Chapter 3:

Truth and Posturing

In Emma's bedroom, there was a Mexican Standoff of sorts. Killian with his claws drawn and hovering over the Swan girl; Graham at the bedroom door mirroring Killian's position. Granny poised at the foot of Swan's bed, evenly placed between the males; Ruby still on the bed and straddling Emma's legs as the last line of defense between the aggressions of the older wolves. It was plain that they all had the same agenda of keeping the girl safe, even if their individual means to do so varied. Killian acknowledged the ridiculous redundancy of it –somewhere in his mind. Not that it changed his stance near Emma's bed, nor did it allow his eyes to falter from watching the ponce of an Alpha.

Granny's frustration sounded again, "Ruby, take these two idiots somewhere else. I don't care if they eat each other, but they won't do where Emma can see."

"Yes Granny." Ruby eased off the bed with pleading looks to both Graham and Killian, striding out the door with a straight back and full confidence that the men would follow.

Neither male moved to follow.

"After you, loner." Graham settled his hands on his hips.

Killian rested on his heels, gripping his belt buckle with one hand, waving the other through the air flippantly. "No, no. I insist. You first, Alpha."

Granny heaved a breath in her exasperation. "Somebody better go first, not that it matters who… since I'm still right here and there are butter knives in the kitchen not thirty feet away."

"Of course Granny." Graham conceded first, though it was more an act of dismissal than subservience, making his way to wherever Ruby had gone.

Killian remained, thumb digging hard into his belt and hand clenching at his side. The wolf within begging to come out and play. Too much excitement in too few hours. Chasing after Graham and ripping him a few new ones would settle a multitude of his nerves, but his feet remained firmly rooted to Swan's bedside.

"Go boy. Settle it before she wakes up."

He closed his eyes and swallowed. Willing his body to calm down. "Aye. Apologies Granny, I-"

"Save it boy. Go. I'll watch her."

He looked between Emma and Granny, the implications of his reaction to Graham's entrance finally settling in. Or rather, Granny's interpretation of them. He pinched the bridge of his nose, willing the wolf back down. Arguing with Granny was not on his agenda for this decade. He stormed from the room, very much wanting a bottle of rum.

Manipulative old bat indeed.

Killian found them down in the diner. Graham seated on a stool, shot glass and a bottle of dark liquor in front of him. Ruby standing opposite behind the bar, leaning over the counter on her forearms. The quiet whispers passing frantically between them ending as he took the final step off the stair.

"Oh… don't stop on my account."

Graham turned his head. "Ruby tells me you're here on Council business?"

"Aye. Which makes it none of yours." Killian stopped in his path, placing his hand to buckle and weight to heels once more. Of course it was an unnecessarily juvenile posture, but he'd lost the remainders of his patience for the whole affair quite some time ago. Ruby saw his childishness as well, chastising him for it like the sister she couldn't help being.

Graham waved off her admonishment. "No Ruby, its fine. I can always make inquiries myself. Why one of Council's mongrels lost track of a target, got a bystander nearly killed, and risked exposure on numerous occasions… all in what? Six hours? I'm sure I'd get the answers I want then."

Killian snarled, "Mac bastaird de fraochÚn"

Graham shrugged at the insult, knocking back another shot of whiskey. Ruby placed a fresh glass and the bottle of rum out for Killian, urging him to join them at the bar. He did, left of Graham, keeping an open seat between them. Moments passed with only the liquor gracing their tongues causing Ruby to lose her patience with the testosterone.

"If you two aren't even going to try, then I might have a suggestion." Both males shifted their attention to her, wincing under her glare. "Graham, Killian is tracking a bad one. Really bad, if Granny's rumors are true."

Killian's head hit the counter. Wolves can't keep secrets, her own sodding words.

Ruby frowned at him. "Whoever it was attacked Emma last night. Problem is, the guy might come back. Killian needs to stick around in case he does."

"And if I unknowingly scare him off because I'm in proximity?" Killian scoffed, his words muffled from his face buried into the Formica. "I'd be floating around here accomplishing nothing."

She sighed, arching a brow with his complaining. "If I may? Conduct your search like you normally would from your apartment. Graham can help you with his own resources if it starts looking like the guy moved on. Meanwhile, you'll need an inroad with Emma. Graham is your best shot. Friend from the old country or something."

