Leona had no idea where she was. Not even an inkling. It had been a week or so since the Cullens had left and she had spent most of that time bonding further with her coven mates, learning more things about herself, and of course with Caius. Speaking of the vampire, he was the one who had brought her to this place in the middle of nowhere. She was standing in a meadow surrounded by thin trees that rocked gently with the wind. The sun shone down on her, lighting up her pale, white hair in a white halo around her face.

"Why are we here again?" Leona asked, holding a hand up to keep her hair out of her face. Her eyes narrowed slightly when her mate walked back into view with someone else in his arms, the person looked like they were struggling against his hold but she couldn't be sure.

"You're going to feed, dearest!" Caius yelled over to her, fully aware that her hearing wasn't as good as the normal vampire and wouldn't hear him unless he yelled. "Since you've shown no signs of hunger since waking up I've taken it upon myself to make sure you don't starve!"

The female vampire shifted on her feet, making the leaves underneath her feet break under the light pressure. "I'm fine, Caius. I'm not starving, honestly." She protested when he brought the struggling man he was forcing over to her. The captive man shifted, bucked and flapped around his limbs wildly as he tried to get out of the grip he found himself in, but the hands that held him didn't even budge under his wildest and strongest push.

"We won't know that until you feed." Caius shot, staring down his nose at the man in his grip with a deep frown of distaste on his face. "Now come here, I'll show you how" His eyes beckoned her towards him and she hesitated before she slowly walked over to the struggling human and her immortal mate.

Leona walked closer until she stood right in front of them. She could feel the heavy panting of the human in front of her, the warm air brought goosebumps on her skin and a small shiver rushed through her. The vampire's pupils dilated and she tensed slightly in response to his adrenalin fueled fighting. The sigh excited her, it appealed to all her ancient vampire instincts that she thought were buried underneath all her disabilities. Her hearing focused on the rushing of the blood in his veins, the erratic beat of his heart and the frightened look on the man's face.

"Can you smell him?" Caius voice broke her trance and she snapped right out of the intense focusing she had on her soon-to-be victim. She looked up at his face and saw the intrigued and slightly hoping look in his eyes. Leona shook her head in response to his question, she still couldn't smell the human, or the blood inside of him, or her mate whose smell is supposed to be the best thing in the world.

"No matter, you don't need to smell him to drink" He waved off her lack of smell and instead forced the human to turn his head to the side, showing his fragile neck and all the visible, pulsing veins. Her mate licked his lips at the sight and she saw him slightly lean in but stopped himself and snapped his dark eyes to her. "Come, Leona."

She stepped around the human and pushed herself between the struggling male and her mate's chest. She traced the thickest of the visible veins but still her eyes didn't darken and the burning in her throat didn't flare up. Nothing felt different except for how compelling she found the sight, but she held no desire to eat the man.

"If you bite here you will get the most blood in the least amount of time" Caius instructed before grabbing her finger and guiding it to where he wanted her to make the initial bite. The vein there pulsed faster than the others and it was also the most bulging one.

As if hypnotized she stared at the vein and then brought her hands to rest on either side of the ideal biting spot. She hissed through her teeth and then leaned down to where she was barely touching his neck with her nose. Leona sniffed but stiffened when she realised she still couldn't smell him. There was a small part of her that hoped that she would be able to smell him if she got close enough but that wasn't the case.

"There you go" Caius cooed and stroked a hand down her head before resting it comfortingly on her hip.

She nodded before opening her mouth and gently leaned down even more until her teeth gently scraped against his fragile skin. The vampire wanted to bite him, she wanted to tear into his neck, but at the same time she had no desire to feed off him. With a last quiet hiss she bit him, her teeth slicing through the skin as if it was butter. Immediately blood flowed through the wound and into her mouth. The metallic taste tasted like the sweetest of nectar and flowed smoothly down her throat. It briefly put out the fire in her throat before it ignited a burning like she had never felt before. The longer she held onto the male the more her throat burned, it came to the point where it felt like her entire insides were on fire and her head was going to burst.

"It hurts!" She cried out after she pushed herself away from the man and into the strong arms of her vampire mate. Leona shook slightly from the pain that was still pulsing inside of her. "It hurts so much!"

Caius threw away the man he was still gripping and pulled Leona hard into his chest, his inner vampire roared at the sight of his mate in pain. His hands frantically touched her face as he repeatedly asked her what was hurting but to no avail. Her wails of pain grew louder until they almost painfully pierced his ears, though he held on to her just as hard as he did before her cries turned into wails.

It took about five minutes until the burning finally subsided and allowed her to breathe comfortably again. She gasped a few times before she found her voice again. "The burning in my throat. I thought you said it would feel good" Leona stared at him almost accusingly with one of her hands around her neck as if the motion soothed the pain inside of her.

"It does. I've never seen or heard of something like this happening." Caius defended himself and reached for her again after she stepped away from him. His normally perfect hair was tousled and messy from Leona's hysteria. "Let me try something and if it hurts you in anyway you tell me and I'll stop" His words were honest and soft as he whispered them in her ear.

She nodded mutedly and watched as he released his hold on her before walking over to the crawling human stiffly. Caius crouched down and in a blurred movement attached his teeth to the still bleeding wound. Leona stared at him as he gulped down the liquid that fed him. The sight mesmerized her and she couldn't tear her eyes away from him. He took a few more gulps of the sweet liquid before he stood up and brushed off his pants. The human now laid limp on the ground, his heart had stopped pumping and his body was empty of blood.

"What are you doing?" She asked when he walked towards her with his mouth closed and his cheeks puffed out. He shook his head in response and grabbed her by the shoulders. Caius leaned down and closed his eyes. "Hang on! You're not about to kiss me with all that in your mouth?"

His eyes snapped open and he stared right into hers widened ones. Caius shook his head and gently cupped her face before leaning in again. Leona stared at his mouth with conflicting emotions, on one hand she wanted to desperately kiss him, and on the other hand she didn't want any of that blood if it meant going through all that pain again.

His other hand came up to her mouth and gently, with almost no force, opened her mouth before his mouth met hers. She was too distracted by the sensation of the smooth, warm blood flowing down her throat again, to actually enjoy what could be considered their first kiss. She tensed up as she waited for the excruciating pain to hit her again but when all of the blood had flowed from his mouth and into hers and no pain had come she relaxed. The fire in her throat dimmed after she had swallowed all of the blood and her eyes shut at the sensation.

"Thank you" She whispered to him after she broke off the almost kiss that they shared. "No pain this time!" Leona added with excitement in her voice and a happy, relieved smile on her face.

Caius grinned at her and brought her in for a warm hug. "See, there's nothing wrong with you. Don't you already feel better? Stronger?"

Leona thought for a while before she answered her mate. "I feel stronger, and healthier. It's like I've been sick or asleep for a long time but now I'm healthy and awake. The burn in my throat is almost gone!" The vampire said, her voice happy and lighter than it had ever been before. Her body felt stronger and more alert than before, and some of that tired and drowsy feeling that had been weighing down her shoulders had let up.

"That gladdens me, my love." Caius responded and closed his eyes, his inner vampire purred, happy that he had made sure his mate was healthy and fed.