One of my recent reviewers said they wanted to see more romance between Leah and Connor in the story. Their relationship in all of its complexity will be the centerpiece of the fic, but it is not going to turn outright romantic for a while. You'll get tiny little tastes of it throughout the story, especially this chapter. I think that same reviewer also asked me to clarify Connor's origins. Essentially, Charlie and Connor Senior both worked on the police force together and were pretty good friends. When Rene left, Charlie was devastated and depressed. Meanwhile, Connor Senior and Elaine had been having difficulties of their own, nothing terrible you understand. Normal marital rough spots, but Elaine felt neglected and alone and began an affair with Charlie. Connor Junior (our "hero", such as it is) is the result of that affair, making Connor Bella's bastard half brother born out a shameful betrayal of friendship that drove Connor Senior over the edge into sadistic bastard territory. Connor Senior is going to come back to wreak havoc though, and we'll learn more about him and the night Connor was bitten as the story goes on. And if you think I forgot about the "Connor and Emily slept together" reveal you thought wrong. If you've been trying to forget about it…you have a few more chapters before it gets shoved into your face again. Until then enjoy.


Leah looked over at Connor as they turned up the driveway to her house. His eyes were closed and his breathing was shallow, above them the moon was bloated, on the cusp of being full.

"Your mom's home." The werewolf croaked, eyes still closed. She managed not to jump but she was still startled. She thought he was sleeping…

"Figured that out all by yourself, Sherlock?" she snapped, parking the car next to her mother's.

"Think she's going to be glad to see me?" he said with a small twitch.

Leah leaned over and gently felt Connor's forehead even though she knew that his body temperature had climbed up to match her own, then paused to brush a strand of hair from his eyes, as she pulled her hand away she noted dark watery residue staining her fingers. Connor had been forced to start dying his hair a normal color after his first transformation but his body seemed to reject it prior to a moon. The werewolf's left eye opened a crack and she caught a glimpse of the molten yellow iris, clearly inhuman. It stood out against his shadowed face, almost glowing in contrast to his pale skin. His lips drew up into a mocking grin.

"Admiring the craftsmanship?" he asked.

"Just marveling at how someone so ugly could work up the courage to show his mug in public." She said, but she spoke softly.

"Snotty bitch." Connor laughed and opened the door, but didn't get out.

"Need help old man?" she asked mockingly.

Connor didn't answer, just turned and pulled himself out of the car.

"I'm not crippled, Leah." But he did sound tired, exhausted. Like the moon was burning away his strength.

She moved quickly, not even bothering to close the door and immediately rushed to his side. Not giving her help, but ready to be there in case he needed it. Connor walked slowly and stiffly, and Leah matched his shuffling pace. When they entered the house, they both pinpointed exactly where Sue Clearwater was with their superhuman senses. Upstairs, in her room. Sleeping. Leah's mother usually caught early nights these days, and as she had had a council meeting that night, Leah had no doubt she was probably tired.

Connor abruptly stumbled, his right leg losing strength suddenly and the knee buckling for a moment. Leah was right there, catching him when he couldn't catch himself. Her strengths countering his weaknesses, that seemed to be the heart of their relationship. The weakness left as quickly as it had come but Connor still leaned on Leah, not wanting to let go. They passed Seth's room and both head as well as felt the music coming from within.

"Hey, Seth's playing music." Connor said, his words slurring a bit.

"Yeah, Lady Gaga." Leah said with revulsion.

"Let's dance." Connor said quickly.

"To Lady Gaga?" she asked.

"What? I think some of her songs are catchy…"

"Oh? So you're gay too? Seth will be so glad he has someone to talk to." Leah wrapped one arm around Connor's waist; she could feel his body start to sag, weakening.

"Come on." Connor seemed to liven up at her touch and he stood back, rising to his full height as he put both hands on her shoulders. "Ra ra, oh la la…"

"Oh my God, Tailor. I will hold your head underwater until you drown if you keep singing…" Leah growled.

"I want your love and all your lovers' revenge-," Connor sang on defiantly.

"You're going to wake up my mom…" Leah fumed.

"You and me could write a bad romance!" Connor's voice became louder and more lively, his body was swaying a bit. He was rubbing some funk on it.

