AN: Thanks for all the positive feedback on the last chapter, I was a little nervous about including Anna but I'm glad it came off alright.


Anna had joined us on the bed by the time her phone rang half an hour later. She had it to her ear in a flash. "Charles?" She asked leaning closer to me so I could hear both sides of the conversation.

"We're all right Anna," He assured her, "All still alive and the demon is gone, courtesy of Mercy the vampire slayer."

"How is Mercy?" I asked knowing the werewolf would hear me.

"She's fine. A dislocated shoulder and a possibly broken ankle along with scratches and bruises but nothing that won't heal." Charles said.
"Thank god." I breathed a sigh of relief and felt Warren relax against me as well.

"Samuel is taking her to the hospital, Adam won't leave her side and dad is going along to keep the peace between those two and because neither of them look too good right now, emotionally or physically."

"But they'll be alright?" Anna asked the concern clear in her voice.

"They will in a day or two. Darryl and I are on our way back with an injured wolf, Samuel wanted me to ask how Warren is?"

"He seems to be healing a bit better," Anna said turning to me questioning.

"He's a fair bit better than when Samuel last saw him, I managed to get him to eat again and he's awake now though he's still not up to talking much."

"That will reassure Samuel." Charles said, "And Mercy too, she said she was still worried about him."

"How far are you?" Anna asked.

"About ten minutes away." Charles said.

Anna nodded even though he couldn't see her, "I'll see you soon, I'm going to go up stairs and tell the pack what's happened. I asked Honey to call her husband, he's a submissive, in case we needed them and it sounds like most of the pack is here now." Now that Anna had mentioned it, it did sound like there were more people upstairs than there had been an hour ago even to a human with limited senses.

"We'll see you soon." Charles promised and hung up.

Anna eased herself off the bed and made her way up stairs. "Well." I said brushing my fingers through Warren's hair. "Looks like you came out of this worst, everyone else is alive, except for that vampire Daniel, and we nearly lost you."

"Sorry." Warren said in a small voice.

"You will be if you ever scare me like that again." I promised, "If you die I will kill you." I could feel Warren laugh slightly at that, "There is absolutely no need to point out that if you're dead I can't kill you because I will simply follow you to the next life and kill you there."

"You can't die."

"Then neither can you." I told him firmly, "Now where was I before Charles phone?"

"Businessman."

"Ah yes, well his wife decided to file for divorce after she found his sectary's cell phone in their bed. He got their Seattle home but she got the Florida condo and just over half his money. Not a bad deal. She was pleased that they'd be in separate time zones, though I think she'd have preferred separate planets." I sighed, "I hope you realise that once you're well enough to move you're coming home with me and you're going to let me make up for been an absolute dick for the last few months by waiting on you hand and foot."

"Got a choice?" Warren asked.

"No, your place has far too many stairs for the state your leg is in."

"Bad?"

"Well it's still attached." I said trying to lighten the mood, "But that's about all I can say, if you were human I think you'd be lucky to be up on it in the next month. So you're coming back to mine, where everything you need is on one floor."

"Got two of everything." Warren complained.

"Came with the house, I just like the view." I told him, "I have the next week off work and I am going to play nurse for you."

"Please no costume."

I laughed, "Well there goes that plan. Are you sure? I think I'd look quite good in a tight little white PVC nurse's dress."

"Stop!" Came Darryl's voice from the top of the stairs where he'd just opened the door, I had been so involved in my conversation with Warren that I hadn't heard the front door open. "You're traumatising every one in the house." He complained.

"I'm fairly sure Jesse can't hear me." I pointed out, I would never have said it if I thought the young girl would hear me. She really didn't need to hear that sort of thing and I'm not sure I'd live through Adam finding out that I was the reason she'd heard it.

"Fine." Darryl said as he came down the stairs, "Every wolf in the house then, either way stop it." I could feel Warren laugh slightly where he was still leaning against me. Darryl came into the cage, which Anna had left open when she went upstairs, and took in Warren's appearance. "He looks better."

"He is." I agreed, "Most of his cuts look a little better and the bruises are starting to turn yellow instead of purple. I'm not sure about his leg and the other serious injures, I can't really check them from here." I pointed out gesturing to how Warren was using me as his pillow with an arm locked around my waist.

"Huh, he looks comfortable there." Darryl said.

