[IC] Of Life, Love, and Death

[ravenhuffle]

This is what death felt like. Avina had accepted the idea that after four hundred years she was finally gonna die. Her eyes closed and a peaceful sigh escaped her muzzle. Then his hand gripped her jaw, roughly shoving her head to the side. Every muscle in her body tensed, waiting for the sharp piercing of his teeth, But the pain did not come. Instead his grip on her neck loosened until it disappeared altogether. What was he doing? His words still rang in her ears even after he had pulled away, making her worry about what kind f scare tactics he was using to kill her. She opened her eyes slowly, not sure what she would find. He could be waiting to kill her until her eyes were open. Maybe he enjoyed watching the light fade from his victims eyes.

What she saw, she was not expecting. He was sitting cross legged on the ground in front of her, his eyes grey. With a huff of relief, she laid on the ground with her nose close to his lap. It was not until his latest comment that she had the urge to reply to him. Of course she figured out that it was not him who killed her pack member, but his kind did. How could she justify their interaction when she knew his people killed on her own? Avina knew she was gonna have to talk to him, and to talk to him she was gonna have the change back. With so many shifts back and forth,and her wolf being fully alert, it was sure to be a painful shift.

The change between wolf and human was a sacred part of being a werewolf. Therefore, she could not allow him to see her change, not after he killed of her own. She stood up, placed a paw on his knee as if to tell him to stay, then trotted off to a patch of trees and bushes near by that she could hide in. She knew that if his hearing was as good as hers that he would hear the sound of her bones cracking and resting into place and possibly even hear the stretching of her skin. This change was particularly painful, even managing to make her give a few small whimpers of pain. The change itself lasted about twenty minutes but it felt like eternity to her. Not only was the change painful, but she had to fight for control over her wolf, and it left her exhausted.

Once the change was over, she stood up and walked back to him. It did not occur of her that her completely nude form might bother him, in the pack one quickly gets over body image issues because everyone is naked after changing. Also, her pack lives in the woods, so it is much simpler to go without clothes most of the time anyway. She sat down in front him him again, her posture mimicking his.

“Rather it was you or one of your kind, the fact still remains. A vampire killed the youngest in my pack, and that cannot be overlooked. I cannot justify being around you knowing that your kind killed one of mine.” She did not bother with pleasantries, rather she just skipped to the tension in the air. “I started to trust you.” She bowed her head and ran her fingers through her hair. “I liked you…” Her blue eyes looked back up at him. “But how can I let myself feel that way, when you were the reason I was distracted in the first place last night? If it had not been for you, I might have been able to save him! If it was not for your kind, he would not have been killed!” She stopped abruptly.

If she was claiming not to trust him, then why was she venting her anger to him? She tilted her head to the left and studied him carefully. Why was she venting all of her feelings all of a sudden to some vampire who’s name she did not even know. “I don’t even know your name…” she said in a gentle tone as the realization hit her.

[Love Dove]

Eyes watching as the wolf lay with her noise close to his lap. Letting out a relieved sigh as she did this, almost like she was saying she wasn’t going to fight him anymore. If he knew her better he likely would have softly patted her head, or something along those lines. She didn’t even have to look human to mad him no longer annoyed with her. How strange. After he repeated his first statement to her, she stood up, and as she did his whole body tensed up again thinking she was going to attack again. Though when she simply put her paw on his lap, Devin nodded understanding what he thought she had said which was to stay where he was.

As she went into the bushes he stayed where he was still as stone and not moving an inch as he did. Of course he could hear her bones popping and the sound of something stretching, his hearing matched hers after all. Hearing the whimpering sound his eyes looked at the bushes as he waited for her to come back, part of him feared that maybe she was getting her pack to attack him as he simply waited for them like a fool. Though those fears were quickly wiped away as the woman appeared in a completely nude form, his gray eyes scanned over her body quickly before looking away. It was strange how she didn’t even seem to notice.

When she sat down in front of him, Devin tried to keep his glaze from slipping from her eyes and over her body. She was a rather beautiful….werewolf in her human form and it only made it harder not to look. Her words brought him from his train of thought. “I’m not foolish lass, I know it cannot be overlooked. Even though it was a changeling on our side that killed a changeling on yours. But I’m not the one in charge.” He stated before frowning that she couldn’t justify being around him because of something he had no control over. When she said she trusted him, it was odd for Devin, why did she trust him? Was it because he didn’t attack her in the alley way? That was an odd reason to trust someone she had just met?

She liked him? Devin couldn’t help the soft smile that spread on his face even when she looked up. He had liked her as well, for some reason he couldn’t understand. Though what was a nice statement was quickly turning into a rather harsh one. “Now is it my fault what happened to the changeling? I never asked you to interrupt my hunt lass, I even tried to scare you away. You only moved closer to me, not that I’m complaining about it.” He said in defense of himself, as she blamed him for what happened. “Not to mention that you attacked me, when you were the one I came looking for.”

For not trusting him, she sure wasn’t doing a good job of it. He had almost killed her, and she put her head near his lap, now she was telling him about her feelings. If this was a form of distrust, is sure was a new one he hadn’t seen. Raising an eyebrow he watched her tilt her head at him, before being asked for a name. Her tone was gentle and it helped him to relax somewhat. “I never gave it? Names aren’t really a strong suit of mine, after so long they all blend together. Didn’t you think?” He asked with a soft chuckle, he wasn’t trying to get out of the as must as simply talking.

Realizing that it sounded like that was what he was doing he shook his head trying to collect his thoughts, through the almost haze of things to say to her. “My name is Devin though. This is the point I ask for yours?” He asked before shaking his head to answer his own question, with a frown. “Your name is lass?” He asked softly. What was wrong with him? He sounded like a changeling when they were first made, annoyingly blurting out things and asking stupid questions. Something about this woman made him want to ask her everything, but still if felt like he didn’t want to ask her anything. Then there would be no reason to be around her. And he wanted to be around her.

His eyes scanned over her body again without meaning for them to, as he thought. “I would never be so foolish to tell you to trust me, I’m a vampire and you have blood running through your veins. Though I’m sure you could say the same. Both of us are hunters, but the fact that I came to tell you it was not my doing, that I only found out when he came to the elder should….” He cut off because his eyes scanned her again, and he sighed loudly, rolling his gray eyes. “You have a very beautiful body….it is distracting my train of thought as I try not to look at it and talk to you.” He said finally.

[ravenhuffle]

Not his fault. Not his fault. Not his fault. NOT. HIS. FAULT.

How many times would she have to tell herself that before she could truly believe it? Frustrated, she ran a hand over her face. “I want to believe you had nothing to do with it… I want to believe it so much. Maybe it is the grief talking, but I just keep picturing someone leaning over my baby wolf. Someone with fangs, and enough anger to rip out his throat. All I can picture is you. I realize that it’s not you, you have convinced me of that, but you are the only vampire I know. The only pair of fangs I have ever seen.” She looked at him with a sad look in her eyes.

Maybe she needed to allow herself to grieve. How could she do that? Anger and the want to revenge still owned most of her energy. His interactions pulled her back to the present. “Of course it isn’t your fault. I’m the one who did this.” She stood up angrily. If she had walked away. If she had kept her head. If she had watched over her pact like she was supposed to. If. If. if. A scream of anger erupted inside of her, she drew her fist back, and punched the closest tree. The tree splintered, and her fist was covered in small bits of bark. “Son of a b*tch!” She pulled her fist back to her chest and bowed her head over it for a moment.

With her anger slightly spent, she came back to sit across from him again and began to pull the wood from her fist. His name made her smile. Devin? It suited him. “I think deciding not to kill you, and deciding not to blame you earns me the right to know your name.” She flashed him as smile then continued to work on her hand. The wombs healed as soon as she pulled the wood from her hand. “Werewolf.” she held up her hand, still covered with wet blood, but flawless skin. “We have this natural ability to heal. When I first change, I tried to run away. I fell, cut my hand only to watch the skin stitch it back together again. My alpha at the time, told me how quickly I healed, even for a werewolf. Neither of us knew then, but I was, and still am, the quickest healing werewolf.” She put her fist back down.

“Everything blends together over time.” She brushed her fingers over her knees. “Time blends into a never ending stream. Night. Day. Night. Day.” She laughed. “I’m Avina. If you don’t want to remember that, or it blends with all your other names, then it’s fine by me. Such is the curse of immortality.” She put her hand over her face again. “I’m sorry, Devin. I should not attack you, and I should not have blamed you for the act of one. If I was judged by the act of any single wolf, I would always have a negative light shining on me.”

It should not have taken her as long as it did to read his body language. From the way his eyes roamed her body, to the stiffness of his body, to the way he trained his eyes on her face it all pointed to his uneasiness. Through it took her a while to figure out why he was reacting so weird. Was he surprised that she looked human? She tilted her head to the side to study him. Did he see her change through the bushes? Was he bugged by the idea that she went in looking like a wolf and walked out on two legs?

