"Bunny, it's nearly sunset." Logan whispered, and taking a deep breath, I slowly opened my eyes to find the room bathed in deep orange light. It was as if the world was on fire.

Looking out the floor length window in front of us, the gardens surrounding the mansion were of a similar colour, with the sky streaked with a mixture of pink and purple against a navy sky. Curled against Logan's side, I was warm, comfortable and could have easily stayed in place for much longer.

Turning to Logan, I kissed his chin before snuggling in closer, and dared to close my eyes again. "I don't want to get up!"

"You never do, but you're going to!" He rested his cheek on the top of my head, and while he was right,  I wasn't going to do it a minute sooner than I had to.

"Am I interrupting?" V  walked in, sitting on the free end of the lounge.

His hair was damp and his cologne was strong in air, clearly just applied. Since his clothing was blood free, someone had obviously just had a shower before coming down.

"Always." Logan mumbled under his breath.

"So what's the plan for tonight? Ordering in pizza, a couple of movies and just staying in?" The vampire is nearly bouncing with excitement, actually looking rather carefree and happy?

"Yeah no. We're waiting to hear from the others and then we'll be-" I start, finally sitting up off Logan.

"Meeting up for a few drinks in town?" V asks hopefully.

"What is wrong with you?" It comes out harsher than intended, but he is like a friggin ray of sunshine right now and I'm not in the mood for it.

What happened to vampires being dark, sullen, tormented creatures of the night?

"Nothing is wrong with me, I just thought you two may have had time to come to your senses and forgot all this drama!" He argues.

It's then Logan's phone rings and he swiftly gets up to answer it.

"Don't answer that!" V tells him, ditching his preppy attitude. In seconds he is in front of Logan and snatching the device from his hands. "Trust me. It's going to work out so much easier if you just walk away!"

"We can't and you know it!" Logan answers a little regretfully and takes the phone back. "Hello?"

Logan looks over at me and I nod, a clear sign I agree with him. V huffs and turns to walk out.

"Where are you going?" I demand, standing.

"Away. Far, far, far away!" He sings back.

 "No you're not!"

V simply holds his hand up and waves goodbye as he opens the door. I look at Logan who only shakes his head, and I think this whole ordeal is starting age him prematurely as lines have appeared on his forehead from where he always seems to be frowning. I can't help feel responsible for that. His eyes widen and he reaches out to grab me as I give chase. 

"Gotta go, see you soon!" He quickly mumbles behind me and getting into the corridor, I don't hesitate in tackling V. 

He must have been expecting it because as he falls forward, V twists it around so I am the one being held down. 

 "Is this how you want to persuade me to stay?" He grins wickedly, and despite my struggling underneath him, he doesn't budge. His mouth is against my neck, as I feel my heart stop, stuck thinking about the last time I was in this part of the house and he did that. The bastard had stabbed me after feeding off me. Fear takes over; that was then. He wouldn't do it again. Would he?

"Relax, I'm not going to do it!" He whispers in my ear, letting my arm go. In seconds I have hit him in the side of the head and with a growl, he pins my arm back down. "That, hurt!"

"Good. It was supposed to asshole!" I snap, furious.

His smile drops as a shadow looms over us, and we both tilt our heads up to see Logan with the black handgun against V's forehead.

"Off her. Now." He threatens, and V slowly stands with his hands up in submission. "Hands behind your back, and turn around."

V obliges and Logan cuffs him, yet the vampire isn't done yet. "Is this really necessary?" 

"Yeah. It is." Logan lowers the gun and helps me up, "You okay?"

"Well, I'm awake now." I shrug.

 "We're going into town, I've got to meet someone and I"m not leaving you two alone here. Come on." He hands me the gun and I wave it V's direction. 

With a groan, he follows Logan and once we've dressed ourselves in a few weapons, we head outside to the car that was left for us.

"Have you heard from the others?" I ask Logan.

"Not recently. They had two dozen Slayers going to the compound and setting up a watch for any visitors. I'm hoping no news is good news?"