Warren shifted slightly so he could look up at Darryl, "Leave Kyle alone." He said but without any force behind the order, which was probably a good thing.

"You're still alive then?" Darryl said, "You feeling in control yet?"

"Yes." Warren told him.

"Good, because someone's been injured and they're going to be needing that cage more than you."

"Who?" Warren asked, lifting his head slightly to look at Darryl.

"Ben." Darryl said, "He's out of it at the moment thanks to Charles and Anna but they need to leave as soon as possible."

"Mercy?" I asked.

"Adam, Samuel and Bran took her to the ER along with that vampire she's friends with. She'll live, probably be limping more than you but she's a coyote, they're bloody hard to kill." He turned his attention to Warren, "Can you manage to walk up stairs?"

"Maybe." Warren pushed himself up until he was sitting, he swayed slightly and I quickly sat up to steady him.

"And maybe not." I corrected, "Certainly not on your own." I helped him stand and supported him on his injured side so he didn't have to put too much weight on his injured leg but even that didn't help as much as he needed. "I think you're going to need some more help." I told him.

"No." He insisted, his teeth gritted in pain. "I'll be alright."

"Pride goes before a fall." Anna said from the top of the stairs, she had no doubt been listening to our conversation. "Namely you down the stairs if you don't get some extra help." Darryl moved aside to allow Anna to pass. "Well I could carry you but knowing you dominants that will really get your panties in a twist, so if you just put your weight on me instead of Kyle." She took my place and wrapped her arm around his waist; I could tell she was supporting almost all of his weight. Damn werewolves are strong if even the women can do that.

Anna helped Warren to one of the upstairs guest rooms though not the one he had originally being in, I had a feeling Adam would have a hard time getting the blood off the floor and walls. Once Warren was settled on the bed I laid down next to him and he place one hand on my hip, pulling me closer to him. I smiled and brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes before placing a kiss on his forehead. "Sleep." I told him, "And tomorrow I'll go round and see how Mercy is, I want to check now but if Samuel and Adam are both with her then perhaps tomorrow is a better bet."

Warren made an affirmative noise and then sighed, there was silence for several long moments and I thought he had fallen asleep, then I heard him whisper, "Kiss me properly Kyle."

I couldn't help but smile again as I leant over and pressed my lips to his, allowing them to linger there for a moment before deepening the kiss. It was the first time we had kissed since I learnt he was a werewolf and it felt so good, even with Warren as weak as he was. It felt like coming home. His hand tightened on my hip and I knew he felt it to, I allowed my hand to find a relatively uninjured part of his shoulder and gently pulled him tighter against me.

Neither of us wanted to part but eventually the need of air forced us to, we laid there catching our breath and looking into each other's eyes, "I've missed that." I told him, then I kissed him again quickly, teasingly. "I missed you."

"Same." Warren said, "Never going to let you go." He promised. My grin widened.

"That assumes I want to leave, we have a lot to talk about Warren but it can wait. For now I think we both need to sleep."

"You do look terrible." Warren said, "Have you slept?"

His throat and voice were both clearly improving. Twenty-four hours ago, even just twelve, such a sentence would have been impossible for him. "Here and there, now you're healing I can sleep properly."

This time it was Warren who somehow found the strength to lean over and kiss my softly, "Then we both sleep." He told me and it didn't take much longer before that is just what we both did.

I woke the next morning before Warren, the morning sunlight through the window illuminated his sleeping face where it rested peacefully on the pillow beside me. Despite all the bruising and cuts that still marred his face he looked beautiful to me; so peaceful and young while he slept, vulnerable even, something he could never be described as while awake.

I shifted away from him slightly so I could prop myself up on one arm and look at him properly but my movement must have woken him because he asked sleepily, "Kyle?"

"I'm here love." I said as I leant down and kissed him, "Good morning,"

"Morning." He answered but before we would say anything more there was a knock at the door followed by Adam entering. He must have being listening to know when we were awake.

"You're looking better." He said as he walked over to the bed we were both still laid on. He smiled slightly, "I'm glad you're still with us Warren."

"Me too." Warren said looking up at his Alpha.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better." Warren told him and then frowned, "But my ankle still hurts like hell."

Adam nodded, "I'll get you some breakfast sent up and then Kyle can go ask Samuel to come check on you, I'm sure he'll want an excuse to see Mercy anyway."

