Vampire weaknesses aren't advertised. Only a few limited shapes have ever caused them real issues. Crosses, Ankhs, the Star of David, items of that vein. Grade schools avoid addressing these issues due to possible disturbances.

Children who find out their neighbor is a vampire tend to not think friendly, well mannered, polite, or rich. More importantly they don’t understand grudges that last for generations. The young hear bloodsucking and equate bleeding with pain.

As well they should.

Things weren't always stable between the Church and other races. It took nearly two thousand years of good will to progress this far. Vampires running most charity organizations helped. In any case, vampirism the virus or curse, has always been panic stricken about holy symbols being shoved in their faces.

Everything else though?

They suffer no repercussions when stepping into a church. The ground could be consecrated and blessed down to the rivets in each pew. Even sprinkles of dew from the Pope's own piss bowl meant nothing. They have no problems swearing on the Bible, provided there's no cross, or saying Grace over a Kosher meal.

Nor, apparently, problems with saying 'Oh God' until they nearly black out.

A pretty woman owning that two word vocabulary had collapsed right next to me. Hopefully she basked in the same glow I did. It was a welcome distraction from our looming challenges.

Anyone else would notice the fangs under her top lip. They had grown more prominent in the last few months. I took note of her eyes first. The whites were nearly swallowed up by crimson irises. Dark skin stood out against the cream colored sheets. Picking her out in an unlit room would have been difficult for almost anyone else.

For me it became second nature. Every move she made would brush against my senses as if I were the one moving. Each sigh of nearly pointless air that crossed her lips was tantalizing.

Kahina was nearly taller than my six foot four. I had eighty pounds on her. Not because she was thin or lacked obvious curves. That was just me, her frame was athletic. Mine was grumpy pro wrestler.

A friend told me I looked like a man perpetually recovering from street brawls. That could have been talking about any part of my image. The glare I gave everyone, short cropped hair, broken nose, or rare smiles. To most people’s eyes I was a large, towering brute.

Not Kahina. She saw something in me. Every move of her body brushed against my mind in some way. It had been difficult not to engage in 'interpersonal relations'. I tried to avoid getting back into the sack. Scouts honor.

She wore me down quickly. Willpower against females wasn't a strong trait of mine. Vampires had crosses, wolves had silver, elves had cold iron. For me it was this almost princess. Not that she was royalty, or that princesses were a real weakness.

Her fingers moved down my chest. The action itself was only one expression of a physical drive to feed. We had just shared a physical high and still she craved more. I felt her body pulling towards mine like the tide towards the moon.

There was no chance of me being a delusional puppy who looked at her and saw only the humanity. She wanted blood, mine. I had no way to claim ignorance of her desire. None of her body's cravings were outright visible but there was no mistaking as fingers trailed major arteries.

That same friend who called me a chronic fighter had also said when you date vampires blood's always an issue. In two thousand years no one had proven that vampires required blood, they merely craved it due to their nature. The way most races instinctively propagate.

Kahina was after my protection, love, and blood, and not in that order. For now I had only given her one of those. The other two would be settled eventually. Not that the whole dilemma had put up much of a roadblock to resuming bedroom activities. Love and lust were very different things.

"Jay..." Her voice trailed into a very enthralling hum. How long had she been saying my name?

"Jay..." Fingertips turned to nails with brief digging pressure.

"Jay!" Her voice was a little louder but wasn't harsh. Finally I gave in and said something.

"Kahina, I can't think with you distracting me." I said.

She laughed quietly. That rarely happened outside of these unguarded moments. In public she was one person, cold, tough and a powerful presence in any room. In private, with me, she acted like the woman from years ago, quiet, funny, and playful.

"I've got to go back to work. You can rest if you're tired." She said.

My hum resembled her earlier one. Kahina slid to the edge of the king size bed, which was a delightful show, and gave a huge stretch before standing up. A quick tug yanked the sheets out from under me. Her condition provided a lot more strength than a normal human had. The air whirled around the room bringing to bear the scent of crushed peppermint leaves. That smell followed her everywhere.

"Hey!" I feigned offense.