It dawn on her slowly, and she let her eyes fall down onto her naked body. Of course! How could she forget? A blush rose on her cheeks as she looked back up at him. “Um… May I borrow your shirt?” She asked, suddenly feeling shy and very self-aware. She pulled her knees up to her chest and crossed her ankles trying to hide everything. Never had she felt like she should be ashamed of her bare form, it was a weird feeling that sent tingles into her stomach. “I’ve never had to worry about hiding my body before.” she told him, hiding her face in her knees.

[Love Dove]

Devin sighed closing his eyes as she blamed herself for what had happened to the young wolf. Is this how werewolves reacted to this kind of thing? It had been a very long time since he cared for someone that much, it was strange to him slightly, mostly because he had forgotten how that would feel. Opening his eyes, he quietly watched the red head stand up, punch a tree yelling in anger, and return to him calmer than before. His body stiffening up until she sat back down where she was standing over him.

Devin saw the smile as he told the woman his name, and at her words about letting him live, he started to smile a little bit as well. Though when she showed her hand, still wet with blood but healed, he took a deep breath looking away, still listening to her story though. She really was not making this easy on him with showing her sweet and wet blood, and what was worst was she likely didn’t even realize she was doing it. Truly Devin had too much pride to admit that he was hungry, that didn’t stop the fact that when he looked back at her, his eyes had a slight red tint mixed in with the grey.

“You’ve changed elders…no alphas than?” He asked curiously, in his world the only way that could happen was if they were killed. So her name was Avina? Such a beautiful name, it matched her quite well. He quickly tried to memorize it the best he could, it was easier to remember names he thought were important to him, than the ones he didn’t find to be. Her apology from his thoughts about her name and want he was trying to say.

Eyes softening a little bit he nodded. “Anger…..makes people do things that…they would not do thinking clearly. I gave up on regret years ago Avina, oddly I still wanted to clear my name with you….” He answered pausing for for a moment before quickly resuming what he was saying. “…either way I can understand being attacked. Still don’t like it though.” He added with a slight laugh.

Watching the fact that, yes, she was indeed very naked in front of him dawn on her. A wide slightly amused smile spread across his face as Avina started blushing, such a lovely thing that being a vampire caused one to lose, the blush. Watching her pull her legs up to cover herself. "If you don't mind me looking, you don't have to cover yourself lass" Devin chuckled softly as he nodded. Quickly he unbuttoned his own light blue button up shirt, showing his own body a little bit. Almost flawless, muscular pale skin, a tattoo on his left shoulder from before he was turned, and the scar on his right side was the only marks that showed on his skin.

He handed Avina the shirt for her to put on, before closing his eyes slowly so that she could cover herself. “The kill mark from the turning bite never goes away, every other mark heals and fades but it. Most think of it as a bandage of honor.” He explained with a snort, his eyes still closed as he waited for Avina to say she was covered.

[ravenhuffle]

A smile spread across her face and her eyes dropped to the ground. Changed alphas? No, she killed her original alpha. Just like it was yesterday, she could remember that battle, how it felt like it last for years. Until finally she stood victorious. She shook her head and looked back at him. “No, I did not change alphas. I took over the pack.” Memories came flooding back to her mind of her earlier years of being a werewolf, when she was just a changeling.

“I was told, as I lay dealing with the pain of changing, that I was not gonna make it…” Her eyes grew distant as she fell back into her oldest memories. “I was a female, thought to be too weak to survive such a rough, unexpected, unprepared change. I proved them all wrong. I survived the change. I stood up for the first time after a week of withering in the snow. I had never felt so … alive! Every one of my senses was enhanced, I was seeing the world for the first time. My alpha had laughed at me as I stood up from the snow. Told his pack that he may have been wrong, but now they had a submissive wolf that could take pain. Buying into his lie, I allowed them to use me for years. Until one night, my wolf truly to took a change, took over me for the first time. She showed me who I truly was. Where I truly belonged. That night I killed my alpha and everyone loyal to him. It was a night that turned the forest red…” Her eyes refocused on him. “Sorry, I got got caught up in memory. That was years and years ago.” She smiled at him again.

She accepted his shirt and slipped it over her shoulders and buttoned it all the way down. Even with his shirt, her body was barely covered. The sleeves went past her fingertips, and the hem of the shirt stopped just short the middle of her thighs. Sitting down, however, she managed to make it cover everything it needed to. Once covered up, she reached out and put a light hand on his knee telling him he could open his eyes.

She accepted his shirt and slipped it over her shoulders and buttoned it all the way down. A laugh escaped her lips as she buttoned the shirt. “I do not care if you look. As a werewolf I have become desensitized to males looking at my body. Most of the time I got without clothing anyway. I am doing this for your comfort. I could see the discomfort in your body language and your eyes. You were trying not to look.” Even with his shirt, her body was barely covered. The sleeves went past her fingertips, and the hem of the shirt stopped just short the middle of her thighs. Sitting down, however, she managed to make it cover everything it needed to. Once covered up, she reached out and put a light hand on his knee telling him he could open his eyes. “Though I have to wonder if you like what you saw.” A blush colored her cheeks at her own boldness.

Pulling her hand back to her own lap, she averted her eyes to a tree off to his left. Where in thee world did that comment come from? She had long since decided she did not care about what males thought when they saw her body. She decided to ignore what she said and went back to what he had been talking about before he gave her his shirt. “It was not just anger. Anger, pain, regret, grief, sadness, lose…. Everything wrapped inside of me. It was a lot to handle, so I let my wolf take over. I gave over complete control. So when she smelled you…” She pointed to her chest, her eyes still focused on the tree. “When my wolf smelled you, she channeled all of our emotions into rage. All she knew was a vampire killed her youngest pup, therefore she attacked.” A half smile broke out on her face. “You asked me if it was an honor or an annoyance to fight me. Which do you think it was?”

The embarrassment of her bold comment slowly started to fade from her mind and her body. Blue eyes roamed back to him and the ink on his skin caught her attention. “Wow!” Avina got on her knees and moved closer to him, stopping just as her knees lightly touched his legs. Personal bubbles was not something that existed in her pack, and as her attention got distracted by his tattoo she forgot that it was not something he was used too. However, they had invaded each other space before, so it shouldn’t matter. Her attention was focused on his tattoo, her slender fingers reached out and touched the dark ink on his skin. Her skin slid against his, and her breath landed on his cheek and neck as she leaned in to look at the design. Gently, her fingers trailed over the pattern on his skin.

“This is amazing.” She pulled her face away just enough to look into his eyes. “Does it have a significant meaning?” Her fingers still rested on the front of his shoulder, her palm resting on his chest.

[Love Dove]

Devin was surprised that Avina was an elder? When she started to tell about her change and how she became the leader of her pack. Even though he didn’t know her well, she clearly wasn’t the submissive sort though. The fact her alpha and pack members used her for pain, made him oddly upset. Why would they use her pain? When she started talking about killing the alpha and his followers, he found himself fighting a very unnecessary smile that she was an alpha now. When she apologized he blinked, before returning her smile. She was much more interesting than he had first thought.

“Well I am used to dealing with humans, who keep themselves very covered. For the most part that is.” He answered smiling with his eyes still closed, as he waited for her to tell him to open his eyes. Though as he did his guard was up, it would be foolish to close his eyes and relax in a place he didn’t know not all. Feeling her hand touch his knee, he opened his eyes and looked over her body in his shirt. It was clearly slightly oversized for her thin body, but it didn’t look that bad on her. Hearing her question and seeing her blush, made a wide smile spread across his face, though she was looking at the tree to the left of him. “I can honestly say that I did, that was the reason I had trouble not looking.” It wasn’t very often he was actually asked that kind of question, and he probably shouldn’t have answered truthfully, but did it really matter if he did like it? He was happy that the subject was charged as she went back to what she had said before.

The fact that she talked about her wolf form as if it was someone else, was odd to him. How could it be someone else if it shared the same mind, the same emotions? It didn’t seem to make sense to him, when he fought, sure he was calm and his body worked on its own. However his actions were still his. Maybe if he knew more about werewolves it would logical to him, but for now it was strange. “It was a bit of both really. I prefer not to fight women, I was raised…as a human not to. But you would be an h*ll of a fight. Of course you are an elder and I am an second so…” He answered her smiling, not even most vampires would get up so quickly after being thrown into a tree.

When she closed the gap between the two of them, Devin’s eyes widened and his body tensed up to being stone still. He was used to having his own bubble, to others not getting very close to him; the only one who did get in his bubble was the one in control and it was never a good thing. After she had just talked about her wolf wanting to kill him, the closeness was much tenser than last night. As many years as he had the tattoo, he had forgotten about it really. Until he felt her warm fingers tracing the pattern of the ink, her warm breath on his neck, he wanted to move away from her, yet the thought of away was pushed mind at her question. “It was might to have significant meaning.” He said frowning deeply at her.

“My wife drew it a long time ago, it was one of her favorites, she was an artist. I had gotten it for a surprise for her on our first anniversary. But I was attacked and turned on the way home, because it was new, it healed when I changed and it became permanent. Sadly I got her killed by the elder that changed me. He wasn’t strong enough to control me, when I found out killed her after I visited my home, I killed him for what he did and fled here to the states.” He told her before closing his eyes and shaking his head, if she was able to tell one of her stories to him than he could only do the same for her.