"I'll cut you. With a knife. I'll cut you so bad…" Leah warned.

"Ga Ga oh la la-"

She shoved a hand over his mouth.

"Shut. Up. You God Damn silly bastard."

Connor smiled at her from behind her hand.

Leah, in spite of herself, smiled back.

She was suddenly aware of how close they were standing to each other.

"Your smile would be so much more charming if you didn't smell so bad." Leah rolled her eyes and turned to help Connor to her room. He didn't seem to realize were they going until she had opened the door and they were on their way to the bed.

"Leah?"

"Yes, Connor?"

"Are you going to have your way with me?"

Leah rolled her eyes.

"I won't mind, just be gentle. I'm a delicate flower you know."

Leah responded by tossing him onto the bed. She crossed her arms and glared down at him as he kicked off his shoes.

"Leah?"

"Yes, Connor?" frustration crept into her voice.

"You owe me a dance."

Leah thought for a moment, trying to come up with a half-decent reply.

"Kiss my ass." was all she could come up with. Yet as she looked down at him, shivering alone on her bed she felt…damn it, she didn't know what she felt. But it wasn't good, she told herself. It couldn't be good. She wouldn't let it be good.

"Leah?" Connor asked again.

"Whatever it is, no." Leah insisted.

"Tuck me in and kiss me goodnight?" Connor whimpered, lower lip trembling.

"Sleep." Leah commanded as she picked up a pillow off the floor and tossed it in his face. Connor chortled at her for a moment and Leah couldn't help but laugh with him. Then Connor closed his eyes, his breathing quieted for a moment. Leah turned to leave; she wanted to get out of there before he started to talk in his sleep. Seth was standing in the doorway, waiting for her.

"Sam's going to be pissed." he warned.

"Let him be pissed." Leah growled.

Her brother shrugged.

"Bastard. Sending me out there like I'm some kind of dog catcher…" she grumbled. "You know what? Fuck him. He sent me to get Connor anyway. If he doesn't like it that I don't 'fetch' the exact way he wants me to he can send Quil next time. God damn…"

Seth just shrugged again. Leah paused, turned to look back at Connor, who was mumbling under his breath. Her brow creased with worry.

"The vampire bitch was watching him." She finally admitted quietly. Her brother's first reaction was a kind of quiet panic.

"Are you sure?" Seth asked. "Maybe it-"

"Maybe nothing!" Leah insisted. "She was looking right at him."

Seth opened his mouth to say something else, but he had to admit he had nothing to argue. If Leah said the Victoria vampire had been stalking Connor then, as far as Seth was concerned, Leah had seen Victoria stalking Connor.

"No, John!" Connor babbled with a tone of cold, nihilistic finality. "You are demons!"

Leah swept out of the room still ranting about Sam, but at least it was under her breath. Seth shuffled after her, a bit reluctant to follow his sister but unable to stop himself.

"Maybe Sam is right…" Seth, who was never one to quit while he was ahead blurted out.

"Sam's just pissed because Connor wants to do me." Leah rumbled as they started down the stairs.

"Um…sure." was all Seth could say, his ears were turning red. They both knew that wasn't entirely true. Through the Pack's mental link both Seth and Leah were well aware that Sam's concerns about the danger Connor could pose were genuine. Any jealousy he might have felt he was somehow keeping hidden from his subordinates, and as far as they knew that was impossible, even for the Alpha. As far as they knew anyway. Leah was just ranting…and all Seth could do was let her. Better to let her blow of some steam than try to stop her and be run down by the freight train that was her anger.

"And you know what? I might just let him! Just to see the look on Sam's face!" Leah roared.

"Uh…okay."

"Connor being absolutely impossible to live with afterward would be a fair trade." Leah growled. "Oh, Sam would die!"

Seth let out a tiny grunt of agreement.

"And the best part? He'd look like a total douche if he got jealous! Why is he getting his tampon in a bunch? He's got his perfect imprint bond with Emily!" she spat. They entered the living room.

"Um…Yeah."

