Hey, guys! I've finally been able to find some time to write. I was promoted at my job to manager so now I'm working a full 40 hours plus some, and it's a very physical job, so I'm usually very tired. However, I remembered how big a cliffhanger I left the last chapter on, so I tried to crank this out. Next chapter is going to be very interesting. It seems as though we're on the downslide to the end of this story.

Which leads me to this next announcement. Once this story is done, it may well be my last fanfiction. That also goes for my other series. The Choosing will likely be the only story written for that one. As much as I love you guys, I would love to concentrate on my original story.

I love you guys and the support you have given me through the years. I am also humbled by the following I have received. I never expected to have anybody follow me let alone have genuine fans. Someday, I hope to publish a book and dedicate it to all the people, both nice and rude, who helped me grow into my writing.

Please enjoy this chapter, and be sure to stick with me. I will see this through to the end, but posting will be sporadic.

AshPOV

The text Cole had gotten had been from Mark, something about Victoria needing him. I'd wanted to go along, but he assured me that he'd take care of whatever was happening, and I trusted my mate. So, I'd kissed him good-bye as the meeting dissipated into talk of babies.

Afterward, Dox and I decided to take a patrol run between Mom and Dad's place and the rez. Nothing but the woods, a couple main roads, and all of the backroads.

So, what's up with Victoria? Dox asked as we ran.

I dunno. Mark just texted Cole saying that she needed him.

Well, I hope she's okay.

We loped over a fallen tree, eyes and ears alert to our surroundings. Smaller animals scurried out of our way, but we saw them and avoided them nonetheless. The roots of the trees, however, were a bit trickier since it had been a while for us to roam the woods on patrols. It felt good to be down to the basics again, just two grunts trying to keep our land safe.

Me, too, I answered. That girl has been through too damn much. We honestly hate that she's still working on the rez where her parents can get to her.

I saw his wolf head turn toward me in a glance. You think that's what happened, don't you?

The only reason Victoria would need Cole is if Mark wasn't able to get to her. And the alarm hasn't been raised so there hasn't been an attack on the rez. Something not good happened. I just won't know what until we either make a pass through the rez or Cole tells me later since I don't have my phone.

Well, why don't we go check it out? We can double back.

So, we did just that, making a pass through and around the rez. Neither of us saw anything amiss and I didn't see Cole's car anywhere. The truck Mark drove was still parked at the office building where Toria worked. Everything seemed calm and okay, so we doubled back into the woods and ran along one of the main roads.

We were almost to the point where we'd veered off when the sound ricocheted through the trees.

Dox and I screeched to a halt as we listened to tires squeal on asphalt, glass breaking, and the clashing of metal on metal.

We looked at each other.

Well, that can't be good, Dox thought grimly as we shot ourselves back into motion.

My heart was pounding as we got closer and closer to the sound of a horn blaring like someone was laying on it. What could we do if someone was hurt? Neither of us had any medical training. Flashbacks to Dox nearly dying in that truck had me panicking, the anxiety tightening my chest, fear choking me.

Ash, stay with me. We don't even know what happened. The first thing to do is assess the situation. Then we freak out, okay?

I stayed beside him, booking it through the trees, but the panic stayed with me. The trees were starting to thin the closer we got to the road, and before long, the horn was loud in our ears and lights shone through the sparse branches.

Shit, Dox thought.

There were two vehicles. One was mangled, pinned against the tree by the other vehicle that I happened to recognize.

Daniel Harris's truck.

The bottom dropped out of my stomach as I phased back. Cole's car was crunched in like an hourglass.

There was a noise, like someone talking, and I realized it was me. The word no was a prayer in my head as I ran toward the wreckage. The driver's side was pinned by the truck, but I could see through that back window better.

Cole was slumped over the seatbelt, blood pouring from his mouth. Beside him was Victoria, pressed against the window and door, cuts on her arms, face, and through her clothes. Her hands were open, palm up under belly as if that was where they had fallen once she was unconscious. I couldn't see anything of the driver except the back of his head.

Dox was on the other side of the truck, looking through the windshield. "It's Nik."

I wasn't paying much attention as I tried to find a way to my mate. The door was crushed and pinned by the truck. The blaring of the truck's horn was annoying, but it was pushed back by the panic. Scrambling onto the trunk, I started smashing my fist against the back windshield. On the second hit, it cracked, and on the fifth, it shattered.

Suddenly a breeze came through and something tingled in my nose. I didn't pay attention as I swept the glass out of the way, cutting up my hands, arms, and legs. Messing through broken glass wasn't the smartest thing to do while naked, but I'd rather know my mate was alive than care if I got a scratch somewhere sensitive. If Cole died, I wouldn't give a shit about anything.

"We have incoming," Dox said as he was doing the same thing through the front windshield. "Oh, thank God," he muttered.

Leaning in through the back window, I unbuckled the seatbelts. And then I debated between Cole and Victoria.

