The next day flew by like a snail race. Ben was no where to be seen, Adam and the rest of the wolves had found that receiving cautious glares from unfriendly werewolves was something that I did not enjoy and I wasn't allowed to see Jesse until Mercy was satisfied with my Coyote shifting. The safe room was cold, my skin was crawling, I was naked and so was Mercy.

When She'd finally decided that I understood well enough how her shifting worked and I knew how my abilities worked, she let me put my robe on.

"We've been down here for ten hours. Go get some chow and we'll practice some more tomorrow morning." She said. I slipped into the white robe she'd let me borrow and tied it tight. I couldn't look at her. I knew it was Mercy. I knew that. But there's just something about being completely naked in front of someone that makes me so ashamed. I smirked, thinking that Domina didn't mind it much.

Domina. I hadn't made it to the stairs yet when the pain of my sister's absence stopped me and watered in my eyes.

Mercy rushed to my side. "What's wrong?" Still nude, she wrapped arms around me to keep me standing. I looked up and her and she mirrored my pain even though she didn't know why I cried. "What is it?" She gave me a shake.

"My sister." I sobbed. "I cant find her. I can't find her in my head. She's disappeared along with my lycanthropy. Gone." I cried.

She held me close. "I didn't realize you loved her so much..." She whispered, long dark hair tickling my nose as she spoke.

"Me neither." I said. "I thought I wanted her to go away. I thought she was no good but she loved me. She really did. I knew last night that I was going to miss her so much but now that she isn't here I cant believe how much I want her back... I can't believe how empty I feel."

Just then the heavy door at the top of the stairs creaked open and a deep familiar voice spoke to us. "Safe to come down?" Adam asked.

I was covered and Mercy was naked but she called him to us. "Yeah." She said. "She's got a robe on."

Adam stalked down the stairs while I pulled away from his mate and put my mind back together.

"You were crying?" He asked.

I nodded. There was no use hiding it, I mean, I'm sure my eyes were puffy and wet and my nose pink. "I think Domina has left me for good. I miss her very much." I didn't like that the very people I'd been tough and ruthless in front of were seeing me fall apart the way I was.

As if he could read my mind, he said. "Dry your eyes them and show the others you are still strong." I stared at him wide eyed. "I know better than most how it feels to lose a friend." He went on. "To lose someone you care about because of closed-minded people who are higher up on the food chain and don't give a damn about the peons." The fact that he'd cursed said how serious he was.

"Marsilia..." I growled.

"The government..." He said to himself.

I let out a shaky breath I hadn't known I'd been holding and wiped my eyes. "Thanks for the encouragement, Adam." I said and nodded at them both before going upstairs.

To my delight, there were no curious werewolves waiting to greet me with questions I was too hungry and tired to answer, but a worried looking Jesse sitting at the dining table next to a couple of In N Out bags.

"It's Five." She said smiling, though there was something different about her. Something cautious. "I thought you'd be hungry."

I came to hug her and she stiffened as I held her, hunching over her sitting body. "You are the most precious person in my life now..." I whispered.

"That's what I was afraid of..." Her voice was small. She turned to look up at me and I let her go to take a seat in the wooden chair next to her. "Dad mentioned to me this morning that Domina might be lost."

"I cant find her anywhere..." I said.

"Also..." She paused and seemed reluctant to continue.

"What?"

"I was in my room last night when I heard Domina and that other Vampire fighting outside. I watched it through my window. I saw what happened and..." She sniffled. "I saw you, or Domina, hurt him so badly. I saw him writhe in pain and the smile on your face while you did it. It made me afraid to come down to see you when you came inside." She gulped and stared straight into my eyes. "I didn't go to you before they pulled you into the safe room! They looked so spooked when they came out and I thought something terrible had happened to you! I thought maybe they'd punished you for letting Domina out and I would never see you again!"

"Jesse!" I said. "I'm fine, though. And If you feel afraid of me for what happened I underst-"

"No. I'm not afraid anymore. Dad told me what he did to you. He told me why you hurt him the way you did. What I'm trying to do is apologize."

I was taken aback by that. 'W-why would you-"

"Because I thought of you as one of the monsters... I thought of you as one of the bad guys when I should have known that you are good and even Domina wouldn't hurt that man without cause. I forgot her promise that she made to Dad, to only come out if your life or mine was in danger. I should have known that Domina showing her face meant that that man wanted to hurt you... If I had remembered and not jumped to conclusions..." She wiped her eyes furiously and I felt tears streaming down my cheeks. I didn't remember starting to cry. "Dad said you were so sad down in that safe room. Maybe if I'd just come down stairs to see if you were okay, to hug you and make you feel better, you wouldn't have been so sad and alone down there..."

