Hi, soooo sorry i've taken so long to update, i've had a busy couple of weeks. Sorry if this chapter has ant typos i've been up late trying to get it finished and have been in a rush to get it up.

Thanks to shewolf13, orangeraindrop, donkeyface and lucymort for reveiwing on the last chapter. :)

R&R plz! Enjoy!

That night I dream of running as a wolf. I can feel the soft but brittle earth beneath my paws and the branches' fingers scratching me softly as I fly through them. I can hear the wind as it whistles through the leaves and the sound of even breathing beside me. All I can see is the endless forest as I race my companion wolf. The scent of the undergrowth only makes me more excited and makes me run ever faster and I can taste the excitement of the black wolf with big, brown eyes beside me. 'Ash, my Ash,' I think gleefully. We continue to run, making so little noise that a human could pass us by and see nothing more than a shadow and flash of red and not hear a sound. For the first time in over two months everything seems so right, so perfect. I don't feel alone anymore. Wolves prefer to run in packs something I've been unable to do since I came here. But now I don't have to run alone, now I have Ash.

'LIA, HELP ME!' screams a voice from somewhere in the trees. Ash and I both stop abruptly, our ears swivelling to try and pick up the noise.

'LIA!' this time I recognize the voice, Sophie. I run through the trees at full speed, leaving Ash behind me. Sophie's in danger, I have to get to her before they do. A pained howl from behind me makes me stop again. Ash. I turn round to go to him. A dark shadow moves in the trees. I growl threateningly and make my fur stand on end in a useless attempt to look bigger. As a human I'm five foot six, making me a small wolf compared to the one now coming towards me. I recognise it at once, Jeremy. He lunges and lands on me, fangs going for my neck, for the kill. I fight back uselessly. 'They've killed Sophie and my Ash and now they're going to do the same to me,' I think still fighting against Jeremy's grip. He snarls at me before ripping out my throat causing everything to go black.

I sit up quickly, too quickly I realise as the blood flows from head making me dizzy. The scratchy duvet falls off me, annoying my bare skin. Bare skin? I look down and nearly throw up. Not only am I naked but I'm also covered in blood. My hands fly up to cover my mouth to stop the scream that had nearly made its way out. This time I do throw up. I look at myself in the mirror, not only is my stomach covered in blood but so are my hands and face. I breathe deeply through my mouth, trying to calm myself. Suddenly, my dream comes back to me all at once.

'Sophie,' I gasp.

I look over at her bed. There's a Sophie sized lump on it. I breathe in deeply through my nose smelling flesh and making my insides flop. I hesitantly make my way over to her bed. Please let me be wrong, please. I reach out a hand and grip the sheets covering Sophie. I take another deep breathe through my mouth and yank the sheet away from the bed. I look at Sophie and stumble back, screaming. I stop when my back hits the wall furthest from Sophie's bed and slide down it until I'm sitting on the floor with my knees pulled into my chest. I put my head down and grip my hair, trying not to pull it out, as I fight the change I can feel coming.

'Then change, you stupid pup!' growls my inner voice chiming in at the wrong moment as usual. I'm too stressed to answer it back.

Get a grip Lia, you can't change not here, not now. I take deep breaths trying to calm myself, the stench and taste of flesh doesn't help. I don't look up as the door bangs open, nor can I smell who it is over the more unpleasant scents circulating the room. I listen to their footsteps as they get closer to me. 'No stay back,' I think uselessly. If I change, oh gosh, if I change, who knows what I'll do?

'Lia?' says a voice from above me – Ash. It had to be him. He places a hesitant hand on my back in comfort but I react to the contact badly. My brain had felt almost numb when I'd first seen Sophie, but the warmth of his skin wakes up the wolf inside of me. I twist round to face him and snarl at him menacingly. He flinches away from me, I see the shock in his eyes easily as he recovers himself and tries to touch me again. I lash out at him, kicking punching and scratching with all my strength. I knee him in the stomach and he doubles over, winded. I scramble into the far corner breathe heavily, my mind spinning as I try to regain control over myself. I can't let the wolf control me like this.

