AN: This chapter takes place right after Luna flew Aya back to the cave, and is in David & Rose's POV. Sorry it took a while, but after like 13 re-edits, it's finally done! Hope you enjoy it :)


*Rose's POV*

I watched my sister fly off with the new halfling before walking over to my brooding mate.

"David."

He turned to look at me.

"First, we need to feed, then we need to talk."

I gave him a 'don't argue with me or I'll fucking murder you' look when he made to protest, and he sighed in annoyance before we took off to find a meal.


We managed to find & feed off a couple of surf-nazis before heading to the Emerson house. When we finally arrived I pulled him out to the garage so we could talk privately.

"Ok David. First of all; I don't care that you're my mate, if you ever put your hands on one of my sisters like that again, I will fucking castrate you & shove your severed dick down your throat! Understand?!"

He growled at me, but nodded in understanding.

"Look, I get it, you're used to always being the one in charge, Luna is too, so naturally you two are gonna butt heads every now & again."

He seemed to think it over a bit before sighing in annoyance.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, but when she challenges my authority like that, she doesn't seem to realize she's inadvertently challenging Max too."

"How the hell is she challenging Max?"

"He's the head vampire, so he has the final say in every major decision, but since I'm considered the eldest 'child' it's usually up to me to protect our secret & keep things in order. Yes, I admit that I went against Max when I turned the boys, but at the time he wanted to expand our pack, and despite what he says about me, he usually trusts my judgement, so he gave me the rule that as long as I didn't turn young children - unless I had his express-permission to do so - then I could basically do whatever the hell I wanted."

"So she's challenging him by saving a dying kid?"

He groaned & ran a hand through his hair in agitation before finally pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his coat pocket.

"I know it sounds dumb. Personally, I actually don't mind the idea of adopting a couple kids into my pack depending on the circumstances, as long as we wait till they're at least eighteen to fully turn them of course."

I hummed in agreement as he offered me a cigarette, which I gladly accepted. He pulled out a lighter & lit mine before lighting his own.

"Dwayne did the exact same thing with Laddie. Poor kid was being abused by his alcoholic father on a daily basis, while his mom did so many prescription drugs that she didn't know what the fuck was going on half the time. Dwayne found him bleeding-out behind a dumpster after his dad attacked him with a kitchen knife."

"Jesus!"

I shuddered at the idea of anyone ever laying a hand on that sweet little boy, it just didn't seem real! Then again, I may know better than anyone what drugs & alcohol can do to a person's mental state.

David suddenly flinched & his brow furrowed in concentration.

"What's up?"

"Max. He knows about the kid, and he is NOT happy."

I thought it over for a minute before spotting a familiar face spying on us from the kitchen window.

"David, go meet Max at the video store, I'll meet you there in a bit."

He sighed & suddenly got a teasing smirk on his face.

"How 'bout a kiss for good luck?"

I rolled my eyes, but leaned over to kiss him nonetheless. "There. Now get out of here before he busts a vessel!"

He chuckled before heading back to his bike & taking off toward the boardwalk.


*Time skip, David's POV*

"What the FUCK were you thinking David?!"

I was sitting in Max's office in the back of the video store & had spent the last ten minutes listening to him bitch & complain. At this point, I would rather voluntarily let the frogs shove a stake through my heart than listen to another minute of this bullshit!

"I just barely let you off the hook when you let Dwayne turn Laddie, but letting a newborn turn a child is completely unacceptable David! How do you expect her to control a bloodthirsty halfling when she can barely control her own bloodlust?! You saw what she did to those men in the alleyway!"

I took a moment to catch myself & choose my words carefully before my anger & annoyance could get me in even more trouble.

"First of all; you know damn well that a female's maternal instincts would be double or even triple what they were when they were human, so the lack of control could've happened to any one of the girls!"

"Be that as it may, that kind of reckless behavior could get us all in serious trouble! Just the sheer amount of missing posters alone is starting to attract the attention of the FBI, and with our pack suddenly growing so quickly, other packs are starting to become wary of us too!"

I growled in annoyance, unfortunately I knew he was right, and I also knew that having even one living mortal knowing about the existence of the vampire race was a big risk, but having an entire mortal family knowing (seven in total if you count Star & the frog brothers) was practically unheard of.

"Luna's behavior cannot go unpunished! I'll-"

"YOU will not lay a hand on that girl Maximilian!"

We jumped in surprise & turned to find my mate, along with a very angry Lucy Emerson & an older woman that I didn't recognize standing in the doorway.

"What the- Lucy? Aunt Sandra?! What're you doing here?!"

"Rose told me what happened tonight, and since I don't know much about vampire politics, I had my dad call Ms. Johnson and she agreed to come here & help sort out this mess!"

The older woman, Ms. Johnson, walked into the center of the room before pointing a black-lacquered claw at us.

"Sit."

Max immediately dropped into his seat like an obedient dog, and I actually found myself trembling in fear as I quickly sat in one of the few chairs in the room. Rose & Lucy walked in before closing & locking the door behind them.

"Now Max, while I do understand your concerns, I also know that you have little-to-no experience with female vampires other than myself, so since I'm the one that turned you, I will be the one to decide whether or not she goes unpunished! Understand?"

He quickly nodded in agreement and I froze when the older vampire turned her steely-silver gaze on me.

