Ladies love Kellan Lutz

A flock of young women with fangs on the brain gathered at the Natick Collection last night to glimpse Kellan Lutz, who plays Emmett Cullen in the much-adored "Twilight" series. Touring suburban malls to promote "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," the actor chatted with fans at a VIP event at Nordstrom and then faced the masses at Hot Topic, the mecca for all things Twilight. Lutz talked to us before facing his "Twilight" groupies and insisted he doesn't mind the vampire-loving mob that follows him around. He's thankful for the attention, though he wishes he had more time during junkets and fan conventions to actually see the cities he's visiting. "I have no time," he said. "Half them time I never leave the hotel." (That said, he was making a special effort to see On the Surface, the Boston-bred band featuring the adorable Heather Fogarty, tonight at the Middle East) Lutz said that he and his vampire co-stars -- including Robert Pattinson and Ashley Greene -- have become close over the course of three movies. (The cast recently finished shooting the third "Twilight" film, "Eclipse.") He said he knows the vampires better than the werewolves because the two actors don't mingle much. Why? The groups of actors are on set at different times. "We all stick to our pack or coven," he joked, adding that in real life, all of the young actors who play werewolves follow their wolf leader, Taylor Lautner, like little puppies. Natick Collection security estimated that about 500 people came out for the Lutz event. Gabby Arnold drove up with her mom from Hamden, CT. The 15-year-old girl, who slept on the floor of the mall a few weeks ago just to get a bracelet to attend yesterday's event, was thrilled when Lutz signed her poster. "I'm going to hang this on my wall next to my, like, 500 other pictures," said Arnold.

Caption: Kellan Lutz, in town to promote "Twlight: New Moon." JOSH REYNOLDS FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE