Springside, Washington

Sarina looked at Ian. She wasn't sure what she should do about this whole thing. She surely couldn't keep it up. She had chores to do.

Sarina yawned, now remembering the reason she had went to her room in the first place. She wanted to sleep. She rubbed her eyes, looking around his room for a minute. It was a lot nicer than hers. More stuff. Bigger.

The girl came closer to him and closed her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder. If he didn't want her to fall asleep, he could just order her to her room. "I'm tired.." she mumbled before falling silent.

"I know, it's hard to grasp. And unless he changes his mind or something later, I know it is the truth." Ace shrugged. "And yes, it is pretty expectant of him to want bitches fighting over him. That would just absolutely make his day."

He felt someone approaching, their pulse sending him signals through the ground and he glanced at the Vampire approaching them. She said something he could not understand and looked at her curiously. She was up in a tree and that was also very interesting.

He raised a brow when Oren's idea became reality and she began throwing small nuts towards them, he watched the acorns then looked back up at Jadis who had hopped out of the tree and headed towards them.

Her hair was nearly white, it seemed and her eyes were mesmirizing. He chuckled when she mentioned a messenger. He always had found that job to be quite pointless in a team. Her smug face made him wonder why she was so full of herself. He wasn't sure if he was going to take her hand but decided it was rude not to and shook it.

"You can call me Parker."

. . . . .

Ian wrapped an arm around her and hugged her close. He smiled and got himself into a comfortable position as well.

"You can sleep if you want. I think I will take a nap with you, actually." He yawned and ran a hand through his hair before letting his eyes close and he drifted off to sleep.

Alex followed Jenson into the kitchen and leaned on the counter behind her, watching her cook and thinking of the vampires that had gotten past them. He sort of blamed himself, seeing as how he assumed the vampires would take a less direct route to their food source instead of simply crossing the territorial border, he had traveled parallel to the border, thinking to catch them going around and sneaking in somewhere less obvious. Either he had overestimated vampire strategy, or they were getting desperate for a meal if they came in so close to the Werewolf home, but nonetheless, Alex felt like a fool for completely missing them, and he wouldn't have even known they came in if not for picking up Jenson's scent as she traveled to her signature tree at the edge of the territory.
Never again, next time we'll catch them and tear them apart. he thought to himself.
Alex's thought was broken by the smell of hamburger meat cooking, followed by his stomach growling.
He leaned over Jenson's shoulder.
"What're you making, Jen?", he asked.

"Yeah. A vampire in a tree throwing acorns was just what it was like." Oren muttered sarcastically, dusting her shoulder off with one gloved hand.

"Anyway regardless of your tenuous grasp on history and geography, I'll clear a few things up. I just took my post back at the castle, which makes me Ian's first lieutenant. In effect, the second in command. I think you should probably know this because you're going to be answering to me if Ian is indisposed, away, incapacitated or in bed with one of his numerous concubines. Just thought we should probably clear that up before we go any further."

She neglected to accept the handshake, tugging at a fraying thread on her own gloves for a moment.
"I don't do handshakes."

Jenson could feel Alexander right behind her and it didn't bother her to have her personal space violated. She continued stirring, keeping the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Once they were cooked all the way through she drained them in a strainer and replaced them back into the pot, pouring the cooked meat in as well.

With the spoon that she had she made the pieces of hamburger smaller and not huge chunks. She poured the tomato sauce into the concoction and began stirring again.

She went to where she had set the bread on the counter and set the pieces on a metal tray then inserted them into the already hot oven.

"I am making my mothers recipe for spaghetti. Acecept I am not as good at cooking as her so I just bought pre-made tomato sauce. I also have garlic bread in the oven." She smiled and went back over to the pot throwing in different spices to add flavoring and then hopped up on the island and waited for the food to be prepared. It would take time for the flavors to mix together and for the bread to cook all the way.

"You do not need to blame yourself for what happened earlier. They are getting sneakier, and Hayley's powers are useful to them." She sighed and held her head.

