{You There by Aquillo}
{i'm in love with this song so much..}

The only sounds that filled the air, was made by her boots atop the fresh snow, and her heart pounding in her chest. With each breath, each step, she found herself further and further into the forest, unable to stop her legs from carrying her into the unknown. Every time she pushed a snow-covered branch from her path, she found her heart beating fiercer, harsher, beneath her chest.

She soon found herself in a part of the forest unlike the rest. The snow that had been tainted by delicate paw prints and the trees that housed critters that peered down at her, was no longer the same. The snow was untouched and pure, the trees towering and abandoned. The wind blew colder causing snowflakes to cling to the strands of her hair and rest delicately upon her eyelashes yet it stung her skin and made her a rosy red color.

A chill ran down her spine as the temperature seemed to drop and the silence that floated heavily in the air became eerie. And only then, when her heart was a thundering drum beneath her breast and fear coursed through her warm veins, did her legs stop and root themselves to the ground like the trees around her. She was immobile, frozen as she felt another presence join her in this part of the forest, and she could tell by the way her blood suddenly ran cold, that whoever it was wasn't anyone good.

A low growl broke the sinister peace first. She was mobile again, stumbling backwards as she watched a puff of frozen breath appear right in front of her. Her own breath was labored as a silent crunch of snow was the indication the other presence was moving, so silent that she couldn't properly focus on where it came from. Another cloud of breath appeared, this time it warmed her ear and she stumbled to the opposite side seat from it, her head whipping to find nothing. In her haste to get away, she tripped, and was sitting on her now sore bottom in the snow.

• • •

He could see the way her eyes searched for him in the dark, how frantically they moved around the area where he last made his presence known. They were beautiful; shimmering under only a sliver of moonlight. Not that they needed that moonlight, for they seemed to have captured an entire galaxy in those gray eyes and they shined on their own accord.

He blew out another breath to tease her, this time on the side of her neck. He'd been close enough to catch the little hint of lavender on her skin and close enough to hear her heart pumping and her blood rushing through her veins. It taunted him. As soon as his breath fanned across her skin, he watched her shiver before she practically crawled away, huddling close to the cold ground.

Normally, by now his prey would be quaking down to the bones in fear, they'd be crying or begging for their life into the darkness, even running. But this girl, she was unlike the others he'd preyed on. He could tell she was afraid by the way her heart pounded in her chest and the way her chest rose and fell quickly with each labored breath, yet to anyone with naked human eyes and ears, the girl would seem perfectly calm. The gleam in her eyes read mischief, as if somewhere deep inside her she enjoyed this, yet the way she stayed close to the ground showed a position of protection, as if her long legs could save her from him. She was different in that normally he felt nothing but disgust for the humans he preyed on, nothing but lust for their blood, but this girl - he lusted after more than just her blood. Her scent alone had the beast inside him raging, her presence did far more.

He had been slowly circling her, trying to pinpoint a weakness when her voice filled the air.

"I know who you are." Her voice was surprisingly steady yet she seemed to have to force her words out. "I know what you are, and I'm not afraid."

He felt the corners of his lips tilt up the slightest as he stared down at the back of her head. She sucked in a deep breath and slowly turned her head around to find him under the light of the moon a little more, his silhouette just barely visible.

She felt a stirring in her stomach when his low and thickly accented voice echoed through the trees. "You are foolish to not be afraid."

"If you wanted to kill me, I'd already be dead."

"I enjoy playing with my food."

A shiver raked her body as she slowly stood to her full height and faced the direction of his voice. "Then kill me. If I am to die, I wish to die quickly."

"What if I wish to hear you scream and beg for your life?"

"Then I would deem you a sociopath ."

"Such big words." He hummed out. "Why that long term? Why not a monster? Perhaps a beast?" His voice was deep, threatening yet she still stood her ground.

"You are a beast. You are a monster. And you are a sociopath."

"Oh I am so much more. . . Darling, I am the devil himself." His voice then appeared right behind her, whispered hotly into her ear causing her to gasp and rush forward, away from his presence.

"I beg you to end this torture. Let me go, please." Grey closed her eyes tight and stood stoic, fists clenched at her sides.

"You came to me my darling. You entered my realm, my territory and you expect me to let you walk free without a scratch?" His voice was venomous all of the sudden. "I am not a merciful man."

"So I've seen." Her eyes opened and focused on his figure in the dark of the night. "Why'd you do it?"

"To whom? The little boy or that mutt?"

