Hunted

by Corinder

The arrival of two newly created foreign female werewolves in New York, perused by men with only the name 'Masters', alerts the pack to a new threat. One that seems to be hidden, waiting, hunting... Completed! In Editing :B

21. Rio

As much as wanted to rush, Jeremy had us wait a week while he made sure everything was checked, that Paige and Lucas could research with Elena, that I was fully rested and to make sure, probably, that he wasn't himself about to change his mind and order us to stay behind.

I woke up to breakfast and babies in bed very early the morning we were leaving, fried tomatoes, bacon, eggs, and Nick offering a piece into my mouth before I was even fully awake.

"Morning, love." He grinned at me as I opened my mouth, taking the food, before reaching for another bit.

"Breakfast in bed?"

"You're leaving soon." Nick reached down to play with Susie as I took the spoon and fed myself, his eyes avoiding mine, like he couldn't look me in the face. Couldn't face it.

"Then I'll be back."

"Yes, and I'll lock you into this room." He shivered, sense of humour dry and not working as well as usual, glancing up with that intense stare he had when he was upset. Nick reached up to stroke my hair, playing with it, hand tracing down my neck and across my chest. When I didn't flinch, or pull away, he gently cupped one of my breasts, running his thumb across the nipple through the fabric.

"Agreed. And I'll tie you to the bed." I shivered at his caress, which made him grin a little then, clearly liking my train of thought.

"You could do it now."

"With the three babies on the bed?"

"If you're serious I could move them into their bed." Nick moved closer. Lips finding my neck, slowly, gentle kisses, hand running up my leg. "Cuddles after... unless you still need time."

"Put them in their crib for a moment." I said, after a moment, and he gently lifted each baby up, kissing him or her before lowering them into the crib one by one. Once they were safely out of the way Nick jumped back onto the bed, sliding up between my legs, kissing up the bare skin.

I shivered, shut my eyes, tried to relax. I didn't want to leave like I'd been yesterday, full of fear and guilt, I didn't want the alpha to be the one to separate me from my mate. To destroy the trust I had in him. I wanted to face him loved by someone, still able to be touched, still able to care. Nick's finger tips brushed against the edge of the fabric, then stopped, waiting.

"You better undress me if I'm leaving soon." I said, softly, opening one eye. He relaxed, grinned, and slid up my body to kiss me hungrily as his hands finished undressing me. "I need you to go slow this time."

It took some time, more than usual, before my body responded to him. Nick went slow, so slow that I ended up trying to get him to hurry up, our bodies pleasing each in a way that had me lying there in a daze for ten minutes even as he brought the babies over for cuddles and kisses. No one would do this to me, ever, no one besides this man. It wasn't just fucking. Yes, we did that too, that rough version that was about release, possession and the excitement, but it was also something else.

I kissed him gently as he brought Dominic over, still the salty taste of my sweat on his lips,and he reached up to stroke my hair as I lifted Dominic against my chest and held him there, watching my son's blue eyes lift up to mine and a smile as he recognised me. Somehow Nick managed to get Lily there as well and held Susie, snuggling up to my side, the five of us dozing together.

Kids circled us like anxious sharks as we stood in the kitchen just before eight the three trying to convince us to stay. It wasn't working and Matt was loosing his temper worse than the other two, little wolf-like growls as he kept trying to yank my bag off the table and walk away with it, till we had to put it up high out of his reach. He'd shadowed me the second I'd stepped out of the bedroom.

Paige asked for my phone and charger so I dug it out with one hand, the other hand closed around Matt, Nick standing behind me, handing it over. It was feeling a little crowded now.

"We'll keep your phone here." Paige took it and slid over something she'd been fiddling all breakfast. "We'll keep it here and walk around with it. Make it look like you're moving. And this is the phone you'll use. Untraceable and with some software on it that'll help you track his number instead. So while he's watching your phone and thinking you're here..."

"I'll be getting closer to him." I took the phone and nodded. "Is it an easy program to use?"

"It might take some getting used to, the program, but you'll get it. And it might only buy some time but we're guessing extra time is useful." Lucas handed me a small notebook, I guessed with instructions as to how to use the program. "Right now he was last seen at the airport in New York."

"Anything works." Clayton glanced around him. "Savannah?"

"Meeting you at the airport. She's already working on getting his flight details." Jeremy replied as he sipped his coffee.

"I think you should dye your hair." Paige was speaking to me, not to Clayton, ignoring Nick's sharp intake of breath.

"She's not touching it." He started, before cutting himself off, chin resting on top of my head like he was shielding my hair.

"Why?" I wriggled loose of his grip, not really keen on it myself, but …

"Humans will know you by face so even a slight change would buy some time. I know-" She glanced up at Nick who's mouth had opened. "-werewolves don't. But he doesn't seem to be working with just werewolves. So you could use this."

She held up a hair dye that was, more or less, blonde. Really blonde. The kind of blonde that most people associated with a sixteen year old girl who was trying to stand out by fitting in. It was a little like Elena's hair, in a way, except that hers was gorgeous, silvery and natural. This was 'light iced blonde'... and when I frowned at it, she was quick to slide over another box. A darker warm brown, praline or chocolate or something.

"Is it scentless?" Nick asked, reaching over to take the darker brown one from me, inspecting it. He wrinkled his nose as he smelt it through the box. "Won't work. She'll pass out from the smell."

"It's an idea." I slid the darker brown into my bag anyway. He was probably right. I'd probably spend however long it took to set with an oxygen mask on. "Anything else we'll need?"

"A hug?" Reece offered as he came downstairs, sleepy, somehow prying me free of Nick and Matt, yanking me into his arms. He yawned, stretched, and held me there. "Sure you don't need a third person?"

"She can't take you." Nick growled softly, though his heart wasn't in it, and I suspected that he wouldn't have minded if Reece was coming along if he couldn't.

Farewells happened then, quick ones, a relief for me who didn't like them. Backpacker style backpack, check. Matt detached, check. Smaller backpack, seeing as I didn't use handbags? Check. We'd almost look like a pair of backpackers off for an adventure, rather than a hunt, which seemed to match Clayton's appearance.

Then we were off.

I found a solution to the 'hair' problem at the airport, seeing an Islamic woman with her kids, and nudged Clayton. He'd reverted back to his charming self around humans, all scowls and glowers at any man or woman that tried to flirt with him, the real side of him apparently forgotten in his closet back home.

"What?"

I pointed at her, gently, and said softly, "Better idea than chemicals?"

He followed my gaze. She wasn't covered up fully, just her hair, and he nodded. Then Clayton gestured to where a dark haired girl was standing. "She's there. Come on."

