Once I reached my over sized cabin, I set the little lady on the run in the living room before I set about baby proofing my house. There was nothing left that could be done for her. Even had I snapped her neck, the venom would have repaired the injury, making her change last longer putting her through more torture than anyone should ever endure. I was a dick headed little bastard and would be the first to admit it, but females didn't suffer needlessly at my hands; other than my ex-wife anyways. A cruel little smirk lifted my lips at the memory of her screams and beggings of mercy. Mercy was something that only belonged in the human world, something that I learned the hard way at the hands of an asshole I now call brother, something she learned as well so why she was asking for it from me was something that I will never, in any life, understand.

Giving my head a shake to clear it before I got too far down that road, I started to pack up or put up anything that I didn't want to get broken because the little one was going to be one pissed off little bitch and I had some rather old collectibles laying around here that I would REALLY like to stay in one piece. Had I known when I took off out of here twenty years ago that it was next going to be used as a daycare, I would have had this shit put in storage. Or had I found her sooner, I could have better secured them from the baby, but since I didn't, I did the best I could in the time I had.

If something amiss happens, I guess I could always get replicas but it really isn't the same as the original.

I also didn't know how I was going to go about feeding her when she woke up either. This is why you don't ever take on a newborn one on one. The best system to have is one stays with the infant to keep them under control while one or more go hunting so they can eat. After that they tend to chill the fuck out a little, but their hostility never really goes away until they get a little older. Also, they are stronger, faster and angrier than you and if they get it in their heads they don't like you, you going to die and no one can stop them. They tend to do alright with only one other person present so they don't feel ganged up on or outnumbered. When a newborn feels threatened, it never ends well, for anyone.

I very briefly considered calling my brother but just as quickly dismissed the thought. I loved Jasper to hell and back but his little pint sized imp pissed me off like no other and the last thing I needed was the mutated midget to try and tell me what the fuck to do when it came to something I had a little more knowledge about. I'm sorry, but just because you see something don't mean a fucking thing in my book. I'm the kind of asshole that just smirks at her when she gets going and make fucked up decisions just to piss her off.

Once I thought about shoving a gulf club up Jasper's ass to the point that I was actually reaching for the putter. Jasper thought it was funnier than hell while Alice whined and cried that I was picking on her. I just grinned at Jasper as he tried to keep a straight face while telling me off for making his midget upset. Jasper and I got really drunk that night when the pocketpire refused to have a thing to do with him for not 'properly defending his mate'. The little bitch wasn't his mate and we both knew it. He was just biding his time in the comfort of non-nomadic life while he waited for her.

The fact that the little annoyance had no idea that her 'one and only' was one day going to just up and vanish struck me as a little odd but I certainly couldn't wait for that shit to go down. If Jasper was her 'one and only' I was a fucking god because that little slut fucks pretty much anything with a protrusion from between their legs. She made a pass at me the first time we ever met and I haven't let her forget it. Jasper didn't know about it and I promised he would never find out as long as she kept her fucking nose out of my future, distant or otherwise. The moment she says a fucking word about my future self however, the Major was going to end her.

I doubt he was oblivious about her stepping out on him and I also doubted he gave a fuck. That man had gotten enough pussy in his life to sate a fucking nympho for a lifetime so a minor dry spell wouldn't hurt him any. If anything, the pent up lust from the others he surrounds himself with will make his mate a very happy girl for a very long time. However, it was the fact that it was kept quiet that he left it alone. Once it was brought into the limelight, shit would roll downhill really fucking fast.

Room to room I moved, taking the breakables I wanted saved from the tantrum that was about to hit and packed them in boxes and put them in the attic. It would just have to do for now since for the foreseeable future nothing was going to be safe from her or her anger. I didn't know yet what she was going to be so pissed off about but I knew that the start of this life for her was going to be rot with anger, frustration and all around moodiness. I knew I would get the answer as to why and I knew that I was going to get pissed off when I found out but I didn't yet know why that was and until I did, there was nothing I could do but try and keep her as calm as I could until I figured out how to feed her. I would get nothing out of her until she ate so that was the next order of business to work on once I was done safeguarding the valuables.

