Midnight Moon

I padded silently into the clearing where Nira was holding the girl, only to find it empty. I caught the scent trail of the blonde, and followed it back to the cave I'd awoken in. I'd made it back to the camp, but why was it so quiet?

Something came running from the bushes, and rammed right into my uninjured side, causing me to topple over. I landed with a surprised and pained hiss, as the dagger was lodged deeper into my stomach. I looked at my attacker, only to find two golden eyes right in front of my face.

I hissed and moved my head back. The same leopard that scratched my arm was standing in front of me. I noticed how small the leopard was, compared to Damien this leopard was practically a baby.

I tried to push myself up, only to collapse back on my side. I winced slightly, and the small leopard stepped forward to help me. I growled, turning down its offer for help. I tried again to get up, and succeeded, wobbling slightly on my shaky legs.

The leopard lead me into the cave, and I immediately collapsed on the cold stone floor, finally feeling the pain of my wound. I then noticed that I had four extra sets of eyes on me, human eyes.

I struggled to stand again, feeling embarrassed that I'd showed weakness in front of these unknown people. The human I recognized as Logan walked up to me and put a hand on my back, urging me to lay down again, but I simply bared my teeth at him.

He got the message and backed off, raising his hands as he backed away. I plopped back down on the floor, panting slightly from the energy I used in my attempt to stand.

I then surveyed the people standing in front of me, not bothering to notice the leopard sitting to my right. There was only one girl, the blonde that I'd saved earlier. She seemed to notice my eyes on her, and glared at me.

The girl was standing next to Logan and a boy with black hair and grey eyes. The unknown boy's eyes showed that he was hiding something. He looked straight into my eyes and glared at me. His glare was more evil than the girl's, which was just the normal bitchy glare that I was used to.

My eyes finally drifted to the other black-haired boy, who had bright green eyes. Our eyes connected and I relaxed slightly, only to tense up once I realized what I was doing. The boy's eyes danced with happiness as he watched my every move, it was unusual to say the least.

The boy got a sharp elbow to his stomach and hissed, glaring at the blonde girl who supposedly elbowed him. I growled unexpectedly and stood up without hesitation. I bared my teeth at the girl, who looked as equally surprised as I felt.

I took a step toward the girl and winced noticeably. Everyone then seemed to notice the puddle of blood where I was standing. The leopard, Logan, and green-eyed boy made a move to help. I was too weak to protest, as I collapsed once again onto the floor.

I noticed my black fur sinking into my arm, and immediately wrapped my arms around my chest. I was shaking slightly, and a few seconds later I was back to my human form. Everyone except the green-eyed boy and Logan seemed surprised.

I could understand why Logan wouldn't be surprised, but why wasn't the green-eyed boy? Speaking of the boy, he noticed my nakedness, and immediately took his shirt off and draped it across me. He then picked me up carefully, and started walking towards the back of the cave.

"Jayden, go change. Logan, come with me," the boy said.

The leopard raced off into a side-tunnel in the cave, while the boy took me into a different side-tunnel. Logan followed, and the tunnel eventually turned into a smaller cave. The boy laid me down on the flat stone and immediately set to work.

He examined the wound, and told Logan to go get some bandages or something to stop the bleeding. He looked up at me and smiled slightly, before speaking.

"I'm going to pull the knife out on the count on three, okay?" he asked.

The boy they started counting up to three, before pulling the knife out quickly. I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes to stop from yelling out in pain. A pressure was applied to the wound, so I assumed that Logan had returned with the bandages. The pain died down a bit, allowing me to speak normally.

"Who are you?" I asked the boy in a whisper.

I looked up at him, and noticed the smirk on his face. He leaned down next to my face, and I immediately turned my head, thinking that he was about to kiss me. I couldn't say that I didn't want him to kiss me, but it would be unlike me to let him.

He chuckled softly, making me look back at him confused. We were nose to nose now that I'd turned my face, and I immediately turned it away again when I felt his breath hit my lips. A light blush spread over my cheeks and I closed my eyes feeling as if I was in heaven.

"Damien," a familiar voice whispered in my ear.

My eyes immediately popped open and I turned to face to him. He smiled slightly at my surprised face.

He then continued working on my wound, bandaging it with a long piece of cloth. His fingers barely brushed across my skin, making my stomach flip and my blush darken a little.

After he finished, I picked up the dagger and looked at it. There was a name inscribed on the blade.

"Nira," I whispered softly, and almost unbelievably.

Damien turned to me upon hearing my voice. He saw me looking at the dagger, and the anger was evident on his face.

"She's an evil, blood-sucking leech that kills for the fun of it. She lives in the mountains behind the forest, and constantly threatens us. Following her master's orders to kill with pleasure, she never regrets anything," he hissed.

"I've seen her in my dreams, but this was the first time I've actually met her," I replied.

"Well then, let's hope you don't get too acquainted, she isn't the nicest vampire around," Damien replied.

He got up, and extended his gloved hand to me. I took it, and he pulled me up slowly. He turned around to let me put on his shirt, which went down to the middle of my thighs. I put my pale hand on his bare shoulder to tell him I was done, only to receive a sharp shock when our skin met.

We both yelped, not expecting it, and I cradled my hand to my chest. We looked at each other, stunned. The rest of the people from before came racing in to see what was wrong, including a new guy with brown hair and brown eyes.