Savannah filled us in. The alpha had caught a flight to South America, flanked by one person who to her looked like a professional soldier rather than the usual scared humans we were used to, and she thought it almost looked like he was being escorted there rather than going willingly. But she couldn't be sure. They'd bought a flight to Rio and had already left on a flight two days before. She was going to wait and see what my phone, with the tracking software, said before she bought tickets.

I moved as close as my instincts would allow and let her show me how to use it. Lucas was right, it didn't take much to learn, but then we were both similar ages and familiar with technology. We saw he was still in Brazil, somewhere further south from Rio, so she agreed to go get tickets. Clayton remained her they had to be first class. No exceptions. She nodded and slipped away, gesturing to a quieter corner she'd meet us in.

Clayton's body language with her was actually a little shocking, after spending nearly months alone with my pack, because no matter how much he knew her, Clayton still couldn't seem to bring himself to relax or trust her. When she was gone he steered me into the corner and we waited for her. Elena contacted me as we waited, letting me know she'd found some interesting stuff and wanted me to read it on the plane, so I started to download attachments onto tiny laptop while we waited.

Clayton as he stood there with his very 'social' scowl at anyone who came too close to help us. The poor airport employees were quick to back off again. I might have felt sorry for them another time but right now I was searching through the documents Elena had emailed me, the little laptop frustrating for me to use, trying to read about anything in South America that might be a werewolf sighting. Savannah waited in the line for all three of us.

I told him what I'd found and he nodded slowly, just a fraction.

"It's called a Lobisomem there. Most of what she found is just myths about how they're created, like if a woman has too many daughters and gives birth to a son, or that they change at a crossroads or need to run through a bunch of graveyards before they can change back..." I shook my head slightly at that. Clayton snorted too as he glanced down. "But there's one thing that might be interesting. There's a town called Joanópolis which has more sightings than any other. Called the 'Capital of the Werewolf'. Looks sort of the direction his cell was in."

"How far from Rio?"

I looked that up. Good old Google Maps, I didn't know how people lived without it. "Around four hundred and fifty kilometres. Um, so that's around a six hour drive. Probably longer if the roads aren't maintained as well as ours."

"We'll get something off road at the airport."

I nodded and found myself staring at the other myths. It was something that really interested me, as much as hypnotherapy did, and I used to love it when I was younger. "There's myths about men who turn into jaguars too. Clay, how many of these myths might be based on fact?"

"Humans can have over-active imaginations. But... it seems sometimes they're inspired. No one really knows what's out there still."

"I'd love to find out once life settles down." I said softly. I really did. Exploring the world for myths, seeing if I could find traces of them, using my new senses do it. Humans spent their entire lives trying and usually failing. "Australia has this thing called a yowie. Some of them are as huge as ten feet high, covered in hair, apparently stink like hell. But there's been a lot of sightings. And there's been sightings of large black cats around Australia too."

"What's so unusual about that?" Despite himself, I suspected he was interested too, if just a fraction.

"Panther sized black cats. In a country that has no natural predators, except for dingos, and they're located only in a few areas that the panthers are never seen in. I used to love this stuff." I admitted, a small smile as his eyes met mine.

We went quiet and watched as Savannah bought the tickets for us. She came over and we stood up, hoisting the bags up again.

"Three tickets to Rio. Flight's at two thirty so we have to hurry through customs. Here." She handed us each our passports. "First class, like you wanted. We can give them the baggage now."

So we stood up and reluctantly lined up. I felt a little caged myself, in those rope fences, people bumping into us, their personal spaces a little too narrow for my liking. Humans did set my instincts on edge these days. I made myself relax and pretend to be good. Great! Rio, here we come to ...well, hunt down werewolves.

Then through customs, same problem, until we finally made it out with an hour to spare. By then my nerves were already frazzled and when Savannah informed us that there'd be no food on the plane, it was express, so we'd have to eat here... we gorged ourselves, finding a quiet corner in the airport's food court, taking out the anxiety on food instead.

I called Pav and filled her and Vi in. They didn't care about the time difference- apparently Elena had already called them and they'd been expecting the call. They filled me in from their end, having been taken around the territory, and were living in a cottage a short walk from the Russian Pack's main building. There had been some conflicts already, mostly around the fact that they were the only female werewolves in Russia but they were also married to each other. Lesbian werewolves were appreciated as much as mated ones, apparently. Pav reassured me everything was fine though- Vi had already scared off one of the young men with the alpha's permission after he got a bit too friendly with her. Another one was a little too protective of Pav for Vi's liking because of the partial blindness. After months of getting used to our pack she was struggling to start again with the trust game.

It wasn't long before our stomachs were bulging and it was time to board so I had to say goodbye with a promise to call again.

The plane itself presented another problem, one Clayton had not encountered before. The first class seats were in separate capsule designs. He didn't like it much, neither did I, because it meant that we'd be unable to see each other unless we sat up fairly high in our chairs. Easy for him- he was tall. For me, not so easy. But the flight was a short one and we settled in, Clayton in the window seat in front of me, Savannah beside me next to the aisle so I gritted my teeth and put up with it. Savannah didn't seem to mind in the slightest where she'd been sat, she settled back, put in earphones and was in her own little world for the rest of the flight.

Despite my uncomfortable feelings towards the way the flight was set up I couldn't help but feel some excitement as we took off. Being a full time student before coming to Australia since High School was great, sure, but it had problems too. Including the problem of never having enough money to travel. The most I did was the two hour flight from Brisbane to Melbourne.

I slid up out of my seat as we took off, watching the coastline of America fade away as the plane proved that it was indeed an 'express', leaving only ocean. Some dark blue, some light, and the swirling of the clouds that suggested a hell of a storm was building up for the more tropical parts we might have been passing over.

The little video screen in the 'capsule' showed me where I was. I got lost in that, watching the map, watching out the window, the claustrophobia with the humans fading as i focused on better things. How many twenty six year olds got to go to Rio first class? Hunt down werewolves? Indulge their passion for crypto...well, whatever it was called, the myths thing. I was lucky. I had to kick myself out of this depression. It had been an assault, not something I could change, not something I could have stopped, and I had to get over it.

I kept telling myself that as I made myself realise how lucky I was to be here. Flying to Rio. Rio!

Rio!

Rio!

The champagne helped me relax, helped the depression and anger fade, helped me focus on the positive things of this. Yes, I was leaving my babies for a few weeks at least, leaving Nick, leaving Matt and yes, I was chasing down my rapist to do ...well, I could think of a few things. I was going to Brazil though!

It didn't work. I sat there, grumpy, stressed, tense, and the hour inched by.

We changed planes at one of the American airports, I wasn't sure which and didn't care so much, and made our way onto another plane after a few hours of sitting around. Clayton kept acting funny, like he kept seeing something, but he didn't tell us what was going on, just scowled at his food.

