Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Zabrze watched the shaking vampire approach his desk.  For the life of him, or the death as it were, he could not figure out why vampires seemed like lesser beings.  They were stronger, faster, smarter and over-all superior to humans, yet the vermin who surrounded him were unwashed mice who tremble in his presence.  These creatures were the reason that he hated admitting what he was.  Luckily, humans never saw his species that way.

He sneered at the coward before him, waiting for the report on the newest nuisance to his existence.  If the youngest Saunders sister was not disposed of, Zabrze would revel in the chance to kill the man.

“If you are not here to tell me that the girl is dead, then you had better have something good to tell me.”

The vampires eyes widened, telling Zabrze everything that he needed to know.  The incompetent fools had failed.  He wished that he was surprised.  Since it took over twenty years to find even one of the girls, he doubted that the miscreants would be able to dispose of her.

“I suppose that I should feel honored that you came here to allow me to kill you myself when you could have just  stood out in the sun and ended it quickly.”

Zabrze stood slowly.  He smiled wickedly when the coward backed up.  This was going to be fun.

“She wasn’t alone!” The coward blurted out nervously, taking a step back.

“Really, and who made you and your men run away from a young, unexperienced werewolf?”  Zabrze slowly walked around the desk, leaving the space between them clear for when he was ready to lunge.

“Serenity was there.”

That stopped Zabrze’s advance.  The notorious Jerrit Serenity.  The man of legend.  the man that made vampires tremble more than Zabrze.  The man was a famed vampire killer who know more about the beasts than they knew about themselves.  This could be a very fortuitous opportunity.  He could take out the girl and the mystery man at the same time.  Two birds...one stone.

Zabrze leaned against his desk and crossed his legs calmly.  “This changes things.”

The coward visibly relaxed.  Oh, how stupid this man was.  This was not good for him.

“You are going to go after her again.”  The coward tensed.  “This time, you are not going to fail.  You are going to take out the Saunders girl and you are going to stop Serenity from coming after us.  If you do not succeed at either of these tasks then you will not come back at all.  If you bring me any more bad news then I will rip off your limbs and leave you to wallow in your agony.  Have I made myself clear?”

The coward visibly shook in fear.  “You...you are asking me to take m men on a suicide mission.”

Zabrze shook his head, not taking his eyes off the sniveling vampire.  “I am not asking anything.  Your men knew the risk when they signed on.  ow, they will prove that they are up to the challenge by taking down a single wolf.”

The cowards eyes grew wider.  He wouldn’t be able to keep them in his head if he kept them open that wide.  “The girl was not a wolf.  She was a tiger.”

Zabrze frowned.  “The Saunders are a wolf pack.”

The coward shook his head.  “The girl last night was a tiger.”

“Then you tracked down the wrong Were.”  Zabrze was beginning to rethink his leniency.  Maybe he should simply go through with his plan to rip the coward apart, simply for his own enjoyment.

“Not unless there is another Saunders family in the Were community with a daughter named Dawn.”  The coward snapped his mouth shut.  Sarcasm had never gone over well with Zabrze.  He fisted his hands to keep himself from ripping the man’s tongue out.

“You have until sunset to find yourself more men.”  Zabrze left the threat unspoken.  The man knew, full well, that if he was still around after that he would not make it through another night.  There was no need to say it out loud.

The coward nodded stiffly and left.

Zabrze did not like being surprised.  The news of the Were-tiger did not bode well for him.  Something was wrong with this situation and he could not put his finger on what it could be.  There was no way that the girl was anything other than a wolf.  If the men did not succeed in killing the girl then he was going to have to change his tact.  He needed more information.

Dawn came awake slowly keeping her eyes closed against the bright sunlight streaming into the room.  Her muscles were tense and sore but she was surprised to find her head clear considering how much she’d had to drink at her party.  She wished that she could go back to sleep but there was no hope of that.  Her mind was already alert and she was not going to be able to fall back into her dreams.

It had been such a strange fantasy, even for her.  She had had dreams of being an animal before, she’d also had dreams of gorgeous men coming to her rescue, but never had she had a dream that combined the two.  It had been so real that she couldn’t bring herself to accept that it was in fact a dream.  Her subconscious was clinging to the unbelievable delusion that it could be real.  Wouldn’t that be something?

Dawn finally gave in to her consciousness and opened her eyes.  She shielded her eyes as the sun momentarily blinded her.  Her vision adjusted faster than she expected, bringing the room into focus.

Dawn sat bolt upright.  The room that she was in wasn’t her own and she did not recognize it.  She was in a king sized bed with a thick comforter that was so soft and fluffy, she was sure that it was filled with down feathers.  There was little else in the room since the bed took up most of the space.  There was a bookshelf against the far wall packed full of the most beautifully bound books that Dawn had ever seen.  The sunlight was coming through a large window that took up most of the wall to her right.  The rest of the walls were a typical antique white and completely bare.

Someone moved in the bed next to her.  Her heart stopped in fear.  She could not remember everything that had happened but surely she wouldn’t have made a mistake that she would regret.  Surely Crystal would not have allowed her to do something so stupid.  She was still dressed so it was unlikely…still.  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath that did nothing to alleviate her fears.  Shaking slightly, she opened her eyes and looked at the figure lying in the bed next to her.

“Oh thank God,” she breathed as her gaze settled on Crystal.

She should have known that Crys would not let anything happen to her.  It was a relief to know that she had put her trust in such a great friend.

Dawn caught the scent of bacon and eggs from somewhere beyond the closed door.  Her stomach growled loudly telling how long it had been since she had eaten.  She had no idea what time it was but she could never resist bacon.  She crept out of bed so as not to wake her friend and quietly opened the door.

She shut the door silently behind her.  She was at the end of a short hallway which opened into a living room.  There was a black leather sofa against one wall with an entertainment system against the other.  A fireplace was set unlit in a far corner next to a thick black curtain that lined the wall, casting the room in shadow.  Judging by the size and the sliver of light that framed it, Dawn assumed that there was either a sliding glass door hidden behind it ro a very large window.

Dawn cautiously crept down the hallway.  She had no idea what to expect as she neared the corner but she was definitely surprised by what she found.  A counter lined with barstools obscured the bottom half of a kitchen, which would have been completely normal except for the man moving around it with his back to her.

He wore a black t-shirt that was tight enough to show off the well-defined muscles of his back.  He had a knife attached to the belt at the base of his spine, which both unnerved her and was a total turn on.  His dark hair hung down to his shoulders.  Dawn had to suppress a gasp as the man turned around holding a skillet full of eggs.  Her heart seemed to stop as she stared at the man’s unforgettably perfect features.  His blue eyes shone brightly even at a distance.  Dawn could do nothing but gape at the man who had literally escaped from her dreams.

He made up two plates with eggs and several strips of bacon.  He turned to a toaster which popped the moment he drew near.  He assembled the food on the plates in a way that made Dawn’s mouth water, or maybe she was just that hungry.  He placed his edible masterpieces on the counter in front of the stools at each end.  Dawn stood mesmerized by his movements which distracted her from her hunger.  She was craving something more than food.

Jerrit tried not to pay attention to Dawn as he prepared her breakfast.  She was not easy to ignore.  Her clothes were askew and her hair was disheveled, but still, he couldn’t stop his mind from wandering to places it should not go.  Her wondrous scent drifted over to him, distracting him from his chore.  He could feel her unease as she stood staring at him and for some reason he did not understand he wanted to comfort her.  He just wished that he could let her know that he meant her no harm, but she would never believe him.

“You know that it’s not polite to lurk in doorways,” he said, causing Dawn to jump, “You can come and sit down.  I don’t bite.”

He smiled at his inside joke moving around the counter.  He took a seat in the stool that sat closest to the wall.  He hated sitting in a place where someone could sneak up on him, so he sat sideways in the chair and leaned his back against the wall.  Plus, it gave him a great view of the girl.  Double the reward.

He pretended not to notice as she took a slow step into the room.  She seemed to be waiting to see what his next move was.  He made sure not to look at her as he propped his feet up on the lower bar of the stool, nonchalantly.  He picked up his fork and started to eat his meal.  Dawn’s stomach rumbled loudly from behind him.  He knew that she had to be starving since she hadn’t eaten since early the night before.

“I meant it when I said you could sit, you know.”  He pointed to the plate at the end of the counter with his fork as he glanced at her.  “That plate is for you.  You must be hungry.  The alcohol has made its way out of your system by now so you should be able to keep it down.  And if not, the bathroom is the first door on the left down the hall.”

The man’s blue eyes met hers.  Some part of Dawn felt compelled to sit down.  Against her better judgment she found herself moving toward the plate of food that he had said was for her.

