"It had to have been Blaine! He's the only one we know who has fangs!" cried Damon, which made me frown. He was so loud.

"C'mon, Damon, that's not fair to Blaine when he's not even here. Did you text him?"

"N-no..."

Angel sighed. "Then I'll give him a call. It's likely that he has no idea what happened. Besides, he's not a vampire."

"B-but—!"

"Day, stop it. It wasn't Blaine." I growled, sitting up. My neck and shoulders were aching horribly.

Angel petted my hair, while Waltz clambered up onto my bed and threw himself across my legs. Gavin sat at my bedside while Briar was snuggling against my side. Zaire was at my feet, sleeping peacefully.

Damon stood next to Angel with a furious glare in his eyes. My irritated expression softened, and his eyes widened and filled with tears. He turned away, then stalked out of my room.

"Damon!" I called, but he slammed the door, making me wince.

"What was that about?" asked Briar, resting his chin on my shoulder.

"Um, well, Blaine is now with us." I said, gesturing to them. "And Damon isn't aware of what's going on, so he's jealous that I'm with Blaine."

"Ooh, drama!" exclaimed Waltz, making me laugh and lean down to kiss his head. His wings shimmered into visibility for a moment as he smiled up at me from his position across my thighs. "So he's jealous of you?"

"Mhm," I nodded.

"Well, you need to make him not jealous!" Waltz grinned, squeezing my thighs.

"Mm, but not right now. What happened to me?" I asked, wincing when I moved my head. "Why does my body ache so much?"

Angel sighed as he sat on the edge of the bed next to me. "You were attacked by a vampire."

My eyes widened. "V-vampire?"

"Yes, and because consent wasn't given when he sank his fangs into you, it caused your body to shut down. It's like an extremely painful poison when someone's fangs sink into your flesh, but it's pleasurable for both parties when permission is granted in the midst of sexual relations." explained Angel, so I nodded in thought.

"Well, it certainly wasn't pleasurable. I wonder if he was desperate. And how do you know if the vampire was male or not?"

Angel ruffled my hair. "Alexandre put an enchantment on our home. Only males are allowed in and out."

I hummed. "That's interesting."

"It is," agreed Angel. "He doesn't trust women."

I cocked my head to side. "Huh, now that is more intriguing."

Waltz pushed up on my thighs and kissed me smack dab on the lips. "Anyway," he stressed. "Back to what we were talking about."

I pulled him higher and hugged his upper body, letting his head rest on my chest. Waltz's wings appeared, and they stayed visible while I carded my fingers through his ash-blond hair.

Angel kissed my head, then Gavin pressed some to my hand and wrist, and Briar kissed my cheek and nuzzled my jawline. Zaire nuzzled my feet through the bedding, his caramel eyes gleaming with pleasure. I leaned back in my bed with a contented sigh, my smile full of relief and relaxation.

"In any case, the vampire probably was desperate and thought of you as an easy meal, since you're small and cute. You may have accidentally presented your neck to him while wearing Gavin's shirt, but it wasn't verbally consented for him to be allowed to feed off you."

I glanced back at Angel's pretty blue eyes. He was upset.

"Who found me?"

Angel looked away with a sigh, so I had my answer. I reached out with my left hand and petted his arm. Angel took a few deep breaths, then rested his cheek on mine for a moment. Briar snuggled deeper, mostly because Angel's horn was getting dangerously close to his head.

"You were laying on the floor in a puddle of your own blood. I was so scared, Anwyll." whispered Angel, shifting slightly to hug my waist with a choked sob on his lips. I hugged him back with my free hand and kissed his collarbones.

"I'm sorry for scaring you."

"You didn't really scare me, Anwyll, it was everything else."

I rubbed my cheek on his chest. "It will be all right, Angel."

The door slammed open and Blaine burst in, completely out of breath with wide green and brown eyes. He bent over, nearly toppling forward while he tried to catch his breath.

"A-Angel, is h-he okay?" gasped Blaine, as he slowly straightened.

Angel snickered under his breath, then kissed my forehead. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

Blaine's head shot up and he almost lost control of his legs as he rushed over to me. Angel scooted out of the way, and Briar shuffled down to my knees. Waltz shifted slightly down to make room. Blaine wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my hair, his murmurings of thankfulness somewhat lost on me.

I hugged him back with one arm, pressing a kiss to his head. "Hi, Blaine."

