I woke the next morning to what sounded like a monster truck being driven through the yard. I leapt out of bed and was instantly hit with the headache that comes from drinking most of a bottle of whiskey in the course of a couple of hours. Usually my system metabolizes alcohol too fast to feel anything, but fifteen shots and straight to bed will kick anyone's ass. I staggered to the window and, blinking in the sunlight, I saw a large truck with a trailer hitched to the back idling in front of the house. As I watched, a Hispanic man and woman left the back door of the house and hopped into the truck where Mickey was waiting in the front seat. When they were loaded up Mickey turned the truck toward the west and drove toward the orchards where other trucks were already headed. Just below my window, Remy and Lana were walking with a bucket of grain between them toward a chicken coup.

Remy looked happier than I'd seen her in ages. She and Lana were talking about something that I couldn't hear over roar of the trucks, but she was talking fast and excitedly. She threw her head back suddenly and laughed and I felt freaking chest about to explode at the sight. I'd never intended to stay here for more than the time it would take to drop off Lana, but seeing my kid look that happy about feeding chickens made me wish we could stay forever.

I threw on some clothes and made my slow way down the stairs. My head was still pounding when I reached the bottom and I felt ready to puke when the smells from the kitchen came down the hallway. Angela greeted me at the kitchen door, holding out a cup of black coffee for me.

"Morning," she said with irritating brightness. She led me to a chair and sat down beside me. Standing at the stove was Gloria. There was a large plate of bacon and toast on the counter next to her.

"Everyone's already eaten," she told me, as she scooped a spoonful of eggs onto the plate, "but you looked like you needed some extra sleep."

I gaped at her a second before I could find the words to respond. She set the plate in front of me with a smile then poured herself a cup of coffee and sat beside Angela.

I looked at the food then up at her, "Gloria, what do you turn into?"

She smiled into her cup and replied, "An angry Mexican grandmother. Why do you ask?"

"No normal human can drink like you did last night and be this alive the next day. How long did you sleep?"

"I didn't. That's the secret. Now eat up and go outside," she said with a pat on my arm, "you're helping with the apples in morning then training after lunch."

I took a small bite of toast to test my stomach. When I didn't feel like throwing up, I tried some eggs.

"Thanks for getting Remy up, by the way," I said in between mouthfuls.

"My pleasure," she said, then after a pause, added, "she likes Solana."

"Yeah, she doesn't get a lot of girl time."

"I can tell," she said taking a long sip of her coffee, "I think this place will be good for her."

I nodded, "I think so too. She comes from a big family. Lots of chaos, you know? It's been just me and her for so long. I wasn't sure she'd remembered how to be around so many people."

Angela smiled and swiped a piece of bacon from my plate, "I wouldn't worry about that. She's a freaking chatter box when you get her going."

Gloria gave her a hard stare, "Don't you have work to do?"

Angela's blue eyes turned to the older woman and she tried really hard to look innocent.

"Who, me?" she said with her mouth full.

"Go," Gloria commanded.

Angela popped the rest of the bacon in her mouth then went out the door.

When left alone, Gloria and I fell into an uncomfortable silence. She sipped her coffee, smiling sweetly every time I looked up from my plate.

I didn't know if I was supposed to say something about the night before. She'd bared a lot of her soul to me and even then, I didn't have the slightest clue what to say to her.

Maybe something along the lines of "You're awesome and Daniel is an asshole" would have been appropriate. Or, "It wasn't your fault." Because from what she told me, it wasn't.

Paolo's death had been a turning point in their relationship. More than that, it had been her way out.

The night that Paolo died, Daniel and Gloria were having a fight. This wasn't anything new. They'd been together for three years and it seemed like catastrophic fights were a weekly occurrence. Daniel couldn't seem to wrap his head around the fact that Gloria wasn't his subordinate and when he told her to do something, she wasn't obligated to listen. It frustrated him beyond belief. He'd tell her that he wasn't trying to be controlling, but that he simply knew what was best every time. In return, Gloria would tell him that she might not be a hunter, but she had cat blood in her veins and cats did whatever the hell they wanted. Usually, they would yell until they were hoarse and make up the next day but lately things had begun to escalate and this particular night, Gloria had threatened to leave him.

