Vanessa lay awake in her bed, with all the lights turned on. She could not sleep. She kept looking out the window at the darkness outside and wondering if those cold, violet eyes were watching her right now. Charles, Jake and Lane had not been able to find anything about Vincent but Jake had said he would contact another old vampire they knew named Frances and see if he knew anything about him.

Vanessa shivered as she remembered the way he had looked at her in the motel parking lot. Like she belonged to him and he was simply playing with her the way a cat plays with a mouse before sinking in its teeth. She blew out a long breath and stood from the bed. She pulled on a robe that was hanging on the closet door, over the pajama pants and tank top that Kaylee had given her to wear to bed.

She felt her heart begin to race as she looked at the closed closet door and her imagination roared to life with images of what could be waiting inside to jump out and get her. She looked over at Scout who was sleeping in the corner and cursed herself for being a coward. She grabbed the closet door knob and jerked it open, only to scream and jump back when something large tumbled out on top her.

***

Kayleb was pathetic. He knew he was pathetic but that didn't cause him to try to fix his patheticness as he sat in the hallway and leaned against the wall outside of Vanessa's room. After his shower he had gone to his bed and laid there wide awake staring at the ceiling as the wolf in him had gone crazy wanting to be close to his mate. So here he was. Sitting outside her bedroom door like some crazy stalker. He could see the light shining from under the crack in the door and he knew she wasn't sleeping.

He wanted to comfort her. To let her know that she didn't need to be afraid. He knew that Faith was safe in the nursery on the second floor with Gwen, Brent and Charlie. He also knew that Jake, Charles and Hunter were taking turns patrolling the yard to watch out for any vamps. Kayleb sniffed the air and smelled nothing other than the aroma of apples but Jake had told him that some vampires knew how to hide their scent.

He sighed and leaned his head against the wall, hoping to get some sleep but then he heard Vanessa scream. Instantly he changed, becoming a large, muscular auburn colored wolf. He snarled and burst through the door, breaking the knob and landing on all fours in the center of the room. Vanessa screamed again from beneath the pile of quilts that were covering her and kicked her foot out at him. He looked around the room and saw nothing that posed a threat. Scout was currently hiding under the bed and staring out a him and he couldn't figure out what would have made her scream.

Vanessa stood up, stepping out of the mound of blankets that had fallen on her when she had opened the closet door and looked at the giant wolf in the room with her. She figured this must be a member of the family, though she had no way of knowing which one.

"I'm sorry I scared you." Vanessa said, feeling slightly awkward speaking to a wolf. "The blankets attacked me." she added pointing at the pile on the floor. The wolf looked up at her face and its chocolate brown eyes locked with hers and suddenly she knew who this was. Before she could say anything else Kayleb turned and left the room.

(Is everything okay in there?) Jake's voice came to Kayleb.

(Yeah. She got attacked by blankets.) Kayleb replied. There was a long moment of silence before Jake simply said,

(Okay.)

Vanessa ran over and shut the door once he was gone, though she couldn't latch it because he had broken the knob when he'd burst into the room. Had he been sitting out there all night? He had jumped in here ready to protect her and that was something she was not used to. She had been looking out for herself for so long she had forgotten what it was like to have someone want to look out for her.

She had just finished putting the blankets back in the closet when a knock came to her door.

"Come in." she said, knowing that it would be Kayleb. He walked in and Vanessa felt her breath catch in her chest. He was wearing only a pair of black pajama bottoms and nothing else. His skin was pale and freckled but his body was hard and muscular. His shoulders and chest were broad, his stomach was flat and his hips were lean.

Kayleb saw the way she was looking at him and it made him want to cross the room and take her in his arms but he made himself keep his distance. She had made her position clear in the kitchen and he wasn't going to push her.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Vanessa pulled her robe tighter around herself and nodded as she pointed distractedly at the closet door.

"I spooked myself. I thought something was in the closet."

"And you thought the solution to that was to open the door while you were alone in here?" Kayleb asked, raising a brow. Vanessa crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

"Yes." she replied. "I never have had someone to open the scary closet doors for me. I've always done it myself."

"You have someone to do it for you now." Kayleb assured her as he looked at her with those deep brown eyes.

"I don't need someone." she said, though her voice lacked the conviction she had hoped would be in it.

"Too bad." Kayleb replied with a shrug. "Whether either one of us likes it or not, you are my mate and I will protect you. Vincent will not hurt you because I'll drive a stake through his heart before he ever gets close. I don't really have a choice. That's how this mate thing works." His words reminded Vanessa of the other reason she had always hated the idea of mates.

She wanted a man who would protect her and take care of her and her daughter by his own choosing. She wanted a man who loved her because he wanted to, not because he had to.

"I'm fine, Kayleb. I just spooked myself." she said walking over to the bed and sitting down. Kayleb reached behind his back and pulled a wooden stake out of the waistband of his pants.