This plane took off at ten pm which had the three of us sitting there tense, stressed out of our heads, and thankfully left alone in the food court. Then it was back onto a plane.

This one had the same style seats but now it was suddenly a relief, in a way, Clayton and myself sitting side by side, Savannah in the window seat, and we could pull up the side of the capsule things in order ot get privacy. That didn't mean sleep, of course, but it did mean we could feel like we were slightly safer. Closed in.

And they did serve dinner on this one. A puny dinner, the kind of thing you'd see in an overpriced restaurant more interested in the look of it than the taste, which had Clay order both of us extra. He muttered something about trying to get some sleep, which I assumed applied to me only, because as I rested back I could still see the blonde curls clearly- he had to have been still sitting upright, keeping watch as usual. Around us the only other few people in first class with us started to fall asleep or focus on the TV screens.

I only inched my seat down a bit though, wanting to keep Clay's head in my view, and his smell there. Comfort in numbers and all that. Shut my eyes, slowed my breathing, and tried to doze.

I did sleep for a while. I started to wake when I smelt something come into the caspule beside me, but as it was a familiar smell, I didn't rush the waking part.

Something lifted me up and I opened my eyes to see Nick carefully lowering himself into my seat and lowering me into his lap. When he saw my eyes were open he grinned.

"Can I go swimming? I brought you something perfect to wear here." He reached for the flight attendant button.

"Nick!" Clayton growled, twisting around to stare across the barrier. He glowered at one of the flight attendants who was hurrying over to our seat. She hesitated before coming over. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Too late to turn the plane around now. I'm here." He nuzzled my neck and grinned his dazzling smile at the young woman who's cheeks flushed. "Hi there. Sorry to disturb you this late but could we have something to eat? Something a little warm?" She nodded, backing up, muttering something about how there could be a second dinner that no one needed. Nick turned his attention back to us. "Can we go dancing?"

"We're not here to sightsee, Nick." Clay's voice was low now, a warning, clearly not amused. I wasn't really either but I couldn't deny I was glad to see him.

"No, you're hunting down my wife's rapist." Nick hissed, softer, the grin fading. His voice was so low now that only we'd hear him. "Thirty seconds after you were gone I knew I wasn't going to just sit around. Would you sit around at Stonehaven if we were after Elena's rapist?"

Clayton didn't answer. Just turned his head around back to the TV and didn't look back.

"He'll forgive me. Glad to see me?" Nick shifted in my lap to look at me, lips finding mine. I nodded, shook my head, glared at him, then kissed him hard. He chuckled, reaching up to cup my face, breathing out slowly as he relaxed. I wasn't going to tell him off. Truthfully, I was relieved. The freaking out I'd had on the first plane was gone now. Nick was here and I could think again. Oh, I'd be mad later, when I'd gotten off this plane and stopped stressing out of my head, but we were stuck together here. May as well enjoy it, right?

"Where are you sitting?"

"Economy. But that lovely young lady said I could stay here with you if you allowed it. She even offered me the spare seat over there." He jerked his head towards the empty seat on the other window seat beside me. "She seemed to like me."

She returned with the meals, offering them to us, and smiled somewhat as he winked at her. I nudged him and he grinned, nipping me, arm tightening around my waist.

"How long is the flight?" He asked, softer.

"Over twelve hours."

"Ever heard of the mile high club?" He got a bite for that one, a bite which he took in a different way than I intended, Nick's eyes sparkling a little.

"You do anything there," Clayton's voice came now, eyes still forward, "And I'll throw you off the plane. Don't care how high up we are."

"He's just grumpy that he hasn't joined it yet with Elena." Nick whispered, ignoring the soft growl, hand sliding up my top. I batted it away and concentrated on the meal instead.

The flight quietened down as people slept and when I snuck to the bathroom at four in the morning I was quick to be joined by Nick. He grinned at me, locked the door, the tiny room barely big enough for the two of us. Nick went to bend me over, which sent a wave of panic over me as it jolted still painful memories, and I had to spin around. He didn't seem to mind that either though and, like he'd always been, continued to teach me to enjoy 'naughty' things.

Clayton glowered at us as we came back half an hour later, unnoticed by the rest, shaking his head at us like we were a couple of naughty teenagers. Then he muttered, softly, "We joined last year. Now sit down and shut up for the rest of the flight. That's an order."

Nick laughed and slid back into his seat.

A few hours sleep, interrupted by the breakfast, made for a very tired me. I ate and tried to read the documents Elena had sent me, ignoring the bump-bump of the plane as it bounced around, or the small shape of it, or the fact that I couldn't run. Or walk. Things the wolf side of me wished I could do right now to work off this growing anxiety. Reading seemed to help and Nick came to sit inside the capsule with me, the roomy legroom making it easy for him to sit under my legs, reading his own 'Lonely planet guide to Brazil'. Any plans of telling him off this morning faded. Having that scent, that heartbeat, that touch, it eased my anxiety a little more. Even Clayton seemed less strung out than the night before, even if he still kept addressing me rather than Nick.

Savannah just seemed amused at Nick appearing out of the blue. She offered a USB so I could copy the documents onto her laptop and sit in Nick's seat so we could read them and comment softly on what we'd found.

I read what Elena had found, recognising the Chupacabra one, feeling my long abandoned inner geek stirred up. Maybe this was a delayed reaction but... there were werewolves! Vampires! Witches! Sorcerers! For the first time since I'd been bitten I felt a kind of excitement at this news. When the alpha had taken me, I'd been the kind of girl who believed in UFOs and loved to discuss this stuff, the kind of crazy artist person who decided to do hypnotherapy to help people explore past lives. Being bitten and captured, assaulted, and treated like an animal had somewhat made me more practical and a little bit more violent... but now suddenly it seemed to be interesting again. Like some part of me had woken up and come out of hiding The part of me that believed in things, that had hope, wonder at things and that was almost native...

I didn't want to loose that again. Sure, I'd grown up, life had forced that, but loosing that wonder of the world... he'd tried to break me. Tried to tear apart what I was and rebuild me into some kind of pet for himself. I couldn't loose that wonder again now. Couldn't abandon it or pretend it wasn't aprt of me.

I glanced down at Nick and grinned a little. "Nick?"

"Mm?" He glanced up, pressing a kiss to my legs.

"Want to know something about me that I didn't want to tell you when I met you?"

He nodded, curious, sliding closer.

"I believe in aliens."

The look on his face was priceless. He shook his head, slid a hand under my pants bottom as if he was checking to see if I was feverish, then shook his head again. "The little green kind or the little grey kind?"

"All kinds."