For the first time, Daniel had hit her. He hadn't meant to hurt her, but the thought of her walking away had brought a moment of blind rage and his hand seemed to have moved of its own accord. The force had knocked her to the ground but hadn't been enough to do any real damage to her face.

Their relationship however, was beyond repair.

Gloria stood, holding her cheek, told him, "Please go," then retreated to the other room and locked the door behind her. If he wanted to follow, the deadbolt wouldn't have kept him out; but he didn't pursue her.

When he returned the following morning, he'd told her that Paolo was dead. He and Paolo had been patrolling a park close to Galveston and found a house where a dozen vampires were living. While they waited for their back up to show, the vampires caught their scent and attacked. Paolo was ripped apart by six vampires before Daniel could do anything to help him. Seconds later, their backup showed and they took down the entire house.

Daniel explained all this, then told her that because he'd been so distracted by his fight with her, that Paolo's death was partly her fault. He then went on to tell her that from now on, she had to listen to him, to do whatever he told her, so that these horrible things wouldn't happen anymore and that he would protect her, support her, and keep her safe for the rest of her life.

She agreed to everything he said, then invited him in, and spent the day cleaning her house, cooking for him, and making love into the afternoon. When he was called away by the herd, she listened at the door as he rode away into the woods. The moment he was out of range, she called a cab, packed her clothes, went to the airport, and hopped a plane to Chicago, praying to god that she would never have to come back. Being from a family of hunters, she knew that chances were he would either come after her, or the shock of her leaving would be enough to kill him. She wasn't proud of it, but part of her hoped for the latter.

Two years after arriving in Chicago, she married a business owner and had three kids. She'd never intended to come back to Houston but when her father died of emphysema, she inherited the family estate, then the next year, her husband was struck by a car and died on impact. Gloria sold her husband's share of the business, took her settlement money, and went back to the house where she grew up.

Daniel waited a few days before coming to see her and when he did, there was no talk of their past and no demands on her. Her daughter Chastity was still dealing with her first change and he offered to take her back to his herd and help her develop her new skill set. Gloria refused, which only made Daniel want it more. He tried everything he could think of to convince her, and in the end, she had to throw a lamp at him to get her point across.

He ducked the lamp and raced toward her, grabbing her wrist before she could throw anything else. Gloria yelled in terror, throwing her free arm protectively across her face. When he saw her reaction, he let go of her, took a big step back and put his hand ups, showing her his flat palms as sign of peace. He wasn't there to fight with her and terrorizing her was getting him nowhere. He sat at her kitchen table and pulled out a chair for her, but she took a knife from one of her kitchen drawers and remained standing, keeping the edge pointed at him.

She asked him how he'd survived their separation. He told her that it had been painful. A part of his soul felt like it was being ripped out and for weeks, he could barely leave his bed, and almost lost his position as the lead male. One of the oldest of the herd, one who had stopped changing when she lost her own imprint came to him and gave him an herbal mixture that numbed his body and his brain. It kept him from wanting to find Gloria and it kept him from wishing for his own death. For days, he would simply exist, not dreaming or wanting or hoping, just being alive, continuing to take the next breath and swallowing any food or drink that was poured into his mouth. When they weaned him off of the mixture and he started to come back to reality, the elder began to teach him how to change his thought process to incorporate the loss of the woman he was meant to be with. He had to meditate on living a life without her, accept that she would not come back, and accept the fact that it was his fault that she was gone. The hardest part was realizing that it was a good thing that they weren't together. She was better off and he could concentrate on what was best for the herd.

When all of that came together, he was able to willingly breathe again, never as easy as before he'd met Gloria, but he would live and he could lead his people. The imprint was still there, but for the first time in his life he had some measure of control of it. He'd married Adriana just before Gloria had come back to Houston and he'd been a good and faithful husband to her but it was obvious that despite being alive, he was not happy. Gloria was relatively sure that, even with her, he had never really been happy in the first place. Because instinct wasn't happiness, nature wasn't happiness, and being forced into loving someone, sure as hell wasn't happiness.

