A/N: Look at this, I feel guilty and I write more. Who'd have know, right? So enjoy this bonus chapter, and please bear with me, I promise to pump out these chapters as fast as I can, but life does occasionally get in the way.
Also, your reviews yelling at me to hurry up were much appreciated, and obviously effective
"Skylar…" Kat just about whimpered when the girl finally stood right in front of the shuddering Alpha. I was so focused on what was about to happen between the two women that I never even noticed the lycan turn back into a man, who thankfully had the thought to slip on a pair of shorts.
In fact, I only noticed him when he walked right up to Kat and punched her straight in the face. From somewhere on my right Leah let out a loud snarl and bounded forward, catching Kat when she just about fell backwards from the force.
"Feel better?" Kat asked the lycan, who was staring at her as if he couldn't believe he actually struck her.
"Not even a little bit." A heavily southern-accented voice answered her, sounding rather disappointed.
"Didn't think so." Kat hissed out as she straightened up out of Leah's hold. "You broke my nose."
"At least I left your eyes alone." He growled and motioned to the heavily scarred right side of his face, along with the obviously useless eye. Damn, when Kat said she attacked him she left of the fact that she practically mauled him.
"You're not mad at him?" Leah growled, obviously trying to reign in the rage that was threatening a shift.
"I kind of deserved it." Kat shrugged, but the tension was obvious in her shoulders. "But that's beside the point. Why are you here Skylar? You didn't track me down after more than twenty years to have your boyfriend punch me in the face."
"Almost thirty years. Almost thirty years of freedom and you're their pet again?" The shifter growled out, ignoring Kat's question.
"Excuse me?"
"What, spend seven years fighting for them and it becomes instinct?" Skylar motioned to the Cullens, and her anger suddenly made sense. Though Kat still seemed stunned, so I did the stupid thing. I joined the conversation that had nothing to do with me.
"We're not fighting for them, we're fighting with them." I tried to clarify, walking forward to stand by my Alpha. Alice tried to follow, but I motioned for her to stop. Obviously this girl had some serious problems with vampires.
"And you would be?"
"Bella. Kat's my Alpha, and I don't really appreciate you talking to her like that." I answered, trying not to growl at the newcomer. She had a way of grating on my nerves, though I didn't really know why.
"Alpha?" Skylar asked, her anger slipping for the first time of the night as she glanced at Kat. "You said that you'd never be an Alpha."
"Long story, but things change." Kat replied.
"Well Bella," Skylar fixed her attention on me again, "you can't fight with a vampire. That would imply trusting the monsters."
"Well Skylar," I mirrored her high and mighty tone, "we do trust them."
"Then you're stupider than you look." She hissed. "And you lost all of your sense." She told Kat.
"One of them is Bella's Imprint." Kat said simply, causing Skylar's face to contort in confusion. "And I made the mistake of abandoning a friend and her Imprint once already."
"She Imprinted on a leech?" Skylar whispered, causing me to let loose a growl. I still didn't really like it when people insulted Alice just because of what she was. She didn't choose to become a vampire, after all.
"They're not leeches. Surprisingly." Kat chuckled. "Not like the ones we knew. They're good, or at least they try to be. They don't kill humans, they protect them. And they accepted us into their family without question, no matter how uncomfortable it was, and still is."
I think everyone in the clearing was staring at Kat in utter astonishment at that point. She just stood up for the Cullens. Kat, the one that hated vampires more than anyone, and rightfully so, just defended an entire coven. I didn't know whether to faint or pull her into a hug.
"That is very hard to believe." Skylar crossed her arms and scowled, though she looked slightly conflicted.
"They're standing here right now, not ripping you to shreds for insulting them. That's something, right?" Kat asked, causing Skylar's eyes to scan all of the Cullen's faces.
"Honestly, I'm just waiting for Leah to do it." Emmett said with a hearty laugh.
"And why is that?" Skylar asked him.
"That would be her Imprint. And you're not being very nice to her right now." Emmett replied with an easy smile.
"I am about one more nasty comment away from giving her the same scar her boyfriend has." Leah rumbled from right behind Kat, who smartly grabbed her hand to anchor her to the spot.
"She has a reason to be angry with me…" Kat muttered to Leah.