"And every time we phased it'd eat at him, because he could never get away from it. It'd be stuck in his skull. Connor, just chewing away at him." her voice faltered a bit. Oh yes, the idea of Sam having to relive Leah's night with Connor over and over again, just as Leah had to listen to Sam gush about Emily. Just as Leah had been forced to relive every time Sam slept with her cousin oh yes, the thought made her quiver a bit. But then…that would require Sam to still love her. To still care about her in any way other than as a "sister" in his pack. Even though she liked to entertain the thought that he still loved her in some small way she knew it wasn't true. It couldn't be true. And poor Connor, what was she thinking even entertaining the idea of using him like that? Stringing him along, using him as nothing more than a weapon against Sam? To build up all his hopes like that only to smack them down like that when she was done…Jesus. She could never have done anything so vile.

She wasn't Bella, after all. She wasn't going to string Connor along for shits and giggles.

"You know…Connor's kind of a werewolf…and you're kind of a werewolf." Seth was doing that thing again were he had a thought and couldn't not share it with the rest of the world. It had gotten him in trouble before.

"Yeah, and?" Leah spun around to face him.

"Uh…" it was about to get him in trouble again. "You're both single…"

Leah's eyes narrowed.

"You guys got a lot in common is all I'm saying." Seth put both hands up in a placating gesture. "You're both kind of scary. Um…you both hate the vampires."

"No, wait let me stop you right there before you go on and I have to hurt you. Connor and I have wayto much baggage to enter into a normal relationship with another person much less each other. Besides he's a jerk. And a pervert. He stares at me like I'm a piece of meat; he stares like anything with a pulse and a hole like it's a piece of meat. He's rude, he's poor, he's ugly and he's not that smart. He's arrogant and he's conceited and he does that thing where he blinks rapidly for several seconds at a time like his sister. He's just…he's just…" Leah shook her head, trying to think of all of Connor's bad traits and none of his good ones. Like all the ways he could make her laugh, or his unique perspective on things. Or the way he'd look at her from the corner of his eye and grin whenever someone said something stupid but Connor didn't say anything. Or his strength and his kindness. The way he had been there for her when her dad died. They way he had stayed with her when she was up all night crying the day she realized she was menopausal and The Pack scattered into the woodwork like rats rather than deal with her "girly problem".

Connor. Connor Fucking Tailor. The bane of her existence. Asshole. Freak. Monster.

Hell, they did have a lot in common.

Leah turned away and looked out the window.

"But Leah." Seth whined.

"Stop it Seth."

"C'mon, just hear me out."

"Shut up, Seth."

"No, I'm serious-"

"I'm serious too, Seth. Shut up."

Seth sighed and his shoulders slumped in defeat. Leah dropped down into the couch, face drawn back into a contemplative frown. Seth sat down next to her.

"You know, I like Connor." Seth offered, as though his blessing would make the werewolf a more appealing prospect for his sister.

"Good. You date him." Leah huffed.

"Ew." Seth sneered, making a face in disgust. "Don't be gross, Leah."

"My God you are infantile." she growled with a roll of her eyes.

"I don't get why you don't give other guys a chance!" Seth threw both hands up in exasperation. Leah snorted and stood again.

"I'm not having this conversation." she hissed in anger.

"Sam's moved on Leah! He's happy now, and you should be happy for him too!" Seth barked the words, having heard them a thousand times from his older bretheren.

"Oh, here we go…" Leah snapped as she stomped out of the room.

'He's so happy with Emily! Why can't you just be happy for him?'

It was easy for them.

'Emily loves Sam so much, even after what he did to her face! Now that's real love!'

So very fucking easy for them to sit around and preen.

'They make such a lovely couple; oh Emily's going to be the most beautiful bride in the history of the whole tribe!'

And ruffle and congragulate themselves and each other and most of all him

'Really Leah, why do you just spoil everything?'

Like it was her fault she was the one hurting…

'Emily's your best friend, you should be glad she's glad she's so happy with Sam!'

Like she enjoyed choking on her own emotions.

'If you really loved Sam, you would just let him go.'

Like she was in the wrong for having her heart torn out and shoved between her teeth.

'Lee-Lee, it's true what they say. I've imprinted on Emily now. I'm sorry. It's over. I…I need my grandmother's ring back. I'm going to give it to Emily.'

"Leah!"

Speak of the Devil. Literally.

Sam, flanked by the entire pack. Was that concern she had heard in his voice or just her own wishful thinking? She took a moment to wipe the tears that had gathered in the corner of her eyes before turning to the entrance. Replacing the grief with anger and irritation was easy, practice made perfect.