“I was able to stay hidden for about fifty years, before the others found me and brought me to his elder. In our laws she should have just killed me for killing her changeling, but instead I am forced to take his place.” He answered her before opening his eyes he let out a soft laugh, giving her a fake smile. “Though you didn’t ask that…yes it used to mean something, now it’s a wasted memory.” He continued before taking a deep breath, Avina still had blood on her hand, it was on his shirt on as well. More importantly under the palm on his chest, the blood was on his skin under his noise.

He hadn’t noticed it was still on her hand until he started breathing again, eyes quickly looking down, and his hand quickly moved to her waist pulling it away from him. It might have been a bit rough when he pushed it away, but he couldn’t help it. She was very lucky that he didn’t bite into it at this point, because it took every bit of control not to. “Avina…I haven’t feed fully in two nights, I’m hungry. You need keep your bloody hand away from me or clean it, before I lose control and bite you. I don’t want to bite you but once you’ve offered it only makes it harder for me.” He warned her, voice already going gravely. She had offered for him to drain her, to kill her, it made things that much harder. It was like being offered to come in someone’s home, once to was out there, his thirst for her blood didn’t care what he wanted even more so when hungry.

[ravenhuffle]

A blush formed once more at his bold statement about enjoying what he saw. This reaction she was having to his comment, the chills going down her spine, the way her stomach felt like it was fluttering, was not something she could put a name to. Even when she was human, she could not remember feeling this type of reaction. “I am glad you like.” She said shyly, her eyes only meeting his for a brief moment. Soon she was changing the subject, back to a safe topic of talking about their species and fighting.

It was normal for supernatural creatures to hold onto the costumes they were taught as human, even if the world around them constantly changed. “I was always taught not to fight. However, I had to learn to break that mentality. If I tried to live by what I was taught, I would not have survived. When I was born, women were to be ladies. We were to be ruled by our husbands, keep our mouths shut, rise the children, take what we were given, and behave. If I tried that in the pack as an alpha, I would be killed.” She laughed and looked down at the ground. “That is probably why the men in my pack used to think I would not survive. Women were never seen as strong.” She shrugged and raised her head again.

Over the years, Avina had developed a view of herself that was defined as being an alpha rather than being a woman. “Just because you are second does not mean you are weak.” she told him in all seriousness. “You have to learn that it is not a position or others that define our strength. Our own beliefs in ourselves is what makes us stronger or weaker.” She put her hand on her heart. “It is right here that defines our strength; once you believe you are stronger than what others think, then you will become stronger.” she dropped her hand and smiled.

Avina sat back on her feet to look at his face as he talked about his wife. She still knelt in front of him, her hand on his shoulder and her face was within inches of his still as he talked about his wife. The gesture of the tattoo was sweet, almost sickening sweet. It reminded her of something she would have done as a human, if she had ever been able to make it to marriage. After his story, her eyes roamed back to where her hand rested on his shoulder. “You should not let it be a faded memory.” her tone was a soft whisper, and her softened eyes traveled back to his. “You should let it empower you. Let it serve as a reminder of how strong you truly are. Only someone who has a strong will can go against their creator as a changeling. This tattoo should be a daily reminder that you are stronger than you think.” She smiled a soft, almost sad smile.

“I bet your current Elder is not strong enough to hold you either.” She knew she was going out on a limb but she saw in him a spirit that looked just like she did years ago. She had believed herself to be a second in command, a weak worthless monster. It was that thought of defeat that had allowed her pack members to control her for so long. “I bet you have the strength to not be held down by anyone, Elder or not.” She would not let him doubt himself, even if she had to believe in him for him for a while. About that time he yanked her hand away from his chest. Her eyes flickered to her hand that was covered in almost dry blood then back to his that were starting to turn darker. It never occurred to her that her blood would have bothered him so much.

Gently, she pulled her hand away from his grip and pulled it to her chest, making sure not to smear it on his shirt. “I’m sorry. I did not know it was bothering you…” A crazy idea came to her mind. “Don’t kill me, but you can have some of my blood. It probably will not taste good to you, and it won’t be a full meal, but it might be able to help keep you from going crazy.” As a werewolf, she understood hunger. Maybe not for blood, but for raw meat. Werewolves were always hungry and craving for meat, and if they go too long without it they can get aggressive which often turns to violence. Avina did not feel like battling a hungry vampire. “Here.” She held at her hand, wrist up, and still covered in blood. Every muscle in her body was tense, waiting for him to grab her wrist, sink in his teeth, and for the pain to take over. It was all she could do not to squeeze her eyes shut.

[Love Dove]

Devin frowned a bit when she said women were never thought of as strong, clearly they were very different, when she looked back at him, he sighed. “Well I will fight a woman to survive, but I don’t see women as weak. I was raised by a single mother, seeing that in the day and time, you think of women as a stronger gender.” He answered to her words. Even though he was born not far from the time of Avina his upbringing was very different than hers it seemed, maybe that was the reason her story bothered him so badly. Her alpha had clearly thought she was weak because of gender, it was foolish and she had proved that to him.

Avina’s words about him being a second didn’t make him weak were inspiring and though they might have made sense, Devin didn’t believe them. Even after he told his story, and she said he had to have a strong will to go against his creator, he didn’t believe her. He knew he was strong of course, he could hold his own in a fight with the other seconds, and the ones below him. However what happened to his creator was done not of anger and pain, now she decided her wolf feeling, that was how he had felt. He would have risked his live to avenge the woman he thought he loved.

Furthermore the memory of his tattoo shared memories of what else he had done in that anger, the things he had done because he had no one to help him control his hunger. No that tattoo had memoires that he would rather forget, while it could be a source of empowerment, it was also a source of guilt. “There are some things that are better left forgotten lass.” He replied softly to her words and looked away from her for a moment. How in the world was she able to get to him so easily? How in the world was it she could get him to talk about things he never told anyone about? When he said Cadence probably not strong enough to hold him either, Devin laughed softly. “If you meant my elder you would not think like that. Many have tried to kill her, clearly no one has lived through it” He answered before breathing.

When she pulled away from his grasp, he quickly loosened it so she could, he never wanted to hurt her, only warn her. He was about to explain that it wasn’t that it wasn’t that it was her blood, it was the fact that it was blood in general, when she offered to get Devin her blood. As soon as those words came out of her mouth he leaned up without noticing it, his wide eyes turning crimson. Teasing a hungry vampire with blood was never a good idea. Though the more he looked at her it was clear she wasn’t teasing him! He took a shaky breath but didn’t let it out. “Avina, I’m not sure you understand what you’re off….”

She cut him off holding her wrist out to him, wincing as his fangs grew against his bottom lip, he looked at her wrist hungrily. Though Devin never bit on the wrist, he always bit on the neck, the wrist had low blood flow, it would hurt her so much more. Devin’s hand took her wrist gently, looking in her eyes for a moment before gently pulling her closer to him. His one hand went to the back of her neck, as the other let go of her wrist and wrapped around the small of her back, pulling her into an embrace her chest against his this was mostly because if a human jerked too much it would kill them. “If you start to get light headed, tell me to stop.” He told her, his cold breath on her neck, before biting into her neck.

Devin tried to make the bite quick so she wouldn’t feel much pain, humans usually felt bliss after the pain was over, it was what made them want to be watchers, though he wasn’t sure what she would feel. One thing was for sure he was in bliss, her blood did not taste as she smelt. It was sweet but most of all it was hot, much like her breath and body, it warmed his body as well.

Because of this the first time she would tell him to stop, he wouldn’t hear her, though the second time he would stop. His lips wet with her blood brushed her neck twice quickly, leaving two bloody kisses on her neck. Before the hand on her neck moved up into her beautiful red hair, and his lips no longer wet pushed against hers passionately. Blood might something to him, it was a way of life, it was intimate and the fact she let him have it added up to this kiss, it was simply him in the heat of the moment, slowly he started to pull away from her though.

[ravenhuffle]

The more she came to know him, the more she listened to his past, the more she realized just how different their pasts were. His mother brought him up single handedly, much like she does for her pack, but back four hundred years ago that would have taken a very strong woman. She grew up in a home with both parents, her father worked the fields, went to market, and dealt with all the financial aspects of the home. Her mother, on the other hand, stayed home, cooked, cleaned, stayed pregnant, watched the children, and homeschooled. Not that there was anything wrong with the way her parents worked together, it was just that she was brought up to believe women were property men took on to run their household and carry on his name.

Avina let her wandering eyes drift back to him. “We were raised in two very different environments, but around the same years. Yet the differences between the values we have is very different.” She sighed and looked down at her hands. How was it that they were so different, yet so similar? The thought made her smile. It had been a very long time since she had ever been so comfortable around another person. She may not have realized it yet, but her guard was fully down for the first time since she killed her own alpha. Brice, her closest and dearest friend, never even made her feel so comfortable that her guard slipped through her fingers. What was it about Devin that made her so comfortable?

Her fingers began to trace his tattoo again as she listened to him tell her that some things were better left forgotten. She was about to disagree when Kiel popped into her mind. Everyday she tried to forget the promise he had made to her when they were human, even while he was trying to continually remind her that they had once been engaged. Reluctantly she nodded her head in agreement. “Yes, somethings are better left in the past.” She agreed. She listened to him talk about others trying to kill his elder and a smile appeared on her face. Elders, alphas, are hard to kill. They have to be to hold their position. Even for werewolves, an alpha dieing is a very rare occurrence.

