What's that saying? Curiosity killed the cat? I'm the cat. And as I stood on top of, in front of, and walked around the metal door to the mysterious underground bunker trying to figure out how to open it, the curiosity was burning a hole in my brain. That is, of course, until my mom's voice popped into my head. Hey kiddo, how's it going?

Mom! I stood straight up, quickly scanning to make sure I was actually alone. She can't see me, right? It's, uh, going alright, I responded. Staying safe?

I think I should be asking you that, Mom sounded amused. I stopped myself from asking what she meant. I heard Wyatt and Nate phased last night.

I breathed a nervous laugh, Yeah, it was a bit of a show, honestly. They're both feeling better though. Nothing to worry about.

Mom went quiet for a second. Did something happen? Her tone was all of a sudden very serious.

I'll be the first to admit that I have a habit of trying too hard to sound casual when something was wrong. It was a problem. Um…relatively speaking? I shrugged.

No, miss ma'am, get specifically speaking right now, she was completely serious now.

"Fuck…" I whispered out loud. I saw the boys step onto the porch, looking for me. I waved them over as I scrambled for words, There was just a small complication with getting Wyatt to phase back for the first time. We ended up…meeting the ancestors…?

Wait, what?!

It's not a big deal! I was trying to show Wyatt how to calm himself down and we both got in a little too deep. It was a total accident; I promise, you guys have nothing to worry about over here.

I wasn't going to tell her about Sam yet. It didn't feel like the time. It kind of felt like taking steps backward; Sam and my parents had made so much progress over the years. You could hardly tell there was any bad blood between them. They learned to work together and listen to each other. This would mess that up.

Plus, how can they help save the world if they're worried about petty reservation drama here? No, I could handle everything here until they got back. Is there something you're not telling me, Hadley? Mom asked.

I paused before declaring, No.

Are you lying? Mom asked.

Have I ever lied to you, Mama? I threw back at her. The boys walked up to me, questions in their eyes. I stomped one time on the bunker door, listening to it echo. I love you so much, Mama. Can we talk later?

She didn't answer immediately. I love you too, kiddo. Try to stay out of trouble for me, ok? We're kind of depending on you to keep things in order out there.

You bet, I answered. Once I was sure she was gone, I let out a breath. "You guys are never going to believe what I just saw!" I exclaimed.

Wyatt and Nate's faces slowly but surely were more horrified as I explained what the Holts were, what happened on the cliff, and how I saw Matthew climb out of this hole. This world was so new to them, but I felt like they were the only people I could trust right now. I couldn't tell the Council without arousing potential fear. I didn't want to tell my parents because I wanted to keep my word that they weren't here to hurt anyone.

Promises were important to me. I felt like I could be a good lead if I could stay good on my word. Anything my parents say, they make sure they follow through one way or another. Nate always tells me that we don't have to live up to our parents; he understood more than anyone the pressure to be something you weren't sure you were yet. The leader. The strong one. The one that people look to for answers. Yes, it was a lot to live up to, but I didn't necessarily agree with Nate. Jacob and Leah gave me some pretty big shoes to fill, and I was ready to see if I could fill them.

That starts with keeping our home as safe as possible. I stomped my foot on the bunker door again, feeling the vibration of the metal under my feet. "I'm not crazy, right? This was never here before."

"We've explored every inch of these woods," Wyatt said. "There's no way we wouldn't have found this."

"He's right," Nate agreed. "How many times have we come running through here playing tag or hide and seek?"

I chewed on my bottom lip as I nodded my head in agreement.

"It's weird they need a bunker…" Wyatt stated, his face a little confused. "Like they need to keep everybody out."

"Or they need to keep themselves in," Nate added.

"Which one's worse?" Wyatt commented under his breath.

I shrugged before bending over to look for a handle, "Should we open it?"

Nate started to shake his head, instantly rejecting my idea. "No, absolutely not. I think we should go to…" he trailed off.

"Go to who? Your dad? My grandpa?" I asked. "No one else knows."

Wyatt's eyes widened in shock, "You didn't tell anyone that you found out these people are…" he looked around before whispering, "Children of the Moon?"

"Will knows," I shrugged. I hesitated for a second before telling them, "Plus…I gave Travis my word nothing would change because of this."

Wyatt turned his head away from me and shook it, disapprovingly. I couldn't tell if he was shaking his head at the fact that I was holding onto their secret or because I was having private conversations with Travis Calloway. Wyatt wasn't the jealous type but you could tell that Travis made him want to puff his chest out a little bit.

"Are you guys going to help me or not?" I huffed.

The three of us got on our hands and knees and I could feel that they thought this was ridiculous. I ignored their open thoughts as I continued to look for a way to open the bunker. "So, what's the plan here, Hadley?" Wyatt grunted as he tugged on the edge. "What are you trying to find in there?"

That's a great question with no answer. The idea of not knowing was killing me. The more I thought about it, the more questions I had. "I think I'll know when I see it…I think."

"Jesus…" Wyatt mumbled.

"Just look for anything like…a key maybe? A latch? A…magic button?" I said, pushing leaves aside to search.