"David, is it?"

I nodded & was slightly surprised when she held her hand out to me.

"I don't believe we've met. My name is Sandra, but people around here call me the Widow Johnson. Your mate told me about herself & her sisters, and honestly, I'm not surprised that this happened at all. As you said before David; any one of the girls could have done the exact same thing."

"To be honest, I would've done the same thing if someone tried to hurt my sons."

I couldn't help chuckling at the image of little Lucy Emerson attacking someone over her sons. The idea was just too hilarious to comprehend.

Unless she became a vampire of course.

"Did you have to bring my mate into this Rose?" Max groaned in annoyance while she gave him an evil smirk that could rival my own.

"I'm a woman Max. If I can't match you physically, I'm gonna exploit every little weakness you have. Besides, you were threatening my sister, so you kinda deserve it."

He started to growl at her, but his sire put a stop to that when she quickly stormed over & smacked him upside the head, causing me to cover up a laugh by pretending to cough.

"Maximilian Marian Blackwell! if you growl at her one more time, I'll cut out your tongue & feed it to Thorn!"

I almost choked on my cigarette & caught Rose biting her lip as Lucy's face lit up in a teasing smile.

"Your middle name is Marian?"

"It's more common than you think! If I do as you say then can we please change the subject Aunt Sandra?!"

She gave us all a triumphant smirk & nodded in acceptance. "Alright Max, I won't embarrass you anymore. Now David, I know that this isn't the first time this has happened in your group. I understand that, ironically, her mate did the exact same thing some time ago, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"And how old is his halfling?"

"Laddie's ten years old, I don't know how old our new halfling is, but she can't be that much younger than him."

"And are you able to control his bloodlust without any major problems?"

"So far, yes. We've been feeding him animal blood to keep the 'hunger pains' at bay."

She nodded in understanding before Lucy suddenly spoke up. "Would you have enough to keep another halfling under control?"

"Yeah, it wouldn't be a problem for us."

"Hm, and how does the rest of the pack feel about this?"

"Not surprisingly, Dwayne is already willing to help Luna raise the kid. Her sisters are obviously on board with it, and Paul & Marko already help with raising Laddie, so they're excited to have another kid running around."

"What about you?"

I gave the old woman a blank look. "Not to disrespect you or anything, but do you really think I'd've let her turn the kid in the first place & put myself through one of Max's lectures if I really didn't want another halfling in my pack?"

She raised an eyebrow at me before chuckling in amusement. "Fair enough. So basically the entire pack is all for it?"

"Yes. Is Luna still in trouble?"

She thought it over for a moment before shaking her head in the negative.

"No, she's not. However, make sure she knows that the only reason I'm letting her off the hook is because it's only her first offense, and I know how hard it is for newborns to control themselves, but if she does something like this again, I won't be so lenient next time. Are we clear?"

"Yes ma'am."

There was a collective sigh of relief as the tension finally lifted from the room.

"Well, now that that's settled, there are a few things we need to discuss David."

"Such as?"

"Well for starters, since Michael & Star are of legal age, they're planning on leaving Santa Carla sometime soon. Lucy's been working out the details with them, so they won't be a problem anymore."

"Good. As long as that bitch doesn't try anything stupid when it comes to Laddie, we won't have a problem."

"If she does, then she'd be breaking her end of our agreement & you'd have full permission to kill her."

I was surprised at the seriousness in Lucy's voice, but smirked at the idea of ripping that deceitful little bitch apart with my bare hands, although I knew the chance of that happening were slim-to-none at this point.

"There's something else David, since you now have four newborns & two halflings to look after, that means altogether you now have ten mouths to feed. Lucy has agreed to become my mate, meaning that soon she too will be a vampire. If you count aunt Sandra & myself, that makes thirteen altogether. I hate to say it, but we may have to consider moving somewhere else until the heat dies down."

I looked at him as if he'd lost his mind & was about to protest, but he cut me off before I could say anything.

"Hold on David, nothing is set in stone yet. I said that we may have to consider leaving, and I didn't say we'd leave forever if we did take off, I said we'd leave until the heat dies down."

As much as I hated to admit it, I knew he was right. With the FBI sniffing around & our pack getting so big, we might actually need to leave Santa Carla for a while.

"Hang on, you said that Lucy has agreed to be your mate, and Michael & Star are planning to leave Santa Carla, so where does that leave Sam in all of this?"

"I've already worked that out Rose. Sam wants to wait until he's eighteen before he decides wether or not he wants to join our pack or stay human, so we've agreed that he'll stay with his grandfather while he attends school once Lucy becomes my mate & we'll visit on the weekends. If we do end up leaving Santa Carla, he'll stay with his grandfather. The less involved he is with that matter the better."

Lucy looked saddened by the idea, but I think that deep down, she knew Max was right & that it was the safest decision for her son.

"Fine. Anything else?"

Max shook his head in the negative and I sighed in relief before Rose & I said our goodbyes & walked quickly out the door.

Do you think we'll really have to leave?

I shrugged in response before mounting my bike & starting the engine as Rose got on behind me.

Wouldn't be the first time.

Nothing more was said as we sped off toward Hudson's Bluff, but only one thought kept running through my head.

'How am I gonna tell the others?'