Before Dawn could sit down with her dignity, she tripped on the stool.  Luckily, she grabbed onto the counter and caught her balance before she had a chance to fall on her ass.  Of all the times to prove that she was a klutz.  She sat down quickly to make sure that she wouldn’t do it again and put her face in her hands.  She could not figure out why embarrassment was winning out over her fear of being held hostage by the gorgeous man sitting a few feet away from her.

The man had half stood like he was going to help her, but he didn’t touch her which she was grateful for.  She was not sure how she would react in her current state of panic. but she was pretty sure that it would be somewhere near the realm of hysteria.

“So are you feeling better than you did last night?”  He asked as he sat back down in his seat.

Dawn could do nothing but nod.  She kept her face in her hands to hide her mortification.  She was way more embarrassed than she should have been.  It was like she could not control her emotions as well as she should have.  Normally, she could laugh off tripping over nothing, but she could not get passed the fact that she had just made a fool of herself in front of the man.  What did she care?  He was extremely gorgeous and those kissable lips of his were quirked up i an attractive smile, but he was still just a man.  Even that logic did not quell her emotion.

Her stomach growled once again, reminding her that she was sitting a foot away from a hot breakfast.  She let out a long exasperated sigh before she put her hands down.  Without looking at the man she pulled the plate toward her.

Dawn took a small bite of the most delicious scrambled eggs that she had ever had.  All thoughts of caution disappeared as her primal need for sustenance took over.  She practically shoveled the food into her mouth.  She could barely taste the delectable food in her haste to get it to her stomach.

Jerrit watched in amusement as Dawn attacked her plate.  She was not even trying to be lady-like.  The girl could eat, which was a refreshing change from the other girls he had known in his life.  Still, she was eating way too quickly, and was going to make herself sick if she didn’t slow down.

Jerrit laid his hand on Dawn’s arm which he instantly regretted.  She cringed away from him in fear.  She was obviously terrified of him.  This was nothing new.  He was feared by a lot of people, but he had usually given them reason to fear.  He hadn’t done anything to Dawn and yet she had nearly fallen off the stool to get away from him.

“I’m sorry,” he said timidly.  He cleared his throat then tried again.  “You need to slow down, cub.  You’ll make yourself sick eating that fast.  There’s enough food for ten.  You can have more if you’d like.”

Dawn’s cheeks turned the most attractive shade of red that Jerrit had ever seen.  “Sorry,” Dawn wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand, “I didn’t realize how hungry I was.  That puts me at two embarrassing moments in less than five minutes.  Impressive even by my standards.”

Jerrit smiled.  “It’s alright.  I just don’t want you to soil my carpet.  It sucks to clean.”

Dawn let out an amused if uncomfortable breath, but she kept her eyes on her plate.  Her amusement was short lived as fear radiated off of the girl.

“You’re not going to kill me, are you?”

Jerrit was taken completely off guard by Dawn’s question.  “What would make you think that I want to kill you?”

The girl’s eyes shifted to the base of his spine.  Realization dawned on him.  He had put his knife on this morning, just like every morning.  He had forgotten that he had two guests in his place who had no idea what he was.  No wonder the girl was so worried.  She was thinking that he was going to keep her against her will and who knew what other horrors were running through her mind.

“I probably should have left that accessory out of my wardrobe this morning.”  Jerrit lifted his hands to show that he meant her no harm.  He slowly moved to pull the blade from its sheath.  Without getting up from his seat, he tossed the knife into the sink on the far counter.  “I assure you that I mean you no harm.”

“If you really want me to believe that then you’ll do the same thing with the throwing knives strapped to your thigh.”

The man raised an eyebrow.  The concealed sheath that he wore attached to his pant leg was not obvious and Dawn was surprised that she had noticed it herself.

“You are observant.  I must say that I’m impressed.”

Dawn did not respond.  The man pulled several throwing knives free and threw them all at once toward the sink.  They landed solidly in the wall above it.  The man had not even looked as he had thrown the weapons.  He held a single knife out to her.

“Would you like to give it a try?”  He gave her an impish smile.  “It’s strangely therapeutic.”

Dawn hesitated wondering what game he was playing.  Still, she would feel better being armed against him.  She took the blade but kept it rather than throwing it.

“So you don’t want to have to clean your carpet but you don’t mind putting holes in your wall?”

“A funny conundrum, isn’t it?  Should I be worried that you decided to keep the weapon?”

Dawn gave him an innocent look.  “Are you worried that you can’t take me if I decide to attack?”  She took a bite off of a strip of bacon.  Dawn was much more comfortable with the man when he was unarmed and she had a knife in her grasp.

He gave her a knowing smile then went back to eating.  With her fears ebbing Dawn’s thoughts began to wander.  She tried to figure out how she had come to the man’s apartment.  Her dream had given her an answer but reality was much more elusive.

A wave of nausea came over Dawn as one possibility came to her.  Oh please, God, let me be wrong.

“You’re not…I mean, my friends didn’t…”  There was no easy way to ask what she needed to.

The man raised that seductive eyebrow again, making Dawn lose her nerve.  Tears began to fill her eyes, as though the situation was not awkward enough.  The emotional response was not one that Dawn had learned to control.  Instead she tried to just avoid uncomfortable situations but they were always inevitable.

The man’s eyes widened in fear.  “Are you crying, cub?”

Dawn wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.  “No.  Um, I just don’t handle uncomfortable situations very well.”

“So you are going to say something uncomfortable?  Should I brace myself?”

“Forget that I said anything.”

Dawn avoided looking at him for as long as she could but the feeling of his stare was too strong to resist.  Their gazes met and Dawn was lost in those blue depths again.

“There is not much that you can say that can offend me, darling.  Please, tell me what you were going to say.”

The genuine sincerity in the man’s eyes gave her the confidence that she needed to say what she really did not want to.

 “My friends didn’t…hire you, did they?”

“Hire me, for what?”

Dawn cleared her throat awkwardly.  She looked away from him as she answered.  “Well, they, um…they said that they were gunna get me a man for my birthday.”

The man took a second to digest what she had said.  “Do you mean like a male escort?”

“That’s a nice way to put it.  I would have said that my friends were just trying to get me laid.  But let’s go with yours.  It doesn’t sound so bad.”

The silence in the room was deafening.  Dawn could still feel those mesmerizing eye on her but she could not look at him.  Her friends had been threatening to get her some action for years but she had never thought that they would actually stoop so low as to go through with it.  The thought of having to pay someone to sleep with her made Dawn’s skin crawl.

“Your friends would actually hire someone to have sex with you?”  The amusement in the man’s voice made her feel even worse.  “Are you really that desperate?”

“My friends think so.”

“Some friends you have there.  But, I can honestly say that no one has hired me for your amusement.”  Jerrit left out the fact that he was, in fact, being paid to watch out for her.  She did not need any more ego shots at the moment.  Sleeping with her would just be a bonus for him.

Dawn let out a relieved sigh.  “Then you must be friends with Crystal.  Was I so gone last night that she had to call in the cavalry?”

“You don’t remember?”

He had wondered why the girl had been so on edge.  She had no idea what was going on.  She had seemed so lucid the night before, even in her lushed-up state.  Breaking the news to her again was not something that he wanted to have to do.

“I remember eating at Old Chicago’s and the water Vodka.  I’ll have to kill Crystal for that one.”

“Water Vodka?”

“Oh yea.  The very amusing joke that you play on the drunk to get them to drink water between shots.  It’s really easy to convince inebriated people that they are drinking Vodka when it is, in fact, water.”

“I might have to try that some time.”

“I’m glad I can help you get your jolly’s at the expense of others.”  Dawn shook her head.  “Anyway, I remember dancing at the club with Crystal.  She told me that someone was checking me out but when I turned to look everything went dark.  Other than a really strange dream, that’s all I got.”

Jerrit’s hopes rose.  She might have convinced herself that what had happened had only been a figment of her alcoholic fantasies.  “What did you dream about?”

An attractive smile curved her lips.  “I really don’t want to say.  I have a really active imagination so my mind comes up with some pretty crazy stuff.  I don’t need you to have any more embarrassing stories that you can hold against me in the future.”

“You haven’t done anything that I could hold against you.”

Dawn scoffed.  “Like not remembering how I got here and tripping over the stool.  I don’t even want to think about what I did last night.”

He had to admit that she was not the most graceful of creatures.  But that just made her more appealing.

“What if I promise not to hold any of it against you?”  He placed his hand lightly over hers.  She did not pull away this time, or even flinch.  “I would love to hear about your dream.”

Damn those blue eyes.  She was going to have to be careful to keep her wits about her when she looked at him.  She was stronger than that.  She would resist him.  She did not want him to know how her mind worked, seeing as he already had so much control over it.

“What does it matter, Jerrit?  It was just a dream and I don’t even really know you that well.”