Her fingers stopped tracing his tattoo, and before she could comment on killing his elder, he grabbed her wrist and pulled it away from his shoulder. Shortly after she was offering him to bite her. Had she lost her mind? Even still, she bravely held out her wrist to him and watched his eyes turn red. The color in his eyes made her want to back down, withdraw her offer, tuck tail and run. However, her wolf, very much awake and paying attention, kept her rooted in the spot. The lack of fear her wolf was showing in the face of a very present danger was not something Avina wanted to analyze. The meaning was not something she wanted to admit to herself at that moment.

Avina expected his mouth to go to her wrist, his fangs to poke a hole near her veins, and pain to erupt from her arm and spread through her body. Instead he used her wrist to pull her into his lap and cradled her to his chest. She would be lying if she said that it was not comfortable and exciting to be held in such a way. His hand gently tilted her head back, and her eyes closed. Fangs pierced her neck and a gasp of pain sounded in her throat before she could stop it. After just a few moments the pain faded but did not disappear. Every pull of blood leaving her body, she could feel. The skin right around the bite cooled down to a normal human temperature, and that coolness continued to spread from her neck to her shoulders, arms, hands, and torso.

It was not blissful, but once she got used to feeling her blood pulled at it started becoming relaxing. As a werewolf, she could lose a lot of blood before it would start to affect her. She could give twice as much as a human could. Then she could feel the lack of blood starting to make her body heavy and her head hazy. She reached up and tapped two fingers against his chest, waited for a minute, then slapped his chest. Pain erupted from her neck again as his fangs retracted from her neck, this time to sound escaped to indicate the pain. Just as his second kiss landed on her neck, the bite marks were already healed. Before she could regain her mind, his lips were pressing against hers in a passionate kiss.

The first, and only time, she had ever been kissed was by Kiel when she was still human. So it took her a moment to realize what he was doing and how to respond. Even still within moments, her hand was reaching for his face and her lips were responding to his. All too soon he was pulling away from her. Her eyes opened to see if there was any regret on his face, to see if he wished he had not gotten carried away and kissed her. Seeing none, she used her hand that was resting on his cheek to draw him back down to her. Her lips found his, but instead of a kiss that was carried away with the passion of a stolen moment it was soft. A sweet and exploring kiss. She shifted herself in his lap so that she was sitting up, all the while keeping her mouth attached to his.

[Love Dove]

Luckily Avina didn’t ask much more about the memoires which he would rather forget, instead she actually agreed with him. Part of him really wanted to ask what she thought would be left better in the past. However she hadn’t bothered him further by asking and so he would do the same. She was so interesting, not because they were so different despite how close they were in age. But because she was so different in general, different than any vampire or even human that he had over met, she was able to hold his attention. She was able to actually talk, and not the cocky, sarcastic way he normally talked to others.

Soon she even was offering her blood to him, with no other reason it seemed but the fact he said he was hungry. Still unsure that she really understood what she was really offering him, he accepted her offer, pulling her onto his lap and embracing her. Devin heard the grasp of pain come from her as he bit in, but he couldn’t stop by then, the pain would fade and the taste of her blood was already in his mouth. Avina said that it wasn’t going to be a full meal, but by the time he was stopped with a slap to the chest, it was almost a full meal that he would get from a human.

He didn’t notice the fact that the bite mark on her skin had already healed, he was to in the moment to notice it, in this moment oddly all he could time of was Avina offering her blood. As a human Devin had much bolder, he kissed quite a few women before he was married, and of course there was his wife. But since being reborn, he hadn’t kissed a single woman, before now. When he felt Avina’s hand go to his face he thought she was going to push him away or slap him, at least until her lips started to move along with his.

When he pulled away from her, it of course wasn’t out of regret or wishing he hadn’t kissed her. Even though they had only known each other for two nights, kissing her was comforting, yet it felt exciting, it felt…..right. Seeing her open her eyes and look for those signed, Devin smirked at her, his eye grey again and looking into hers. He smiled letting her pull his face back down, his lips matching hers again. Though Avina’s kiss was different than his had been, it was soft and sweet. Devin always had kissed with passion when he was a human, he had actually been a very romantic person, and things like the tattoo came natural to him. He wasn’t that way anymore though.

When she started to shift on his lap he thought she was going to pull away at first, his hold on her lower back tightened slightly. He didn’t want her to move away, to stop kissing him; he was actually enjoying their kiss. Though realizing that she was just sitting up on his lap, his hold loosened quickly without even stopping kissing her. The hand that still rested in her hair, slowly moved down onto her shoulder blades, and his body actually relaxed against her, his guard dropping completely. Avina was warm, and comfortable to talk to, she was beautiful, and she smelt sickly sweet. Wait that wasn’t right! Devin pulled away from her quickly, a hiss escaped his lips as his eyes opened, looking around for the other vampire. They most have followed his scent. How long had he been gone? Time seemed to stand still around Avina, but it was just after midnight.

Seeing rather than hearing moving behind Avina, he gently moved her off his lap standing up as the skinny two blonde women stepped out from the trees. The smaller one was clearly a changeling; she wasn’t breathing, she had blood on her mouth and down the front of her dress as well. Her red eyes focused on Avina’s neck, where the blood from his bite still was. But the other blonde was smarter and older, so when the second started to take a step closer the others fingers dug into the bite of her changeling’s, causing her to stop and stiffen. She didn’t want her changeling to be killed and Devin’s eyes were already black watching the girl.

The elder blonde, Rachael, her eyes shifted to Avina with a smirk, looking at the bloody kisses on her neck, before running back towards town, her changeling following. She didn’t really have to say anything to Devin though, she had gotten what she wanted. Devin looked at Avina his teeth clanged. “I’m screwed lass, I was told to stay away from you….I have to go. See you later Avina?” He said more the last part more of a question than a statement, before quickly taking off after the two women.

[ravenhuffle]

All that was reflected back to her from Devin’s eyes was laughter and enjoyment. A smirk appeared on his face as she pulled him back in for another kiss. Although they had only know each other for such a short time, it felt right to kiss him. No one had ever made her feel so relaxed before. Around him, it was like she did not have to pretend. She could be completely herself. Around her pack she alway had to be alpha, leader, protector, advice giver, the all in all for everyone in the pack. She loved being that for everyone, but around his it was nice to just be able to relax.

Avina shifted positions, as she did she felt his arms around her waist tighten as if he was afraid she would pull away. The feeling that act portrayed made her smile even in the midst of kissing him. There was no doubt in her mind how he was feeling about her in that moment. Her fingers that were resting on his cheek, slid up into his hair to pull him closer to her. Everything around her completely disappeared. It was the first time she had ever let her guard down fully since she woke up as a werewolf.

It all happened so suddenly. They were kissing, neither thinking about the time, their pack, or their obligations, then he pulled away out of no where. That was when she smelt them. Avina had gotten used to the rotten smell that came from Devin, but the smell coming off the other two made her nose burn. Then he was pushing her off his lap and standing up to face she she could only assume was his pack, no clan. Avina, still crouched on the ground, turned to face the two newcomers, and gave them a growl of warning.

Her right hand and knee rested in the ground, her left foot was pressed in the dirt, ready to push her towards potential attackers, and her left hand waited, claws extended, by her side. The two newcomers were both blonde, but it was clear that the young girl in the blood stained dress was newly changed. The older blood had an air of coldness around her that made shivers run down Avina’s spine. Though she could not put her finger on exactly what it was about the older woman, but she scared her. The fear did not show through the look of warning that Avina was hiding behind.

Just as the changeling started towards Avina, part of her pack walked into the clearing. Avina had smelt them just a few moments before they walked out, and she did not have to turn to know who was behind her. Brice walked in at the point, his eyes glowing a dull red and wearing a pair of blue jeans. On the left walked a dull brown furred wolf that came to Brice’s elbow, Kiel, and on the right was a white and grey wolf, a changeling, Jessi. Avina stood up as Brice reached her side. Numbers were on her side.

Without a word, the two vampires turned around and left. Jessi started to chase after them, but Brice, in the blink of an eyes, grabbed her by the scruff and pushed her down to the ground. Avina turned to Devin, her blue eyes pleading, “Wait…” She reached out, but it was too late, he had left. For a moment, Avina kept her back to the three members of her pack. Emotions rolled over her, and she could not hide them.

Behind her, she could hear Brice rubbing Jessie’s fur and the sound of Keil changing. The moment she turned around, there would be hell to pay. The moment she turned around, she had to become alpha again. Taking a deep breath, she let her wolf’s confidence cover her like a coat, then she turned around.

[Love Dove]

Being with Avina was right, it was peaceful, and she clearly felt the same way about him. Leave it to Rachael to ruin it, to ruin the wonderful moment he was having. When she and her changeling came into sight Devin gently pushed Avina off his lap. Before standing to face them both, he didn’t notice the scent of the werewolves behind him, the sweet smell of the two other vampires drowning their smell out. This was the reason that other than their changelings, Devin’s kind never hunted together, it was likely why their smell burn Avina’s noise.