"Don't 'hi, Blaine' me, Anwyll. What the hell happened! You left, and then Damon told me you just a couple minutes ago that you were severely injured last night."

"Well, not severely. But Angel got a scare."

Blaine sighed, then sagged with relief. Angel steadied him, which Blaine thanked him for. Angel smiled weakly.

"You saw Damon, did you?" he asked.

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"Be careful around him, Blaine. He tried to blame you for Anwyll's injury."

An expression of betrayal flashed across Blaine's face, so filled with pain and distrust. I petted his arm, so he took my hand and squeezed it. Gavin leaned over and climbed up onto the bed, managing to skirt Zaire, Briar, and Waltz to get around to my right side. He cuddled into my side and closed his eyes. Blaine took Gavin's seat with a soft thank you on his lips, which Gavin did respond to with a small smile.

"So how did Anwyll get injured?"

Angel closed his eyes, now sitting back on the edge of the bed. "It was a vampire attack."

Blaine's eyes widened. "Isn't there a magic forcefield that keeps bad guys at bay? Alexandre would have noticed immediately and warned us if some guy tried to slip in."

"What if he's been here for a long time, unable to feed, and desperately needed to? I wouldn't blame him for taking my blood if that was the case. I just don't like that he left me on the floor to bleed out." I puffed my cheeks out in annoyance, staring down at Waltz while I played with his hair.

He was resting his head and hands across my thighs, and his eyes were closed. A small peaceful smile remained on his face. His wings were resting on top of Briar and Gavin, but they didn't seem to mind.

"You're far too kind, sweetheart." murmured Angel, his fingers stroking through my hair. "That bastard doesn't deserve it. He should have asked. If he knew you, he would have known that you'd allow him to feed if he needed it that badly."

Everyone dipped their heads in agreement, which made me smile and kiss all of them. I received happy purrs in return. I giggled happily.

Angel smiled, still petting my hair. "I will speak with Alexandre."

"Or I could do it. I have an idea of who it was." I said softly, and everyone tensed.

"Y-you do?" asked Briar, his emerald green eyes wide with shock. "H-how?"

"I saw a flicker of color in his red eyes. I don't think he was in his right mind when he attacked me, but regained his sanity when he fed off me. He looked so upset, like he didn't know what to do." I whispered, remembering the expression of shock in his eyes.

"So he left you." growled Gavin. "Whoever he is, he should not have left you there."

"He most likely panicked, considering there was the possibility that I'd died when darkness came over me, because if he'd checked my pulse, he would have known that my heart was still beating."

"I know you're trying to protect him, Anwyll, but what he did was still wrong. He needs to be punished." uttered Waltz, his wings fluttering while I rubbed his scalp.

"Then I guess I'll go to Alexandre. He would know who it is for sure, right?"

Everyone nodded, so I had my answer.

__________________________

Lunchtime rolled around and my stomach was growling like crazy, so Angel carried me to the dining area. The whole group came with us.

It was kind of embarrassing, but I was happy to have all of them with me.

When we arrived at the dining area, Dian was sitting by himself and Alexandre was anxiously pacing for some reason. Damon was nowhere to be found.

"Anwyll!" cried Alexandre, hurrying over to us. "Oh, thank heavens! I was so worried."

I blinked, then furrowed my eyebrows in concern. "What's wrong, Alexandre?"

Angel handed me over to him, and I felt sharp tips brush my sides. Alexandre held my body close while he checked my body. His fingers brushed over the bandages on my neck and he shuddered with a deep growl. I hugged his neck, wincing when my shoulder and neck ached with a stabbing pain from that action.

Alexandre growled again, the deeper tone showing how furious he was in actuality. I nosed his jaw and pressed a kiss to his bearded cheek. Alexandre's growling cut off, and I felt him press kisses to my head. His grip loosened slightly, enough for me to breathe well.

"Sir Alexandre, someone told you about Anwyll, right?" asked Zaire, but Alexandre merely stiffened. "Who told you?"

"A few minutes ago, Damon dropped by to say Anywll had been severely injured in an attack last night. He left a moment afterwards." explained Dian, his voice rising in the air. "But I see you're doing just fine."

Angel glared at Dian, who shrank down in his chair. "He is now. I wasn't sure he'd make it through the night, to be honest."

Alexandre tensed. "After breakfast, I must speak with you, Anwyll."

"All right, Alexandre." I mumbled, now feeling hungry and sleepy in his arms.

"Why not with us?" demanded Angel. "We deserve to know who the hell it was that did this to him!"