"Since when?" He was blinking at me, maybe not sure if I had gone mad or not.

"I was four. Saw something odd then while we were camping."

That got his attention. As long as we'd been together, as long as he'd helped me build a new life, we'd never spoken about my past. Nick knew a few more things than others, true, but it was mostly general stuff. My family's ages and why my nephew was older than me. What I'd studied. He knew that I'd had no boyfriends before him, something he'd failed to notice apparently when we'd had sex the first time, but I still had no memory of that. Other than that he'd never probed and I never offered. Focusing on the future was always easier for us than the past.

Now, whether he believed in what I saw or not, I'd just spoken of my past. It was another minor breakthrough for me- being able to speak of the time before the bite, time when my parents were alive, to connect my past with right now.

We went quiet as the flight attendant went past, Nick's arm snaking around my leg as he went back to his book, as if he was pushing all his questions down for later.

The morning dragged on, though it was easier with the company now. After hours, as we came to lunch, the plane started to bump and jump around a little more. We were zooming at the coastline and larger amounts of buildings and city started to appear under us. The plane started to lower, map showed us we were nearly on top of it, and I saw Clayton's head twist around as he told Nick to go sit down in his seat. That meant this was it.

The seatbelt light came on and Nick scowled as the flight attendant called for people to return to their seats. He had to go back to economy for this part, apparently, and had to hurry. The plane was already dipping lower.

"I'll be waiting for you outside. Don't run away. Or do. I enjoy chasing you." He nipped my hand leg and stood up, flashing the flight attendant with a breath taking smile, before he headed down the plane. She looked flustered suddenly, mouth half open as she forgot whatever it was she was going to say, before turning and heading back the other way.

As soon as we got off the plane Clayton led us away quickly, ahead of Nick, thanks to the plane letting first class off first. Nick was going to ge his chase after all, apparently. Baggage gotten, rushed to the rental car desk, and he worked on getting us something while we waited.

"Was Nick supposed to come?" Savannah asked, softly.

"Officially, no. But I'm sure if he broke an order or not." I suspected not. Nick would have just not asked Jeremy. Maybe his father, sure, because the task of triplet care would fall to him, but not Jeremy. "He won't be far behind."

"He's hurrying over now." She jerked her head over my shoulder and I turned to see him chasing me down, dropping his bags and embracing me like we'd been separate for days instead of a few hours, like this was a reunion.

When I could get my feet back on the ground he glanced up to where Clayton was waiting, impatient, tapping on the counter as the oblivious girl there gawked openly at him. I wondered what she'd say if I told her how old he was. She'd probably have thought I was kidding.

"Jeremy will be pissed off." I warned Nick, softly, and he nodded.

"I can take that for this. You give an order and I'll follow it."

"If I tell you to get onto the plane?" I narrowed my eyes.

Nick's face fell somewhat. He made the saddest face I'd seen on him, big brown eyes wide, lips pouting, shoulders drooping, till I couldn't take it and had to hit him. "I'd be very sad. Ow, hey!"

"Promise to follow my orders?"

He nodded. "Clayton first, of course, but ... yes. What you say goes."

"Carry my bags?"

"Wasn't I already doing that?" He lifted up one of the two suitcases with him. "Guess I figured you didn't pack enough." Nick's eyes dropped to the small backpacker style backpack and shook his head.

I rolled my eyes and let him stay, let him move close enough so our arms were brushing, and when Clayton came back he didn't even look at Nick. Giving him the same treatment as he did to Savannah or other humans, that indifferent treatment. She didn't mind. Nick did.

"Got us something. GPS a bonus apparently. They're bringing it to the front and will come and get us." Clayton still refused to look at Nick, eyes fixed in mine, as he added, "I'm going to the bathroom and calling Jer."

"No need to call him." Nick waved his hands. "Late there. Bet he's in bed. Let's find a hotel and have a lot of food."

Clayton shook his head at him and vanished into the bathroom. It was five minutes before he returned and by then the car was there waiting.

A man came inside to hand him the keys when the woman from the desk spotted Clayton. We gathered up our things and headed outside into the heat. The heat made us hurry into the seats all that much faster, throwing bags in without much care. We got inside, Nick pouting as I slid in beside Clayton in the front seat, before he turned his attention to Savannah instead.

"Hotel before we leave or head off?" Clayton glanced at me and Savannah. "Could pick some food up somewhere on the way."

"Do you want a rest before the long drive?" I asked and he nodded a fraction.

"Hotel sounds good. Nick will have to stay with me though. If he's recognised he'll be watched and I don't want them to notice Anne too soon." Savannah glanced at him, narrowing her eyes. "Clayton with Anne."

"Seems a fair punishment." Clayton agreed, nodding, and we started out of the airport.

I watched the world as he made his way somewhere, the GPS leading us to the address of a hotal Nick was interested in, another foreign city with strange smells and climates. In some ways it was similar, the cars were modern, people wandered around in the usual clothing, the only thing really different being that down here it was spring and that the cars had a different language on them.

Not only that but there were also incredible mountains and, as we came along to a long straight road, there was a long straight stretch of beach that went with it. I had to admit I sort of like this place already. The beach was covered in people, no surprise in this heat, but it wasn't quite tourist season. Nick got us the penthouse, which made Clay mutter about a waste of money, but it did have three bedrooms. Clayton let up on the 'separate room' punishment but found another way.

He introduced me to the desk clerk as his wife, essentially shutting Nick off from flirting with me outside the room or in front of the staff, and I suspected he hoped this'd also throw off anyone who noticed us.

The second we got into our room Savannah made her way for the bathroom. Clayton turned on Nick, hitting him hard, the two of them exchanging blows as Clayton finally took out exactly what he thought about Nick showing up like this. When he was done, he backed up, Nick flopping back onto the couch, Clayton's hostility fading. He seemed to relax somewhat, flopping into a chair, as he tugged out his phone and turned it on.

"You all right?" I asked Clayton.

"I am!" Nick called, groaning as he rubbed his arm.

"Calling Jeremy now."

I climbed onto the couch beside Nick and lay down, head in his lap. Yeah, he wasn't supposed to be here, and what were we going to do now? Leave him here in the hotel? Probably not. I reached up to pinch him where Clay's fist had hit at one point. "You really ...shouldn't have come."

"Tough. Here I am." He bent down to kiss me, tugging my hair out of his way, and yawned as Nick leaned back. "Food?"

I shrugged and shut my eyes, curling my legs up, exhausted. I just wanted to sleep. I listened to Clayton speak to Jeremy as long as possible, Nick's heartbeat echoing through the arteries in his leg, and fell into a real sleep for the first time in hours.

