AN: Verena doesn't have white hair but I just really like this picture.

Verena knocks hard on the apartment door like I couldn't hear her stomping her way up the hallway. Silly me thought telling her to suck off earlier would be enough to dissuade the vampire from roping me into tonight's plans . Why isn't it enough that I've agreed to give the Student Counsel a shot?

"We are not body guards Verena." I state calmly while the tv watches me devour my dinner of roast beef, garlic mashed potatoes, and broccoli.

"Open the door, we're going to be late! And make sure you have that scowl of yours primed and ready to scare anyone away." Verena says as if I agreed to this.

"Go away. Why did you even rope me into this anyway? Robert asked you, not me."

"Even a wolfless wolfie should enjoy the full moon.-"

Before I can even process what I'm doing, the door is ripped open and Verena is snatched from her spot.

"-Sitting in the dark and moping won't do you any good, so why not join me? At least then we may have a chance to feed off some witches!" She rambles on as if I'm not giving her the eyes of death. As if she isn't in danger for knowing something no one, besides a select few, should know.

"How?" is the only word that can escape my tightened throat.

Verena takes her time to assess our surroundings and then takes a slow walk around my body. It requires everything in me not to snap too soon.

"I've been around a long time wolfie, I've seen many a thing. You aren't hard to read for those actually paying attention." She stops right in front of me and I can see the mirth she has at my biggest shame.

"You think this is funny parasite!?" I practically spit out. "I'm the only wolfless wolf out of my entire family! I'm a walking invalid and you dare laugh-in my face." My mind starts to cloud up with withheld rage. Pain radiates from my jaw because my teeth are clenched so hard.

"Calm down wolfie. Not having your doggie isn't that monumental. Your suppression is damaging, especially when one is an empath. Balance is required to maintain homeostasis. The good and the bad need to be expressed, this numb limbo state you're in is not meant to be permanent."

"Shut up. I'm not an empath, I just know feel things. Most Alphas can do why I can except they have their wolves to help them. But forget all that, how are you going to use your knowledge against me?" Her words are nonsense, I'm not in a limbo state.

Micheal will take the brunt of the rejection if this news gets out. And Jenni, I don't want to think about how the pack might treat her. My mind races through Verena's known age and speed. Vampires rarely get tired so I'd need to end her fast.

Am I even strong enough to take down a fully grown vampire?

I guess tonight's the night to find out.

"Let's go."

I feel something hit my face and automatically catch it. Looking down I see that it's my green rain poncho that was inside my closet as of minutes ago. But I've been looking at her face this entire time, haven't I? Was I seeing a mirage?

"How-" The room is empty.

Verena's already walking down the hall by the time the word leaves my mouth.

"Fighting me will do us no good wolfie, we're already late!" She says as I barely squeeze through the doors of the elevator.

"You-" I snap back at her, not caring in the slightest about the time.

"I will say nothing to anyone who doesn't already know. But you will be helping me tonight, where's the plastic garment?"

I hear the loophole in her words but it hardly worries me. The only people who know are family and they never said anything in the past.

"Why would I need a poncho?" I sigh out, giving up on answers.

"I assumed you wouldn't want blood on your linens."

Looking at her, I realize that she's not wearing her usual bright eyesore colors. Instead she's in a tight black jumpsuit made of some sort of liquid repellent material. When the light hits it just right, some sort of gold undertone shines from in between the fibers.

Comparing the ease in which I threw my hair up into a bun, I honestly feel bad for her natural hair that's slicked back into a giant high puff. The way she's prepared can only mean one thing.

"You're expecting a bloodbath." I state as we walk out of the elevator and into the lobby. I should be surprised but I can't feel the emotion.

"I hope for one, yes." She confirms.

Before I can say another word, Verena grips the back of my neck and wraps her arm firmly around my waist.

"No" can't even pass my lips before she's off.

The minutes feel like small eternities before I feel us finally stoping on the border of a dense forest. When she releases me, my legs buckle and I'm forced to brace my weight onto a nearby tree so that I don't fall over.

"Don't look at me like that wolfie. I keep telling you that we're late." Is the careless response to my glare.

Walking past me, Verena doesn't look afraid as she's swallowed up by the foliage. I follow after her on sturdier legs mostly out of curiosity since I'm already here.

"Why are you expecting a fight?" I ask while dodging tree roots.

"Your kin don't take kindly to others being out during the full moon. Something about it messing with their hunt." She waves her hand around to suggest nonchalance but her posture is rigid.

"My kin have never stepped foot on this island." I growl out to the vampire for even suggesting the connection.

We slow down as soon as we hear the chanting. The air all around us is ripe with sweet herbs and the taste of electricity. There's no doubt that powerful magic is being wielded.

"Does the word, 'delegation', appease you?" Verena whispers as we look around for a barrier. The last thing I need is to step on some cursed object, I have enough problems already.

"I'm sure the witches already have spells in place to repel the wolves, so why are we here?" I counter.

"Roberto fears that some of the fiercer dogs have found ways to nullify certain protection spells." She answers after we've stepped onto a huge field covered with dandelions.

Looking up, the sky is so clear that you can see the bruises the moon has incurred over the millennia. I don't know why, but I'm grateful that Verena stays silent as I gaze wonderingly at the luminescent rock in the sky.

Shaking myself out of my self induced trance is hard but eventually I get there by turning towards the bored looking vampire beside me.

"This issue sounds to be primarily between the witches and the wolves, why is Rob involved? And why drag you into this? Oh wait, don't tell me that you suddenly care about what happens to witches and volunteered!" A smirk makes it's way across my lips at the thought of her suddenly worrying about blood donors.