Sarina was really sleepy, she knew that. But she couldn't will herself to sleep. She kept her eyes closed, and sort of just stayed there as if asleep, but her mind was far from being asleep. Memories of being human were going through her head. Going horse back riding with Lily, her old friend. Her mom then told her to set the table as soon as she got home. Sarina had obeyed like usual. When dinner was set, the family all sat down. All but her. Moms knew boyfriend had came to dinner and there was no more chairs. Only for her mom, her guest, and her brother. Her mom had waved at her to go away and then had gone back to talking to the man who was sitting in her spot. Sarina's spot. Sarina had left the house in a hurry, to mad to be in the same house as her mom. When she finally came back, she found her house empty except for her mother lying dead on the floor, with a vampire standing over her. Turns out her mom was half vampire, and was the reason she worked a night shift and made Sarina do chores. Sarina had very little of there blood in her, so nothing harmed her that harmed vampires. All it took was a simple bite for her to change.
Sarina's thoughts changed again, she didn't know how what happened was possible anymore, but she didn't question it. Finally, Sarina fell asleep.

Ian wasn't able to stay asleep for too long, the drugs infecting his sleeping habits. He lifted his head and peeked out of the window. There were dark clouds covering the sun and he was thanful that he lived in Washington. It rained often so it was almost always dark even during the day.

He gazed around his room and found a bottle of vodka that was nearly full and opened the top, letting the burning liquid fall down his throat like it was ice water. He drank more then anyone he had ever met and next to him, Hayley was the only one who could compete with his drinking habits.

He rummaged around his room looking for his swim trunks and replaced his pants with them. He pulled the black shorts up to his waist and reminded himself that he should maybe replace his wings if he were going outside.

He wanted to bring Sarina with him, but he wanted her to rest. He gazed at her peaceful stature and smiled then went downstairs. When he opened the door he ran quickly to the back and dived into the hot water. He did a few backstrokes and sighed in content, putting his hands behind his head. He wondered where Ace had gone off to and if he had finally gotten Oren and scored. He would be surprised on her part and he still couldn't wrap around the mere idea of even why his cousin would be interested in the prude, bitchy woman in the first place.

. . . . .

Hayley had been laying in bed, not finding much to do but flip through some magazines that she had already read. It was getting old and she was somewhat craving company. She thought back to the days when Jackson had been around and she got a bit depressed.

She missed having him, the two were like partners in crime together. She loved getting fucked up with him and finding crazy ways to spend their sex life, but now she felt like a cat in heat. She needed some sort of action. She thought for a moment then went across the room and pulled her cell phone out of one of the pockets of a different pair of pants and scrolled through the contacts names before finding an old friend. She sent him a text that she was coming over and then after closing the device, hurried out the door, putting her forcefield up even blocked the sunlight so she was set.

She went into town and found his apartment and went inside without knocking. She would be out by the evening.

Sarina stirred in her sleep. Her dreams weren't very kind to her, but she was so used to it that they seemed normal. In her dream her dead mother had chased her through the woods. When she finally caught her, her mother had threw her into a tree. Sarina's mother looked horrible. Her flesh was rotting, and mouth was a gape, giving clear view of the yellow chipped teeth. Sarina whimpered as her mom came closer. Soon she was covered in her mothers shadow and could see nothing but her mother. Then nothing.

Sarina yawned and sat up. She smiled as she stretched out. She felt so at peace for no reason at all. When she finally remembered before she had fallen asleep, she realized she was still in Ians room.

Realizing he was gone, she crawled off his bed and stood looking around his room. She had a strange urge to look around, but decided that'd be strange so she left the room.

Once out of his room, Sarina walked to her room and went into the loft, closing the door behind her. If anyone was looking for her, they wouldn't find her easily.

Alex smirked, completely forgetting that Jenson could read minds.
"And you don't need to blame yourself either", Alex said as he walked over to the pantry and opened it, gabbing a tall, rectangular bottle of a dark amber liquid, then went to a cabinet and grabbed two short, round glasses. He poured the Italian liquor into both glasses, filling them up half way, and slowly drank his, and sighed as he felt the sweet, warm liquor heat up his stomach.
Alex then looked out the kitchen's window at the grey clouds covering the suns rays, then he looked back to Jenson.
"So....", he said as he gently slid the glass of dark amber liquid across the counter to the Alphess. "Have you found an Alpha yet?", he asked, staring intently at his glass as he poured more of the drink into it.

Jenson gladly took the drink even though she wasn't one to drink much, she still enjoyed it on occasions. She wasn't planning on turning into another family alcoholic.

She took a sip and wanted to cringe. She remembered why she kept this to a minimum, but at least it wasn't as bad as it could have been. She had tasted much worse liquor in her long lifetime.

Even though she could hear what he was thinking, she still wasn't truly expecting his question. She sighed and shook her head, she hadn't had any luck at all.