"Let's go with that!" I agree, closing the back door behind V before getting in the front. 

 The drive seems to take hours, and I can't stop searching around us for some kind of attack. It's stupid, no one but my friends know where we were, and even they didn't know we were on the move now. The radio offered little distraction and every time I'd glance back in the review mirror, V was already staring back. I was glad he kept quiet, I couldn't be bothered dealing with him now.

Logan ended up stopping in the car park of an Italian restaurant. Instantly the smell of food seeped into the car and I didn't realise how hungry I was.

"We'll be back. I'm locking the car so if you even move an inch, your weight will set off the alarms." Logan warned V.

"Can't I come?" He whined like a child.

"No."

"What are we doing?" I asked the second we got out.

"I thought we could use some reinforcements and made a few calls." He took my hand, and kept me close as we headed towards the end of car park. 

Despite being in a built up area, the bush land park that marked the finishing point of the shopping complex seemed out of place. Rubbish had gathered along the curb and a few park benches that sat on the lawn in front of the trees were covered with graffiti, but all of that was fine until the shadows began to move.

"Remember all those times I've told you to let me do the talking and how you shouldn't constantly try to piss people off? This is another one of those times." He whispered.

I said nothing, trying to detect what was coming and the second I did, I didn't like it.

Werewolf.

"You're kidding?" I snap, instantly releasing my hand from his. Right now being stuck in a car with V was a much nicer alternative.

"No. Calm down, trust me Elise!" Logan practically begged.

I hadn't seen any real werewolves since that night. I avoided those mutts like they had the plague and I couldn't care if they did. Especially when the monsters stalked towards us. The trio were big and not just in the, you should play basketball, kind of way. The one in the middle stood nearly a foot taller than me, if not more. I'd never seen anything or anyone that big, even the Lord Alpha in all his monstrosity would be getting a complex being around this guy.

"Tracker?" 

Logan nodded and the way he seemed to choke as he swallowed didn't exactly do much to comfort me.

"This way." It was more of growl, if humans could growl and I'd never seen a werewolf take on so many traits of what they transform into.

Shifters had a certain mannerisms or animal alterations in their appearance. Oz, the bear shifter was hairy, more than any other man I'd met and his eyes reflected the creatures he turned into. Feline shifters seemed to have that cat like grace in their movements, beautiful really, but werewolves, while they looked big and were strong in human form, hid their curse well.

"Ah, we have a car and there is a vampire in it." Finding his voice, Logan didn't move to follow them. "We can't really leave him alone."

The smallest of three, bared his teeth. "Vampire."

"He's annoying, but, we think he's on our side." I spoke up and Logan nodded.

"Bring him." The leader snapped.

I turned to go to the car, but instead the smaller one went to Logan and grabbed his arm, practically dragging him as he took long, fast strides to our car. The third guy stopped me, firmly, yet not aggressively holding my arm to keep me there and gave me a tug towards him.

He stunk of sweat, and being so close in the bright lights of the car park left him with no shadows to hide in. His skin was naturally tanned, with his long black hair tied in a low ponytail at the back of his head. Despite having a square forehead, he had rather defined cheekbones, and his whole face looked lean, pointy even. The eyes that looked back at me, weren't human - yet there was some curiosity there.

"What you?" He asked gruffly, and the black tank top he had on did nothing to hide his bulging arms as his muscles twitched in restraint.

"H-Hunter."

Don't show fear. I am a Hunter. We keep them in line, not act like civilians who just found out the monsters under their bed are real. I didn't feel powerful, or in control. My knees felt weak as I was practically leaning against him, and my chest began to tighten in such a way he may as well have been crushing me.

Instead he only frowned and opening his mouth vampire like fangs; or canines, were revealed. All his teeth were short and sharp, a dentists nightmare and it was almost like he was in the process of starting to transform into werewolf. I managed to look down at his hand around my arm and saw his nails were not human like  either. They were rather thick, pointed and definitely like claws. I'd heard of some werewolf being able to draw on some of their beast when it wasn't a full moon, but this seemed different.

