretely took a sniff, trying not to recoil at the scent of wet dog that penetrated my nostrils. I flinched back, a frown sliding over my face. Definitely a dog.

"And I'm Stiles Stilinski," the over-eager one said, taking my hug of Scott as an invitation to hug me. He pressed up against me, as he was a few inches taller his chin bumped the bridge of my nose. I stopped breathing, now wouldn't be an ideal time to get a face full of his intoxicating scent. I didn't return the hug either, letting the happy mask drop to reveal my real scowling face, waiting for an awkwardly long amount of time for him to let me go. "Wow, you're cold," he mumbled before he stepped back, face red and blotchy as he scratched the back of his head embarrassedly. "Um, and you are?"

I realised I hadn't introduced myself and bit my lip, mind flickering to my most recent alias. "Juliet Cooper," I told them, blinking up at the two boys expressionlessly.

If there was one thing we vampires were good at, it was lying. Especially with no heartbeat to give us away.

Above our heads the bell rang, making Scott cringe. I knew it was his new, extra-sensitive hearing capabilities making him wince, and I had a flash of empathy for him as I remembered when I'd first turned and how difficult it was to handle everything. Then logic dripped back over me and I once again felt uncaring. "Well, we should get going," Scott said stiltedly, pointing at the wall over his shoulder.

"Okay," I replied blankly, not wanting to waste any more of my time chatting with two young delinquent boys. I strode passed them, ignoring the way Stiles flinched when my cold arm brushed his warm one. I opened my bag, waling down the middle of the hall and not bothering to watch where I was going as I dug out my schedule and the accompanied map. I had English first, which just happened to be my favourite subject. I let a small smile slip onto my lips, nodding to myself and preparing for the day ahead.

After English was French, which I didn't mind. I'd lived in Paris for a few years. I wasn't an expert at the language, like I was in Italian, Spanish and Japanese, but I didn't mind trying new things. I wandered in through to the back, barely glancing at the elderly woman standing by the board. I took a seat on the far left, dropping my bag to the ground and tapping my fingers against the wooden desktop in boredom.

"Hi," a quiet, shy voice said from my left, and I rolled my head towards the young girl, taking in her dark hair and pretty features.

"Yes?" I asked bluntly, wondering if there was something she needed.

She looked taken aback, unsure how to answer me. She looked like she was about to tell me it didn't matter, backing down until a sudden determinedness came into her eyes and she tilted her chin up slightly. Something deep within me was impressed, but I squashed it, not in the mood for any sort of sentimentality. "I'm Allison. I heard from somebody that it's your first day too."

I raised an eyebrow, deciding humouring her was my best bet at getting out of this as quickly as possible. "That's correct."

"Where did you move from?" she asked, a polite smile on her red lips.

"New York," I answered robotically, moving to pull a book and pen from my bag so I looked busy.

"Oh I love it there," she sighed wistfully, and if I were anyone else I'd ask about it. But I was me, and I didn't care. Thankfully the aging teacher called the class to attention before she could make anymore small talk. It wasn't special, or particularly rememberable, but that was the first time I met Allison Argent.


I cracked open my old copy of my favourite book, Alice in Wonderland, and glanced up at the sun. looking up at it sent a searing pain through my head, and my gaze immediately sought out the thick, heavy ring around my middle finger, the blue stone glittering prettily in the sun's rays. Footsteps crunching through the leaves from behind me made me pause, peering around the tree I was leaned against.

I liked the forests here. They weren't so thick you could barely walk, but they weren't so thin it was basically a field with a few trees. So when I decided I wanted some down time, some time to relax without all the stress and scents surrounding my new peers, this was the first place that came to mind. The small house I was living in over in the suburbs was nice and quaint, but it was always so dark, no matter how many windows I opened or lights I flicked on.