"I don't think guys are into me...Maybe they think I am a workaholic or maybe I'm just not the loveable type. Hell..." She thought for a moment, not really wanting to say it because it sounded somewhat conceided to her. "They could be intinmidated or they just aren't attracted. Fuck if I know." She shook the glass watching the liquid start a small whirlpool. She got lost in it.

It sent her back into the past. Her old love. Her only love. Reid. She thought about how exciting she had been for the wedding. They were madly in love and had been counting down the days ever since they had finally decided on a date. He had left the morning two days before the wedding and had said that he needed to run a few errands. When she got a knock at the door she had been expecting another person to give them a wedding gift or another family member that had finally gotten into town. Instead she had found her fiance dead and the image of Hayley running away laughing with Ian.

She brought herself back to the present and shut her eyes tight, forcing the tears to not fall.
"Guys don't ever seem to work for me anyway. I think I am meant to be single."

Way to go Alex, you're a fucking idiot, he thought to himself realizing what he had just done, but so caught up in his current self-loathing that he was completely oblivious to the fact that Jenson could hear his mental reprimanding. He shut his eyes and downed the liquor in one large gulp and poured another one.
You went and made her upset, ruining any chance you may hav--- he opened his eyes and his body went rigid, finally realizing that he had begun to spill his feelings unintentionally.
"I'm sorry", Alex said quietly, then quickly grabbed the liquor bottle and headed for the kitchen door.

Sarina scratched at the ceiling of the loft. Her life was simply boring to her. Ian was the only thing that had interested her in awhile. Even if that was because it was too weird to be real.

Her scratching was light at first. Her nails lightly skimming the wood ceiling, making a light shhrshhhrshhh sound. But her thoughts were going dark. Dark like the darkness surrounding her. Her scratching became harder, tearing up her nails on her one hand, and when she didn't stop, soon her finger tipped were beaten up as well and were bleeding.

Finally the pain caught up to her and she stopped and crawled out of the loft. By the time she came out the damage was already fixed. But there was blood on her hands and a little had dripped on her face. Muttering, she walked down to the kitchen to wash her hands. It was closer than the bathroom.

Jenson noticed that his drinking had quickly increased and she watched how many times he filled up the glass. When he tensed up she looked down, then went her midnight blue eyes raised again he was heading out the door.
She quickly hopped down and hurried to grab his wrist. "Hey, wait a minute. Don't go." She smiled, pulling him back towards the middle of the kitchen. "Your mainly the only company I have and I would be lonely without you. Besides, the food is ready, Alley Cat." She smirked and sauntered back over to the pot.

Her mind went over what she was pretty sure she had heard. Looking down at the food she could only smile then realized that the bread would soon be over cooked. She reached in the oven and grabbed the tray. Usually anyone else would need something to keep the heat from their skin, but she was used to heat. She was fire after all and this was nothing. She could withstand any hot temperature.

She set the tray down and grabbed two plates out of the cabinet, filling his up with more spaghetti and two pieces of bread and serving herself a smaller portion. She sat down at the bar next to him and threw the rest of her glass down before pouring herself a refill. If she was going to start, she would not stop until she was at least a little drunk. It was pointless to her if she didn't and she didn't want to waste the grimacing.

((If you post fast, I may not run away. I am getting interested. ^^))

For the second time that day, Alexander blinked in surprise. He sat down at the bar, then Jenson sat next to him after filling both of their plates, and then her own glass.
"To awkward moments", he said with a smile as filled his glass, then drained it, still not showing any signs of the alcohol influencing him, then he dug into the food.
Everything was perfect, the food, the drink, and despite his awkward mental venting, the company was perfect as well.
"Again, I apologize for the mental outburst", Alex said.

Jenson raised a brow and smiled.

"Awkward? Psh!" She found rarely anything ever awkward. She would have to be quite uncomfortable or blushing in front of a crowd to be put off enough to think it was awkward.

"Oh, darling, you are perfectly fine. I don't think you need to apologize. And anyway, I want you to express what you are thinking, or feeling. Despite how I may react." She smiled and clinked their glasses and took a couple of large gulps.
It was hard for her to stomach the drink but she shook her head and decided she would need to find something to chase it if she were to continue with this. She skipped to the refrigerator and pulled out a can of Sprite and clicked open the tab before taking her seat next to him again. She took anothe swig from the glass then had a large drink from the other beverage. She was filling up on liquids and she had just made this food. She was eager for it, too.

