David woke early, his brain going over what he was going to say to Max. Max was not going to be happy or accepting of David's decision but David was going to defend his position regardless of what the outcome would be.

'Get down here.' Max's voice rang in David's head and he stood up to leave.

'I have to go see Max.' David said and he had all of their attention.

'Ha, why?' Paul asked.

'Max saw us at the Arcade last night. He'll want to know about Star I'm guessing.' He answered, really not wanting to do this. 'Go get some food, I'll meet you back here later.' He said leaving.

0o0

Pulling into the carpark around the back of the video store, David saw Max waiting for him and David cut his engine and got off his bike.

'What are you doing?' Max cut to the chase.

'About what?' David took off his gloves, stalling, but Max wasn't having it.

'I don't have time, David. Who is she?'

'Her name is Star.' David told him.

'Star? And what are you doing with her?' Max was impatient in his questioning.

'She's living with us.' David didn't lie exactly, he just said what was going to happen was already happening and Max glared at him.

'She's what? David, we don't entertain females long term. I told you Marko was to be the last member you would induct and you are in no position to defy me right now.' Max scolded him, making David's rebellious streak flare.

'It's too late.' David arrogantly spread his stance and clasped his hands together in front of him.

'You had better be fucking kidding me.' Max was fuming but David just stood there and smirked at him and Max lost it, cracking his fist across David's face hard enough to break a mortals jaw, but David took the hit in his stride.

'You arrogant fuck! You know there are to be no females. What the fuck are you going to do with her now?!' Max was pissed so David told him the only thing he knew Max would want to hear, that David had a purpose for her.

'She's a distraction Max, she will make great bait. She'll make us less conspicuous and make us look more mortal, especially if you are going to make us stick around here.' David had a point but Max didn't like being challenged and told he was wrong.

'She's your problem.' Max spat. 'You better know what you are doing. If she fucks up, it's on you and I'll be paying attention.' He moved to enter the building and turned to face David, 'and you don't tell her about me.' Max warned him and left him out there alone.

David rode down to the beach and sat and had a cigarette by himself, contemplating what Max had said to him. David knew now that he was going to have to keep her on a real short leash now, because Max would just be waiting for an opportunity to stick it to him over this one and he wasn't going to let it happen. The weight of the responsibility he now had with her was heavy, he'd just been looking at her as his lover but Max now made him see her as a new recruit and, once he'd turned her, a new vampire, with a large potential of turning feral. He'd just got Marko through the transition, and knowing the potential difficulty that came along with it was disheartening. With Marko, David had Max's help but with Star, he was on his own. Marko had only just come right many months after being turned and Max had always told David no females due to the problems they caused, both in the group dynamic and in their tendency for not coping and resisting the change. He was beginning to second guess what he was doing. Fucking Max, this is why he needed to be on his own and out of the control of the old man. He would do this on his own and he'd nail it and prove Max wrong. Star was his and the perfect candidate for him to turn.

'Paul, you and Marko move that large bed from the penthouse suite into the main cave and get Dwayne to pick up some new bedding. She's moving in.' David projected to Paul and Paul, sensing his tone, knew not to question or complain.

He rode to the florist and got her another white lily and went to pick her up, seeing her emerge from the room as he pulled up.

'Hello Star.' He smiled and gave her the flower, enjoying her reaction to it.

'Hi David. Thank you,' she said leaning forward and kissing him, 'I'm not used to getting flowers.'

'Well, get used to it. Are you ready?' He wanted to leave.

'Um… The motel manager would like to speak to you.' She told him and it was the last thing he wanted to hear. Dealing with Max had been enough, he wasn't in the mood for this.

'Stay here.' He told her and he dismounted and walked inside the office.

'What do you want?' He demanded, no charm in his demeanour for her this time, and the lady's husband stood behind her and judged him he walked in, which got his back up. The lady looked embarrassed as she looked up at him.

'The rate for the girl has gone up.' The husband barked at David. 'I didn't agree to housing a street walker.' David stopped and stared at him.

'What did you say?' David tilted his head slightly then dismissed the man. 'She's not.'

'Could have fooled me.' He looked over his glasses at him. 'And she's very young. It's illegal to do what you're doing.' David's face changed when he knew where the man was going with this.

'She'll be checking out tomorrow.' David said.

'Well you owe us $400.' The man informed David and David laughed.

'For this dump?'

'I'm sure the Police would be interested in what you're doing. I know you, I've seen you around.' The man was trying to intimidate and maybe even blackmail David and it was a bad move. David threw $400 down on the desk and walked out, knowing he'd be back to deal with the man later. He walked to his bike got on and started it before telling her to get on then they headed towards the cave. He walked down into the cave and the boys had got Chinese but he was too pissed off to eat. This is exactly why David told Max he didn't want to settle in Santa Carla, the chances of being noticed and recognised was a problem for David but Max didn't care, he just wanted to set up shop here. David had initially felt trapped here but he was dominating the sea side town which made him happy. He knew being known around town was not going to work for him or his boys long term though and it was yet another reason David wanted to break away from Max and be on his own. The others finished eating and David sparked a cigarette and sat in his chair and inhaled his smoke watching her. She looked so young and innocent in his cave of monsters and he looked over her shoulder at the bed that Paul had set up for her then back at her again. He inhaled more smoke and she noticed he was staring at her.

'What?' She asked and her uncertainly made him smile.

'Turn around.' He told her and her expression made him chuckle. 'Look behind you. It's yours' He said and she turned to look at him again with shock in her eyes. 'I want you to come stay with us Star.'