"I'll get her," Grama Bella said as she appeared beside me.

Dox was pulling Nik out through his side while Grampa Edward went to the truck. He lifted the hood and ripped out something that made the noise stop. He didn't even pause to look at Cole's parents before coming to help me haul my mate out of the car. Cole grunted and then woke up with a scream.

"Easy, easy," Grampa said as he took Cole's legs and helped me lower him to the ground.

Cole started coughing up blood and thicker things.

Grampa got a good look at him while I cradled his upper body in my arms. He held his hands up, expression grim while his eyes darted over the injuries.

"Talk to me," I ordered while Cole's blood coated me where I sat underneath him.

Grampa shook his head. "We can't move him. A lot of things are broken, Ash. And not just bones. This…he doesn't…this doesn't look good, son."

"Edward," Grama called. "She's bleeding."

Grampa cursed. "Don't move him," he warned before going over to Victoria and Grama.

Shaking, I wrapped my arms around Cole, but every time I pressed somewhere to hold him tighter, he whimpered or cried out. There was too much blood staining his clothes for me to see a wound. Likely the seatbelt had locked, possibly breaking some ribs. With the intensity of the crash, the broken ribs could have punctured his lungs, which would explain the blood he was coughing up. If that was the case, he wasn't going to last long enough to get another car here to get him to the Cullen house.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I whispered, tears finally making an appearance as I held my hands above his body, unsure of where to touch. "Jesus," I whimpered. "Don't die on me. Please, don't die."

"A…As…Ash," Cole tried to speak through the blood in his mouth and throat. He lifted his right arm just a little.

"Sh, sh, shhh, don't speak. Just stay with me, okay? I'm right here." Pressing my cheek to the top of his head, I started to rock from side to side.

Next thing I knew, Grama was kneeling in front of me while Grampa took Victoria. Cradled in his arms, Victoria was still unconscious as he started running in the direction of the Cullen house.

Cole's breathing was bubbly and shallow, his eyes closed, and he was deathly still in my arms.

"Ash-," Grama started, but didn't seem able to finish. There was such sadness in her eyes when she met mine. They were like burnished gold, which was why she wasn't having problems over all the human blood splattered everywhere.

"Don't," I said hoarsely. "Please, don't. How are they? In the truck?"

Her eyes flicked to the truck. "Alive. Unconscious, but alive." She looked back down to Cole. Reaching over him, she put a hand to my cheek. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart."

I shook my head in tight movements. "No," I said with gritted teeth. "No."

Dox joined us, kneeling down on the other side of Cole. Nik was laid out in the leaves. My twin's dark eyes were sad, too, tears pooling in them.

"He's not going to make it without an ambulance," Dox said. "And the likelihood that one would get here in time is small. I'm so sorry."

While my mate bled out in my arms, a thought came to me as my grandmother's scent blew into my nose from the breeze kicking up.

I stared down at Cole's pale face before lifting my gaze to lock on hers and whispered, "Fix him."

"What?" Grama said. "Honey, I don't have medical training."

I shook my head. "It's not medical he needs. It's your venom."

Understanding made her go still, the stillness of the vampire, of the grave. Her serious eyes studied my face.

"Ash-," Dox started.

"I can't lose him!" I screamed at him. I looked back to Grama. "If anyone understands that, it's you. Fix him. Please! Before it's too late."

"His choice was wolf, Ash," Grampa said as he came back into the clearing.

I glared up at him. "I don't care! He knew his two choices were wolf or vampire. Preference was wolf, but he knew if that couldn't happen, he'd take vampire."

Grama and Grampa shared a look.

"Bella, this isn't his choice. You'll be doing this against his will."

"So, I take it you won't do it, then," she muttered before looking at me, considering my words. There were centuries' worth of silence between us before she asked, "Are you absolutely sure you want this? There is no going back."

Again, I looked down at Cole. Blood was still oozing out of his mouth. But there were no bubbles as if he'd stopped breathing.

"Do it," I said firmly, tears still tracing tracks down my face to drip onto Cole's.

Grampa shook his head and turned toward the truck as Grama nodded and picked up Cole's hand. She seemed nervous about doing it, probably because it was the first time she'd ever turned someone. But she quickly shook it off before biting his wrist in a solid bite. Cole's body jerked before going still again.

A growl started up in her throat, her eyes closing in response to the taste of human blood. But then she let go to grab his other wrist.

"Just in case," she whispered before biting down without hesitation.

Grampa came back in vampire speed, his expression a sense of urgency. "We need to get out of here. Now."

I frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Fire. The car is about to catch. What do you want to do about his parents?"

As I looked toward the truck, a wave of pure hatred crashed through me. But then the humanity beat it back. Not only that, but there was a twinge of satisfaction as I thought of the act of revenge. "Get them out."

"I'm on it," Grama said.