I nodded and Adam left. Warren and I talked for a few minutes and I reminded him of my plan that he was coming back to mine and being waited on hand and foot until he was better, he didn't object in the slightest but gave me that slow sexy grin that made my insides do a small flip.

Jessie brought breakfast up, pleased to see Warren was awake and talking again but she left us alone after giving Warren a hug and telling him she was glad he was going to be alright. Warren was strong enough to feed himself now but instead we took turns feeding each other forkfuls of bacon and eggs. It was the happiest I could remember us being in a long time, perhaps forever because there were no secrets between us, I knew what Warren was and he knew that I could and did accept it.

After we finished eating I took Adam's suggestion, or perhaps order was a better choice of word, and went to see Mercy. At Warren's suggestion I took the shortcut over Adam's back fence and past the half derelict car that Mercy kept in her back yard solely, I had been informed, to piss Adam off. I had to wonder if that actually was Adam's number scrawled across the hood along with an offer of a good time, for some reason, namely knowing Mercy, I suspected it was.

When I knocked on Mercy's door it was Samuel who answered it, he looked like he had being through hell and back so I assumed that whatever had happened to him had been as bad for him mentally as it had been physically for Warren. Either that or he was working the night shift this week.

"Kyle." He greeted with a slight nod of his head.

"Samuel, Adam and I were hoping you'd have a chance to check Warren over today, he seems to be healing but I want to be sure." I phrased it as a request from me, there seemed to be tension between Adam and Samuel, over Mercy from what the lady in question had told me and there was no need to ruffle Samuel's fur further by having him think the request came from Adam. "Your brother also wants to see you this morning because he and Anna are returning to Montana this afternoon and they would like to see you before they leave." Anna had caught up with me on my way out the door and as soon as she realised where I was going she asked me to pass on the message, I think she wasn't comfortable with going to knock on a stranger's door to find her brother-in-law. "Bran is planning on staying for a few more days to be sure that everything has settled down."

Samuel smiled, "Ah Anna wants to make sure I'm alright since she didn't get a chance to see me last night, that little wolf has the entire pack wrapped round her little finger and she doesn't even know it. I'll go and reassure then I'm not about to take a swim in the Columbia River, I'll check Warren out but if he's still with us then he should be fine."

He glanced back into the trailer and I interpreted his glance, "Don't worry about her, I wanted to see her anyway, Warren and I were both worrying but I wouldn't let him out of bed."

"I did not need to know that." Came Mercy's voice from inside the trailer.

"Good morning Mercy." I called back.

She limped into view, leaning on the wall to keep her weight off her bad ankle. "Come on in already Kyle. Samuel get over to Adam's and check Warren out." Apparently Samuel wasn't one to argue with Mercy and did as he was told.

"How are you Mercy?" I asked as I took a seat on her couch.

"I've been better." She said with a small smile, "Adam and Samuel were both fussing over me at the hospital and it took Bran to keep the peace. But apart from a sprained ankle I'm fine, it's the wolves I'm worried about. It wasn't a good scene there."

"I can imagine." I agreed, "But it's dead now right, the cause of all the trouble is dead?" Mercy hesitated and I was suddenly sure I would not like the answer.

"Yes and no." Mercy told me at last, "The vampire riding demon is dead, the guy who made him isn't, but they have him locked up." She saw me about to ask her a question and rushed on, "Please don't ask me any more, believe me this is one of the things you are better off not knowing."

I accepted that, while I might want to know more I would trust Mercy enough that if she said I did not need to know then I probably didn't and it was certainly safer that way

Seeing that I wasn't going to argue she continued, "So how's Warren?"

I grinned, "He's much better, he can actually talk now." I told her, "Hopefully we can go home either later today or tomorrow, well we're actually going back to mine because I won't let Warren be on his own."

"Good." Mercy told me, "But I seriously doubt he objected, you two have a lot to talk about."

"I know we do." I agreed, "There's still a lot about werewolves that I don't understand."

"There are some things that I even I don't understand." Mercy confided, "And I was raised by them." She shook her head, "I think you have to be one before you fully get them."

I smiled at that and then remembered something I had wanted to ask her. "Mercy, why did Warren listen to you?" I asked, "Honey seemed to think that you were the only one he'd listen to except for Adam."

