A smile lit across his face, a look of innocence that hid the shadows of his eyes.

“ We meet again, and as always, in the strangest of places.” His deep voice purred.

Riana tensed, for fleeting moment considering whether to run, before realizing he could not kill her in such plain view.

He handed Riana her physics book, his pale wrist brushing against her arm, sending shivers down her spine. With a grace no human could master, he wrapped his hand around her wrist, pulling her in close.

“ Please, Raven, let this be a fresh beginning. I am not a killer. You have to understand, I am not the monster you think I am.” He whispered, his cool breath whispering against her neck, make her senses tingle. Riana gathered herself, before responding.

“ No, you’re worse.” she hissed, yanking her hand out of his cool hands.

“ And my name is Riana now, not Raven.” Her eyes refuse meet his, staring down at the ground, as if to wish it would open up and let her tumble into the chasm. Or better yet, send him in. He smiled, his chiseled features glowing with false warmth.

“ You’ll always be Raven to me, but if you wish, I shall call you Riana, unfit to you though it is. I am now Luke, Luke Edwards. And believe me when I say I wish you no harm.”

Riana flashed him a look of pure anger. “ I am not who I was, Raven is dead to me. You are not a part of my world now; you belong in Raven’s, and please, never speak to me again. It’s all I ask.”

Riana yanked her wrist away, and fled down the hall, trying unsuccessfully to block out the words that chased after her.

“ Take to flight Raven, but remember, when night falls, none can escape from Shadows.”

Riana’s heart pounded, colours swirling in her vision. She fought to keep control of herself, to keep herself in a human mind frame. She felt a crackle of electricity from the crescent moon pendant on her neck, helping her to concentrate on her human form. Her heart continued to pound, but was now keeping a steady rhythm.

Riana walked outside, hoping she was not visibly trembling. The warm spring air calmed her, a mixture of damp earth, blending with the aroma of freshly fallen rain. She took in a deep breath savoring the sweetness. The sun was out, an afternoon heat making the ground steam. Pausing, she pulled her fuzzy sweater over her head, wrapping it around her lithe waist.

A series of yip and howls sounded from behind her. A red mustang screeched to a halt next to her. Hank leaned out; his bleach blonde hair was spiked into sharp points, a curl falling in to his impossibly blue eyes.

“ Yow! Take it all off !Want a lift?” A series of yips and jeers proceeded from the back seat, where the rest of the pups sat. Riana smiled stiffly.

“I’d rather walk than have to spend anymore time near you than necessary, dung breath.”

A series of laughs and hoots emitted from the back seat. Adrian tugged on Hank’s sleeve.

“Dude, come on, I want to see how fast this baby can go. I don’t want to sit around here all day.” Hank shrugged, his eyes blank, as the mustang roared off in a cloud of blue smoke. Riana snorted. Hank was always lurking around. That was the problem with having two packs in one town. It meant twice the number of obnoxious males. She heard the purr of an engine slowing behind her. Sighing, she kept walking.“ Look, snotball, I don’t need a ride, so bugger off!”

“ how’d you know I was going to offer you a ride?” Riana leapt about a foot in the air, turning, and falling into a defensive stance. Luke smiled at her from behind a pair of square spectacles.

“ it just seems a bit chilly for walking. It’s got to be at least 40 degrees out, and your in a tank top.” Riana put her hands on her hips.

“ You know as well as I do the cold has no effect on me.” Luke raised his eyebrows.

“ would I? I only met you today. I used to know someone, Raven, who was like that, but I didn’t know that about you.” Riana turned away.

“ I’m not in the mood to play silly mind games.” she growled. Luke drove slowly next to her.

“ I just want a second chance, a chance to explain-” “Explain what?” Riana exploded, her heart racing, .the words poured out, all the rage she had bottled up since the events of last year spilling forth. “ That the murders were all just a dream of mine? Or maybe perhaps It wasn’t you who committed them? My kind may be predators, but we do not kill our own kind, not even those who only share half our ancestry. And we do not associate with those who do. The Guadalupe’s are much too proud a family to sink to such depths. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be heading home. People will talk if they see a senior driving home a sophomore. And you wouldn’t want to risk your reputation, now would you?”

