The Vampire and the Orphan

Chapter Six

"Are you alright?" Lettie asked Nathanial as he scanned the parking lot.

"Will be," he said stiffly, "Let's just get out of here."

"You said werewolves, but I never..." she was mystified by what just happened.

They got in the car, and Nathanial didn't waste any time taking off. He was driving faster than he had yet.

"They won't come back," she assured him.

She didn't know how she knew this; she just did. He didn't question it.

"That was the most incredible thing I've seen," she mumbled, "beautiful."

"Beautiful?" He questioned. "Every bone breaks to reform... hair starts to grow, everywhere, its -

"Beautiful," she cut him off, and it was. It was one of the most amazing things she'd ever seen.

"You weren't scared," he mumbled. "How did that not freak you out?

"It felt very natural," she said softly.

"Werewolves always follow the alpha's lead," Nathanial spoke quietly as he contemplated this. "Always. But this alpha was submitted to you. I can't make sense of this."

"I felt so connected to them," she mumbled, "when they were wolves, I mean."

"They wanted to protect you," he told her, "that's not unusual. Many werewolves feel it's their duty to protect humans from us. The theory is that they came to be in the first place."

"Really?" She nodded at this, "interesting. Because I do feel or did feel like they are so natural. You feel different."

"Different how? Like I shouldn't exist?" He questioned, "because I shouldn't."

"No, it's not that. You don't feel unnatural to me, but you do feel darker. I can't explain it very well."

He rubbed at the back of his neck absently. She looked and saw his wound was still gaping.

"Nathanial! You haven't healed!"

"It'll take me a bit. I don't have fresh blood, and the venom is strong," he admitted.

His jaw was tense, and she could see he hated being weak. She didn't like seeing him in pain. It didn't feel right.

He needed blood to heal, and she had what he needed so-

"You can have some of my blood," she offered without questioning.

"Wha- no," he muttered, his knuckles going white as he gripped the wheel.

"Why not?" She asked, "You said it doesn't have to hurt."

"I don't feed from my charges," he said firmly.

"I'm not your usual charge," she pointed out.

"You got that right," he mumbled under his breath.

"You can't protect me if you're not as strong as you can be, right?" She questioned.

"I'll stop for blood when we get to Utah."

"How and where?" She questioned how that would work. "Am I supposed to come with you?"

"Damn it," he grunted, "I wasn't supposed to be needing this yet."

"Well, do you and I have plenty so-

"Lettie, no."

"Nathanial, yes," she mocked his gruff tone causing him to roll his eyes at her.

"You don't want to do this."