"Or you could just ask," I heard a teasing voice behind us. The three of us whirled around; the boys crouched into a defensive stance on instinct. Reese and Travis were watching us crawl around the ground amused. Travis' shoulders shook with laughter while Reese sat with a small smirk settled on her face. "Someone found our secret spot, Trav," she said.

He nodded, "I figured that would happen sooner or later."

"What are you guys doing out here?" I asked.

Reese hooked her thumb back toward the main reservation. "There's a mini search party going on down there for you guys. We ran into Matt on the main road; he said he saw you this morning."

"Dad's probably so pissed," Nate worried. I put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Ooh, is he the big scary one with the vein popping out of his forehead?" Reese pointed out. "Yeah, he's losing his mind."

It was too easy to spiral out of control thinking about what was happening. Since Sam had already noticed we were gone, he probably already told my grandfather and literally anyone else who would listen. As long as Nate was with me, there was no question that the full story was going to get out about what happened. About Sam wanting to trigger Nate to phase first so he would be next in line to become Alpha. In Sam's head, if I know, then it's only a matter of time before my parents know.

I hadn't even thought of telling my parents, if I'm being candid. Somehow, the news of Sam trying to steal pack leadership felt menial in comparison to what they were doing in Canada. Helping people was more important than petty reservation drama. As long as I had control of when I told my parents, then everything would be fine. We had other matters to attend to. "When we get back to the old house, I'll call grandpa," I told Nate, "and we'll get this whole thing under control."

"Are you going to tell him?" Nate asked. His eyes set in that serious way I always hated. Nate was never about missteps and he always wanted to do the right thing, even if that meant going against his parents.

I told him I would tell Grandpa Billy as soon as I saw him. "He'll want to sit down with all three of us and Grandma Sue about something like this."

"I knew this place was more interesting than y'all were letting on," Reese commented. She pushed herself off of the tree she was leaning on and stepped closer to us. "What's the secret?"

Oh, where to start...is it the dead ancestors who love to make sudden appearances in my subconscious? Or maybe the dirty politics of people that I've always considered to be family? The impending Bond and having absolutely no idea if I even want to do it or if I will even have the choice of who I want to do it with? Girl, swallow all of those thoughts down. Instead of spilling all of my fears and insecurities out, I simply said, "Our families can get a little competitive. It's all under control."

Reese rolled her eyes, "Such a PC answer."

"Hey, remember when we talked about minding our own business?" Travis said to his sister.

"Are we not all mutually in each other's business right now? They were just on their hands and knees in the dirt looking for the key to the Underground."

I heard a jingling of what sounded like keys in Travis' pocket. We made eye contact and he shrugged a little as if to say that Reese had a point. She did. "I told you we know how to keep everyone safe," he said directly to me. "It took a while for us to get settled here, but it's probably the safest Underground we've built ever."

Reese nodded in agreement. "No one can get in, no one can get out."

"How did you build this without anyone knowing?" Wyatt spoke up for the first time. He was glowering at Travis a little. The territorial jealousy was radiating off of him.

"We work a lot at night," Reese answered, checking the ends of her hair for splits. "We can't let you down there though. Scent association could be dangerous for you guys. The Underground isn't just our safe space; it's kind of y'all's too."

I felt this sense of relief knowing that they were acknowledging that they knew their level of danger to other people. It was easy to recognize something like that and not do what needs to be done to protect other people. I'd heard way too often that shapeshifters will live as if they couldn't hurt people. But it's when people actually get hurt that we're more at risk of being exposed. Blaming it on an animal attack may have worked when my parents' pack was beginning to form, but that definitely didn't work nowadays.

I heard him think it before it came out of his mouth. I opened my mouth to tell Nate not to say it, but I was too late. "Why did you come here?" he said. "If we're not safe and you said you're not safe, why did you come here?"

"Nate," I scolded. "Cool it."

"For what?" he snapped at me, incredulously.

"No, it's fine. It's a fair question, actually." Travis said. "The Quileutes are the strongest pack known to man. We couldn't fight off all of the vampires coming after us by ourselves. Our strength with yours is the only sure-fire way we can all be safe if they decide to attack again."

It made sense. For years, there was this looming fear that vampires would try to take out all other supernatural creatures. We were all aware of it. The Volturi already tried to make Children of the Moon extinct once; could it be possible they were trying to do it again?

"Plus who wouldn't want to meet the girl who has blood suckers quakin' in their boots by just mentioning her?" Travis added, looking at me with soft eyes. I felt my cheeks flush at his words.

Reese turned her face up at her brother, "Can you relax with the heart eyes please?" she mumbled under her breath.

The five of us turned our heads at the sound of a car pulling up. Bianca's Toyota Corella rolled to a stop on the gravel driveway of the old house. Sitting right in the passenger seat was Wyatt's mom, Kim, and they both looked worried and pissed off. "Crap…" Nate, Wyatt, and me groaned at the same time.

"That's our cue to exit," Reese said, pulling on Travis's sleeve. "Good luck, kiddies!"

It didn't take long for them to spot us. Kim looked like she was about to blow smoke out of her ears. "Wyatt Greyson Cameron!" she called. "You three have had us worried sick! Where have you been?"