"What?" She snapped, pouring on the attitude.

"Are you okay?" He asked, entering the room. Seth immediately stood up as if at attention, good little soldier that he was.

"No! I'm tired! I have work tomorrow and I was up all night looking for your lost pet!" She snapped.

"See, Sam? She's her usual chipper self." Paul growled. "All rainbows and sunshine…"

"Bite me." Leah spat at him.

"And what if I did?" Paul sneered. "What're you going to do to stop me, Girly Wolf?" Leah's face twisted in anger as she took a step forward.

"That's enough, Leah!" Sam commanded, hand reaching up to rub his forehead. "Paul, go wait outside."

"What?" Paul shouted in indignation. "But she-"

"I didn't ask for your opinion, Paul. Go wait. Outside." Sam's voice deepened, the muscles in his neck seemed to bulge. Against the Alpha voice, Paul was as helpless as any of the others. He did as he was commanded, as was his nature. Sam sighed, shook his head and then looked back up at Leah. "Are you okay, Lee-Lee?"

'No.' she wanted to scream at him. 'Not when you look at me like that, like you were really concerned Connor was going to hurt me. Not when you call me that name. Not when you spark the tiniest bit of hope in my heart even when I know it's a lie. No. I'm not okay Sam. You know I'm not okay you bastard.'

"Yeah, sure. Why?" Leah channeled her sadness into anger. It was something she was good at.

"Where is he, Leah?" Jacob asked. Something about his tone of voice made Leah feel deffensive.

"Upstairs, in my room…" she answered.

"Quill, Embry. Get him, get him in the truck. If his resists, make him." Sam ordered crisply.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah! I just put him down, what's this about?" She asked. Quill and Embry paused for a moment, unsure of what to do.

"We're moving him out of here; I don't want him hurting you." Sam said stiffly.

Leah starred at him for a moment. Blinked.

"Sam, what are you doing?" she asked. The accusatory tone of her voice was unmistakable.

"Something that should have been done long ago." Sam growled. "We're putting him in the pen until we figure out what's happening."

"But it's not full moon until tomorrow night."

"I know."

"So…so you're just going to lock him up like a criminal is that it? And then do what, throw away the key?" She asked harshly.

Sam considered her words for a moment, as if trying to find the right rebuttal.

"In a sense." he finally decided, there was no point in trying to explain himself to her. He was Alpha, after all. "Yes."

"What is his crime?" Leah asked.

"None." Sam admitted. "This isn't Connor's fault. This isn't a punishment, Leah. It's just…just the way things are." after a pause "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" Leah asked, voice rising into a scream. "You're sorry? Don't apologize to me, apologize to Connor! You know he hates that place! You know what you're condemning him to!"

The Pack cringed as one at Leah's outburst at Sam.

"Yes, if there was any other way I would do it. But there isn't, he's too dangerous."

Leah laughed bitterly turning away from Sam and shaking her head in disbelief. She was a mess, her emotions and thoughts were tripping over themselves and each other trying to reach their conclusion. Logic warred with her feelings, but all she really knew was that Sam was to blame for this. Something inside her screamed that Sam was just ripping her heart out again to keep Connor and her apart and something else screamed back that he was doing this because he thought she was so weak she couldn't protect herself. Yet another part of her understood Sam's position and wondered if she would be so judgmental if it was anyone else.

"Dangerous to who?" She finally asked.

Sam was silent for a moment.

"Everyone."

"Bullshit." she hissed.

Again, Sam was silent.

"I can't trust him to be on his own until we learn more. He's to volatile now, and he's always been unpredictable. Not traits that go well with out situation, Leah." the leader of the Shape Shifters was quiet for a moment, before adding. "'The werewolf instinctively seeks to kill the one it loves best.' Remember that, Leah?"

"Superstitious horse shit and old wives tales." she sneered.

"Just like vampires and spirit warriors, huh?" he sighed. "You don't have to like it Leah, in fact I don't really care if you do either way. This is an order. The council happens to agree with me."

Naturally, especially the way he probably told the story. Casting Connor as an out of control, yellow eyed demon with only rage and hunger in his heart who would gobble up their children and grandchildren in the night.