Grampa had his eyes narrowed on me before he shook his head. "No. Take Cole. Get him to the house. Nik is going to live. Ash, get him back." He gave me a steady look. "Are you sure about the Harris's? We could just let the fire take them. It's not like they don't deserve it."

While Grama took Cole's still, bloody body from me, I stood up, but stared at him as I went to check on Nik. Though the two men were the same size, Nik was heavier than Cole.

I studied my grandfather. He'd never said anything like that before, not about humans. Finally, I answered, "Just get them out," and started dragging Nik into the woods.

Dox stopped me. "I'll take him. Go with Cole." He took Nik's weight from me.

"Thank you." And then I was taking off with my grandmother and mate.

We were nearly to the house when the explosion shook the woods.

JacobPOV

I had lied to Ash.

Finding something to put in my grandson's nursery was proving more difficult than I originally thought.

I was up in the attic digging around for something when the sound like a bomb going off grabbed my attention.

"Jacob!" Nessie yelled from the kitchen.

I ran for the attic entrance and jumped down into the upstairs hallway between the kids' rooms, not that they used them anymore. Before I was even firmly on my feet, I threw myself down the stairs. Nessie wasn't in the kitchen, but I felt the cold of the outside coming from the front door, so I ran to join her on the front porch.

Our house was on elevated ground, and to the south, over the tree line, black smoke was billowing into the sky.

Nessie's hand was over her mouth, eyes wide with fear.

I smelled the vampire before I saw her.

"Rosalie?"

"Edward asked me to come."

Frowning, I turned to her. Her expression was bleak and sad.

Fear dropped in my stomach like a boulder. "What happened?" I demanded.

She looked toward the woods, her stare haunted. "There was an accident."

"Who?"

She stayed quiet too long.

Nessie stormed across the porch to grip her aunt's shoulders. "Who was it?!"

Rose looked at her niece. "Cole, Victoria, and Nik."

My wife's head snapped back to the tree line. "No," she breathed. "No!" And then she was taking off for the porch with me on her heels. We jumped the stairs and took off into the woods.

Rose appeared in front of us, making us both skid to a stop in the leaves. "Victoria's with Carlisle. And Cole-"

"What about Cole?" Ness demanded. "What about my son?"

I stepped up. "Rosalie, so help me God, if you don't start talking right now…"

She took a deep breath and seemed to shake herself out of whatever slump she'd just been in. "Edward said that Cole's parents t-boned the car into a tree. Nik was driving with Cole and his sister in the backseat. He brought Victoria first because of the baby. She was unconscious and bleeding vaginally. The baby was in danger. When he left the scene with Victoria, Cole was in his last moments. He was dying in Ash's arms."

Nessie stumbled back, her hand coming up to grip my arm. "Ash," she choked. "Oh, God. He was there?"

"He and Dox came onto the scene while patrolling." When her phone chimed, she frowned down at it. "They're all at the house. Including Cole's parents. Emmett and Jasper are cleaning up the wreck and Alice is persuading the chiefs of police not to let the fire department out there."

"Why?" I asked.

Rose gave me a look. "How will it look when officers and firefighters arrive to a scene like that with no bodies and blood everywhere?"

"Wait," Ness said, making a push-away gesture. "Cole is at the house? Not dead?"

Rose shook her head. "He didn't say."

Ness looked at me.

I nodded and we took off in the other direction toward the Cullen house. The run was a blur of trees. I'm fairly certain I sustained a few deep cuts from low branches but I didn't care. All I needed was to get to my kids.

Ness and I burst into the house.

"Dad!" she yelled.

The door under the stairs opened and Bella stepped out, pressing a rag to her face. There was blood on the corners of her lips and a smudge on her chin.

"He's upstairs helping Carlisle stabilize Victoria," she said, her eyes wary as she cleaned her face.

"Mom?" Ness said in a horrified tone. "What happened? Whose blood is that?"

Bella glanced at me and said, "You should go check on your sons."

That one statement had Ness tearing up the stairs before she was even told where they were. She was their mother; she'd find them.

I stepped toward my mother-in-law. "Bells, what happened?"

She frowned as she took the rag away and looked at the red stain. "Didn't Rosalie tell you? That's why Edward sent her out. All the human blood was too much."

Well, that explained her spaciness. But I put that thought away. "She told me what happened, but I have a feeling some details were left out."

"This," she waved to her face, "happened after Edward came back." She gave me serious eyes. "Go check on your boys, Jake. We can have a family meeting later."

With that, she walked away, leaving me to stand in a sea of silence and fear.

RenesmeePOV

Rushing up the stairs, I flew past the makeshift emergency room and recovery suite. The boys weren't in those rooms. How I knew, I couldn't say. Instead, I stopped at my old room, the room that had once belonged to my father before marrying mom and moving to the cottage.