'Am I not able to stay at the motel anymore?'

'You're coming to stay here. With us.' David was telling her what was happening and she looked at David nervously. He finished his cigarette, stood up, took her hand and pulled her to him then led her over towards the bed. 'I want you to be comfortable here Star. This area is yours and you can bring your stuff here and set it up how you wish.' He could tell she was scared and, after what she'd been through, he wasn't surprised. He wanted her to feel at home here, she was going to be here for the long haul and he needed her to be confident that this was her place too. He began to think that the sooner she was turned, the better for everyone. This was odd for the boys too, they'd never lived with a female here and some of the things they got up to were quite extreme and he didn't want to make the boys feel like their space had been censored either. This was going to be a fine balancing act by the looks of it.

'David, I have no money to get anything I want, anything I need.' She said looking around. 'I really need a job. I can't rely on you for everything.'

'No Star, if there is anything you want, we will get it for you.' He shut her down. There was no way she was going to have a job away from him and once she'd changed, she wouldn't need or want a job anyways. He watched her contemplate her options and she came to the right conclusion.

'I would like some candles.' She said, looking up at him and her comment pleased him.

'Candles? We can do candles.' He would get her all the candles in the world to keep her looking at him the way she did right now.

'You seem like you can do anything.'

'I can.' She had no idea what he could do but he would show her soon. 'We'll go and get your stuff and then we're going out.' He said and they left.

He took her back to the motel to pick up her stuff with the boys in tow. He wanted the manager's husband to see his crew and to do a bit of intimidation of his own. He went inside with her and she collected up her things then before she left, she ran her finger along a petal of one of the flowers he'd given her.

'I don't want to leave them here.' She said sadly.

'I'll get you more.' He said, leaning forward to kiss her on her lips. He'd fill her area with lilies and candles if that made her happy to live there with him. They left the room and headed back to the bike.

'Don't you come back here! You're bad for business!' He heard a man yell at him and he looked over to see the manager and her husband standing by the office watching them. David turned away to see his boys all looking at him and he smiled, looking back to the old man to see him push his wife inside and close the door. He was scared and David would show him the true meaning of fear. He looked over at Star to see her looking up at him.

'Don't worry about it.' He said to her. 'Boys, let's go to Grapes.' He deliberately spun his wheel on the drive before he left just to piss the old man off and he took off, hearing the screech of Paul's tyres after him. They rode to a club that the boys sometimes went to when the Boardwalk was dead or it was raining. They parked up outside and garnered the usual stares from the people gathered outside. Star got off followed by David and he looked at her and saw something was wrong.

'What is it?'

'I'm not going to get in.' She looked over at the judgemental bouncer prompting him to glance over at him and he smiled.

'Yes you will.' He said confidently and placed his arm protectively around her.

'Ah, how old is she?' The bouncer placed his hand on David's chest and David glared at him.

'She's old enough.' David compelled the man to let her in, to basically let David do whatever he wanted to do, and the bouncer folded like a piece of paper. He may have been strong in stature but his mental capacity was weak. David made his way through the people to a leaner in the centre of the room and Marko went to get them all drinks. To his surprise, Star took off straight to the dance floor and was happily moving and spinning to the music, she was instantly in her element and he stood there and watched her drift off into her own little world. He noticed she demanded just as much attention the boys did and, although he didn't like other men wanting his girl, he did see the potential it held for him and how she would make the pull of victims so much easier. He watched a guy make a beeline for her and he moved faster than the guy could see and was in his path before he knew what had happened. He went to move David out of his way but David didn't budge.

'Hey dude, move.' He said staring at Star.

'Touch her and you're dead.' David told the guy and he flashed his red eyes at him.

'Woah, whatever man.' The guy darted off in the other direction and David went back to finish his drink with the boys. Dwayne watched as David protected his property and he knew David was going to keep her, he'd never showed he cared much about anyone, but he cared about her. Paul and Dwayne had been on the Jägermeister and within three hours they were hammered and David knew it was time to go. He called Star off the dance floor and they left, heading back to the cave. Dwayne disappeared almost instantly which is what he did when he was smashed but Paul, however, was in a smart ass mood and giving David as much stick as he could. Marko was laughing at his brother and Paul even had David chuckling at the shit he was bringing up and David began throwing comments back at Paul, David would always give as much as he got. David noticed Star walk over to her bed and Paul looked at him and made a sexual hand gesture laughing at him and David gave him the finger before he got up to follow her. He watched her in her space and she looked content.

'Are you OK?' He asked her and she looked over at him and nodded. It was done. She now lived here and knowing her birthday was coming up, it would be the perfect time to celebrate with his wine.

'Woohoo!' Paul called out leaning over the back of the couch. 'David's gonna get some…' David looked sideways over his shoulder at him.

'Fuck off Paul.' He said in a more serious tone.

'Oooohhh…' Paul said laughing.

'Come on Paul.' Marko picked up on David's tone and dragged Paul off out the back. David looked back at her and she looked perfect to him. She was in his territory and his to enjoy and he wanted her badly. He moved to her and touched her cheek, pulling her in with his eyes, then he took another step closer and she took an unsteady step back but he continued to look into her eyes and move forward.

'I'm not going to hurt you.' He assured her and compelled her harder then he kissed her and he felt the same as he did when they kissed for the first time at the concert, only now there were no restrictions. She was his for the taking and from her response to him, she wanted him too. He kissed her harder and she melted into him and he lay her down on the bed and began to touch her and undress her. He was going to have her tonight and consummate their union.