The man gave her a sly smile.  “If you don’t remember last night then how is it that you remember my name?”

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Jerrit’s breath caught as she unconsciously wrapped her arms around his neck.  He closed his eyes reveling in the feel of her bare skin against his neck.  She let out a soft sigh that he felt against his shoulder as she laid her head against it.  He took a deep breath becoming intoxicated by her scent.  The faint smell of vanilla mixed with another aroma that was completely unique to the woman in his arms.

“What happened?”  The shrill voice brought Jerrit’s eyes open.  “Is she alright?”

“She’s fine.  She just turned around too quickly.  With how much alcohol is in her system, I’m surprised that she was still standing at all.  She just needs a little fresh air.”

“You’re right.  Will you help me get her outside?”

Jerrit looked toward the bartender who was eying them suspiciously.  “You still have to settle up the tab.”  He turned his attention back to the frantic woman.  “I’ll take her outside while you do that.”

“Like hell.  I don’t know you and I sure as hell am not leaving her alone with you.”

Jerrit kept his expression calm as his nerves mounted.  He was running out of time.  “I understand your concern, but she is not going to last much longer.  I would say that she has about two minutes left before she empties her stomach all over the floor.”

The girl’s eyes flit from the bar to the door.  He could see her grappling with her decision.  He held his breath waiting for her answer, not that it would matter what she said, but it was his last chance to get her out the door without harming anyone.  The woman was standing between a smooth mission and a messy one.

“Fine,” she ceded.  “But if anything happens to her, and I mean anything at all, you will regret it.  I will hunt you down and make you wish that I had killed you by the time that I’m done.  Your chances of procreating will go right out the window.  Do you understand me?”

Jerrit did not doubt the threat.  What he doubted was her ability to carry it out.  She would definitely try, but her success would be a miracle.  The little auburn woman was feisty, and given different circumstances, he probably would have liked her.

He put on a soothing smile in an attempt to placate her.  “I have no intention of harming her.  You have my word on that.  But you will find that I do not respond well to threats.  Consider that your first warning.  We will be waiting for you out back.”

Without waiting for her to argue, he made his way to the back exit.  He just hoped that he would make it in time.  He had scant moments before she caused a scene.

The door opened of it’s own volition as he approached.  It closed behind him after he made it outside.  He let out a sigh of relief as his phone went off once more signaling midnight.  Jerrit looked up at the full moon.  The weight in his arms lightened, significantly.  He looked back at the woman only to find her clothes.  As he readjusted them the shirt fell to the ground revealing a small cat curled up in a ball in his arms.  The animal’s fur was the same honey color as the woman’s hair.

“This is…different,” he said aloud.  The transformation had happened as it was supposed to but she was not supposed to be feline.  Something must have gone wrong.

The doorknob behind him began to turn.  Jerrit kept the door closed with is powers , but it would not last long.  He looked around quickly trying to find some place to hide the cat.  He laid the small creature on the ground behind the door, hiding it from view of whoever was coming out of the club.  He grabbed the shirt and threw it over the cat along with the rest of the clothes, hoping that the feline would not be disturbed.  He straightened attempting to figure out what he was going to tell her friend, whom he knew was about to come barreling out of the club in a foul mood.

Jerrit let go of the door.  It burst open and the girl’s friend stumbled out.  “Damn door,” She muttered as it slid shut behind her.  She glanced at Jerrit’s empty arms and rage burned in her eyes.  Her voice was pure venom as she spoke through gritted teeth.  “Where is she?”

Jerrit looked around.  There was an alley not too far away, that disappeared around a corner giving Jerrit an idea.

“She came around just as we got outside.  She wanted to, um, hurl in private so I stayed here while she went around the corner, to do her business.”

“You let her go alone?!  You idiot!  It’s midnight in Greeley, anything could happen to her!”  She rushed around the corner.  Jerrit followed more slowly.  When she found the alley empty she rounded on him.  Before he could react, Jerrit felt her fist collide with his jaw.  The blow took him by surprise and he staggered back a step before regaining his balance.  She was strong, he would give her that.  “You son of a bitch, you lost her!”

The girl turned away from him looking around frantically.  Before she could run down the alley he touched her arm softly, gaining her attention.  She glared at him as he tested his jaw to make sure that there was no damage.

“This is your second warning, darling, you threaten me one more time, and I will not be held accountable for what I do to you.”

The girl moved away from him.  He could sense her fear of him even if she did not show it.  “Technically, that wasn’t a threat.  I simply took action rather than wasting my time with empty words.  They apparently confuse you too much.”

“Technicalities do not matter to me.  You are out of chances, little one.  Still, I take responsibility for my mistakes so I will help you look for your friend.  You should go and check the car.  It’s possible that when she woke up and found me rather than you she freaked out and went to find something familiar.  If she is not there then you should check the club again.  I’ll make a circuit around the building and see if there is any sign of her.  Try her phone as well.  She could be perfectly fine and you are panicking over nothing.”

The girl took a deep breath.  “Alright, I need to calm down.  Freaking out and beating the shit out of you will not help Dawn no matter how much better it makes me feel.  I will meet you at the front door of the club in fifteen minutes.  Do not be late.”

Jerrit watched the girl as she rushed down the alley pulling her cell phone out of her pocket.  That girl was going to cause him a great deal of trouble.  He shook his head and turned to head back to the door.

Jerrit knelt down and gently pulled the shirt away from the still sleeping cat.  She was curled into a ball, resting easy amongst the discarded clothing.  He lightly stroked the beautiful animal’s fur, careful not to wake her.

He had to get her out of here.  It wouldn’t be long before she recovered.  he wanted to make sure that she was safely trapped inside before that happened.  It was not easy to open a door without opposable thumbs and he did not need her running off before he had a chance to explain what was going on.  Of course, he would have to figure that out for himself first.  She was in enough trouble having just shifted, let alone into an animal that couldn’t do much more than claw someone.  He was not about to leave her vulnerable like that.  If anything happened to the girl then there were far more dangerous and frightening people to answer to than her feisty little friend.

A scream brought Jerrit around, crouching in a fighting stance.  As if his night wasn’t bad enough.  What else could possibly happen?

Jerrit did not have a chance to move before something much larger than a cat bounded past him.  Was that a tiger?  He didn’t have to look to know that the cat was no longer passed out.  She was rushing around the corner, no longer defenseless.

What was going on?  The girl was not supposed to be feline at all and now she was changing shapes.  Even in the insane world that he lived in, such a thing was not possible.  Were-animals only had one shape that they could shift into and that was predetermined by genetics.  Given those rules the girl should be a wolf, and only a wolf.

Jerrit rushed after the now enlarged cat but stopped when he rounded the corner.  Four men were surrounding the tiger.  She prowled protectively in front of a figure laying motionless on the pavement.  The men spread out, trying to draw her attention in several different directions, but she stayed close to the mass on the ground.

None of the men were particularly large, but they all shared the same greasy dark hair which contrasted their abnormally pale skin.  Two of the men wore their hair long, one in a pony-tail while the other let his hang loose.  The other two men had their hair cropped short.  It just figured that the creatures of the night would be stalking his mark only moments after she had shifted.  They had to have been tracking her.

One of the men tried to kick the tiger, but she ducked out of the way with a menacing growl.  She let out an angry roar, causing the men to step back, hesitantly.  The man with the pony-tail shook his head in disgust tinged with fear.

“She is just a new Were, you cowards.  If we cannot take her out then we do not deserve to call ourselves hunters.”

“She doesn’t seem like she is new to it,” one of the men with short hair replied, with a thick Hispanic accent.  “She is too focused to have just shifted.”

“New or not, it is just a Were.  Destroy her!”

Not even pony-tail moved when the tiger crouched, ready for the attack.  The girl definitely did not seem new to her form.  She was so natural as a big cat that, if Jerrit didn’t know better, he would have thought that the girl had been shifting her entire life.  He could fully understand why the hunters were too afraid to make good on their threat.  The group was obviously not the most well-trained of their kind, and had probably just hoped for an easy kill to boast about.  Too bad they were tracking the wrong Were.  She was not going down without a fight.

Jerrit had to admit that he was impressed.  He let out a soft chuckle.

The small noise was just loud enough to draw the attention of the short hair who hadn’t spoken.  His eyes widened when he saw Jerrit.  They had really picked the wrong Were.  Jerrit gave the man an evil smile as, one-by-one, the hunters turned their attention toward him.  A part of him was itching for a fight and hoped that the men would be stupid enough to try.  As he saw recognition dawn on each of their faces, he knew that he would not get to scratch tonight.

Without a word to one another, the men all made a mad rush for their freedom at the other end of the alley.  It was almost comical to watch them trip over each other to get away.  Jerrit did not make any move to follow.  There were more important things to worry about.

