"What?" I ask, confused.

Quinn looks around nervously, when he suddenly sighs.

"Sera, have you ever heard of werewolves?" He asks slowly.

"Uh, yeah. Why?"

What is going on? Is this a joke? A prank their pulling on me? I search all their faces for a hint of amusement, but the look in their eyes tells me otherwise.

"Well, they're real."

I look at him, slightly concerned for his mental health.

"Did you fall and hit your head?" I ask.

"No. I'm serious, Sera. They're real. I know because..."

"Because...?" I prompt after he stops.

"Because I'm one."

That's when I lose it. I start laughing. They're kidding, right? I look to see if anyone else is laughing, but when I see their serious faces, I sober up.

"Wait, you're not joking?"

"No, Angel. I'm half wolf, half human. Jace and Tyler are as well. In fact, this whole town is a werewolf pack, save for a few humans, such as Violet and yourself."

I stare at them in shock. Jace is a werewolf? My own brother? Tyler and almost everyone else too?

"Prove it," I demand.

I want to know the full truth. To see if this is a joke or not. Quinn nods, standing up from his chair by my bedside. He goes into my bathroom for a moment. When he comes out, it's not him, but a large black wolf. I gasp. It's the wolf that I met in the forest. He trots over to me, and hops onto my bed.

"Oh my goodness, you were the wolf I met in the forest! Whoa," I breathe.

This is incredible! Strange, maybe even a bit worrying, but still incredible! I hug him, burying my face into his fur.

"This is so cool!" I exclaim from within his fur, my voice coming out muffled.

I pull away, smiling. The wolf, or Quinn, I guess, licks my face. I fall back, giggling.

"That tickles!"

Jace grumbles from his place at the door, obviously not liking the attention I'm getting.

"Ahem, I think that's enough, Quinn. She gets it," Jace speaks up, scowling.

Quinn turns around on my bed and growls at Jace. I panic, starting to stroke his back.

"Hey, hey, hey, um, it's okay?" I say, trying to calm his wolf down.

It works apparently, because he stops growling, actually rolling over to give me access to his belly. I stroke his underside, smiling. I've always wanted a dog, but this is even better.

"Ha, looks like the big bad Alpha-to-be is actually a soft little puppy!" Tyler teases.

I giggle. Quinn stands up, giving me a lick on the cheek before going back into the bathroom. The real Quinn comes back out, grinning. He plops down on my bed, laying down next to my sitting form, his hands behind his back.

"So, any questions?" He asks me.

"You've been the wolf this whole time?" I ask in disbelief.

He nods, frowning slightly.

"Sorry I scared you that first time. I was just worried about you."

"It's okay. Um, sorry about venting about you guys to your wolf," I sheepishly apologize.

"We understand. You just wanted to know what was going on," Violet murmurs.

The door suddenly opens to reveal a man with graying hair, but you can still see how young he is by the youthful glint in his blue eyes. Jace and Tyler nod to him, muttering "Alpha Harris"s.

"Oh good, it seems Serafina is awake and well. Does she know of our... ah... conditions?" The man speaks, directing the last part to Quinn.

"Yes, she knows. Are you here to question her about the bloodsucker?" Quinn asks the man.

Bloodsucker? What's that? Is that like, a vampire or something?

"Um, Mr. Alpha, what's a 'bloodsucker'?" I ask the man, scrunching up my nose in confusion.

"Oh, it's what we call vampires. It's a derogatory term, as you can tell," he replies coolly.

My eyes widen, my mouth dropping open.

"Wait, vampires exist too?"

The man, or Alpha Harris, I guess, knits his brows together in confusion.

"Wait, did you not know that a vampire attacked you?" He asks.

"Uh, no, Alpha, she had no idea what Ryan was," Jace intervenes before I could answer.

"Oh, I see. Well, yes, vampires exist. As well as many other types of mythical beings."

"Oh. Like dragons?" I ask, curious now.

Alpha Harris chuckles.

"Yes, but they shift just as we do. We have a fairly strong alliance with them as well. Creatures like elves, faeries, and goblins also exist. We all have a humanoid from one way or another."

"Whoa, faeries?! Cool? What about mermaids?"

"Yes," he draws out, "to an extent. They're not like fairy tales. None of us are. They have a sub-species: sirens. Mermaids tend to be more peaceful, while Sirens tend to... disrupt the creatures of the world, all of them."