She began twirling the noodles around her fork and took a few bites, then nibbled on her bread. The whold while that she had been drinking and using her fork, even while tearing the piece of bread to pop into her mouth, she had held up her pinky fingers. Something she had picked up not too long ago, but it had literally stuck as a habit and she always did it when she ever drank or ate.

"So, anyway. What do you want to do after this? Maybe something fun? I dount the Vamps will be back, it is morning after all and I want to distract myself." She wanted to see if she could catch any other thoughts about how he felt, or maybe he would flat tell her, but regardless, she wanted to get to know Alexander better.

"Oh, darling, you are perfectly fine. I don't think you need to apologize. And anyway, I want you to express what you are thinking, or feeling. Despite how I may react.", Jenson said, before she took a large gulp from the hard liquor, then skipped over to the fridge to get a sprite and return to her seat.
Alex watched her as she twirled the noodles around her fork, then smiled in amusement as he noticed every time she lifted food to her mouth, or a drink, her pinky finger stuck straight out.
Alex started on his food again, every few bites he would pile some spaghetti on the bread and take a large bite out of it.
"So, anyway. What do you want to do after this? Maybe something fun? I dount the Vamps will be back, it is morning after all and I want to distract myself." Jenson said between bites of spaghetti.
Alex thought it over for a moment, chewing on a piece of spaghetti laden bread.
"We could wait a bit after we get done and hit the pool", he suggested.

Jenson clasped her hands together and was all smiles. "Ah, yes. That sounds like an absolutely splendid idea." It had been some time since she had last been in the pool. She couldn't recall the last time she had actually taken time out to relax and have fun and just swim. She absolutely loved the sport. It was so calming and she felt free while doing it.

For some reason she was slightly eaget to show off her new bikini since she hadn't worn it before anyway. This new idea made her want to hurry and finish eating her food so she scooped up more bites, taking a large portion out of the bread and finished the rest of her glass. She would have one more...Maybe another if she didn't feel it after a little, but she knew she would. She was such a leight weight.

She turned to look at Alex after wiping her mouth and smiled seeing that he obviously enjoyed her food then she went to the sink and rinsed her plate off and set it in the dishwaswer.

"I'm going up to change, see you out there, love." She smiled and headed up the stairs to find her clothes.



She found her bikini and pulled it on then hurried outside, laying out on a chair, waiting for him to arrive before getting in the water.

Alex grinned as she practically bounded up the stairs, then he left the kitchen to go to his own room.
At the very end of the hall, Alex opened his door and entered his room, taking in the cold burst of air from his AC window unit above his bed as he made his way to the dresser.
Once there, Alex opened the second drawer and began fishing through his seasonal clothing, and at the bottom, he found a pair of jet black swim shorts with a blood red palm tree on the left leg.
He slid out of his leather jacket, shoes and jeans, then put on the shorts, keeping his dark brown T-shirt on, but of course, planning to take it off later, and not bothering to put anything on his feet.
Alex then made his way to the bathroom, grabbing a towel and sunblock before shutting his door and heading to the pool.

Jenson realized that she had forgotten to grab tanning oil and a towl and she went back inside, going up to her room and retrieving the two items and going back to the pool, still beating Alexander before he got there.

She set the towel down on the table and poured some of the tanning lotion into the palm of her hand and began spreading it all over her body, giving her skin tone a gleam. She put it everywhere starting with her legs and working up to her stomach and her chest then to her arms and neck then a few spots on her face.

When he came outside, she pranced over to him and smiled, handing him the bottle and turning around in front of him.
"Mind putting this on my back?" She asked, smiling, glancing over her shoulder to see his reaction.

Alex walked toward the pool and stopped dead in his tracks when Jenson approached him her skin gleaming.
wow...shes really Se--, he killed the thought right there, as came up and handed him a bottle of tanning lotion
"Mind putting this on my back?", she said, looking over her shoulder and smiling at him.
"Uh... yeah- I mean no, I don't mind", he said pouring the lotion into his hand and fighting to keep the blood from rushing to his face.
He took a slow breath to steady himself as he placed his hands on her smooth back and began rubbing the lotion in.

Alex couldn't help but stare, she really did look stunning in that bikini, and he had to force down a growl his inner werewolf had worked up into his throat with a quiet cough.
Good god...she works out, he allowed himself to think, struggling to keep himself from thinking of less appropriate things his inner wolf was trying to shove into his thought process.
He sighed, still fighting the animal in himself as he continued to rub in the lotion on her lower back now.
"You look great", he finally said, which was much more appropriate then what his inner animal was saying.