I was woken by the sound of Clayton's phone ringing and opened my eyes to see that I wasn't alone with the need to sleep. Nick curled up beside me, the crown of his head just a fraction from mine, Clayton was slumped across half the couch, Savannah's breathing coming from one of the rooms. Clayton stirred, glared at the phone's caller ID, and turned it off.

That reminded me that I hadn't turned mine on. I stood up and headed for where the bags had been left, rummaging through my bag and finding the phone Paige had given me. With the two men asleep I headed outside onto the balcony and turned it on.

I'd intended on checking where the alpha was but got distracted by a ton of messages and missed calls. Mostly from Reece, which was odd, but a few messages from Jeremy who'd decided I had to dye my hair after all, then sending another message to let me know that the hotel we were staying in had its own salon and were sensitive to the needs of the customer. Something about a haircut too, maybe a tan, like he was suddenly really determined to make me look different somehow. Great. Stinking like fake tan, if they did stink, might not have been a problem for a human woman but for a werewolf...

Actually, I realised, that wasn't such a bad idea. Hair dye and some weird chemical shit on my skin might block my scent a little. I was rested enough now anyway.

Reece could wait a bit longer.

Savannah came with me to the hairdresser when I'd showered, the two of us leaving a note for them to remain there or else. She was just as clueless about this stuff as me, to my relief, but the hairdresser seemed keen to turn my split ends and 'brushed last week' hair into something else. When I muttered something about brown, she shook her head, looking like I'd just asked for bright green. I was asked if I had blonde hair as a child and when I nodded it was already starting before I could blink.

"I need it to be as scentless as possible." I said at one point, which was fairly pointless to say, because it was more or less ignored. Chemicals and perfumes and god knows what else they put in that stuff burnt into my nose as my hair was yanked, tugged, washed, brushed, combed, bleached, dyed, and probably not in that order. Then I was rushed off to get the 'instant bronze' tan. More chemicals burnt my nostrils till I wondered if I'd be able to smell again. This was why we always used scentless products. It was like I'd stuck my head inside a bucket of chlorine and bleach and it looked that way too- it looked bizarre.

Luckily, she didn't seem to go overboard with that, just making me look a little less glow in the dark, a little more like I'd been outside, and I was dragged back into the salon for round two, gritting my teeth, trying to ignore the sense of space invaded and nostrils whacked with smells as my hair was again dyed. Wet. Cut. Combed. Cut. Tugged at. Dried.

I did look different. Better? I wasn't sure if that was what I'd call it. It wasn't bad, though, Savannah seemed impressed enough, it'd been lightened and dyed into a golden blonde, skin warmed up, and I smelt like chemicals. I actually looked a little like Clayton, which amused me, except for the height difference.

Nick gawked at me, shaking his head, as I returned upstairs. Even Clayton stared. Then he wrinkled his nose.

Nick was halfway over when he froze and stopped, as if he couldn't quite bring himself to get closer. He crossed his arms. "You don't smell right."

"That's the point." I moved past him, or tried to, Nick's hand grasping my arm gently so that he could inspect my hair.

"We're going to head off in the morning." Clayton told me as Nick played with the dyed hair. He was looking at the map to the other city as he spoke, tracing it. "Very early."

"That's okay."

"I wanted to go out dancing with Anne tonight." Nick called. "You coming?"

Clayton wanted to say no, I could see it in his face, as he narrowed his eyes at Nick. But to do that would mean we'd have to split up and he didn't want to do that either now, not while we were in a strange place. "We're not splitting up."

"Come on." Nick let go of my arm and went over to Clayton. I took that chance to escape and slid away into one of the bedrooms that hadn't been claimed yet.

It was around six now, already. I heard Clayton coming in behind me, smelt him, heard him again get repelled by the smell my body had. If it worked on him it'd work on other werewolves for sure.

"I'll sleep in Nick's bed. Nothing personal, but ..."

"I smell like I took a bath in chemicals?"

"Exactly."

I nodded and he backed out again for the last bedroom, tugging Nick behind him, ignoring Nick's attempts at arguing for a night out. Oh sure, I sort of agreed, but going out in Rio was kind of silly.

l at my phone, intending on checking where the alpha had gone, and stared. Another fifteen missed calls from Reece?

I slid into my bedroom and shut the door as I called him. He answered on the first half-ring.

"Anne, why the bloody hell haven't you answered your phone?"

"I was on a flight, a nap, the hairdresser. What's wrong?"

"Let me go somewhere quieter." He paused, I could hear a heavy 'oof' as he apparently jumped out a window, and listened to him jog into the forest. He went for five minutes as I waited, imagining the bill clocking up fast, before he stopped. "You alone?"

I glanced at the shut door and heard Nick and Clayton arguing outside. "More or less. They're busy arguing over whether to go dancing or not. What's going on?"

"Daniella's gone missing. Jeremy doesn't know yet."

I blinked as I stared out the window. "How long?"

"She vanished just after Nick. Left most of her stuff here but she's taken some of her clothing with her and money. I think-" Reece sound panicked, I could hear it, his breathing fast as he stood in the forest. "-I think she followed Nick down there. Did you see her or smell her anywhere?"

"No. I could ask Nick but-"

"Don't! If Jeremy finds out, he'll be pissed, and he might not let her come back. I think she's gone to follow you." I heard the sound of him flopping onto the ground.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Keep a nose out for her. Fuck. I should come down but I can't do that." He growled on the phone, his frustration obvious. "She's been doing badly. I thought she'd agreed to stay with me but ..."

"If we spot her I can't pretend I invited her. What do you mean by badly?" I sat down on the bed, sighing, rubbing my head. I didn't know a lot about Daniella still. She'd been more or less keeping herself ever since she'd come to Stonehaven, watching, mostly with Reece or on her own. No one really knew a lot about her even now.

"She's been angry as all hell about being left out of this when she thinks she deserves revenge too. If you see her just call me and tell me she's okay. I should have kept a closer eye on her." He swore again, clearly upset. "After what she did to Iven, I should have ...tied her up or something."

"What did she do to Iven?" I remembered that we'd briefly had the second last member of the pack with us. I'd never even been offered a chance to see him and at the time I hadn't cared.

"Tortured him and killed him. Filmed it and everything. She's going a bit... Anne, you need to get her home. She's not okay. She's really hurt."

"I should tell Clayton and Nick. The three of us can keep an eye out for her."

Reece didn't argue, though I suspected he wanted to, going quiet. It took him a while to answer, "I don't want her to be kicked out."

"I know you don't. All right. We'll keep an eye and nose out for her." I rubbed my head. A knock on the door made me jump and Reece seemed to hear it too.

"All right. Call me later then and let me know."

We said our goodbyes and I hung up.

