Disclaimer - I own Annie. That's about it for now. Nothing else is mine.


Chapter 6 – A Curious Case

Tuesday night

Mercy lay awake wrapped in Adam's protective arms thinking. So far, everyone she had come across had either mentioned what had happened to her or stared at her, until Annie. Annie had ignored what had happened to her completely, acting as though she had never heard of Mercy before this week. It seemed that the more Mercy saw of Annie, the more she liked the girl. She couldn't help but wonder how well Annie was going to be incorporated into this new life. Sam would make a place for her in his life, that was just the type of guy he was, but the real unknown was how Annie was going to fit herself into that space. Mercy sighed and rolled over, burying her nose in Adam's neck. There was so much going on right now, with the werewolf laws and Children for a Bright Future, and the JLS and Anti-fae Association dilemma, and Mercy was stuck waiting for something to happen. Mercy hated waiting.

Adam's arms tightened around her, pulling her so close that there was no room for air between them

"Stop all the thinking and the moving and get some sleep, there's nothing you can do about anything this late at night." Adam's voice was deep and scratchy from sleep, and it still made her turn into putty. Their mate-bond and pack-bonds had settled finally, and she had discovered that one of the neat benefits of their mate-bond was that they could pick up each other's thoughts – slightly annoying sometimes when she was trying to keep a secret from him, not that she did that a lot, but still – and thanks to their pack-bonds he also had the added benefit of knowing what she was feeling even when she was miles away.

Snuggling into her mate's warmth and closing her eyes, Mercy let her thoughts go and drifted off to a deep and dreamless sleep.


When Adam came down stairs the next morning, he found his daughter sitting at the large dining table already up and dressed… and eating ice cream.

"Jesse, isn't there a rule in this house that specifically forbids ice-cream as a breakfast food?" he asked, moving into the kitchen to grab some toast – apparently Jesse foresaw him coming down soon and was already prepared.

"Nope, that rule was against chocolate cake." His daughter called after him, a triumphant grin plastered on her face

"Isn't there a rule saying she who makes the breakfast for everyone else gets to eat whatever she wants?" came a voice from the hallway. Mercy came into the room shortly after said voice, midway through braiding her damp hair over one shoulder. . Rolling his eyes but deciding to leave it be, Adam came back into the dining room with four pieces of buttered toast, a glass of juice and some bacon and eggs. Placing the plate and glass down, Adam slid out the chair and motioned for Mercy to sit. Smiling, she obliged, and he pushed the chair back in for her once she was settled before going to get his own breakfast. While eating, the three of them talked, with Jesse exclaiming over something nice Gabriel did. Adam would never get used to the idea of his daughter dating anyone, but after what he had seen of Gabriel, he had to admit that the young man was of a good sort, and he made Jesse happy. He would have to be content with the knowledge that if he ever put a toe out of line, Adam had the strength to rip his arms off.

"Hey Adam, I want to ask you something about Annie." Mercy's voice cut through his musings and Adam looked up at her from his fork-full of eggs. Jesse looked confused and immediately asked the obvious question.

"Who's Annie?" turning to the teenager, Mercy explained everything in a short no-nonsense manner.

"Annie is Samuel's long lost daughter, she's nineteen and we only just found out she exists." Jesse's eyes widened, but before she could ask another question, Mercy turned away and focused on Adam. Putting down his fork Adam inclined his head.

"Ask away." Mercy took a deep breath and asked something which had been bothering her, but without anyone else's opinions, her observations weren't all that valid.

"Did you notice anything odd about her, or the way she acted?" Mercy's voice was concerned and curious, so Adam thought back to the night before, and tried to remember anything that stood out.

"She looked me in the eye a lot." He said, then as an afterthought, "She'd have to be pretty dominant for a human to do that." Adam was one of the most dominant werewolves on the continent, not to mention that as an alpha, he had the power of the pack to draw on. Then it clicked. Dominance was part power, part something else and the rest was sheer force of personality, only Annie didn't have half of that. She was small, quiet, fragile and scared. Looking at Mercy, Adam could tell that she knew he had finally caught on to what she had been wondering about. "That is odd." He agreed, his brow furrowing in thought. "My dominance doesn't affect her like it should, and she doesn't affect me like she would if she was more dominant than I am." Mercy nodded, while Jesse proceeded to get only more confused.