Jenson wanted to chuckled at his inner battle. He seemed to be having much trouble keeping things out of his head and especially keeping from saying them. She enjoyed how he acted about it immensly and when he finally admitted what he thought she gave him an innocent smile.

"Awh, thanks, dear." Her smile turned into a grin and she took the lotion back from his grasp. "And thanks for getting the spot I could not manage to reach." She winked at him before going back to set the lotion on the table.

She went to the diving board and stood on the edge, thinking about what kind of jump or dive or trick she wanted to do before hitting the water. Once she thought of it, she took the two steps to give her a bit more air and stuck her feet firmly against the sand paper-like board and went about four feet in the air, her arms spread out and then in front of her the second before she hit the water. She liked swan dives, but that didn't matter after she hit the surface.

She dived down to the bottom and enjoyed the coolness. It felt so awesome to be in the pool again and since it was saltwater she had the ability to open her eyes and be able to see without killing her eyesight.

She let herself release all of air and sink to the bottom where she criss crossed her legs. She acted as though she were having a tea party with herself and once she didn't have enough air left to stand, she pushed off from the floor and swam quickly to the surface.

She took a large gasp and smoothed her hair. She hated how it looked completely soaked and she felt unattractive but she wasn't about to voice her complaints. Not just yet anyway. She watched, waiting to see what Alex would do. She moved off to the side of the pool and kept her legs kicking, simply treading water. Something she could do for hours.

Alex, aware that Jenson was watching, slid out of his shirt and walked down the diving board. He bounced once, then twice and on his third he was sent about ten feet up, completed one flip, then before he hit the water, straightened his body out with his arms together, completing the trick as he dived headfirst into the water.
He opened his eyes and forced all of the air our of his lungs, crawling along the bottom of the pool. At one point he flipped over on his back and saw Jensons legs still treading water, and when his lungs began to burn, he swam to the surface, coming up right in front of Jenson. He moved his wet hair out of his face with one hand, then flicked a bit of water at the Alphess before swimming backwards away from her, laughing, then flipping over onto his stomach to swim faster, basically taunting her to catch him. (And now I am off to bed! :D)

When Alexander splashed her she shut her eyes and instinctly faced the other direction. When he started to swim away from her she growled and accepted his challenge.

She took a large breath and began swimming under the water. Somehow, she was faster that way and she sped along, after a few seconds, catching up to him. She came to the surface and pounced on his back, pulling him under the water and she stood on his back, holding him there, even though she weighed nothing in the water. It was like gravity had been lifted away and she grinned down at him in the water. She went under and came to meet him, still smiling, causing a few bubbles to escape to the top of the water. Her dark hair was out wildly around her but it looked elegant in the water.

Stacy walked into the kitchen and looked inside the fridge for something to drink. Walking in side the living room and nearly flew on top of the couch. Putting her drink down she would lie down on the couch relaxing her eyes, because they were burning from he lack of sleep. To tell you the truth, Stacy had been up for a while now, not being able to sleep for some type of reason. She knew it probably was from her training and searching for other things and running a few errands for people, because they were a little scared to go inside the forest.

"Eh, what another rock on a log." She sighed as she sat back up, finished her drink, putting it in the sink and walked upstairs to her room. "Maybe some midnight sleep would get me up and going." Blinking her eyes slowly being careful about where she was going. Accidentally hitting her bloody hand she wasn't worried about on the wall, she growled and winced as the pain came. Not worrying about the hand incident she continued to walk along the hallways. She finally got to her room and jumped on the bed, drifting off into her midnight dreaming.

Alex laughed as Jenson stood on his back, releasing a jet of bubbles to the surface of the water. He felt the almost not existent pressure of Jensons weight on his back disappear and then suddenly, she was in front of him, treading just below the surface in front of him, her hair slowly swirling around her as she smiled and a few bubbles escaped her mouth.
Alex felt something grip at his mind, it wasn't the raging ferocity of lust he expected, it was warm and comfortable and he found that he enjoyed it.
Finally aware of the burning in his chest, Alex broke the surface and gripped the edge of the pool with one hand.
A moment later, Jenson broke the surface of the water, grabbing the edge of the pool as well and used one hand to move her wet hair out of her face.
Alex watched her, and when she opened her eyes, their gazes locked for a few seconds.
Slowly, under the surface of the water, he slid an arm around her waist, his heart pounding with fear of rejection, then he attempted to pull her in and kiss her.