When Gloria had finished her story, she'd gone on (very drunkenly) to complain about the Caballos and eventually, men in general. I tried to apologize on behalf of Y-chromosomes everywhere, but by then she was pretty riled up on tequila and didn't want to hear it. That was about when I realized that I'd had too much myself and stumbled up to bed.

I kept glancing at her as I ate my breakfast, still thinking I should say something. Before I could, she rose from her seat, kissed my cheek in a motherly way, and said, "I think it's time I got some sleep. I'll see you at dinner."

A few minutes later, I was standing outside in the sun, feeling the brisk air on my skin. Despite the rain from the night before, the sky was clear and blue. In the distance, all of the other hunters were gathered in a huge apple orchard. Not far away, Remy and Lana were coming from the barn, laughing about something, still carrying the bucket between them. I lifted up Remy when she got close enough and kissed her on the cheek.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

She suppressed a giggle in her hand and whispered in my ear, "The pigs were breeding."

Then her face turned bright red and she giggled again.

"Well," I said, matter-of-factly, "There's a conversation I wasn't ready to have with you yet."

Lana, who was putting the bucket away in the shed by the house said, "Already taken care of."

"Thanks?"

She smiled and shut the shed door, then joined us. She looked up at Remy, "Why don't you run out and help them with the apples. There's some other kids over there who'd love to meet you."

Remy squirmed til I put her down and she ran full speed off to the orchard. When she was gone, Lana threw her hands up in defense, "I swear, I had no idea. I never would have taken her back there if I knew there were pigs doing it."

"How'd she take it?" I asked carefully.

Lana shrugged, "She's a kid. She laughed herself stupid."

We headed toward the trees where Remy was already talking to half a dozen kids that looked close to her age.

"Who are they?" I asked

"The two boys there are Joseph and Abel. They belong to Ricardo and Lupe, who work here with tia when there are no hunters around. The skinny one there is James' son, Evan. Whenever the coyotes are here, they bring Evan."

"He's not a hunter?"

"Not yet, but James is hopeful. The girl with the pigtails is Myra and she belongs to Hannah." She pointed out Hannah who I was pretty sure was a rattlesnake from Elko, NV. Myra was only about four, the youngest in the group. Lana the pointed to the two oldest, "And the other two are Nathan and Brynn. They're my cousin's kids."

"Where's your cousin?"

Lana frowned, "Tia says she's in New York for the time being. She met some singer while he was here playing a concert and when he went back home, she went with him. She's been there for over a month."

"That's a long time to be away from her kids."

"Yeah, it's not like her. I have two other cousins. Twins. They live in Dallas where they can pretend the rest of us don't exist." She said it bitterly and didn't elaborate.

As we got closer, I could see James and Hannah watching as their children played with Remy. Mickey was able to pull James' focus back to his work, but Hannah look genuinely concerned. I almost yelled something at her, but Lana stopped me.

"Give her time, Jacob. This is an adjustment for all of them."

I stopped, "They act like she's dangerous."

She faced me, "In their defense, they don't know that she's not dangerous and now she's around their kids. What would you do?"

"Then why did you send her over there?"

Lana looked back over toward the trees and smiled, "That's why."

Remy and Brynn were sitting under Hannah's apple tree. Brynn was teaching Remy some sort of clapping game while Myra looked on, mesmerized by the rhythm of their hands slapping together. Hannah gave them an uncertain smile then went back to picking apples.

"They're all in the same boat," Lana told me, still looking at the kids, "They come into this life and get stuck in it. Most of them never see the inside of a public school because their parents are so worried about what will happen when they finally change. They need all the friends they can get."

"What about you?"

She shook her head, "My mom thought she could run from this. She was convinced that if we left Houston, Antonio and I could live normal lives. She never changed, neither did Gloria, and she thought maybe we wouldn't either if we could get away. She didn't know that it had nothing to do with Houston. Eventually vampires came to Socorro. I was sixteen."