Verena makes sure I'm looking at her as she rolls her eyes.

"Vampir have long memories, therefore it is only smart to help when possible in order to keep connections in the future. And I am not the only being here to portray a complete lack of interest in humans, yet everyone deems it fit to only point out my biases. This vexes me to say the least for you are no better than I am wolfie."

"I never said I was." I amend only to be completely ignored.

"Roberto doesn't even care about the entire witch coven, he only cares about the witch preforming the ceremony tonight."

Simultaneously, we turn to look in the center of the chanting witches about 200 yards away from us.

Beth looks breathtaking as she gently glides around in an all white shift dress. Her words are no doubt powerful but their effect is lost in translation. When she smiles in our direction, I can tell that she knows we're here. No one else seems to notice us or at least they're not giving themselves away.

After watching her for a while, the question suddenly pops into my head.

"Why would Rob care if Beth got hurt?"

The witch is perfectly nice and an overall beacon of goodness but that doesn't explain why Rob should give a damn if something were to happen to her.

Verena keeps her eyes straight forward but I don't miss the slight pinch in her lips. It's not like I expected her to actually tell me everything, she only shares when she feels like it.

We immediately split as soon as we hear the first howl of the night. Its pitch throws me off when I hear that there's no authority to it. Eric's supposed to be leading the school pack but its not his wolf howling.

If Eric's not leading the wolves right now, who is?

Some of the witches in the circle start to cower and look around while Beth simply looks at them all annoyed.

"A group of wolves think it's funny to scare us on the night of our Goddess. They want us to cower behind our books and stay inside so that they can run on all the fields. I refuse.! If they're allowed to enjoy the full moon, why can't we?" Beth's voice gets stronger as she becomes angrier. "No. I will not run to my room, I will walk in the moonlight just as it's my right to do so. Let them come, we will not let fear mongering rule us."

With that she claps her hands two times and a shield of pure energy bursts forth from the circle. I can feel her barrier pass through me and I know that if she didn't allow me to be here, I would be in a world of pain.

Beth has some bite to her after all.

Across the clearing I can see that Verena is just as impressed as I am.

The howls gradually get closer as the night goes on but so far it's only the sound of wolves, none make an appearance.

I only relax slightly when I see the witches wrapping things up. A pouting Verena walks over to me once most of them are gone. She's picking her nails with an athame I'm sure she stole from one of the witches.

"Aww, cheer up. I'm sure that some day soon there will be a blood bath and you'll get to bathe in it. Matter of fact, I'm sure one of these days a witch will be sentenced to death and you'll be the one to end them." I tell her.

"You seem to know the exact words to make my heart go a flutter." Verena purrs out to me. Her fangs shine in the moonlight to emphasize her glee.

A bark of laughter escapes my body but I keep my eyes alert and watch to make sure all the witches are gone before I walk my way back out of the forest.

Before I can jump away, Verena has me in her grasp again and we're on the move. When I feel us stop I push the vampire away from me and promptly fall to my knees.

"Will you STOP doing that!" I gasp feeling light headed.

"Tonight wasn't all that fun wolfie, let's not do this again." With that Verena disappears.

"I didn't want to go in the first place!" I yell into the air knowing she is long gone.

I slowly get my bearings enough to get into the elevator to then make it up to my room. The food sitting in front of the television food looks lonely and cold, but I refuse to take my chances with it as my stomach feels uneasy.

After putting away my leftovers I go through my nightly routine and eventually slide into my bed.

~~~

I know I'm dreaming but everything around me feels so real. Every breath I take is cloudy and goosebumps raise everywhere on my skin as I make it closer to some sort of rose garden behind an abandoned building.

It all looks familiar but I can't place it. Maybe I've dreamed of this place before?

The snow around me is beautiful but what captures my eyes is a younger looking me dancing with someone. The dress I'm wearing was the one I bought for my sixteenth birthday. I saved up every penny I could just to buy it.

It's the same strapless dark green ombre dress that barely made it to my knees.

I wanted to impress a boy in our pack with my "adult" look and mom helped me with everything. From my makeup to my shoes, she was there and knew exactly how to make the day perfect. Dad grumbled the entire time saying that I showed too much skin but I didn't let him faze me.

I had never felt more beautiful in my young life.

I'm pulled from my reminiscing as the younger me full out laughs at something that was said and a masculine chuckle follows.

"Dad?" I question aloud doubting they'll hear me from the very back of the building.

To my surprise, the younger me turns quickly and scowls.

"Would you stop that?"

The man behind, me?, stays still but I still can't make out any defining features to him even as I get closer.

"I just- I thought that-" I stutter unsure for the first time in a while.

"Do you even remember this place?" I? demand.

I take my time to look around but nothing sticks out to me.

"No." I tell myself.

"This is where we had our first kiss." I? say proudly while looking back.

"No we didn't. Our first kiss was with that boy from Eric's pack." Is my immediate denial.

I remember it clearly because Eric had dared me to kiss the boy. I didn't think much of it but later Eric told me that the boy had a crush on me and had begged for his help. In return I made Eric kiss a girl from my pack.

"You're not listening!" I? yelled.

"You didn't even say anything." I amend sure that I would've heard if she/I said anything else.

The younger me eyes' fill with tears and I move in to give myself a hug.

"Don't! I'm putting in all the effort and you don't even want to feel better. Why won't you let me in?" Instead of hugging me, I? turn and hug the mysterious man.

The action hurt me way more than it should and I push the emotion away.

"Yeah go ahead, just feel nothing because that's worked out so well for us." The younger me snaps from inside the mans arms not even bothering to look me in the eyes.

Instead of defending myself, I just walk away.