1. Moonlight

MARCELLO

It was at the darkest time of the night that she usually came out to swim in the river, and I would watch as her clothes would fall to the ground, exposing her skin like milk.

The first time I saw her, I was high up in an oak tree, watching out for intruders as it was my turn that night. As soon as I sighted her, my first instinct was to attack, but the moon cast its silver glow on her face and I was stopped in my tracks. I had simply not seen anything like her before. Her grey eyes caught the moonlight beautifully and, at that moment, all I wanted to do was to watch her exist.

Since then, I had taken it upon myself to be on the lookout every night. Not because, I wanted to be of service to the pack, no. It was just a silly excuse to come out and see her again. Plus, should any other wolf sight her here, she would be as good as dead.

Now, there were two reasons I had not yet approached her. One, she was very obviously a vampire. It was easy to decode that given how pale her skin was and the fangs that she did not bother to hide whenever she thought she was bathing alone. Two, nobody from my pack was to be found anywhere near a vampire. They were considered enemies and were to be killed on sight.

But this one was all too beautiful for me to touch a hair on her head. And if I was being honest with myself, I did not actually understand the basis of the hatred that my family had for vampires. All they ever told me since I was little was that they were bad and wicked. But as I grew, I began to question that. No vampire had ever harmed me in any way, that was largely because I had never crossed paths with them though.

She was the first vampire I was in close proximity to and so far, she seemed peaceful. She would come to the river, bathe, swim for a while, and then disappear into the woods again. I had since been obsessed with watching her. And yes, I was definitely a creep for not looking away as she took off her clothes, but it was damn hard to do that.

I decided that today was the day to leave the tree and follow her into the woods. Curiosity had gotten the best of me and I had given into finding out where she slept. This whole territory was off limits for vampires, so she was either a rogue or she was some kind of spy. From my thinking, the chances were leaning more towards the former.

Quietly, I followed her through the woods, along so many turns that I was sure not going to remember. I was already thinking of giving up and turning back when I saw her stop in front of a blue tent under a tree. Outside it were dimly lit charcoals that only glowed red when a gust of wind touched them.

When she went into the tent, I waited a while before I walked out of my hiding spot. But I should have known better, I should not have forgotten that she was a vampire with sharp senses. It had happened so fast, the way she flew out of the tent and tackled me to the ground. My hands were pinned on my chest across each other and she trapped my waist between her thighs.

She had impeccable strength, that one was for sure. But if I had really wanted to free myself, I would have. But her grey eyes caught me again and I was just lost staring at her. Her lips too, they were full and red as blood.

She was busy observing me, scrutinizing my face. Obviously, I had scared her because this place did not look like anybody was supposed to find it.

"What are you?" She asked me in a rough tone.

This girl was not asking me who I was, she was asking me what I was. It was funny to me, so I laughed.

And then her face scrunched into a deep frown on seeing my amusement. "I do not think you are aware that I can snap your head off your neck in seconds."

At that, I laughed again, harder than before. With all her vampire senses, she must have not yet figured it out yet that I was a werewolf. Now, she looked frustrated that I was still laughing even with her threat.

"Tell me, what exactly is funny?" She gripped my hands tighter. "Do I look like a clown?"

"No." I spoke to her for the first time. "You look like a goddess actually."

"What are you doing here? Who sent you here?" She completely disregarded my compliment, almost like I never said it. "What's your mission here? Hm?"

"Nothing." I told her. "I was walking in the woods and I just stumbled upon this place. Nice lodge by the way."

She eyed me for a few seconds. Definitely, she was still suspicious as nobody just wonders around this deep into the woods.

"If I let you go, do you promise to never come back?" She asked.

"When I have discovered a beauty like you here?" I smiled at her. "I don't think so."

She groaned in frustration and I was almost laughing again. The face she made was really amusing to me.

"Come on, we can be friends." I continued. "My name is Marcello. You are?"

"It's none of your business." She spat. "I just need you to leave here and never return."

"And I already told you that I simply cannot do that." I told her plainly. "How do you expect me to just forget the lovely sight that you are."

I was risking my life with this. If I had been found there with by anyone in the pack, pinned downed by a vampire, a female vampire... I did not want to imagine the things that my father would have done to me. But we were deep in the woods, and I was confident that nobody was going to find me there.

"You're being stubborn." She looked at me with a hard gaze. "So you leave me with no other ch—"

I easily freed my arms and turned her over so that I was now the one pinning her down. It only took one of my fists to hold both her wrists together. Now, I let myself laugh freely at the shock on her face.

"You're strong." I admitted to her. "But not strong enough to hold me down. You really thought you were doing something with your tiny arms?"

She mumbled some words that I did not bother to decipher under her breath as she struggled in vain to free herself from my hold.

"Let me go!" She yelled at me. "Ugh!"

"Not until you agree to be my friend." I offered.

"Look around," She said to me. "Does it look like I am someone that is into friends?"

"Well, everything has a beginning, right?" I shrugged. "So?"

"Let me go first, then I'll consider." Was her reply to that.

"No." I insisted. "Give me an answer first."

She rolled her eyes at me and sighed heavily. "Fine! Now, let me go."

I freed her and sat beside her on the ground. She eyed me as she rubbed her wrists that were only slightly red.

"Sorry..." I apologized, feeling bad.

"Whatever." She stood up and looked down at me with a grimace. "Now, leave."

"This is no way to treat your friend." I stood up so that I was now the one looking down at her. "At least, try to be nice."

"I said leave." She repeated, her tone getting harsher.

I raised my hand in surrender, stepping back. "Okay, jeez." I chuckled. "But I'll be back."

She did not respond to me, only continued to look at me with that hard gaze of hers. I turned around and began to run back to the river, glad that I was even able to remember where to go. And it was when I got to the oak tree that I usually watched her from that I remembered that she had still not told me her name.

But, at that moment, I had bigger fish to fry, as my older brother had appeared out of nowhere.

In his low, deep voice, he asked me, "where did you go?"