Her voice was hard and as she looked at the children, I could see that they were something she had looked forward to in life. Now that she was hunting vampires, having kids was a dream that she'd given up on.

"How did your cousin end up with two kids?" I asked.

A humorless laugh came out of her, "She had Nathan right before she turned sixteen and Brynn, about two years later."

"Damn," I said with a slight shudder. I'd taken on a lot at a young age, but two kids before a eighteen was too much.

"Yeah, she thought she could fight it off too, but the second she got here," Lana snapped for emphasis.

"Is that why you got married so young?"

She looked back at me and nodded, "I thought that if I could pop out a kid it would stop. You gotta understand, I was terrified when this first started. I had no control and no help. Until Antonio changed, it was just me. "

She started walking again and continued, "But as hard as we tried, we couldn't get pregnant and after the first five years or so, I just resigned myself to the life. I was gonna kill vampires and that'd be it."

"Until?"

"Until about a couple years later when I realized that I wasn't aging at all. My hair and fingernails kept growing, but my face hadn't changed and I still looked like a teenager. There's only so much you can attribute to good genes, you know? I knew eventually, they'd figure it out, so I was just planning my escape when I got caught. After I met you on the street, he got really suspicious and followed me out that night while I was hunting."

"What did he think?"

"That I was a demon from hell."

"Gotta love that strict Catholic upbringing."

"Yeah," she said flatly, "I was about to go anyway. You coming along just gave me the push I needed."

We approached the tree that the kids were playing under and Lana called, "Off your butts, guys. Let's get some apples."

They went to the pile of buckets, each raised one over their head and they ran for the trees to help. Remy scaled a trunk and threw apples down to Evan and Nathan. Brynn was hallway up another tree with Abel while Joseph handed them buckets.

"Apples, huh?" I asked

Lana grabbed a bucket and handed me one, "This is how we pay Gloria back for taking us all in."

We were out there until almost three in the afternoon going from tree to tree. The expanse of the orchard was over an acre in size and we didn't even cover a quarter of it by the time we were done. Apparently this was a daily routine for anyone who stayed with Gloria. Sometimes it was harvesting grapes from the vineyard, or bottling jams to sell at the farmer's market, but this time of year, we were picking apples. By the time lunch was called it seemed like a small price to pay for her hospitality. It was a fun in the trees. Remy was bouncing from branch to branch and could clear a tree in a matter of minutes. I could hear raunchy conversations taking place by people hidden behind thick leaves while buckets piled up beneath all the way up until the bell rang, calling us in.

After scarfing down some leftover chicken and rolls, we headed down into the woods to the training grounds, while the kids stayed inside to roll out cookies with Lupe. Gloria was still asleep.

We walked together for the first mile, then parts of the group broke off. The coyotes went their own direction. The cranes followed with Angela and a few minutes later, I could see three oversized birds flying through the sky towards a spot in the distance.

Lana and Hannah chatted at my side and lead me to the clearing where we would be training. The weather was drier, but it felt good to be immersed in pine trees again. It had been awhile. I soaked up the smell of the pine and the sounds of the birds. The trees were far enough apart that there was no canopy so I could feel the sun on my face. We weren't following any sort of marked path but everyone knew exactly where they were going…you know, except me. We walked for another mile before we stopped at the stream that ran through the property. The coverage here was heavier than the edges of the forest and the sun only came through when there was a breeze.

The man from the night before- the wolverine- was waiting for us. It hadn't occurred to me that this was the first time I'd seen him all day. He hadn't been with us in the orchard or at lunch. The smell of blood lingered on him, making me think that he'd been hunting for his meals. He was staring up at the tree branches like he wanted to rip them down. When the rest had gathered, he nodded a greeting to me, but his face remained in a constant scowl. Angela and her crane friends were perched on a nearby tree limb, watching the action from above. Scattered all around the space were clothes; dresses, shorts, and shirts to be thrown on at any given moment. The bird chicks seemed to be eying some pieces from their branch.