"I know you have your gun but take this too." he said. He laid it in her outstretched hand and then forced himself to walk to the door. Vanessa watched the muscles in his broad back work as he walked away. He turned in the doorway and locked eyes with her once again.

"If you need anything just call for me. I'll hear you." he turned to leave.

"Kayleb." he looked back at her and waited for her to continue.

"Would I be wasting my time if I said I need to get back to work?"

"Yes." he replied. "You aren't going anywhere until Vincent is a pile of ash." Vanessa sighed and nodded with defeat.

"Get some sleep, Vanessa." Kayleb replied. Vanessa hated this. She hated having her life turned around like this and it was all because of that stupid vampire.

"Goodnight." she said with a sigh. Kayleb nodded and walked out the door, closing it the best he could behind him.

Kayleb dashed himself to her house and instantly the scent of the vampire assaulted his nostrils. He growled and looked around. The vamp had been here recently. His scent was stronger than it had been the other day. He might still be here. Kayleb wasn't good at hunting and stalking. He was good at being dropped into the middle of a fight and ending the fight quickly. He didn't know how to tell whether or not the vamp was still here.

He had come to the house to get Vanessa and Faith some more of their things to try to make them feel more at home in his families house but now he realized that Vincent had been here he knew that Vincent was waiting on Vanessa to come home. Kayleb hated to let the blood sucking leach down but there was no way he was ever getting his hands on Kayleb's mate.

Kayleb walked back to Faith's room and pulled the pillowcase off of her pillow. He filled it full of toys and more clothes and then he walked down the hallway to Vanessa's room. He chuckled when he saw the fuzzy pink bunny slippers that he had somehow missed the other day.

So it looked like the tough, independent woman had a childish side. He picked them up and then he grabbed her pillowcase as well and filled it with some more clothes and some books that were lying on her beside table. He carried both makeshift bags down to the bathroom and grabbed their toothbrushes and a hairbrush and stuffed these in Vanessa's pillowcase. Satisfied that he had a few more things they would like to have he walked back out into the living room.

He stopped in his tracks when he heard a noise come from beneath his feet. He saw a door off the kitchen and after setting the pillowcases down he walked over to it. He pulled it open and saw that it led down a long set of dark stairs. Vincent's sickly sweet scent was strong and Kayleb growled low in his throat.

"I know you're here, Vincent. You might as well come on out and we can get this over with."

"No I think not." Vincent replied. Kayleb was confused by the sound of his aristocratic voice. It seemed to be floating in the air and for the life of him Kayleb couldn't figure out if it was coming from the basement of from the house.

"Why the hell not?" Kayleb asked from the top of the basement stairs. Vincent's cold, arrogant laugh filled the air.

"Now the question is, what pray tell, is a young pup like you doing in my pets home?"

"No the question, pray tell, is what is a blood sucking tick doing in my mates home?" Kayleb growled back.

"Well doesn't that present us with a quandary."

"Not really. Come on out and I'll kill you. Quandary solved."

"You are young, arrogant and foolish, pup. You have not yet lived half a century. I have lived for over a millennia. What makes you think you could fight against me?"

"Well then come on out here face to face and show me how wrong I am."

"Give me my pet, dog."

"Over my dead body will you ever lay a hand on her." Kayleb growled out.

"You wolves... So loyal. So faithful to your mates and to your packs. You are not fully mated to her yet. I cannot smell her scent entangled in your own. Would you perhaps hand her over to me over your packs dead bodies?"

"You don't know who my pack is you son of a bitch."

"Don't insult my mother, Kayleb. I heard that Jake Collins was asking around about me. It was not too hard to figure out where you are hiding the woman." Kayleb didn't reply to this. He looked through the darkened shadows for any sign of the vamp.

"Nothing to say, pup? I will kill your family one by one. You cannot protect them all at once and eventually you will give her to me. Perhaps when I get to your sisters or to your mother." Kayleb's angry growl echoed off the walls of the house.

"Go fuck yourself."

"Such language." Vincent hissed. "I think I'll teach you a lesson." Kayleb felt the air shift behind him and then a sharp pain shot through his back. He turned to fight back but Vincent shoved him hard and Kayleb tumbled down the basement stairs. His head struck the cinderblock wall at the bottom with so much force that the bricks cracked.

"Bye puppy. We'll see how long it takes before you are handing her to me." Vincent's voice floated down the stairwell and then the house fell silent and Kayleb knew he was gone.

Kayleb's head was pounding and blood was pouring from his nose and ears. Something was sticking into his back but he couldn't reach it to remove it. He had to get to Vanessa. He had to make sure she was safe. His body was weakening and he suspected that whatever was in his back was made of silver. As he began to lose consciousness, he focused all his remaining energy on dashing to his mate.