"Anyone?! What have they done to deserve a death or beating so vicious?"

"One's family had wronged me. The other got too close to what I deemed mine long ago."

Grey's breath hitched. "What did Dimitri's family do?"

His chuckled echoed into the air, one not of amusement but almost taunting. It made Grey shiver. "I may not like his family but that mutt is the one getting attached to my things."

"And what exactly is yours?" She was no longer scared, he could see it in her eyes. He didn't like defiance but somewhere deep down it aroused him.

For some reason, she was waiting for him to claim her as his, but he was silent. Yet the way he looked at her with those eyes of his, she knew his answer. She knew it was her. She didn't want to believe it, that the beast wanted her, so she waited for him to say it, to make it realistic. As of now, belonging to him was just a theory. A simple thought.

"Get out of my territory." He suddenly snapped at her and she flinched.

"I thought you weren't merciful?" A smirk broke out on her face. "What happened to the beast?"

His growl was one of anger, he was growing tired of her games and wanted her throat in his jaws. "I will not hesitate to kill you."

"Then do it."

"Why not put up a fight? Everyone else does."

"I'm not stupid. I know there is no use when you're far stronger than me."

"Smart girl." He smirked once again, his anger still lightly there.

Grey didn't speak another word, she didn't beg her life, she simply stood as still as she could with her eyes squeezed shut. Then it seemed to all disappear; the cold breeze, the threat that lingered in the air, him, she almost thought she was alone and he'd left. But she wasn't foolish. She felt her hair being brushed away from her neck and her lips parted, a shaky intake of breath following the feel of his fingertips grazing her skin. His sharp inhale was shortly followed, his exhale fanning across the length of her neck causing her to shiver.

Grey braced herself for what pain would come, but the only feeling that arrived was the blazing trail of heat left behind from this man's lips on her neck.

"What the-!?" Grey roughly shoved herself away from the beast and spun to face him. She was ready to yell at him, scold him but as she turned, his entire presence vanished from the forest as the first rays of daylight made the snow at her feet shimmer like diamonds.

What had just happened?

•

"Grey?" A voice broke through the air from around the front of the cabin. It was Petra, she'd knocked but there had been no answer so she walked in. She could smell Grey in there so she didn't know why she didn't answer. "Grey? Hello?"

Petra walked carefully through the cabin and into the back where she pushed open the bedroom door with a long creak. Her room was dark, the curtains had been pulled shut and the lights were off, but with the light flooding in from the rest of the house now that the door was open, Petra could see her in the dim lighting.

She was sat on the edge of her bed, hands rested limply in her lap and her feet planted on the ground. Her eyes were wide open and staring off into space towards the wall. She didn't budge.

Petra's voice was filled with worry as she addressed Grey with reserved caution. "Grey. . ."

Grey didn't move, she didn't even blink. The only indication of her being alive was the steady beating of her heart and her soft breathing. So Petra continued onwards until she stood in front of a frozen Grey, when she crouched in front of her, she placed a hand over one of hers. She gasped at her frozen skin.

"Grey!" Petra shook her gently. "Grey, you're freezing cold! Snap out of it!"

Petra quickly moved and grabbed the duvet off her bed and wrapped it over Grey's shoulders before sucking in a deep breath to brace herself for what she was about to do.

"Sorry. . ." She almost whined out before her hand made contact with Grey's cheek with a 'crack!'

Grey gasped and blinked a few times, a pale hand coming up to cup her cheek in shock. Her eyes soon found Petra who stared at her with a guilty expression.

"What the fu-"

"You were zoned out, Grey. You wouldn't move or blink or anything! I had to." Grey stayed silent. "What happened?"

She didn't answer.

"Grey, what happened?"

"I saw him."

"Who?"

Grey snapped. "The predator-beast dude! Kisha-whatever you natives call him! I saw him last night in his human form!"

"Human?"

"He wasn't that wolf that he always is. He was purely man and he was taunting me, speaking to me in the forest. He. . ." Grey's voice trailed off as her hand came up to brush her fingers across her neck.

Petra's eyes stared at her neck for the longest time, almost as if she was searching for something, before she sucked in a breath. "How are you. . .-"

"I don't fucking know Petra! But something tells me you or your creepy grandmother knows what's going on and I want to know."

"Grey, I-"

"Don't you dare lie to me, Petra." Grey's eyes were welling up with tears. "I feel like I'm going insane."

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Come on, let's get you by a fire first. You're frozen."