She responded by flashing a playful smile then strutting off towards the oversized shower in the bathroom. My eyes tried not to follow her and my other senses didn't even bother with avoidance.

I did have some gifts. One of the main ones was feeling other objects like they were extensions of my own skin. It was all tactile senses and required certain perceptions from me. I had to believe that the person, place, or thing, was mine.

She had met all the requirements. I gave her leeway when stealing the sheets, there was often no sleep at night anyway. During the day Kahina preferred her secure location, leaving the bed for exercise. It took her exactly one minute and thirty two seconds to wake up and drag me to a bedroom, often barely clothed.

Her desire for blood had killed my after sex buzz. I relaxed and flipped on a history channel. Later Kahina exited all dressed and clean. Her hair had been semi straightened but didn't completely remove the natural waves. She didn't say goodbye. Either her mind was already in business mode or I made the wrong choice in not getting into the shower.

Four years of separation and looming trouble with her transition had contributed to our relationship being what it was. Kahina was willing to give me a lot of emotional space as long as there wasn't any physical distance. I had a feeling that was mostly about keeping her craving for blood under control.

That left me and an oversized shower to some alone time. I made my way over and hopped in. The setup was ridiculous, all I really needed was a nozzle to stand under and stream scalding hot water down. Instead there were jets, clear glass frames and at least five shower heads with different settings. Which in the right situations, such as joining Kahina earlier, could have been entertaining.

However, it was only me, three unused shower heads and one blonde female elf holding a stack of poster boards. If Kahina was one of my major problems, elves were another.

Candy. This wasn't her first appearance these last few weeks. Visitations occurred every few days. Always the same distance away. Always facing me. I wasn't delusional, this was an elven illusion. Pure visual trickery. Candy wasn't here physically.

Last time I walked around the projection to see if she was naked. Turns out what looked three dimensional, wasn’t. It could have been rounded but this elf loved to tease.

Tonight Candy’s hair was done up in pigtails with a pair of comically thick framed glasses. The combination made her look like a naughty schoolgirl. Lines of tattoos spun from her eyes down to her toes. Maybe they were ivy, or thorns, it was hard to tell. Either way she looked like a well kept twenty-six which meant she was near fifty or sixty. Elves cheat when it comes to aging.

Hello Jeff

The first sign was always a greeting to one of my pseudonyms. Candy flipped it over to the next one. Meanwhile I fiddled with some of the controls and tried to turn on a stream of water where the elven lass was standing. Maybe I could disrupt the image.

Was the bloodsucker sucking?

I almost answered until I remembered the phantom never seemed to hear me. She let that sign fall and revealed the next message.

I'll bet she was

Her body tipped forward to cast away the latest message board, almost revealing something more interesting than bare shoulders. One hand draped down, the other at the top, making sure her midsection was covered.

She's going to kill you

Barely any pause between the messages now. The elf had some way to know if I was reading her signs.

She'll lose control

The sign flipped down quickly.

I'm better in bed

Each time the message shifted wildly between trying to force me away from Kahina and lure me back to the elf. I had no idea why. I did my damnedest to avoid her. Candy had rather firmly ruined portions of my life.

She just lays there during the day

The next sign was guaranteed to be some sort of follow up comment.

You know I don't just lay there

The elf and I had a rather wild one morning stand that had ended in Candy betraying me for reasons that didn't make complete sense. Not to mention that if Kahina ever found out about the whole event my balls would end up on a shelf. Vampires, even incomplete ones like Kahina, were possessive.

If you ever need a ride, come see me...

Her top hand came up and covered her lips in a playful pantomime of a kiss and wink, almost letting the last sign slip away. Every one of these illusions had been an exaggerated vaudeville act. Gestures, words, each one looked larger than life.

I could use one myself... Bye Jeff...

Candy looked down at her signs pursed her lips. She brightened up as the last sign dropped. The elf's image grew fuzzy and she was gone before anything more than a tease was revealed.

It did serve to bring my problems back into focus. There were three major ones.

One, Kahina was nearing the final stages of her transition. It was the most dangerous time for a new vampire. The chances of her dying during this process were high. Until she completed the change she would only be partially converted, and denied many of the rights that came from the Tribunal. The Tribunal was the vampire form of government here in Western Sector.

