The sun had fallen behind the horizon as Gabriel and Tanya approached Vista View. They rounded the corner and saw a couple of cars on the graveled parking lot. A couple sat arm in arm as they looked out over the vast valley that laid below them. Tiny lights speckled in the distance from huts and homes that were scattered across the hillside. No town laid in that direction, so it was pitch black. Far across the valley, red lights blinked from the cell phone towers. The bike slithered as the rear tire hit the gravel. Gabriel tightened his grip as he drove by the door to the Vista View cafe.

"We'll make an evening of it and have a nice bowl of hot soup before heading home," he said as he placed his helmet over the mirror.

Tanya looked around to make sure no one was in earshot. "Fuck that, I'm going to kill something.” Gabriel grinned. “Then you can have your soup."

Gabriel opted for the Vista View entrance to the forest. Around the other side of the hill was where the hospital blood bags were taken and dumped, and the thing with white hair had weirdly watched him. This side of the mountain should offer a little more security. They crossed the road and walked up the steep path into the trees. They cleared the picnic area and ventured further into the darkness.

"Whenever you're ready," Gabriel said. "You can change and go on your rampage. I'll meet you past the outcrop."

"Are you safe in the dark?" Tanya asked.

Gabriel laughed as he started to run ahead of Tanya. He shouted over his shoulder as he vanished from the light of the picnic area. "I know these woods like the back of my hand."

Tanya kicked her feet in the dirt and flexed her shoulders. Her jaw stretched as she called on her inner wolf. Fur sprouted from her hunched back. Her eyes glowed yellow as they slanted. Fangs pushed from her jaw and saliva drooled onto the forest floor. Tanya could feel the damp earth underneath her paws as she scratched at the soil. Her white fur angled back over her body as she lunged forward and ran in the direction of Gabriel. His nose twitched, and she sensed he was ahead and hiding. A large fallen tree loomed. Her legs stretched as she leaped into the air. She glanced at the forest floor as she cleared the massive log. Gabriel sat against the bark of the tree and waved up at her. Her claws dug into the soil as she ground to a halt and looked over her hindquarters.

"You can't hide from me, so don't even try," she said.

"I wasn't hiding; I was resting."

"Bullshit," she replied as she turned into her human form and walked toward Gabriel.

He stood. He grabbed Tanya's arms and spun her. Her feet dragged in the earth as he pushed her against the bark of the tree. He gazed deep into her eyes and grinned.

"What's going on?” Gabriel planted his lips firmly on hers, he kissed her hard and pulled away. She licked her lips and tasted the masculinity in his saliva. She was pushed hard against the bark of the tree.

Gabriel held the bottom of her t-shirt and lifted it over her head. Her bra-less breasts now becoming cupped by his hands as he leaned forward and pushed his warm mouth against the softness of her breasts. His tongue flicked and teased at her nipple. Her fingers pulled at his short hair.

Gabriel lifted his head and pulled at the buckle of his jeans. Tanya responded and popped the button of hers and dropped them to her ankles. She kicked off her boots and stepped free from her puddled jeans. Her eyes fell onto his broad chest. A hint of moonlight cast its first glow over their naked bodies. Tanya dropped her panties onto the tree as Gabriel inched his way closer to her. His hands caressed her cheeks as the heat of her body warmed against his.

Tanya felt the heat from Gabriel's arousal as it pushed against her inner thigh and rubbed against her most-vulnerable place.

"Mmm," she murmured as she raised her leg and wrapped it around Gabriel’s waist.

He picked her up into his arms and pinned her against the fallen tree. His shaft rubbed against her womanhood as Tanya reached down and pushed the head of his shaft into her wetness. Her fingers dug into his muscular shoulders as Gabriel pushed himself deeper into her. She sheathed him entirely as he thrust his hips forward. His fingers gripped at the bark as his hips rocked back and forth.

"Ohhh, Gab!"

Their bodies slotted together perfectly as Gabriel penetrated the wet depths that clutched at his hardened shaft. Tanya's body clenched as the wet walls of her sweetness pulled him deeper inside. Tanya moaned and groaned as Gabriel pushed her toward her glorious, climactic finish. She felt waves of sensations fill her body. She bucked and squirmed. Her body pulled at Gabriel as he drove his want with an animal wildness.

After they were both satisfied, she looked into Gabriel’s eyes. “Where did all that come from?" she asked.

"I like to keep it interesting," he replied as he slipped back into his jeans. Tanya pulled her t-shirt back over her head and licked her lips.

"Now I definitely feel hungry," she said as she flexed herself and twisted her body, calling on her inner wolf again.

Gabriel ruffled his hand through her white fur. Tanya snapped at him playfully. She laughed as she kicked her leg into the dirt and ran into the darkness.

"Time to catch me if you can," she growled as she vanished up the leaf-covered path.

Gabriel breathed deep and dug his boots into the dirt. He leaned forward and ran. He brushed leaves from his face as he chased Tanya. She ran slowly so he could almost touch her tail.

