Kayleb slammed himself down in his desk and his jaw was tense as he ruffled through the papers on it roughly.

"You okay?" Kaylee asked raising her brow and watching him from behind a file she was reading at her desk across from his.

"Just peachy." Kayleb replied before slamming his forehead down on the desk and leaving it there.

"Wanna talk about it?" Kaylee asked. Kayleb shook his head without lifting it from his desk.

"Right now I hate anything with estrogen." he replied, his voice muffled against the papers his face was pressed against. Kaylee nodded and then she laughed.

"Get ready for an estrogen overload." she whispered. Kayleb smelled officer Tortilonni's perfume and groaned.

"You look stressed. Want me to rub your shoulders?" he heard her heavily accented voice asked. He swore she was that woman that played 'The Nanny' reincarnated. He felt her hands on his shoulders and he jumped to his feet, nearly falling over his desk to get away from her as Kaylee hid her laughter behind the folder in her hands.

"Hi, Fran." Kayleb mumbled.

"My name's Susie." The annoying woman who had been a thorn in his side since he'd started working here said with a loud laugh that Kayleb was sure could peal paint off of walls.

"When you gonna go out with me handsome?" she asked cocking her wide hip to the side and laying her red nailed hand on it.

"When hell freezes over." Kayleb muttered and Susie laughed.

"Well batten down the hatches, sweet cheeks, because I think there's a cold front coming in." she exclaimed and snickers filled the station.

"Kayleb and Kaylee." Chief Michael's called from his office door and Kayleb turned quickly. He had never been so happy to see that millipede mustache in the two years he'd been working for the chief.

"There's been a murder over in Haggarty. Looks like it was were creatures of some sort. You two need to get over there and take a look."

"Yes sir." Kayleb said quickly as he headed for the door. Kaylee practically had to run to catch up to him and she was laughing lightly as she got in the passenger side of the squad car.

"Chief Michaels looked kind of disappointed when you didn't complain about working." she said.

"Damn that Susie Tortollinni." Kayleb grumbled as he fired the car to life and started down the road.

"What's got you go grumpy?" Kaylee asked as she slipped on her sunglasses. "Does this have anything to do with the apple lady?"

"Her name is Vanessa." Kayleb replied and then he sighed as he gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands. "She's my mate." Kaylee couldn't stop herself from bouncing in the seat.

"Yay! I was right!" she exclaimed. Kayleb raised his brow and looked over at her.

"What do you mean you were right?"

"I thought she was your mate... I realized it when you mentioned her smelling like apples."

"Yeah well quit sounding so happy about it. She hates me." Kaylee waved her hand dismissively.

"No she doesn't. She doesn't even know you."

"She kicked me out of my own house!" Kayleb snapped.

"She might be a little jumpy." Kaylee admitted.

"A little?"

"Her life has turned upside down, Kayleb. She told me yesterday that she is a single mother who works six days a week, twelve hours a day, takes care of her daughter and takes college classes online at night... She is run ragged." Kayleb felt his newfound protective nature kick in at hearing how hard his mates life had been. He wanted to take her into his arms and take care of her. Make sure she never had to worry about anything more complicated than breathing for the rest of eternity.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts... He didn't even know the woman and yet he was wanting to take care of her? Damn this mate business.

"Add to that the fact that now there is a crazy vampire chasing her and her daughter and she has been thrown into a house with our huge family. The woman has a right to be a little jumpy."

"Can we just not talk about her anymore?" he asked.

"Come on, Kayleb, you know you can open up with me. I'm your twin sister." Kaylee said. Kayleb grumbled under his breath and then turned the radio on and turned the volume up so the music was blasting inside the small squad car.

(Nice try.) Kaylee said, her telepathic voice full of amusement. (I actually kind of like this song.) Kayleb rolled his eyes and turned the radio back down. Kaylee could see how stressed her brother was and decided to let the subject drop.

"So are you going to go on that date with Mrs. Tortillonni?"

"I might..." Kayleb replied with a shrug. "She seems to like me a whole hell of a lot better than the apple lady."

"Vanessa."

"Yeah her."

***

Vanessa showered and dressed and then she made her way back downstairs and out the front door without seeing anyone. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly and the late spring air was already warm on her skin. The house was surrounded on all sides by dark woods and Vanessa swore she could feel Vincent's glowing violet eyes on her.

