I looked down, like a slow motion movie clip, watching the blood pool around my gown. It soaked down the front more like falling snow than a fast downpour, and after a moment it stopped completely.

I swung my head up, staring at an equally shocked Lyle, as I pulled the front of my gown down. I ran my hand over the blood soaked skin, feelings three distinct bullet wounds that weren't closed, but cauterized around the edges neatly. I felt something sharp and hot reach my skin, and reaching down I caught the first stunted bullet as it pushed itself out of my chest.

The next two came out at almost the same time, and I stood staring at all three pieces of metal that were jingling in my shaking hands like bells.

"Well that's going to make a good party trick. Did I mention I'm immune to silver?" I asked, enjoying the feel of the little metal balls bouncing around my palm.

The security this gave me, propelled my stunned brain into thinking of a plan. I wasn't going to be getting far running around in a dirty hospital gown, and I needed money and information if I wanted to move.

"N...No," I heard him stutter out to me, face pale and eyes darting around the forest at the slightest noise. "You are a true immortal then, one of the original ones. I should have recognized it when I saw your eyes, but it's just impossible."

I nodded my head, coming to the same conclusion as he did when the silver bullets left my body. The ramifications of all this were staggering, and advantageous for my tentative survival out here. I knew my fathers bloodline ran old, but he must have hid from me just how old it truly was.

"I want to make you a deal Lyle, and really you are in not position to refuse me; I could kill you easily, so it would be good of you to agree magnanimously." He nodded his head, still staring at my chest in wonderment. "I will agree to go back with you, and prove I am no rogue, provided you do not pry about who I am and you do not disclose what just happened here. There are things I need in order to be on my way from here, namely something to wear and some money, and after that I'm as good as gone. Does your clan abide by the latest charter that the regional councils approved last spring?" Lyle nodded at me, swallowing hard. Thank the gods I was looking into those Mexican wolves not too long ago, or I would never have read though the latest charter.

"Then I am entitled to a three day stay, under your lone wolf clause, without question. I am alone, with no pack, and I shall prove no hazard to you or to your clan while I am with you. I'm looking to head back north, back to where I have some friends who can take me in. I just need somewhere to clear my head, and figure out what I want to do." Lyle continued to stare, his gun now safetied off and hanging from it's strap behind his back. It was clear that the gun was useless.

"What is a she wolf like you doing without a clan?" He asked, probably having lost the memory of our earlier conversation. A female wolf of my strength would be treasured amongst a pack, highly sought after for a mate, and it must be strange to see me out here stranded.

"My father banished me when I tried to kill myself, and then I hit a rough patch. I've been going it alone ever since." He nodded his understanding now, because as most wolves can attest to, immortality has it's drawbacks. Depression can be common in the more unstable ones, increasing in intensity with age. Among the ones that were turned and not born, the percentage was almost half, another reason why so few made the transition.

"I forgot you said that. And you've been stuck for a whole month?" he asked, running a hand through his thick red hair. Nodding my confirmation, he reached into his pocket and drew out his cell phone again. He gave me one more appraising look, like a pitcher would someone on first base, and then took a few steps out into the trees to talk.

I stepped a few paces back as well, in an attempt to look like I wasn't trying to listen in. His voice faded after a minute or two, but I was focused somewhere else, concentrating all of myself on shifting my hand back and forth. It reminded me of those hologram cards, where one simple turn could change the whole picture.

"Dont' move," I heard a female voice tell me suddenly, as a gun was pressed into the middle of my back. I didn't even hear her come up on me, which was worrisome all on it's own. On instinct, my hands went up and I turned slowly around. I could feel my arms and legs start to shake, my barely contained control being tested to the maximum already.

"Where's Lyle?" she barked out to me, and it was then I noticed her backup. There were three strong looking males behind her, all staring me down with lethal intent. It became embarrassing when a drift of breeze teased the bottom of my hospital gown, flapping it against my thighs again. Gritting my teeth, I could only imagine the show they were getting.