Standing before the closed door, my heart hammered in my chest, guts writhed in my stomach. I had to pull myself together. I completely stopped moving and concentrated on breathing. I didn't know what was on the other side of that door, but I knew I needed to be strong for my boys, for my family.

When I felt calm enough, I reached for the knob and pushed the door open.

The room had stayed nearly the same with the big canopy bed facing the bank of windows. The view was still incredible except for the dark stain of smoke spiraling up from the trees.

Ash was standing over the bed, talking in a low voice. No. He was humming. I recognized the tune as one he'd listen to when he was thinking about Cole, which meant I'd heard it a lot, but this sound was broken with sobs stuck in his throat and tears scenting the air. His back was to me, but his movements were rhythmic, like he was doing something in repetition. When he reached toward the side table, I noticed the bowl of red-tinted water. The only part of Cole I could see was the top of his head and his quilt-covered feet.

"Ash?" I said and quietly shut the door behind me.

The humming stopped as he straightened, those broad shoulders lifting with a deep breath. When he turned, he dropped the rag in the bloody water.

I gasped, hand flying to my mouth. The clothes he was wearing were stuck to his skin, the white shirt red from the sternum down. Blood was smeared all over his skin.

I reached for him as I crossed the room. "Ash, are you okay? What happened?"

He gripped my arms, holding me away from his body. "I'm okay, Mom. It's not my blood. Well, not a lot of it."

I frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that to get Cole out of the car, I had to crawl over broken glass. But I'm fine. Everything healed up."

The tightness in my chest as I looked over my baby's body didn't buy it, but I pulled it together so that I could finally look up into his eyes. Only to get my heart broken. There was only a sliver of hope in those dark eyes. A sliver in a sea of grief. The tears I'd scented earlier were silent as they trailed freely down his cheeks to slip down his neck or drop to his shirt.

I cupped his face before going up on my toes to wrap my arms around his shoulders. After a moment, his arms wrapped around me, gripping me tight. My fingers pushed through the hair at the nape of his neck.

The breath he let out was strangled as he buried his face in my neck. "I couldn't let him die, Mom. I just couldn't."

"What do you mean, baby?"

"I couldn't let him die," he repeated.

Frowning, I pulled back to stare up at his face, but he looked away. Stepping back, I moved around him to look at Cole. He was terribly still on the bed, so still I had thought he was dead. The quilt was tucked up to his chest, his arms out over it. He was beat to hell, blood all over the place with cuts and bruises everywhere. His side was bandaged with layers upon layers of gauze. There were bandages on both wrists.

And the blood on my mother's face made sense.

With a shaking hand, I reached out to Cole's hand. It was cold, but there was a rushing sound in the room. It was sporadic, but I had a feeling it was Cole's blood sludging through his veins. He was alive, barely, his slow pulse carrying his venom-laced blood to his heart.

"I couldn't let him die," Ash croaked again. "I had to try."

"I thought-,"

"There wasn't time to get a wolf there and Nik was passed out," he explained quickly. "Cole was dying, Mom. In my arms, and there wasn't anything I could do to stop it. His wounds were worse than I'd thought. There was blood everywhere. Grampa told me that if I'd left him in the car and not ripped him out, there may have been more time. The fire department could have used the Jaws of Life or whatever. But there wasn't time because of the explosion. I didn't know. I just acted, and I knew his life's blood was draining out onto me and I couldn't let him die. So, I asked Grama to fix him. Grampa argued that being a vampire wasn't his first choice, but she did it. For me, she did it."

I stared at my adopted son as my biological one rambled on and on. A white noise had started in my head, making my thoughts fuzzy.

"Oh, God," he groaned. "You think it was the wrong thing to do, don't you?"

I barely heard him as the realization that my son's killers were in the same house. My grandson's attempted murderers were under this roof, still breathing. Red covered my vision as a homicidal rage washed through me.

"Mom?"

The pain in my youngest son's voice had me stepping off the metaphorical ledge and back to reality. The rage was beat back by the maternal instinct to care for my offspring.

I looked up at him. "What I think is that you know Cole better than anybody else on this earth. Only you and he would know what he truly wants." I took his hand. "Whatever happens, we will deal with as a family. Together. When he wakes up, we'll make it through. Okay?"

Ash took a deep breath and nodded.

"Have you heard anything about Victoria?"

He shook his head. "The last update I got was that they were trying to stop the bleeding."

"They got it stopped."

Ash and I turned to the door where Jake and Dox were standing.

Jacob walked in, his expression tight and full of pain. His gaze looked over Ash before going to the bed.

"You okay, son?" he asked as he walked forward.

Ash nodded. "Yes, sir. It's not my blood. But are you okay?" His gaze went over the healing cuts on Jake's arm and torso.

"I'm fine. Healing as we speak."

Jake joined me beside the bed, looking down at Cole's beat-to-shit body. He laid his palm on Cole's forehead. "Carlisle and Edward got the bleeding stopped but Victoria is far from out of the woods. They're assessing the baby right now."