I didn't know what to say. I never even had the thought to be angry with Jesse. I didn't even think about her after Domina gave me back and I guess that if I'd hugged Jesse before I went down I might not have been as sad but... she didn't do anything wrong by not coming to me. Nothing wrong at all.

"Jesse I'm not mad... I..." I thought for a moment. "It was hard down there but I know we're friends. Last night was so confusing, but I didn't feel like you abandoned me in a time of need or anything like that... Is that what you think you did?" She just stared at me and looked to forlorn, so I hugged her. "We're best buds for life Jesse. From the moment I first saw you I knew you would be a good person and we would get along. You didn't abandon me... You didn't let me down..."

"Really?"

"Really, really." I said.

Twenty minutes later we were sitting up on Adams roof chowing down on delicious burgers, fresh fries and slurping soda.

"Congratulations!" she said. "You made out with the rapist!"

"Fuck you, Jesse..." I growled.

She hooted. "There's the famous attitude! I was wondering if it was ever going to come back." She scarfed some fries and slurped her drink cup down to a empty rattle. "So spill it. Was it fantastic?"

I thought about my kissing session with Ben for a moment, remembering the way he'd looked at me, the weight of his body moving on mine, the feeling of his soft lips against my own. "Well, it was..."

"It was...?" She was leaning close to me as if the closer she got the more exciting and entertaining my answer would be. Like the closer her ears were to my mouth the faster I'd answer her.

I sighed. "It was pretty great I guess."

She laughed. "Awesome! So, details please!"

"There are no details. We kissed and it wont happen again. I want Stefan, that's it. There's no room for an over zealous English wolf-man in my life."

"Oh Ruby that's no fair! Tell me about it! And anyways, why not pay Ben a little more attention, huh? He's cute and you cant narrow yourself down to just one guy. You gotta open your mind to all the possibilities!" She spread her arms wide to the darkening sky as she said 'possibilities'.

"Do you realize how red Adam's face would turn if he heard you talking like a pro about leaving yourself open to the possibilities of potential lover candidates? Do you know how fucking violent he'd get if he found out that one of the men being discussed was Ben?"

She laughed out load. "He'd have a cow!"

"No, Jesse..." I said. "He'd shit bricks of steel..." That made me laugh.

"Nice try, subject changer. Now tell me about your kiss!"

"No."

"Then can I ask questions?"

I snorted. "You can ask..."

She didn't take that as sarcastically as I wanted her too. "Did he make sounds?"

That made me blush. "I'm not answering that, Jesse..."

She eyed me. "So that's a yes, then... Now, how'd you do it? Did you sit on his lap?"

"Jesse!"

"What?" she frowned.

"I am done with questions!"

"Answer just this one and I'll stop..."

I glared at her. "No you wont..."

"Nope" She grinned at me and then asked again.

I sighed. "Well... we were on the couch..."

"And?" she started leaning again.

"And he took his shirt off..."

"OooOooh... and then?"

"And then he crawled on top of me and refused to leave until I made out with him..."

"Ahh! That's hot!" Then she covered her eyes, laid back and banged her heels against the roof. "I wish my boyfriend would do that!"

I thought for a moment. "I wish Stefan would do that..." We both laughed.

"So what are you gonna do about the two of them?" she asked me.

"I told you already. " I said. "There's no room for Ben. I want Stefan. That's who I've decided on."

"But does Ben know that?"

"He should. I made it very clear to him last night that his kissing stunt was not appreciated."

"You say that like you think 'Ben' is just going to back off immediately. You know he wont." She didn't speak of the matter like she was concerned, more like she was having a blast watching the problem bloom into full blown T.V. drama.

"I know he wont." Unfortunately, that was the truth. "But you don't suppose he might just magically turn into a good guy and stay away from me, do you?" My voice was thick with sarcasm as I spoke, staring at her and blinking my eyes sweetly.

She flicked my nose. "Nope! Its a love triangle girl!"

"Hurray for me..." I mumbled.

We enjoyed silence together for while, enjoying the view of trees and driveway beside Adam's house. The sunset was just starting to glow when Ben's truck pulled up to the house. He didn't spot us at first, stepping out of his truck and slamming it shut before bending over to check his hair in his side view mirror.

Jesse giggled softly and I hushed her, trying to hold in my own laugh. "He wants to look good for his lovah..." Jesse whispered.

"Oh, shut up..." I chuckled.

