I woke up sometime later in my bed. My neck was sore and when I reached up to touch it, my hand came away sticky with blood. "You could have cleaned up at least." I muttered. Smacking my bedside table, I fumbled around until I found my lamp.

Flicking it on, I slipped out of bed and walked over to my vanity. The lamplight wasn't the brightest, but I was able to see the streak of red down my neck. I rummaged through the drawers until I found a handkerchief spotted with blood, then proceeded to clean my neck up.

"Stupid of me." I mumbled. "Forgetting to change. Jesus. I should have known he would have pulled something like that."

Right. I need to rewind a bit. Yes, Aleksandr was a vampire. Not the sparkly kind, mind you. More like the brutally-kill-your-prey-and-drain-all-their-blood kind of vampire. Hence the dead bodies all the time.

When Aleksandr had told me, I just laughed at him. It sounded so ridiculous! And then he bit me, drained some of my blood, and made me pass out. I was terrified after that, but it became... normal after a while, just like dismembering the bodies. Which, by the way, was related to the vampire thing too. If a vampire drains their prey completely, the bodies would be reanimated and become fletchlings - newborn vampires that were bloodthirsty and mindless. Only properly disposing of the corpses would stop the transformation.

My phone buzzed in my robe pocket. Cory, demanding to know why I hadn't answered his calls. Damn. I was out for two whole hours...

"You hoe!" Cory picked up after the first ring. "I've been trying to get a hold of you forever! You're coming out with me tonight."

"Cory, I-"

"No arguments." Cory interrupted. "Put on that little black dress and do your hair. I'm sending an Uber to you now."

"But-"

"No. Arguments!" Silence. Cory had hung up already. My phone buzzed. ETA: 8:30. Be ready.

I groaned and stared at the mirror. No way would Aleksandr let me go to some party.

Something rebellious flared in me and I rolled my eyes. So what? He's my boss, not my dad. He couldn't control me. And he was busy with Acadia. He'd spend the night having sex with her and never even notice I was gone.

"Black dress it is." I muttered. My wardrobe was rather plain - mostly jeans and T-shirts, almost all of which were thrift store bought in case I needed to burn it after dismembering a body or cleaning up blood. However, there was one exception: a black satin dress, cut low at the chest and tight enough to show off most curves. It was utterly devastating, clinging to my body in all the right ways. I didn't wear it often... but if Cory said I had to, I had to, plain and simple.

I decided to quickly straighten my wild hair into something more manageable before putting on a black choker and a few silver bangles. When I finished, I checked the time. Eight thirty. Cory's Uber would be here any minute. Snatching up my purse, I threw in some makeup to do in the car and grabbed my only pair of heels before sneaking out of my room. The dining room was on the other side of the house, thankfully, so Aleksandr wouldn't see me leave.

Outside, the early summer air was still hot, despite the fact the sun was down. I was debating going back inside to stop from sweating when a silver car pulled up the drive.

I ran over and opened the door before jumping in.

"Emma Williams?" The driver asked, tapping at his phone. "Your ride is prepaid."

"My friend ordered it." I replied, getting settled. "I'm ready."

The car raced away from the house as I put on my makeup. The driver mercifully stayed silent, so I didn't have to make conversation. I still didn't even know where we were going. Knowing Cory, it could be anything from a high-end black tie party to a rave.

Thirty minutes later, we were in front of a club. Cory was waiting outside, dressed in a suit. He grinned when he saw me come out of the car. 

"As I live and breathe! You finally came out of the cage." Slinging an arm around me, Cory practically dragged me towards the club door. "Come on. My cousin's a bartender here. He got us on the guestlist. Grand opening tonight. Sure to be a lot of hot guys, and at least one or two that would be interested in you." He eyed me up and down, a grin on his face. "Though, you've already got quite a few looks in that dress."

I flushed. "Shut up. You're embarrassing me."

"No such thing."

As we made our way through the crowd, I heard wolf whistles and catcalls. Suppressing the urge to roll my eyes, I glanced at Cory. "We could've gone anywhere, you know."