Mercy looked uncomfortable at this, as though it was topic she really didn't want to talk about. "When he first moved here, Adam named me as his mate, at the time I thought it was to protect me from the pack but now, with how Warren responded to me, I think there might be more to it."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"In the pack a woman takes her rank from her mate, until yesterday I thought it was some nonsense that the human side had made up but it does seem to have an effect on the pack magic."

"Magic?" I asked.

She nodded but I decided not to press it any further, I wasn't sure my poor overloaded mind was going to cope with much more information but there were a few more questions I needed to ask. "So Warren listened to you because Adam said you were his mate?" She nodded, "I assume there's more to been someone's mate than them saying so."

"There is." Mercy agreed, "What are you asking?"

"While he was drifting in and out of consciousness that's what he called me."

Mercy smiled, "I thought something like that might be going on, you need to talk to him, urgently."

"I know." I agreed, "But I wanted to know that it was significant."

"It is." She said and then we turned the conversation to other topics.

When Samuel came back, I looked up at him expectantly the moment he was through the door, as did Mercy. "He's healing well." He told us, "Almost as fast as he should be but there's still lot of damage to fix, I told him he could only go home today if there's someone with him." He looked at me, "He said you're planning on letting him stay at yours."

"For as long as he needs to." Or preferably longer, but I didn't add that aloud. If I had my way Warren would never be going back to his own place, I had spent months trying to talk him into moving in with me but he never agreed. I knew why now, he would never have been able to hide what he was if we lived together. Now he didn't need to hide anything I hoped to have more luck, but whether he agreed to it permanently or not he would be stopping with me until he was fully recovered.

I was also glad that we could go home, been in a house full of werewolves was uncomfortable for me. Mainly because I knew that they could hear pretty much every word I said to Warren but also because I knew just how many of them hated him, both Mercy and Warren had told me that months ago. A good portion of the pack hated Warren because he was gay and I was certain that hatred extended to me. I knew not all werewolves were like that, some were accepting like Adam and Anna but in all I would be glad to be away from them. Especially because then Warren and I could have the conversation we needed to have.

"Well his ankle is still in pretty bad shape and he needs to stay off it as much as possible, he has a few cracked bones, including two of his ribs and his skull. There's also still some of the internal damage that hasn't fully healed yet. What he really needs to several more days in bed but knowing wolves we'll be lucky to keep him there another day."

"I never had any problem keeping Warren in bed." I said with a grin and a wink, Mercy snickered and Samuel just shook his head.

I was about to leave but before I could Mercy said to Samuel. "Could you check Kyle out as well? Warren caught him with his claws while was out of control."

"Warren hurt him?" Samuel seemed very surprised by that but I wasn't sure why, as far as I could see an out of control werewolf was a danger to everyone in the vicinity regardless of what the human side might normally feel for them.

"He was aiming for Darryl." Mercy explained, Samuel nodded as if this explained something. "Right Kyle, shirt off."

"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy." I said as a pulled off the tee shirt I was wearing, "If you wanted me naked you only have to ask, no need for these pretences."

"Is he always this bad or is it just stress that brings it out?" Samuel asked the room in general as he unwound the bandages around my chest and examined the slashes, rather than waiting for either of us to answer he continued, "Someone did a good job of cleaning these up."

"It was Jesse." I told him and then winced as he poked the side of the wound.

"Looks like most of these are healing just fine on their own." He concluded, "But I want to put a couple of stitches in the deeper ones, it'll close the wound faster and reduce scaring." He fetched his own first aid kit and the very fact that it contained things like a surgical needle and thread as well as a local anaesthetic showed that he was a doctor. Still at least it meant Mercy had someone to patch her up when she bit off more than she could chew, something that seemed to be happening more and more recently.

I wasn't sure how old Samuel was or how long he'd been a doctor, though I suspected the answer was a long time, but however long it had been it showed in his skills. He put in the stitches quickly and efficiently, though I had to look away, the sight of it reminding me that just days ago it had been Warren he was patching up. Fortunately before I could get too upset about it he'd finished and was bandaging me up again. "I want to see you again in a few days to check how that's healing." I wasn't going to argue with the good doctor. "Don't get them too wet and avoid any strenuous activity for a day or two. Not that Warren is in any sort of shape for much strenuous activity either." He added with a smirk. I'm not sure if it was my injuries, the knowledge that he was a werewolf or gratitude for his saving Warren, but I somehow resisted the urge to smack the good doctor. Mercy didn't.


AN: Hoping to get at least one more update before Christmas