It took me longer to arrive at Ziva's place than usual. Just as I was about to jump through the window, I stepped back. I couldn't stay in the apartment. If I was to start my heat tomorrow, I couldn't risk shifting through the night. I did however need a place to stay. Running through the nightly streets, I found my way back to the cabin. To my surprise it was empty, Elston wasn't home. Using the doggy door in the back, I slipped into the cabin. Elston always installed one in all his homes. Made it easy for us to come and go during runs. Trotting into his room, I jumped onto the bed and allowed slumber to pull me into its welcoming arms.

The next morning, I groaned as the first ray of sun shone through the dense green trees, turning the stillness of the night into a peaceful morning. A fleck of sunlight glittered on the windowpane, reflecting the light into my room. A welcoming aroma tickled my nose, and my eyes flew open.

Flying off the bed, I landed on the floor with a hard thud. "Ow!" Lifting my hand towards my head, I froze. "Holy shit!" Running towards the bathroom, I stood in front of the mirror. There is stood butt naked but as myself. "Holy shit!" I couldn't stop grinning like an idiot. Jumping into the shower, I grabbed a pair of jeans and a tank top from a drawer. Not sure who they belonged to, but they fitted.

Running out the back door, I took in the feeling of the fresh grass hitting my feet. It was a feeling I never thought I would miss so much.

"I figured I would find you here."

I turned around to find Elston stepping out of the house. "Hey, you just got here?"

"Yeah, I had some things to do." Elson walked over to me, pulling me into a hug. "It's good to see you as you again."

"It's good to be able to talk again." I had to tell him. He was probably expecting us to handle this tonight. Holy shit Hotchner was right. I wasn't feeling bad or heartbroken about this, in fact, I was seeing it as a business deal. "We need to talk."

Elston frowned, giving me a slight nod. "Okay let's got sit down." He took my hand, leading me to the swing seat on the porch. "What is it?"

"I spoke to my brother last night and I made him a promise." I decided being blunt would be best.

"What kind of promise?"

I hadn't missed the way his heartbeat spiked at the mention of my brother. Or the slight change in his demeanor. "These three days are the only days I will be me. They cut short depending on the day I mate. And I really want to abuse this time."

Elston leaned forward, taking my hand. "Alex, whatever it is, just tell me."

"I promised Matt I wouldn't mate until the last night of my heat." I held my breath waiting for him to respond. I could hear his heart pound against his chest. His breath rising. He was mad. "Elston?"

"Okay, that's fine." He tried and failed in giving me a smile. "We can wait till the last night." Leaning over he gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. "Listen I have to run and finish a few errands. Feel free to stay here, I should be back in a few hours."

"Oh, okay. I'll probably go around for a walk. See the city with different eyes." He was already walking away, even before I finished my sentence. He didn't even glance back. Something was off about him, the Elston I knew would have stayed. Offered to go with me. Not get angry. "What is up with everyone today!" I took a deep breath. 'Calm down Alex. Today is a day of happiness and joy. We are not going to let anything ruin it for us.'

Time jump:

When I said I went all over the place, I meant that. I went all over the place. I went to the most crowded places I could find, malls, parks, beaches, hell I even went to the museum.

I hate museums.

At one point I walked into a supernatural museum. Anything supernatural, they had it. It was separated into sections. In the front, you had the magical creatures. On the left all creatures, such as unicorns, dragons, griffin, and that one thing that was an eagle head and wings, lion body, and snake tail. Yeah, all fake. Then on the right, you had the vampires. They had everything you could imagine. They even claimed to have Dracula's pendant, which was supposedly taken after he was killed. Which I call bullshit on. If I remember correctly, Dracula is still alive and kicking. But you didn't hear that from me.

And of course last, but never least, I found the werewolves. It was as if I had walked into the set of an underworld production. The stuff they had on werewolves couldn't have been more wrong. For starters, we did not look like a 6 foot, two-legged wet dog, with major anger issues. We did not kill just to kill and we sure as hell did not lose control on the full moon. Secondly, they had the whole 'get bit and turn' completely wrong. In fact, a human cannot and will never be turned by one of our bites. They will die but never turn.

We have had a few try it though. I remember as a pup, seeing a human being presented to Derek. Turned out the idiot tried sneaking through the patrol team. When Derek asked him what he wanted, the man bluntly told him he wanted to be one of us. Derek told him it would never work, but he insisted. I had never seen or talked to a human before, so I was intrigued by him. I shouldn't have been eavesdropping, but hey I was a pup. I saw Derek bite him on the arm and ordered his betas to take him to the holding cells we had. The man died within hours of the bite.

After Derek found out I had seen him, he explained it to me. We have a toxic in our saliva that is deadly to those we bite. A human body is not designed to withstand such toxics, which may I add is another reason why human mates are not the best. (His words, not mine)

So that's, that on that, but I swear this place just keeps getting funnier.

Moving to the next section, I nearly gagged. This entire section was all about mates and mating. And again with the 6-foot wet dog look. But this was worse. Not only did they proudly show us like that, but they had the audacity to believe we would mate in such forms. For fuck sake they had two sculptures of werewolves mating as that. It was actually really disturbing. I tilted my head, trying to understand what I was seeing. 'How the hell did they get that angle?'.

Walking away slowly from the one thing that will cause me nightmares, I glanced around. The statue of a large black wolf caught my attention. Walking over it, I grinned at the thought. 'Sort of reminds me of Midnight.' Leaning on the rail, I began reading the text.

*Contrary to what many believed, there were two different species of werewolves. A lot like the domestic dogs and wild wolves. You had the Lycans and the true werewolves. Lycans as you have probably seen already appear as a man with wolf features. This was the result of a werewolf breeding with a human being.*

I was quick to cover my mouth, stopping the laughter itching to come out. 'I have got to bring Matt here.'