He heard Avina give out a warning growl beside him, but still if she attacked it would be two against one. Devin would protect her if they started to fight, even if he didn’t like fighting women, he still knew he would protect her. When the changeling started towards them though, her pack moved from the woods, and Devin looked back with black wide eyes before quickly moving away from them. Has much as it pained him, he was also moving away from Avina and into the middle of the field. Oh well silly him, he thought he had to protect Avina! She had three people ready to attack already!

He watched the werewolves closely for a moment, he really, really hated it when people were behind him. They could attack easily if they were behind him, if his guard was down, if he wasn’t ready to attack back. Then his eyes went back to Rachael, for the moment ignoring the wolves that stood behind Avina. The smirk on Rachel’s face turned into a look of pure hatred as her eyes meant his, and then they left without a word. Seeing the little white and grey wolf move towards him, Devin moved further away his back towards town, giving a low hiss. He wouldn’t attack them, if they didn’t attack him.

Then his attention went to Avina, telling her that he would see her later, before taking off despite the pleading look in her eyes. He didn’t hear her say to wait, he had to catch Rachael before she got to their Elder. Though she was older than him, and had a head start on him, so of course him was unable to catch her, seeing her go into the house before him, he knew he was screwed. Knowing this Devin slowed his run, it was useless, now all he could do was get ready for what was going to happen.

Quietly he made his way into the house, hearing the angrily yelling of Cadence under his feet. The watcher had already gone into the room to his left, clearly having heard the yelling in the basement. Taking a deep breathe he opened the door and ascended the stairs to the basement. As soon as his feet hit the floor, Cadence had Devin by the throat pined against the wall, if she wasn’t his Elder he would have fought back, but fighting her would cause him more pain than not.

“I told you to stay away from that mutt! And what do you do? Make out with one.” Cadence screamed angrily in his face, her eyes black. Though there was more to her tone than anger, there was also a hint of jealously. The raven haired vampire leaned up and sniffed his mouth quickly before Devin turned his head away from her. “You drank from her as well?!” She added sadly as her eyes slowly went to their dark green normal color slowly.

“He is a trader! The wolves clan stood behind him! He was telling the mutt about you!” Rachael’s changeling yelled out angrily, from across the room. Devin’s eyes looked at the changeling angrily letting out a hiss. “Your Elder is a rat b*tch.”

“And you are a murder!” Rachael yelled at him from beside her changeling, making Devin roll his eyes. The fact of the matter was the fact that the vampire that Devin killed had been her mate. Now she was third under the man that killed her mate and she clearly looked for any reason to ruin anything he cared about. Now that just happened to be Avina.

Cadence told the two blondes to leave, and once the door was closed, she let go of his neck. “I know my place Cadence. I am not a trader.” Devin said standing straight and very happy to not have his feet dangling from being picked up. Quickly he watched as she started to pace in front of him, she was clearly thinking of his punishment.

“Do you now? If you know your place, than prove it. Turn the human.” Cadence said before placing a hand on the back of his neck, pointing him towards the human girl watching them in terror in the corner. When Devin tried to fight away from her to keep from going as he was told, Cadence only tightened her grip, whispering the command in his ear to do as he was told. There was pain that moved from her grip to his teeth as his fangs were actually forced to grow, letting out a light groan his hand went to his mouth, it only made the pain worse. Looking at the girl sadly, he got down on his knees, eyes locking on hers until she calmed. Then lifting up her shirt slightly, his fangs bit into her side, it was the only way to stop the pain he felt by doing as he was told.

[ravenhuffle]

After a while, Avina heard Keil stand up. He was done with his change which meant she had to face them. Reaching a hand up, she wiped away a few tears that had ran down her cheeks. During that short encounter, she saw the look of distrust and betrayal she saw looming in her eyes. He probably thought she had called her pack. When he moved away from her, a small piece inside of her broke. What was he trying to tell her? What was going to happen to him? Would she see him again? No one had ever been able to touch her soul the way he did. These past to nights with him made her feel so much more alive than she had felt in four hundred years.

With a deep, calming breath, and one more check to see if her face was dry, Avina slipped into her alpha mask and turned to face Brice, wolf Jessie, and a naked Keil. Brice was sitting on the ground, holding Jessie in his lap and stroking her head and neck. His strong muscular frame was relaxed, but Avina could see the storm raging inside his deep brown eyes. Jessie, cuddled in Brice’s lap, was still calming down and attempting to control her wolf. While Avina could make Jessie’s wolf obey, it was better if Jessie learned to control her wolf. Keil, on the other hand, was no where near calm. He acted like he was was about ready to jump out of his skin. He could not stand still, and every move he made was sudden, hard, and rash like he was having a hard time bottling his anger.

Avina looked at each of them in turn, knowing the moment she spoke the spell would be broken. Brice’s eyes meet hers after a moment, and for a brief second the storm calmed. In a way only he could, Brice had given her strength without giving up his anger towards her. “What-” before she could finish, Keil jumped towards her. Avina easily side stepped him. While his move would have been too even for a normal werewolf to see, she had seen the movement just as his muscles coiled for the jump. His movement towards her was sloppy and in slow motion.

Keil, not knowing how to adjust for his mistake in midair, landed on his face with a hard thump a few yards away. “B*tch.” He mumbled as he spat out dirt from his mouth. Avina, knowing and trusting Brice not to take such harsh measures, turned her back to her back to her second-in-command to face Keil. “If you have a problem with me, boy, then try and take a swing! You never were able to hit me anyway!” Avina’s voice was not her normal one. It was laced with the wolf’s growling, giving her a mix between her normal voice, a growl, and a deep rumble that was eerie even to her.

Pushing himself up off the ground, Keil turned towards her. His eyes were solid red, no white or black to be found. Avina took a step towards him and he sprang for her once again. This time, Avina grabbed his neck in midair, reversed his motion and slammed him into the ground. Her hand still had its grip on his neck and she was kneeling next to him. Leaning closed to his face, she let out a growl so powerful that her jaw snapped out of place and started to grow into a wolf’s muzzle. The growl lasted a good thirty seconds, and by the end of it her eyes were red and Keil’s were normal.

Avina’s jaw popped back into place, and for a long minute the field was silent. “I am still alpha. If you want to challenge that again, I will kill you this time.” She let go of his neck only to grab his jaw with nothing but her nails and turned his face away from her. Leaning down, she bit his ear until he whimpered in pain. Avina pushed herself up from the ground and turned to face Brice who had been watching the short battle with no expression.

“Sit.” He told her calmly. Avina sighed, her eyes going back to normal, and she sat down in front of him. Brice’s brown eyes looked over at where Keil still laid on the ground then back at Avina. “Why?” He asked her in such a calm tone, shivers ran down her spine. Avina averted her eyes. “Why what?” She asked softly. Brice barked a harsh laugh. “Why have you betrayed the pack? …. Why have you betrayed me?”

“You do not understand. I haven’t! Devin has nothing to do with-” She stopped when he held up his hand. “I am not an alpha, you have made me a submissive wolf a long time ago. You do not have to answer to me.” Brice stood up after gently putting Jessie on her feet. Holding out a hand, he helped Avina to her feet as well, though she was a good foot and a half shorter than he was.

For a moment she was confused. Why was he making her confess, only to tell her to stop? No…. No! “You didn’t!” Strong rolls of fear and hatred rolled over her. He couldn’t have possibly! Her breathing became heavy, and her heart beat quickened. “Please, tell me you didn’t.” she whispered. Brice looked down at the ground looking guilty only for a moment before boldly meeting her eyes once again. Keil, seeming to have finally caught up, sat up quickly, a smile appearing on his face.

“You left me no choice, Avina. I had to call him after I saw you willingly give your blood.” Avina looked up at her most trusted friend with hurt and betrayal clear in her eyes.

“I have called the Marrok. He will be here in twenty-four hours.”

[Love Dove]

The taste and smell of copper assaulted his senses, as he got down on his knees and bit into the dark haired woman in front of him. Even with him calming her, the smell of fear stained her skin, he hated the fact that he was killing this woman. Though, maybe if he drained her completely, than he wouldn’t have a changeling on his hands. The woman’s heartbeat slowed to a dull slow thud against her chest, and just when she was about dead, Cadence pulled him away roughly hissing at him. Her hand going over the now passed out woman chest, Devin didn’t kill her, he was close, but she pulled him away just in time.

“You keep pushing me, and pushing me Devin. I let you live once, don’t make me kill you as I should have before. Know your place or I will drag you back down where you belong!” Cadence yelled at him as his fangs finally were allowed to retract. The pain that he was feeling slowly faded, into a dull peaceful throb. He quickly got to his feet, and moved towards the woman again, though his chance to kill her was over. The very thought of growing his fangs made his mouth hurt.

Giving his Elder a dirty look, he scooped the woman on into his arms gently, carrying her into his room. Devin put the woman down on the full sized bed, he looked over her for moment. She wasn’t bad looking, though she wasn’t even his type, he liked red heads. Sighing he laid down beside her, arms wrapping around her body and holding her close. This wasn’t because of being intimate as it would have been with Avina, it was custom for the creator to lay next to their changelings until they wake up the next day. It was so they didn’t mistake their Elders for another.