'Awww, why not?' whispers my inner voice. 'You're more fun when you get like this.'

SHUT THE HELL UP! I scream mentally as my temper comes to an end. MY BEST FRIEND IS DEAD AND ALL YOU CAN DO IS MAKE STUPID REMARKS ABOUT EVERYTHING! GO FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO TORTURE!

'Lia?' Ash repeats, from across the room. My eyes snap up to his instantly, my breath coming out in small gasps from mentally screaming at myself. He crosses the room and reaches a hand out as if to touch me again.

'Don't touch me,' I warn him, glaring good measure.

'Okay, I won't,' replies Ash holding up his hands in a surrender. 'But you need to put your dressing gown on and wash your face before anyone comes to find out why you screamed.'

'The only other person down this corridor that hasn't left is Courtney and she's a heavy sleeper,' I explain calming down a bit and getting control of the wolf. I take a deep breath before saying anything else. 'Are you okay?'

Ash laughs humourlessly. 'Me? You're the one that – um – should be going into shock not me.' I take in his pale face and worried eyes and make my own conclusion. He isn't okay.

'I'm sorry.' Ash looks at me confused. 'For acting up like I did, I guess I was just shocked and –'

'It's fine, angel, really. I don't blame you.'

He sidles up to me and puts his hand in the air spreading his fingers out into a fan. I stare at it blankly for a minute before touching my hand to his and weave my fingers through his before clinging to it tightly. Ash presses his lips to my forehead as I lean against him. We sit like that for what feels like only seconds but, in cold and harsh reality, is ten minutes (no where near long enough). I pull away and unwind my fingers from his. I reach for my dressing gown but am beaten to it by Ash who holds it so I can just slide my arms in. I stand still as he winds his arms round my waist and does up the belt tightly enough that you can't see any of my body. I let myself be led over to my bed and sit down on it heavily.

'Wait here and I'll get a flannel for you too wash your face with,' Ash explains as he turns and heads for the bathroom. Ignoring him, I get up to follow. He turns his head to glare at me. 'I mean it Accalia, don't move.'

I do what I'm told immediately. Ash gives me a weird look, probably surprised that I actually did what he told me to do, before heading into the bathroom. I watch him go, diverting his gaze from Sophie's body. The last person to call me by my full name had also hit me and made me make a decision I felt no where near ready to make. I shudder at the memory. I've put what happened that day behind me and I'm not going to think about. I tell myself firmly. My gaze flickers to Sophie. How could this have happened? Why didn't I wake up? Why isn't there a scent other than mine, Sophie's and flesh? What idiotic mutt could be so stupid as to kill a human right under another werewolves nose?

'Do you really what an honest answer to those questions?' mocks my inner voice, obviously not having got the message that I'm pissed of with it.

Humour me if you're so smart. You never know, it might be right. Did I just think that?

'This happened because O'Connor, your little boyfriend, probably drugged you last night on your pathetic date –'

I growl. If they're the only answers you can come up with, I'm not interested.

I let my gaze fall on Sophie again and my breath gets stuck in my throat. She looks worse than I thought. I study the damage that the mutt has done to my best friend. She almost doesn't look human with the whole of her right arm missing –

'Looks like the mutt ate it. I wonder what she tasted like?' mocks my inner voice, cutting me off from my train of thought.

You're sick? You know that? Sick!

I continue to assess the damage done. Not only is her arm missing but so are her clothes, not surprisingly, and other parts of her body. Blood covers her sheets, I notice that some has even been splattered on the wall. I swallow the bile in my throat. I have to do this, when I get the records from Karl it will have details of the victims, if I want to identify this mutt then I have to know what his kills look like. I take a deep breath and listen for Ash. The water's still running from the tap, I wonder what's taking him so long? I listen harder and hear him breathing heavily.

'Don't worry, dinner's just calming himself down,' says my inner voice lightly.