Two, the female elf with poster boards, nicknamed Candy, was trying to get my attention for some unknown reason. Last time I saw Candy, without an illusion, had been at the other end of a swinging tree branch. Followed rapidly by being kneed in the crotch and having dirt shoved in my face. Though she honored our deal and got me where I needed to be. I couldn't decide how to feel about our limited relationship.

Lastly, the root of it all. There was a reason behind Kahina's strange desire for me. A reason Candy had gone to such lengths to hurt me. Something which explained how I could feel other objects and people as if it was my own skin and track missing items down across miles.

I wasn't human.

Water helped me focus. Past the interpersonal relations with Kahina and the struggle of moving to a new location, I had finally decided to deal with Candy instead of admiring her personal peek show. I just had to find a way to get to Evan. He was a scrawny and depressive fellow that had been bound by Candy. Being bound prevented Evan from telling me anything about who I was, but maybe he could still tell me why Candy was sending me these illusions.

While I showered one of the servants staffing the house straightened up the bed and set out a suit for me. They clearly thought my intelligence was low because the suit was laid out piece by piece on the bed. A neophyte would put them on left to right.

Having my wardrobe redone ruined my self-perception. My usual simple jeans and t-shirt had been replaced by a higher thread count and professionally tailored items. Kahina’s other employees insisted that I looked intimidating. They were only trying to console me.

I hated it all. Part of me wanted to go back to my apartment and do my old job. Being a big dumb thug who was a part time bouncer, part time collection's agent for a loan shark. It was a persona that took almost two decades to perfect. Four months of finery wasn't much stacked up against that kind of time.

The tie was the worst part. Thankfully someone tied the knot for me already. I just had to slip it over and cinch the noose closed. Kahina’s dark purple theme didn't look terrible against my suit's shirt.

My feet barely touched the hallway outside our bedroom before a voice spoke up.

"Morning, Mister Fields." A female said.

"Hi, Shaggy." Shaggy had been the latest thing to come to mind when assigning her nickname.

"Sir." Good. She sounded as exasperated with me as I felt with her. Maybe because she had to call me sir. Normally Shaggy only attempted it once or twice during the night, after that she broke down and stopped calling me anything.

"Yes?" I said.

"Ann, please. For the fifth time this week. Ann." Shaggy kept count for me. Last week I insisted her name was Brownie. The week before that was Mouse, before that it was Hamster.

Shaggy was a shadow assigned by Kahina. Her hair was a carefully ironed and shoulder length brunette. The cut was longer in front than in back. How she kept it out of her eyes was beyond me. She carried all that on a tiny frame that had thrown me around during a sparring match months ago.

Her clothing was similar to mine, but effeminate. Collar slanted in different places, the vest was cut differently, her pants flared out slightly. A line of purple laced up one side. Everything in the household had the same theme. It was Kahina’s cattle brand for all things hers.

"We'll leave soon." I wanted off the property. Shaggy also drove the car for me since I never felt comfortable with them, or learned.

"Might want to hold onto that thought." She responded.

"Why?" I asked.

"Nighttime raid practice planned.” She pulled out a small device and scrolled through to a message. “At the western gate, sometime between now and sunrise."

"Tonight?" I asked. The one night I finally decided to get out of the house? To stop putting things off? Fantastic.

"Yes, sir. Over the next few weeks he'll start upping the practice classes too." He, the household's main instructor, a man I only heard called Sensei by nearly everyone at the compound.

"Great."

"I don't know why you care, you conned a free pass." There was something in her voice that acted like one of the guys. Her tone wasn't cute, or tiny, or deep, just normal.

The free pass she mentioned had been gained by virtue of being big, scary, and Kahina's. Not because I was any good at this security stuff. It was the same reason they didn't invite me to their daily practice downstairs.

They were doing some sort of Mixed Martial Arts in preparation. I took it seriously once in the last few months and broke another man’s leg and fractured two knuckles. Not because I knew anything about Martial Arts but because I was willing to get hurt. It had been declared a good demonstration of what a unshifted wolf could do by our teacher.