She stepped off the porch and turned to look up at the beautiful log mansion. It was three stories tall with a wraparound porch and wraparound balconies. Hanging baskets full of colorful flowers filled the air with a light, fragrant scent. Vanessa walked around the house and saw a large barn at the other end of the wide back yard. She made her way toward it and smiled when she saw Faith and Gwen playing on a large wooden jungle gym that had swings, slides and a fort made into it. A woman with dark curly hair was watching them play and laughing.

"Hi I'm Laney." she said when Vanessa walked over. Vanessa saw that she had the same golden eyes as Jake but she looked almost identical to Angela, only slimmer.

"Jake and Angela are my parents." Laney said to her unspoken question. Vanessa nodded and then she turned her eyes to the barn when she heard a horse whinny.

"Hunter is in there if you want to go in and look at the horses." Vanessa wanted to go but the barn looked so dark on the inside....

"It's dark in there." she whispered as she watched Faith laugh happily as she went down the slide.

"You are safe here." Laney promised her. "My dad is like the billy bad ass of werewolves. He and my grandpa Charles were rogue immortal hunters for hundreds of years. My mom has killed her share of vampires and my aunt Joey used to be a slayer. Kayleb and Kaylee are both capable of taking care of things and just a couple of years ago Hunter killed a female vampire that was pretty old and strong. No one will be brave enough to come after you here and if they are then they will die really quick for being stupid."

"I've never seen a horse up close before." Vanessa replied as she glanced again at the barn. Laney smiled.

"Well go on in there then." she said. Vanessa couldn't hide the excitement on her face as she nodded and walked toward the barn. She needed a distraction and this would provide a nice one. She walked into the barn and her eyes were drawn to the nearest stall where a large black horse was standing. She walked over to the stall gate and watched the horse as it went about eating its hay.

"That's Laney's horse." a voice with a heavy country accent said from beside her. She jumped and covered her chest with her hand as she looked at the newest family member. He was wearing tight wrangler jeans, cowboy boots, a flannel shirt with rolled up sleeves and a stained brown cowboy hat. He had storm gray eyes, and dark blond hair sticking out from under the hat.

"Hunter?" Vanessa asked. He nodded and held out his hand.

"Yes ma'am." he replied. "And you're Vanessa?" Vanessa shook his hand and nodded.

"That's a beautiful horse." she said turning her attention back to the stall. Hunter clicked his tongue and the horse raised its head and snorted before walking over. Vanessa reached out a shaking hand and ran her fingers along its neck.

"This is amazing!" she exclaimed. Hunter had heard from Lane, telepathically of course, that Vanessa was high strung and moody but she seemed nice enough to him as she smiled happily. She turned her eyes back up to Hunter and he smiled at her and that is when her expression changed.

"Vampire!" she hissed. Hunter ran his tongue over his fangs and nodded.

"Yeah." he said slowly. Vanessa backed away from him with fear in her green eyes until her back was pressed against the stall gate. She reached into the waistband of her pants and pulled her pistol. Hunter held his hands up as she pointed the gun at him.

"Where's Hunter and who are you?" she demanded.

"I am Hunter, ma'am." he replied calmly. He was seeing that for once Lane hadn't been exaggerating. The woman was definitely high strung.

"You're a vampire." Vanessa said accusingly.

"Yes ma'am. Half vampire actually. My mother was mortal."

"You're not pale." Vanessa said as if she was trying to work a puzzle out in her own head. Hunter shook his head.

"I can go in sunlight." he replied and then just to show her he was being honest he held out his hand and placed it directly in the rays of sunshine coming through the window. "You can trust me ma'am." Vanessa put her gun away and bit her lip, suddenly feeling very foolish as she turned back to the horse.

"Sorry." she said. "I hate vampires." Hunter laughed as he too reached out and scratched the horses neck.

"I hear that a lot."

By dinner time Vanessa was feeling much more comfortable around all these new faces. She had met several more throughout the day. Lane's mate Joey, a twelve year old girl named Kaitlyn and a mated pair who were both very short named Kent and Jordan. Gwens parent's Raquel and Evan and two small toddlers named Brent and Charlie. Vanessa figured it would take years to really get to know everyone.

