Vivian sat snuggled under Gabriel's arm. She leaned back, his solid chest pressing against her back. Gabriel conversed with Ilan, a male age-mate from Matteo's group, who sat on his other side. Gregory and Willem sat across the table from them with Bianca sitting between Willem and Finn. Ulf sat at the head of the table, next to Ursula, a petite raven-haired female and friend of Bianca's, who sat beside Ilan. Even Sylvie agreed to join them. She pulled up a chair and sat at the end of their table, next to Vivian.

It was a rare outing into town with some of the others and Vivian was thoroughly enjoying every minute of it. The small eatery was a popular hangout for the young locals, therefore providing sufficient cover for their group. Being a week night, however, the small restaurant was nearly empty except for a few older regulars who were completely absorbed in a sports game playing on the TV above the bar. It was shaping up to be a quiet evening in town followed by a much-needed run under the nearly full moon. Even though they lived in a remote enough location, far removed from the town, Gabriel still stressed the use of extreme caution when taking on their wolf forms. So, at the moment, they were just killing time until it was late enough to change forms safely.

Vivian smiled as she watched Ulf and Ursula, sitting across from her. Ursula was a friend of Bianca's and introduced to Ulf through her. They had hit it off immediately and Vivian found that she couldn't be happier for her friends. Right now, they seemed to be completely engrossed in each other, with little nips and kisses, as they occupied the corner of the table, their heads together and closed off towards the rest of the group.

Sylvie silently watched the amorous couple as well, a wistfulness evident in her sad eyes. Vivian had been surprised when the mysterious female agreed to join them. According to the rest of her pack, she was very rarely seen, coming and going at odd, unpredictable hours. But nevertheless, she had spent the entire outing in their company, looking stunning in a midnight blue shirtdress, accentuating her tiny waist with a thick black belt. However, despite this gesture of normalcy, Vivian did sense an uneasiness coming from the female. She knew it didn't go unnoticed by their companions from Matteo's pack either. Bianca, for example, kept Sylvie in her peripheral vision at all times, discreetly watching her closely.

"I envy what you have," Sylvie said quietly to Vivian after an extended silence.

"What do you mean?" Vivian asked.

Sylvie emerald eyes flicked towards Gabriel, then Ulf and Ursula.

"You can have that," Vivian insisted. "What about Matteo?"

Sylvie shrugged and flipped her hair over her shoulder, the chocolate curls twining and writhing before settling against her back. Despite Sylvie's exposé of her past, she still remained an enigma. Yes, she had had her heart broken by the death of her human lover, but was it so debilitating that she couldn't move on? Instead of answering, however, she fell into a pensive silence which revealed more than any spoken words.

"You know how he feels about you." Vivian added, thinking back to a time when she had once tried to resist Gabriel's pursuit of her. "Why do you do this to yourself?"

She shrugged again. "I don't know. I love Matteo. He knows that. I guess, I'm just not ready…" She broke off and stared at the table.

Vivian felt compelled to do say something in comfort but was effectively interrupted by Finn smacking his head dramatically against the table and groaned. All conversations suddenly stopped at once as everyone at the table turned to stare at Finn, facedown on the table.

"What the hell?" Vivian exclaimed, breaking the stunned silence

"Don't tell me you don't find these two nauseating!" he sneered, picking up his head and using it to indicate Ulf and Ursula.

"And how are we annoying you?" Ulf asked, clearly irritated at being interrupted.

"Can't you go out to the woods or something?"

"Go fuck yourself," Ulf retorted.

"'Cause he can't get anyone else to do it!" Gregory quipped suddenly, a victorious grin on his face.

Most of the group roared with laughter at Finn's expense and Ulf high-fived Gregory. Gabriel smirked, trying valiantly not to laugh and maintain a modicum of maturity without much success.

"Ha ha," Finn growled. "You wanna take it outside?!" he stood up quickly, chair shooting out behind him with a shuddering scrape, his arms flung out in a challenging gesture. He tried to get around Willem , who had stood up to keep him away from Ulf.

"Okay, okay," Gabriel said, reaching across the table and yanking Finn back by the tail of his shirt. "I think we all should take it outside. We just moved here; we don't need to get kicked out.

Finn resisted Gabriel for a second before conceding. His entire frame seemed to slump but his eyes still smoldered at Ulf, who decided to ignore him. Apparently, Ursula was more interesting than a fight with Finn.