---

It the morning, well night for the humans, but for him it was basically the start of the day. Devin woke up a few hours before his changeling did, sitting in a chair by his bed, waiting. When she opened her eyes they were normal, light brown eyes, the hunger would kick in until they felt the basement to hunt. He answered a few usual questions of changelings. Who are you? Where are we? Why did you kill me? Things of that nature, though the question of why did he kill her was what tied him up. Instead of answering that question, he offered to take her hunting, knowing it would get her off the subject.

“What is your name? Did I call you Elder or father or what? And how do we pick out who to drink from?” She asked following behind him like a puppy.

“Please…don’t call me father, it is stupid. My name is Devin. And the first rule of hunting is don’t talk about drinking people. You see how the humans are paying attention to us now.” He informed her softly, drawing attention to the fact people were moving away from them. Turning into an alley he placed his hand and the back of her neck, causing her to stiffen and a look of panic come into her eyes because of it. “Listen…what is your name?” He asked her roughly.

“Violet.” She answered, making Devin smirk a bit. What was it about human this day and age? Did run out of names over the years, and how they had to use colors? “Fine, Violet, the main rule of hunting is that humans listen, we don’t talk about it front of humans. I will find you someone, and then you just have to charm them. It will happen on its own. Just keep your mouth shut.” He ordered her before letting go.

The sad part was that before turning Violet was pretty, and now she was flawless. It hadn’t token him long to find her a male human to drink from. Charming came natural and now he was standing waiting for her to finish, leaning against the street lamp pole. Even if he was hungry, his mouth hurt too bad to eat, though there was something about Avina blood last night, it seemed to shall sate the hunger he always felt.

[ravenhuffle]

The walk back to the pack was long, quiet, and tense. By the time they arrived, every member in the pack knew what was happening. Vampires had killed their pack member, their alpha had helped, and the Marrok was on his way to kill their alpha. As Avina walked into the pack, they all moved away like the parting sea. Avina took a seat near the base of a tree and things settled down. It was going to be a long day.

Of three things she was certain; the first was that the Marrok was going to kill her, so she had to run, the second was that Brice would try to stop her, and third was that Drevin would help her if she could just get to him. Jessie sat down beside her and silently handed her a cooked chicken leg. Avina took it with a sad smile. “You are brave to be so close to me, young one.” Avina told her then took a bite.

“I may be young, but that only means I am not blinded my tradition.” Jessie replied softly. Avina forced a smile. “You can’t stay here.” Jessie dropped her voice so that Avina could barely hear her. “I know you had nothing to do with killing my brother. And if you trust your vampire to not have had anything to do with it also, then I trust him by extension.” Avina looked over at Jessie with surprise. What was this girl up to? Jessie got up as suddenly as she had sat down and walked away.

Avina finished her food and started chewing on the bone. It gave her something to fidget with as she planned out her next move. Despite all the excitement, the pack was not used to be awake in the daylight, and the heat was taking it’s course. Slowly, one by one, they fell asleep. Jessie stepped out from around a tree near the edge of the circle. She waved at Avina and mouthed ‘come on.’ Avina got up and started to make her way around her sleeping pack.

Avina reached Jessie and they both started towards town until they were out of earshot of the pack. “Jessie, I appreciate the help. You need to stay here. With the pack. You are just a changeling. You need the experiences, protection, and love that the pack offers you.” Avina said softly. Jessie crossed her arms, “I am no child. I can go as I please!” Avina’s eyes turned yellow. “You are not a baby. You are a changeling. You do not understand what happens if you leave a pack-” Avina looked behind Jessie and cursed.

Brice stood there with his hands in his pockets. “Going somewhere?” Avina sighed. She really did not want to do this. Her eyes turned red and she took a step towards Brice. The little boy he used to be sprang into her mind. The young boy with tears rolling down his cheeks, looking at the dead bodies of his parents. “I don’t understand.” The little boys brown eyes looked back up at Avina. Avina had knelt down and held out her arms. The little brown boy, confused, scared, and lonely tumbled into her arms. “I will protect you. I will always protect you.” Avina had told him as she wrapped him in her arms.

Avina had given him his name, Brice, and raised him as one of her changelings in her small but growing pack. The only human in the midst of werewolves. Avina had refused for a long time to change Brice. She told him it was because she wanted him to grow, but he would have grown anyway. When he was a teenager, he ran away from the pack. Deciding he did not want that kind of life any more. He fell in love, got married, had a son. Avina always kept an eye on him from afar. He was her little brother after all. Then he moved further into the city life and she could not watch over him and her pack. It was almost a hundred years until she heard about him again.

The Marrok had summoned her. Told her he had one of her own. It had been a hundred years, Brice should have been dead, but he wasn’t. Somewhere along the way, he had lost his family and changed into a werewolf. She did not know how, or why, or who, or what had happened, to this day he still will not talk about those hundred years. Avina walked into the chamber room where Brice kneeled on the ground in front of the Marrok. “Avina, I thought you should be here to say goodbye to an old friend.”

Avina, just then realizing who was on the floor, ran to his side and fell to her knees. “Brice. Brice!” She put her hands on either side of his face and made him look at her. It was clear he had no energy left and his eyes were red, which could only mean his wolf had taken over completely. “I… don’t… understand…” Brice’s head fell forward onto her shoulder. Avina looked up at the Marrok. “What crime is he to pay for?” she asked boldly.

The Marrok laughed, crossed his arms and started to pace. “He killed his pack.” He said with a shrug. Avina gasped and looked back at the wolf in her arms. He was not capable of such things. “I will take him.” she whispered. “Come again.” The Marrok leaned forward and cupped in ear, though he knew what she had said. “I will take him!” She roared, rattling the windows. “Are you a strong enough alpha to keep another dominant wolf in your pack?” The Marrock asked with a laugh of disbelief. He was mocking her.

Avina gently slid Brice off of her and turned to face the Alpha of alpha’s. “Yes.” She declared. The Marrok moved close to her, impressed that she did not even flinch. “Prove it.” he spat. Avina took another step towards him so that they were almost touching. Both their eyes turned red. The Marrok grabbed her neck, flipped her around to land on her back. Avina could feel her wolf whimpering inside of her, ready to roll over and be submissive. No! Avina growled at her Alpha and her eyes turned back to blue, only this time they glowed. “Let. Me. Go!” She half screamed, half growled. The Marrok’s finger twitched involuntarily, though she never knew that.

He pulled off and nodded, his face nothing but calm. “You can control him. Now leave. If I ever hear his killing someone, I will not be merciful.” He went and sat down on the only chair in the room. Avina picked up Brice whispering “I will protect you.” As she carried him out of the room. The Marrok looked down at his hand and smirked. She had commanded him, and he almost obeyed. She had the strength, now she need only find it. “In time, my daughter, in time…” The Marrok’s smile disappeared and he called for one of his wolves.

In the present moment, Avina pinned Brice by his neck to the tree. “I do not understand.” Soft brown eyes met her hard red glare. “I do not understand why. I do understand you.” He reached out and put a hand on his Alpha’s cheek. “You will always protect me, Avina. I should not have doubted you. You saved me from him once, let me return the favor.” Avina’s eyes turned back to normal, but she didn’t let him go. “I will be going to my vampire.” She told him. Brice nodded.

Avina let him go and took a step back. “Now I won’t have to go without a pack.” Jessie said with a smile and a bounce. Brice looked at her with a frown. “You need to stay here.” He said firmly. “No.” Avina cut in before Jessie could say anything. “I want her to come.” Without another word, they headed off towards the city.

It was hard not to go unnoticed. Avina still only wore Devin’s shirt, Brice wore only pants, and Jessie had on a sun dress. Not to mention they walked in a V-formation. Humans avoided them as they walked down the street towards the club Avina had meet Devin that first day. Sure enough, as they rounded the corner Avina saw him leaning against a lamp post, probably waiting for prey. At least he was okay! She looked back at Brice, silently telling him to stay, then at Jessie before moving towards Devin.

“Devin.” she called softly as she stepped into the light of the lamp post.

[Love Dove]

Violet was interesting he had never had to deal with a changeling before, that was his anyway. In a strange way the fact she learned to charm so well already made him…proud? Odd he hadn’t been proud of someone in years. It had been about ten minutes since he found her some prey, she hadn’t called for his help, and Devin didn’t have a catch the man trying to ran away from her. She was actually doing better than he did at first. Though he doubted she was in as much pain, as he had been, or thinking about her family.

No she was likely thinking about her meal, or the intimate things that came to mind while feeding. That thought brought up Avina and what else happened. First the great kiss between them, after she gave him blood, then the fact that her pack had been there the while time. He had foolishly thought she had went to change so they could talk. But no! She clearly had called her pack to attack him, when his guard was down. That was the reason he never dropped his guard, the last two times, other than this that he did was what killed him, and his wife.

Somehow she must have known that drinking blood clouded the mind, she must have planned it. Because wolves, they hunted in packs after all. As Avina had said all she knew was a vampire killed her youngest pup, whether she said it had been her wolf or not, clearly it was her feelings too. Leaning his head against the pole, Devin closed his eyes, though he would never drop his guard again. He didn’t want to think about Avina anymore, so he just listened to the humans and cars go by.