For the most part I simply tuned out her screams since this was a normal reaction to acid flowing through someone veins but I did keep a weathered ear on her heartbeat since that was the only indicator on whether or not the change was completed. It hadn't picked up its pace since we got here so I still had some time to double check and make sure I got everything put up and out of her reach. With newborn vampires it's out of sight out of mind so if she never sees it, she won't want to break it.

After a quick walk through and double checking my choices on what I cared or not got broken, I nodded when I only saw my ex-wife's things on the walls and shelves. Once that was done, I headed back to the living room and took a peek at the little lady seeing her contorting into very painful looking positions. It almost looked like she didn't have any bones anymore. I was completely unaware that a body could bend like that.

I moved to her side and crouched by her head, gently moving her hair from her face, taking in her features and expression of pain. To my surprise she slightly leaned into my touch, probably due to the coolness of my skin in comparison to the fire she felt like. I stayed like that for a while until her heart picked up its pace and began to fly telling me she was close to the end.

I dipped my head and whispered in her ear, "Almost done, Sugar. This is the worst part, I ain't gonna lie; it sucks. G'on and scream your pretty little head, Little Lady, you ain't gonna hurt me none."

She did too, good set of lungs on that girl. Not that they mattered much anymore. Knowing the usual tendencies of newborns to attack the first thing they see, I went over to my couch and shoved it out of the way, clearing more space in the room for the little tiff that was about to go down. I still hadn't figured out how I was going to feed her yet, but I figured that I could figure that out once she got the first crack of anger and pissiness out of her system. This was a reaction of every single newborn ever created. It wasn't that they were truly trying to kill whoever they saw first, it was because they were confused, scared and it is usually their sire that they see first so that really couldn't be held against them. I didn't know this chick from Eve and she didn't know who the fuck I was either so the attack that came when her heart stopped and eyes flew open, I completely understood.

Didn't mean I was gonna put with it though.

Thing about newborns are they are strong but stupid. They had the ability to fuck someone up, but didn't know what to do with it so getting her down and restrained was a piece of cake. She did get in a good lick or two, I won't lie about that. She landed a solid kick to the chest and fist to my cheek before I got the upper hand. Shit fucking hurt too.

With my knee in between her shoulder blades and wrists in my hands, I pushed up on them until I heard her skin protest and her cry out from the pain that caused. I really didn't want to hurt her, but if you establish who runs the show from the git-go, things do tend to go a little smoother. The lesson is going to take time to learn, I knew that, but the sooner the lesson began, the better for both of us.

Once her protest to the pain died down to whimpers, I let up on her wrists and spoke in a soft voice that I really hoped conveyed that I didn't want to hurt her, "I will let you up as soon as you promise to play nice, Sugar." It was a quiet admission of agreement, but I heard it nonetheless. Very slowly loosening my hold on her I told her, "I don't have no intentions on hurting you, but I will defend myself in you attack me again ya hear?" She once again nodded in consent to my terms, even though I knew she wasn't done with her fighting yet, so I got off her back and moved away from her to give her space knowing that that was the biggest thing needed when dealing with an unknown newborn. Had I had any idea who she was as a human, I wouldn't be handling her with kid gloves, but because I didn't, I was on my guard for anything that could crop up and be a bitch to deal with right now; like a fucking gift.

Her movements her jerky as she went to get to her feet. Chances were her new found speed was freaking her out at the moment and she was trying to move like she used to in an attempt to find some semblance of normality in herself. I kinda felt bad for her really. She only got to a kneeling position before her hand went up and grabbed her throat, a soft whine breaking from her lips as her shoulders began to shake. This was an odd reaction to have.

I crouched down trying to make my 6'4 frame look a little less intimidating to her, and softened my face and voice, "Hey there now, none of that. We can take care of that, no problem Sugar. You just settle down now."

She shook her head a little before turning to look at me, her eyes glazed over with venom that would never break free from her eyes. She shrank back from me, pressing herself against the wall closest to her, whining and whimpering like a newborn puppy, hand still around her throat. I just closed my eyes when I realized I was scaring the shit out of her. She could see the scars and while they are a deterrent to keep wayward newborns from stepping out of rank, this wasn't an army camp and she wasn't a soldier. She was a terrified little girl seeing nothing but danger in my appearance. It's instinct to fear a bitten to fuck older vampire and it would seem that her fear was getting the best of her.

Not knowing what else to do at the moment, I started to purr low and soft in my chest in an attempt to get her to understand I wasn't going to hurt her. She relaxed a little but not enough for my tastes. Keeping the purr going, I kept the soft voice, even lowering it a few more octaves, "it's alright, Sugar. You have nothing to fear from me, I promise." She flinched a little at the word 'promise' so I tried something else to give that a once over in my mind without losing gained ground, however little it was, "What's your name, Sugar?"

She blinked at me a few times, incomprehension shining bright in her red eyes. Mother fucker, if she didn't remember her human life this would be that much fucking harder. Or, perhaps she just didn't speak English. Thinking that maybe she was on that plane and from a different country, I tried again in French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, even in languages that she clearly didn't resemble and all that happened was her looking more and more confused with every word. After a very valiant effort on my part, I finally came to terms with the fact she either didn't remember her human life or she was from a different planet. I knew nearly every language having lived in nearly every country at one point or another and she didn't react to any one of them. She did however seem to understand what I said in English but didn't know the answer to the question.

There were a few different things that could happen with her memories. One, they would come back with a vengeance once she ate. Two; she would never get them back. Also, there was the possibility that she would only ever get some of them back as is normal with this life. The last thing is she sees something from her human life that blows the damn away around her past. I can deal with any one of these situations no problem having done it in the past, but if I at least knew her name it would be a lot easier to work with her until then. I also knew from experience that if a newborn doesn't remember their human life at all there is more than likely a reason for it.

Switching back to English to talk to her, I bit my bottom lip a little, "Do you not know your name, Sugar?" I saw her eyes go distant, like she was searching her mind for that answer, before a look of absolute horror overtook her features and she shook her head. I nodded, "It's alright, Sugar, don't get all upset now. We'll figure it out don't you worry about that. It might take some time but we will." Remembering her reaction to the word promise, I used a different route to the same destination, "I give you my word on that."

She was still pressed hard to the wall but she wasn't as tightly coiled anymore. Seems that the kid gloves are going to be staying for a while longer then. I watched her swallow hard a few times and take a breath through her nose before she spoke for the first time, though it was only a whisper; "What's your name?"

Giving her a small smile, "Names Peter, ma'am, and you are welcome to use any variation you feel comfortable with. It ain't gonna bother me none if you prefer Pete or Petey." She nodded slightly and swallowed again. I took one more try at finding out who she was before I took her to get something to eat. It wasn't exactly ideal to take a freshly woken up baby vampire into any form of human habitation but I didn't have many other choices. She would bolt if I left her on her own and that was certainly something I didn't want. Clearing my throat a little, "Do you remember anything at all before now? Any little detail you can think of might help me in figuring out your name if nothing else."

She pursed her lips as her eyes began to dart to and fro, this way and that around the room as she looked for anything to tell me. I could see it in her eyes she was determined to tell me at least one thing about her and I had to give her props for that. I knew it couldn't be easy not know even your fucking name. When I woke to this life I had minimal recollection of who I was but I at least knew that. I had sense lost the last of my human memories, both to time and simply not giving enough of a damn to remember. It wasn't like they mattered anymore. It was well over a hundred years ago I lived that life so what the fuck did it matter what my favorite color was or what I did to pass the time? I couldn't do it anymore so I so no need to hold on to them.