The wolverine stepped up to me and stood about five feet away. He apologized stiffly for his behavior the night before, but didn't look too sympathetic. I was more glad than ever that Remy was back at the house with Gloria. A redheaded guy called the wolverine over to him.

"Give him a break, Chuck," said the ginger, "It's his first time here."

"First up," called a voice behind me, "James, get in there with Angela!"

James shuffled out of his clothes while Angela landed in the middle of the clearing. When he'd changed forms, he was a grey coyote the size of a timber wolf. He joined her in the clearing, someone yelled "go" and they began to fight. Angela's talon raked across James's skin and his jaws fought for a hold on her wings. When he grabbed her, he shook her for a minute then threw her off into the woods. He was on her before she could get back to the "ring." In a flash, her claws had slashed up into his face, taking the sight from his right eye. Seconds later, they were both back into the fight. Blood poured onto the ground from their cuts, but neither backed down for a second.

Lana stood beside me as I watched in disbelief.

"They'll be fine," she assured me when she saw the expression on my face, "Give it an hour and they'll both be back to their beautiful selves."

"It's not that," I said, still looking at the fight, "What the hell are they doing?"

"Something wrong with the way we spar?" asked Chuck.

"Yeah," I told him flatly, "You're doing it wrong."

Chuck started to turn purple in the face. Lana let out a burst of laughter at him, "Chuck, if you don't like it, you better get in there and show him how it's done."

Chuck got my face, "You and me are next."

I nodded once to him, "It's on, big guy."

Angela and James finished up their match and the floor was cleared.

"James," said Fred, "You're the winner. Do you want a new challenger?"

James was laying down next to Mickey who was checking on his brother's wounds. He turned back and shook his head.

"Then next-"

"Next is me!" called Chuck, "Me and wolf boy here are gonna have a go."

He leaned in close, "Don't hold back."

"Don't have to."

Chuck headed toward the woods to drop his clothes. I walked to the center of the ring and waited. The rest of the group was staring at me, confused until Chuck returned to the ring as a rather large wolverine. Then they realized that I wasn't going to phase. Then they were laughing.

"You sure about this?" called Lana.

I threw her a thumbs up, "Yep."

"Okay," she said doubtfully, "Annnnnnd go!"

Chuck charged. He only came up to my waist, but it was enough to knock me down. I hit the ground and when he came up my body to rip my face off, I got a leg under him and used the leverage to launch him across the ring. He landed on his back and instantly bounced to his feet, ready to attack again. He charged again and this time, I jumped over him. I rolled, took hold of his back legs and used the momentum of my roll to throw him into a trunk on the other side of the clearing. This time as he tried to reorient himself, I leaped up into the tree he'd crashed into and came down on him from above. He was ready this time and threw me off of him, then tried again for my face. I took him by the snout and shoved his head into the ground, putting him on his side like a dog. He struggled and snarled, but I was able to get on top of him and pin him down.

"Call it!" I yelled to Lana, then staring Chuck down, I said quietly, "I win, douchebag. I told you, you're doing it wrong. If you can't get out of this hold, a vampire will tear you apart."

Chuck didn't hear me. He continued to try to get out from under me, refusing to acknowledge that he'd been beaten.

"Hit him" Lana called, "The only way to win is to knock him out."

I pulled my fist back, but stopped at the last second. Instead, I leaned back down and repeated, "I win. And if you ever threaten my kid again, I'm gonna tear your fucking legs off. "

Then I hit him. Not too hard, just enough to get away from him without being attacked. I headed back toward the outer edges of the ring and was about to say something both witty and smart when I heard Chuck's footsteps coming up behind me. He was still on all fours and thought he was about to get the jump on me. I turned, ready to defend myself only to find I didn't have to. Mickey and James were wrestling the wolverine to the ground. James was back to his human form and had Chuck in a headlock.

"You're done," he yelled as he was swung around, "You're done, man."

Chuck was able to get James off of his neck, but Mickey had him from behind and pulled him back by the legs saying, "He beat you, Chucky. Back off."