We stilled and went completely silent when Ben stiffened and looked around. He'd heard us and he wouldn't have seen where we were if the wind wouldn't have carried our scent towards him.

He straightened and turned to face us, searching for us too low at first, giving me a chance to look him over. He was wearing a pair of attractive old jeans, some black slip-on Vans and a tight black V-neck sweater. His hair was a blond tousled mess, like last night and fresh stubble sprinkled along his beautiful jaw. I was admiring his shoulders when his face raised to spot us on the roof.

"Hello Ladies." He said. Ladies? Not whores or cows? Wow... he's trying. Jesse had caught the change in attitude too and we glanced at each other as he continued. "Does Adam know you're on his roof?"

Jesse cleared her throat. "Dis mah house, Ben..."

I snorted at her attempt at a ghetto accent and watched Ben wrinkle his nose. Either he thought the joke was dumb or he didn't understand it.

"Aren't you two cold up there?" He asked as I wondered if I'd ever tell him that his accent was sorta cute. I thought it made him seem little less menacing. Maybe I'd say something about it one day to piss him off. That would be fun...

I looked down and the holed skinny jeans, gladiator sandals and thin long-sleeved shirt I wore and wondered if I was getting cold. It was chilly out and dropping steadily, but no... I most certainly was not cold enough to climb down and say hello to Ben.

"Nope." I said. "We're just fine." He smirked at me and leaned against his truck as I picked up my white and red soda cup and sucked down some Sprite. "So you gotta reason to be here, Brit?"

He laughed. "Isn't coming to visit you a good enough reason to stop by?"

"Uh, no. Not even fucking close."

"Aw, don't be like that..." He pushed off of his truck and walked as close to the house as he could and still see our faces. I could smell Old Spice from where he stood. I could also smell that sweetness. "I know you enjoy my company, Love."

Jesse choked on fries laughing. I elbowed her in the side and she shut up. "No." I said. "Never have, never will." A lie...

"Never have, never will..." He repeated to himself. "Well, then. I'll just have to remedy that, wont I?" He winked at me and then walked into the house and shut the door.

Jesse squeaked and fell backwards again. "Wow... He's hotter than I thought he was!"

I glared down at her. "What part of that was attractive or hot to you? All that was was inflamed ego and confidence wearing a tight sweater..."

"A soft-looking, sexy, 'look at my muscles' sweater." She laughed. "For god's sake did you get a look at his shoulders in that?"

I blushed because yes, I had gotten a great look at his shoulders... and his chest... and stomach... Oh hell.. I sighed. "Okay, okay. I am willing to admit that he's attractive-"

She cut me off with, "Hot. You're willing to admit that he's really hot."

"Fine." I growled. "I'm willing to admit that he's really hot. But that in no way means that I want to be his woman, got that? I want Stefan, not the British Douche-bag."

"Alright, alright..." She said.

I clasped my arms behind my head and laid back beside her. "And besides," I said. "Stefan's a good kisser too..."

I looked over to find her grinning at me. "And when did that happen?"

"Days ago." I smiled. "And last night in the safe room before Ben got to me."

"And?"

"And it was lovely..." I sighed happily.

"Excellent."

Ben's P.O.V.

I was sipping a beer from my alpha's fridge when I realized the Kitchen window was ajar and I could hear them chatting outside.

"Hot." Jesse laughed. "You're willing to admit that he's really hot."

"Fine." Ruby growled. "I'm willing to admit that he's really hot." Damn right I am. "But that in no way means that I want to be his woman, got that? I want Stefan, not the British Douche-bag."

Ah... So harsh... I thought to myself. Ruby was harsh. She was tough and she was insulting. I supposed she was a good Gal, too, but what I really liked about her was her fearlessness. Her anger. Too many women were soft and sweet. I liked my women feisty. I liked them feisty and ready to brawl. Ruby Talbot was that woman and I wanted her. The way she acted, the way she shoots me down and tells me 'No'. I shivered at the thought of her. Her scent. The feeling of her beneath me.

"Alright, alright..." It was Jesse.

"And besides," My Ruby said. "Stefan's a good kisser too..."

I stifled a growl and felt my wolf bleed into my eyes. I can't believe he touched her... I thought.

"And when did that happen?"

"Days ago." Bloody hell... "And last night in the safe room before Ben got to me."

"And?"

"And it was lovely..." She sounded content... Fuck contentment... I thought ruefully.

"Excellent." Jesse said.

It was decided, then. I would have her. Stefan would lose this match and I would have Ruby Talbot.