"Don't really care." Leah growled back, eyes still narrowed at the shifter in question. "And the boy broke your nose."
"Can we move this along?" Rosalie's voice carried over the two's hushed conversation. "Some of us would rather be anywhere else."
"So, they're good people?" Skylar asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Don't worry, Rose is a softy deep down." I chuckled.
"In a moment I'm going to show everyone how soft you are on the inside. Staring with your guts." She growled back.
"Ignoring them, why are you here Skylar?" Kat asked.
"Look, I'm still angry with you, but I've been hearing rumors around that The Pit is coming for you. And as angry as I am, I don't want you dead." Skylar sighed and ran her hand through her long hair.
"We know." Kat told her, causing Skylar to look up in confusion. "A perk of hanging out with vampires all day, one of them may be an oracle. But if you have any specifics then we'd appreciate them greatly."
"Well, last I heard, The Pit took out twelve of their fighters; five felines, three wolves, two bears, and two lycans. And there are strange rumors that they are going to meet up with a group of vampires, but that sounds like bullshit to me."
"It's not." Kat told her with a grimace. "A psychotic vampire made an army of newborns and is coming here too."
"Then you have a lot of work to do, don't you?" Skylar asked.
"We're getting there." Kat nodded.
"Well then, be careful Katherine. Like I said, I don't really want to see you dead, and especially not because of that asshole Jax."
"Thank you for the warning, I really do appreciate it. I know how much it took to come and find me after all this time." Kat gave the crippled shifter a small smile before turning to the lycan. "And I am really sorry about what I did to you. Finding your mate should be the greatest moment of your life, and I kind of ruined that."
"Nothing could have ruined me finding Skylar." He told her, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "But I appreciate the sentiment."
"Then this is goodbye. I hope you make it out of the fight Katherine. You and your Imprint." Skylar nodded to the blonde.
"Thanks."
With that the lycan shuddered and sifted again, the change itself looking far more uncomfortable and clumsy than any of the shifter's changes, and allowed Skylar to climb his back. Then they were gone, the lycan's large form disappearing seamlessly into the trees.
"So, the big bad Alpha actually likes us?" Emmett blurred over to Kat and poked her in the side. Wow, the big guy really had no idea what tact was, did he? He was mocking her in a time like this?
"Just remember, I can have you pinned under my foot in under a minute if I really felt like it." Kat turned to look at him with one eyebrow raised high.
"Naw, that was just a fluke. Besides, even if you can, I could kick your ass in Call of Duty any day, so I'll just take pride in that."
"No you can't, and I can guarantee that."
"Then show me." He repeated her earlier words, causing an evil grin to break out on her face.
"You're on." Holy crap, Emmett was officially a genius. In under a minute he directed her attention far from her bitchy ex, and onto something much safer to dwell on. I would never question the huge vampire ever again. "And thank you."
"For what?" He asked innocently.
"Kicking your ass will be a fantastic distraction." Kat shrugged and began walking in the direction of the Cullen mansion, pulling Leah with her. Kat may have been slightly distracted, but Leah still looked practically murderous.
"Is that what I did?" He laughed and followed her.
"Great, so our house is going to reek of the sifters tonight!" Rosalie grumbled and threw her hands into the air before following the three.
"Well, I'm going to say that we're calling it a night. Come one Jaz." Marina grinned and pulled the blonde man in the opposite direction of the quickly disappearing group.
"And where would you like to go?" Alice asked, appearing suddenly by my side, causing me to jump, even though she did that constantly, vampire speed and all. But my nerves were still a bit shot, so sue me…
"Honestly, watching your brother yell at Kat and passing out on the couch sound like heaven to me right now." I told her.
"Alrighty then, to the Cullen abode!" She declared, grabbing hold of my hand and jogging away, pulling me right along with her.
XXXXX
It was the fourth training session with everyone present, including Sam, though he was still in human form due to the healing. But Carlisle assured him that he'd be up to one hundred percent in about two more days. According to Alice's visions, we still had a week and a half until the fight would happen, as long as no one decided to attack earlier.
This training session was happening much earlier in the day though, due to the fact that tonight was the full moon, and a few of us wouldn't be able to train tonight.
And thankfully, after a tiring three hours of working how to kill a newborn, Jasper declared that we were done. But of course we still had our quick after-training meeting.