"This is so typical of you Sam." Leah huffed, turning to face him.

"I'm done arguing with you-"

"Whenever you meet a problem you can't just tear apart and throw away you just sweep it under the rug-"

"Leah this is not a matter of personal interest and you know it-"

"Because you just can't deal with something that doesn't fit in your picture perfect world-"

"Picture perfect world? Leah, you don't know what-"

"Connor is a human being; you can't just stuff him into a closet and hope everyone forgets about him!"

"Enough! Stop it, Leah!" Sam finally roared, his Alpha voice splitting the night. Leah immediately closed her mouth, but her eyes burned with rage.

A few moments later Sue Clearwater entered the room, clutching her bathrobe closed. She was still half sleep, but the half of her that was awake was very much angry at this intrusion.

"Sam? What is going on?" She demanded though she looked at Leah, who didn't take her eyes off him.

Leah and Sam looked at each other furiously. Nostrils flaring neither were sure where to begin. Seth stood up and ran to his mom, explaining everything to her as Leah and Sam regarded each other.

Leah shook her head and looked away; maybe Sam did have a point. The beast inside Connor was dangerous, maybe even more dangerous than a vampire. She sensed Sam's anxiety when Connor was near, as though he was just waiting for him to transform and go on a killing rampage. She didn't even need the mind link to sense it, she knew Sam better than he knew himself. Certainly better than Emily did, but it really mattered little. The fact remained that Connor was only the beast at full moon, last night's little outburst notwithstanding. She was sure that locking Connor up in a cage like a zoo animal for the rest of his life wasn't the answer.

"Billy agrees that we should keep Connor under closer observation now, in fact he was the one who suggested Connor staying on the reservation from now on." Jacob offered. In addition to being the tribal chief, Billy Black had been close friends with Connor's father, and had practically helped his mother raise the boy when he had been killed. "Even your mother agreed." At this Leah shot her mother a hard glare, but Sue simply returned the stare with one of her own, quickly rebuking her daughter's dirty look in a way only a mother could. His was not an opinion Leah or anyone else for that matter would take lightly but then Jacob added with a rueful stare at his Alpha. "But he doesn't think sticking him in the pen is necessary…or wise." He left out the part where his father had also described it as 'cruel'.

Sam didn't bother to look at Jacob, but he could feel his stare and shrugged.

"But he and the rest of the Council ultimately left it up to me to determine the best way of containing this problem." he insisted.

Leah stared at him. Even he seemed to be having doubts about his descison, but she knew that when it came to Connor, he would always ere on the side of caution.

Maybe he was right.

About so much.

Sam sighed again; his shoulders sagged for a moment.

"Quill, Embry-"

"No." Leah cut in. "I'll bring him down."

"You sure?" Sam asked. "Maybe I should have someone go up with you just in case."

"In case what?" Leah hissed, glaring up at Sam. He looked down at Leah for a moment, before giving his assent with a small nod. "And I'll drive him down to Jacob's."

"Absolutly not. He's going in the truck." Sam insisted.

"Then I'll ride with him."

Sam considered this for a moment, before again indicating that he would allow it.

Leah rushed passed him and headed up the stairs. Nearly knocking Quill and Embry over as she made her way to her room. She stopped just outside her doorway, considering how she was going to explain this to him…

"Come in, Leah. It's your room…" Connor rasped.

She clenched her teeth for a moment, hands balled up into fists before entering. Connor sat up on her bed, hair dye running in black rivets across his face and staining her pillow and bed sheets.

The hair underneath was a mane of thick corpse gray with a darker streak of almost black along the left side. She actually thought he looked better without the hair dye. Not more handsome but more…distinguished. Almost proud.

"I told you to get some sleep." Leah barked.

Connor said nothing for a moment, just starred at her for a while. It didn't take a mind reader to figure out what he was thinking about. There was a naked longing in his gaze that he didn't try to hide. His lust for her was no secret among The Pack. If anything it was a joke, one he gladly partook in at his own expense. That look he gave her betrayed something deeper.

"Before you ask, I heard everything." He finally admitted.

"There's not way of getting out of this." Leah said. "If you run, they'll chase you. If you fight…"

"I'm not running. I'm not fighting." Connor informed her. "He's right. This is the safest thing to do." His voice was oddly hollow, emotionless. Leah didn't like that.