Kim was still dressed in her baby pink scrubs and flying in an absolute rage. Well…as much of a rage as she could muster; she's such a nice person, she was hardly ever really upset. Except when it came to her boys. Kim Cameron will burn your fucking house down over her boys. She threw her arms around Wyatt's tall frame as she continued to hurl questions at us. "Hunter said you two came home and then you disappeared. I went to the Uleys and they said they hadn't seen Nate since last night. Everyone's looking for you three! Nathaniel, your mother is so worried about you; she's in tears! And Hadley, your grandfather is sick at the idea of something happening to you. What were you thinking?"

Bianca strolled up behind Kim and just gave me a disappointed but understanding look. "You guys know better," she said. "What are you doing out here?"

"This is all a misunderstanding—," Nate tried to explain.

"So you didn't sneak out last night?" Bianca asked, already knowing the answer.

"Well…yes, but—," Wyatt started.

"No 'buts'," Kim cut him off. "You're grounded. All three of you."

"But, Mom—," Wyatt tried again.

"I said no 'buts'."

I stepped forward to try to break the tension. "Bebe, Kim, it's not their fault. This is completely on me."

They both turned to me in disbelief, but for two different reasons. Kim was looking at me like she couldn't believe that I would dare to get one of her boys in trouble. And Bebe was looking at me like she couldn't believe I would go against the rules like this and be upfront about it. The fact of the matter is that it is my fault that we were in trouble. I usually don't involve the boys when I get up to something I shouldn't be. They come and help me when they figure out what I'm up to, but I never ask them to do things with me that I know will get them in trouble.

Bianca sighed in disappointment, "Hadley…" she started.

"I'm sorry," I said instantly, shrinking myself. "A lot happened last night. They both phased and I just wanted to make sure that they were both ok. I didn't mean to make anyone worry."

Kim gasped, "You phased?" she looked up at Wyatt with wide eyes. "And I missed it?"

While Kim doted over Wyatt about this huge change, I was staring at the ground avoiding my aunt's critical eye. Bianca knew me better than any of the other aunts and uncles. She was my mom's best friend after all. She put a motherly arm around my shoulder and said, "Come on, let's just get you guys home before Sam blows that vein in his head."

I wanted so badly to tell her that Sam was only freaking out because he didn't know if I knew about his grand plan or not. But I worried that it would look like I was trying to take the heat off of myself and blame someone else for us disappearing into the night. So I kept my mouth shut. I'll take my slap on the wrist and talk to the adults when it was appropriate. I hope.

XXXXXXXXX

How long has he been yelling? Wyatt asked as we watched Sam Uley lose his shit over us sneaking Nate out after such a stressful day.

13 minutes, I answered, rubbing one of my temples. Blah, blah, blah, you're irresponsible. Blah, blah, blah, you don't know anything about being a wolf even though you are a wolf. Blah, blah, blah. 14 minutes now. This could go on for the rest of our lives; strap in!

Wyatt and Nate choked back their laughs as I let out my frustration through my projections. Wyatt put his hand on top of mine and squeezed. The scene from last night kept running through my head over and over again.

Sam stopped yelling abruptly and narrowed his eyes at the three of us. "Is something funny to you? Someone could have gotten hurt!"

Grandpa Billy and Grandma Sue looked equal parts fed up with Sam's yelling and fed up with discussing me and my antics in these meetings. "What do you have to say for yourself, Hadley?" Billy said. He leaned back in his wheelchair with a serious look on his face.

"With all due respect, I was concerned that Nate wasn't in the best head space after he phased. His energy was so anxious and I really just wanted to help," I said in the sweetest voice I could muster. "It made sense to me to take the boys out to the old Alpha house so I could be there for them if they needed me."

"That was very responsible of you, Hadley bug," Grandma Sue said, side eyeing Sam. "But it wasn't your place to do so."

I nodded in submission. "I'm really sorry."

"Hadley was helping us," Nate stood up for me. "Wyatt would have run into the middle of Forks if it weren't for her."

"That's still no excuse for breaking the rules," Billy said, shaking his head.

"I was protecting my friends. Why does it feel like I'm on trial?" I asked, standing from my seat.

Sam spoke up, "Because you went behind my back when I told you I had everything handled. I'm the adult here, not you, Hadley."

I pursed my lips as I felt a wave of irritation flow through me. "I guess I was feeling a bit flighty," I sniped at him.

He froze at my words before he shook it off. He turned to the rest of the council and said, "We're all aware that Hadley has a history of defiance."

"Yeah, well, she gets that from her parents," Grandma laughed. "It's not punishable by death, Sam. Go easy on her. She's young."

"All I'm saying is this is a classic representation of why she's not ready to be in leadership," Sam said. There it is!

Grandma rolled her eyes, "Oh good lord, Sam, is that why we're here? She already apologized; this isn't a witch hunt."

"Thank you, Grandma," I said, exasperated. I turned back to Sam. "Mom and Dad asked me to help take care of things in case the boys started to phase. That's exactly what I was doing."

"That means calm them down, call an adult, and back off," Sam retorted.