Ash groaned. "I should be there."

Dox came over to put a hand on Ash's shoulder. "You're only one person. While they're working on her, you need to be here with Cole. I'm sure that lawyer is going to get Mark out soon. He'll be here."

"Dox, he can't be in this house. Not with the Harris's here, too."

"He's right," Jacob said.

I was confused. "Wait, what happened to Mark?"

Ash sighed. "Jason called. Apparently Mark and Cole's Uncle got into a fist fight when the uncle approached Victoria after she'd just been questioned by the feds. The feds wanted to keep Mark for extra questioning. I guess Nik was driving Victoria and Cole home when the accident happened." He growled. "I should have left those bastards out there to blow up."

Jake and I both looked over at him while Dox's expression darkened in agreement.

He shrugged.

"Why did you save them?" Jake asked.

"I don't know," he answered with a headshake. "It just seemed like the right thing to do. Now, I wish I'd rid us all of them."

When Dox's phone started ringing, he excused himself but not before he pulled Ash into a tight hug.

Once Dox was out of the room, Ash went back to looking at his mate. "Cole and Victoria should be the ones to decide what to do about their parents. It wasn't my place to make that decision."

"That was the right thing to do, Ash," Jake said. "I'm proud of you for that."

I watched my son's cold expression and wondered if he cared that wanting to kill them in cold blood would see him viewed as a monster. Something tells me he wouldn't have cared at all.

RyellPOV

When Dox had finally stopped talking, I had a crowd around me that included Jason, his enforcers, and several other people. Jason had motioned to me to put the call on speaker.

"Jesus Christ," Jason spat. "Those heartless, cocksucking motherfuckers!"

Piper reached out to her mate. "Jason, please-,"

"No! They've fucked with our people for the last goddamn time. That whole fucking family needs to be wiped off this fucking planet."

I gave Piper a look that said to get him calmed down. "What do you need from us?" I asked.

"Put together search parties. No way did those two act alone. They had eyes somewhere along the way."

I looked over to where Jason was still freaking out, so I shot a look to Elias. "You put the teams together. Add me to the mix as well."

"Us, too."

Nechole was standing at the edge of the group with Gage and Tate in tow.

"Who was that?" Dox asked.

"Nechole and the boys."

"No," he said sternly.

"That's not fair," Nechole countered.

"Am I on speaker?"

"Yeah," I answered.

Dox growled. "Nechole, your parents are trusting us to keep you safe. That was the whole point of you and your sisters coming to stay on the compound."

Nechole was shaking her head as she came through the crowd. "I shifted, Dox. I'm part of the pack now. I should be out there."

"Dammit," he hissed.

I gave Nechole an exasperated look but said, "I'll go with them."

"Dammit, Rye-,"

"Elias will put an enforcer or two with us."

"Make it two," Dox demanded and I knew he was raising his voice for Elias to hear.

Elias nodded and started barking orders.

"Are Jules and Will there?" he asked.

Pulling up the screen, I took him off speaker and put the phone to my ear. "No. I haven't seen them since the meeting earlier."

"Okay. I'll call them and tell them to get some rez wolves together."

I walked away from the group that was now buzzing and separating into their various patrol partners. "How are things over there?"

He was quiet for a moment. "Not good. Cole is still out. Victoria is in a bad way. For now, she and the baby are barely okay. But if just one number in her vitals gets off, Carlisle is talking C-section. The lawyer is still trying to get Mark out of the police station. Nik is up and around, pissed and limping, nursing a severe concussion. Emmett's been guarding Cole's parents from him."

"Sounds volatile."

He snorted. "You're telling me."

"Okay, well we'll do what we can from our end. The groups and designated areas are assigned. I'll call with updates every half hour or so."

"Alright. Please be careful. I love you."

"I love you, too. Take care of the family. I'll see you soon."

As I walked over to where Nechole was standing, I tucked my phone into my coat pocket and zipped it up, knowing I'd have to leave my clothes behind.

"How is everyone?" she asked when I was close enough. Together we walked into the woods to a designated shifting area that was hidden from prying eyes.

"Not good. Dox is handling it, though." We were shucking our jackets when a thought occurred to me. "Have you even tried to shift on purpose yet?"

"Nope," she said popping the word. "First time for everything, though, right?"

Shaking my head, I sent up a prayer that Uncle Embry wasn't going to murder me and Dox for allowing this and finished taking off my clothes. The wind was cold through the trees, a hint of fall in the air. Parts of my body hardened in the cold, but I ignored them as Nechole hesitated in her undressing.

She was frowning. "I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this."

Smirking, I turned my back. "Don't worry. You'll get there, just give it a couple full moons."

"Okay, I'm naked. And dear God it's cold out here. So now what do I do?"