Jerrit moved to check on the figure the tiger had been guarding.  The auburn girls chest was rising and falling in strong even breaths.  She was perfectly fine, outside of a couple of bumps and bruises she would have from her fall.

A growl brought Jerrit around to find the tiger was in human form, and she was completely naked.  Her eyes were full of an anger so intense that Jerrit could almost feel the heat of it.  Jerrit could not look away from those intensely emotional eyes, even to enjoy the full figure that she was not even trying to hide.

Dawn glared at the man standing over Crystal.  He could not have been older than twenty-five.  His dark hair hung long enough to obscure his bright blue eyes, then tapered down to brush his shoulders.  His attractive features were strong and eerily perfect.  He wore a long black coat that hid God only knew what.  Judging by the slight creak that it made when the man moved it was made of leather.  She could not help but notice that there was a well-chiseled body underneath that black sheath of leather.  Were it not for the situation Dawn would have thought he was gorgeous and because of that she would have begun to babble and embarrass herself.  But, as it was, she was not going to allow attraction to distract her from protecting Crystal.

The man made no move to attack, but he did not back away either.  He simply stood casually keeping his gaze fixed with hers.  A sly smile played at the corner of his lip but his eyes never wandered to her naked body.  She gave him credit for that given that she was completely exposed.

Out of nowhere a wave of nausea swept over her.

Jerrit cringed as the girl fell to her knees and vomited onto the pavement.  He moved toward her cautiously.  When she did not shy away from his approach, he removed his coat and placed it over her bare shoulders.  She stayed on all fours breathing heavily from the exertion of emptying her stomach.

Jerrit did not speak until he was sure that she was done.  “You know that every time that you’ve looked at me, you have ended up swooning.”

Dawn let out an amused breath.  “It’s not you, trust me.  I have a copious amount of alcohol in me that is wreaking havoc on my stomach.”  She sat back on her heals, moving slowly toward the clubs outer wall.  Every movement sent pain through her entire body.  She pulled the man’s coat closed in an attempt at modesty as she leaned her head back against the cold brick wall.  “Where are my clothes?”

“Around the corner.  Do you think that you can keep an eye on your friend while I go and get them?”

Dawn remembered Crystal with a jolt.  She regretted snapping her head up as another wave of nausea assaulted her.  Stupid Alcohol!  She closed her eyes and swallowed hard in an attempt to keep the bile down.

“Is she alright?”

“She’s fine. As far as I can tell there isn’t a scratch on her.  Just sit here in case she wakes up.  It will be good for her to see a friendly face rather than mine.  I’ll be right back.”

Dawn nodded as she relaxed her head back against the hard wall.  Now she understood what a hangover felt like.  She had always heard that throwing up made people feel better but it just seemed to make her ache more.

Jerrit watched as the tension eased out of the girl’s muscles.  He was relieved that she was trusting him, even if it was only to get her clothes.  He took his time gathering her clothes.  She deserved a moment to gain her composure and clear her head.  He could use a moment himself.  As if the night hadn’t been bad enough, he was now fighting to keep himself from thinking about how good that body of hers would feel against his.  The shape of her soft curves under his hand as he traced his way down to...Jerrit closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  He could definitely use a quick minute.

But a minute would not be enough to get that fantasy out of his head, so he just headed back.  The girl’s eyes were still closed and she had not moved an inch.  She did not seem to notice his return.  She must have passed out again, not that he could blame her.  Her soft, delicate features were unmarred by the pain that he knew she was feeling.  She was strong, much stronger than the others had been, and they had not been attacked on their first night as a supernatural being.

Her golden hair glimmered in the moonlight.  She seemed even more beautiful than she had been when he had first seen her in the club.  She still had the same innocent face, but there was a new quality to it that gave away her age.  She was already beginning to show the indefinable beauty that went with being preternatural.  There was a distinctive aura that surrounded her that he could not describe.

Something deep within him reacted to her.  The way that her lips parted slightly made him yearn for a taste of them.  The way that his large coat clung to her body made his mouth water with desire.  He was grateful that her eyes were closed so that he did not have to endure the agony of her beautiful brown gaze.  Resisting his urge to throw caution to the winds and take just one kiss from her was excruciating, but he knew that he would not be sated by a mere sample of the girl.  Better to leave her be and not know what he was missing.

“Are you going to give me my clothes or are you just going to stand there staring at me?”

Dawn’s eyes opened slowly.  She pierced him with a sly stare.  Her brown eyes held a knowing look that sent a shiver down his spine.  Surely she didn’t know what he was thinking.  But that sly smile she wore made him wonder.  She truly was a beguiling creature.

Jerrit handed her clothes to her without a word.  He wasn’t sure that he would be able to speak if he tried.

“Thank you.”

It sounded so dumb to her to thank a stranger for no other reason than to speak to him.  When the man smiled a gorgeous smile in response, she was glad that she was not standing or her knees might have given out.  She accepted the bundle that he offered her without really caring what it was.  As long as he was offering it, Dawn was going to take it.

Dawn did not know why she was trusting the man.  He had done nothing to make her think that he would do her harm, but she had always been hesitant around new people.  Still, for some reason, she felt comfortable with him.  There was something about him that put Dawn at ease and made her feel safe.

The easy feeling did not last.  “How is it that you are not freaked out by me?”

He sat down next to her, resting his arms on his bent knees.  He was careful to keep a a comfortable amount of space between them.  He looked around the alley, no doubt pretending to keep an eye out for trouble, while avoiding eye contact with her.  “What do you mean?”

“Well, you just watched me transform from…whatever the hell I was, into a human, but you don’t seem concerned about it at all.”  Dawn gestured toward Crystal.  “She fainted at the site of me when I rushed around the corner and she didn’t even know that it was me.  You haven’t so much as batted an eye.”

“I am a little concerned to tell you the truth, but it’s not because you shifted.  I have seen too many Were-animals to take notice of that.  I’m more worried about what you became.”  He glance at Dawn.  “And surprised by how calm you are about it.  I would imagine that most people would panic if they found out that they were part animal.”

Dawn closed her eyes again with a smile.  “Don’t let my calm exterior fool you.  I am actually going insane with panic right now, but I am having enough trouble focusing, So I really don’t have the energy to show it.  I’m barely staying conscious at the moment.  Maybe tomorrow you’ll get the reaction you’re looking for.”  Dawn turned her head to look at Jerrit once more.  “Not to mention I am very intoxicated right now, so I’m still kinda hoping that this is some sort of messed up dream.”

“I truly wish that I could reassure you of that, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you.  This is just something that you’ll have to learn to accept…like your sisters did.”

Dawn frowned at him.  “Who are you?”

“Jerrit…Jerrit Serenity.”

“And how do you know my sisters, Jer-rit Ser-en-i-ty?”  Dawn over-annunciated his name

“Let’s just say that I’m an old friend of the family, Dawn, and leave it at that.”

Dawn pushed herself away from the wall, attempting to stand.  “Remind me to have you elaborate on that when I will actually remember what is going on.”  She paused to stare at him.  “I guess that I shouldn’t be surprised that you know my name, huh?”

Jerrit gave her a tight-lipped smile as he stood up.  He offered his hand to her to help her stand.  Dawn glared at him for being coy with her.  She hated that, and yet on Jerrit, coy looked really good.  She reluctantly took his hand to leverage herself up off the ground.

Jerrit tried to ignore the sensation that swept through him at Dawn’s touch, but when she stood, she was standing so close that there was no avoiding her scent.  It was not marred by alcohol like it should have been.  At least then he might have had a chance, but there was no way he could stop himself with such a purely intoxicating aroma.  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, filling his senses.

Dawn was both unnerved and flattered by the look of total ecstasy on Jerrit’s face.  Whatever was going on inside of him made him shudder.  She watched his handsome features soften when he inhaled deeply.  Having a face like that should be illegal.  Dawn could not deny her attraction to the man, no matter how much she might want to.  His very presence had an effect on her.  Considering how like she had known the man, that was not a good thing.  He could still turn out to be some kind of psychopath.

That would be just her luck.  She finally finds the man of her dreams, but there are bones buried in the foundation of his home.  Or worse, she finds out that she is some mythological creature and gets attacked and has to be rescued by him...oh wait...yep, just her luck.

Jerrit’s eyes opened. Dawn stood mesmerized by his stare.  Something passed between them.  In her groggy state, she could almost believe in love at first sight.  She imagined that she had a chance with a guy like Jerrit.  He certainly seemed to be attracted to her.  Why not?  She was just as good as any other woman, and even better than a few.

Dawn pulled her hand free of Jerrit’s.  She had to control her emotions, at least until she got her friend to safety.

“I should get Crystal home.”

Dawn took a step away from Jerrit, but swayed dangerously.  He caught her around the waist before she could meet the concrete.  It was hard enough to suppress the fantasy of Jerrit wrapped around her, now she had a smal sample of what it would actually feel like.

“There is no way that i am letting you drive.  I don’t need that accident on my conscience.  I will take you both back to my place.  I have a spare room that you two can share.”

“Yes, because going hoe with a complete stranger would not be the craziet thing that I have done tonight.  I don’t even know you.  You could be some kind of freak, or something.  For all I know, you prowl the streets at night looking for unsuspecting women who get attacked in alleyways.  You could take them home and tue them up in your basement.”

“I guarantee you that no one gets tied up in my home without being fully consensual, and they always leave much happier than when they arrived.”

Dawn let out a soft snort.  She could appreciate a good innuendo.

“I am open to suggestions if you have any.  Although, before you say your place or your friend’s, I feel inclined to point out that your roommate will probably handle all of this about as well as your little friend did.  I also don’t think that waltzing into the dorms with one of their Resident Assistants passed out is the smartest plan.”

The man had a point.  She didn’t need to panic her roommate any more than necessary and she had no idea how to explain Crystal’s condition to the dorm staff.  Still, she had to have some other options.

“I am pretty sure that I had more friends here tonight.  I am sure thatI could get a ride with one of them.”

“You could, except that you still have your little shape-shifting problem to try to explain.  As drunk as you are, I doubt that you could do that without scaring the hell out of them.  If it will make you feel better, I will swear on whatever will convince you that nothing will happen to you while you are in my care.”

Without any real logic behind the decision, Dawn knew that she was going to give in to him.  He had done nothing to prove himself to her except that he hadn’t done anything to hurt her.  What really made up her mind was the feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her that everything was going to be alright as long as she trusted Jerrit.  No matter how much she usually ignored them, her instincts were always right.

“Alright.  We will go with you...but only because I am too stupid to think of a reason not to.”

Jerrit gave her a sly smile.  “I guess that it’s a good thing that I’m trustworthy, then, huh?”

Dawn stared into those eyes that captivated her.  Without a doubt, she was going to put her faith in this man.  She just hoped that she was doing the right thing.  “We’ll see.”

Prologue/Chapter 1

Prologue

The midwife cringed at the mother’s pain-filled scream.  She gave the woman words of encouragement even when she knew better.  This was not a normal birth.  The midwife had been called personally rather than through the agency as she usually was.  She was even being paid under the table, so-to-speak.

There was a lot more blood than there should have been and there was nothing that the midwife could do to staunch the flow.  She had no one to help her either.  Why hadn’t she just followed her instincts and said no?

The money, that’s why.  She had been offered enough money to retire on and then some and being as young as she was that was saying something.  No one would have said no to that amount of money paid in cash ahead of time.

She should have been suspicious when she pulled up to the small one roomed hut.  The drive had been longer than she had expected and she had literally been directed into the middle of nowhere.

She had not been told that she would be ushering one life into the world only to lose another.  The mother was not going to make it through this.  Admitting that there was nothing that she could do was the one thing that the midwife hated about her chosen profession.

A loud cry rang out as the child finally broke free of his mother.  The overwhelming joy that came with life washed over her, but it was short lived as she saw the teeth that already lined the child’s mouth.  As though that wasn’t strange enough the canines were elongated.  The child was an abomination.  Every instinct in the woman told her to get rid of the child before he could grow into the monster that his father must have been.  Now she knew why she had been called personally.  The mother could not risk a human midwife seeing such an anomaly.

“Jerrit,” the mother’s voice was little more than a whisper.  “Let me see my Jerrit.”  The woman’s face was pale from blood-loss and fatigue.  The midwife could not deny the woman her dying request.

“Let me clean him up first.”

The midwife took only a few moments to clean and clothe the boy.  She moved to show the woman her son, but when she tried to hand him to his mother to hold but the woman would not take him.

“He is your son,” the midwife insisted, “Don’t you want to hold him before…”  She stopped herself.  She could not bring herself to say it out loud.

“…before I die?” the mother finished.  She smiled weakly.  “I knew my fate a long time ago.  My only regret is that I wont be around to make sure that he doesn’t turn out like his father.”

The midwife was more than a little surprised.  The woman knew what the child was but had made the conscious decision to allow him to live.  “I am not going to ask how you know what I am but is that why you chose me?”

“I chose you because I knew that you would not let him become the enemy of your kind.  I know that he is not supposed to exist, yet here he is…” the woman winced in pain.  “Please, you have to help me.”

The midwife shook her head.  “There’s nothing that I can do.  You’ve already lost too much blood and I don’t have anything for a transfusion.  You wouldn’t even make to the hospital if I tried to rush you there.”  The smile returned to the mother’s face.  “But that’s what you want, isn’t it?  You want to die.”

“I never had a choice.  I was going to die no matter what, but the least that I could do was try to keep my son safe and I did that by keeping his secret.  The hospital would not understand how my body was mysteriously drained of blood after my son was born.  I don’t need that kind of suspicion on him when he is not to blame.”

“He wasn’t feeding from you?”

The mother closed her eyes.  Her breathing was ragged.  The woman was not going to last much longer.  She opened her eyes slowly.

“No.  This is residual damage.  I don’t know how or why but being pregnant with Jerrit kept me alive.  I was surprised when I woke up without a scratch, when I knew for a fact that I had been beaten almost to death the night before.  It took me months to realize that it was my son who was sustaining me, not the other way around.  But I have been living on borrowed time and now the payment has come due.”

The mother tried to lift her hand but failed.  “I need you to promise me that you will find him a good home.  Find him a family of your kind to raise him properly.  I don’t want him to live as a vampire and the only way to stop it from happening is to make sure that he is brought up by Werewolves.”

The midwife hesitated.  How could she promise what the mother was asking?  The child should not exist at all.  She should kill the thing the moment the mother died.  The midwife looked at the quiet creature that she held in her arms.  He looked at her with attentive eyes, like he knew what she was thinking and was waiting for her to make a decision.

It was the boys innocent blue eyes that made up her mind her.  The child was an innocent in all of this.  She could not hold the son accountable for the sins of the father.  Jerrit would have a chance at life if it was the last thing that she did.

The midwife nodded at the woman on the bed.  “I give you my word as a Werewolf that he will be given the life that he deserves.  His father will never have the chance to influence him if I can help it…and with my connections, I can.”

“Thank you,” the mother breathed, “May he one day grow strong enough to destroy the scum who spawned him.  One day he will be feared by Zabrze and all who follow that son-of-a-bitch.”

The midwife’s stomach dropped.  Zabrze was one of the most feared vampires.  His ruthlessness was legend and now she was in control of his son.  She had the chance of a lifetime in front of her.  Why kill the boy, when she could do so much more damage by turning him on his father?  She was going to raise the vampire who would strike fear into the hearts of the fearless.

The midwife started to tell the mother as much but it was too late.  “May the gods protect you.  Don’t worry about your son.  I will raise him as my own.”

The midwife left the small shack with the baby in her arms.  So much for thinking she would never have children.

She placed the boy in the car seat that she always kept in her car.  In her line of work it was a necessity.  After strapping him in comfortably she pulled a box of matches out of her glove box.  She lit a single match and threw it into the wooden building, no doubt the mother had planned for such a funeral.  She said a soft prayer to the gods in honor of the woman then went back to the car.

She drove away without looking back at the funeral pyre.  She knew that it was not going to be a normal birth.  In the matter of a few hours she had become a mother.  She should have stayed in bed, but then she would not have been able to save the beautiful blue-eyed boy.

She looked at the baby through her rear view mirror.  He was sleeping soundly.  He looked so sweet and innocent.  She was going to keep him that way for as long as she could.  She could not help but smile at the irony of his newfound name.  Jerrit Serenity, her serene baby boy.

Chapter 1

“So the plan is to go to Old Chicago’s and then head to the club from there.  That way we can at least attempt to eat while we are consuming massive amounts of alcohol.”

Dawn Saunders rolled her eyes at her friend Crystal.  To Dawn, her birthday was the same as any other before it, but Crystal had insisted on putting together a party, against Dawn’s better judgment.  She was usually very enthusiastic about her birthdays.  Who couldn’t love a day devoted entirely to themselves?  Still something in her gut was telling her that she should not be making a big deal over this one, even if it was her twenty-first but she hadn’t been able to come up with any reason not to celebrate the occasion other than an irrational feeling in the pit of her stomach telling her to lay low tonight, so the party was on.

“So basically, you put as little thought into the night as you possibly could.”

“Hey, what else is there to do in Greeley, Colorado?  Besides, you already agreed to go along with anything that I came up with, so this is your own fault,” Crystal replied in her usual sarcastic tone.