It was a few minutes before she began to get upset again, as in pissed off this time, when it became apparent that she wasn't going to remember even the slightest detail of who she was. A low growl began to build in her chest and begin the climb to freedom as her red eyes began to darken with each passing second. Her teeth bared as her eyes narrowed and spark with ten degrees of malice.

Maybe I was wrong about her memories. Bracing myself for an attack, I tisked a little, "You remember something Sugar?"

Her voice was sinister and words clipped, "red… fire… fear… glee… anger… pain… suffer like I suffer… alone for eternity… burn like he burned… so sweet… burn… burn… suffer… burn…"

I started to get a really bad, sinking feeling as her words settled in my mind. That did not sound pleasant, in the slightest. Never mind that little demon in my living room had murder in her eyes, distant or not. She didn't see a thing as she continued to speak in broken sentences and single words leaving me to piece it together as best I could with what she gave me.

"Took mine… take his… burn… alone… forever… suffer… silence… red fire… glows so brightly… sweetness of death… you'll never know… my present… dark heart… alone… torment… sweet revenge… James… mate for mate… heart for heart..."

Oh sweet Jesus, the sinking feeling turned into my stomach dropping to my feet. I knew who this was now; there was no way I couldn't. Jasper told me all about her, in rapt detail a few years ago. The moment she said the name James it clicked as our last conversation about her flooded my mind.

Flashback

I was sitting on my couch, feet propped up on my coffee table watching a kick ass movie when my phone rang. Growling slightly at the tiny piece of pure irritation, I paused my movie, at the best part of course, and picked it up. Glancing at the screen I flipped it open, "What's up fuckhead? Long time no talk asshole."

I heard him chuckle a little, "Oh get over it ya fucking pussy."

I snorted, just like old times. "Any reason you pick now to call? I was watching a kick ass flick and you interrupted the best part asswipe."

I could almost seethe smirk on his face at that information. "Let me guess, you have a set of tits on your TV screen right now."

Fucker or not, he did know me; "Beside the point. Now, what can I do for you Major?"

"You are not going to believe this shit. You remember that human I told you about? The one that fucktard brought to the house?"

Rolling my head on my shoulders a moment to think about that one, I finally nodded when that conversation surfaced, "vaguely. What about her? Did the little bastard finally take her up on the offer of relieving him of his well-maintained 'V' card?" Never understood why the little bitch wouldn't just fuck the girl already, she sounded willing enough to me.

He snorted hard at that, "Fuck no, though why I couldn't tell ya. Human or not, the chick is smokin' hot. Legs for miles and enough hair for a fantastic grip. Tell ya this though, if he doesn't relieve that girl of some pent up frustration soon, I fucking will; many, many times."Horny little fucker.

I chuckled as I got up and went to get a beer, "Though I have no doubts about that, I doubt that's what you wanted to tell me. I could have figured that out on my own. Get to the point fucker or I'm hanging up and getting my rocks off to the blonde I got a great tit view of."

"Right, so get this shit. We were playing baseball right and out of no fucking where we got this nomadic coven in our faces. This wouldn't have been a problem if the stupid little prick wouldn't have brought the human to watch us play."

He then went on to tell me all about his little 'brother's' demand to remove the human from harm, taking her south to her previous place of residence, her giving him the slip in the airport (a fact I gave him no small amount of shit for) up to the arrival at a ballet studio.

I smirked into the opening of my beer bottle, "Major get to kick some ass?"

I swear I heard his eyes roll, "fuck no. That little pansy ass beat me to it. By the time I got there, the tracker had bitten the girl, after beating the ever living shit out of her, and I had to put most of my concentration into keeping the little bastard's blood lust in check so he didn't kill her. All I got to do was start a fucking fire and as pretty as they are, it wasn't really enough to calm ME down with that fucking groups emotions, and that's if you forget how I take a man laying a fucking finger on woman."Jasper is probably the only guy that hates that shit more than I do. He will fuck UP a wife beater.