Nick slid inside, shut the door, locked it, and went for the suitcase he'd brought me. I watched him rummage, tug out a short red dress and hold it up. "Good for dancing?"

"We're not going."

"We're going. So get changed! Quick!" He moved over to yank my clothing off, as I protested weakly, lips coming to kiss me while he waited for me to dress. As he stood there, he yawned, looking exhausted, but he couldn't resist somehow. "Before Clayton changes his mind."

We went only a few streets away to some kind of nightclub, filled with beautiful people, and they took one look at Nick and Clayton and let us in. Savannah was close behind as well, watching our backs. She was much more alert looking than Nick or Clayton, eyes focused, and I had to admit I agreed with her there. Jetlag was doing great things for staying up late.

The nightclub had two stories, one for dancing, and a second story that had a balcony that looked down onto it. The bar was busy, people everywhere, the smell of sweat and other things mingling with the humidity of the night and the alcohol. Clayton gestured upstairs to the balcony and I nodded. I'd probably go up there too soon.

Nick grabbed my hand and yanked me across to the bar. I got a drink and gestured upstairs too, which made him frown till he grabbed Savannah and pulled her into the throbbing dancing people. I took one look at them and felt a small shudder at the idea of being rubbed up against by so many people...

I found out though, as I stood there for half an hour sipping a cocktail, that that wasn't something I could avoid. Boobs, a bum, someone's hip, a hand squeezing my ass from one of the mysterious people in the crowd, down on the first floor people just crowded together. When that hand returned and tried to slip up my dress I was quick to retreat, climbing the stairs for the second floor, deciding that maybe watching from up there was safer than down here.

It was more or less like an orgy up here. Lounges were in the corners, another bar, darker lighting, and I could smell sex in one corner. I inhaled, searching for Clayton, watching Nick and Savannah seemingly ignore or not care about being pressed against by a bunch of strangers. This was one area of life I'd struggle to share with him... but then, I had never been in a place that was so crowded before.

I backed up against the wall as people moved past, giggling, purring at each other in Portuguese, one of the men stopping to openly check me out, till he was tugged away.

As I watched them, someone else found me, and I found myself pinned against the wall by a tall man with a very large tan, speaking Portuguese, before he got that I didn't speak that, switching to accent heavy English. Hands closed around my arms as he stepped closer. I might have been alarmed but I'd already seen this one try this with a couple of other women downstairs.

"You smell good. You like me?" He grinned, pinning me harder, lips coming down to kiss me before I could answer. I was a bit stunned, standing there, as some stranger kissed me hard. A hand groped my behind and I knew exactly who it'd been and why this one had come up like this. Maybe he thought my retreat to the balcony was an invitation. As he tried to start something, and I quickly removed the hand, I smelt him before he smelt me. Another werewolf? The first one we'd found and we hadn't had to even leave Rio. Course, the problem was that he was kissing me and I wasn't returning it, so he leaned back, a little put off by that.

Then his nostrils flared and his eyes widened. Nose came up to find under my neck, free hand returning to the original place so he could hold my arms, keeping me steady as he sniffed lightly. I knew what he'd smelt, under the tan and the hair and the perfume, the other scent wafting up out of my pores as I sweated in the humid night.

"You a woman?" He blinked at me, stunned, though he didn't try the kiss again. Eyes went down my dress. "A real … like me... woman?"

Clayton yanked him off me, shoving him away, arm coming across my shoulders as he fixed his stare into the other werewolf.

His nostrils flared as Clayton's scent filled his nostrils too. For a moment his face hardened till he shook his head and that wide smile came back on.

"Ah, your woman? That explains the smell." He shrugged off the scent coming from me, probably assuming that it was more likely I'd just gotten covered in Clayton's smell. People usually liked to go for the more likely answer even if the truth was slapped in their face Clayton tightened his arm around my arms, eyes fixed in the Brazilian mutt's face, until he stepped back and held up his hands in submission. "All welcome in this city! Outside the city-" His face returned to that hard look. "-we are not so welcome. Will be killed if we leave. Understand?"

Clayton nodded stiffly. The mutt's eyes went back to me, nostrils flaring, brow creasing as he smelt two scents. He could have tried to convince himself again that I was just mixing Clayton with my human smell but with the humid night sending little rivers of sweat down my spine it was maybe a bit too much to hope for. One glower from Clayton, a look that said more than anything anyone could say, and the Mutt vanished down the stairs again.

"I think he's a mutt here." He said over the music, just enough for me alone to hear, glancing around. "Seen Nick?"

"Dancing. Or getting drinks. I'm not sure where he is."

We moved closer to the edge of the balcony and saw him dancing with Savannah, the two of them much more experienced with this kind of place than us, Nick seemingly forgotten that he was supposed to be getting me a drink.

"We've got to go back now. Don't want him to spread the word and get other curious mutts here." Clayton said, softer, I had to strain to hear him. But I nodded and we headed downstairs to grab Nick and Savannah and direct them outside.

We made our way outside, ignoring people looking at us, my sunglasses back on. If people approached, mostly a couple of young men, one look from Clayton had them backing off again. They didn't even know who he was but the man was an expert in fending away humans with a stare.

The mutt, curious like before, had trailed after us. Maybe he'd already smelt Nick but he kept watching us, stalking us almost, curious as all hell about all of us.

Then I stopped. This was bothering me, this 'let's get her back to the hotel' routine, because this was something I couldn't keep doing. Letting them rush me off safely away from another big bad mutt. This was exactly how they got the wrong impression.

"You two can keep going to the hotel. I'm hungry and a little curious about something." I gestured to the little takeaway place that was located back up some distance, behind the mutt, still in use as people filtered out of the nightclub and searched for munchies. Nick stopped and was going to go after me but Clayton nodded slightly. Pulled him away. Did I think they'd do what I said? Hell no, they'd probably retreat to a safe distance and keep watch, but at least Clayton seemed to understood. After all, wasn't this why we'd come here?

I strode back again and made sure I didn't pretend to be submissive. What was the point?

The mutt made his way across the dark street, glancing both ways, and came straight up to me. No attempt at being submissive or quiet, he went to stand in my path as I approached him.

An arm came to block me as I stepped around him. He wasn't being threatening though, not yet, more curious than anything. Still my heart pounded somewhat and the sweat wasn't altogether to do with the humidity now.

"You are like me, aren't you? Yes-" He inhaled sharply, stunned, clearly a little more turned on than before. "Yes, you are."

"I need to ask you some questions. Questions you need to keep quiet." I turned to face him, eyes meeting his, shoulders still stiff, and if I could have tried it, fur risen a bit in a warning. Don't mess with the bitch.