"Exactly. I noticed it when she didn't drop her gaze for Samuel. It's like she doesn't feel the need to. Most human's don't understand the significance of it, its more a subconscious thing they don't even notice, but with her… its like she has all the strength of a dominant, but none of the force behind it." Adam nodded, the wheels and cogs turning in his head. A lot of that could be contributed to her being human; since you're either a dominant or a submissive already and that just intensifies after the Change. But as a human, she should still be affected by the presence of the wolf in someone, especially when it comes to someone as dominant as Samuel or himself. Another thing he remembered was her body language.

"She was afraid." Again Mercy agreed.

"She was ready to run or fight, depending on how things turned out. I'm not sure she realized what she was doing when she met Samuel's gaze, or yours. But she never gave anyone her back, not even me. She definitely knew who the bigger predators were." Adam rubbed his face with one hand. This was an enigma, a complete contradiction of sorts, and he was getting as confused as his daughter looked. Speaking of which, said daughter had decided that there was no point in trying to get any more information that actually made sense and had instead opted for washing her dishes and going back upstairs, leaving the two adults to contemplate the mystery that was Annie Conway.


Getting up for Annie was a little difficult – it would appear that the sheets had won the battle with her legs last night – but once she was safely out of bed the morning went rather smoothly. Digging through her duffel bag Annie was able to procure some clean clothes – except for the jeans, they were the 'nice' ones she had worn to Samuel's the first time and made up half of her pants collection – and after a quick shower was once again ready for the day. Taking her phone off its charger Annie checked the time. 9:30 in the morning. Good, she didn't have to be at Samuel and Mercy's until 12 and she had some errands to run. Firstly she had to see if she could rent her room out for longer than originally planned, given that she was still figuring everything out with Sam. She wanted to live with him, she decided, but she didn't want to be a burden. She would have to find a job, and soon. She also had to quit working for the library in Ann Arbor and find a way to bring all of her thing up from N.C. Not that she had a lot of stuff – she couldn't afford to.

Heading out to the front office, Annie was once again served by Gertrude the elderly motel owner.

"I'm truly sorry dear, but the room has been rented out for those days." She said, looking up from her books regretfully. Annie sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Are you sure you don't have any other rooms vacant then?" she asked desperately. She had done her research planning this trip, this motel was the cheapest one that didn't charge by the hour and she couldn't afford to stay anywhere else. The older woman shook her head, adjusting her thick glasses on her nose.

"I'm afraid not, there's some sort of reunion going on, the rooms have all been booked. You'll have to leave tomorrow morning." Nodding and thinking the lady for her time, Annie left the entrance and headed toward her car. Getting in and closing the door less delicately than she normally would – she loved this car after all – Annie proceeded to glare at the steering wheel.

"Crap." She said after a moment, before revving the engine and pulling out of the parking lot. Next stop was the bank, which took her a while to find after the GPS on her phone decided to send her on a wild goose chase. Resorting to the old drive-around-randomly-till-you-find-it technique Annie did a little happy dance in her head when the big yellow sign came into view. After checking her balance – a relatively small sum of $342 dollars and 25 cents – and taking out some cash to top up her otherwise empty wallet, Annie drove off in the general direction of the café she had found while looking for the bank.

The coffee was good, and Annie had some time to kill before she drove to Mercy's, so she sat down on a bench just outside the café to mull things over. She had to leave her motel tomorrow, so that would cut the house-hunting short – Annie was still having difficulties wrapping her head around the idea of a house, so she chose not to think too hard on that – since there wasn't exactly tonnes of room in Mercy's trailer. Sighing, she swirled the dark liquid in her disposable cup. She didn't want to tell Sam that she was leaving, he seemed so happy to have her around. She had no idea what this was like for him, discovering that his girlfriend had kept their child and didn't tell him. She wondered if he had wanted her when he found out that Vivian was pregnant. Was it his idea to get the abortion, or had Vivian made that initial decision on her own? It was times like these that Annie wished her mom was still around. She had been practical and honest, and she used to run her fingers through Annie's hair, smoothing it behind her ears. Whenever Annie was feeling particularly lonesome, she often caught herself brushing her hair in that very spot, mimicking the feel of her mother's hand. She wasn't really sure how long she sat there, looking into her coffee, but after a while her mind vaguely noted hat her hand was cold, as was her previously steaming cup. Rousing herself out of her morbid thoughts, Annie chucked her now cold coffee in the trash and pulled out her phone. Swearing under her breath when she read the time, she realized that if she didn't leave soon she was going to be late. Scrambling to her car, Annie started the engine and moved her charger onto the road. Soon enough Annie found herself driving through Finley. Parking her car on the side of the road, Annie noted Samuel's car in the driveway. Getting out and checking the time again, Annie was pleased to see that it was 12 o'clock –right on time. Walking up and knocking on the door Ann i.e. waited until the door opened, revealing a tired but otherwise happy Samuel.