Swallowing my mouthful of beer, a shrugged, "Why didn't the fucker just let her change and fake her death? She sounded like she was all for it and really, it would have been so much easier than trying to come up with a cover story for everything that happened to her. Not to mention an all-around better idea the long run. Seriously, is he NOT concerned about the risk of exposure?"

"I honestly doubt it to tell you the truth. Not only is he NOT worried about this shit getting to the assholes in Italy, he also seems to think that the little red headed bitch isn't something to worry about either. HE seems to think that there wasn't that much of a formal connection between her and the tracker because he didn't read it in her mind. I am telling you now Peter, I truly think Fuckward just signed Iz's death certificate. He might not have read anything about a bond in either of their minds but it was certainly in their emotions. He also missed the fact that James was the leader of the coven so even if it wasn't a bond of mates or whatever, we killed her coven leader and that is nearly just as bad."

I grunted at the truth of that statement. Any vampire that was older than a year KNEW not to fuck with a vampire's mate or the leader of their coven, you WILL get fucked up. As I ran the tale though my head again, a thought occurred to me, "If you and that big son of a bitch were the ones to kill the tracker, why are you worried about the human? Pussyward didn't do shit but break some glass. Wouldn't it be the mutant midget or the vane bitch that would be the brunt of her anger?"

He sighed a little but did not correct me when I didn't use Alice's name. I call that progress; he either doesn't care anymore or the bitch pissed him off and he is currently in agreement. It could go either way.

"If you think about it like the fucking soldier I trained you to be, you would know why I think that." Ah, he didn't correct me because he wanted me to feel like an idiot. And after a moment's thought, I had to agree.

"You think she's going to go after the human because she's the easy target."

He chuckled, "Very good, Captain Dumbass."I growled a little but didn't say anything knowing that wasn't a friendly chuckle; my Major was a little on the pissy side tonight.

"So what are you gonna do then? Go after her and finish the job?"

It was his turn to growl and I'm sorry, over the phone or not, Jasper has one seriously scary growl. I would have pissed a little had that been a viable option for me.

"No; I am forbidden from doing a fucking thing. The loss of the tracker is a nonissue to the bitch and she left the area. Alice said that she didn't see her ever being a problem of any kind and to just leave it alone."Well, that's why he didn't correct me. He IS pissed at the pixy and not to make me feel stupid. Good to know right now.

However. "You don't GET forbidden." Then I groaned as I figured it out, "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to inform me the MOMENT you get any kind of feeling that revolves around us. I don't give a good goddamn what it is either. I need to know if this is a nonissue or if I'm goin huntin; orders be fucking damned."

My jaw dropped at that, "You don't ignore orders." Something wasn't adding up here and it had to do with the human; that I never actually met. Damn it.

"Are you questioning me, Captain?"

Mother fucker but I'm an idiot; "No, Sir." Can we not have ONE conversation that I don't end up getting threatened?

"I didn't think so." Then he paused a moment, "I gotta go. Remember, anything, you call, right the fuck away."

I pulled the phone away from my ear after I heard the click and just looked at my phone before I sighed and hand my hand down my face; "Sir, yes sir."

End Flashback

My lips thinned as I looked at the baby vamp in my living room. I wasn't entirely sure how to proceed at this point. If I called Jasper now I KNEW my ass was toast the moment he got here because I was supposed to be looking out for this kind of crap. It didn't matter that I had no control over my intuition and I never got anything on anyone that I didn't personally know or didn't have a direct impact on me. I was pretty sure I was told about her NOW because she was within my territory, something that would have reflected on me had I allowed her to run rampant through the area.

The next question was, 'What in the name of FUCK was she doing here in the first fucking place'? Or better yet, 'where the FUCK was that damn coven'? Just like six years ago the last time I talked to Jasper, something about this situation wasn't adding up and I was kinda miffed to somehow get pulled in and stuck in the middle of their shit. I wanted to throw a fucking hissy fit right about now. I couldn't right at the moment but I would, very soon.

The first order of business however, was to get her fed and fuck that animal bullshit. This little lady was mine for the time being and there was no way in fuck I was feeding that shit to her. That is just fucking mean. If she don't ask, I ain't offering.

Squaring my mental shoulders for this, I silently decided to keep what I knew about her to myself for right now. I didn't know much and the little I did wasn't going answer anything she would ask. Jasper always referred to her as Iz but I knew that was nickname but not for what. I also knew she didn't actually go by that. It was Jasper's way of talking about her to me and still leaving me enough in the dark to not get in trouble should one of the seven of them fuck up and her get found out about; not that it really mattered anymore.

Shifting ever so slightly closer to her, I waved my hand a little to drag her attention back to me as I prepared for her to lose that last little grip she had on her temper. I knew that she was going to have a nasty one and it was my mission to get her to lose it as much as possible for the next couple of weeks so she learns how to control it and lengthen the fuse a little. I also fought with her a little longer this time to get it out of her system. We were about to venture out into the world and she needed to have a calm head when we went over the rules for doing so. I was gonna let her eat whatever the fuck she wanted but I REALLY wasn't in the mood to cover up a massacre. If I had someone else here with me I wouldn't give a fuck if she tore the little village apart, but since it was just me, there would be no one to keep an eye on her while I cleaned up her mess and no baby is gonna help with that chore; not until they are about six or seven months or so and not so easily distracted by everything little fucking thing.

Other than feeding time, infant vampires have about a ten second attention span, ADD at its best, meaning that unless you're the object of their desire, you have to keep on your toes with them. Mood swings from hell ain't got shit on a newborn. One moment they will be calm and nearly friendly and the next they will try and beat the shit out of you with no provocation. This was basic vampire 101, but if you didn't know what you were doing or what to look for, you were fucked ten ways to Sunday. Again, it wasn't necessarily that they wanted to kill and or maim you. It was that they just lacked the control needed over their emotions to keep them in check. That too was something that took months if not years to obtain. We feel emotions so much stronger than humans do and it takes time to grow used to it. All that on top of the other shit we have to get used to that is thrown at you at one and you have a recipe for a very volatile creature.

Letting her get in her licks for a few minutes, I turned the tables on her and got her down and restrained again, this time simply keeping her still as she labored for breath that she didn't actually need. Giving her a moment to calm herself further, I whispered in her ear, "Feel better, Sugar?" At her nod I let go and turned her to face me, purposefully staying in her personal space bubble. She had to learn that I wasn't going to hurt her and be comfortable with me being right there next to her so she didn't freak out every time I got close to her. Once those big, dark red eyes looked up at me, I gave her a small smile.

"Alright, now I need you to listen to me. I am going to take you to get something to eat. When I tell you to stop breathing, you need to do so and do not stray too far. Stick right with me and this will go a lot smoother than if I hunt you back down. Once we get you all fat and happy, we'll figure out where to go from there, sound good Sugar?"

At the mention of feeding her, her eyes went flat black and her hand went back around her throat. She started swallowing repeatedly telling me that she was quickly reaching the limit her body could handle when it came to thirst. She has been awake now for about a half hour so I was impressed she hadn't tried to bolt yet. However, the tightening of her jaw and locking of her muscles told me she was about to.

Telling her to stay put for just a second, I darted to my room and grabbed two hoodies out of the closet, throwing one on and taking the other to 'Iz', pulling it on her and telling her that when I tell her too, to put the hood up. When got closer to the village, I would have her cover her nose with the sleeve as well as cutting off her breathing. My scent on the fabric would cover the scent of human blood enough for her to keep her cool if she has an oopsy and inhales after I tell her not too.