"Let her go brother. You are scaring her!" The largest one was clearly in charge and obediently I was let go. "We have not met many of your kind. I apologise."

"It's. It's fine." Oh god, not now. 

A panic attack threatened to take over and I looked away from the pair of them, staring at the yellow fast food wrapper that shuffled along the ground instead. A few deep breaths later, I prevented it from going further and looking back, Logan walked behind a terrified looking V. The second he was close enough to me, he glared.

"If you were going to kill me, I thought you'd be brave enough to do it yourself!" He hissed.

"What?" I asked dumbfounded.

"Relax vampire. You are their prisoner, not ours."

Logan ignored the conversation, coming back to my side as V was kept in place by the one who had removed him from the car. "Thank you for agreeing to see us."

"If what we were told is true, we are glad you came to us." The leader answered. "I am Paytah. These are my brothers, come. We don't like being here for very long."

Paytah didn't introduce the others to us and I wondered if they were actually werewolf due to their strong, graceful steps. 

"Don't be afraid." Logan whispered as we entered the tree line.

My eyes didn't leave Paytah and the way he seemed to look back at slightly, made me wonder if he had heard.

"I'm not." I lied; wanting him to hear that.

"It's all over your face. I'm not going to put you in danger!" He promised.

The last time he'd walked me into a wolves den, the bitch alpha had turned out to be the biggest bad guy, well girl, I'd ever had to deal with. Well, animal, the vampires were in a different league. I'd trusted him then, and while understand the situation now, he had still betrayed me and had technically been working for the wrong side.

Looking at V, he caught my gaze and all I saw was fear. He was proving to be rather cowardly anyway and if given the chance, I expected him to run and disappear.

"What is going on?" I asked Logan.

"While you were sleeping, I was thinking. I made a few calls and here we are."

"You do realise everything you just said tells me nothing!" All three werewolves glanced my way. "It didn't!"

Paytah dared to smirk. "We need to go to a safer location Hunter woman. We will talk then."

I didn't see how walking through a clump of trees was safer, until we stopped at one of the trees and Paytah actually howled into the bark of the tree. Everything around us seemed to freeze. All nose from the restaurant car park vanished, the wind stopped and for a second, even the air disappeared. 

When he stopped howling, it was obvious we weren't quite where we had been and we carried on walking, back the way we came. Now the light from outside the trees's wasn't artificial, but dancing and swirling from a giant bonfire.

"You're going to get us all killed Tracker!" V hissed at Logan, before one of the werewolves shoved him roughly in the back to keep him moving. "At least take these off so I may attempt to defend myself!"

Looking back at us, Paytah shrugged. "He will not escape if you release the vampire from his restraints."

"No, he's good that way." I smiled.

"As you wish."

Instead of lawn and a carpark, the bonfire sat in the middle of a clearing with a tent village set up around it. All the people that appeared from their dwellings were similar with skin that seemed even darker in the fire light, straight black hair and  their werewolf features.

"Leave us!" Paytah growled, and everyone vanished; including the duo that had bought us here.

He took a set on one of the logs by the pit, and motioned for us to do the same. V stayed standing, not joining the meeting.

"As I said, thank you for seeing us." Logan started.

"So the treaty is in jeopardy?" Paytah sighed wistful, while getting straight to the point.

"Yes." He answered.

If Logan was worried about me talking too much or saying anything wrong, he didn't have to worry as I found myself speechless. I don't know why, I just couldn't control my fear. Had he been hostile, I would probably be dead and those thoughts didn't exactly help. Maybe it was his appearance, I was fascinated and afraid, glad Logan was doing all the talking as I just stared. I wasn't being rude, I just couldn't stop myself. Every instinct told me to stay away. The power he had was obvious and I was also a little in awe of it.

Logan groaned beside me, slapping his palm on his forehead as he rubbed as if to ease the tension. The movement made me jump and looking around, Paytah now had his eyes on me. The fire was reflected in place of his pupils, and as he stood, he only appeared even more ominous.