"What are you doing here?" a voice asked and I looked up sharply, not expecting a man to be standing above me. I cursed inwardly, I shouldn't let myself keep getting distracted. I didn't want him to think he intimidated me in any way, so I stayed where I was, lounged about at the base of a large tree. I took a breath in, keeping my face carefully schooled when I caught his wolf-y scent.

Werewolf.

I tipped my lips up into a small, mocking smile. "I'm reading a book."

He glared down at me with a pair of brilliant blue eyes. "Why are you in Beacon Hills?" he restated his question, arms crossed, body language screaming he was irritated and uncomfortable.

"Why are you?" I countered pleasantly, blinking up at him with my own set of dazzling emerald greens, putting on a superficial act, hoping it would make him underestimate me. When he didn't answer I sighed, putting aside my book and standing to my feet in one smooth motion. "How about, instead of question each other's motives for living here, we simply get straight to the elephant in the room." His face didn't so much as twitch, and I leaned back against the tree trunk casually. "Are you the alpha?"

"No," he answered immediately, his heart keeping a steady beat.

"Prove it," I replied tensely, narrowing my eyes at him. "You'll forgive me if I don't take your word for it." He exhaled sharply, clearly aggravated. I stared at him, refusing to back down. "Show me those pretty eyes of yours."

He scowled deeply, but complied, obviously deciding it was easier to humour me. His eyes were suddenly glowing a bright, shimmering blue. Interesting.

I nodded, relaxing my stance to show him I wasn't necessarily a threat. "Juliet Cooper," I said, not holding out my hand to shake, nor giving him my real name.

"Derek Hale." My eyebrows raised; a Hale? Of course I'd heard of the Hale pack; who in the supernatural community hadn't? Apart from the rise of my brow, I kept my face expressionless.

"So I suppose you're one of his betas then?" I assumed, cocking my head and watching him carefully.

"No," he replied, eyes glancing around shiftily like he expected my entourage of ninjas to show up out of nowhere and attack him. "I don't know who he is. But I need to find out."

"You knew the dead girl?" I asked tightly, immediately regretting asking. Emotions weren't my forte even in the slightest. He didn't respond verbally, instead merely nodding stoically. "Well, looks like we're on the same team. I don't want some psychopathic alpha on a power trip ruining my chance of a good solid few years here before I have to move on. Hunters catch wind of animal attacks, there're only so many species of supernatural they're going to take a run at. And you and me, buddy? We're on the top of their list."

"Will you be causing any 'animal attacks' of your own?" he asked tightly, levelling me with a hard gaze.

I smiled bitterly before pursing my lips to cover it. "Not to worry," I told him confidently. "I drink the stuff on ice." I considered what I'd said, deciding that if we were going to have some kind of truce, I should at least be a little bit honest. "Most of the time." I levelled my own serious gaze at him, irritated that it didn't make his heart rate spike with fear like it did for humans. "What about you?" I asked, watching him carefully. "Come full moon am I gonna have to worry about you chomping on some innocent kid's liver. Or worse, mine? If you could take me, that is, which isn't likely."

His eyes narrowed minutely, but otherwise he didn't rise to the bait I'd set. "I have full control." His crossed arms tightened as he considered his next words. "Unfortunately so does the alpha."

"Which will make him harder to catch," I added with a nod.

He looked like he wanted to say more, but before he had the chance the sound of young voices floated towards our location. We both froze, heads tilted towards the newcomers. I took a deep breath in, smirking reflexively when I smelled mint and chocolate. This kid was everywhere.

Without verbally agreeing on anything we had both disappeared from our places a good acre away, me reappearing closer to the boys a moment or two before him. I couldn't help the self satisfied smirk that materialised on my lips as he scowled. We were silent, watching the two boys as Stiles joked about Scott being a werewolf. I found the irony of their conversation hilarious, but bit my lip to hide my smile. After a moment he noticed us standing a few yards away, both silently waiting for them to realise we were there. He jumped, heart racing in his chest. I tilted my head, staring at the pair thoughtfully.

"What are you doing here? Huh?" Hale asked tensely, striding forwards until he was mere feet away from them. I followed behind at a more leisurely pace, my arms crossed as I watched the interaction carefully. Stiles glanced up at me from under his lashes, immediately shooting his gaze away when he saw me already looking. "This is private property."

"Sorry, guys, we didn't know," Stiles said, awkwardly adjusting his jacket.

"Yeah, we were just looking for something but, uh, forget it," Scott added, staring at Derek. Surprisingly, the wolf reached into his pocket, pulling out a small object and throwing it to Scott gently, the boy snatching it from the air with ease. We all glanced down at the inhaler now held in his grasp, until Derek suddenly turned around, shoving his hands in his pockets and nodding at me discretely. I hesitated, flicking my eyes between the two confused boys in front of me. Stiles' heart picked up again, and for fun I flashed him a smirk. Something must have come across in my eyes, because they both averted their gaze uncomfortably. Content, I spun on my heel, converse sinking into the mud as I turned to follow Derek Hale back to the tree we'd previously been standing by.

"You could've cut the tension with a knife," I muttered once we were out of sight, pulling out a cigarette and my lighter from my pocket, shoving the stick between my lips and lighting it before tucking the lighter back into the safety of my pocket, I'd had that old thing for nearly a decade, it had sort of grown on me.

I thought back to my day at school, catching a whiff of the boy's new scent. "You know about him?"

"The alpha's new beta, the kid we just saw?" he asked rhetorically, and I clicked my tongue in response, nodding slightly. "You go to school with him, right?"

"Regrettably," I responded dully, raising a single eyebrow to appear more bored than I felt. It was important this werewolf perceived me in a specific way, a more intimidating way. "I'll keep an eye on him," I assured him with a huff, reaching up to brush my jet black hair out of my eyes. "But if anything comes up he's your problem to deal with."

"If you need to find me, I live in the burnt down house two miles North of here."

"Okay," I responded, already feeling sort of drained. I could only handle so much human contact a day before it started to get to me. "If you need me, I live at thirteen Spring road on the west side of town."

I didn't mind giving my address out to people, it wasn't like they could hurt me anyway. I was too old for such a young werewolf to be able to do anything damaging to me, so I sent him one final, sardonic smile before scooping up my book and disappearing through the trees.


I pushed my way through the sea of sweaty high school students, a red cup full of some kind of shitty watered down beer in my hand. "Hey baby," some drunk kid moaned, pressing into my side. I pushed my hand against his chest, giving him one hard shove to the side, sending him stumbling back into the crowd. I wiped my hand on my jeans in disgust, slipping through a gap in the crowd and moving to the corner of the room.

I had no idea why I'd thought this would be a good idea. Me and a hundred sweaty teens stuffed into a house? It was practically an all-you-can-eat buffet. I took another sip of the disgusting beer, grimacing in distaste as it slid over my tongue. I leaned to my right, discretely tipping the contents of it into a pot plant and carelessly throwing the empty red cup over my shoulder.

I felt eyes on me, and not in a creepy, leery type of way. I glanced to my left, meeting eyes with Stiles Stilinski. He was staring at my leather-clad form with wide eyes. He looked torn between awe and terror. I raised an eyebrow challengingly, wondering if he was going to approach me. He didn't, turning on his heel and marching around the corner and out of sight. My lips twitched up proudly and I turned back to the sea of writhing teenagers.

My eyes were scanning the occupants of the party, searching for something interesting, anything to justify me coming here. I didn't even know why I was there. Part of me hated it; it was loud and sweaty and pathetic. And part of me loved because it was loud and sweaty and pathetic. As usual, I was torn.

Deciding I'd had enough for one night, I turned to leave, stopping short when my eyes slid over a dancing Scott and Allison. I pursed my lips, listening to the sound of his heart beating wildly in his chest. This could be bad, if he snapped and lost control, there was no telling what kind of damage he could inflict. All it would take is the right person asking the right questions and we were all potentially done for. He glanced up at the full moon, grimacing and clenching his hands into fists.