"Maybe we could go back to my place." He stepped closer. That usual lust I saw in mutt's face didn't frighten me. Apparently it was normal, a 'phase' they had to go through. "I live here. Very nice place. We could be all alone..."

"Alone? First, I need to know your name, number and address? Real ones."

He wrote them both down and gave them to me. Stepped closer again, until his chest was brushing against mine, and blinked as I stared him down, almost hostile.

"Come with me. I need a coffee and then we talk. I might even throw in a coffee for you."

He nodded, the faintest hope obvious on his face, and probably even temptation to push it further while on the street but I kept my eyes there, in his, keeping the challenge up. Push this, try and get closer, and see what happened.

Then he nodded, lowered his eyes, and we made our way side by side to where I could buy coffee.

"Where's your friends?"

"Gone." I ordered the coffee and handed him his one. When we were back on the quiet street I turned on him again. "Now, Ray, we talk. And you agree to not speak to anyone about meeting me."

"But-"

"If I'm chased or attacked, I'll hunt you down and hold you personally responsible. I'm here on a holiday, not to be attacked or harassed by any horny men." Another hard stare. I meant business.

He held up his hands. "Okay, okay, I don't do rape. I like women, I treasure women, and women come to me. I am famous here for my skills. Just thought you might like some fun."

"Do you agree to not speak of this to anyone?"

"Not many to speak to. We don't talk. We stay in our cities that we are given and we do not encourage others to come. The penalty for us invading another's city or being seen is-" His eyebrows knitted together slightly at that. "-too terrible for a lady to hear."

"I'm no lady, remember. Am I the first woman you've seen here?"

He nodded. "Why, is there more?"

"I'm asking questions, Ray. Is there a pack?"

He nodded. "They come through here to the airport. I give no trouble and they don't stay. If I look one in the eye ...well, again, this is not for a lady to hear."

"What do they do?" I didn't budge and he sighed and lifted up his shiny shirt to show me.

"I look once. Once! And..." He pointed. One of his nipples looked like it'd been chopped off and there were the all too familiar white scars that a whip would make. "They turned on by this. Waiting for one of us to mess up. Some like men. I only looked once so I never got punished worse but I know better than to talk to them."

"You're not their friend?"

"Friend!" He spat on the ground as he yanked back his shirt. "I live here because I behave. Not friends. I do what I do to survive."

I nodded a fraction and lifted down the neckline of my own dress, at the back, pointing at where one of the whips had licked across my shoulder once. He frowned at it, puzzled, but he knew that kind of scar as well as I did. Anyone who had to endure that shit knew what it looked like after.

"You know their punishments?" He muttered something in Portuguese. "No way to treat a lady."

"Do you know much about them?"

"They keep us in control. Will gladly hurt us if we step a toe over our city lines. If I behave, I am fine, I am left alone and I live a good life. They tell me when they come through the city so I know to go straight home and wait till they're gone."

"When was the last time?"

He wrote that down for me after pulling out his phone. The message had 'Alpha coming through, remain indoors for six hours from X' It was the same time, roughly, as the alpha would have passed through. That at least confirmed that he might have been connected to the pack.

"Did you see the alpha when you looked?"

Ray nodded. "I wish I didn't. Very obvious who it was. Had an old human man hugging him and when he smelt me... well, you see. They said that if I tell anyone they cut my eyes out but you are not his friend, are you?" He hesitated, sudden fear in his face, real genuine fear.

I shook my head. "What did he look like?"

Again, the description of him matched. Maybe the old man was his father. But it made no sense that the old man would be human.

"I am not his friend. But if I hear that he was warned of me being here, I may have to be angry too. I don't like being angry. I like good coffee and talks with mutts who don't try and rape me. The last mutt that got too friendly-" At least, not counting the alpha, "-may not be able to go too close to any woman now. Do you understand?"

He stared at me. I didn't back down, I didn't laugh and go 'Just kidding!", I was very serious and I suspected he knew that. It was strange, here I was, at least a foot shorter than this man, and he was the one physically backing down.

"I understand. I am not their friend, you are not their friend, that makes us friends. And as I say, I take great pride in treating a woman as a lady, so I will not be too friendly. I don't know what you're doing here and I will not ask. Call me before you leave Rio. I will show you my city." He flashed me a grin, a slightly shaky grin.

"If you see another woman like me, with the hair just a little darker than mine, don't harm her or go near her."

"Ah, a sister?"

"She won't warn you or give you a choice like I will." My eyes went down to his crotch, just long enough for him to notice, and then back up to his face. He paled and nodded.

"All women scary ones? Or just runs in family?"

"It runs in the family." Clayton's voice drifted over. He was standing ten metres away, arms crossed doing his causal menacing stare thing. "Doesn't it, sister?"

Ray's face drained of any remaining blood. There was terror suddenly in his face, terror I couldn't copy, and he backed up. "I think I'll call it a night tonight. Thank you for the coffee, erm..."

"Rose."

"Ah, it suits you. Nice smell, soft, barbs if you get too close." He laughed and backed off. "Rose, I hope to see you when you are done. If I'm alive still."

"Keep your mouth shut and you might be." Clayton responded. There was a low growl there, a real threat, one that made even my hair rise.

We watched him as he made his way and then I turned on Clayton.

"Just helping you get the message across. Good job. Made him scared without even growling. I'm impressed."

"Or they made it easy by harassing their mutts." I muttered softly. He nodded and we headed back to the hotel. I suddenly understood why Jeremy had us more or less ignore mutts unless they were causing a big problem. Harassing them clearly did not make a pack stronger.

"That's why Jer stopped the mutt hunts." Clayton said softly. "But I'll tell you about them later. Let's get back while Savannah's binding spell lasts on Nick."

"Didn't like it?"

"He held himself together for a minute."

The hotel was getting quiet now and we easily got a lift to the top floor without seeing so much as a room service person.

"Who's the other woman?" Clayton asked as we got inside. There was a small crash as Nick fell to the ground, scrambled up, and relaxed.

"Daniella's gone missing. Reece thinks she might have followed Nick. But he wants us to ...make sure... he's afraid Jeremy will kick her out. I heard about what she did to Iven?"

Clayton nodded, inhaling a little, like the memory made his skin crawl. "Jer wasn't pleased about that. I hadn't gotten to question him yet. So she may be here?"

"Maybe. Maybe not."

He nodded and glanced at the clock. It was already one and we had to leave in a few hours. "Well, I'm going to get some rest. Coming, Nick?"

"I could sleep with-"

"No. You disobeyed orders by coming here."

"I'll go to bed. Goodnight." I went past them into my bedroom, shutting the door, and stripping for bed.

Clayton woke me half an hour later, apologetic, but he held the phone to his head. "Sorry. Paige wants the mutt's name, number and address."