My mouth opened as he moved closer and Logan tensed beside me. It was then I realised V had come closer too, standing practically behind me and I hadn't even noticed him move. Had I been that out of it?

"I'm sorry, we aren't being disrespectful. Your assistance is appreciated. She just isn't being herself." Logan stood and I wondered if I should stand too. Since I was suddenly feeling really small, I did.

Who wasn't being themselves?

"That's probably a good thing when you think about it Tracker." V joined the conversation, sounding more amused than fearful now. Logan only glared at him.

"She is your mate?" Paytah asked stopping in front of us.

"Mate?' I repeated.

"She is." Logan confirmed, his hand digging into my hip slightly.

"Give her to me." He commanded.

V scoffed and Logan only held me tighter as I suddenly caught up with everything going on. I was struggling to think clearly, I hadn't felt so helpless, ever, it was horrible and slowly I started to gain some control back.

"I don't know what is going on right now or who you think you are, but-" I started, suddenly furious at his rather primitive command.

"Oh look, Elise is back!" V sang behind me, and throwing my elbow back I got him in the stomach.

"Paytah, I-" Logan shut up as the leader, Alpha, what ever he was opened his mouth and a savage snarl erupted from him.

The three of us didn't move.

"I wasn't asking. Now female!" He demanded.

My hands were shaking.

Shit.

I am a Hunter. I don't take this shit from overgrown mutts.

"I have a name asshole and you're not taking me anywhere!" I yelled back.

Another sound left him, and I saw one of the ones from earlier appearing from the treeline. What I said didn't matter, neither did the fight I put up as he pulled me away from Logan and carrying me bridal style, he stormed off, away from the fire and tents. I could hear Logan and V yelling, more snarling and as I started to scream, his large calloused hand covered my mouth.

"Be quiet!"

I shook my head, and the next thing I know, I'm waking up on damp grass by a river. Looking around, he was simply sitting beside me and as I scrambled to get up, he gabbed my ankle and pulled me closer.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"What about Logan and V?" I demanded.

"They are safe." He looked at me curiously, his nostrils flaring as he breathed in deeply.

In the blink of an eye he was above me, and he didn't smell like the other one. He had an earthy scent, natural and it kind of reminded me of the way the world smells just before it rains. It wasn't all bad, except for the fact I was pinned down underneath a man the size of a car. Again he sniffed me, no denying or hiding what he was doing now.

"Heard of personal space?" It came out croaky, and I couldn't hide my fear. Not that I was before.

"You're interesting to me."

"Ah?" What do I say that?

Sliding my hand down my leg, I was gun-less and I couldn't feel the pressure of anything else strapped to me either.

"I removed your weapons. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want you to hurt me."

His warm breath brushed against my neck, and since I was so wired, the sensation was felt as if he was actually touching me.

"I won't. I promise, can you just, back off?"

"My manner scares you? Even though I will not hurt you?" He sounded confused.

"Yes," I admitted, "why did you bring me out here?"

"Your males are very protective over you. There were too many feelings in the air. You are mated. I respect your mate and will not harm you."

"Right. Um, well, this was all Logan's thing. Why not take him?"

He finally backed of, sitting in front of me as his gaze evened out. "You didn't hear us talking?"

"No, I kind of spaced out." I couldn't stop myself from blushing.

"You were watching me." He stated.

"What are you?" It came out before I could stop myself.

"I am a werewolf." 

"You're not like the ones I've seen before!"

I sat up and somehow, actually felt more comfortable around him now.

"No. I wouldn't be. We don't live in your realm, not for too long. We are the cursed, the first of our kind. Since we began, we evolved to blend in more, yet it doesn't stop what the full moon does to us. We stay here to live as always have before the years went by and when we reveal ourselves, we do not fear harming humans."

"Your clothing says otherwise." I pointed out his jeans and he had on the same tank top as the other two.

He actually chuckled, "We come and go. Would you rather I not dress like your people?"

"No, you're good!" I held up my hand to stop him as he went to undo the fly on his pants. "So, what did I miss?"

