Vanessa waited a long time. She waited until she was sure that Kayleb was sleeping soundly behind her before she slid herself out of his arms and climbed out of the bed. She was just finishing pulling on her clothes when his voice from the bed made her jump and turn quickly.

"Where are you going?" he asked, watching her through sleep heavy eyelids. She forced a smile onto her face.

"I'm thirsty." she replied. "I'm going to go get a glass of water."

"I'll get it." Kayleb said, rising up on his elbow. Vanessa shook her head quickly.

"No. I'll get it." she said. "Go back to sleep." Kayleb nodded and flopped back down on the pillow. Vanessa could tell he was only half awake.

"Bring me up an apple." he said. "A green one."

"A green apple?" Vanessa asked dryly as she remembered that he had said she smelled like a green apple. He gave her a sleepy lopsided grin that made her heart beat faster.

"Smelling you makes me hungry."

"How romantic." Kayleb gave a raspy chuckle and curled up to his pillow.

"I never promised you romance." he replied.

"Go to sleep. I'll bring you an apple." Vanessa said. She wanted to kiss him one last time but she didn't trust herself to keep from crying so she just turned and walked out of the room.

She walked as silently as she could downstairs and was relieved when she made it to the kitchen without seeing anyone. She slipped on her shoes, which were by the kitchen door and then wondered how she was going to find Frances. He and Kimberly could be anywhere in the mansion and she couldn't just walk around searching for him because someone in the family would hear her and come out to see what she was doing.

"Frances." she whispered. She waited for a response but got none. "Dammit, I thought vampires had super hearing." she mumbled.

"We do." a cold voice said from the door. "I was outside." Vanessa turned and nearly screamed when she saw him standing there. He looked so much like Vincent that it took a moment for her to realize that he wasn't.

"Frances?" she asked. He nodded.

"Yes. And you are Vanessa. My brother's latest conquest."

"I need a favor." Vanessa said. Frances raised an arched brow and looked down his long thin nose at her.

"What?"

"I need you to give me to your brother." Frances looked genuinely surprised by her request and he shook his head.

"Your mate will kill me if I do such a thing."

"It's not his choice." Vanessa replied. "Either I turn myself over to him or else he's going to keep hurting and killing this family."

"They are happy to protect you." Frances argued.

"I can't let them do that. I know they will protect my daughter and that's all I'm worried about. If I turn myself over to Vincent, he will have no more reason to come after Kayleb and his family."

"This will not make them happy." Frances said.

"This will save their lives." Vanessa countered. After a long pause Frances finally nodded.

"Where am I taking you?" he asked.

"Where is your brother?"

"The last place he was seen was your home. Kayleb was attacked and nearly killed there just the other night."

"What!" Vanessa demanded loudly and then she cursed the noise. "What?" she whispered more quietly.

"You did not know?" Vanessa shook her head. "He went to your home to get you and the child some things and Vincent was there and he stabbed Kayleb in the back with a silver knife and very nearly killed him."

"He never told me...." Vanessa said. It only strengthened her belief that she was doing the right thing. The thought of Kayleb dying at Vincent's hands filled her with fear.

"Take me to my house then. I'm sure your brother will find me."

"Let us go. I was at your house just last night with Jake to confirm that the scent was indeed my brother." Frances held out his arm and Vanessa hesitated a moment before looping her arm through his.

"Wait." she said quickly. She went to the refrigerator and tore a piece of paper off the note pad that stuck there. Then she grabbed a pen from the counter and quickly wrote a letter for Kayleb. She folded the paper and wrote his name on the outside before setting it on the table. Then she walked back to Frances and grabbed onto his arm.

"Okay let's go." she said and Frances nodded.

Vanessa kept her eyes closed for several long seconds, giving her head time to stop spinning. She hated dashing. Vanessa opened her eyes slowly and looked around the familiar sight of her living room. She could smell bleach in the air from the recently cleaned blood stains on the carpet.

"Is he here?" she asked looking up at Frances, whose nostrils were wide as he sniffed the air.

"No." he replied. "Not right now, but he has been very recently."

"Leave then. He won't come if he knows you're here."

"You are a very brave woman." Frances said matter of factly. Vanessa shook her head.

"No. I am just doing what I have to do to save the people I love." she replied. Frances nodded, took a step away from her and then he was gone.

Vanessa walked down the hallway toward her bedroom but stopped halfway there when she felt a presence behind her.

"Hello my pet. I knew you would come to me."

***

(Jake, Charles, come down to the kitchen.) Frances called once he got back to the mansion.

"Where did you go, daddy?" Kimberly asked Frances.

"I had to run an errand. I must run another in a moment so why don't you go to the library and find us a book to read later." Kimberly nodded and ran off down the hall just as Charles and Jake walked into the kitchen. Both of them looking tired and angry at having their sleep disturbed.

"What is it Frances?" Charles asked.

"Vanessa. She wanted to turn herself over to my brother and so I took her to her home to do just that. We must get there quickly and we can catch him in the act and you can kill him once and for all."

"You let her go alone!" Jake demanded.

"She wanted to." Frances replied.

"You better hope and pray she's still there." Jake growled and then without another word the three of them dashed to Vanessa's home.

When they arrived, Jake barely had to sniff the air before the situation came crashing down on his head.

"She's gone."