* * *

The forest darkened, and Gabriel panted as he slowed. He bent over and gasped for air. His head lifted, and he noticed he didn't know the part of the forest he had run in to. Large, moss-covered boulders jutted from the soft earth. Moonlight shone through the trees and lit padded soil. He turned and noticed that many wolf paw prints filled the area where he stood.

Where have all these come from?

Gabriel wanted to call Tanya, but if he did, he could alert what he suspected caused the (probably vlad) footprints. He backed away from the area. He listened and glanced around for any sign of Tanya. It was silent. Even the creatures in the undergrowth made no noise. No rustle of leaves in the breeze.

Nothing.

He stepped backward.

He felt the hot breath on his neck.

He heard a low snarl.

Gabriel felt a pain in the back of his head.

He saw the floor as his eyes opened and closed.

Feet walked toward him.

Gabriel felt paralyzed. Only his eyes opened and closed as he fought with unconsciousness. He licked his lips as he felt saliva run from the corner of his mouth.

One eye filled with damp earth as he tried to lift his head. He heard a voice. "He's not going to die, is he?"

He heard a second voice. A male voice. "No, my dear, he will only have a bad headache."

"Good," he heard the first voice say. The voice he recognized.

Gabriel tried to think how he ended up sprawled on the floor in a part of the forest he’d never been in before. His lips moved. He tasted the dirt, he spat before he spoke. "Tanya," he mumbled. His eye tilted upward. He saw the outline of a body. They stared at him. "Tanya, is that you?"

Gabriel didn't feel the cold as he finally passed into unconsciousness. His mind gathered one last thought as everything went black.

Is this another dream?

* * *

Dustin and Maria arrived back at the Towers. It had now become too dark to search for Kelvin. Maria knocked on a few of the pack members’ apartments and told them what had happened. At first light, they would have a search party. She gathered around twenty names and said they would all meet at six am. She walked into the office, Dustin tilted his head and rested against the back of the couch as Maria slumped in her chair. She pulled open the drawer and pulled out the whiskey bottle and two glasses.

"Care to join me?" she asked.

Dustin sighed and sat straight. His head fell into his hands as he nodded and mumbled. "I think I better. I'm not sure what the hell has happened, are you?"

"We got shafted. How, I don't know. No one could’ve known what we were up to. "

Dustin picked up the glass of whiskey and gulped. The warmth of the alcohol ran down his throat and spread through his body. But, it did no good to satisfy the loss they’d experienced. Kelvin had been a priority to keep safe. He was attacked and taken in the blink of an eye. Dustin and Maria never considered that the vlads could climb as easily as the one that had Kelvin over its shoulder. All while it shimmied effortlessly up the drainpipe.

"I'll tell you something, if those things can climb that easily, we’re in a whole heap of trouble."

"Don't I know it? We can search in the day, still, if they don't come out in the daytime I don't think we’ll find much," Dustin remarked.

He sat back on the couch and held the glass in his fingers. He swirled it around, watching the oily liquid stick on the side of the glass. His ears pricked as he heard a commotion from the lobby of the Towers.

"What the hell is that?"

Maria and Dustin stood, they walked to the office door and looked at the figure that leaned over the counter. "Gab, what’s wrong?" Maria asked, filled with worry.

Gabriel turned his head. Maria saw the caked blood and dirt on the side of his face. "Tanya's gone." Maria grabbed a cloth and wiped the side of his face as Dustin walked back in the entranceway after checking outside. "We had a good start to the trip, you know what you advised, spice things up a little," he said. "We went for a run. I was chasing Tanya, and I found myself in an area of the forest I’ve never seen before. The ground was literally padded flat with paw prints. I think I ran into the middle of a vlad hovel."

"Fuck, and where is Tanya, was she hurt?"

Gabriel lifted his head and huffed. He tried to laugh, but the pain in his ribs made him feel like he had been skewered. He raised his shirt. The ribbed muscle of his abdomen was severely blackened from the bruise that had formed. "Have you broken a rib?"

"Nah! I think I was kicked like a soccer ball, though," he replied. "Anyway, Tanya wasn’t hurt. I think she has gone of her own accord."

Maria dropped the blood-soaked cloth onto the counter. "No way, you mean… she has been turned?"

"I don't think she’d been turned, but, I think very-soon, if not already, she will be. She has fucked us all over and gone over to join the other side."

Dustin reached Maria and the sore, bent-over Gabriel. "What have I missed?"

"Tanya has chosen to become a vlad," Maria remarked.

"Holy fuck! That's all we need. She knows everything we’ve got planned."

Gabriel pushed himself up against the counter. "Tell me about it. She knows we’re planning on leaving, and she also knows about your plan to use Kelvin as bait to bring them into the open. And where is Kelvin, by the way? Upstairs with Kat?"

"We lost him, too."

“I can't see you in front of me, but I know you're there.”