"Hey Annie, you're right on time, come on in." Stepping passed the threshold, Annie led the way into the living room, missing her father's raised eyebrow as he followed her. Turning back to face him Annie took note of his disheveled appearance.

"Rough night?" she asked casually, her forehead wrinkling slightly as Samuel shook his head as if to clear it.

"Yeah, there was a three car pile-up last night, so we were kept pretty busy." Annie could sense that there was more to the story, but he looked so world-weary that she didn't bother asking.

"So houses huh?" Annie said by way of changing the subject. She had the satisfaction of knowing she succeeded in distracting him from any unhappy thoughts when Samuel's face brightened.

"Yes, houses indeed. I took the liberty of selecting a few I thought would be good, I was wondering if you wanted to see some today?" Samuel moved past Annie to pick up a stack of papers and hand them to her. Flipping through the small pile, Annie found pictures of houses, some of which she thought would be more aptly described as mansions. After pulling a couple of three and two bedroom advertisements out and placing them on top, Annie handed the papers back to Sam.

"Those are nice." Samuel looked over the four papers Annie had placed at the front. They were all normal sized with smaller lawns and nothing fancy. Samuel got the impression that she wouldn't feel comfortable moving into something more expensive. Nodding, he took the selected ads and placed the rest back on the table.

"Well that makes things easier. What do you say to making some appointments to go have a look? We could check them out today and tomorrow." At the mention of tomorrow Annie winced mentally. Taking a hand out of her pocket to rub her neck before shoving it back in, Annie cleared her throat.

"Actually, about that… I have to head back tomorrow. I didn't know how this was going to turn out so I only rented my room for a few days. The motel I'm staying at is all booked out for the next couple of weeks and there's not really anywhere else…" Annie trailed off, looking up at her father's face. Sam was frowning, but stopped when an idea occurred to him.

"Well, I'm sure we could get you a room somewhere else." Annie however shook her head.

"The prices are higher everywhere else, and I don't really have a lot to spare." She stopped talking at the look on Samuel's face. Realizing exactly what he was thinking her eyes widened. "You are not paying for me." Her voice was a mixture of disbelief and authority.

"It's a reasonable idea." He said, looking her in the eye. She looked right back, determination set in her features.

"I don't need charity."

"No," Samuel agreed, "you don't. But you do need to be here to help pick out the house. Personally–" Sam sifted through the discarded list of houses till he found the one he was looking for. "I like this one." Annie took the proffered piece of paper and frowned. The house was huge; it had three stories and 5 bedrooms. There was a large front garden and a stone wall surrounding it, complete with a tall metal gate. It was a cross between a large house and a small castle.

"You cannot buy that house." She said, shuddering at the price tag – there was no way she was going to live somewhere that cost more than 5 figures. The man in front of her barked out a laugh.

"Sure I can, I don't see what's wrong with it, and I think everyone needs an indoor swimming pool." Annie shot a scowl over to an amused Samuel. Sneaky bastard.

"There is no way in hell that –" Annie's reply was cut short by someone knocking on the front door.

"Come in." Samuel called out, a grin still on his face. The door popped open to reveal a teenage girl with choppy hair that ranged from bright pink to violet in an oddly complimenting array, clad in a sunshine yellow summer dress. Annie quirked an eyebrow as the Technicolor Wonder skipped into the room.