"No, that means trust my instincts and act on what I feel is right as the Alphas' daughter," I corrected. I felt my shoulders slump as I turned back to my grandparents. "I understand that I broke a rule, but how can I trust myself if every single decision I make it is put under a microscope?"

"We back Hadley's decisions fully," Wyatt said behind me.

Nate agreed, "Yeah, if Hadley and Wyatt hadn't come to get me last night, I, for sure, would have phased again in the house. Getting out of the house gave us enough air to relax."

Grandpa Billy and Grandma Sue glanced at each other before looking at me with deep consideration of the boys' words. I shrugged my shoulders as if to say, "what can you do?"

Grandpa sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Hadley Sarah…" he shook his head. "You find yourself skating a little too close to the edge sometimes, little girl."

He's not wrong. I can talk myself out of almost anything. My friends always told me they didn't understand how I could get away with breaking the rules and somehow finding a way to wiggle myself out of any real punishment. Cass used to get mad at me and say it's because I'm the favorite. I don't think that's true though.

Grandpa spoke again, "You need to keep yourself out of trouble, Hadley. That means listening to the adults, following the rules in every literal sense, not dancing around them, and keeping your nose clean. Do you think you can manage that?" He asked.

"Of course," I nodded.

Sam scoffed, "That's it? She blatantly defies me and the best you could come up with is that little slap on the wrist?"

I rolled my eyes. Grandma Sue glared at Sam, "They're good kids. This isn't as serious as you seem to want to make it."

"Wyatt and Nate have phased now; there's lots to discuss. The next Alpha, the next Bond…" Sam argued.

Grandma shrugged, "That can wait until Jacob and Leah come back. For now, you kids are free to go."

Wyatt and Nate stood up behind me. We made our way to the door, me trailing behind the boys. Before I reached the threshold, I turned and asked, "Can I say something?"

"What's up, baby doll?" Grandpa asked.

I bit my lip before allowing myself to say, "I don't feel comfortable discussing a Bond until my 18th birthday…if that's ok."

Grandpa blinked in surprise, Grandma's eyebrows flew up, and Sam's jaw dropped. I think it gets so easy to think of the pack in terms of stair stepping into what's next and then being able to go home and enjoy your family without thinking about pack business. Everyone was so good at compartmentalizing. But seeing as the only way another Bond would happen, I was the only guaranteed half of the equation; by shutting the door on that discussion until I was ready let them know that I was not here for games. I could be in control of my own future and any conversation surrounding it. I'm not a pawn in the greater scheme of wolfhood. I was me. "Y-yeah, of course that's ok, baby doll. Thank you for, uh, letting us know."

I gave them an appreciative smile before walking out. Putting the power back in my hands.

XXXXXXXXX

Hunter, Jace, and August were so stoked to hear that Wyatt and Nate were wolves now. Gabriel and Cameron had just walked in with pizza for everyone while everyone else was getting comfortable in my living room. I could hear Melody's little feet running from the back and into my arms. "Haddie!" she said, burying her face in my neck. I brushed her hair from her face and kissed her forehead. "I missed you all day. You was supposed to make waffles this morning," she reminded me.

"I was?" I said, surprised and amused. She nodded. "Did I pinky promise?"

Melody nodded again. "You did pinky promise at bedtime, remember?"

I feigned a gasp of shock, "Oh my goodness, you're so right, Sunshine."

Wyatt came up behind me, "Is that my little Melody?" he said, grabbing her from my arms. He peppered kisses on her cheeks as she giggled. "What did big bad Big Sister do now, Mel?"

"She forgot about me," Melody pouted. I rolled my eyes and chuckled.

Wyatt wagged a finger at me, "How dare you?"

I held my hands up in surrender. I got close to Melody's face, pressing my nose against hers. "I'll make you a deal, kid. You can have two scoops of ice cream right now if you forgive me."

She scrunched her nose, "I want chocolate and strawberry."

"Deal."

She smiled before head butting me. I groaned a little at the contact before standing up straight. Wyatt glanced at me with a smile on his face. He loved my siblings like they were his own and vice versa. While scooping Melody's ice cream, I called my brother down from his room, listening to him groan loudly before bounding down the stairs.

Hunter flopped onto the couch dramatically before running a hand through his wavy black hair. "So are you gonna tell us what happened?" he asked. He was always cool, calm, and collected; Hunter very rarely lost his head.

"I thought we were waiting for everyone to get here," Gabriel called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," I said. "Cam, where's Cass? Where's Nate and Alex?"

Cam was just shoving a slice of pizza in his mouth when I called out to him. "Nate's outside," he said, muffled. "Cass ain't coming."

"What do you mean she isn't coming?" I asked.

He shrugged, "She said she wanted to stay home tonight."

"Ok, ok, ok, tell us the story," August said impatiently. He was only 12 so he was incredibly excitable.

I was about to press Cam for information when Alex came in with his brother right behind him. Nate immediately grabbed three slices of pizza and devoured them quickly. Wolf hunger. It takes some getting used to. He was the last to sit down in the living room with the rest of us. The boys were more excited about it being their turn to phase than they were listening to Wyatt and Nate tell them about their first time.