Luke’s eyes flashed., darkening to a deep indigo, the pupils almost invisible against the shadowy iris’s.

“ I may be seeking forgiveness, but I do not tolerate scorn. I am not going to grovel. As you have already mentioned many times before,, I am a predator. It would go against my nature to do so. All I ask is that you listen to what I have to say.” His voice was low and edgy, crackling with transmundane power, a power that resounded in the depths of Riana’s mind, echoing their dissonant chords. She winced, her wolf self charging off the ethereal thrum. Shaking off the sensation, she tossed her hair and strode away, her instinct covering her fear, hips swaying with defiance.

Luke’s car drove off, not overly fast, but certainly not lingering. She continued to convey power the entire way home, head held high, strutting, until she walked up the front steps to the boarding house. A small child of eight pelted out, leaping up into her arms. She laughed, twirling the girl in her arms, and setting her back down.

“ Kacela! You came! Where’s your mother and sister?” The pale child stared solemnly at her with pale amber appraising eyes.

“ Mother has been gone for months, Zelilania brought us here when the men in suits came. They wanted to send me away, but she wouldn’t let them.” Riana smiled at the little girl in front of her. Had she been sent to a home, no doubt she would have been adopted immediately, with her pale blonde hair, thick and soft, and amber eyes, wide and alert. She would return of course, once the people suspected something was odd about the girl, particularly when half eaten carcasses started appearing in the yard, and the squirrel population was decreased. Who would ever guess that the angelic child in front of her was a shifter, one of the last of her kind? The child turned, and ran inside, Riana following, slinging her bag onto the floor. Kacela glanced back at her, then into the kitchen, and disappeared up the stairs. Riana strode into the kitchen, and winced at what met her eyes. Riana’s mother, Cassandra, was bandaging the arm of a battered young woman. Her arms were cut and bruised, and a nasty welt ran along the side of her face. Hearing Riana enter, she turned, and smiled painfully.

“ Zel! What happened?” Riana gasped. Zel shrugged her shoulders wincing.

“ Ran into a nasty grizzly on the way down. Wanted to have a go at Kacela, can you imagine?” Zel proudly tossed her pale brown hair, eyes flashing.

“ To say the least, I think it won’t survive the winter out, if it makes it thought the next week.” Riana winced, and quickly took up some bandages, dabbing ointment across the gashes, and carefully wrapping Zel’s arms. Cassandra frowned. “ And since the poor thing had been traveling day and night in fox form, she couldn’t transform long enough to patch herself up properly, the poor dear.” Zel snorted.

If you think it’s hard enough to get across country in human form, you should try doing it as a fox in hunting season. Food was scarce, highways were plentiful, and it the grizzly didn’t make it any easier. “ Riana rolled her eyes. Zel had apparently forgotten that the entirety of the wolf clan had trekked from Maine to Louisiana. A minor detail, apparently. Zel stood, the last bandage paper taped down.

“ I’d better go check on Kacela, she’s been a bit jittery ever since the poor thing got caught in the path of that absolute monster!” She sashayed down the hallway in a perfumed cloud, coaxing Kacela to come out. Riana shook her head. Zel may be a shape shifter, but she certainly wasn’t the same variety as Riana! It was amazing how different they were, even though they were only species apart. Then again, a species was drastically different, even in nature. And Riana’s clan was one of the few that would even accept shifter’s like Kacela and Zel, despite there not being wolf shifters. Riana brightened. Once word got out that her clan accepted anomalies, mayhap Hank wouldn’t lust after her so much after all. Most of his attention was honor bound. Yes, she was beautiful, but most of her kind were. If she were an exotic, like her sister Oasis, she may have deserved attention, but not as a simple shifter. It puzzled her a bit that Hank had shown no interest in Oasis. Even in the world of shifters, she was breathtakingly beautiful. Her hair was long, full, and darker than a moonless Midnight. Her eyes were not amber or pale blue, as were every other wolf in there pack, but a deep violet, the pupils rimmed in a sparkling gold that entranced men, making her the constant center of attention. Her figure was also not petite, but amazon, her svelte muscular form radiating a fierce beauty. Riana smiled, as Oasis entered the room, as if hearing her thoughts. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail that fell to the backs of her powerful calves.

