Aliens and Vampires

"No," before I could even turn around to leave, Maddox had cupped my face and was forcing me to look down into his golden eyes. "Echoxia, I'm not Maddox." My breath was coming in short gasps, but at the same time, I couldn't look away from the man. There was something in his eyes that made me forget about the other people in the room, made me forget everything except him.

"You are not Maddox." I whispered, that realization just now hitting me even though the man had already said that.

"No, I'm Edward." Those gold eyes narrowed in concentration and I could literally feel his presence in my head. "You have the most amazing mind." I didn't know what he meant by that but I couldn't seem to find the ability to ask. "May I?" One of Edward's hands left my face and took my right hand which had been curled into a fist.

I knew instantly what he meant and looked over at Alaivera who was standing a few feet away from me with a slightly shocked, mildy interested, and highly amused expression on her face. "Y-yes," I mummbled and relaxed my hand enough for Edward to take two fingers and place them at his temple.

Sick. Pain. Blonde man.

Woman. Sister. Not mate.

Man. Bear. Brother. Strong. Traitor.

Woman. Short. Annoying. Future.

War. Scared. Emotion. Man. Brother.

Girl. Love. Blind. Human. Smell. Gone.

Girl. Boy. Love. Imprint. Mate. Forever.

With a gasp I pulled my hand away from Edward's head and backed up until I was flat against the wall. "Echo?" My attention was drawn away from the strange man in front of me and I looked over at Alaivera who seemed to be mere moments away from tackling the bronze haired man.

"I am fine. Just a headache." I assured her, but it didn't have the effect that I wanted.

"What did you do to her?!" Alaivera had lifted the man off the ground by his throat before I had the chance to stop her. "Edward, tell me what you did to this girl or so help me, I'm going to disfigure that face Brandon likes so much.

"Alai!" A man with bright red hair gently laid a hand on Alaivera's shoulder and I watched as she softed her grip on the other man's neck. "She said she's fine. Now put my imprint down."

Nothing happened. She simply continued to stare at her captive in an extremely feline way that reminded me of my sister's hunting stare.

"Alai, just put him down. You can get him later, I give you permission." A short brunette woman appeared at Alai's other side and the blonde slowly lowered Edward, though he was still hoovering above the ground.

"MOM!"

"Damn!" Alai released her hold and the man fell the last inch to the ground, landing gracefully and immediately backing away from the blonde cougar shifter.

"Thanks, Al." The red head said sarcastically and wrapped his arms around his newly freed imprint.

"Thank the spawn," she mummbled and fell back onto the couch beside Jake who immediately threw his arm over her shoulders. "Good job pulling the "mom" card." Alaivera hissed jokingly at the three children standing to the side with their gazes focused on the scene happening before me.

Edward, the red head, and the female were hugging tightly and giving angry glares at the blonde woman who merely smiled and waved. "Come over here, Echo, and tell me how the vicious Edward hurt you." I thought I was unnoticeable up against the wall as I was, but apparently no one could hide from Alai.

"He did not harm me." I said honestly. "He simply resembles my.... friend. We did not end in other's good graces." That was the least complicated explanation and Edward seemed to know that, if his amused snort/scoff was anything to go by. "I apologize if I worried you."

"She's a heartless bitch, you didn't worry her. Trust me." The.... vampire said as he detangled himself from the two humans that smelled awfully canine.

"Language!" The woman eclaimed and jumped off the couch in order to cover a third of her children's ears with her hands. "Edward, how could you say such a thing in front of the spawn?" The man let out another snort and wrapped an arm around my waist in a friendly gesture.

"The red head is Brandon, the normal girl is Leah. They're my mates, go sit inbetween them." I looked over at the couch and noticed that the people Edward had mentioned were perched there and were having a heated debate with Alai who was trying unsuccessfully to shoo her kids out of the room while her husband just glared at me from his chair.

"Wait." I was pulled back as I tried to walk over to the pair and the vampire's mouth returned to my ear. "Alai's simply protective of you because you're like her. She's never met another cougar shifter besides her own kids and Jake doesn't trust you yet. That's why he's quiet. They're not usually like this, I promise." After speaking, the man gently pushed me in the direction of his mates and I hesitantly walked toward them, afraid that he'd change his mind again.

He didn't and I slowly approached the duo and sat down in the space between them, most likely reserved for the bronze haired man. The moment I was seated, the red head turned to me and smiled.

"Well 'ello darling, my name is Brandon. Pleasure to meet you it is." His hand was offered and I shook it, unsure if the tinge to his words was normal or if I was hearing things. Since no one else seemed to notice, I decided that it must have been just me.

"Yeah, and I'm Leah." I barely released the first hand before another was thrust in my direction. I shook that one as well and noticed that while the two people were introducing themselves, Edward had helped Alaivera herd her boys into a seperate room. Which meant thankfully they wouldn't be able to continue glaring at me all night. They could leave that to their father.

"Alright. The spawn are in their rooms. What I miss?"