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath of the cold, stinging air and mentally poked my wolf awake. "For the Quileutes, anger is the initial trigger. Dox, at first, had to keep thinking of things that made him angry. But for the Children, it's more like looking inward and finding that other presence. So, close your eyes and find your wolf. Picture her. What is she doing?"

There was silence for a moment.

Then, "She's pacing. Jittery and anxious."

"Good. She's ready to be of use. Gesture for her to come with you. Pull her to the surface." In my own head, I stroked my wolf's grey fur. Her amber eyes were bright.

"Now what?" Nechole whispered carefully as if she were carrying a sleeping baby.

"Let her free."

And with that, I sank to my knees in the leaves and shifted.

DoxPOV

After hanging up with Rye, I went to go downstairs but was stopped on the second-floor landing.

"Let me in."

Silence.

Frowning, I looked down the hallway.

Emmett was planted like a boulder in front of the bedroom door behind which Cole's parents were down for the count. Nik was facing off with that mountain of a vampire and demanding to be let in.

I sighed and walked toward them. "What's the problem?"

Nik stepped back to point toward the door. "I want in that fucking room. Now."

Emmett's expression was bored but his eyes intense, his arms crossed over his chest. A whole lot of going nowhere. His eyes darted toward me but went back to the threat.

Looking back at Nik, I shook my head. "Not gonna happen, my man."

The enforcer snarled. "They nearly killed Cole, Victoria, and Cole's son." His tone went frigidly cold, serial killer cold. But those eyes held a fire in them that could burn the house down around us. "They deserve more than death for even thinking about killing that baby."

He lost a child, I thought as a chill shot down my spine. Looking into his eyes, I knew he would have a special little twinkle in his eyes while doing horrible things to anyone who hurt a child. Made me wonder if he'd done it before. I made a mental note on the subject.

"Look, I agree with you," I said calmly with a touch more sympathy. "But how they're punished is not up to us."

Nik froze, his big body going still as he looked up. Then he very deliberately pointed a finger at me. "Don't you dare feel sorry for me." Then he stepped away from Emmett to stalk down the hallway, his shoulder hitting mine.

After he disappeared down the stairs, I turned back to Emmett.

"We need to move them," he said.

"You're right. Mark will be here soon once the feds let him go, and Victoria isn't going anywhere anytime soon. She's still unconscious. Do you think you and someone else could sneak them out if I get permission from Carlisle?"

He ducked a nod. "Yeah, I think Jazz and I could get them gone."

I clapped his shoulder. "Thanks."

It's as I was turning away that he called me back.

His gaze was angry and intense. "We could just turn our backs, let him slip inside."

I gave him a level look. "I meant what I said. It's not our place." I turned around again to start back toward the stairs.

"What if neither of them wakes up?"

This time, I didn't look at him, just gave him my back. "Then we'll deal with it, but for now, I choose not to think that way. My nephew and his mother are safe for the moment. And my brother-in-law is supposedly struggling through the venom flowing in his blood. Right now, I need to stay as positive as possible for my family." At that, I shot a glance over my shoulder. "Don't slip up, Uncle Emmett. Please."

He waited for a pause before nodding.

Once confirmation was given, I headed off to find my grandfather hoping to get the go-ahead to get rid of them.

AshPOV

The shower was a quick scrub-n-buff. I stayed under the hot water just long enough to get the blood off of my skin. The moment the water swirled clear at my feet, I hit the knob and grabbed a towel. I was jonesing to get back to my mate and the shower was my limit of separation.

But, I thought as I was scrubbing my hair, I did need to check on Victoria and the baby.

The t-shirt was just over my head as I walked through the door back into the bedroom when I caught the other presence in the room.

"Nik?"

The enforcer was standing over Cole's still body, his expression stone cold. At his side, his hands were cranked into fists.

"I failed you."

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"My job is to protect. It's all I've ever known, the enforcer life. And now my two charges are compromised. I should have been strong enough."

I went to stand next to him. "It was a car accident. How could you have protected them from that?"

"I should have fought to stay conscious." He swallowed hard as he looked at me. "I know Cole's choice was wolf. I should have stayed conscious long enough to infect him."

When I grabbed his shoulder to turn him to me, he didn't fight it. "Nik, listen to me. This was not your fault. You can't help that you hit your head so hard you passed out. There is no fighting that. You didn't fail in anything. And what's going on here with Cole is my doing. If he wakes up mad about this, it's between me and him. Don't beat yourself up about this, and don't do anything rash, okay?"

His gaze wouldn't meet mine. "They're moving his parents."

"What?"

"Maddox and Emmett are moving the Harris's. They don't know I heard them, but I wasn't quite far enough away yet."

A surge of anger hit my chest before I took a deep breath and tried to think rationally. "That's probably a good idea given how everyone in this house hates them and some members of the Cullen family haven't fed recently."

His eyes went deathly cold as they turned to me. "They deserve death for what they've done."

"You're going to heal, Nik."