“I agreed to do anything within reason, Crystal Hoffman.  There were a few caveats to your party planning freedom.  Just so long as there is a designated driver, and someplace for everyone to stay at the end of the night, then I can put my mind at ease.  The control freak in me has to know that everyone is going to be alright before I can relax enough to allow you to get me smashed.  Oh, and let’s not forget the ‘no-naked’ rule.”

Crystal pouted.  “You do know that you take all the fun out of life.  Do you know how long it took for me to put together a good party without someone naked being around?  That rule eliminated half of the guest list.”

Dawn smiled.  Crystal always had a comeback to lighten any mood, and then a long and drawn out rant to follow it.  Dawn quit listening, which she usually did, as they made their way through the clothing store that Dawn hadn’t bothered to even look at the name of.

Crystal had decided that Dawn needed a new outfit for the big birthday shindig.  Had Crystal not offered to pay Dawn would have said no.  There was nothing wrong with the clothes that she already had and Dawn hated shopping, especially for clothes.  God forbid someone design something that actually looked good on a girl with a freaking figure.

Dawn was not a big girl.  She had spent the last few months working out in an attempt to get herself into shape and to slim down the excess weight that had accumulated because of dorm-life.  Stupid freshman fifteen.  She had successfully lost an entire pant size which had caused her to gain a certain amount of confidence.  Even with all of the work, Dawn was not blessed with a small build.  She was unable to get her weight to fall below one-hundred and fifty pounds.  She did everything that she could to hide the child-bearing hips that everyone said were a blessing.  Curse was more like it.

Crystal on the other hand was a thinner girl which Dawn knew was partly because her friend was allergic to gluten and had been forced to adjust her diet.  Her auburn hair hung down to her shoulders.  Her blue eyes were pale with a green tinge to them which Dawn envied.  She had a young face, much like Dawn, yet had an aura of superiority.  Crystal was only an inch taller than Dawn, but at Five and a half feet that wasn’t saying much.

Dawn ignored her friend as the girl continued to complain about working within the confines of the rules that Dawn had set out.  In truth, Dawn was grateful that Crystal was even trying to throw the party at all.  Dawn was not into the whole getting trashed and going crazy thing that most college students took part in.  She would much rather sit at home with a good book, or even a bad movie.  Dawn liked to stay in her own little world that rarely changed.  It was comfortable...but there was something to be said for predictability.

“…Are you even listening to me?” Crystal asked suddenly.

“Nope,” Dawn answered honestly, “The last thing that I heard was guest list.”

“Which time?”

“The first one.”

“You make me sad, do you realize that?  But that’s fine because I ignored your no naked rule and invited Jack anyway.  I told him to wear the cute boxers this time, though.  No need to scare anyone this time.”

“You know, very well, that the no-naked rule meant no strippers.  Jacky is not a stripper…”  Dawn smiled as she remembered the many times that she had spent with Jack Edwards.  “He just has trouble keeping his clothes on after massive alcohol consumption.  That doesn’t count.  But if it is possible, let’s cut him off before he gets that far.  That stage comes just after his gayness starts to get intense, so we should be able to spot it pretty easily.”

“I don’t make promises that I can’t keep.  You probably should have been more specific about the naked rule though, because strippers do not get all the way naked.  Technically I could invite strippers and you couldn’t say anything about it.”

“Fine, I change it to a ‘no-stripper’ rule.  Let the nakedness reign!”

Crystal laughed wickedly.  She pulled a shirt off of a rack and put it over her arm with the several other items that she had already collected for Dawn to try on.  “Hey, are you going to take Alice up on her offer to get you laid for your birthday?”

Dawn grimaced at the reminder of her friends offer.  “Oh yes, that way I can feel even more pathetic than I already do.  Not only can I not get a guy but my friends have to either pay or bribe one to even consider me.  I don’t think so.  Maybe in a few years when I am a little more desperate.”

“Dawn, you have been single for almost five years, I don’t think that you can get much more desperate.”

“I know people who have never had a date in their lives and they are perfectly fine.”

“Name one,” Crystal challenged.

“Natalia Briden…and my roommate Brianna.  That’s two punk!”

“Yeah, you’re still desperate.”

“I am only twenty-one.  I think that I have plenty of time for desperation later.”

“Fine, but if you want my advice, you will take them up on the offer.  Or you could get yourself a dog.  It’s not the same as a man but it is companionship.”

“How did we get from sex to animals?  Bestiality is wrong.”

“Technically we went from companionship to animals, so get your mind out of the gutter.  Of course, you could also look at it in that we went from men to dogs; I think that that one is closer to actuality.  Besides, I think that you need someone to keep you company and to be devoted to you unconditionally.  The only way to get that is with a dog.”

“Thanks, Crys.  I didn’t know that you cared so much about my loneliness.”

“Yeah…don’t get used to it.  I think that I have about ten seconds of compassion left.”

“In that case, let’s save it for the dressing room when I have to show you how terrible I look in everything that you have right there.”

Crystal frowned as she picked up one of the shirts on her arm and looked at it.  “I think that you’ll look cute.”

“Great, I always wanted to be cute,” Dawn did not even try to hide her sarcasm, “For once can we please try something that will make me look, oh I don’t know, like an adult rather than a thirteen-year-old?  I am coming of age, you know.”

Crystal rolled her eyes.  “Fine, we’ll do what we can to make you look older, but I can’t perform miracles, Dawn.”

Crystal shoved Dawn toward the dressing rooms.  “I don’t expect miracles, Crystal.  Just a little talented make-overing.”

“If you are going to start making up words, could you please come up with some that don’t make you sound like a complete idiot?”

Before Dawn could argue, Crystal shoved her into a dressing room, pushed the clothes into Dawn’s arms and closed the door.

“So, back to the party plan that you are trying to ignore in an attempt to make it go away, which won’t work, by the way,” Crystal said through the door as Dawn started changing into one of Crystal’s selections.  “We are going to go to the restaurant for food and drink and then head over to the club where I will watch you make a fool out of yourself while attempting to dance.  I have watched you dance sober so I can’t wait to see how much worse it is when you are inebriated!”

“I feel so loved.”  Dawn fumbled with a tie on the top that she was trying on.  “I don’t think that I like this one.”

“Well, I don’t trust your opinion at all, so you need to come out here.”

“Fine, but I am telling you that this is not the one.”  Dawn opened the door and stepped out.

Crystal stepped back.  She had her fist in front of her mouth in a pensive pose.  “You’re right there’s something not quite right about it.”

Dawn moved to stand in front of the three-way mirror.  She was wearing a light yellow baby-doll top with a thick ribbon just below her chest that tied in the back.  The neckline was low and showed off what little cleavage she had.  The jean skirt that she wore was so short that she could not bend over without showing the world everything that she had to offer.  It was not something that she would have picked out for herself and she was not really sure why Crystal had even tried.

“I look like a pregnant baby-doll that also happens to be the local prostitute.  I am not going to wear this tonight…or ever again.” Dawn went back into the dressing room and shut the door.

“You are far too critical…and you are too stubborn for your own good.  I think that that is why you can’t get a man.  You should try to listen to my advice and stop being so judgmental of yourself.”

“I should listen to a girl who hasn’t had a boyfriend for as long as I have.  You have no better luck with men than I do so you’ll forgive me if I don’t take your advice.”

“I don’t have a man because I am just as stubborn as you are.  Do as I say not as I do.  Are you sure that you don’t like the entire outfit?  I thought that you liked yellow.”

“Just because I like yellow does not mean that I like everything that is yellow,” Dawn said as she sorted through the clothes again.  “And since when have I ever worn a mini skirt?  I rarely wear skirts at all, let alone ones that show off my entire backside.”

“Well if your backside wasn’t so friggin’ big then we wouldn’t be having that problem would we?”

“You should advertise for diet pills.”  Dawn muttered as she slipped out of the skirt and into a pair of black pants.  “Why do I even need a new outfit?  I have enough clothing.  We could sort through it and find something for me.”

“You are getting a new outfit, so shut up and deal with it.  You have not bought new clothes for as long as I’ve known you.  You cannot wear your sister’s hand-me-downs forever.  I won’t allow it.”

“I like the clothes that my sister gives me.  Most of them she never wore and the ones that she has she only wore once or twice so they are basically new.  I get free clothes and I don’t see a problem with that.”

Crystal let out an aggravated breath.  “The problem is, Dawn, that those clothes are not you.  You look good in them, yes but they are not your style.  You are not comfortable in them and I am not going to let you be self-conscious on your birthday.  I am going out with the beautiful confident you or I am not going at all.  You are lucky that I’m even letting you come along at all.”

Dawn chuckled.  She knew that there was truth behind what Crystal was saying but it did not make her any more excited about shopping.  “First off, you don’t know my style, which you proved with the mini skirt.  Second, how would you explain the fact that you are throwing a birthday party for a girl who isn’t even there?”