Mickey had to get him almost to the woods before Chuck relented. He phased, threw on a pair of shorts, then sat at the edge of the ring, taking deep breaths and trying to calm himself down. I'd expected him to storm off again, but he just sat there and watched the rest of the matches.

"You going again, Jacob?" asked Lana.

I shook my head and joined the crowd. Most of the hunters looked confused, as if fighting in their human form had never occurred to them. None of them spoke to me after, but every time I turned my head I could catch one or another of them looking at me. After another three hours of matches, everyone gathered around. The two crane women and Angela entered the clearing in their human forms.

"What was that about?" Hannah asked as we walked back inside, "We never fight that way."

"Why not?" I asked.

She shrugged as she hadn't really thought about it before, "We're stronger as animals. It lets us use our natural abilities and that's what we're trying to strengthen."

I shrugged, "You guys are training to fight vampires, right? They don't have other forms. They fight like humans do. Why the hell would you practice on each other while you're phased?"

"This is how we've always done it," said Fred, stepping up from behind, "We don't have vampires to practice on. How are we supposed to know?"

Suddenly, everyone's eyes were on me and I kept hearing Daniel, telling me that I was gonna have to take charge out here. I didn't want it, but it didn't look like I had a choice.

"What do you suggest?" asked Chuck, asked walking far behind.

I turned back to him and found that all fourteen hunters had fallen back and every eye was on me. I stopped and they did too.

"I suggest that you stop with tradition and deal with reality," I turned to the taller of the crane women, "What's your name?"

Back in the clearing, she'd thrown on a tank top along with a pair of sweats that cut off high on her legs. She looked at me, appalled that I didn't already know who she was, sticking out her chest as she did. Even though she looked pissed, I think she was trying to flirt or something. She didn't have any feathers to flair out, so I think she was trying to make due. Thank god she was wearing clothes.

"Rosie," she sneered.

"How big is your flock, Rosie?"

Something flashed in her eyes and her demeanor changed almost instantly.

"Seventeen," she said staring hard at me.

I stared right back, "How often do you lose a bird?"

She quickly lost her attitude when I asked this. Her face crumbled and it looked like she was going to cry. The other crane, after telling me her name was Meryl, grabbed Rosie's shoulder to steady her then turned to me.

"There are seventeen of us right now. We just lost six in a raid last weekend."

"Six?" I asked loudly. In fact, I almost yelled it, "You lost six people in one night?"

Rosie dissolved at this point and now Meryl was glaring at me, "This is the reality. In a few months, our numbers will be back up."

"And then what?" I pushed, gaining dirty looks from the rest of them. So, I turned to all of them, "You put up with this? You lose your families and your solution is to throw more people into this mess? Mickey, what about you?"

Mickey grinned at me, "Cranes are notorious for frequent changes in leadership. I've been in charge of my pack for eight years and we've only lost two since then."

I nodded to the redheaded guy, "And you?"

"Kevin," he said with a wave of his hand, "American bison. Our herd's got about twenty two. We lose one every few weeks."

"Doesn't that freak you out?" I asked, in complete disbelief, "I mean if you lose one of your people every few weeks, doesn't that kill you?"

"We get a new one-"

I cut him off, "Fuck that! These are people- your people, not buffalo."

"Bison," he corrected me.

"Whatever!" I barked finally matching my voice's volume to my rising frustration, "They're human beings and they die because you guys don't know what the fuck you're doing."

"What the hell do you know?" asked Chuck from his spot, "Your pack's dead too right?"

I felt my hands curl into fists. I was really getting sick of people reminding me of that.

"How about you, Chuck?" I spat at him, "How many friends have you lost?"

He pushed through the group and stepped up to me, "None."

"None? Ever?"

He gave a bitter grin, "It's one of the few joys of being a solitary hunter. Wolverines don't live in groups. No pack, no annoying voices buzzing in my head. I got no one to look out for but me."

"Sounds lonely," I said.

"Sounds great," said someone to my left.