"I will tell everyone once I have all of the answers." responded Alexandre, his body tense. "But until then, you must remain patient."

Angel bit his cheek. I reached out with my free hand and he took it, pressing kisses to my knuckles and my palm. I squeezed his fingers when he pulled back.

"It's okay, Ange."

He hummed, but smiled gently at me when he noticed that I was looking at him. "I trust Alexandre, and you, so I will wait for the answers."

Everyone murmured their agreement, so Alexandre carried me to the table and took a seat. When I tried to get down and take one as well, a loud growl rumbled. I quieted down and snuggled back into his arms.

Blaine took a seat across from us, while Waltz took the usual seat next to Dian, but did not cuddle up to him. Dian looked crushed.

"You need to apologize." grunted Waltz. "And until you really mean that you're sorry for hurting and scaring Annie, I'm not going to be a cuddle-bug with you."

Dian seemed surprised to see Waltz so upset, but he slowly nodded and bit his lip. Angel took a seat next to Alexandre and I, and so did Gavin, but Zaire took the chair next his cousin, then Briar took the other side next to Angel after the plates were passed out.

Zaire got his gluten-free and dairy-free breakfast, too. That was the first plate brought out, since it was set aside due to his health issues.

My plate was placed next to Alexandre's plate, so he turned me around on his lap and I found that all of the food was magically cut into bite-sized pieces. I tilted my head back to look up at him, so he tilted his head to the side and eyed me with an amused expression. His honey-gold eyes were bright with happiness.

I rubbed my head on his chest and reached for the fork, but Alexandre stopped me. I pouted, which made the others laugh. Alexandre took my smaller fork and made a bite with it. I was concerned, but it made more sense when he brought it to my mouth. I wrapped my lips around the fork and pulled back to bring the food into my mouth. I hummed happily while I chewed, my tail smacking the chairs' legs. Angel chuckled and stroked my left cheek with his fingers. I paused in chewing, my cheeks stuffed, and looked at him. My ears perked when I heard laughter, then my tail started wiggling again as I started chewing once more.

Alexandre fed me until the food was cleaned off my plate. He wetted the napkin with a bit of water, wiped my lips, then did so again with the dry end. I was very full and sleepy, so Alexandre turned me around again and held me close with his left arm to eat with his right.

My tail swished over his legs, and I could feel a slight shiver roll through him. I nosed his throat for a moment, then settled my head on his chest with a soft sigh. He was warm and cozy.

"Alex, does Anwyll have magic?" asked Dian, which is what he should have done beforehand.

I could sense that Blaine was getting upset because of that very reason, so I turned my head and looked at him. When he felt my worried gaze, his turned his pretty green and brown eyes towards me. They glimmered with understanding. The tension drained away as he rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck.

Dian glanced over, but received a hard punch in the jaw. He was knocked against Waltz, who glared at Blaine.

Dian growled, holding his face. "What was that for, you lunatic?"

"That was for injuring Anwyll, you piece of—!"

"Blaine!" I exclaimed.

He smirked and cracked his knuckles, the sight and sound making my stomach twist. "Alexandre, I really don't care if you punish me, because that felt damn good."

Alexandre was calmly eating during the entire scene, but leaned back and patted his lips with the cloth napkin. He slid his fingers over my shoulder blades, which made me flinch a bit because of the bruising. Alexandre growled again, his embrace tightening around me.

"Dian, I believe you were not punished enough." commented Alexandre, in the most furious-sounding voice I had yet to hear.

Dian's face paled. "Why me! Blaine just punched me! He needs to be punished."

"He will be, but you lied to me, Dian."

Dian's deep brown eyes widened, and his face turned ashen. He quieted, holding his face as he looked down.

"I have matters to attend to. Dian, you are to think about what you've done until I return. Your punishment will be more than what I already gave you." stated Alexandre, as he rose from the table.

Dian merely nodded, curling into himself.

"Blaine, I will come up with a suitable punishment for your actions, taking your reason for them into account."

Blaine nodded, sitting back down to finish eating. He still looked pleased with himself.

Alexandre scanned the faces in the room. "Do not bother Dian, and do not be bullies. I will find out. And, I'm sure, Anwyll abhors verbal abuse. So, do not say anything of that nature to Dian."

"Sir, yes sir!" came the reply from everyone aside from Dian.

Alexandre dipped his head in a short nod of satisfaction, then strode away with my sleepy self.