“I am a college student.  I am sure that I could come up with some BS to explain you away.  That’s what I do in my classes.”

“How do you BS history?”  Dawn took off the yellow top and dropped it on the ground.  “I could understand if you were a business major, like me, that’s all that business is, but history is harder.”

“Harder, yes, but not impossible.  It’s just one more thing that I am better at than you.”

Dawn pulled a red shirt on over her head.  “I would call you the queen of bullshit but I think that you are more like the jester.”

“Rather the jester of bullshit than the janitor.”

Dawn laughed as she opened the door to the dressing room.  “Fair enough.”

Crystal was standing in front of the three way mirror, swaying from side to side.  She looked like a child entertaining herself in any way possible.  When she caught sight of Dawn in the mirror she went still and her eyes widened.  She turned around slowly to face Dawn.

“What?  No witty remarks about how I should be showing more skin or a little more of my chest?”  Dawn put her hands on her hips and gave an exaggerated hip jut for posterity.

Crystal shook her head slowly, keeping her eyes on Dawn.  “I am honestly at a loss for words.”

“Is it that bad?”  Dawn pushed past Crystal to stand in front of the mirror.

The woman staring back at her was almost unrecognizable.  The slacks hugged her curves just right and the black color slimmed her large hips.  The blood red corset top had thick tank top straps that made Dawn more comfortable about baring her shoulders while showing a fair amount of skin at the same time.  There was less than an inch of creamy skin showing between the pants and top which would normally have made Dawn self conscious but for some reason it just seemed right.  Her pear-shaped figure was well-accentuated in the outfit.

Dawn’s honey-brown hair hung down past her waist, with layers that framed her face.  Her soft features gave her an innocent quality that contrasted greatly with her new sexy outfit.  She had always favored a Goth look but her face always made her look out of place in the style.  It annoyed the hell out of her.

“I think that we have found the outfit for you and it only took half an hour.  That has to be record for me.”  Crystal stood behind Dawn to stare at her in the mirror.  “I am amazing, if I do say so myself.  You look hot!  I might just have to keep the guys off of you with a stick.”

Dawn smiled.  “Use whatever you have to, just don’t scare them away.  I don’t want to end up in the same lonely boat that I am in now.”

“Hey, it’s not all that lonely out here with me around.”

Dawn narrowed her eyes in suspicion.  “Was that sentiment that I just heard in your voice?  that’s twice now, Crys.  If I didn’t know any better, I would say that the hard-ass has a soft side.”

“I know.  I think that I must have just had a stroke, or something.  I’ll have to keep an eye on myself tonight.  I wouldn’t want anyone to think that I am actually a kind soul.”

“Yeah, we can’t have that,” Dawn retorted sarcastically.

Crystal punched Dawn’s arm hard enough to sting.  “Shut up and give me the tags on those clothes so I can pay for them.  I don’t wanna stand here while you change anymore.”

Dawn rubbed the sore spot on her arm.  She pulled the tags off, which Crystal snatched out of Dawn’s hand and hurried toward the cash registers.  Dawn smiled and shook her head.  Crystal was very excited about tonight and that excitement was starting to seep into Dawn.  She  knew that something was going to happen tonight, she just wasn’t so sure that it would be bad.

Over the course of a few hours Dawn had not only plowed her way through a burger and fries but also three shots and four daiquiris.  Dawn was being so obnoxious and loud that Crystal was worried they would get kicked out.  Luckily, all of the guests were running interference with the restaurant workers.

Dawn’s good friend Natalia was shepherding Dawn around whenever the girl decided that she needed to get up and talk to someone.  From the few times that Crystal had seen the small girl she had found that Natalia was extremely reserved, especially around new people.  Tonight, however, Natallia was socializing like a pro.  It was amazing how people could change while protecting their friends.

Crystal was glad that so many people had shown up to celebrate Dawn’s birthday.  She should not have been surprised.  Everyone loved Dawn.  She was a loyal friend.  She was known to drop everything to help anyone who asked her to.  She was nice to everyone, which Crystal found extremely annoying.

Crystal was the kind of girl to speak her mind.  If something bothered her, then she said something about it.  Dawn, on the other hand, kept her thoughts to herself unless someone asked an honest opinion of her.  The girl did not lie if you asked her a direct question, but she did not always let you know what was going on in her head.

“Hey Crys!” Dawn yelled from the seat next to her.

“Hey Dawn!” Crystal replied in the same tone.  “I’m sitting right next to you.  Don’t yell.”

Dawn giggled.  “Sorry.  I was just wondering why you are not having anything to drink.”

“I’ve already had two beers, honey, and since I am designated, I’m done.”  Crystal glanced at Dawn’s empty glass.  “You, however, have not had nearly enough.”

Crystal waved the waitress over and ordered two glasses of water.

“I’ll drink more when we get to the club.  What time is it, anyway?”

“Eight-thirty.  We’ll leave soon.”

Dawn gaped, then slurred.  “It’s only eight-thirty?  That is insanely early.  Maybe I should slow down.  I don’t wanna be sloshed by midnight and have to go home.”

“It’s your birthday, get sloshed if you want to,” Natalia spoke up from the other side of Dawn.

Crystal smiled.  She had been slipping Dawn water in between her drinks just to make sure that her friend would not get into trouble with the excessive amounts of alcohol that she was imbibing.  Natalia knew what was going on, as did everyone else at Dawn’s gala, except for Dawn.  The girl was tipsy, for sure, but she was definitely not drunk.  It was amazing what tricks the mind could play on the body.

“You will be fine, my darling,” Crystal reassured Dawn.  “Remember that I am looking out for you, and I am not the only one.”

Crystal didn’t look like much of a threat but she was a feisty little woman, especially when it came to her friends.  She didn’t care how much you picked on her but if you massed with her friends then she became a mama bear.

“Yeah, birthday girl,” Jack said from across the table, “Let yourself go.  We’ll keep you safe.  Plus, you are funny as hell when you are drunk.”

“Because hell is so funny,” replied Dawn.

“It will be once we all get there,” Jack retorted quickly, “So I say drink away, girly.”

Jack was a short guy with dark hair and puppy-dog brown eyes.  He kept his hair styled in a fo-hawk.  He was a strangely handsome man even with his large nose.  Were it not for the fact that he was gay, Crystal probably would have dated him.  Not that any man’s sexuality had stopped her before.  She had a tendency to be attracted to homos.  She had even turned a few herself.

Her gay-boys even used her as their gay-dar.  If she thought someone was cute, it usually meant that they favored their own gender.  It was not her proudest accomplishment, but she had was used to it.

Crystal gathered up a few empty shot glasses and began to wipe them out with her napkin.

“What are you doing?” Dawn asked in what sounded like an offended tone.

“Just gathering up the empties so they’re not in the way of the fresh stuff coming in.”

“Oh, good idea!”

“Hey Dawn.”  Alice distracted her from across the table.  “When are you heading to Cowboys?”

Alice was a large girl with dark hair that hung to her shoulders.  She had beautiful soft features and Crystal had grown to love the girls off-beat style.  Alice was the kind of girl who became fanatical about anything.  It was fun to listen to the crazy stories that the girl would find online.  The newest topic was the TV show Supernatural, not that Crystal could judge.  She too was a fan of two hot men running around through urban legends.

Dawn shrugged.  “Crys says soon, but I am not the woman in charge so don’t ask me.  Why do you need to know?”

“I just wanted to know what’s going on.  Jeeze!  Am I not allowed to know?”

“Nope.  You are not allowed to be privy to information that has anything to do with my whereabouts.”

“Wow,” Jack said sarcastically, “That was a mouthful.  Are you okay after that one?  You didn’t strain your brain too hard trying to put that sentence together, did you?”

“Shut up!”

Crystal took advantage of the distraction and filled three shot glasses with water.  She put them in a row in front of Dawn along with the glass of water.

“Alright, you lush,” Crystal regained Dawn’s attention.  “Here are your next three shots.  There’s a condition to them, though.”

“I would expect nothing less.”

“Between each one, you have to take a drink of water.  I don’t mean a little sip, either.  I mean a huge gulp before you get to go to the next shot.”

Dawn picked up one of the small glasses and sniffed it.  “What is it?”

“It’s Vodka,” Natalia interrupted, giving Crystal a knowing smile.

Dawn made a disgusted face.  “I don’t really want Vadka.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Alice chimed in.  “It’s your birthday and you’ll drink what you’re given.”

“…and get sloshed if I want to.” Dawn mused.

“That’s right,” Jack laughed.  “It’s the rules of the twenty-first.”

“There are rules?” Dawn asked incredulously.  “I don’t like rules.  I live outside the law.”