It was not as peaceful in his city as it was in her woods, but it was still peaceful. Soon the strong smell of wet mutt filled his noise, and Devin’s whole body tensed up. He wanted to be left alone, he didn’t know what wolf it was, but they likely had something to say about him biting her last night. Though hearing Avina softly say his name, Devin opened his eyes giving a soft sigh. “Hello, lass. Glad to see that you’re fine.” He answered softly back to her, before turning his head soft grey eyes looking at her, a happy smirk on his face.

However when he saw the other two, his eyes slowly started to darkened into an almost black color, a low angry hiss escaped his lips. It wasn’t the other female that bugged him, but the other male that was behind her. Males of his kind seemed to have a problem with each other, they fought more than the women did. His eyes went to Avina again, narrowing slightly, yet again she had called her pack after him. This time it was even in his home, if there was any doubt that he felt betrayed last night, it should have be clear he was feeling it now. Devin opened his mouth to say something to her, the man he had gotten for Violet walked out of the alleyway.

Faded eyes looking at Avina for a minute, before looking at Devin and walking past him, an almost proud smirk crossed his face as he looked into the alleyway. When another man came out that he hadn’t caught her came out of the alleyway though, acting the same way Devin’s eyes watched him pass impressed. Violet came to the edge of the alleyway into the light, fixing her dress, she looked at the other group before wiping her mouth on her long sleeved dress. “Two?”

Violet shrugged smirking lightly. “He came out of the club. I was hungry.” She answered softly looking at her Elder again. When Devin looked at Avina though his smirk disappeared, replaced by an almost shameful look. Why was it that even mad at her, just looking at her made him show the way he felt right now? He didn’t want to change Violet, he had been forced to do it. “Well lass you came to attack me. Should we just get it over with?” He said looked back at her almost annoyed that she had came here just to fight with him.

[ravenhuffle]

Walking up to him like she was, was probably foolish. Avina was not an idiot, she knew he was mad. She knew he probably thought she had called her back. And bring her pack members with her was not going to help matters. Yet, there had to be a part of him that still trusted her. This unexplainable connection she had with him was not broken when she accused him of killing her pup, so this should not break it either. Almost like a physical weight, she could feel the trust of Jessie and Brice riding on her shoulders. They were going out on a very dangerous limb for her, one that could kill them all, just on the assumption that she did indeed know and trust this vampire. With all of her might, she hoped she was right about him and their connection.

Bravely she stepped into the light, keeping her arms by her side, and attempting to appear unthreatening. When he first saw her, a smile grew on his face one that she returned timidly. Then he looked behind her, saw her two pack member and when his eyes met hers again they were black. A piece of her hope cracked, and still she pushed on. “I am not alright, Devin.” For a moment she thought about stepping into his line of sight to keep him from looking at Jessie and Brice, but then she thought better of it. “I am in trouble. We,” Avina pointed back at the werewolves behind her, “are in trouble.”

About then, two males walked out of the alleyway, high on the buzz of a bite. All was silent as they both stumbled past the group. Avina looked back at Devin questioningly. Then a young changeling vampire stepped out, fixing her dress as she did. Jessie giggled, then covered her mouth to keep quiet. Brice gave her an icy glare then focused his attention back on the vampires, not wanting to let his guard down even for a second. Avina crossed her arms and looked from the changeling back to Devin. “Vampire hunt alone.” She quoted him, venom dripping from every word.

If he was hunting with someone now, then who was to say he wasn’t hunting with someone the night her pup was killed? She couldn’t think like that. She had to trust this bond with him. Avina lowered her head, closed her eyes, and pinched the bridge of her nose. She let down her guard on purpose, hoping he would see what he needed to see to help her. “I didn’t come to hurt you.” she said softly. She lifted her head back up to look at him.

At first it was just one small step then it was two, until she was just inches away from him. “If you want to attack me, then do. But I did not come here to fight. I had to run, I still have to run. A pack member called my Marrok, my elder. If he finds me, he will not hesitate to kill me for what I have done.” She held up her arm between them, showing him her dried blood still on the sleeve of his shirt. “I would not take back anything that happened between us last night, but I do not want to die for it either.” She dropped her arm and looked down at the ground. A sigh escaped her lips.

Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe she shouldn’t have come to him. Maybe she should have been using this time to run. Avina looked back up at Devin, only to still find his black eyes looking down at her. “I should not have come.” She took a step back. “You obviously have things to do tonight.” She gestured at Violet. “I’m sorry.” She turned her back to him and started to talk back to Brice and Jessie.

[Love Dove]

He had been happy to see her, he wasn’t happy to see her pack members. The look on her face at his black eyes, showed what looked like it pained her. Well he was in pain as well, he had trusted her and it could have killed him. When she said that she wasn’t alright his eyes snapped back to her, looking her body over really quickly looking for wounds. When she pointed back at the other two saying they were in trouble as well, why should he care about them? Before he could reply, the two men out of the alleyway followed by Violet.

Avina’s voice venomous as she quoted him the other night, and Devin looked away from her in shame for a moment, before sighing and looking back at her. “We do, it is a sense of freedom, unless you have a changeling. I told you that I was told to stay away from you, Violet here was my punishment, a way to put me where I belonged.” He explained to her before looking at Violet who seemed very hurt but the truth of why she was killed. Hearing that she was only here because of a punishment, was not a nice thing to deal with on her first day, she wiped her eyes quickly hoping no one would notice.

He told her to attack him, and instead she closed her eyes in front of him as she had before. The words that she didn’t come to hurt him, made him raise an eyebrow at her, looking at the other two before she lifted her head up to look at him. No they would have to fight! That was the way things worked! His guard raised the closer she got to him, body tensing, though instead of looking at Avina, he was watching the other two closely. He didn’t know them, and the male had been one that was standing behind him yesterday. That was enough to make Devin not like him.

Even though his eyes stayed black, he still listened to her problem, not showing any emotion, though he took a deep breath out that he had been holding. Eyes closing slightly, until she lifted her arm showing the dried blood still on his shirt, his shirt even smelled like Avina. A smirk trying to cross his face at the mention of last night. Thinking about kissing her, it made him want to kiss her again.

Then she stepped away, and it hurt him in a way he hadn’t been hurt in years. It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t fair what she was doing to him, she was making him care. Looking at Violet for a second as she gestured to her, Violet rolled her eyes, if she could breathe already, she would huff. It was almost like she knew what he was going to go before he did. When she turned away from him Devin slowly rubbed his hand over his face annoyed and thinking over what she had told him. Why did he have to care about what happened to her? Was it because of the blood she gave him? It could very well create a tight bond when actually given. No, though it likely, he had cared before then was why he went to her.

“D*mn it! Avina this isn’t….you will be the actual death of me.” He yelled angrily though there was a slight trace of agreement in his tone, as Avina walked a few steps in front of him, back to the others. In the blink of an eye he was behind her, his hand gently on her arm, turning her quickly to face him, Devin’s eye were the soft dark grey again and they looked into hers. As his fingertips rubbed against her warm forehead softly, pushing her beautiful red hair behind one of her ears, before smiling at her. “I would have protected you last night there was no reason to call your pack. I wouldn’t have let Rachael touch you.” He told her softly, before other hand pushed the hair on her other side out of her face as well, it was meant to be sweet so that he could see her face clearly.

Taking a step back to where he was clearly more comfortable, he relaxed a little bit and looked at the other two. “And I guess that, what is that stupid thing the humans say? The more the….perrier? No merrier. But you do understand that we….” He gestured between himself and Avina. “Will have to fight once you are safe? It is our way, to gain trust back fully. Just us.” He finished looking at her pack as he added the ‘just us’ part. Violet finally stepped away from the wall of the building crossing her arms. “Well that is just lovely that you made up with the mutt that caused my death and all, Devin. But may I remind that Cadence will kill you this time as she warned. So we have no home, no watchers, and oh yeah no clan!” She said her voice gravely, eyes black because what he had said about her.

Devin frowned looking back at her. “You want to go back, you can. Though that was never my clan, my clan is dead, and Cadence will kill you.” He said his tone almost cocky again, watching her drop her arms to the side again letting out a hiss, before turned back to Avina again.

“Remember I told you I stayed hidden when I broke our laws? I…I may have a safe place…with a watcher. Though there is one thing.” He said before looking at the other two pointedly. “He is off limits. You can’t turn him, nor your cla….pack. If you come with me you must swear he will stay human.”

It would take a few hours to get to the house, it was a town away, though that sadly wasn’t far enough Devin feared. The house was rather small from the outside though the inside was much bigger than it looked. Quickly he knocked on the door, and waited as there was movement inside, a curtain pulled back before loud cussing could be heard inside. The sound from about twenty locks clicking, and then the door opened. Standing in front of Devin was Logan, he stood about the same height as Devin, greenish grey eyes, and blond hair. “Who did you p*ss off this time?” He asked then looking at the group quickly before moving aside, when Devin stood still looking at him Logan sighed. “Well please do come in lads and lasses.” He added letting Devin enter the house.