My baby sister finished her ice cream, effectively putting her into a milk coma. She climbed into my lap and immediately fell asleep as I rubbed her back. I envied Melody some days. She was the most carefree out of all of us and she never seemed to mind that things weren't "normal." Granted, she was only four; I guess I envied her naïveté. She didn't have to worry about involving herself in pack politics.

Or friends, for that matter. We had long bypassed the petty "I'm mad at you and I want you to know it" stage and drove straight into "I'm just not going to deal with you" stage. Cassie was spending all of her time either with her twin brother or with Reese…which is fine…I guess. I'd been caught up with handling Wyatt and Nate that I didn't take the proper steps to make sure Cassidy Call was well taken care of and paid attention to. It was a little frustrating, but some things just take greater priority.

"But what did it feel like? Did it hurt?" Gabe asked a little worried.

My only concern was that Cassie was doing something that would get her in trouble. I was still deep in thought when I felt a voice pop into my head, Penny for your thoughts? Wyatt asked. You feel uneasy.

My instinct was to immediately shut down any access that Wyatt had to my energy. But I was quickly aware that I already had my strongest walls up. How can he still feel me?

Don't hurt yourself, he joked. It's empathy. The normal kind, not supernatural.

I sighed quietly out loud as I continued to hold Melody to my chest. It's Cassie.

Cass will get over this attitude soon. She's just upset that she doesn't have your full attention right now.

That's what I'm worried about…I said, pouting.

As the boys talked, I snuck to the back to tuck Melody in. She snuggled right into bed, laying right on top of a blanket that smelled like mom. As I was walking out, I heard the faint whisper of an address. 227 West Porter Ave…

But it wasn't Nate or Wyatt's voice. It sounded like Cam's voice.

Hey, I projected out to Nate. What's on Porter Avenue?

He made eye contact with me from across the room, looking confused. It's residential, I think. Why?

I didn't answer him as I heard Cameron repeat the address in his head and then Cassie's face popped up right after. He stood up to grab more food, bobbing his head to the Rihanna song that was stuck in his head. I waited for a second before sliding in next to him. "Hey Cam," I smiled.

He did the sup nod at me as he put two slices of pepperoni on a plate. "What's up, Hadley?"

"Did Cassie say if she was going anywhere tonight?" I asked casually.

He paused, thinking of the address again. Then he shook his head, "Nope."

"You lying?"

He shook his head.

"Did she ask you not to tell me?" He took a big bite out of his food and chewed slow as to avoid my question.

I grabbed Cam by the shirt and held him firm against the wall. "Cameron," I said sweetly.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Yeah, H?"

I smiled, cocking my head to the side. "Where's Cassidy?" I asked. "I know you know."

He crumbled, "She went to a house party with Reese and she asked me not to tell you because she didn't want you guys to cause a scene again."

"She snuck out?!" I exclaimed. He nodded with wide eyes. "Shit!"

XXXXXXXXX

So much for keeping my nose clean. So it wasn't just Cassie sneaking off of the reservation to go to some random's house. Oh no. There was a house party happening at the same time as the Forks town fair right across the field. "Let's just relax for a sec before things get blown out of proportion," Cam begged as I jumped out of my dad's old pickup in a small rage. I wasn't even flying off the handle yet. I could just hear all of the scenarios where the adults ask me how and why I didn't know about this and somehow, it'll be my fault.

"Cam, move out of my way," I told him, walking toward the house. He held up his hands to stop me. He just wanted to protect his sister; I get it. But if something happens to Cassie while I'm around, it's my fault. If something happens to her while I'm not around, it's my fault.

Wyatt and Nate came out of the other side of the truck to make sure I didn't do anything rash. "Ace," Wyatt called as I barged toward the house. "Hey, hey, hey, sloooow down."

"You're way too fired up right now, Lee. Maybe think about this for a second," Nate chimed in. He was wearing his signature concerned face as he looked at the tiny house filled to the brim with people. "This will only make Cassie more upset."

"I don't fucking care about that," I blurted. "I'm already in hot water with everyone. If grandpa finds out that Cass snuck off the reservation with Reese, of all people, they're gonna lose their shit."

We heard another car door slam behind us. I turned around to see Travis in the same rage as me. He stopped in his tracks when he saw us, attempting to wipe the frustration from his face. "What are y'all doing here?" he asked.

"What are you doing here?" Wyatt asked, his irritation spiking immediately. He took a protective step in front of me as if that was going to all of a sudden make me invisible.

"Reese left me a bogus note that she was going out tonight and not to wait up for her," Travis said. "I tracked her scent here."

"Great! We're all on the same page then! You'll grab Reese, we'll grab Cassie, and we can all go home." I clapped my hands. I whirled around and got through the front door, ignoring the protests of Wyatt and Cameron. I found Reese first, right as she popped a pill into her mouth and swallowed it dry. Then she took a shot of alcohol as she moved her hips to the music blaring from the subwoofers.

Travis stood behind me and sighed loudly. "I can't believe she's doing this again," he mumbled. When I realized he was standing so close to me, I tried to put some space between us. "She promised she'd be on her best behavior here."