I huffed, rolling my neck and pushing myself off the wall. Looked like I was going to have to clean up yet another mess tonight. He mumbled a terrible excuse to Allison, who looked confused and worried, then pushed his way through the crowd. With a sigh I followed him, shoving my way past the drunk, idiotic teens. By the time I'd caught up to him, he was already in his car and driving away. I shrugged to myself, at least the immediate danger was gone, he'd probably go home and lock himself in his room or something. Either way, there was no way I was following him home to find out, so I turned on my heel, heading in the opposite direction of the party, down the street leading to the woods. As I left I overheard Hale offering to give Allison a ride home. I didn't trust the wolf even slightly, but I doubted he'd hurt her; even if he did, it wasn't my problem.

Nothing made me feel better than a nightly stroll, so I made my way through the suburbs until I hit the forest, deciding to walk through it on my way home. I pulled another cigarette from my pocket, lighting it easily and making my way through the trees.

I was about half way home when I caught a familiar scent, stopping dead. "Derek?" I asked, tilting my head in his direction as he stepped out from behind a tree. He leaned against the trunk, crossing his arms and sending me an apathetic look. I took a drag from my stick, watching him carefully. "Giving the girl a ride home. Risky move."

"Well, I needed to draw Scott out somehow," he shrugged back, and I furrowed my brow. I opened my mouth to retort but paused when I heard the sound of someone running through the forest.

"Speak of the devil," I smirked as I listened to his racing heart and gasping breaths, the boy racing towards us.

"Where is she?" he growled as he appeared between a gap in the trees, looking around wildly, having trouble spotting us as we blended in to the shadows.

"She's safe," Derek told him stonily. "From you."

He jumped out of the darkness, throwing himself at the teen wolf. I sighed exasperatedly, sucking in another lungful of chemicals and watching them with mild interest. Derek was no doubt stronger and smarter, but there was something infinitely dangerous about a new, out of control werewolf on the full moon.

They rolled across the ground, wrestling each other, trying to land a hit. Either way, I'd have to put my money on Derek, and I smirked as I saw the older wolf pin the younger one down.

"What did you do with her?" Scott asked, bordering on hysteria.

Before he could retort, the sound of hurried footsteps met my ears, and both Derek and I snapped our heads up.

Hunters.

"Sh, quiet," Derek hissed. I quickly crumbled the cigarette in my hand, the lightened end searing my skin, leaving burns that disappeared in moments. I dropped it to the ground, muscles coiling as I prepared to defend myself. The footsteps raced towards us, and I scowled, tossing up my options. I could run. I was a thousand times faster than the human hunters, it wouldn't be hard to loose them in the darkness, however, something in me told me leaving the two wolves to die was a bad idea. I couldn't afford to start off here on the local werewolf population's bad side. "Too late. They're already here. Run."

They took off in opposite directions, and I growled but refused to allow my true face to show. The best course of action was to let them assume I was a wolf, I didn't want to make them think anything else, least of all vampire.

I raced off to the left, sprinting around so I came up behind the hunters as they began to let arrows fire, ones that exploded upon contact with trees. I watched as Scott got shot and itched to make them pay. I knew though, that I couldn't kill them. In my experience, killing hunters only made the remaining ones more likely to come after you. I couldn't kill them all and I couldn't run forever. So with that in mind I picked off one of the smaller ones at the back of the group, covering his mouth with my hand and wrenching his weapon from him, tossing it as far as I could into the darkness. I snatched the back of his jacket, hooking it onto a low hanging branch and letting him hang there. He yelled out for help, and one of the hunters turned his attention from Scott to me. It was probably for the best; I had a much better chance at surviving this.