"Your mate, the Tracker, told us of the vampires plans. The murders that have occurred in order to destroy what we created. He told us, you were chosen by him. That, The Impaler, seeks you harm. I knew Alistair. He was a dear friend, with a wisdom beyond a humans abilities. We all respect your family, woman Hunter. More than that, we will assist your battles and stop the vampire!" He finished with a growl.

"If he is after everyone involved in making the Treaty, wouldn't it be better if you stayed here?"

"No. We can not stop him from here, and it will work to our advantage. He already thinks we are extinct. Today's werewolves are nothing more than basic humans. They lack what our culture strives for, diluting their lineage with any, cursing others with a bite! It is disappointing to see us fall so low."

"Why was V so scared coming here?"

"We never liked the blood feeders. We created the first Slayers, humans that we gifted with our abilities to help combat our enemies." He told me.

"What?" Our origins have always been sketchy.

"It was before your people kept true records of your existence. It is a tale we tell our young."

"Then what about Trackers?"

"The vampires fought back." Paytah answers simply.

"Hunters?"

"He decided it was only fair for someone to monitor the actions of the others, whether they were human or something else."

"He?"

He gives me a look, kind of in disbelief as I guess he thinks I should know this stuff.

"He was once called Malsumis. He always changes, name and appearance. We believe he had a vampire origin, a true god even. The last name I had heard he went by was Cain."

"Cain." I said it as he did.

"The Treaty was signed, and we started to enforce it. We guided our warriors in the beginning, helping them as all learned to abide by it; understand it. Now it has been around for so long, it is all that is known. For The Impaler to destroy it, chaos will reign. Humans will never be safe until order is returned. We share this world, they are a good food source, breed well and their evolution is much better than our own. We do not want to see another war. Technology will be make it impossible to contain with your video recording devices and world wide web."

His head tilted slightly, watching me as I absorbed his story. "What?"

"You are so small. A woman. I understand why your Tracker mate seeks to protect you." He mused, "the vampire I don't understand considering he is your prisoner and would rather bleed you."

"He is, a friend, maybe. I dunno. It's complicated and Logan-" I paused. "Take me back. Now!"

"I don't understand. We are talking?"

Getting up, I'm going to kill them both if I've been left here under werewolf watch. "Take me to Logan now!"

"You miss your mate?"

"Think I am a small woman who needs protecting? Wait until you see what I will do to him!" I growl.

"I don't understand your anger."

I throw my arms up in frustration and go in the direction my instincts tell me, and sure enough i've barely made it two strides before Paytah and grabbed me around the waist to hold me back. "Your mate may need protecting from you."

"Great observation!" I struggle to get free, but even when I kick and punch him it's like hitting concrete. "Let me go!"

"Calm down."

"No!"

"You are a disobedient woman!" He snaps as I manage to get a reaction from him; hitting up under his chin.

"You have no idea."

He finally obliges and lets me go, so I start running until he calls out. "Hunter woman, you are going the wrong way!"

Turning on my heel I glare at him. "Which way then Paytah?"

"That way. You are small, but fierce!" He rubs his chin where I hit him, pointing a little to the left of the path. He easily catches up and keeps pace with me as we walk back. "You are not like our women. Had you no mate, I would tame you."

I stop and have to gawk at him, not quite believing what he just said. Amusement highlights his face as he stands in the silver patch of moonlight. The whole forest seems to glow with the bright, white light and it occurs me to then, it's really bright. Looking up at the sky, the moon hangs to the South; but isn't quite full. That was a relief.

I only glare at him, but I've had worse comments from Chris and Nigel.  "Some women aren't meant to be tamed, wolf man."

"Perhaps, but I would enjoy trying!" He laughs, "Ask our women. They are treated well and enjoy having a strong mate."

"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder!" Ignoring him, we return to camp in silence and the second I don't see Logan or V, my rage begins to boil. "Logan!"

"You are very loud!" Paytah complains as I scream for Logan.

"Elise?" Logan appears from the other side of the bonfire, a plate in his hands. "You okay?"

"You're having dinner while he could be trying to tame me in the forest?" I accuse. 