The difference in Reese on the reservation and Reese at a party was night and day. Reese on the reservation had to be bribed to put a smile on her face; she oozed sarcasm and pessimism. Reese at a party was so carefree. It was like she could feel nothing but the music and booze; she couldn't be bothered by the real world here.

She finally spotted us and her eyes lit up, "Loooook what the cat dragged in!" She danced over to us and threw her arms around Travis. "It's my big brother buzz kill!"

Travis shrugged her off, ready to scold her. "You're out of your skull," he said. He took her face in both of his hands to examine her eyes. "What did you take? LSD? X?"

She laughed, "It's Adderall, relax." He stared at her. Reese rolled her eyes, "And I took a Xanax to balance me out; it's fine!"

Travis looked over her head at me and apologized. Reese whirled around and gasped gleefully, "You brought your little crush out to play!" she said to Travis. Reese took my hands and spun me around. She looked high out of her mind and happy to be that way. "Do you want one?" she asked me, reaching into her pocket.

"No, sweetie, that's ok. Where's Cassie?"

"Cassie…hmmmm…" she mused. "I think she went outside. There's a pool!"

I asked her to take me out to where Cassie was, waving the rest of the boys to follow along. Cassie was out by the in-ground pool, dancing her little heart out, drink in hand, and full unaware that the party was over. The rule was that we weren't allowed to go to parties without each other. It's an accountability thing.

Cam and Wyatt flanked my sides as we watched her flail her arms above her head. "She looks drunk," Cam sighed.

"I didn't let her take any pills," Reese announced, proudly. "She just wanted to have fun tonight!"

I told everyone to wait before I walked over to Cass. I put a hand on her hip and watched as she turned around. Her eyes lit up, "Lee!" then she frowned, "Wait, I'm mad at you."

"Aww, don't be mad at me, Cass. I miss you too much," I told her. "Are you having fun?"

She nodded as she danced, "How did you find me?" she asked. Right then, she looked to the other side of the pool and spotted her twin. "Ugh, what a snitch."

Cassie took a giant gulp out of her red solo cup and kept dancing. I carefully took the cup from her hand, cringing at the smell of cheap vodka and orange juice. "Cassie," I sang. "You ready to go home?"

"Nope!"

I had to try something else. "Hey Cass baby, do you wanna go see Cam?" I asked.

"Oh my gosh, yes! My twinnnn!"

Cassie draped her arm around my shoulders and leaned most of her weight on me. She was tripping over her own feet and giggling up a storm. This was completely unlike her. My ears were burning as I found myself getting more and more frustrated every time someone bumped us. Every spill of a drink at our feet. Every drunken teenager falling over themselves.

I let Cassie fall into Cameron's arms. Wyatt put a hand on my shoulder and said, "Give yourself a break."

"Can we just get out of here please?" I said quietly.

"No!" Cassie exclaimed. "I don't want to go!"

Cam rolled his eyes, "Cass, we gotta get out of here before Mom finds out."

She shook her head. "I don't want to. I want to stay here!"

Reese gasped loudly next to us. "We can go to the fair! I want a funnel cake and a corn dog!"

What the hell is happening? Maybe…maybe this is a control thing. Maybe I can get a little too wound up. But I couldn't shake this bad feeling that something was about to happen. This feeling in the pit of my stomach was something bigger than getting grounded again by the family. It was that feeling of dread like…someone was about to get hurt. Travis shook his head at his sister, "No, we need to go home, Reese. We'll go to the fair another time."

Reese's head rolled back as she groaned out loud. Travis tried to turn her around so we could exit back through the house. I was following closely behind them when she stopped short and shoved us back with force. "Y'all are no fun," she said as Travis and I flew back until we were fully submerged into water.

I didn't swim to the surface immediately. Instead, I waited for my entire body to cool down. The bass from the music was muffled now and I could finally hear myself think for a second. Blowing bubbles to make air, I finally opened my eyes. Travis was still underwater too. He looked at me and made an ok sign; he was asking me. I nodded as I waded in the bottom of the pool.

Closing my eyes for another moment, I felt my body float up to the surface naturally. I wiped the water from my face as I took a deep breath. When I looked up, Wyatt was the only one left standing there. "Jesus, Ace," he said, holding a hand out to me. "That looked like it hurt."

"She can't control her strength when she's high. The Adderall…" Travis said as he pulled himself out of the pool.

"Where did they go, Wyatt?" I asked, wringing the excess water from my shirt.

"They made a beeline for the Forks fair. Nate and Cameron ran after them," Wyatt said. He paused. "I just needed to make sure you were alright."

I nodded, feeling water slip down my neck and the sides of my face. "I'm fine. I just need a minute…" I mumbled, walking back into the house. When I got to the bathroom, I looked myself in the mirror. Like a drowned rat. The paper towel was rough on my face, but it was enough to get the job done. There was a light knock on the door, almost inaudible against the loud music.

Travis popped his head into the bathroom. "Hey, I found a towel for you." He held out a large red towel out to me before wiping his face off with his own. He closed the door behind him. "I'm really sorry about all of this."

"It's not your fault," I said, drying myself. "I could definitely have a better attitude about this. It's a mess."