"I had an idea." I declared as we spoke strategy. "You said that a newborn's control is awful, so what if we used that to our advantage."
"How so?" Jasper asked.
"The day of the fight, we put blood on the trees and ground. It would mess the newborns up, and might even prompt them to attack the shifters." I told him my idea, hoping he wouldn't think it was stupid.
"That's ingenious!" Well, he didn't think it was stupid. "Carlisle can get human blood from the hospital and we can spread it. It would be better if it was fresh, but that's not really an option." Jasper declared, his eyes gleaming in excitement.
"I also had a thought." Alice said, straightening up from leaning on me. "Though it's not a good idea or anything."
"What would that be?" Jasper asked her.
"We've gone over how to kill vampires and shifters, but what about Kat's trainer. He's neither. Hell, we don't even know what he is." Alice said, looking at the Alpha, who was now staring a hole in the ground.
"He's an incubus. But no one is going to worry about him." She grumbled.
"Why not? I'd love to get my fangs into him after all he put you through." Leah declared from right next to Kat.
"No!" She shot up and looked at Leah with wide eyes. "You're not going to get anywhere near him!"
"And why not?" Leah asked.
"He's an incubus." Kat repeated.
"I don't think anyone knows what that means Katherine." Carlisle told her.
"Does anyone know what a succubus is?" She asked, running a hand through her hair.
"Vaguely." Carlisle admitted. And if Carlisle didn't know, that meant none of us knew.
"Succubi and Incubi, in human mythology, are demons that seduce humans for their life force. It's actually one of the few creatures that the humans got right. A succubus is a female that will seduce anyone interested in women. An incubus is a male that will seduce anyone interested in men. They feed on the sexual desires that their prey produces; similar to how a vampire feeds on blood.
"They can also control their prey, make them do whatever they want. All it takes is one touch, and you're under their spell." Kat explained.
"So they feed on desire? And control people just by touch?" Carlisle asked.
"Yes."
"And your trainer was an incubus?" His next question was delivered delicately, but the implication behind it was clear.
"He couldn't control me. At first he thought it was because I was going through the change, that my hormones were all messed up because of it. But then he tried again, and again, and again. He could never control me." Kat answered the question, but refused to meet anyone's eyes.
"What makes you so special?" Rosalie asked.
"Nothing. I'm just not interested in men. Not even one little bit. So as a male seductress, he had no hold on me. So he just beat me instead." She growled. "That's why no one is going to touch him, because I'm pretty sure being completely interested in women isn't a common factor between all of us. So I'm going to be the one that kills him. Without his powers, Jax is helpless."
"Did he… did he ever…?" Rosalie's voice came out unusually quiet and shaky as she tried to get though the question. Even though she was unable to, we all knew what the end of that question was.
"No. Rape is like poison to an incubus. There's no desire, no passion involved. Instead only fear and hate, which sap their strength. If he had ever tried, he wouldn't have lived, and not because I would have torn him apart if he laid a hand on me like that." Kat answered her, offering the blonde vampire a small smile.
"Good." Rose nodded at the shifter, and I felt like I was missing something very big.
"Look, as much as I'm enjoying this conversation, the pride is going to have to shift soon." Kat motioned to the rapidly raising moon.
"Of course. We'll leave you to your hunting then." Carlisle nodded and made to leave, along with the rest of the Cullens. But not before Esme pulled Kat into a sudden hug, surprising her. Of course that was nothing compared to the surprise on all of our faces when Rose put her hand on Kat's shoulder and gave her a small nod before following her family.
"Alice?" Esme called to her smallest daughter when the pixie stuck to my side.
"This is a weird question, but I wanted to know if I could run with you tonight?" Alice asked me.
"Kat?" I asked the Alpha, unsure what would happen if I ran with a vampire on the full moon, when my control was weakest.
"I don't know. You'd be fine, I'm sure, considering she's your mate, but it's the rest of us I'm worried about. We should be fine, again since she's your mate, but I just don't know." Kat told me.
In the back of my mind I knew why Alice didn't want to leave. After all, this could be the last full moon I saw. Or that she saw. So neither of us really wanted to leave the other. I was suddenly jealous of the rest of my pride, Danni and Rikki being the same species, and Kat at least having a mate the same type of supernatural, who could run on four paws with her tonight. So I made a decision, maybe not the smartest one, but I was going to be with my mate tonight.
