Kalaeha

I was reading this book about vampires and shapeshifters and witches and werewolves and such, so I decided to start a series about a shapeshifting cheetah, the fastest four-legged animal on the planet. Her name's Kalaeha (Kah-lae-hah) but her nickname's Leah. Here it goes.

Kalaeha peered out from underneath the ferns. She knew that her golden coat stood out so badly against the green. Shapeshifting cheetahs were always a brighter gold than regular cheetahs. Even so, she hoped that the vampire hunter wouldn't see her as she stalked him through the woods.

This guy, this vampire hunter, was following Leah's boss and best friend. Elizabeth was a vampire, yes, but she was a good vampire that was a Dark Knight. And this person- this stupid person, this stupid vampire hunter who was a vampire- was trying to kill her. Trying to kill Elizabeth.

He wasn't a vampire hunter, Leah realized. He was part of the People. A growl rose in her throat, but she swallowed it and crawled after the vampire.

Leah was sixteen, seventeen next fall. Not that ages mattered. She would stay at nineteen forever. Every shapeshifter stopped aging once they reached a certain point. Her age from birth was nineteen. When she was in human form, Leah's dark read hair fell to her waist. Her burning green eyes didn't look human. Proably because she wasn't human. She was the only cheetah she knew with such green eyes. In human form, she was tall, slender, and fast. She didn't know if her speed and being so agile came from being a cheetah or if they were just natural.

The vampire stopped and crouched down, his back still to Leah. She crept forward, placing each paw carefully, until she was only about three yards away. Up ahead, she could see Elizabeth, her blond hair tied up in a tight bun (as always), completely oblivious to the hunter and the weapon he was holding. He drew back his arm to throw.

Leah pounced.

She caught the hunter squarely in his broad shoulderd and sank her teeth into his neck. The vampire screamed. Elizabeth came running.

Leah's teeth were strong enough to kill vampires. That was what they were desinged for. Shapeshifters and vampires had been enemies until very recently, when the Dark Knights were formed.

The body beneath her went limp. Leah slipped into his mind to make sure he was really dead. She could feel his last thought running through his head. "I've failed the People."

"Kalaeha!"

Elizabeth only used Leah's full name when she was really upset about her. Leah sighed silently and shifted back. She was standing there in her jeans and T-shirt. The reason that they disappeared and appeared with her was because they were made out of the fur of other shifters.

"Kalaeha, you should have told me- that was too dangerous!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

Dangerous? Sure, he was a hunter, but they were the best of the best. They were the extreme Dark Knights. The spear wouldn't have killed Elizabeth, only wounded her, but they were going to be sent on a mission tomorrow. Without their leader, Elizabeth's gang was without their main fighter. Besides Leah, of course.

Elizabeth bent down and yanked something from the hunter's neck. Leah's stomach lurched. It was the People's way of ranking- by the color of the bead on the necklace. This guy's bead was dark red. Red alone was pretty high. Dark red was about as good as it got.

"Huh," Leah said in a level tone, trying not to let her surprise show. "Didn't put up much of a fight for being dark red."

Elizabeth frowned. "But don't you see? If he'd caught you, you would have died!"

Leah wanted to say "But he didn't catch me." Instead she murmured, "I'm sorry, boss."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and threw her arms around Leah's neck, standing on her toes to do so. She had stopped ageing at fifteen, but she was really around thirty. And she was small for her age. She had a bloodthirsty and dangerous look in her eyes, though, and then people wondered why she was so good at fighting. One only had to look into those pretty silver eyes to find out.

"I really am sorry," Leah mumbled, hugging her back. She wasn't very good at emotional things. "Really, really sorry. But he was going to kill you- I saw his mind. He was sent here by the People to kill you."

Elizabeth let go of Leah's neck and half-smiled. "Fine, fine. And at least he didn't hurt you. Now let's go get some sleep, and then we'll go on our mission."