He nodded as if he understood. I watched as he threw his hair into a ponytail and shed himself of the soaking wet flannel. His grey beater was soaked through and clinging to his body. He set the towel down and didn't move for a second. "Reese…she's scared," he said.

"Of what?" I asked.

He took a step closer to me as he spoke, "After we talked to y'all this morning, she was just real in her head about us leaving again. About being forced to leave." He shrugged in defeat. "She's always been afraid of her strength…which is why she keeps using. When she uses, she doesn't have to worry about whether or not she's going to hurt people."

When I didn't say anything, the air felt thick around us. "She would never hurt Cassie though," he continued. "I feel like you know that."

Not on purpose, at least. I was never worried about Reese intentionally hurting Cassidy. In fact, I've seen enough people in love to know what it looks like. But I also understand how hard it is to control how strong you are. How easily things can get out of hand.

I hadn't realized how closely he was standing in front of me until I looked up at him. His eyes were such a warm brown. "What about you?" I asked quietly. "You won't hurt us, right?"

I swallowed hard as I felt him tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear. My heart was beating hard; it felt like it was rocking my entire body. Even now, I still don't know what it was but when he touched me, a rush of energy flowed through my body. "I would never hurt any of you," he whispered. My breath hitched as he rested his hand on my cheek.

When his lips touched mine, it was completely foreign…but not unwelcomed. I got lost in his warmth and his woodsy scent. Everything slowed down as I kissed him back. Travis wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him. This felt really good. It was safe, but exciting. Tender, but a little rough. So different than Wyatt. Kissing Travis felt like a new adventure. Kissing Wyatt was like coming home.

Wyatt…shit. What are you doing, Hadley? What the hell are you doing? I pushed myself away from Travis, taking a second to catch my breath. I couldn't bring myself to look at him as I waited for my lips to stop tingling. There was a second knock at the door, "Hey Ace, you in here?" Wyatt.

I shoved myself as far away from Travis as I could right when the door swung open. Travis' head hung forward as we both came back to reality. Wyatt's eyes darted between the two of us. I picked up the red towel again and began to dry my hair. Trying to swallow down the guilt. "Yeah, I'll be out in a sec," I said.

"Everything good here?" he said with that twinge of jealousy present in his face again.

I nodded, casually, "Yeah. Travis just brought me a towel to dry off." I dropped the towel on the ground and pushed past Travis and Wyatt, keeping my head down. "Let's go get Cass so we can go home."

XXXXXXXXX

It took close to an hour for us to convince Cassidy to come home. The more time passed, the more the alcohol was getting to her and soon, she would be close to puking her guts out. The sooner we got her home, the sooner she'd be sick in her own bathroom instead of on the side of the road. When we found her again, she was on of the Ferris wheel, giggling her head off. Reese looked like she was coming off her high, settling into her normal cool expression.

This feels like the worst night of my life and the dreaded pit in my stomach was growing with each passing moment. Wyatt was asking a million questions in his head, not even bothering to mask them. I knew that he knew that I could hear him. Travis was so obviously and awkwardly avoiding being anywhere around me. And Nate and Cameron were just oblivious to it all.

Wyatt was standing next to me, uncomfortably shifting his weight, and gaining and losing the nerve to ask me if something happened. I stared at the top of the Ferris wheel where Cassie was rocking the cart back and forth. Wyatt turned to me and scratched his head before turning forward again. "So—," he started before he stopped.

I willed myself to breathe normally, as my hands started to tremble in the anxiety. Wyatt studied my profile for a bit. "Hadley…" he said, a little dejected.

"Yeah?" I answered, keeping my eyes forward.

"You…" he trailed off. "We can take care of Cassie if you want to take off. You seem a little in your head."

"What?" I turned to him. "No, it's alright. We came here together, we go home together."

He tried to find some kind of answer in my face. "Are you sure? Because if something happened—"

"Nothing happened," I interrupted.

We stood in silence, waiting for Cassie and Reese to get off of the rickety Ferris wheel. What the hell did I do? It was like everything that I had been preaching about being careful and not making rash decisions was just shot to shit in that one moment.

That pit in my stomach grew heavier as every single tiny hair on my body raised in alert. My spine straightened instantly as I felt my arms get covered in goosebumps. "Uh oh…" I whispered. Wyatt asked me what was wrong as I scanned the fair grounds for vampires.

I could feel them. Two…maybe three, at the most. Harsh energy. Deadly. This was the perfect stomping grounds for vampires. They could lure a human or two out of sight, feast, and disappear into the night. The feeling always came first before I could smell them. But it hit like a bag of bricks. Over the smell of fried food, sweat, and plastic, the sickly, sweet odor of vampire was the most overwhelming. "Ugh, what's that smell?" Wyatt asked. Nate covered his nose, almost gagging.

"Vampires," I answered.

We jumped into action immediately. First things first, spot them. It took a lot longer than I would have preferred, but when I found them, it was shocking how much they stuck out of the crowd. Everyone else was dressed in t shirts and shorts, gym clothes, tiny skirts. These guys were dressed to the nines. Sharp, Armani suits, pressed, white button downs, and bloodred eyes. One of them had a shaved head, the other had long, wavy blond hair. Their movements were so unnaturally smooth, it was unsettling. And they looked like they were in the mood for a hunt.