Nighttime raids were done with the same focus in mind. To prepare for an attack.

"Any guesses on what time it's happening?" I couldn't exactly use the phone to call Evan. Most elves lived in houses like everyone else. The one I wanted was lost in the middle of a huge forest.

"No. I'd never tell you anyway, they're less effective if anyone knows." Shaggy just wanted to see me squirm. The last time a practice had gone off I couldn't make it back to Kahina in time.

I closed my eyes and pictured her for a moment. Pictured her as mine, which she was. Slowly a portion of my senses activated. This always felt like giant sheets of silk were sliding off my back. Those extensions fanned wide and took in the feel of local objects. Each weight, vibration of sound, shift in the air betrayed details. Then there were links, paths I could follow to objects further away. Each belonging had a thin thread of energy that connected between me and a destination.

Shaggy wouldn't see any of these extra things with her eyes. No one ever did. The only clue about what was happening was an unfocused look on my face.

Vision dims. Feel the world around. Feel cords. Each different texture. Feels like colors. Multiple, a rainbow that connects to Incomplete Servant. Trails far northwest.

The thoughts felt muddled, like my brain was shifting gears and thinking in another pattern. None of this was visible, not really. My mind was translating the sense of touch and tactical feedback into a spectrum I could make sense of. I imagined it to be similar to bats' echolocation forming a picture of the world.

Another line nearby. Many tiny threads bundled together. Rubbery. Draws south. Home. Sanctuary. Last one, connection closer. Pulls towards the Dangerous Mate. Can feel the purple, feel the red splotches unevenly splattered along the cord.

Threads showed up to objects that I had claimed. Kahina gave herself to me and that was more than enough to create the bond. Then there was the name thing. My brain couldn't think of names right while tracking. Kahina became Dangerous Mate. It was a dead on title. Often, when I had worked collections, my mind called nearly everyone Prey.

Follow connection. Tug along line. Travel through building, through walls and floors. Ceilings and doors. Far wing of house. Closer to Dangerous Mate. There.

She sits in a chair. Smiles briefly. Might feel me, normally does. Sun long gone from this room. Remains of heat hang in the walls. The room feels of Dangerous Mate.

Six other bodies are here. Their mass swirls the air as they move. Words rebound off objects in the room. Each pitch creates different impressions as they absorb into plaster and wood. Words bore like all business conversations.

The connection released. A moment later I mentally returned to my body, secure in the knowledge that Kahina was safe and nearby. If there was a practice tonight getting to her would be easy. Her office was one of the main ones and I finally knew the place well enough to make it there quickly.

My job was to ensure I was next to Kahina when the alarms went off. During the first few drills I had been completely lost trying to find my way through the house. It only took a few embarrassing remarks from the other household staff for me to take it seriously, that and my promise to protect her during the change would be worthless if I kept failing.

"We've got time." I shrugged.

"You could do some actual practice with the rest of us." Shaggy said.

"No."

She tried to get me to seriously spar against the others. Some wanted a rematch. I didn't. They were all training in a number of different things on Kahina's dime. Almost all her extra money went into improving their skills. I was an oddball to the whole thing. No one seemed quite sure how to deal with me or what skills I might need. That would have required getting to know me. Nothing about my demeanor said friend material. While everyone else studied I wandered the grounds or lifted weights.

"Well I need range time. My scores have been dropping over the last few months." She implied that being assigned as my shadow had caused her skills to get worse.

"Sure." I didn’t really care.

"Some of us actually earn our keep." That one was an insult. It helped justify calling her anything but Ann.

Drills, training, shooting ranges, hand to hand and other skills. Gentry topics weren't shirked either. Kahina provided lessons in social grace for those who needed it. At first everything confused me. Why would anyone waste that much money training people on such dated topics? There were roughly twenty people under her employ devoting extra hours to this material.

I learned it was standard for richer people who were converting to vampires. After a few months it made more sense. Vampires didn't have other pack members to rely on, they weren't kids sheltered by an elven clan. At most a vampire would have two or three of their kind nearby.

No one else would protect them. She was building loyalty through wealth. There was money to be made if you passed the background checks needed for employment in a vampire household.