*The true werewolf has the ability to turn into an actual wolf (see statue). Thanks to their ability to do so, they have been able to hide in plain sight. They are dangerous beings to those not of their kind. Like an actual wolf, they live in packs. Two alphas, a male and female lead said pack. They are loyal to only their packmates. Outsider beware, for they will have no mercy on you.*

"Okay, that last part was just too dark." Moving to the next display, I was amazed by the work put into it. You have a wolf pack, surrounding a human male pinned to the ground, as what they tried to make appear as an alpha bit the man on the arm. Once again I read through the text.

*They are almost indistinguishable from real wolves, but they are larger and move with the purpose and intelligence of a human; albeit a human of such vileness and malice, it might as well be a wolf. Their blood-lust is legendary and in a crowd, they kill with as little mercy as a fox in a chicken coup. Only when their numbers dwindled did they deliver the non-lethal bites to convert more humans to their werewolf pack. When in human form they move among us like thieves and spies. Like ghosts, they can be there one minute and gone the next. Their footfalls are as silent as a wolf and if you cross one he'd be sure to return for you at the full moon.*

Okay, now I wasn't able to hold it in and began laughing. 'This is too much.' I was so stuck in my own mind, I hadn't seen the man standing beside me.

"Hearing you laughing makes me wonder how much of this is true." His voice was deep, drawing me towards him.

Sobering up, I turned towards him. He was handsome. Tall, with semi-short/long dark brown hair. His eyes were a blue-green color with speckles of gold. "I would have to say none, with maybe the whole mate thing." I had butterflies tumbling in my stomach. 'Did I eat something bad?'

He turned his body towards me, giving me a slight smirk. "I would have to agree with you on that. Starting with that monstrosity." He gestured to the mating statue. "Seriously who would ever believe that."

"Tourist." I chuckled. "Let me guess you're a supernatural fanatic?"

His chuckle was deep. "You can say I have a special connection to it." He glanced around, his eyes falling on something in the park across the street, before turning back to me. "Would you join me for an ice cream?"

Throughout my little museum trip, I had a couple of guys try and make conversation. Which I rejected immediately. I could smell their hormones from a mile away, as they approached me. Hell, even wolves had better control. But this guy was different. His scent was actually enticing me. If this was a cartoon, he would be the steak and I would be the wolf floating towards him.

"Is that a yes or no?"

I shook my head, realizing I had yet to respond. "Sure, I would love to."

Making our way towards the ice cream stand, I stole a glance at him. He held himself high, walking with purpose. People stepped aside as we walked forward, his presence alone demanded respect. I closed my eyes, trying to calm myself down. 'Fuck this heat!' I was stopped in my tracks, by bumping into something.

He quickly grabbed my arm, stopping me from falling and making a fool of myself. Well, more than I just did. "You alright there?"

"Yeah, sorry. I was distracted by my thoughts." God, why can't the earth swallow me now!

He simply smiled and proceeded to grab me a two scooped strawberry and chocolate combo cone. For himself, he picked a rocky road. After a few minutes of silence, he held his hand out to me. "Let take a walk, I know of a place you might like." He gestured to the woods on the other side of the park.

I know, I know. It was very stupid of me to just follow this unknown stranger into the woods. I have seen criminal minds enough to know how stupid this was. But then again I wasn't your average girl. I know how to defend myself. My father and alpha made sure of it. "Okay, but I must warn you. Try anything and I will bite."

The moment he leaned down to my ear, I suddenly forgot how to breathe. "Luckily for you, I find biting irresistible."

'Holy shit!' I was suddenly feeling warm. My body began heating up, causing my eyes to flash. 'Fuck this heat!' Taking a deep breath, I followed him. 'Come on Alex. He is just a stranger. A handsome, blue-green-eyed, fuckable stranger.' I growled at myself. 'I can't believe I am behaving like a hormonal teenager! Get a grip Alex!'

"You sure you alright?" He gently grabbed my arm, his eyes scanning my face. "You look flushed."

I waved him off. "I'm good. It's just the heat." I wanted to facepalm myself. It was evening, the fucken sun was already going down. Waiting for him to say something or laugh, he simply chuckled and continued to walk. 'Okay, I got this.'

We walked for a few minutes. He leads me towards the thick line of trees, appearing on the other side, I gasped softly. In the middle of said circle of trees laid a stunning lake. The lake mirrored the sky above, both of them the kind of blue that colors those impossibly bright tourist brochures. I closed my eyes. The breeze that ran unchecked over the rippled surface blew my long bangs from my eyes and brought color to my usually pale cheeks. Without the distraction of the view, I could detect the scent. The moist early summer air was fragranced with the pine trees that circled the lake, growing so close that some had toppled in and others dangle cobra-thick roots into the water.

"It's beautiful." I gasped. Walking closer, I spotted a flock of ducks landing into the water.

"It is. The one place I have come to enjoy during my stays here. Perfect place to come and think." He bent down, picking up a flat rock. "If you ever want to come here, I will grant you permission." He flicked the rock into the water, skipping it three times.

I stopped mid lick of my cone, glaring up at him. "You will allow it?"

He quickly raised his hand in surrender, causing a small amount of ice cream to drip on his hand. "It was a joke." Handing me his cone, he kneeled down to rinse the ice cream off in the lake. "But then again, since I first met you, you have always been serious."

I froze, staring holes into his back. "Met me? I have never seen you in my life."

He stood full height, turning with a slight smirk on his lips. "We have met a couple of times. In fact, you even saved someone closed to me."

"Huh?" This dude was tripping. I don't remember an-holy shit!

"My name is Nathan Stark." He leaned forward, kissing my cheek, and whispered in my ear. "But everyone calls me Midnight."