"Awesome," I breathe.

"So, Sera, about this Ryan character, what happened to you with him all those years ago?"

I shudder, my memory of that night flashing before me. When I reach the part where Ryan traps me and goes to my neck, I put my new found information to it, and realize something.

Ryan was sucking my blood, and almost killed me. When I nearly collapsed, I remember feeling drained, like how someone would after losing a lot of blood. And when I felt that sharp pain, it was when his teeth were in my neck.

I gasp in horror, realizing he almost took me back with him, probably to suck me dry. Tears start to form, but don't fall out of my eyes, and I curl into a ball at Quinn's side, shaking.

"Sera?! Angel, what is it?" Quinn asks, rubbing my back and pulling me closer.

"He-he almost t-t-took me," I mumble.

"Shh, shh, Baby, it's fine. I'm right here," he coos, trying to calm me down.

"Serafina, what is it?" Alpha Harris asks softly.

I uncurl myself, wiping away the tears in my eyes and capturing my shaky hands in one another.

"I was just remembering that night when Ryan bit me," I answer.

He nods.

"Would you mind sharing with us?" He asks softly.

"No, I don't m-mind."

I take a deep breath.

"We were in ninth grade. Ry had just turned fifteen," I start.

"Transformation age, when he becomes aware of his blood lust," Quinn mutters.

I nod, going to continue.

"It was that week when I started to notice something was up. His skin had gotten much paler, and his eyes had kind of darkened from their beautiful gray shade. I didn't think much of it before, I just thought he was going through something. Then he started getting more touchy: grabbing my hand randomly, holding me closer to him when we cuddled-" I get cut off when Quinn and Jace start growling.

Quinn tightens his grip on me, growling still.

"Why would you cuddle with another man?" He growls, though I can tell it's Hunter talking by the way Quinn's eyes are now gold.

"It didn't mean anything! We were best friends; we'd been doing that since we were toddlers!" I explain.

Quinn's eyes go back to blue and he nods, saying, "Oh."

"Yeah. Anyways, he would hold me closer when we cuddled, and he would sometimes caress my cheek all weirdly, but I payed no mind to any of it. I thought it was just Ryan being Ryan. But, then, he asked me to wait for him in the alley behind school. He had some sort of practice or something, he told me. I believed him, because Ryan never lied to me. When he came up to me, he grabbed my hand, and told me to stay, b-because he h-had something to show me," I say, my voice starting to crack and go higher as I went along.

Quinn rubs my back, trying to persuade me to continue.

"He suddenly... k-kissed me. I was in too much shock to do much than just try to push him away, but then he went to my n-neck," I say, feeling a lump in my throat.

I swallow and continue.

"I screamed at him, asking him what he was doing. He kissed it, then bit me. I didn't understand what was going on, so I stayed there, paralyzed, screaming at him to stop. He didn't, instead, enjoying my blood. He stopped, and I sunk to the floor, feeling drained and dead. He smiled at me, and whispered that awful promise he kept."

"What was it, Serafina?" Alpha Harris asks, seeming deep in concentration.

"'I'll see you soon, my dear'," I recite, whispering it. "And he did come back. He almost took me away last night."

"Hmm, it seems that the vampire is who we're looking for," Alpha Harris mutters.

"Huh?" Violet and I ask.

"Um, we have a major threat in our borders, and they're getting help from the vampires. In exchange... for you. So, it seems that, Ryan is working with them to get to you," Quinn explains.

That's right, my dear. I want you, and those idiotic 'threats' are helping me. I'll see you very soon, my darling, his voice seems to whisper in my head.

I scream suddenly, looking outside to see him staring at me, grinning, before he disappears, and my visions fades into nothingness.   

OMG THANK YOU FOR 800 VIEWS OR SO. AAAAAAAAHHHH I've been no joke giggling and squealing every time the view count goes up. LET'S MAKE IT TO 1K!!!!

Anyway! This gave me cringe attacks when I saw the last paragraphs. Blech. All well! I'm honestly surprised that so many people actually LIKE this book. I do too, of course, but I feel like I have more cringe moments than good. Then again, I've always been critical of myself and I think everything I do is cringe. Hehe

Comment, vote, and share plz!

-Mel