"I'll be there with you." Leah said.

Connor stood, shakily. Technically it was a moon day and boy he was feeling it. His joints were pained and felt weak, his flesh was crawling. He hurt. All over, and as the day dragged on it was only going to get worse. She really wanted to comfort him, but she couldn't find words that didn't sound cheap or false. In the end, maybe he didn't want her to speak.

She had to help him down the stairs as dizzyness set in from moving to much. Jacob rushed to help him when they finally hit the landing but Connor brushed him off. Then he looked up at Sam, yellow eyes totally inhuman. Thick red veins pulsing in his eyes like fat hemorrhaging worm writhing in milk. Sam starred back in defiance. Connor's gaze flitted to Sue Clearwater.

"Mrs. Clearwater." Connor said with a nod. Sue crinkled up her face in disgust and backed away in response. It was the eyes that provoked that reaction in her; they were the eyes of a demon. A sad, defeated demon but a demon still.

As Leah and Connor made their way out the front door, the werewolf leaned in and whispered into her ear with a wolfish grin:

"I think your mom likes me."


Connor was feeling a little better as Jacob's house came into sight. Jacob drove the truck, Leah as in the middle. Presumably, this was done so Connor didn't feel like a prisoner. The werewolf looked outside to see the massive black missile that was Sam's wolf form streaking through the trees, easily keeping pace with the car and knew this wasn't true. The windows were rolled down, their combined body heats making it an oven even for the three of them. Finally the pulled up to the house. Billy Black was waiting outside, talking on a cordless phone. Connor was able to get out of the car on his own, but he leaned heavily on the hood of the car. Sam trotted up beside him. The werewolf craned his neck to look at him.

"Yeah, what?" he rumbled.

Sam snorted, lips momentarily pulling up as if to show his teeth.

The two glared at each other for a while before Sam turned and loped away.

Connor looked over at Jacob, who was getting out at the opposite side.

"So, I guess we're roommates." Jacob said.

"Guess so."

"I brought a TV down for you."

"Any porn mags?"

"No."

"Then go to hell."

The two regarded each other for a moment before laughing. Leah slapped Connor on the back of the head a moment later and said something to the effect of "pervert" this just made Connor laugh harder, even though it made his ribs feel like they were fracturing. It wasn't long before the rest of The Pack emerged from the forest in human form, approaching the driveway. Connor tried to make it seem like he had something of a spring in his step as he walked up to the porch, but even when he wasn't feeling like shit he didn't have much in the way of a spring or any spring-like motion in his step, so it didn't really work. Billy held out the phone to Connor.

"It's your mother." He said with a wince.

"Oh shit." Connor's face visibly blanched.

"Yeah, pretty much." Billy winced again.

Relucantly, Connor took the phone, starred at it for a few seconds and then sighed.

"Hi mo-…Yeah. No, yes….Yes mom I'm at Billy's house…sorry Mr. Black's house…no…yeah mom I'm fine…no, they didn't hurt me…no, they're not going to hurt me…no, I don't need you to come down here and kick Sam's ass I said I'm fine mom…no mom…no! Mom, no! Don't shoot them!…La Push kind of needs them and…yes mom…no mom…no mom, don't call the FBI, I haven't been kidnapped!

Jesus, mom! Mom! Mom! Listen to me! Look, it's all going to be fine. I'll probably be home by the weekend…yeah okay, look mom I've got to go…yeah. Yeah, Leah's with me…yeah…I…she's… yeah…well I mean she's always pretty-aw Jesus, mom! Stop it. I said stop it. N-no mother I'm not giving you lip!…sorry…sorry mom…love you mom…bye."

He handed the phone back to Billy.

"She is one scary lady." Connor said after a moment.

"You have no idea." Billy replied, his voice a little shaky, he set the phone down on the porch railing and backed away from it, as if afraid that Elaine Tailor would sudden'y leap from the speaker and throttle him. "So, Connor. I guess you're going to be staying with us for a couple days."

"…Awesome." he answered without much in the way of enthusiasm.

"We fixed up the pen…"

"Cool."

"And we think we may have identified the creature that attacked you."

Connor immediately perked up at this.

"And?"