“Yeah, that’s what you’re known for,” Crystal said sarcastically.  “Now, shut up and drink!”

Dawn frowned, looking almost green.  She took a deep breath and knocked back the shot quickly.  “That tasted like water.”

It was good to know that Dawn wasn’t entirely stupid.

“It’s the new water flavored Vodka,” Crystal replied.  Dawn was gullible, not stupid.  “It’s all the rage.  I’m surprised that you don’t know about it.”

“It’s really cool,” Jack added.  “I might get one for myself later.”

Jack, Alice and Natalia, who were the only people paying attention to Crystal’s scheme, burst out laughing.  Dawn was too distracted to notice.

“Water flavored Vodka?  That could be dangerous.”  Dawn smiled mischeviously.  “Give me another one.”

Crystal pulled the other two shots out of Dawn’s reach.  “Not until you have the water.  That’s water flavored too.”

Dawn pouted pitifully but took a long pull from the straw in the water glass.  Once Crystal was satisfied she set one of the shot glasses down, which Dawn snatched immediately and threw back.  If Crystal did not know that it was actually water, she would have been worried.  As it was, she was having trouble keeping herself from laughing out loud with the others.  Dawn was even more gullible when she was drinking than when she was sober.  It was almost too easy.

Dawn was actually letting loose and having a good time.  Since the girl was usually a walking rubber band, always tight, it was a relief to see that she could relax, even if it was only for one night.

The night was still young, though.  Who knew what else Dawn might do?

Crystal rolled her eyes as Jack stumbled up to her for a third time.  It had been funny the first time that he had bothered her to check out a boy, but it was getting old.

Crystal interrupted Jack before he even had a chance to say anything.  “Jack, I am not your gay-dar.  Stop asking me to check out guys.  I am tired of finding out that everyone I think is cute I can’t have.  It’s like a rejection before I have even met him.”

“But I love you,” Jack said simply, “and you are so good at it.”

Crystal shook her head in disgust.  “Just because you butter me up, it does not give you the right to use me.”

“I promise that I won’t do it again…” Jack hesitated for a moment, “tonight…If you just help me with this one guy.”

“Come on Crystal,” Dawn placed her hand on Jack’s shoulder.  Crystal couldn’t tell if Dawn was showing her support for Jack or if she was using him to hold her up.  “Help a gay man out.”

She glared at her drunken friends.  She hated it when they teamed up on her.  It always worked.  She held out for as long as she could without giving in, which was about twenty seconds.  “Fine!” she blurted, then pointed at Jack.  “But you have to agree that you will not ask me to do this again for a month.”

“Deal!” Jack and Dawn said at the same time.  They looked at each other then burst into drunken laughter.  Crystal was growing wary of being the only sober person around.  She just wanted to go home.  She took a deep calming breath before she decided to strangle two of the only people who put up with her caustic attitude.

“Who am I judging for you?”

Jack sidled up next to Crystal and put his cheek against hers.  She could smell the alcohol on his breath which made her gag.  He closed one eye and pointed to the far side of the club.  “The tall hunk leaning against the wall over there.”

“Nope,” Dawn said quickly, then started dancing again without a care in the world.

“Did she even look at him?” Jack asked getting distracted by Dawn’s flailing.

Crystal ignored him.  There were a lot of men on the far side of the club, but one man stood out from the rest.  She had already noticed him.  He was a tall man, standing several inches above everyone around him.  His hair was dark and curly and hung down to his shoulders.  His eyes were mostly hidden but Crystal had the distinct feeling that she knew where his eyes were trained, since they had been on the same spot all night long.  He wore a black leather coat that dusted the floor judging by the way that he looked Crystal did not doubt that there was something concealed under the duster.

“The one with the long hair?” she asked to clarify even though she already knew the answer

“Yes,” Jason said bringing his attention back to Crystal.  He looked at her with those big, brown, eyes.  “So what do you think?”

Crystal could not look at his pathetically pleading expression when she said.  “No.  Sorry, honey.”

His lower lip was almost lethal as he pouted.  “How do you know?”

Normally Crystal would just ignore that question and send him on his way but she decided to indulge him this one time.  “One, because he is so not my type, which generally means strait.”

“But that’s not always true…”

“And two,” Crystal interrupted before Jack could convince himself to go over and make a move.  “He’s been staring at Dawn all night, which has completely escaped her notice…as usual.”  The last part was a whisper which Jack could not hear.

“Maybe he’s just…”

“No Jack,” Crystal shook her head firmly.  “Let it go.  You will not get this one so walk away.”  Crystal turned him around and started him back to his drink at the table.  “Just walk away.”

“Fine, I’ll let him go,” Jack gave in willingly.  “But I am  not going to uphold our bargain.”

Jack pranced away before Crystal could catch him.

“What?!  Jack!”

He waved his hand behind him dismissively.  “I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

Dawn stepped in front of Crystal to stop her from attacking the boy.  “Calm down, Crys.  That’s just Jack.  You know that you love him despite his smart-ass-ness.  That’s hyphenated…” Dawn put up two fingers, “twice!!!”  Dawn burst out laughing.

Crystal smiled with her friend.  Dawn was so enthusiastic about her new word.  It was far too amusing to watch Dawn when she was drunk.  No matter how annoyed Crystal got with everyone else, Dawn could lighten her mood.

Crystal’s mood darkened when she looked back at the man across the club.  He was watching Dawn with way too much interest.  It unnerved Crystal.

The club was dark.  The only luminescence was coming from the multi colored lights around the dance floor and a strobe light that was wreaking havoc on Jerrit’s sensitive eyes.  The crowd was large for a Sunday night, but Jerrit had no trouble keeping an eye on the girl.  Even from the opposite side of the club she stood out like a hippie at the Republican National Convention.  She had always been a hard one to miss.

Jerrit had not seen the woman since she had been a young girl, barely able to remember him.  Even back then she had favored long hair.  Now it hung to her waist with teasing the waste-band of her pants.  Her face still held the child-like innocence that he remembered.  She was far from a child anymore.  The girl that he had met only once before had grown into a beautiful woman.

Her dark blonde hair seemed to catch what little light there was and glisten.  Her blood-red top cinched her waist accentuating her figure.  A small sliver of skin showed between her top and her black pants, teasing men by giving them a glimpse of what lay underneath.  The woman permeated confidence, but he was pretty sure that was mostly the alcohol.

Dawn’s movements with the music were not coordinated this late in the night.  In the short amount of time the he had been watching, she had consumed four shots aof what looked like Rum.  Captain Morgan’s seemed to be her alcohol of choice.  He was surprised that she was still standing, let alone dancing, if you could call it that.  Tonight was the last night that she would be able to feel it.  The buzz would be gone within a few hours and then she would be forever sober.

Jerrit could not imagine such a feeling.  He had tried many times in his youth to get drunk, but he did not have the ability.  It was part of his curse.  Everyone made such a big deal out of the experience but every time that he watched the people around him get inebriated it did not seem to be all that it was cracked up to be.  He could relate to wanting to forget himself even if it was only for a few hours, but he could not figure out why anyone would want to be so far out of their own minds that they could not function of their own free will.  The one time that he had lost control of himself had been debilitating.  It was not something that he was willing to do again.

The alarm went off on his cell phone signaling that it was a quarter to midnight.  He swore under his breath.  He only had fifteen minutes to get the woman out of the club and still did not have any ideas on how to do it.  How had he wasted so much time just watching her?  The real trick was getting her away from her friends.  Several had already left but one small female was keeping an annoyingly close watch on her.  Everywhere that the woman went her friend was right by her side.  He commended the girl for her meticulous care but it was going to make his job much more difficult.

He pushed away from the wall.  No one jostled him as he moved slowly through the crowd, toward his target.  At six foot four he was not easy to miss and people gave him a wide berth.  Occasionally he felt a soft caress from a woman who dared to try to grab his attention but he ignored any pass that was sent his way.  He did not like to deal with anyone that he did not have to, and women tended to complicate even the most simple of situations.

Jerrit stopped a short distance away from the woman he was after.  He had hoped he would catch any attention, but his presence was immediately detected.  The small friend’s eyes grew wide when she saw him.  She whispered into his targets ear.  The woman in red and black giggled innocently.  Normally he would have been repulsed by the childish sound, but coming from her it was adorable.

The woman spun around suddenly to look at him.  Her beautiful brown eyes met his.  Time seemed to stand still as they stared at one another.  His senses went blank and his heart beat quickened.  A shiver ran down his spine.  Something strange passed between himself and the woman that he was sent after.

Her eyes suddenly unfocussed, breaking their connection, then rolled back into her head.  Jerrit moved quickly to catch her as she fell toward the floor in a faint.  He scooped her up to cradle her in his arms.  He commended her timing.  She had just given him a way to get her out of the club without suspicion.