Sylvie glanced at the wall clock and stood up. "I'm gonna go now. Bye everyone."

She turned and was gone.

Ilan watched her and shook his head. "She's a mystery. No one knows where she goes, but we have an idea."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"It's not good."

Bianca and Ursula looked uncomfortable at Ilan's solemn reply. There was an uneasy silence.

"Let's get going. The moon's almost full. We should enjoy it," Gabriel said and the rest of the group stood up. He took Vivian's hand and they headed for the exit. As they approached the door, it opened and Xander's massive dark form filled the frame. A sandy-haired female was tucked under his arm, her gray eyes sizing up Vivian.

Vivian recognized Ophelia in the group with the rest of Xander's cronies. Again, she was struck with a strong memory of Rafe.

"Xander," Gabriel said coolly.

"Gabriel," Xander nodded once in curt acknowledgment.

Xander stepped aside, bringing his mate, Kyerstin, with him. The other three males, Darius, Cato, and Lysander, stepped to the other side, leaving a path to walk through between them. Vivian saw that Ophelia hesitated before stepping aside next to Xander. The strawberry-blonde's eyes narrowed in disgust as she eyed the group behind Gabriel.

"Nice to see where your loyalties lie," she spat after the three members of her pack who followed Gabriel out of the eatery.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ilan snapped, whipping around. He towered over her in a threatening stance, almost nose to nose. "Keep your comments to yourself unless you can back them up, bitch."

"Whoa, stand down," Xander said warningly, pushing Ilan back. "Keep in mind where your place is."

Ilan glared. "You're not leader, Xander. You mind your place."

"Better watch that tone. Gabriel won't always be around to fight your battles," Xander said sharply. He glanced towards Gabriel, who had stopped a short distance away. "It might get you in trouble someday."

Ilan said nothing. Vivian noticed that Darius and Cato had moved in closer, boxing in the smaller male. Lysander even had the audacity to crack his knuckles for show. Ilan's eyes flicked to each male in front of him. He knew that there was no way he could get the last word in this time. Instead, he pushed past the massive Darius without another word, clearly seething.

Once they were aware from Xander's group, Vivian shook her head in disbelief. "This is getting way too tense for me. How much longer can it possibly go on?"

Gabriel released her hand to put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple. He chuckled darkly but Vivian could feel the tension in his body. He held her hand in a vice until they had passed by Xander and didn't completely relax until they were out of sight of the eatery.

Sylvie entered the house quietly. She shut and locked the door. The almost full moon bathed half the living room in a pale glow and illuminated her path to the stairs.

"Hello, Sylvie," a voice said. Sylvie looked in the direction of an armchair by the fireplace, hidden in the shadows. "Fruitful evening?"

She sighed, immediately recognizing the disembodied voice.

"I couldn't help but notice that you weren't with Gabriel, like those other traitors tonight."

"I'm not discussing this with you, Xander," she snapped.

A pair of glowing yellow eyes appeared in the dark. They rose and her brother, tall and menacing, stepped into the light.

"You reek of human, Sylvie," Xander growled.

Sylvie rolled her eyes and ran an agitated hand through her silken hair. It was mussed a little more than usual. Xander crossed the room and stood before his sister. He tugged on a loose strand, twirling it around his finger, mocking her.

"I'm not discussing this with you," she repeated firmly.

"No need." He sniffed the air. "The smell of sex says a lot more than you are willing to."

He gave the strand of hair a vicious yank. Sylvie glared at him.

"How long before you tell this one about us, dear sister?"

"It's not like that," she retorted.

"Oh really?" Xander's tone was sarcastic. "Just a one-night fuck, then?"

Sylvie clenched her teeth and refused to answer, staring at her brother defiantly. He shook his head as if at a loss for words. He leaned in close until they were almost nose-to-nose.

"What is it with you? Why do you crave the weakness of humans? Is there no one in your own pack who can satisfy your delicate palette?"

"I'd appreciate it if you weren't so invested in my sex life," Sylvie spat.

"Believe me, there's nothing interesting about it except you unnatural penchant for weakness. But then again," he pulled back, a malicious look on his face. "It explains a lot. Your attraction to Matteo, for instance."

"He's more of a leader than you'll ever be," she hissed.

"We'll see about that. He's more of a man than I am, too." Xander said sharply before leaving.