I handed him the slip of paper and went back to sleep.

I was woken again early that morning and grumbled as I dressed, exhausted, but we all looked equally buggered. It was five, apparently we'd slept in a little, and it wasn't till six before we were dressed, packed, fed and able to stumble down to the hotel's front to collect the car again.

Savannah got in the front seat and I climbed into the back with Nick, yawning, curling up again and watching the city fade. It was a pretty incredible city, I couldn't deny that, I wouldn't have minded spending more time here. It was rough, gritty, but so energetic, even this time of the morning. The roads were starting to get traffic again, people walking around, maybe beating the heat that was already threatening to come back with the humidity. There was a huge park in the middle of the city too, nothing like central park in New York, but one winding around a small mountain, filled with palm trees, tropical plants, looking like you could get lost in the mountain if you went off the grassy areas.

Those same mountains edged around the city too. Not only that but there was a huge lagoon in the middle.

This place was incredible. I leaned against Nick, yawning, watching it pass by. He cuddled into me. Both of us were so curious about this place now that we'd forgotten about napping in the car. Into a tunnel, under some of those mountains, and somewhere in there I fell asleep.

We suddenly pulled off the road, honking waking me, and I saw Clayton leap out of the four wheel drive. I blinked around me, sleepy, confused, seeing him chase after someone. Savannah was quickly after him, following.

"We're to stay here." Nick told me. He still wasn't asleep. "Clayton smelt someone."

I watched where Clayton had gone and saw what he was chasing. Or rather, who he was chasing.

Daniella.

She saw him and took off, but just for a moment, before she appeared to 'trip' and was helped up by some tourists next to her. By the time she stood up Clayton had gotten there and was leading her back to the four wheel drive, ignoring the honking or the 'no park' sign... I assumed that was what it meant...

Nick slid over to the middle, Daniella was pushed inside the back seat, her bag thrown into the back carelessly.

"Reece is looking for you."

She scowled at me and crossed her arms. The child safety lock clicked on before she thought to get back out but I wondered if she would. She wanted to hunt them, we were going in that direction, and she seemed to settle down as she glanced at the GPS.

"We don't have time to put you back on a plane." Clayton snapped, pulling us back onto the road, his eyes fixed onto Daniella. "Do what I tell you."

She didn't answer, kept her arms crossed. Bundle of sunshine, this one, Reece was right. There was something very wrong with her right now.

Nick snuggled into my side as we started again through the city. City gave to highways and factories, reminding me of any other city I'd seen, highway cutting through the real Rio. I yawned and shut my eyes, falling asleep again.

We pulled up an hour out of the city so Savannah and Clayton could swap places. I yawned and checked my phone, texting Reece to let him know Daniella was with us, checking on the alpha's general location. Paige had added another phone to my tracker program thing, which meant she could check it too, great news if I lost this phone. That had to be Ray and he was still in the city somewhere. She'd sent me a message confirming that he received x amount of messages from these numbers and was tracking them all, as well as his movements.

In other words, mobile phones were scary devices, and I suddenly decided I didn't really want one anymore. My kids were getting two each the second they could walk.

I drifted back to sleep, Nick's arms around me, using his nice chest for a pillow. It was good to have a mate sometimes, it really was, even if there was a scary Daniella right beside him who looked like she forcing herself to stay awake. I heard Nick telling her it was a six hour drive at one point and she looked a bit deflated, as if she'd thought we'd be rushing out of the car in twenty minutes. Ready to do battle.

It was around ten that morning when I woke up, stretched and found Nick still awake, still looking buggered, but alert.

We drove along, the land rising and falling, green all around, seeing the rare house now. I watched it pass us by as we went. Some bigger towns came and went, but we didn't stop in them, Clayton throwing us a bag of food from the front. He clearly just wanted to get there as soon as possible.

Five hours in and they swapped drivers again. We were less than an hour and Savannah got onto the phone to find a hotel or something to stay in while we were there. Clayton moved to his side, looking tired still, but relieved. He glanced back at us, at me, fixing me with a bizarre look that didn't seem to match him.

It took me a few seconds to understand why.

It wasn't his face.

It was just a flash, a flicker of Clayton's face fading and the alpha's there, and I wondered if I'd imagined it at all. No one else seemed to have noticed, neither did Clayton, Nick was asleep, Daniella trying to conserve her energy, Savannah on the phone. But something about it bothered me. After that disastrous spell at the fake birth I didn't trust my brain anymore. Maybe it was madness, maybe not.

"I need to pee." I announced. That wasn't a lie but it was also a good excuse. "Sorry, can we stop a moment?"

He nodded and pulled over.

"Good idea. Get it done before we get there."

Savannah came with me, Daniella with us, while Clayton and Nick went to the other side of the road.

I went into the thick bush, relieved myself, and as soon as I was out of sight I asked her very softly, "Savannah, can magic make a person look like someone else?"

She nodded. Tensed just slightly. I felt a wave of relief, dread and paranoia sweep over me suddenly. What if none of them were the people I knew?

"It's exhausting though." She added, softer. "They'd be tired all the time."

Savannah was rarely tired. I felt a bit of relief at that. Daniella seemed alert too. But Clayton...

"What did you see?"

"He looked at me and his face wasn't his face."

Daniella asked. She was hesitating. "I... I thought it was a stranger chasing me. I thought I was finally going mad."

"And he hasn't called Jeremy or Elena since he's gotten here. Just Paige." Savannah muttered. "Isn't that odd for Clayton? I know I'm not an expert but..."

"And Nick didn't sleep in my room. Clayton would have let him eventually." That was odd too. Nick would have snuck in the second he could. "He didn't even watch me dress."

We heard them calling us. Savannah frowned at us, like she too was doubting whether we were real or not. But she relaxed somewhat. "I've seen you both sleeping. And you've seen me sleeping. During sleep, it can't hold. But those two ..."

I knew what she meant. The entire trip, neither had slept, even though they looked buggered.

Clayton came over, yawning, throwing a bottle of water at each of us. "Here, drink. Get us a place to stay, Savannah?"

She nodded. "Some place at a lake. Two rooms. Us three can share one, you two the other one, that work?"

Clayton nodded, looking a little relieved even. "Is it in the town?"

"No. I figured we'd need some more rest before you started the hunt properly." She opened the bottle and stretched, yawning. "I do anyway."

"Good idea. All right, all ready to go again?" We nodded and got back into the car. Nick was in the front seat now, apparently wanting to drive, so the three of us crowded into the back seats. On went the child locks again.

This time the action seemed almost hostile. We couldn't talk again, but I knew what Daniella and Savannah were concerned about. I had to agree with them, now that I looked at Nick and Clayton, they were behaving odd.