"Yes, but look at all the hot guys here." Cory winked and waved at people as we passed them, ever the social butterfly. "Someone has to be interested in you."

"I could date if I wanted to." I mumbled.

"But alas. Your hot boss isn't interested."

I felt myself blush again. "Shut up!"

Cory laughed as we were waved into the club after presenting our IDs. "Deny it all you want, but it's true!"

"Oh, go get me a drink." I rolled my eyes, shoving Cory towards the bar. "I'm gonna find someone to dance with."

"Uh-huh. Sure." Cory grinned at me before sauntering over to a couple of girls at the bar, already offering to buy them drinks.

Scoffing to myself, I turned to the dancefloor. It wasn't too crowded yet, but a few handsome men were talking amongst themselves. I saw one of them watching me before he turned away, but I could still see him peeking every now and then. That's the one, then.

Steadying myself with a deep breath, I walked over to the man and smiled. "I'd say take a picture, but I think it'd be more fun if we danced together instead."

The man looked surprised, but also delighted. He was slightly shorter than Aleksandr, but that didn't mean much. He still stood almost a foot taller than me, and had chestnut-colored locks and lovely green eyes. "Well then. I've never seen a woman so forward. I like it." Strong arms wrapped around my waist. "Dancing sounds so... mundane. I've got a VIP booth. Let's go talk there. Maybe we can have some fun."

I smiled and leaned against the man's chest. "You've got a name or are you just teasing me?"

"Justin Finnegan, at your service." Justin slipped his hand in mine and pulled me towards one of the VIP booths. "And what's your name?"

"Emilia, but you can call me Emma."

"Emma. A lovely name." Justin smiled down at me as we slid into a booth. He practically pulled me into his lap. "Do you want something to drink?" He kept his hand on my hip as he waved over a waiter.

"Oh," I shifted so that Justin's hand slipped away, "my friend is bringing me something."

Justin's face was unreadable for a long moment, but then he smiled. "Ah, I see. A coke and rum for me, please." The waiter nodded and hurried to the bar. "So," Justin turned to me, his eyes shining, "Emma. How'd you end up here? You mentioned a friend?"

I nodded. "My friend Cory. His cousin works here or something."

Justin nodded. "I see. So- did you say Cory?" He looked surprised for a moment, but then smiled again. "Oh. I see."

I raised my eyebrows. "Do you know him?"

"Ah, no. I just thought- oh, it's nothing." Justin waved his hand dismissively. "I would have thought such a pretty girl would have been invited."

I laughed in embarrassment and shook my head. "Ah, I wish. But I'm mostly a shut-in. When I'm not in class, I'm working."

"Class?" Justin raised an eyebrow. "College?"

"Yeah. The university is just outside of town."

"Oh good. I thought I had accidentally picked up a high schooler." We both laughed for a minute before Cory's freckled face appeared, a girl at his side.

"Emma, look at you go." Cory teased, sliding me a colorful drink that smelled of rum and strawberries. "Already a cute guy in the palm of your hand. Rum and coke, right?" He handed Justin his drink.

"This must be your friend." Justin smiled at Cory. "Sorry, but I just had to snatch her up for the night."

"By all means," Cory said, "take her. She doesn't get around much. Her boss keeps her on a short leash."

"Cory!" I protested.

"No, no. Go on." Justin said in a teasing voice. "I'd love to know what this lovely lady is hiding. You talked about a... boss?" His eyes were sparkling with interest.

I blushed. "Cory, I'll kill you."

Cory raised his hand in mock surrender before putting one arm around the girl who had come with him. "My life is threatened, my friend. Now, let's go." He told the girl, tugging her away.

"Your friend is awfully strange." Justin laughed lightly.

I put my hands over my face. "You have no idea. Party boy is also a geek. There's a lot of stories I could tell you about him."

"Well," Justin smiled at me, "I'd rather talk about you."

I felt my face heat up. "Oh, I- right."

Justin laughed again and picked up his drink. "Why don't we toast? To having a night out and meeting a cute new friend."