"Well, as you know it called itself the Windigo. The term was very familiar to me, but I did a little digging anyway. Called up some folks on the Magical Old Indian Hotline as it were…the Windigo were once polific in the Canadian wilderness, pretty much every tribe north of here has stories about them. Encounters in the ancient past." he motioned for Connor to follow him inside the werewolf did so. "It seems that there are spirits of ice and hunger…angry things that usually inhabit the loneliest places in the mountains but will ride the wind down into the lowlands in the coldest times…or the most desperate times. Times of famine when…when people were forced to do the unthinkable to feed themselves and their families."

"Cannibalisim. This thing causes it?" Connor asked.

"Sometimes. Sometimes it will tempt a man into eating the flesh of his brother but in the old times, there were instances when all it had to do was wait. The Windigo spirit needed only find a man who had tasted human flesh and promise him more. Promise him power. Promise him he would never feel that…that fear and desperation again. Thus a bargain was made and that spirit of the cold and the dark would enter the man. Change him…into that creature you fought. The Windigo made flesh."

"Jesus…" Connor shook his head. Then who had been that man before the Windigo spirit had got hold of him? Some hiker lost in the woods somewhere? Some poor smuck just trying to survive? Had the spirit tempted him into eating human flesh or had he already done by the time it found him and only needed to offer him a way out? Who had he left behind to become a host for that…that monstrosity? Then a thought occurred to him.

"Wait a minute, if this thing can only…'bond' with a cannibal then that means there can't be very many of them left. I mean, it's not like the 1500's where people just couldn't hop into their car and drive to the grocery store and had to eat their children whenever they go snowed in."

Billy nodded, they had entered the living room.

"Yes, it seems as if their kind is almost extinct. Reports of true Windigo killings are almost non existent in modern times. But as long as there is weakness in a man's heart to drive him to that…" Billy shook his head. "These creatures will always be with us."

They both took a moment to look out the window, thinking the same thing perhaps. Vampires and Shape Shifters and werewolves were all well in good, but if they existed what else was creeping around out there? The Windigo was proof enough that there was more to the supernatural world than met the eye and some of it could be enough to terrify even them.

"The real question is, why was it here? Why come after you?" Billy asked.

"Victoria." Connor growled.

"Yes, it seems she's switched her focus from your sister to you." Billy nodded.

"Why?"

"Who knows?" he admitted. "Perhaps in an attempt to confuse and spread us thin? Trying to alternate between targets to catch us off guard? The real question is how did she find out about you and has she shared this information with anyone else."

Both were silent for a moment, considering the situation.

"I've called your father and informed him that it may be time to talk to Bella about you." Billy finally admitted.

"And how did he take it?"

"He hung up on me."

"Yeah, sounds like my Dear Old Dad." Connor said bitterly.

"You shouldn't judge him to harshly." Billy admonished.

"And why not?" Connor demanded.

Billy opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again.

"Thought so."

"He did what he thought was right." Billy said finally.

"For himself and his reputation."

"That had nothing to do with it."

"You're defending him?"

"His intentions, not his actions." he insisted. "Charlie can be a damn fool sometimes, but I've never questioned his loyalty to his family."

"I'm not his family. He's made that abundantly clear. With his actions." Old bitterness swirled up to the surface. His anger…his mother's anger. Billy saw that anger in him, and sighed.

"Connor." Sam loomed in the doorway.

The werewolf paused momentarily. Jacob was flanking Sam, looking at the floor somewhat sheepishly. For the briefest of moments, Connor considered defiance but it quickly evaporated. 'So. This is how it's going to be. Huh?'

"Leah's waiting for you downstairs." Jacob muttered.

Connor's face was unreadable as he trudged past them, towards the dark rectangle that led to his eternal prison. It seemed like he was always falling towards that gaping dark hole. He had spent ten years fall in, crawling out, and then falling in again.

The only difference is, this time he would never crawl out again.


Charlie Swan stared at the phone, next to it was Elaine's number. Next to that was Connor's cell phone number. In his trembling hands he held an old photograph. Bella was due to be home any minute, she was out with that Cullen boy. In fact she was out past her curfew. Again. Not that he'd say anything to her when she got home. He never did. Renee had always said it was important that Bella not feel stifled.