"Alright." I nodded at my Alpha and grabbed Alice's hand. "Then I'll run separate from you guys tonight."
Kat gave me a small knowing smile and nodded knowing the draw to our mates, especially on the night when we were most driven by our instincts. Danni grinned at me, and even Rikki offered me a smile.
"See you tomorrow then Bells." Rikki called out as I lead Alice away from the pride.
"I didn't want to cause a problem. You can run with them if you want." Alice told me in a small voice.
"Naw, all we do is eat together. We hunt separate, just like real big cats. I'm not really missing much." I assured her and turned back to give her a smile.
"If you're sure."
"Trust me, I'd much rather be with you than see every one of them with their mates all night." I told her, finally reaching our meadow.
"You remembered how to get here." She chuckled.
"I may have a terrible sense of direction, but I know where this place is." I laughed, pulling her to the middle of the clearing.
Looking up, I saw the full moon hanging in the sky, so close to the highest point. It called to me, pulling the panther to the surface, and prompting me to begin undressing, not even sparing a thought to the fact Alice was right next to me, and no doubt watching the whole thing. The second the last article of clothing hit the floor, my human skin gave to the panther, and I was letting loose a roar into the night.
"I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that." A high, bell-like voice sounded from right next to me, causing me to turn my head to see the tiny pixie gazing at me in wonder.
And I couldn't help but gaze back with just as much awe. The moon caused her already flawless skin to practically glow under its light, contrasting sharply with the raven hair that framed her face.
"And you're so dang tall, even like this." She chuckled after a moment. It was true, even as a panther she didn't reach my shoulder, hell, even the top of her head was under the bottom of my chin. So I let out a grumbling laugh and lowered my head to look at her better.
But as wonderful of a view as it was, the second prey scent hit my nose my attention was drawn away. She must have gotten the hint, because she started to move to the trees.
"Hunting time then?" She asked.
I just let loose a growl and began bounding into the trees, surprising her with my speed. She was actually running as fast as she could to keep up with me. And thanks to my speed, it wasn't long until we came upon a herd of deer, none of which stood a chance once I reached them.
Lying down, I began tearing into the prey animal I caught, enjoying the meal. I wasn't until I heard movement near me that I looked up, ready to growl out a warning at the creature disturbing me. That is, until I identified the scent of the creature.
No, not a creature, my mate. Alice. She was standing there, unsure of what to do, her own catch at her feet. The hunter in me grumbled slightly at the competition, but the panther, who I was realizing was a big kitten at heart, almost started purring at the sight.
So, to put her at ease I let loose a chirp, perked my ears up, and swished my tail, hoping she'd realize that I was relaxed, and that she was allowed closer. She must have gotten the hint, because she began moving closer, though at a very slow pace. Probably a good idea, sudden movement might bring the hunter out after all.
Eventually she did make it to right next to me, and settled down to start her own meal. And of course, her only draining the blood out of the animal, she was done much faster than I was. She looked up once she realized I was watching her, and I saw her eyes were an endless black. Her top lip began to curl back, but she seemed to catch herself, and gave her head a small shake before looking at me again, her eyes just the slightest bit lighter.
"I think I need another deer." She chuckled quietly to herself. And of course, the panther once again being a bit kitten, I nudged my kill towards my mate. "Oh honey, that's sweet, but half the blood is already on the floor."
I let out another chirp at this and began to get up.
"No, you finish your catch, I'll be back before you know it." She gave me a small smile and zipped off before I could argue. Not that arguing without actually being able to speak would have done much…
But she was right, I had just finished my catch and was cleaning my muzzle when she reappeared, her eyes practically glowing golden at that point. And instead of speaking, she just slowly lowered herself to my side and watched me.
Wanting contact of any sort, I scooted closer so that she was pressed up into my belly fur. She let out a content hum and snuggled into the softest part of my pelt, closing her eyes. If I hadn't known any better, I'd swear that she was asleep by how peaceful she looked.
Letting loose a yawn, I rested my head on my paws, and curled myself around my mate, falling asleep to the content hum coming from her, the noise a higher and quieter version of the rumbling coming from me.