His lips peeled off his teeth in a soundless snarl. "I wasn't referring to me. I couldn't give a shit about my well-being. Those waste-of-space fucktards tried to kill their own kids as well as their grandchild. That earns death in my book, painful death."

Good to know, I thought. There was a hint of experience on his tone that let me know he'd be glad to serve those painful deaths.

I looked from him to Cole, an idea occurring. "I need to check on Victoria. Why don't you stay here with Cole?"

Nik's body jolted like I'd touched him with a live wire. "What?" he asked blinking in confusion.

I shrugged as I turned for the door. "If tradition holds, Cole won't wake up for another day or so. I need to check on Victoria and the baby, and right now, you're the best bet to watch over him. I wouldn't put my money on anyone else."

Before he could object, I walked through the door and down the hall to the stairs that would take me to the second floor and the medical rooms of the house. On my way to the room Victoria was in, I caught sight of my grandfather in his office.

Knocking on the jamb, I poked my head in.

He motioned me in without looking up. Well, that wasn't a great sign.

"How is she?"

Sighing, he pushed away the papers in front of him and sat back. "In danger."

My gut dropped, and as my knees went weak, I planted my ass in a chair. "What does that mean?"

"Ash, if even one more number in her vitals change, we're going to have to operate. Emergency C-section, conscious or not. Her body is in distress and so is the baby."

"Then why aren't you doing it now?"

"Because the C-section has to be the absolute last option. It's more dangerous than to leave them alone for now." He leaned forward on his elbows. "How is Cole?"

This time I had to look away. "Out cold. But still…alive."

"At least he's not reacting the way most humans do when infected. He's reacting more like your grandmother did. Of course, she was…well, she was dead."

"Cole was…," I had to clear my throat. "Cole was dying."

Carlisle nodded. "Probably too close for him to be conscious. He's as comatose as his sister."

I slouched in the chair and put my hands over my face. "I can't lose them both. Any of them."

"Right now, they're both in limbo. Victoria is only out because of the head hit. I wouldn't be surprised if she woke up any minute. It's amazing there was no more damage to her. The front passenger door was the one to hit the tree. She was incredibly lucky."

"Can I see her?"

"Of course."

It's as I was standing up that there was a commotion downstairs and then the sound of someone pounding their way up the stairs. When I stepped into the hall, Mark was just mounting the top step.

"Where is she?!" he demanded as he barreled down the hall like a bull. His eyes were glowing amber so brightly that the color bounced off the white walls.

I stood my ground in the hall before her door and held up my hands. "You need to calm down before you go in there, Mark."

The look on his face was pure focus. But also anger that I was keeping him from her. "Get out of my way."

The placating left my tone, the alpha coming out. "No," I said sternly. "Mark, listen to me. She and the baby are in distress. You go in there with that rage boiling off of you and it could tip her vitals. You could hurt her even more. Do you understand me? My son is part Quileute wolf even though he won't phase for a long time. He is sensitive to that kind of emotion and that sensitivity could cause problems. You could kill them both. You are not going in that room until you calm down."

In my head, I finished that my mate wasn't going to lose both his sister and his baby, but I knew that wouldn't come out right. Mark didn't actually care about the baby, but I knew he gave a big damn about Victoria, and she cared about the baby.

God, we really needed to pick a name.

Mark stood there seething, his torso heaving with the deep breaths he was taking. But I could see the cogs in his head turning as he tried to calm himself down. More than anything he wanted to be with Victoria. As she was his true mate, he was going to do anything in his power to be next to her, to support her.

After a few minutes, Mark was standing in front of me like we'd just been having a conversation about the weather. His eyes were hazel once more, the amber having bled away. I knew that the anger was still there, but he'd muscled it around until the worry was at the forefront.

I nodded. "Good?"

He considered his answer. "Better."

Steeping back, I grabbed the handle to the door. "Let's go see her."

GagePOV

What is taking so long? Tate grumbled as he paced.

I shot him a look. Nechole hasn't purposefully shifted yet. Give her a minute.

I'm here, I'm here.

I spun around to find my mate shakily coming through the shrubs. Are you okay? I asked as I went over to stand next to her, my bigger body helping to hold her up.

I will be. Let's get moving.

Behind us, Ryell came through, her head tilting back and forth as if she were stretching. Unlike Nechole, she didn't have the Quileute telepathy, so she yipped at us before trotting off into the woods.

I frowned, wanting to give Nechole another couple of minutes.

Her muzzle came into view so that her tongue could lick my muzzle.

Startled, I looked at her.

She smiled a wolfy grin. Let's go.

Don't have to tell me twice, Tate said and took off after Ryell.

Nechole and I followed at a slower pace. As we walked she asked me questions about how to track and how to tell animals apart by scent.

It's so weird to be a hybrid.

I looked over at her while we sneaked through the woods looking for clues. What do you mean?