"Hey Samuel, I saw the car on my way over here, I need Mercy's brownie recipe, I didn't know you had a visitor. You must be Annie." With the last sentence the girl had turned from hugging Samuel to face Annie, her smile bright and genuine, her hand held out to shake. "I'm Jesse, Adam's daughter." Annie took the hand and smiled slightly.

"I'm Annie, I met your dad last night." Jesse nodded.

"I know, he told me about you this morning after I heard Mercy say something about it. So what are you guys up to?" Jesse looked between Annie and Samuel, noticing the amused expression on the man's face.

"Well, I was just pointing out to Annie here that unless she stays to help pick out the house, I'm going to have to rely on my own judgment." Annie narrowed her eyes, all caution from the new presence in the room forgotten.

"And I was just explaining that Sam here can't buy a ridiculous house just because I'm not here to prevent him from making silly decisions." Jesse looked again from Annie to Samuel and back before moving into the kitchen and searching through a stack of cookbooks.

"Why can't you stay and stop him from picking out a crazy house?"

"Her motel booking is up tomorrow and she won't let me pay for her to stay in a different one." Samuel said, the smile on his face dulling the exasperated edge his voice held. Picking up a medium book with a triumphant yell, Jesse turned to look at Annie and Samuel.

"Well, in that case, you should stay with me." She said as if that was the most logical way to remedy the situation. Annie however was extremely confused.

"You want me to stay at your house?" she clarified in a deadpan voice, her eyebrow once again raised in a somewhat comical expression. Jesse nodded in affirmation.

"Yup. It would be fun; it's so boring being home without anyone near my age to hang out with. You should come over now so we can make brownies. If its ok with you that is." It took Annie a minute to realize that the question was aimed at Samuel and not herself. Her face was caught somewhere between disbelief and confusion, causing Samuel's smile to grow wide.

"I think brownies are a great idea. Though you might want to ask your father before you invite people to live with you." Jesse beamed and turned back to Annie.

"It's ok, dad likes you and we've got heaps of space, you could stay until you guys have a house. Now come on, I want to make brownies before someone eats the chocolate." The only possible explanation Annie could give for allowing this eccentric girl to grab her hand and lead her out of the house and through the back lot was that she had been temporarily stunned by said girl's blatant disregard for self preservation.

"Do you often bring strangers home with you?" Annie asked after regaining her thoughts and her arm. Jesse laughed.

"You look just like your dad when you do that." She said, pointing to Annie's eyebrow, which had taken residence above its twin. "And you're not a stranger, you are Annie, Samuel's daughter, and you know Mercy and my dad, so there." Annie shook her head, smirking at the graffiti written across a dilapidated VW they were currently passing en route to a pretty mansion that seemed to tower over the normal sized houses around it.

"Fair enough, but when I turn out to be an axe murderer set on brownie theft, you can't blame me for your death." As it turned out, Jesse was not crazy, or at least there was a method to her madness, and Annie found herself liking the unconventional girl. With only two years separating them, Annie felt more at ease in Jesse's company than she had in a while. She had avoided her peers for most of her life, finding out early that youths were unforgiving when it came to being different and adults were always expecting something from you. Though so far this trip had gone over quite well, Annie was not yet comfortable with having her entire world turned upside down, and found a childish solace in baking brownies while chatting with Jesse.

Two batches of brownies and a gazillion questions later Annie and Jesse were in the kitchen washing the dishes.

"So why didn't you go to university?" Jesse asked, drying a plate and putting back in its rightful place. Annie shrugged.

"I wasn't really thinking about it at the time, there wasn't anything in particular I wanted to do so there was no point in racking up student loans." Jesse nodded and opened her mouth to say something else when the front door opened.

"Is that brownies I smell?" Adam Hauptman's voice carried from the entrance to the kitchen, followed by the man himself, making Jesse's face light up. Annie leaned against the counter as she watched the father and daughter exchange hugs and he kissed her forehead. She had once read an article about how werewolves and fae shouldn't interbreed or start families with 'normal humans', but looking at how happy the two people in front of her were, Annie found that she couldn't disagree more. After greeting his daughter and snagging a brownie off the counter, Adam turned to greet his daughter's visitor. "Hello again Annie. I hope Jesse hasn't talked your ears off." Annie frowned and placed her hands under her hair, feeling around for said attachments.