Vanessa was helping Rebecca set the table when the family began pouring in. Vanessa had never been around big family scenes and the amount of bodies and voices was overwhelming. Faith was having a great time and fitting right in as she sat next to Charles and told him stories. Vanessa had to give the man credit, he really seemed to be paying attention to everything her over talkative daughter had to say.

Vanessa watched the interaction between the family as everyone ate and it had her realizing just how quiet and lonely her life had been so far. She didn't have brothers and sisters to bicker with or parents to roll her eyes at. She didn't have cousins and aunts and uncles to be friends with and she didn't have a man who looked at her the way she kept seeing these men look at their mates.

The kitchen cleared out except for Rebecca, who began cleaning up, and still Vanessa sat at the table lost deep in thought. Suddenly she felt a presence behind her and she did not need to turn around to know who it was as her heart began to beat faster.

"Hey Grandma." Kayleb's weary voice said.

"Kayleb!" Rebecca exclaimed as she tossed her dish towel aside and ran to him. Vanessa turned and gasped. Kayleb was covered in blood and she had a feeling, by the number of wounds covering his body, that most of it was his. His brown eyes looked tired and his face was drawn and full of pain as he limped across the kitchen, dripping blood along the way and flopped himself down in a chair.

"What happened to you?" Vanessa explained. Her feet seemed to be under someone else's control as she jumped up, grabbed a rag from the cabinet, wet it in the sink and walked over to Kayleb. She reached out a shaking hand and began to wipe the blood from his face.

Rebecca slipped from the room silently to give the two of them some privacy and to make sure everyone else in the family knew to stay out of the kitchen.

"You sound concerned." Kayleb replied, though he wasn't sure how he managed to speak with his mouth so dry and his heart pounding. Her gentle hands touching his skin was the single most pleasurable thing he had ever felt.

"I'm concerned whenever someone who is supposed to be protecting me shows up beaten all to pieces." Vanessa replied as she laid the rag in his hand and moved away from him. Her body screamed at her to be close to him again and she forced herself to sit down in a chair a few feet away from him. She wished that she understood this pull she felt toward him.

Kayleb threw the rag down on the table and looked at the bites and scratches covering him.

"I'm not beat all to pieces. I've healed up quite a bit already. Give me just a little bit longer and I'll be as good as new." Vanessa looked out the large kitchen window at the sunset and then back at Kayleb. His deep brown eyes were still locked on her and she swore he was seeing deep inside of her.

"How did you get beat up?" she asked while picking at the knee of her jeans.

"I'm not beat up, you should see the six other guys."

"Six?" Vanessa asked with wide eyes. Kayleb nodded.

"A group of young were lions. Normally I would have been able to take them pretty easy but I was distracted." Kayleb replied. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her heart shaped face and shining chestnut colored hair and he found himself breathing deeper just to take in more of her sweet, apple scent.

"I don't think that being distracted is a good idea when you're battling a group of six killer immortals." Vanessa said matter of factly and Kayleb found himself smiling. Vanessa felt her heart skip a beat in her chest at the sight of his smile. It lit up his face and gave his eyes a mischievous twinkle. His teeth weren't perfect, the front ones were a little too big but it just added to his charm.

"No probably not." he replied.

"What had you distracted?" she asked. Kayleb wasn't about to tell her that it was thoughts of her that had had his head in the clouds when the lions had jumped him.

"I was hungry." he lied with a shrug. She smiled and Kayleb nearly lost all control of himself. Only sheer will power kept him in his chair and kept him from grabbing her arm, pulling her into his lap and kissing her senseless. She was a beautiful woman but when she smiled she was breathtaking. Her emerald green eyes sparkled and she had one dimple in her left cheek.

"Just like a man." she teased. Kayleb wondered what had happened to the jumpy, angry woman from this morning. He could definitely get used to the new Vanessa sitting in front of him. Kayleb really was hungry so he rose to go get himself some leftover dinner but he fell right back down in his chair with a thud and hissed in pain as his leg gave out beneath him.

Vanessa was to him in an instant.

"What's wrong?" she asked with concern in her voice.

"My leg." Kayleb replied his voice gruff with pain. Vanessa looked down at his thigh and realized for the first time just how badly it was injured. It quite literally looked like something had bitten a chunk out of him.

"I'll go get Angela." Vanessa said, remembering the way she had healed her this morning. She tried to move away but Kayleb's hand closed around her wrist and pulled her back to him. His skin was hot against hers and she swore his touch was branding her. She was helpless to stop her body as she dropped to her knees in front of him and he let go of her wrist and cradled her face in his hands.