We need to get them away from the crowd, I told Wyatt and Nate. The vampires were gliding through the crowd right toward me.

What do we do? Nate asked, moving closer to me. I waved him away. Lee, you can't take them on by yourself.

I rolled my eyes at his light accusation. I think I can draw them toward that field over there toward the trees, I said. The blond vampire made eye contact with me, immediately intrigued. He drew in a deep breath, his eyes fluttering closed. I took a step forward but was stopped by a hand on my shoulder. "I wouldn't do that," Travis' Southern accent filled my ears.

The blond vampire gave me a nasty smile as he made his way through the crowd. I was frozen in place. Before I knew it, Travis was pulling me away from the fair grounds and deep into the open field. I felt the ripple of Wyatt and Nate phasing into wolves, ready to jump in. "We always did like a side of drama with our dinner," the bald one chuckled. "But wolves? I wasn't expecting that today."

"You're not welcome here," I called, standing strong.

The blond one pushed him his sleeves, "You're nothing but a small child. Do you really want this fight, little girl?"

It's now or never. I let the wolf take me over as the vampires crouched into a fighting stance. Beside me, the guttural growls from a now transformed Travis echoed through the field. If we were going to do this without being exposed, we would have to be quick and we would have to be quiet.

Let's do this! Wyatt whooped. He and Nate pounced on the bald vampire immediately, acting purely on instinct and wolf rage than training. The vampire gave them a run for their money though, expertly dodging the snaps of their jaws and swipes of their claws.

Travis didn't waste any time as the blond vampire took the offensive. Travis went straight for the vampire's throat while I ducked low and attacked his legs. It all starts to blur. Learning how to slip out of the arms of a vampire before it can get a chance to squeeze you around the ribs. Or attacking the joints so they have less time to recuperate.

It didn't take long before we could hear the sick crack of limbs being ripped away from their marble bodies. Don't tell anyone, but it was actually my first time defending without my parents. I felt powerful, almost invincible.

Lee, over here! Nate called. Wyatt and Nate each had an arm in each of their jowls, holding the vampire still. Baldie was hissing and growling like a feral creature. I sprinted over, jumping, and finding that sweet spot they'd always taught us in training. His neck snapped in my jaws and I watched as his head rolled in the grass.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Reese and Cameron running on scene, dragging Cassie behind them. Reese dug her lighter out of her pocket and threw it on top of the body of one of the vampires. The grass caught the flame and trailed until the other vampire was up in flames too. The dark smoke built quickly, causing Reese to yell at us to move our asses. Wyatt, Nate, and I phased back.

The boys pulled their clothes on while I tried to cover myself up. Cam handed me his hoodie. "Here, this should cover you."

"Thanks," I said, pulling it over my head. I did a quick head count and realized Travis was missing. "Wait, where did he go?"

"Into the woods to get his bearings. It takes us longer to get that humanity thing fully back under control. He'll be fine," Reese answered. "Y'all kicked ass, I'm impressed."

"Travis was a huge help," I admitted. "I wouldn't have been able to take that other one on without him."

As I was talking, I was still aware of the little hairs standing at attention. Usually, when a vampire dies, my senses back down. But not this time. I looked around us and noticed people were starting to scatter at the sight of the fire. The smell of burning blood sucker was almost overwhelming my senses. But just under that burning smell was yet another sickly sweet smell of another vampire. But where? Only two followed us to the field.

In all of the commotion, I was desperately trying to find the last one. "We gotta move," I told them. I grabbed Cassie by the arm, only for her to snatch away from me. I felt my fingers dig into her arm as she moved away from me.

"Ow!" she exclaimed. She started to trot next to us as she examined her arm. When she removed her hand from her arm, there was a small smear of blood on her fingertips.

In a flash, I spotted the last vampire. A woman this time with platinum blonde hair and blood red eyes. Her eyes were locked on Cassidy from the smell of her blood. I ran toward the woman, phasing again after stripping down. I narrowly missed her; she gave me the slip as she targeted my best friend.

Things started to happen in snapshots, if that makes sense. Reese pushed Cassidy out of the way. Reese phased. Cassie fell. Cassie hit her head. Reese threw the vampire woman around like a rag doll. The boys ran to Cassie's side. Cassie's unconscious.

I phased back and ran to her. "Cassie!" I shrieked.

"We need an ambulance!" Cameron yelled.

"There's no time to wait for an ambulance!" I yelled. I picked her up and I started to run.

The ER took her immediately and it was like the whole night went from bad to the absolute worst case scenario. I told literally everyone who answered the phone what happened and that they needed to get there as soon as possible. And then I sat in the waiting room and prayed and cried until I just couldn't anymore. I didn't want to hear that everything was going to be ok from Wyatt or that they were doing everything they could from Nate. Cameron was just as distraught and I wished so badly that I could do something or say something to make him feel better. But I couldn't. So I did the one thing I'd been avoiding for days. Mom, I projected out.

My sweet girl! Is everything ok? she asked. Mama sounded so carefree, I almost didn't want to wreck it. But this was important. This was family.

Mama, you guys need to come home.