"He stepped over there to make a call," I said, biting back the sarcastic responses that were rising to the surface.

"Right, he just left you here to have a chat on his phone."

"He did, he should be back any moment."

"What is your name," she said. Her tight jean shorts were rippling as well, her own wolf battling for dominance.

"I'm Hannah. I am unarmed, so can you quit pointing that at me now?" I rolled my eyes and tried sound non threatening. I may be immune to those shots, but they hurt like a bitch.

"Skye, put it down," Lyle said finally, coming up behind me and standing next to me. He was so tall compared to me, without shoes out here I couldn't have been much more than five two at best, and he had to be close to six and a half feet.

"She's just a loner, got a bit stuck and needs a place to crash." All of us could hear her scoff, an incredulous sounding tone that reverberated through the silent backdrop we were in.

"It's mating season, you know why she's here. I told Liam not to put the word out he would be accepting suitors." Skye tried for a joking tone but only a deaf man could miss the anger and bitterness in her voice.

"I'm not here to rut, or to mate. I have my own."

'Mine', my mind said into the abyss.

"You are alone, running lone without your mate?" Lyle asked, narrowing his eyes at me again. I could see out of the corner of my eye Skye train her own gun on me once again. My story had so many holes it would be a miracle if they let me in with them.

"He's set to marry someone else," I told them bluntly, knowing the easiest way to conceal my secrets was to run as close to the truth as possible. Skye gave me a look that was close to pity, and I had to clench my fists against my natural reaction to that particular emotion.

Lyle was shaking his head, a low whistle escaping his lips but they all seemed to be appeased of my innocence. They knew, as I did, that mating wasn't an exact science, it wasn't some definitive call that you had to answer, it was simply a choice, like any other.

Those that are mated do share a higher bond, and a stronger urge to be around one another and to defend what is theirs, which explained some of my wolf's insistence that I needed to go and find what was 'mine'. But at the end of day, it required follow through and commitment, as in any relationship, and sometimes there wasn't a mutual desire for that kind of bond. I let them fill the blanks as they would, better them assume that was the case, than me put my foot in my mouth by trying to explain things further.

"And the gown?" one of the guys asked, brawny hand extended towards my disheveled appearance. To his credit, he didn't do it with a leer as I expected. I knew what I was wearing bordered on obscene, it was thin and almost transparent in the light of the sunset, with my dusky nipples clearly visible beneath it.

It must have stuck to my wolf somehow, as indicated by the rips and tears along the edges.

"I was in a human hospital, that's my last memory before waking up here. Something must have triggered my wolf and I ran." The cold air was starting to get to me now, causing me to shake, and it was a mystery if that was due to the weather or the memory of what happened to me when I was sick.

The man directly behind Skye started fidgeting with his shirt, the same wolf that was speaking earlier. Noticing I had started shaking a bit, it became clear what he was doing.

He stepped forward, wrapping the button up shirt over my shoulder as I slipped my arms through. "I'm Memphis," he said with a wink, turning and taking the time to button up my shirt for me, his thick fingers running deftly but slowly down the length.

"Thanks Memphis," I said back, and it was impossible to miss the eye roll Skye sent his way when he said it.

"I called Liam, he's waiting for us by the gate," Lyle said, arm outstretched and indicating he wanted us to move it along. I nodded, falling into step as close to Lyle as I could. I didn't know if he could keep his word on not mentioning what had happened out here, and what I was, but I knew the closer I was to him, the more well behaved he would be.

It ended up being a short walk to where the gated community began. In truth, the neighborhood was just as exclusive as my former clan's, with large houses placed close together, and billowing iron gates to control who entered.

There was a tall figure near the opening, his long frame leaning with casual grace against the stone pillar that flanked the entrance. It was a kind of coiled power, of the promise that if he wanted to, it would take little effort to make an intruder pay the price for messing with his land.

One look at Liam's face and it became clear that Lyle was certainly his brother, their similar broad jaws and angular cheekbones made it a sure bet, even if they shared different hair colors. Liam's was a deep black, shimmering to almost purple in the streetlight.

"Are you bleeding little wolf?" Liam asked, stepping forward and looking down to my legs. He bent down to my height, eyes and hands probing my legs in an intimate way. It unnerved me, but I tried to stay steady, and eventually dropped my gaze to inspect them as well. There were rivers of blood that snaked their way down each thigh, little red rivulets all over, ending just below my knees to splatter on my bare feet.

"Accident," I said shrugging, though I was fighting a smile. To go from dying, to knowing just about nothing was going to kill me, was a strange kind of high. It made me question my sanity again; no rational person had this kind of reaction to what was happening with me.

"My brother accidentally shot you?" he said, eyebrow arching towards his hairline as he fought his own smile. I sent a glare at Lyle, knowing he had ratted me out already. It wasn't surprising, the clan's safety overrode my own need for secrets, but I had to think on the fly now.

Skye, Memphis, and the other two had confused looks on their faces as they looked from me to their beta, clearly not knowing what we were talking about.

"What do you mean you shot her?" Skye asked, eyes concentrated on my face.

"I'm immune to silver." Shrugging again I looked to Liam, who had been staring at me intently throughout the exchange. He was very hard to read, as most wolves are, but there was an added layer of power to him, as if his alpha waves rang louder than the others. "And alpha calls," I said, returning Liam's glances with one of my own.

I saw the corner of his mouth twitch, but it was smoothed out in the next instant.

"That's impossible, Lyle's just a bad shot." Skye responded with a sneer. I felt the beta stiffen next to me, and I was sure having a ball buster on your security detail was just bunches of fun for them. Using the opportunity to teach them a lesson, and to make sure no one attacked me while I was there, I rushed her, gripping the gun from her hand and plugging a hole in my own leg.

It was a tough shot, but I managed to hit my fleshy thigh and not bone. Bones always took a little while to heal.

"What the..." Memphis said, his deep voice cutting through my pain.

"Wait for it," I managed to grit out behind a crushing need to curse and scream.

Every eye was trained on my leg, and as surely as the sun would rise tomorrow, the metal slug made it's way out my skin. It clattered to the ground at my feet, resting in a cloud of dirt that plumed around it like a dirty pillow. I ejected the cartridges, scattering them to the ground as I clicked the safety on and offering her the gun, grip pointed towards her.

Memphis threw his head back, unapologetically laughing like there was no tomorrow. It was hard to miss the tears that were streaking down his face.

A moment later Skye had grabbed the gun from me, a sneer thrown my way so fierce I half expected to be going up in flames at any moment. Liam kept his eyes focused on me, his expression still inscrutable.

"I am immune to silver, and your beta here plugged three shots in me back there. I'm not looking to prove how big and bad I am, I just need a place to crash, to figure things out." Turning for the last part I met the alpha's eyes, pleading with him to see reason, and take a chance.

"You would like to stay here, invoke your right as a loner to impose on us?" Liam asked me directly. It was so direct sounding that the little speech I was running in my head dried up in my mouth. I could only nod, not trying to, but effortlessly pulling off the look of a lone wolf who was running out of luck.

If my appearance didn't attest to that, I knew there was a haunted look in my eyes, one that bore the signs that I had seen both loss and pain.

"Take her in, the guest house closest to Skye." It was a strategic move, placing me closest to the one that trusted me the least. By the look on Skye's face, she didn't like it any more than I did.

"Breakfast come morning, be at my house, we will discuss your stay," Liam said as we passed where he stood.

"Of course, I thank you for your hospitality and your generosity." I made the respectful and perfectly executed bow, to the complete astonishment of those around me.

Being a loner, I shouldn't know the proper protocol, but it wasn't enough to accuse me of hiding something, so they all would have to let it be.

"I have a feeling it won't go unpunished," Skye mumbled as she led me through the gate and into the dark street.