"I ate your Jell-o cup." Maddie's voice helped bring me out of a morphine induced nap. The room slowly came into focus and I saw her sitting next to me with her feet on the bed. My throat felt like sandpaper and I pushed the button to raise the bed so I could get a drink. Maddie was finishing off the Jell-o cup and smiled at me. "You know how you keep asking me to come get a drink at your bar and I keep saying no?"

"Sure." I gulped some water.

"Yeah, this is why." She gestured to my stomach.

"You help me lift stuff."

"Because nobody is ever there." Maddie put the cup and plastic spoon on the tray and checked my IV without getting up. "What happened anyway?"

"Bar fight." I replied, putting the cup on the tray and rested on the pillows. "When can I get out of here?"

"You got shot, sweets. You'll be fine but you have to take it easy for a few days." Maddie clicked through the TV channels. "Your boss called and said take some time off and I'm taking you home when you're discharged."

"When will that be?"

"Dunno." Maddie winked at me and she clicked on the news.

"Police have found the body of a man who was involved in an altercation at O'Leary's Pub earlier this week. The cause of death seems as though he was attacked by an animal. Officals are on the look out for a cougar in the area and citizens are advised to be cautious."

They showed a picture of his face and I felt my blood chill. "Mads, he's the one who shot me."

"You should tell the cops who he is." Maddie took her feet off the bed and sat up straight before changing the channel.

"I don't know who he is. The last I saw him, Victor had him pinned on the ground." I shrugged.

"Tell me more about this Victor." Maddie turned the volume down.

"I think he's a mutant. He's got claws like a tiger or something—" Maddie had gone pale. "What's wrong?"

"Victor Creed?" She asked for clarification.

"He never told me his last name." She had started gathering my clothes and keys, shoving my clothes at me. "What's going on?"

"We need to leave." Maddie said, fear in her voice. "If Victor Creed has your scent and likes you, he's not going to give you up."

"No, it was just a one night stand." I tried to assure her. "Maddie, it's fine."

"Victor Creed is a psychopath." Maddie stopped and her voice was serious as death. "He's an animal and kills whatever and whenever he wants. If he's decided to claim you as his mate, you're as good as dead."

"We can get the police. They can help us."

Maddie scoffed and yanked the blankets back. She pointed to the scar on her neck that traveled down the front of her chest. "He did this to me and he was just toying with me and there's a good chance he killed that man who accidentally hurt you. Creed is dangerous."

I got dressed quickly and she took me back to my house, ushering me inside the door and standing guard. "Get what you need and then we leave."

I was shoving clothes in my duffel bag when something caught my eye. A bottle of Glenn McKenna sat on the dresser with a message carved into the mahogany.

Get Better

V

It was a common thing to say when someone was hurt but it sent a chill down my spine. Snatching my bag off the bed and shoving a few toiletries into it, I joined Maddie downstairs but she wasn't at the door. "Mads?"

I went into the kitchen where I saw Victor holding Maddie by her throat, her feet several feet off the ground. She was clawing at his hands, trying desperately to get a single breath when Victor snarled. "You weren't planning on running, were you?"

"Let her go." My voice trembled.

"Don't you know you're not supposed to run from a predator?" Victor squeezed her throat tighter and Maddie choked. Suddenly, a chair flew past me and into Victor's back, loosening his grip enough for Maddie to kick his chest and get free. She gulped air greedily as she tried to stand before Victor was on her again.

"Run Charlie!" Maddie shouted, barely holding Victor's claws away from her throat. I felt something shoving me toward the door and knew that she was using her mutation on me and also that anything she wasn't focusing on Victor meant less chance of her winning. But I couldn't leave her there either. A second later, she stopped shoving me and I grabbed a cast iron skillet from the hanging rack and put all my strength behind it when I slammed it into Victor's head. It knocked him off of Maddie and I smacked him again for good measure. He slumped against the ground and I helped Maddie up and out to the car.

"You didn't need to save me." Maddie was still rattled and her hands were shaking as she tried to buckle her seat belt.

"Shut up." Jamming the keys into the ignition and slamming it into reverse, we made our getaway. I wasn't able to relax until we were several states away.

-0-

We made our new home in Las Vegas and while I wasn't able to find a job as a bartender I did find one as a stripper. Not the most morally sound business but it paid well and the bouncers at the club were mutants, a telepath and a strength mutantation respectively. As it turns out, my mutant radar is nonexistent but once I found out they were mutants and they knew what was going on, they promised to keep Victor away and I trusted them. The club paid them well but I gave them a little extra out of my tips as a thanks.

Being a stripper wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. The customers (for the most part) were well behaved and followed the rules that were set. I was a better dancer than I thought. Most of my dancing was limited to my kitchen while 80's rock blasted through the house. I was tipped well and had almost forgotten about Victor entirely when one of the more well to do customers asked me on a date.

"Sorry but it's policy to not date customers." I gave him a sympathetic smile. I really did feel bad about it. James was a businessman (a rather successful one if my tips were any indication), and very attractive with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes.

"Who's policy would that be?" James inquired with a chuckle. "Yours or the manager's?"

"Mine." I replied, glancing at the clock. My shift was over. "I gotta go but I'll see you."

I went to change into my streetclothes, which consisted of jeans, sneakers, and my favorite oversized blue sweater. The strap of my bag went over my shoulder and I was paying for coffee from the coffee truck across the street when James approached the truck. Handing a few bills to the cashier he said, "I've got it."

"Thanks." Taking a careful sip of my coffee I asked, "Do you always buy coffee for the girls when they get off?"

"Just the special ones." James smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "Do you need a ride home?"

"Nope but thank you. I've got plans." Blowing some steam off the coffee, I took another drink.

"She wounds me." James put one hand over his heart mockingly and laughed. "What's his name so I can buy him off?"

Now it was my turn to laugh. "I wouldn't want you to spend all of your money. Come on. You can come with me."

My plans were to sit on a bus bench a mile or so from the club and watch the sun rise. We sat there, drinking coffee and chatting as the sun rose, casting pinks and oranges over the sky. "You do this every morning?"

"Yep." I had my eyes on the horizon, a smile on my lips, and said, "It's different every morning."

"Same time tomorrow?" James asked.

"I don't date customers." I reminded him, standing and throwing away my coffee cup in the trash.

"Then I won't go to the club anymore." James tossed his cup in the trash as he stood. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Sure." I shook my head as I chuckled. "See you tomorrow."

A/N: A big thanks to my first reviewers: Mantha921 and . You guys rock and I hope you enjoy the story. I also hope the follows/favoriters enjoy this chapter as well so please feel free to leave reviews. xo