“hey there little sister. Not stirring up trouble are we?” Her eyes flashed, light sparking through the iris’s, dancing. Riana tilted her head questioningly.

“ why do you ask?” she frowned. Oasis shrugged nonchalantly.

“ well, there’s two very hot guys toughing it out on the front lawn over you, not to mention a nice carload of pups looking to join in.” She smiled wickedly. “ I don’t even want to know what you’ve been up to get capture that many men’s attention.” Riana blushed, stammering.

“ What?! Who’s out there?” She swirled out of the kitchen before Oasis could answer, running down the hall before stopping and serenely opening the front door.

Toughing it out was putting the situation a bit strongly. Instead of the fight she had been expecting, a shouting match between Hank and Luke was taking place. Or rather, Hank was shouting, and Luke was retorting in a calm, slightly amused voice. The load of pups were occasionally joining in, throwing out the occasional insult, though it was difficult to say who they were aimed at. Riana sidled sown the stairs, acting as if she had no idea a fight had been taking place. Crossing her arms, she glared at the both of them.

“ excuse me, but may I enquire as to why you both are trespassing on my territory?” she growled. Hank stepped back, onto the concrete. Riana stepped forward.

“ I you think my territory consists only of this property, you’re wrong, and as for you-” She whirled to face Luke.

“ I had thought I had made it pretty clear I did not wish to speak to you.” Luke’s eyes glinted. He tossed something towards her.

“ I never got a chance to give this to you. It’s something of yours you left behind.” He handed her a small box, and slipped away, his car purring off before she had time to open the minute package. She turned to Hank, tucking the the box into the pocket of her pants. He glared at her.

“ So you know that-thing, then? You shouldn’t mix with human scum. It’s not attractive.” Riana felt a growl rise in her throat. Zel stepped out the front door, gliding down the steps.

“ And you shouldn’t tell her who to mix with.” Zel put a hand on her hip, wincing. Hank snorted.

“ More interesting acquaintances? Don’t tell me she knows what you are? You simply can’t mix with non purebred types.” Zel laughed, a deep hearty sound, tinged with bitterness.

“ And you pup, should watch who you call a mutt.” Riana stepped back, trying to ease up the stairs. She would need back up to stop a fight.

“ leaving so soon, Riana?”

Riana smiled, barely containing a snarl.“ I’m afraid your company brings out the worst in me. Best if I go, before things get.. Well, violent."

“ Not so soon. Stay awhile.” He smiled, grabbing her wrist and drawing her towards him. Riana sighed inwardly. Here we go again, she thought. More manhandling. She slid a hand up behind his neck. Smiling, she purred.

“ Right now, I could snap your neck before you had the chance to even flinch.” Hank extricated her hands from around the back of his neck, his face now hard and cold.

“Don’t play games, Riana.” He spoke softly, his words tipped with venom. Riana gave a sultry smile.

“ Who’s playing games?”

She stepped back, and with a look of disdain, sashayed toward the house, hiding her confusion and fear. Once inside, she pounded up the stairs, into her room, and locked the door. She leaned against it, letting her heart slow, then reached into her pocket and extracted the box. It was plain white cardboard, the kind jewelry was sold in. frowning, she opened it, wondering what -Luke, he was Luke now- could have of hers. A wave of cold rushed down her spine. Nathaniel's charm, the one he had been wearing the night he had been murdered. The one he had lost to the dark street and raging fear. She opened her mouth, staring at the pale silver necklace that lay there, and let out a soundless howl. Shaking, she took it out, and clipped it around her neck, then burst into tears and cried for all the pain and injustice in the world, until she fell into a deep and anxious sleep.