***

Kayleb rose from the bed, wondering what was taking Vanessa so long to get a glass of water and an apple. He pulled on his jeans and didn't take the time to button them before walking out of the room and down to the kitchen. The kitchen was empty and he scratched at his head as he rubbed his stomach and looked around.

Where was she? He saw a piece of folded paper on the table with his name on it and felt dread fill his heart. He picked it up and it smelled of apples. He opened the paper and read her words and felt his heart break apart in his chest.

Kayleb,

I've only known you for a couple of days yet it feels like a lifetime. I feel like I am walking away from my best friend, my soul mate, as I write this letter and get ready to leave. I have to do this, Kayleb. Vincent will not stop until has me and he isn't going to fight fair. Because of me, you lost your parents and I can't be the reason you lose other people that you love. With Frances's help I am turning myself over to Vincent. Please don't be mad at me love, I am just doing what I think is best. Please take care of Faith. She is going to need you and your incredible family. Let her know that her mother loved her very much and that I left her in order to save her. I'm sorry we couldn't have longer together, Kayleb, but I am going to take the memories of you that I do have with me and they will protect me and keep me warm during whatever else my life has in store. I love you, fur and all. Don't ever forget that.

Love Always and Forever,

Your Mate,

Vanessa

Kayleb swiped angrily at the hot tears flowing from his eyes as he stuck the letter deep in his pocket and his thoughts instantly turned to how he was going to save her. The woman must be out of her mind! Vincent would do things to her.... Things that had Kayleb's blood boiling. He walked over to the kitchen wall, desperate to hit something, and slammed his fist through the hard wooden planks, savoring the pain that filled him as blood ran from the deep slices on his fist.

The air shimmered and Jake, Charles and Francis appeared in the kitchen and at the sight of them, returning from their mission of delivering his mate to the devil, Kayleb saw red.

He launched himself through the air and landed on Frances before the vampire even had time to realize he was attacking. Kayleb's fist slammed hard into Frances's head, snapping it back and then he jumped over the vampire and wrapped one arm around his neck, gripping his hair with the other.

He was about to rip Frances's head from his body when Jake grabbed him from behind and pulled him off. Kayleb turned on Jake then.

"I'll kill every fucking one of you!" he yelled. "You put her in his hands! You know what he'll do to her and you handed her to him!"

"Calm down, Kayleb." Jake said.

"Don't tell me to calm down! I oughta go up to that room and stick a knife right through your Angela's heart! I should kill your mate the same way you killed mine!"

"Don't threaten my mate." Jake growled as his golden eyes flashed.

"Why the hell would you do this to me! Why would you help her turn herself over?" Kayleb yelled as he grabbed the kitchen chair and threw it across the room almost hitting Bethany who was walking into the kitchen with the rest of the adults in the family on her heels.

"What is with all the noise and the throwing of chairs?" she asked as Greg positioned himself between her and Kayleb who was pacing with his fists clenched and clearly angry enough to kill anyone who got in his way.

"Ask them!" Kayleb snarled pointing at Jake, Charles and Frances. "They gave my mate to Vincent They just handed her over to him as if she meant nothing!"

"Jake would never do that." Angela argued as she went to stand beside her mate.

"Neither would Charles." Rebecca added.

"We didn't Kayleb. Frances did. Frances took her there. He came straight back and told us but by the time we got to her house Vincent had been there and Vanessa was gone." Charles said matter of factly. Kayleb nodded and walked over to the chair he had thrown seconds ago and calmly proceeded to snap off the leg of it. He slammed the leg against the wall and it shattered. He bent down and picked up one of the shards that was very sharp at one end and then turned back to Frances.

"What are you doing?" Rebecca asked.

"Looks like he's fixing to shish cabob a tick." Lane replied with a shrug. Kayleb launched at Frances and Rebecca screamed as the two of them went flying backward and became a tangle of arms and legs on the floor as they wrestled around the kitchen.

"Jake, do something!" Angela exclaimed. Jake shrugged.

"Frances deserves to die." he replied. "I would kill him if it was you he had turned over to Vincent."

"Daddy?" Kimberly asked as she poked her head into the kitchen. "No! Daddy!" She screamed when she caught sight of her father and Kayleb both covered in blood locked in a battle to the death that Kayleb was winning.

Kayleb straddled Frances on the ground and raised the stake above his heart just before he could drive it through his chest, Jake grabbed his arm and yanked him to his feet. Kayleb fought to get away but Jake wrapped his arms tight around him from behind and held him in place.

"Not in front of Kimberly." Jake said calmly as the little girl ran to Frances who was picking himelf up off the floor.

"She wanted to go." Frances said as he wiped a pale hand across his bloody mouth.

"I love her you son of a bitch and you killed her!" Kayleb screamed with rage.

"Kayleb, you have to calm down." Kaylee said hoping to talk her brother down out of this uncontrollable rage he was lost in. All the mated pairs understood what he was feeling. The wolf in him was desperate to kill anyone who harmed its mate.

"He killed her, Kaylee.... He turned her over to that monster and now she's lost and we have no idea where to find her." Kayleb replied, and suddenly his rage was gone and all that could be heard in his voice was sadness as his shoulders slumped and the wooden stake he'd been holding fell to the floor.

"Someone's here." Jake said and then he growled. "What the hell is a demon doing in my home?"

"I've come to help." Damien said walking through the doorway and into the kitchen. "I know where to find the woman."