[ravenhuffle]

There was no denying the fact that he was happy to see her, even if he was mad. The look on his face said it all when he looked at her. But it all disappeared quickly when he noticed she was not alone. It hurt to know that he did not trust her enough to ignore her pack. Then the girl walked out of the alleyway and Avina made a snappy remark out of anger and hurt that she instantly regretted. Apparently, this girl was his punishment. Avina knew he did not like to attack girls, so she made the jump that he was not happy about having to kill this changeling. Avina’s eyes softened as she looked up at him.

She could almost physically feel the pain that was on his face for a minute as he looked at Violet. While to everyone else, his face had not changed, but to her she saw the flash of pain in his eyes. He had enough on his plate to deal with. Once again, she felt stupid for seeking him out. She should have listened to Brice, changed into a wolf and ran for it. Find somewhere for the three of them to hide. Move from place to place, throw off his scent. No, she could not have done that though, she had to see him one last time. Even if it was a mistake. “Devin, I didn’t know.” She whispered. Her voice was soft and comforting. She left the unsaid apology hang in the air between them.

Jessie looked at the poor girl, Violet, and saw the tear slide down her face. Her young heart jerked. How awful it must be to find out your transformation was just a punishment for someone else. Jessie wanted to move over to the vampire, but the moment she started moving, Brice caught her arm and shook his head. He knew better than to move right now. Two very strong and tense creatures were all but fighting in front of them. If Jessie moved she could turn this into a fight.

Avina saw the smirk, and dare she say cocky pride. fight to be shown on his face before he pushed it away. At least she knew that deep down he felt the same way she did. It did not really help in her plan to turn around and leave though. It was foolish to think that she could get through to him in enough time to find a place to stay hidden. Despite the look he just had on his face moments ago, Avina could still feel the hard black stare. She nodded once and turned around to walk away.

Brice, still not daring to look away, gave Avina a sad, I-told-you-so smile. She was about halfway to them when the other vampire moved. Brice took half a step forward, thinking that he was about to attack Avina when instead he just turned her around. Jessie gasped and covered her mouth, her eyes sparkling. Avina had been right! He did care about her!

Avina felt his cold hand cool her arm as he turned her around before she registered the words he spoke to her. She had forgotten how wonderful the coolness of his hands felt against her overheated skin. She looked up at his eyes, happy to find that they were once again grey. She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand as he brushed away her hair. “I didn’t call my pack. They were already out looking for me.” She tried to keep the anger and frustration out of her voice but it did not fully work. “And I did not need them to protect me. I knew you would have.” She grabbed the front of his shirt and closed the gap between them.

“If it is a fight you want, then it is a fight you shall have.” She gave him a cocky grin. Being that close made Avina want to reach up and press her lips against his once more. “Besides, I really enjoyed the way our fight ended last night.” She started to lean up to kiss him, completely forgetting about their audience. However, his changeling opened her mouth and broke the spell. With a soft sigh, Avina took a small step away from her vampire and looked at the changeling. “If this is only going to cause you more trouble, then we can go on our own way.” She offered, hoping he wouldn’t allow her to leave.

Avina felt his hands leave her face, and sighed softly at the lose. It was clear that Violet was mad at her Elder, and probably Brice, Jessie, and her by extension. Not that it stopped Devin. “He will stay human.” Avina said with a nod then looked back at Brice. The big guy help his hands up in a careless surrender. “I can’t, remember.” He said with a pointed look at Avina. “I wanted him to hear you.” Avina turned to face him fully. “I don’t care what a dirty bloo-” He was cut off as Avina’s fingers wrapped around his neck and lifted him off the ground, despite the fact that he was a foot taller. Avina growled at him, her eyes flashing yellow.

Brice stumbled a little when she let him go. Instead of glaring at her though, he sent a look of pure hatred to Devin while he rubbed his neck. Avina looked over at Jessie who took a step away from her. “I don’t even know how!” She cried. Avina took a deep breath and turned to follow Devin.

It was only one town over, and they were already at his hiding place. Looking at the house, it didn’t seem special. How was this place going to protect them? It looked just like any other house. Still she followed him to the door. A kid answered the door, human by the smell. His and Devin’s interaction made her smile. Though she was still unsure how a human kid could protect them. The human, Logan, Devin had called him ushered the party into the house. Avina let everyone go in first, and as she walked in she stopped beside Logan and put a hand lightly on his arm. She stood within inches of him, mostly because there wasn’t much room to stand in the doorway, and smiled up at him. “Thank you.” She said softly then continued into the house after the others.

[Love Dove]

Devin had tried hard not to show emotion when he looked at Violet, though there was a tiny flicker, and Avina must have caught it. Because her tone softened and turn comforting for a moment, Devin simply nodded to her apology looking away from her again. She knew that he hated to attack women, so had his Elder, which was why she had made him turn the changeling. He didn’t notice Violet crying across from him, he was too focused on Avina and the pack behind her to care about the woman across from him.

Devin looked past her at the female behind her, though the male stopped her and so he brought his attention back to Avina. Violet noticed the girl moving as well, turning her head to look at her frowning sad light brown eyes looking the two werewolves over with a worried look, before turning her head back to look at her Elder. Violet didn’t even know how to fight, she had never even learned as a human, her family had refused to let her learn to defend herself.

He stopped her before she got back to her pack, ignoring the male taking a step forward. Other than if they were actually fighting, Devin would never hurt Avina, when they were fighting though she had hurt him as well and so they were even. She closed her eyes leaning into his touch, and he smiled softly at her. Her skin was so warm, the heat from face spread from his hand down his arm, slowly heating up his body slightly. Though he heard the anger and frustration in her voice, he didn’t move away from her, because he wasn’t able to pull himself away. Not until he informed her that they would have to fight.

He still liked having his own bubble, he was used to it being that way, it was comfortable to him. When Avina grabbed the front of his shirt and closed the gap between them, he couldn’t help the gut reaction of tensing up. Her words though made the cocky smirk he had fought earlier spread across face, and when she brought up how their fight ended last night, his smirk spread into a wide grin looking back at her. Avina was leaning up to kiss him again, when Violet spoke behind him, and he addressed her, before shaking his head at Avina. “Even if I want to leave her side, I already have touched you and you have touched my clothes. I smell like you.” He answered, though in truth it wouldn’t matter to him, he was planning on leaving already.

Watching the reaction of the male to his request, he frowned from behind Avina, as the answer was even clear. The mutt started to call him a dirty blood sucker, and Avina took offense, he didn’t take offense to the words though, Violet seemed to as she hissed at Brice. However Devin didn’t he was used to being called such things. Blood sucker was actually one of the nicer things he had been called. The look of pure hatred made him tilt his head, before smirking at him, eyes darkening slightly. He didn’t care if the man hated him, one less person to have to be niceish to. As Avina looked back at him, his eyes lightened, and Violet pushed off the wall following.

Staying so close when they were expected to run further was a logical move in his mind, in a few days they slowly they could move during the night to next town and so on until they were out of state. Then they would go somewhere out of the states, it had been his plan all along, Logan had homes all over the state and out of state, that Devin found ways to pay for. Logan wasn’t the must happy to see Devin of course; it had been years since the last time they talked. He moved aside inviting them in and Devin was the first one in the house, quickly moving around the house looking around, opening doors to make sure it was safe.

“Oh yes please look around Devin, not like I’m the one that lives here.” Logan said sarcastically greenish-grey eyes following the sound of doors opening and closing, before looking at Avina as she touched his arm. He like Devin thought that she was beautiful, and when she touched his arm, he thought it was flirting because that was a way of flirting among humans. Giving her a smirk, that might seem familiar to her Logan nodded. “No problem lass, make yourself at home.” He answered checking her out in just the shirt she was wearing before turning and locking the door. The twelve locks on the door were sliver, and so Devin would have to fix it later.

The living room was very large with pictures of family members, on the walls and plenty of places to sit. Once him turned around Devin was back in the room leaning in door frame to the basement, he was actually relaxed for the much part. After all even if he didn’t live here it was his house, Logan frowned rolling his eyes as he matched Devin’s, leaning against the front door. Though it was mostly to stay away from the group, his eyes looking into all four of the people he didn’t know to make sure he didn’t have to worry about being drained, before glaring at Devin. “So, are you going to tell me what is going on?”

Devin looked away from him, his body tensing up slightly. “It really is better to keep you in the dark for most part, all you have to worry about is watching during the day. Where is your sister?” Devin asked before his eyes looked at Avina for a moment, he would rather keep from answer his question. It was to keep him safe, though it just made Logan narrow his eyes at Devin.

“She left the states and went home. What is going now?” He asked again, and when Devin opened his mouth to say something about keeping him safe, as he always had seemed to with Logan’s family, he pushed away from the door. “I could reseed my invite and throw you, and the other vampires out. So drop the protective grandfather sh*t!” He said loudly, smirking as those words made Devin tense up, eyes slowly turning black, but unlike Logan he had control over his anger. “I am keeping my wolf safe. This is logical place to stop first, they wouldn’t expect us to stay so close.” Devin explained annoyed before holding out his hand, as Logan looked at the three women trying to figure out who he was talking about. “Now! Give me the basement key Logan!” Devin demanded.