Like the fact that I shift but I have telepathy. But Ryell doesn't have the telepathy.

Hybrids are wildcards. I'm more like mom's side. I don't seem to have gotten anything from Dad, and considering he's strong enough to be pack leader, that's kind of weird.

I wonder what my sisters will be like, she wondered, her tone solemn.

Shuffling my steps, I rubbed my side against hers. Hey, don't worry about that. One thing at a time. C'mon. Let's catch up.

Together, we trotted forward and found Tate sniffing around a dirt path.

A vehicle's been through here recently, he said. I think this is the lane that leads to the main road where the accident happened.

Nechole looked around, lifting her muzzle from the ground to sniff. Wait, where's Ryell?

RyellPOV

While Gage and Nechole followed at a slower pace, no doubt so she could acclimate and he could teach her a few things, I went on ahead. Tate was nose to the ground, intense concentration on his wolf face and moving toward the dirt path.

There was something on the air, some tinge of a scent that wasn't part of the woods. Grabbing and holding it as much as I could, I followed it by going deeper into the woods instead of toward the main road.

When Tate yipped at me, I turned with a headshake so he would go back to looking for other clues. Likely this scent I'd caught wasn't anything to do with the accident. Just some odd thing in the woods. It happened from time to time. But just in case, I was going to see where it led me.

The tire tracks were deep and fresh. Of course, they were. I sneered at them as I trotted along. These were the proof that Cole, Victoria, and Nik had nearly lost their lives due to two dumbass humans who couldn't let go of the control they'd had over their kids and would rather have seen them dead and gone than alive and flourishing.

The rain that started pattering through the trees brought a scowl to my face. It was unwelcome with such a weak scent lead, but it seemed to be straight on the path instead of straying. Good thing, too, since the drops started falling harder and faster. I shook my body to help get the weight of the water off my fur, but it still seeped down my face and off my muzzle.

I was a good five minute trot from the others when my ears pricked at something. Shifting through the sounds of the rain and the newly added rumble of thunder, I couldn't place it. Sounded like whispers.

Snap.

Shit.

The whispers stopped as I looked down to find that I'd stepped on a stick. Time to slink into the woods. Sometimes I wished my fur was darker so I could blend in, but I stayed at the edge as another vehicle came into view. It was a black van with darkened windows.

Of course it was.

The problem was that the sources of the whispers weren't anywhere to be seen.

Dammit.

My breath huffed out in a white cloud as the temperature started to drop.

The first clue that something was off was that the animals stopped making their various noises. The silence was eerie even with the rain pattering on the leaves.

Then there was the shift in the air that told me someone was taking up space near me.

Spinning around, the last thing I saw was a glimpse of a man swinging something big toward my head.

The instant contact was made, my lights went out before the pain could even register.

AshPOV

There were different types of anger.

I found that out as I stared down at Victoria's still form on the hospital bed. The type of anger I was feeling was a deep freeze in my veins, a chill in my soul that made me want to disavow my human side, what little bit I had of one. This was the kind of rage that made me want to become a vigilante and punish those humans who wronged others, but I wanted to do it in the animal way of ripping them apart with claws and fangs until their warm blood flowed over my fur and down my throat.

Carlisle straightened from his position over Victoria's prone body. He'd insisted on taking her vitals himself.

He tucked the stethoscope around his neck. "As usual with mates, it seems that Mark's presence has had a positive effect. Her vitals are improving, and I'm pleased with the progress."

"And the baby?" I asked.

"He's improving as well."

"So, no emergency c-section?"

His head tilted. "I won't say any affirmatives on that. She's still unconscious and therefore could still tank. But I'm optimistic." He put a hand on my shoulder as he looked over at Mark. "I'll leave you two with her."

"Thanks, Grampa."

Mark was standing over his mate, looking down at her. What skin was visible was covered in bruises and cuts.

"I know what you're thinking," I said in a low voice.

"You can't possibly know," he muttered back.

"I do. You want to rip them limb from limb."

"Then why won't you let me?"

"Because they're human. Society hasn't collapsed yet. We don't get to suddenly make our own rules."

All he did was turn his head to look at me. "Packs have been dealing their own justice for centuries."

"And we're not like those packs. Don't you think I want the same thing? My mate is likely suffering in silence as that venom eats through his blood. I want revenge, too. But that's not the way. At least not right now. Stay here and concentrate on Victoria and helping her heal. Just you being here is helping her. That's enough, isn't it?"

He was quiet for so long that I didn't think he'd answer. Then he pulled a chair over, and as he sat down, he said, "For now."

I was confused for a moment until I realized he'd answered my question. And that answer made me wary.

But, as he'd said, for now, it would have to do.

Leaving him to his mate, I went to check on mine.

Don't hesitate to point out errors. That is the only way I will grow as a writer. But be nice about it. Lol Let me know what you think as well. Until next time! xoxoxox