Besides, he had other things to talk about with her.

He briefly considered call up Billy again, but decided against it. Instead he picked up the phone, started dialing Elaine's number then stopped and cleared the number. The he started dialing Connor's number and stopped.

"Charlie why are you doing this? I love you!"

"This is for the best, Elaine."

"He needs you! Charlie, I need you!"

"He's going to have enough problems without going around town with everyone knowing he's a bastard."

"Don't call him that!"

"That's what everyone else is going to call him. How's it going to look. I gun his father down in the middle of this forest on the night of the full moon, Billy winds up in a wheel chair, you loose a leg, Connor's been mauled…and you move in with me a day after you're out of the hospital."

"You don't care about us! All you care about is your fucking reputation you bastard!"

"Elaine…you know that's not true. This is just for a little while. Until everything settles down."

"She's not coming back, you know."

"…What?"

"Renee. She's not coming back. She think's you're a joke. She's raising Bella to think the same way."

"Elaine, I know you're upset…"

"Don't touch me you bastard! You miserable rotten bastard! I should have let Connor tear you to pieces!"

"Elaine, you don't mean that."

"Stop it! Let me go! Don't touch me! I hate you! Do you hear me? I hate you!"

She had been so right. So right, about everything.

Ten years later they were both alone. Connor was being locked away in Billy Black's basement. His daughter was dating a fucking vampire and she thought he was a joke. He was a joke. Maybe he was a good Chief of Police, but he had failed the people he loved in all the ways that mattered. All because he'd been to much of a coward to own up to what he had done. Elaine…Connor Sr…Bella…Connor himself. He had failed them all.

He really had intended to set things right with Elaine. But by the time he stopped being such a chicken shit and got his balls together she was so entrenched in her hatred for him he had been unable to do anything about it and Connor looked at him like an ant crawling through his living room. A insect that should be squashed if it didn't make a quick enough exit. He knew he deserved it. Every iota of hate and contempt they had for him, and he'd give anything to have Elaine's love back. But he had been to late. Story of his life.

He heard the door open and close, Bella was home. Charlie looked down at the picture and grunted.

"Bella?" Charlie called out just as he heard her start flitting up the stairs. There was an annoyed huff and a moment of silence. Then a single stair creaked as she tried to sneak up the stairs. "Bella I need to talk to you. Now."

Another annoyed huff.

Then Bella came rushing into the room, trying to hide her annoyance.

"Look, Charlie if this is about the curfew I'm really sorry but there was a lot of traffic and-"

"Sit down Bella. I don't care about your curfew right now."

Bella's eyes widened in surprise then attained a kind of dull passiveness.

"Then can I go upstairs? I've got a lot of homework to do."

"Edward can wait."

Bella's jaw dropped.

"I…I mean I don't…what…what are you talking…about?" Bella tripped over herself verbally almost as well as she tripped physically.

"Sit down Bella." He repeated himself.

She did as she was told, but then she started babbling. Begging him not to be angry at Edward. It wasn't his fault it was hers… Charlie ignored her. He looked down a t the picture.

Connor Senior, Billy Black and Charlie Swan stood around a big grill with burgers and hot dogs cooking on it. In the background he could see Jacob chasing Bella around with a mud patty he had insisted was cow poo. Harry Clearwater was chatting with Elaine. Connor was starring at Leah Clearwater with the look of a little boy who hadn't entered puberty yet but could still fall for a girl. Hard. A bandage was around Connor Senior's shoulder. He'd been bitten by what everyone thought was a bear on a hunting trip in Maine.

That was long before he started hitting his wife and terrorizing his son.

He looked up at Bella, his beautiful daughter. She was looking at him with equal parts shock and annoyance. He handed her the picture and started telling her about the people in it.

And he didn't know if she could think less of him than she already did but if she could she sure as hell would by the time he finished. It didn't matter.

Because it was time to start putting things right.


Originally this chapter had a much more depressing ending in which Sam essentially just beat the hell out of Connor and left him on the Cullens' doorstep to do with as they please…but I figured that was way to out there and pushed Sam over the line from jerk to complete monster. This is a much better way to end the chapter methinks. And yes, I did retcon Billy's wheelchairboundess from being caused by diabetes to connect it with the night Connor Jr. was bitten.