Kahina was gearing to go big. She knew it, her people knew it. Even I, dense as a brick, knew it. This was a long term game. Their success was hers, and the reverse was true. It was almost symbiotic.

"Let's go." Shaggy wanted the shooting range and that was fine. Not that anyone would ever catch me with a gun. The only experience I had with them involved being shot.

“Okay.” I said. “I’m not shooting though.”

"Good. You can just sit there." She responded.

We headed down to another part of the grounds. Some of the old buildings had been converted into more useful things. How many pools did a giant estate need? According to Kahina, only one. The place vaguely resembled a military compound.

A few minutes later and we were in the range itself. Shaggy wasted no time checking out a gun and loading in ammunition. She slapped in earplugs and threw me a set. Moments later the female was unloading bullets into a stationary target. There were a few different styles. One was a standard cutout. Another randomly moved positions at high speeds. The final test recorded how quickly you switched bullet types and hit specific targets.

Wolves had reflexes. Vampires had speed. Humans had to be prepared for both.

Shaggy finished firing a warmup clip then started another with the dot. Everyone scored low on that since it required predictive skills. I knew it, she knew it, everyone did. Knowledge was useless without attempted application.

"You'll never improve like that." A new voice instantly grated on me. It was male with a slight crisp of professional asshole.

"Don't worry about me." Shaggy responded.

The person in question was somewhere behind Kahina in the transformation process. His white jacket and gelled hair said one word. Snob. At least he never actually slicked the hair back. The partial vampire was also Kahina’s Second. In many houses that also meant that they would be lovers.

I would have killed him.

"Are you ready, little one?" The other voice was quiet. Another partial vampire with short hair and a suit that practically hung off his thin frame.

Both of them liked to pretend I didn't exist. Hell. I constantly hoped they would fail to wake up one night.

“As ready as it gets." Shaggy said while tracking the red dot and squeezing off more shots. Some of them actually hit according to the targeting computer on the other side.

"That's good. There's not much time." The quiet one said.

"We know." Shaggy fired again.

"If only everyone was as dedicated as you." Anthony was Kahina’s smug sounding Second. His clever inflection directed the comment at me.

A few months ago I had gotten into a scuffle with Kahina’s Second. I remembered his head in my hands, horror painted unflattering wrinkles around the eyes. The damage from mild burns hadn't recovered but he smoothed it over with makeup.

"It's not for me to question the Lady's orders, Mister Rays." Shaggy responded.

"My Dear, Anthony, please." The blond vampire side. She should punch him in the face.

"If you say so." Shaggy didn't like Anthony any more than I did. I wasn't even a girl and his flirting creeped me out.

Ann moved on to the third type of training. Targets shifted at random times. Faces, each one meant a different race and required different methods to score points. Headshots and hearts counted for extra. I wasn't sure what kind of machine they had back there but it distinguished the three kinds of practice bullets.

Silver coating for wolves. Iron for elves. Vampires took regular bullets and lots of them. The only things that worked in a real fight was decapitation and a cross. Or piercing their heart. Shaggy switched between the targets, seeming to prefer the vampire ones over others.

Anthony stood there staring at Shaggy's backside. No doubt dreaming up creepy fantasies. Vampires in thought, even partials, became statue like. After numerous times of seeing a fanger frozen over the meats in a supermarket, the wonder of it faded.

Alarms kicked in with a sudden blast causing my heart to jump. The alert was designed to be subtle but I was on edge waiting for the noise. Beeps would sound everywhere but the intruder's location.

The history magazine I had been reading dropped slowly. My mind was starting to track down Kahina. Then it registered that neither of the other three had moved. They looked confused.

"That's the drill?" I asked.

True to form Mister Rays and the other vampire ignored me. Both zipped out the door. My eyebrow raised as I glanced at Shaggy.

"We should go." I said.

"Yes." Her face looked slightly panicked.

"What's wrong?"

"That isn't the drill alarm." She turned and started to go out the door.

History had proven my slow comprehension in times of panic. I struggled to compare these noises to the ones we were trained to recognize. The drill alarm was a short series of chirps, high pitched and only three.