"I don't need Angela." he replied and the hunger in his eyes had her trembling. She felt a desire like she had never felt before fill her as she looked up at him and his rough thumbs gently stroked her cheeks.

"What do you need?" Vanessa managed to whisper and she could hear the husky passion in her own voice. She had not let herself get lost in a mans touch in a long time and the woman in her was craving this specific mans touch.

"You." Kayleb replied and then his lips were on hers. His kiss was hungry and Vanessa quickly found herself lost in it. His lips seemed to devour her, brand her, claim her. It was as if he was a starving man in a scorching desert and she was the oasis. Vanessa had never had a man kiss her this way before and she quickly matched his passion. She knew nothing about him and she had never been impulsive but there was something in her that wanted to throw caution to the wind and give in to her burning desire.

Kayleb forced himself to pull away from her. His breathing was harsh and he was happy to see that hers was too. Her chest was rising and falling beneath her thin black t-shirt and he couldn't stop himself from watching her small breasts rise and fall. He moved his eyes back to her face and saw that her full pink lips were red from his hungry mouth and her green eyes had darkened with passion. He kept one hand on her cheek and used his other hand to smooth her silky hair from her face.

"I need to tell you something." he whispered.

"What?" she said, the word sounding more like a moan as she leaned against him.

"I want to make sure you know before this goes any further."

"What?" Vanessa said again, this time with just a hint of suspicion. Kayleb locked his eyes with hers and his next words had her yanking from his arms and moving away.

"You're my mate."

"No I'm not." she said matter of factly as she back away. Kayleb stood, his leg healed enough now that he could without much trouble, and nodded.

"Yes you are." he replied. His eyes held so much intensity that it would have frightened her if her body hadn't still been tingling from his kiss.

"I can't be." she argued. She forced herself to realize the reality of what she had just been doing. She had been kissing a werewolf. She didn't know anything about him other than that and she had been throwing herself at him like some kind of sex crazed slut.

"Vanessa, please...."

"No. You are an animal and I won't listen to you anymore." she said with tears in her eyes. She didn't really feel that way but she didn't like not being in control. She had worked hard to take control over her life and now she was losing all of that control because of immortals. One that wanted her for a pet and another that wanted her forever. Damn Kayleb... Damn him for making her want him. Damn him for letting her get lost in that kiss. He had known all along why her body craved him and he hadn't told her until it was too late to keep herself from doing something she had sworn she would never do. Hadn't she always said she would kill the first immortal that came to her claiming to be her mate?

"Don't act like this." Kayleb said stepping toward her. "I know you feel the same things I do." Vanessa shook her head.

"Just because your wolf is saying that I'm your mate that doesn't mean that I have to accept you. I know how this works too. Stay away from me, Kayleb. I do not want a man of any kind. I have enough to worry about."

"I..." Kayleb started but she cut him off.

"I have to get Faith ready for bed." she said and then she quickly left the kitchen. Kayleb growled and slammed his fist down on the table, cracking the wood. He winced when he realized his grandma would probably beat him for that and then he ran his hand over his hair. The wolf in him was screaming to chase the mate and show her that they belonged together and he told the wolf in him to shut the hell up.

If she thought he was an animal and didn't want him then there was nothing he could do about it. Mates were nothing but a pain in the ass and he wished he had never met his. If he had never met her then he wouldn't be hurting and aching for her touch right now. He walked over to the liquor cabinet and stared at the combination lock. He couldn't remember what the number was and he didn't have the patience to try to figure it out. He reached out and tore the lock away before pulling out a bottle.

He flopped down in a chair and took several long drinks before he smelled Lane come into the room. He turned and looked at his uncle, who reached out and took the bottle away from him.

"This won't help." Lane said. "Trust me, I know. When I met Joey she thought I was nothing but a monster. She broke my heart more than once, though I never admitted I was heart broken at the time. Damn psycho slayer bitch is what she was but there was no denying that I wanted her and things eventually worked out. Thing will eventually work out for you too, and if they don't, then you can lose yourself in bottles of my booze." Lane winked at him before downing a drink for himself and putting the bottle back on the cabinet.

Kayleb let out a sigh and shook his head before standing up and heading upstairs. He needed a shower.