ASH IS NOT DINNER, NOW PISS OFF! My second out burst makes my inner voice snicker evilly. I look at Sophie again as my insides do a belly flop. Her whole body is covered in scratches from the attack, especially her head. I'd been avoiding looking at her face, I just don't want to see her blank eyes that where once full of life and youth. I allow my eyes to dart to her face and regret it instantly. I lean forward and throw up again on the floor. Her face, oh my God her face! I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block out the image.

'It wasn't that bad, pup,' says my inner voice smugly.

Not that bad? Her face was gone! Ripped off and eaten most likely. And you say it's not that bad? I squeeze my eyes shut even tighter.

'Come on, surely you've seen worse,' I picture my inner voice grinning wickedly. 'I know you've seen worse. She burnt Lia, burnt in the car because she didn't love you. Because you were too different, a monster. She left you with the Coven, knowing exactly how they would treat you. Surely that is worse, to be despised by your own mother.'

'NO!' I scream out, curling into a ball again and gripping my hair.

'Lia! What's wrong, angel?' I didn't hear Ash come out of the bathroom. He sits down beside me, pulls me onto his lap and cradles me in his arms. I bury my face in his shirt, sobbing loudly. I can near enough smell the surprise coming off Ash. He's never seen me cry before. I realise. I need to be strong. I can't let my past rule over me like this, it's unhealthy. Who cares if my mum killed herself to get away from me? Who cares if the Coven abandoned me whenever I needed them most? Who cares if the only people that ever really felt like my family hate me and wants me dead? I care, and it bothers me. I breathe in through my nose deeply and pull away from Ash's chest. I wince quietly when I see the state of Ash's shirt. It's now covered in blood and tear stains. Oops.

'I'm sorry,' I seem to be saying that a lot today.

'Lia, stop apologizing. You have every reason to be acting like this,' Ash looks me in the eye, trying to get the message across that he means it. 'Do you want me to wipe your face?'

I nod mutely, not wanting to have to look at my reflection again. Gently, Ash begins to clean the blood of my face. I close my eyes and focus only on him touching my face. I'll never admit it but I like being this close to someone, physically and mentally. I sigh contentedly, even though I know I shouldn't feel like that, it's so easy to forget the reality when I have my eyes closed focusing only on what I can feel and hear. I forget the taste of flesh and vomit in my mouth, I forget the stench of fresh blood and I forget the sight of Sophie. I know that the world inside my head isn't real, but for those five minutes that Ash spends cleaning the blood of my face it might as well be. I snap out of my thoughts when soft lips touch mine. I keep my eyes closed and kiss Ash back. He chuckles slightly and pulls back, just like he did last night. Was it really only last night when I'd felt so happy, even when Sophie was bombarding me with silly questions and when I'd lost my charm? Right now, last night feels like a life time away.

'C'mon, we'll go to my room where you can have a shower and get cleaned up,' says Ash standing up. He holds his hand out for me and I take it eagerly. He smiles, pleased with my reaction.

'One sec, let me gat my bag,' I almost run into the bathroom and hurriedly collect my shampoo, conditioner, the first outfit I lay my hands on and my hair brush. Shoving them into the toiletry bag, I renter the bedroom, careful to keep my gaze from flickering to Sophie again. I take Ash's hand again and let him lead me out.

'What's that smell?' muses my inner voice.

I'm not going to fall for it. I'm not going to fall for it. I'm not going to – What is that? I stop in the doorway, nostrils flaring as I try to place the new scent in the air. It seems familiar somehow, as if I've smelt it before. But where from? I ask myself angrily. I twist round and do a quick sweep of the room still breathing in deeply. It smells of rotting vegetation and… dog? I rub my arm realising that it's covered in goose bumps. What is that smell?

'Lia? What's wrong?' asks Ash urgently. He steps up beside me and also does a quick sweep of the room; unlike me he doesn't skip Sophie's bed.

'Nothing. Sorry, it's just I thought I…' I break of at the end, shaking my head. 'Sorry, I'm just stressed.'

Ash nods his head tightly while looking round the room again for what had made me stop. I tug at his hand, trying to tell him that I want to go.

'Please Ash, I don't want to be here,' I whisper, begging, in his ear.

'Let's go.' Ash leads me down the corridor to his room. He opens the door loud enough to wake Sean up, but not loud enough that it makes my eardrums hurt like Sophie did whenever she came into a room. I'm not doing well at the whole don't-think-about-what-happened concept. I think, cursing myself silently.

'Where's the fire?' asks Sean stupidly, jumping awake.

'Lia's going to borrow our shower,' Ash hesitates. 'Sophie's been attacked.'

'So she's…?'

'She was dead when I woke up,' I croak.

'I'll ring 911 while you two get yourselves decent,' Sean replies getting up and heading to the wardrobe. 'The bathroom's all yours Lia.' He grins at me and winks. I can't help rolling my eyes at him, he reminds me of Nick somehow. Kind of like a big brother and friend all rolled in one. I sigh inwardly. Am I ever going to except that I'm not Pack?

'I doubt it,' replies my inner voice.

Why can't it just leave me alone!

'Thanks,' I mumble in reply to Sean.

I wait until Sean leaves before actually getting in the shower, feeling uncomfortable with him being in the next room. Taking my time I work the shampoo and conditioner into my long and badly tangled hair. I hate my hair. I almost laugh out loud as I think that. After everything that's happened in the past, what, half an hour? And I'm complaining about my hair. It seems like such a normal thing for someone of my age to be thinking, but as my life is far from normal this thought seems strange. How backwards. I scrub ferociously at the blood covering most of my body. My shower lasts longer than I expected. By the time I've washed my hair, cleaned off the blood and started to feel somewhat relaxed the water is beginning to run cold. I turn the water off and wrap a towel round myself, shivering slightly. I rarely get cold, another werewolf advantage, but when I do I literally freeze. I shiver again and dry myself with the towel. I grab a set of clothes to change into from my bag, the same top and jeans as I had worn last night. I shove them on and study myself in the mirror. My hair is a hopeless case so I just plait it again and try to ring as much water from it as possible.

'You still haven't asked the million dollar question, pup,' says my inner voice.

What the hell is it on about now? I have all the answers I need right now thank you very much.

'So you're not interested in why you were covered in blood?'

Um, no. Not really. I'm lying to myself and my inner voice knows it. I hadn't thought of that. How did all that blood get on me? If I didn't know any better then I would have thought that it looked like I had been the one to attack Sophie. That's crazy, right? Right?

'When was the last time you changed?' questions my inner voice.

Seven, no eight days ago. Eight days? That can't be right? I do the maths in my head again. It couldn't have been that long. If a werewolf doesn't change regularly then its behaviour can become unpredictable and down dangerous. Is it possible that I'd been ignoring my wolf instincts so thoroughly that I'd attacked Sophie unconsciously? I think back to the scent at the doorway. No. That doesn't explain that. Someone's trying to frame me. Trying to make me doubt myself. Well they're in for a damned big surprise, no-one messes with my friends and gets away with it. When I catch this mutt I'll –

Ting! I jump. Who the hell would me texting me at… at quarter past eight on a Saturday morning? Maybe if I just ignore it. Ring! Ring! Ring! Annoying thing. I reach over and grab my phone from my bag. I check the caller ID before answering.

'You took your time,' greets Karl coldly.

'I'm fine thanks, you?' I reply.

'I've got the information you asked me for,' he says, ignoring my pleasantries. I can hear the scowl in his voice. Jewel thieves, they steal a couple thousand dollars worth of diamonds and think that they're all that. Or does that just apply to Karl? 'I'll meet you at the modern arts museum in one hour. If you're not there in seventy minutes then I'll leave. If you're early the Pack might catch you. Good luck.'

'Wait –' I get cut off by a toneless beep. I bang my head on the wall. Seventy minutes to make an hour and a half journey? This day is defiantly going on my list of top ten shitty days. I groan and get up. I need that information, even if I have to break the speed limit trying.