This had been four and the final note was longer than the others. No, that wasn't the kind of mistake anyone could just make. Either this was a drill of a more serious nature, or...

Kahina.

My hand left an imprint on the wall as I burst out of the room like the vampires. Tactical sensations went on high alert, underlying my other senses. Water seeped into my shoes from moist grass. Heavy air brushed through with a tiny breeze. Footsteps slapped forcefully against the dirt.

I spent these last few months practicing, remembering how to trust my senses without needing to see. My body ran forward on auto pilot while both eyes closed. Kahina. She was still in the same room upstairs, in her office.

Gunfire rang out from the walls. Someone was trying to breach them and either it was a real attack, or it was a diversion. This was why Kahina insisted I be by her side for practices. Shaggy was somewhere behind me. To her credit she wasn't yelling for me to wait up.

I moved quicker than normal. Not as fast as a vampire but well above human speeds. My speed and strength shifted up a notch when something I owned was in danger. Kahina was the second person to ever have ownership applied to her.

The first was Evan, the male elf in the woods far northwest. The same one I had wanted to go out and visit tonight. He wasn’t in danger but Kahina was. More gunshots came from behind me and an explosion of some sort lit up the area. This certainly was not a drill.

I barged through one of the side doors and took the stairs three at a time. My other senses started extending outward. Brief waverings of extra mental limbs reached out to feel everything. Tactile feedback started pouring in on a level so detailed that it replaced eyesight.

Rail jerks as I grab it. Pressure flattens the wooden carvings slightly. Thin layer of paint crinkles under my grip. The Stalker's feet hit the doorway. Sharp soled boots shift from cement to hardwood floor. In front, towards Dangerous Mate, a beam cracks. Attic shifts slightly around the weakened spot. Another shudder. Feels like chair clubbing someone.

My feet carried me up the stairs, around a corner and halfway down the hall. Men in suits were running past me. They were business partners from her earlier group. Only three went by and I remembered counting six before.

Three? In the room with Kahina? What were they? Humans? Vampires? Both would make sense. It didn't matter what race they were, a single cross would cause her to panic. There had to be one, no one in their right mind would attack a vampire so close to transformation without a cross. Even I knew better and my life had revolved around being intimidating to all races.

The door to Kahina's office slammed open as I shouldered into it. A quick count revealed two people. One recovering from being thrown into a wall, he had a blade as long as his forearm in one hand. The second man bore a cross down on Kahina. She struggled, trying to overcome the overwhelming fear it must be giving her.

Where was the third one?

Hyper attentive senses had enough time to provide a visual of metal flying in from the side. It was warning enough to tilt slightly and prevent a chair from smashing directly across the front of my face. Instead it collided from temple to ear sending me backwards into the hallway. Pain rippled through but I suffered it with the help of my protective instincts.

I was analyzing. The blow had a lot more strength than a human could manage. Whoever the third person was didn't waste any time coming out after me. His shoulders rolled. Other little tidbits clicked. Ears were uncovered and unpointed, each of the three felt heavy, one's skin twitched as he walked.

"WOLVES!" I shouted over a shoulder.

The shout itself didn't help my ringing ears. Ann would be here soon with the right type of bullets. Her footsteps were still trying to get to the top of the stairs. Too far away for Kahina's safety.

"Let's go, you pampered lapdogs." At least that's what I tried to say. Really the only words to make it out of my mouth were pampered lapdogs, and those two were loud. If there was one thing that set off a wolf, it was insults.

And any smile that showed more than the front few teeth. Wolf instincts screamed challenge from the right sort of smirk. Maybe it was just me.

My expression set off the one who smacked me with a metal bit of chair. I scrambled to my feet and ran back down the hallway, luring them closer to Shaggy and further away from Kahina. Behind me I felt two sets of footsteps.

Third trespasser doesn't move. Feet press heavily onto floorboards.

In a single movement I slipped one hand into a pocket and donned a glove. I brought the equipment back up and tightened down the velcro fastening with my teeth.

Shaggy could be felt just ahead, around the corner I blitzed past on my way up. I sidestepped into one of the other rooms. Hopefully they were enraged enough to miss the fact that I had stopped running.