"I've still got them."

Jesse pouted and smacked her father on the arm before taking a bite of her brownie. Feeling less comfortable now with the realization that she didn't have Adam's permission to be in his house, Annie looked down and subconsciously crossed her arms.

"Hey can Annie stay here for a few days?" Annie's head snapped up so fast she heard a small crack. She had forgotten about that ludicrous plan of Jesse's

"That's really not –" Jesse cut her off before she could three words in edgeways.

"She has to go back home tomorrow but her and Samuel haven't found a house yet, and it's not like she can stay at Mercy's. Besides, I like her and this way I can spend some time with people my own age." Adam looked between his excited daughter to his uncomfortable guest and back again.

"Sure, I don't see why not." At this Annie's jaw dropped.

"Am I the only responsible person in this place? I already said I was an axe murderer." she wondered aloud. Adam laughed as Annie ducked away from the tea towel that Jesse tossed at her head. Anything that made his daughter happy made Adam happy, and with what had happened in California and everything from over the past year or so Jesse needed a friend. Jesse never said it, but Adam knew that when he had come out so to speak, his daughter had been alienated by the majority of her classmates. Pulling his daughter close with an arm and kissing the top of hear head, Adam spoke.

"Warren is coming over in a few minutes; we've got some stuff to talk about. Kyle's coming too so you guys can hang out and watch some movies." Jesse nodded before turning to Annie.

"Warren is a friend of dad's and Kyle is his boyfriend. They're pretty cool." Annie nodded just as a truck pulled up in the driveway. The door opened without anyone knocking and soon there were two more people in the house making their way to the kitchen. One was a tall and thin man dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt, a cowboy hat was clutched in one hand and he even had the boots to complete the outfit. Not that he looked bad; on the contrary Annie thought the clothes suited him. The other man was shorter and better dressed, he had on expensive grey slacks and a matching suit jacket over a crisp salmon button up shirt and a white tie.

"Hey boss, who's this, and who made the brownies." The first man said, taking a brownie for himself and passing one to his partner, all the while casting a curious glance at Annie.

"This is Anastasia Conway, Samuel's daughter. Annie, this is my friend Warren and his partner Kyle." Annie pushed herself off the counter to shake hands with the two men before her.

"Nice to meet you both." She said, making the effort to return their smiles. Taking Warren's hand, Annie automatically met his eyes, and was once again met with power. It wasn't as strong as Adam's, and was more subtle. Like Samuel. Annie was sure that this Warren was a werewolf, and looking the predator in the eyes, Annie wondered why it took her this long to realize that she had been doing stupid things around a werewolf long before she met Adam. How many times had she looked Samuel in the eye, blatantly challenging his authority? Stupid. Annie berated. Stupid human who doesn't know when to look down. I'm doing it right now. I must have a death wish. Still meeting Warren's gaze, Annie shook his hand and didn't look away until she turned to Kyle. Kyle's eyes were warm and perfectly normal. This came as a great relief to Annie, who for reasons unknown couldn't make herself look away from someone's eyes, even if it was stupid, and especially if it meant she was letting them win. Taking his hand, Annie smiled at the human before her.

"Now I see what Mercy meant by not having to worry about the paternity test, those eyes couldn't have come from anyone else." Kyle announced, causing Annie to glance away in embarrassment. She didn't like much about herself, and preferred not to draw attention to her features.

"Uhm thanks… I think." Annie said tucking her arms back around herself protectively. Sensing her discomfort Warren and Adam quickly changed the subject.

"So boss, you wanted to talk." Warren ventured, casting a fleeting look at the blonde woman beside him. Adam nodded.

"Yes, let's go upstairs. Feel free to eat as many brownies as you want Kyle." With one last nod the two men left the kitchen and walked up the staircase. Once the two men were gone Annie looked between Jesse and Kyle, who had taken Adam up on his offer of brownies.

"So I'm guessing that we mere mortals are not privy to that conversation." Annie said, leaning back onto the counter to watch the full effects of her statement. Jesse's eyes went wide and Kyle's jaw unhinged itself. It was really quite entertaining.

"How did you know Warren was a werewolf?" Jesse demanded once she had remembered how to speak. Annie unfolded her arms and shoved her hands in her front pockets, shrugging her shoulders casually.