"Why can't we just stick to the truth and say I'm an old friend of yours?" Killian finally raised his head. He was becoming exhausted. Things were already complicated and intricate. Making them more so wasn't something he was willing to do. Least of all when it meant interlacing his life with the wolf on his right.

"Because I've never mentioned you. She'd be suspicious faster than we could finish the lie."

"Really? Never even once?"

Ruby flicked Killian's nose. Graham snickered. "Focus doofus. That's another thing; watch what you say to her. She's almost as good as a wolf when it comes to lies. You two are going to have to plan this out for it to work."

Graham wrinkled his nose. "Or Killian could simply do his job, hunt the bastard down, and leave Emma well enough alone."

"Is that jealousy I smell Humbert? Afraid she might enjoy the company of a low-born scoundrel like me?"

"Not at all. Just want to save her from a rabid case of fleas and whatever current STD you've contracted."

They resumed their growling; Ruby reached further over the counter, slapping them on the backs of their heads. "If the guy is staying in town, Killian will have to stay close to track him. And if the guy is still after her, then Killian will have to be closer. Emma will notice him eventually and probably sooner than that. It would be a whole new set of problems none of us need."

Graham swallowed another shot, closed his eyes, and hung his head. "Fine. But not right now. Tomorrow. And we wait a day after she wakes to introduce him. Give her time to come out of it."

"I need to know how much she remembers mate."

"And I will find out for you. She'd open up to me long before she'd speak in front of you. You don't know her, I do." He shoved his shot glass to Ruby, "I'm going to go take a turn watching her. Get some sleep Ruby; she's going to need you." He took the stairs two at a time.

Killian stared at the glass Graham had left behind. "I smelled jealousy right? He's sprung on the Swan girl?"

"Yeah."

"So he doesn't know that you-"

"No."

Silently Ruby put the liquor away before climbing the stairs after Graham to her own rooms. Killian's head hit the counter again, cursing himself for playing hero.

Emma had woken just before noon the next day, screams ripping from her throat as she tried to sit up. Graham pinned her to the bed while Ruby tried to calm her down; Killian standing in their shared hallway vibrating in his skin to help. In the end Emma simply passed out from the pain and Granny was called to stitch her up in a few places again. It was decided to give her stronger meds to try and keep her down one more day. If only to buy them all a little more time. Killian –unable to do anything for the Swan girl– was left with the unfortunate task of making a situation report to his handler. An unpleasant woman who tolerated very little. He kept his e-mail as detail specific as possible, wishing on air that she wouldn't do more than glance at it. It wasn't the first time Walsh had moved on before Killian could successfully make his play. Simply the first time he had made his play and lost the mark after. With a witness. He damned his decision to save the Swan girl with each tap to his keyboard, a decision that kept spiraling further out of his control; even if the regret of it had yet to show up.

It was less than ten minutes after clicking "send" that he received his reply, causing a trickle of fear to roll its way down his spine.

You chose her, and the consequences of that decision. Fix this, before I decide we have no further use of you. ~C

Killian swore, and for more than the threat he was just given. (Though that alone would be enough to send Killian's mouth on a foul torrent of profanity.) "If you are going to make me suffer your stench Humbert, you might as well enter and discontinue your lurking outside my door."

Graham leaned partially in. "Heard the typing, figured you were busy. If you're finished now though…"

Killian set aside his laptop with a thud. "Aye. To what do I owe the pleasure, oh great Alpha?"

Graham huffed, hands settling on his hips. "Turn it off for a few moments? Emma is fighting her way back, waking for a few minutes here and there. Granny can only able to keep her sedated for so long. We have to figure out our story now."

"Of course. Any ideas?" Killian motioned to the chair at his table, encouraging Graham to at least join him rather than pace the floors.

"Thank you." Graham mumbled, sliding into the offered seat. His fingers immediately drumming on the table surface. "You don't think Ruby's idea of old friend will work right?" Killian's right eyebrow bowed itself high on his forehead. "Didn't think so. CEO of my overseas office?"

The eyebrow came back down and furrowed with its neighbor. "And have to learn any of that jargon you use to make it passable? Not bloody likely."

Graham slouched, irritated with the constant dismissal. "Then why don't you come up with something?"

Killian hesitated. He only had one idea so far, and frankly, he couldn't stomach it much himself. "You won't like it."

"I have to pretend to be pleasant with you in the room. I'm not liking any of it."

Killian sighed. "Siblings. Or family of some sort."

"We look nothing alike Killian. And we can't stand each other."

"I can be a cousin or a half-brother if you like. Bastard son somewhere in the line. We both know that the arguing and dirty looks won't stop because Swan will be awake; she's bound to see the animosity. All of which is easier to play off if we're relatives; families bicker all the time. We keep the details as close to reality as we can. We didn't grow up together, so we don't have to fake knowing all the little details."

Graham nodded slowly. "And you're in town why?"

"Fresh start in the new world. And you graciously opened up your home as a favor to the family."

Graham pursed his lips in consideration. "You're right, I don't like it."

"And if it turns out that the wolf is hanging around, we can fake my moving into my own apartment here because I couldn't handle living with a prat like you." Killian looked over the Alpha, clicking his tongue and ducking his head. "I have to know though Humbert. Does she know-"

"That I'm wolf? Of course not."

"That you have feelings for her. I'd hate to say something off-handedly and cause yet another issue for us to deal with."

Graham's jaw set in a hard line, sitting straighter in his chair. "Yes… no… Honestly, I'm not sure what it is I feel; let alone what she's picked up on. I feel protective of her, and I care for her. Some days I…" A hand ran through his curly hair. "I'm sure she's picked up on something, but she's never said a word about it. Never made a move one way or another. So I haven't either."

"I see." Killian brought his head back up, "So she's single then?"

Graham's eyes flashed citrine and a growl sounded from deep in his chest.

Killian laughed. "Easy mate. Can't blame a bloke for trying."

"You'd do well not to try a damn thing."

"I promise to be every inch the scoundrel I am." Killian leaned back, mirroring Graham in his own chair. "However, I won't press the lady Swan into even a conversation about the weather, if she doesn't wish it."

Graham nodded, rising from his chair. He made it halfway to the door before he turned around. "You know all of this planning is for nothing if she remembers everything from that night."

"Should she remember her attack, or more importantly, me… then plans change."

"I'll kill you before you have a chance to report to The Council that she does."

"We still might need her to flush out this psychotic bastard. We have time to figure it all out. Swan is safe."

The two unsaid words hung between them. Graham left. Killian opened his computer again. Not one for being idle, he renewed his search of the bastard Walsh.

Emma slowly became aware of her body, feeling first like it was trapped inside a body bag; her movements constricted and smothered. She'd freak, if she didn't feel like she was floating at the same time. An odd sensation, to say the least. Gradually, a burning feeling joined the party, spreading over her back. It was a passing thought that she might be on fire, but the thought didn't bring along the strength to check, or the will to care. She didn't need to worry; the world had lost the light and gone pitch black. She was safe in the darkness, having learned to hide in it long ago; it was a comforting blanket that kept the bad things away. When she was much smaller, she would use the darkness to hide from the other kids who didn't like sharing their home with her. Or the women who would throw things at her when the chores weren't done as they wanted. The men who thought she was such a sweet little girl…

"Your blood is sweet Emma."

Walls blended into trees, floors morphed into grass and dirt, and the ceilings faded into dying leaves blocking and empty sky. Glowing eyes shifted behind the shadows, edging their way closer as the distinct smell of dog and the hard sound of panting assaulted her tiny haven of comforting darkness. The heat at her back became oppressive, sucking the air from her lungs for its own needs.

"Is the rest of you just as sweet? Sweet and soft?"

Trees and dogs switched again putting Emma back in home number five and he was touching her hair. Emma struggled against the memory, forcing it back down where it was supposed to be buried, but then he became a shorter man with shaggy hair speaking the same words. The new man was digging into her leg. Red eyes on a distorted head, and Emma felt so small, whimpering with the pain.

"I'll be taking the lady…"

Red faded to white, panic found its release, and Emma exploded in screams to push away the bad things.

"Emma! Emma sweetheart wake up!"

The world was so dark…

"Please Emma wake up for me. Open your eyes!"

Open?

The wild dark retracted from her mind, and her surroundings opened to reality. She lay face down in a bed. Everything hurt. She wanted to move, but there were hands and weight holding her down.

"Come on Emma; just open your eyes for me."

She moved her lips instead to tell whoever was on top of her to move, but words were impossible with her tongue feeling swollen in her mouth and the sides of her throat sticking to itself in thirst.

"Ok, ok. You want to talk? You have to open your eyes to get the water for it."

Brain cell finally started speaking to brain cell, allowing her nerves to accomplish the task and let Emma do as she was bid. The bed was her own, an orange light was peeking from behind drawn curtains and Ruby's smiling face was in front of her.

"There she is. Water yeah?" Emma nodded what little she could move her head. "Ok, DO NOT try to get up. I'll explain everything, but you need to stay still right now. Yeah?"

Emma nodded again, rewarded with a straw to her lips. Ruby was quick to remove it before Emma could get more than half a swallow; Ruby only allowing small sips when all Emma wanted to do was gulp. The last bits of brain fog filtering off as Ruby rehydrated Emma, the pain of her burning back taking the vacant space confusion had left behind. Emma attempted to move again, wanting to shake off the last images stuck in her head, only to be held down with large insisting hands.

"Now now… you promised Emma."

Emma blinked. Ruby's mouth hadn't moved to make the words, and it was abnormally deep for a woman. The seconds ticked as Emma slowly realized the voice didn't belonging to Ruby at all, but a man positioned somewhere behind her. It was familiar enough, its tones bringing a level of comfort Emma felt herself craving, but Emma couldn't sort out the face it matched with.

Ruby snorted, "I told you, you'd been away too long Graham. She doesn't even remember your voice."

Those same hands holding her down gave a gentle squeeze to her upper arms. "Guess this means I should move in. Fair warning, I don't do my own laundry. If you don't want it everywhere, you'll have to wash it for me."

Emma groaned, "I hate you both." Her voice was rough to her ears. Like she hadn't used it in a few days. "How long have I been out?"

Ruby's face fell a tad. "A while. Not that you stayed that way. You woke early this morning and tried to move, caused a little extra damage to yourself, so we gave you some drugs to keep you down a little longer." Ruby's lips moved to speak, the sounds hesitating and Emma knew things were bad if Ruby was being picky with her words. "Emma… you were hurt the night you caught that Felix kid. Do you remember anything?"

"Right now all I know is that I need to pee and I have an idiot holding me down. Can it wait?"

Graham scrambled off of her as quickly as he could without jarring her further, backing away to the door to give the women proper privacy. "Right then, I'll just wait in the kitchen."

Ruby was looking her over. "You know you're wearing an adult diaper right?"

"Sure, but even if I wanted to take advantage of it, I wouldn't in front of him. Help me up?"

"Emma, you have stitches in your back. Moving you isn't a good idea."

"Ruby. Help me to the toilet, or I'll try to do it by myself."

Graham was eventually called back in to carry her, Ruby staying in the restroom to help with the smaller details. Emma pressed for a full list of injuries, forcing Ruby to work some hand mirrors so she could see the damage without needing to twist or bend. The quick break of using the bathroom ended up taking a little over and hour with everything needing to be done carefully; Graham made his manly grumbles about girls traveling in pairs to the bathroom and taking forever once there.

Emma patted his cheek, "That's why we needed you back. All us girls together."

She giggled at his scowl, feeling a bit silly now that her biological needs had been dealt with. It took some haggling, but Emma managed to convince them to let her sit up in the bed, so long as she agreed to let Graham sit behind her to take her weight. It was awkward with his legs long and bent on either side, cradling her in and far more intimate than she was used to, but Emma was not in the mood to lie down anymore. Graham remained careful not to aggravate her injuries further, shifting when she did so as not to touch the stitches. He felt warm; he was always warm, and it eased through her aches and pains just as well as any heating pad.

Emma snickered, patting him on his leg. "You're a chair. A girl chair."

His leg twitched under her hand. "And you're buzzing a bit aren't you?"

"Maybe. Or maybe I had a traumatic experience and I'm happy to be in the same room with my two friends."

Her words caused two things to fall in the room, Graham's head to her less painful shoulder, and Ruby's face.

Ruby reached a hand out to Emma's leg, gripping it for both their sakes. "How much do you remember Emma?"

"Not sure? I'm not sure if I'm remembering it or a bad drug induced dream." Emma didn't like lying to them. But she like being called crazy even less. Saying a guy –who looked like half a dog– attacked her, tried to rape her, and then she was rescued by another guy who had his own strange eyes… she wasn't a fan of four padded walls with a locked door. Unable to lie directly to Ruby's face, Emma lowered her eyes to her lap, fiddling with the pillow resting there. She missed the silent conversation happening around her, a questioning look from Ruby, and a shake of the head Emma mistook as nuzzling from Graham. "Can we talk about this another time guys? I don't think I'm ready to relive any of it yet."

Graham squeezed his legs in an attempt to hug her without touching her more. "Would you like to be alone then?"

Emma reached behind and scratched Graham's head. "No. It's late in the day, yeah? Movie night? If the two of you don't have plans already."

Ruby rose and grabbed Emma's hands, kissing the knuckles on both. "You are our only plan right now Emma. You want movies? You get movies. And if Graham had plans of being anything other than your chair, he can cancel them."

Said living chair heaved a dramatic sigh. "If I must, I must. But that means I have a few calls to make, and you chair needs to use the loo before it embarrasses itself. So You, Miss Emma, get to lie back down until I return."

Ruby beamed at them both. "I'll go downstairs and get some food set up for us, and I'm sure Granny will want a moment with you too Ems."

"I thought I said I didn't want to be alone, and now you're both leaving me?" Warm laughter filled the room. This is normal. This is safe. "Fine. Go. Just leave me my laptop so I can check my mail."

They helped her back onto her stomach, propping pillows in all sorts of locations to help relieve pain. Each planting a kiss on her hair before they left the room. Emma waited a moment before loading her usual programs, entering "Walsh Singe" into all of them. She had made the mistake of trusting him, of trusting herself. As much as she liked still being alive, leaving her that way was his mistake. She turned off computer so any notifications wouldn't ping with Graham or Ruby in the room. And so Emma could be honest if asked, she did in fact go through her emails, even opened her Tumblr dashboard to kill time with funny animal gifs.

The first few notifications pinged through twenty minutes later; Emma smiled each time her screen lit up for one.

Killian was in his bathroom, cleaning up for his night out. Hearing his computer ping a few times, he walked to his dining table where he was moderately set up now. City maps and brochures to a few clubs littered the tabletop. He'd barely caught a glance the screen's contents when Graham waltzed in. A movement dramatically halted with Graham's hands flying up to shield his eyes.

"Christ man! Hang a towel or close your bloody door! Anybody could walk by and see that!"

Killian grinned. "And chance deprive a fair woman from such a view?"

"Just put some pants on!"

"These are my rooms Humbert; I can be without attire if I choose."

Graham let off a few growls, and Killian only chuckled, walking his way to the bedroom. "Fine, fine. I assume you're here about Miss Swan then? I heard her screaming earlier."

"Yes, she remembers something, just not willing to talk about it yet. Ruby and I are going to sit with her most of the night watching movies. We'll push again tomorrow. Think you can avoid her another day?"

"Leave a pretty girl like that alone? It would be a strain on someone like meself, but I shall try with all earnest." Killian returned to the room, adjusting the cuffs on his button-down. "I'd say I'm decent once again, but we'd both know that's a lie. However, I am clothed."

Graham lowered his hands just a fraction to make sure, only to drop them entirely as he looked Killian over. "You look nice… why do you look nice?"

"And here I thought you'd finish that by asking for my hand. Tsk." Killian moved to the table posing as a workstation. Sitting down to work on his shoes.

"Has anyone, ever, had a straightforward conversation with you? Where you simply talk and refrain from innuendos and sarcasm?"

"Possibly." Killian sighed, waving a hand through the air. "I'm going out. Might have a lead of the wolf. He likes social scenes and I need to blend in."

Graham looked at him again. "Right… Text me. Let me know."

"Of course Alpha." Killian rose, peaking at the computer screen.

Graham rolled his eyes and made for the open door.

"The Lady Swan? You didn't tell me how she fared."

Graham stopped, giving Killian his third appraising look in a matter of minutes. "Hurt, but mending. Scared if that nightmare she had means anything. But she's a fighter, already back to telling us what to do. I'm just happy she's not out there chasing the guy yet."

Killian nodded as Graham took his leave, distracted by a new window popping up on his computer screen. Someone else was conducting a search on his wolf. And Killian was fairly certain it was the stubborn blonde in 4B.

Oh she's fighting Humbert. More than you want her to.

Killian grinned. He was really beginning to like this human.