The footsteps from both wolves pounded my senses like drumbeats. Their cadence freakishly synchronized as they got closer. Pack, they were from the same pack. Was it a local one? No, hopefully not. They might not have forgiven me, but they wouldn't try to kill Kahina.

There, the footsteps felt close enough.

I swung an arm out right below head level. The first wolf connected neck first with my modified glove. They contained silver molded into razorback ridges. Dragging them one way would slice, pulling them backward would rend.

Feel the moment of connection and the world pauses in celebration. Feel back of my clenched fist tear. World resumes as I smile in triumph. Small Prey. Weak. Will remind them of their place.

The resulting fist to neck connection attacked my perceptions twice. Once through normal visuals, the other via tactile echoing. I grabbed his head with my other hand and forced the rending motion across his neck, dragging the molded silver out. Silver was a weakness to any wolf.

My position was compromised. Close behind the first one was the second wolf. His body shifting to take on the extra mass of a halfway form. Apparently he didn't like his chances without being in battle mode.

Behind me I felt other footsteps, lighter, a brush of skin against the grip of a heavily weighted gun. The kickback would be terrible if Ann didn't brace herself. Not my problem. My job was to get to Kahina.

I dove down the hallway trying to skirt the second wolf. My speed was better than an average human though wolves still had superior reactions. Any real advantage I had was based on unfair tools, experience, and backup.

Three bullets flew past in quick succession. I barely slowed down as they connected with the wolf. Two center mass, the third one hitting him in the head. Accurate, effective, and Shaggy said she needed practice. There was a spray of blood and brain matter that got all over my suit. It would piss the cleaners off.

My senses were partway down the hall. Kahina was clammy. Her heartbeat pounded at almost the speed of a normal human's, which was the same as complete and utter panic. Something bad was happening. My teeth tore at the velcro of the second glove and cinched it tightly.

Around the corner again, through the doorway and setting eyes on the third member of the team. His body had shifted during the time I was gone. All of his clothes were torn and his shoes half exploded from the sudden burst in height and redistributed bulk. In one claw he dangling the cross. At some point this final wolf had picked up a cross tossed behind by his now deceased partner. It dangled from one claw. Kahina's body shook with imprinted terror.

His other malformed hand held the larger blade. It didn't seem as disproportionate now that he was taller. For a moment I wondered how he could hold the handle of a weapon in that shape. The thought was shoved sideways as I realized he held the blade up and to the side. Ready to make a sweeping motion through Kahina's frozen neck.

"Stop!" I ordered. The shifted wolf seemed to flinch for a moment and his fur ruffled in anger. He looked like he was straining to start chopping but couldn't quite do it.

The pause was only momentary. His arm came down and I hit the wolf in the side simultaneously. Behind me Kahina's voice cried out in pain. Her voice struck my ears just after I felt the brief flash of metal slice across skin. It was enough to send my instincts into overdrive. Mine, she was mine and no one would hurt her.

Below me the wolf struggled to get up. Shifting fouled up range of motion in favor of strength. I didn't let him get leverage. One hand shoved its way into his elongated muzzle and anchored across the top teeth. The other hand grasped his bottom jaw.

He tried to bite down on my hands. Silver protruding from the back of my gloves caught his tongue and resulted in strangled yelping. Both legs started kicking wildly. His jaw weakened slightly as self preservation stopped the biting.

I strained my arms as hard as possible. With a weight of two thirty from working out there was a lot of force behind these limbs. Wet, wrenching sound poured forth as his bottom jaw tore off. That bit of flesh and bone was tossed behind me as I wound back my fist to pound into the fresh passage. A sudden jerk later and the half wolf stopped moving.

A quick inventory revealed that the side of my face felt swollen. My ear rang. Both palms hurt from where the gloves had barely held out against teeth. Remains of the wolf's cranium being punched hung on my hands.

All unimportant. Kahina had been cut, I felt it.

Turning around didn't feel right. I was almost afraid to find out if she was still alive, or how bad the damage was. Instead I reached down and took the cross with my cleaner hand. The symbol itself glowed briefly red on contact then dimmed as my palm closed around it.

"Jay?" Shaggy's footsteps were slow behind me. Hesitant, one foot would lift, then set back down where it was. I could feel the gun still in her hands but she wasn't aiming at anything specific.

"Did you..." She had shot a wolf in the head and still sounded squeamish. "Did you just punch him in the brain?"

"Yes." I stood up and turned around.

"Guess you're useful after all, sir." She looked down at the mess below me, where the wolf had died and the awkward positioning. "Do you know why wolves make terrible hookers?" Shaggy asked as her gun slid into its holster.

"They don't work well on their backs." I said.

"Damn, you know the joke." Her feet hadn't moved from the doorway. My brain was still providing feedback of the area. The pressure of Shaggy's sharp edged soles pressed into the floorboards.

"Julianne would have liked you." Kahina's voice was quiet and shaky.

I turned and looked at her with a dumb smile on my face. With all the gore it probably looked disturbing but that didn't matter. She was okay. On her neck was a clear red mark reaching halfway across which healed as I watched. I inched closer which resulted in Kahina snarling at me. It seemed like an unconscious reaction as her face shifted emotions right afterwards.

"Get out." Kahina said.

Hell. Our relationship was back to square one. I should have been here sooner. Or recognized the alarm quicker. Since both feet were already under me, it was easier to nod and start for the door.

"Not you. Her." Kahina clarified.

Ann looked at me then headed outside, closing the door behind her. Kahina hadn't moved at all. Her body jerked in a tight suppressed motion. Then again. My face scrunched up for only a moment in confusion. I walked back over and knelt down and stared into Kahina's eyes for a moment. They had looked so satisfied earlier tonight and now quivered just a bit.

"You're alright." I kept my voice low so that Shaggy wouldn't hear us. "Common, this isn't the worst we've been through."

I reached out and touched the wound carefully to get a feel for how deep it was. Enough to frighten, but not bad enough to kill. Blood pooled slowly on her neck. Vampirism prevented wounds from coagulating right away. By design of course. Staying fresh would let the condition spread quicker.

"God this stuff is messing with my mind." Once again she proved that vampires had no compulsion against words. "I thought you left me."

"When?" I asked.

"When you ran away. I thought you left me again." She said.

I left once before without much word. That night had been one of the worst in my life. Four years of wandering and neither of us were over it. According to my recollection of that night she nearly killed me. In her story it was the other way around. Yet here we were. Together, in a sense.

"No." She was being serious so I should be too. "No I'm here until the change."

"And after? Will you leave me then?" She said.

"We'll make it work." I hoped there would be some method that didn't involve one of us tempting death.

She smiled briefly then her face crumpled again. "I swear she sounded like Julianne for a moment."

Julianne was a subject that neither one of us brought up much. To me she was an old boss, friend, and bartender. To Kahina she had been a best friend, maybe her only real friend. Julianne had died a few months ago, murdered by one of the vampires that should have been under Kahina's command.

"I'll be leaving later, but not for long." And that kind of comment was proof that men were idiots. There should have been a filter on my mouth to help with saying the wrong thing at the worst time.

"No. Not now." Kahina clutched in closer. "Stay. Please."

"Sure." I wanted to hold her, tell her would be okay, but my hands were more than a little gory. "I'm here." Instead I draped an arm over her, trying to make sure I didn't get any of the mess on her clothes.

"Just a moment. I just need a moment." She started shivering again. It hadn't even occurred to me that leaving the room might frighten her.

She had every right to worry about it. If I had stuck around the first time, instead of running due to fear, perhaps things would have been different. Hell. Kahina was one of the few things on this planet that truly scared me. Because of what she meant to me, because of what she felt when thinking of me. That barely veiled inhuman hunger.

Dangerous Mate.

Slowly, all my senses narrowed down to the woman holding herself close to me. Feeling every trace of fabric, flooring, and blood that touched against her skin. She didn't surge in hunger, her muscles were bunched too tightly. The only thing was that smell, the sharp tang of peppermint leaves that always traveled with her.

Stupid me, I had no idea what to say. Reassuring words were not something that came naturally. Maybe being there was enough. Maybe my actions told her what words couldn't.

For a moment, that brief quiet moment, it was just us.