"I already knew who your dad was when I met him, and I could tell when I looked Warren in the eye."

"So does that mean you know about…?" Jesse paused, unsure if she should continue. Luckily Annie knew what she was trying to ask.

"Sam? Yeah. I didn't realize it at first, but now that I know what to look for," again Annie shrugged. "I really need to stop with the staring contests; it's bad for my health around here." Jesse and Kyle chuckled.

"Yeah well it's not so bad, as long as the werewolf wins." Kyle offered. Annie rolled her eyes. She was definitely going to get herself killed. Kyle, Jesse and Annie moved from the kitchen to the living room – with the brownies of course – and settled in for the only good Wednesday night movie… Teen Wolf. Between the movie and the brownies, Annie was still able to learn quite a lot about what was going on. Apparently the werewolves were in a spot of trouble with the government – that didn't really surprise Annie though, politicians were annoying like that – it was the anti-fae and werewolf groups that had her worried. Annie knew better than anyone what people were capable of when they were afraid of something. Another thing she learned was that Kyle was a successful divorce lawyer, and very quick-witted.

After the movie was over, Annie checked her phone and realized how much time had flown by.

"I have to go. My car is still at Mercy's house and I need to get back to the motel." She said, the blood rushing to her head as she struggled to an upright position and stood up – she had been laying upside-down on the couch with Jesse, her feet dangling over the back of the sofa. Annie smoothed out her faded orange t-shirt, wishing that she had brought her hoodie and shoved her phone back in her pocket.

"Don't forget you're moving in tomorrow." Jesse said, a cheeky grin spreading across her face. Annie rolled her eyes, she still hadn't gotten out of that… not that she really wanted to; it was a good idea, plus she really liked hanging out with Jesse.

"Yeah yeah, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye Kyle, tell Warren and Adam I said goodnight."

The two people's goodbyes followed her out of the living room as she made her way to the back door. Exiting the house Annie crossed her arms. Damn the sun for setting… she hated the cold. Marching her way back to Mercy's trailer, Annie thought about her latest discovery. Now that she thought about it, it kind of made sense that Samuel was a werewolf… he looked 25, but was old enough at least to be her father, he spoke like he was from another era – especially when it came to music and had that predatory sense of power about him that Annie was beginning to associate with werewolves. Sucking in a breath, she contemplated how this changed things. Did it change anything? Well obviously she had to talk to Sam about a few things now, but overall… Annie didn't really mind the idea of her father being a werewolf. From what she had seen Jesse and Adam were thick as thieves, and if anything, the fact that her father was less (or more) than ordinary would make the fact that she was an outcast too easier for him to accept, right? Annie shook her head. She didn't know many people who liked people like her. But still, if she could accept that werewolves were more that just evil monsters who ate children alive, certainly he could accept that she was worth something. Pushing the thoughts out of her head as she neared the trailer, Annie found Samuel sitting by the door, waiting for her. Damn. She thought, mentally wincing, I can't believe I left him here for so long. Samuel stood up as she neared the door.

"Welcome back, did you have fun?" There was nothing in his voice to suggest that he was angry with her, he was even smiling, but guilt and fear had Annie shifting nervously from foot to foot in the evening light.

"Uhm yeah, turns out I'll be staying for a few more days. Listen, I'm sorry about leaving like that, I lost track of time and –" Samuel laughed and waved his hand in a throwaway gesture.

"Don't worry about it, Jesse can be like that. I'm glad to hear you're staying. I have to go to work soon, but you should come back around mid-morning tomorrow, so we can look at some of those houses." Annie was surprised at the honest amusement in his voice, it sounded as though he truly didn't mind that she had taken off for several hours when she should have been looking at houses with him. Shaking her head to clear it, Annie smiled.

"Ok, I'll see you then, I promised Jesse I'd be over early anyways to 'move in'." After saying goodnight, Annie waltzed off to her car, aware of Samuel's presence on the porch the entire time. It was only when she had gotten half way to her motel that she remembered that she hadn't asked him if he was a werewolf. Oh well, that conversation could wait till tomorrow.


Here is where i say something cute that gets you guys to review, because yo love me. :P

Quick.