I was surprised to find that the voice was Angela's. She was still bruised from the fight and a cut over her eye was closing up as I watched. She didn't elaborate, but her stare was hard and cold.

"If you have a better way, then show us," she said.

Kevin suddenly tried to walk past me, "Sorry, dude. Just because you got lucky once, doesn't mean you can criticize centuries of training."

I stepped in front of and shoved him back into the crowd, "You wanna see how lucky I am?"

"Whoa!" Hannah yelled, stepping in between us, "Save the macho bullshit, guys."

She shoved Kevin ahead and followed him to the house. Soon they had all past except for Angela. She cocked her head thoughtfully, then gave me a half smile.

She came up to me, giving a look around my middle to make sure everyone was facing the opposite way.

"That aint gonna make your point."

That being said, she took hold of my hand, swung it quickly and smacked herself in the face with it. She yelled loudly and fell down.

It took me a second to realize what had just happened, and it wasn't until the others were storming back that I figured out why.

"What the fuck, man?" Mickey yelled.

I went to Angela to help her up, not really feeling up to getting my ass kicked. When I reached down for her, she grabbed my hands, and pulled my face close to hers.

"You wanna get their attention, you better fight hard."

And with that, she slammed her head into mine, sending me back into the ground. I was down for a few seconds. That shit hurt.

Mickey was close to me by now, but Angela yelled at him, "Back up, Mick!" with such ferocity that he stopped dead in his tracks.

She literally took hold of my hands and balled them into fists for me, "Don't hold back or they'll kill you."

She threw her fist into my stomach and I hunched over her hand. She hit hard. I took her arm and lifted her into the air, dropping her with my leg bent below her so that when she fell the short distance, her back hit and cracked. She grunted on the impact, then swung her legs over her head to get some distance before kicking up towards my face. I blocked the kick, then ducked the punch that came directly afterwards. Then the next. Then the one after that.

She was good. It was obvious that she'd had martial arts training, so every movement was completely controlled. Whenever I caught a glimpse of her eyes, I could see the focus in them. There was no doubt in her mind that she would win this fight.

In between blocking, I was able to get a hit in hard enough to stop her fists for a moment. Just long enough to shove my shoulder into her solar plexus, getting her back on the ground and knocking the wind out of her.

I tried to get ahold of her hands to stop their flailing and I straddled her, but she was too fast. A quick fist went into my nuts and I was down beside her. The second I was off, she laughed.

"You'll never take me down. I can fly."

And with that, she phased and began to flap away.

I swallowed the pain and tackled her before she could get off the ground.

"Yeah?" I asked, "What do you do when you can't fly?"

I grabbed her wing and wrenched it backwards, popping it out of the socket. With a scream, Angela phased and fell to the forest floor beside me. I still had hold of her arm and I twisted it behind her She yelled louder.

"How do you get out of this?" I asked her, but she didn't answer. She only sobbed and looked at the ground.

I looked to rest of the crowd and they were horrified. I threw the same question to them.

"How do you get out of this?"

No one answered. A couple of them looked like they were ready to kill me, but no one made a move.

"That's some damn dirty fighting," Kevin said, finally breaking the speechlessness. Everyone else seemed to come to their senses and mumbled their agreement.

I let go of Angela's arm.

"Guess what, kids: vampires fight dirty and so should you," I yelled at them, "You think even one of them is gonna give you a fair fight? They aim to kill you and they will do anything possible to win. You let up on them even the slightest bit and you won't see tomorrow."

I left Angela's side and shoved my way through the crowd. The moment I was through, I heard her call, "So tomorrow then?"

I turned back. Lana and Rosie were helping Angela to her feet, but she wasn't looking at them. She was staring dead into my eyes and asking for a rematch.

"Tomorrow," I told her.

Remy and I ended up staying for a week longer than we meant to and by the time we drove away, most of the hunters were training alongside Angela.

For the next three years I came back to Gloria's estate where once a week, I stayed the night, helped out in the fields, orchards, or production lines, and I taught hunters, new and old, how to do their jobs better.

And they taught me quite a bit in return.