"Take him," the leader said as one of his goons turned to me. I groaned, moving forwards with large strides until I reached him, pulling my fist back and slamming my knuckles into his nose before he could do anything to stop me. He cried out as the bone shattered under my fist, blood pouring from his face as he crumpled to the muddy ground.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Scott scramble to his feet and take off into the darkness. Knowing he was out of immediate danger, I didn't stick around to play with the hunters, sprinting after the wolves too fast for human eyes to see.

They ran through the trees, dodging branches and leaping over logs. I had to slow my strides to keep pace with them, running at a jog so I stayed just behind them, continuously checking over my shoulder for any sign of the hunters.

Finally, after a long few minutes Scott came to a stop, collapsing against a tree trunk and gasping for breath. "Who are they?" he asked. He must have noticed me before during the fight, because he didn't look too surprised to see me standing behind Derek.

"Hunters," the older werewolf told him sombrely. "Their kind have been hunting us for centuries."

"Us?" Scott yelled, outraged as he dragged himself to his feet, eyes shifting between us both. "You mean you! You did this to me!"

I wanted to tell him that Hale wasn't an alpha, so it would be impossible for him to have turned him, but I decided to keep my mouth shut. "Is it really so bad Scott? That you can see better? Hear more clearly, move faster than any human could ever hope? You've been given something that most people would kill for. The bite is a gift."

"I don't want it."

There was a pregnant pause. "You will. And you're going to need me if you want to learn how to control it." He leaned closer to the terrified boy, pressing his hand to the bark above his head. "So you and me, Scott? We're brothers now."

He apparently decided that was enough, stepping back and turning away, slowly heading back into the forest. Scott swallowed and looked up at me where I stood relaxed against a fallen tree. "Does that make you my sister?" he asked bitterly, closing his eyes while I pretended I couldn't see them watering.

My lips twitched up into a humoured smirk. I liked to keep a low profile when there were hunters involved, so the last thing I needed was some newbie werewolf knowing my dirty little secrets. For now, I'd let him believe whatever he wanted, I wasn't going to be revealing anything any time soon. "See you at school, Scott," I told him with a false smile that melted off my face the second my back was turned. I was gone before he'd realised I'd moved.


I wandered into my house, flicking the light on as I passed the switch. The small living room to my small, two bedroom house lit up with a warm glow, revealing my old red couches and walls covered with books. I threw my keys on the table in front of the television, toeing off my shoes and kicking them back beside the doorway. I didn't bother locking my door, letting it swing shut and moving through the lounge and into the decent sized kitchen. I pulled open the door to the fridge, fingering the packets of blood sitting on the top shelf. I decided on some A-positive, pulling it out and shoving it into the microwave.

I detested technology. It was stupid and confusing and unnecessarily difficult to use. I missed the days of warm fires, horse and carriages, and hand-written letters. There were some inventions I tolerated, however. Such as microwaves, and showers. They all came in handy, made life a little bit easier.

The microwave beeped, and I pulled out my packet of blood, ripping the top off and dropping it in my bin as I passed, settling down on the couch and taking a deep sip of my dinner. I sighed in bliss as the warm blood ran down my burning throat, putting out the fire and making a sense of calm drip over me. I'd tried pretty much every drug there was, very few worked on vampires. Since we were technically dead, our bodies didn't process the chemicals the same way, they didn't give us the same high.

Blood, however, that gave us a high no drug would ever give a human.

Our bodies came alive, drinking it was like breaking the surface of the water and taking a breath of pure, fresh air. All my senses became instantly alert, everything became brighter, louder, sharper, better. My body buzzed with energy, the good kind, the kind that I knew would allow me to pick up a truck. It, at the same time, relaxed me, making all my worries disappear.

And that was just the stuff in the bags. That didn't even come close to how it felt straight from the vein.

I missed it, I craved it so much it hurt. But I had a promise to keep, so instead of leaving the house to stalk some pathetic little human, or better yet-that irresistible smelling Stiles boy, I discarded the empty packet, turning on the radio and curling up into a ball on my couch, trying to enjoy what high I had left.