It gets a laugh out of Paytah.

"Well V was no help, scared they were going to throw him in the fire and have you seen these guys? I had to trust my instinct you weren't going to be hurt. What are talking about taming?"

"Your mate is not your equal Tracker. Her fire will out burn yours." Paytah looks between us, still amused before he goes to the fire and pulls out something from the pit. "Sit. Eat. Tomorrow we go after the vampire."

"Tomorrow? Logan, what about the others?" If they're in danger, we need to be there. Worse; who knows what they will think finding us gone from the house.

"The Tracker in that Trifecta group told me how to find these guys, he was going to tell Zane for us. He coudn't get here because of the lockdown. They were more than happy to meet us because you're a Bunting. It's fine and we'll be safe tonight. It's not a good time to be running around in the open, we should only move around during the day." Logan lectures me.

"You name dropped? That's low Loges!"

"I'm with Elise. We should leave here." V pipes up, and I realise he is sitting in the clearing towards the trees.

Paytah hands me a ceramic plate with some kind of meat on it that's been way overcooked, nearly to the point of charcoal. "Ah, thanks."

"You are welcome woman Hunter."

"Can you call me Elise?"

"Elise." He rumbles the s, and then nods. "I like this Hunter, Elise."

It's then the others emerge. I now understand why he made a point about his clothing, since the males and even the females were in little more than animal skins and weird toga things. I also understand what he meant about 'his women' as they were nearly as huge as the men. I felt about three foot tall with them all hovering above me.

They all had questions, about the world, and what was going on. The men were as curious about me as the women were about Logan and yet I really felt safe. Some would stroke my hair and one woman actually licked Logan. 

"I don't get it though. If we were created to monitor you all, why do we now work with you?" I asked Paytah as he sat beside me.

"It was easier that way. The ones made to destroy us, were the best to handle our kind. The problem that came about your creation was humans have a tendency to think for themselves. Our species only had so much control on the Slayers before they took things into their own hands. Not all wanted to kill, not all were willing to look beyond what they were. The Treaty didn't just settle things in the supernatural world, but amongst your kinds too."

"How old are you?" He seemed to know everything; like he was there, yet he barely looked thirty.

"I am ninety years old in your world years. All I know are from the stories we tell. Humans don't do that, at least not like us. You create fake stories for your television sets and cinema rooms, so it is no wonder you all lose your truths."

I didn't answer, and after we ate, they werewolves danced for the moon, seeking their rulers support in all that was about to happen until it began to fall from the sky and the first signs of dawn appeared.

"Come, you need to rest." Paytah smiled at Logan and I, not hiding his canine teeth this time. 

Since I was practically curled up in Logan's lap, I felt him hold me a little bit tighter before getting me up to follow the werewolf to a tent we'd be spending the night in.

"What was he on about before about taming you?"

"Well, put it this way. If things don't work with us, I've got a backup plan!"

"Did you tell him he wasn't your type?" Logan asked; amused.

"I didn't want to break his heart. I'm sure he'll survive!" 

We just got comfortable when a snarl outside our tent had us both sitting up and V stumbled in to fall on top of us.

"I'm not staying out there so move over!" He argued, wiggling between Logan and I

"Get out!" Logan snapped, moving to kick him.

V, was annoyingly stronger and I actually felt bad for him considering he was still handcuffed and surrounded by a species who would rather see him die that survive the day.

"Let him stay. Bite us, no one will be able to stop them from turning you into wolf food!" I warned, getting up and moving over to the other side so Logan was between us.

"I wasn't hungry anyway!" V huffed.

Logan groaned, spooning me while V got comfy on the other side of the furs that made our bed. The second V went to do the same to Logan, I knew it was going to be a long day as the pair of them argued and maybe going to sleep in Paytah's tent woudn't have been so bad.

----

I know I said Cain would be coming, but I keep changing his arrival... Sorry. This was more of a filler chapter too. Not much really happening, but once they go back - Drac isn't going to be thrilled with the werewolves arrival ;)