I lifted my drink and clinked it against Justin's. "I think I'm the only one who met a cute new friend."

"You're right. I met a beautiful new friend."

"You're really good at making me blush," I mumbled into my drink.

"Good."

A few hours and several drinks later, I could barely stand up. Justin, also a drink past drunk, was laughing at a joke I didn't quite catch as he led me out of the club. The alleyway was dark and quiet. Alleyway? Why did he take me here...? I blinked and tried to stop, but Justin still tugged me along.

"Wait," I mumbled.

Justin sighed and stopped. "What?" He sounded annoyed.

"Oh." I frowned. "I didn't mean to upset you... but why-"

Then Justin's lips were on mine and I blanked out. His arms were wrapped around my waist, nice and warm against my body. Warm... too warm. It was stifling hot all of a sudden. No, he was hot. Literally. His skin felt like he had a fever. I jerked away from him, a shot of adrenaline burning through my drunken haze.

"Get... get away from me," I said hoarsely, ducking away from Justin's arms as they reached for me. His face was contorted horribly, like a monster. A monster... Shit. I looked up as my heart started racing. The moon was full tonight.

A werewolf.

I shrieked and darted towards the alleyway exit, stumbling as I tried to get my body to move properly. Dammit. I should have known better than to go out on a full moon, to get drunk and wander off with a complete stranger. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Strong arms wrapped around my waist again, shoving me down onto the ground before I even came close to the street. I cursed and struggled as hard as I could, but I might as well have been fighting back against a brick wall. Claw-tipped fingers threaded into my hair and gripped it tight, forcing my head up before slamming it hard into the ground. My face hit the concrete and I tasted blood.

There was snarling in my ear and I felt hot breath on my ear. "Get... get off!" I struggled under the wolfish beast, but I couldn't break free. There was a sharp pain in my shoulder that made my vision go white and then-

I blacked out.

The first thing that registered was the pain.

My shoulder felt like it was on fire. Barely moving it sent a shock wave of pain that woke the rest of my body up immediately. Everything else was fuzzy like my head was full of clouds- oh God. No, my head felt like it was full of cotton.

I forced my eyes open and found myself in an unfamiliar bed. My heart stopped and I struggled to sit up. The room spun around me - a sleek new-age minimalist design. It was nothing like the richly decorated rooms of Aleksandr's house. 

Where am I? I grunted as my head pounded. How much did I drink? What was I thinking?! I'm such an idiot.

Then cold hands pressed gently down on my uninjured shoulder back onto the bed. "Emilia." Aleksandr's voice wrapped around me like a warm blanket. "Rest for now."

"How...?" I mumbled. My tongue felt heavy and it was hard to talk. 

Aleksandr's blurry face appeared in my sight. His face was set in a stern glare that made my chest twist and his voice was thick with indignation. "Your phone has a tracking app. I installed it to make sure you wouldn't be doing stupid shit like this. Real clever, running off while I was busy. Did you even glance at the moon tonight?" 

And just like that, I remembered. It was like a bucket of ice water had been thrown on me. I had snuck out of the house, gotten drunk, and then decided to run off with a werewolf.

"I'm sorry." The response was simple but it was the only thing I could think to say with the agonizing pain building in my head. 

"I'm sure you are," Aleksandr said, an edge to his voice. "You could have gotten yourself killed or worse. Turned. Do you know what a pain it is to heal werewolf bites? You're lucky I'm not any younger or I wouldn't have been able to heal you properly." 

I opened my mouth to defend myself but found I didn't have anything to say. Instead, I just closed my eyes. "Where are we?"

"My suite in town. You're lucky I have one. You wouldn't have made it home." Aleksandr's voice softened and I felt a soft touch on my cheek. "I'm glad you're okay though."

"Thank you." I murmured. It was too hard to keep up any polite conversation when my head felt like someone was slamming it with a hammer. 

"Of course, Emilia." Aleksandr pulled away, the loss of his touch like a small blow. He tugged the blanket back over me and tucked me in like I was a child. I didn't have the energy to argue with him about it. "You know I'd do anything for you. Now sleep."