Despite Ettie's great love for our woodland sanctuary. It would be impossible to hide out in the woods forever. Ettie was old enough now to cope with a closer proximity to humans and with Connor now a fixed part of our household we were forced to make a choice. A few days after Connor arrived, we returned to Billy's place.

The small place had only three rooms, it was a little crowded but there was undeniably more space here than in the cabin. Thankfully, Jake and Connor had managed to move past some of the difficulties that had been between them. I was grateful for this, even if the new boy still glared at me every chance he got.

His dislike of me was not something I took to heart. He didn't know me and I didn't expect him to let go for his hatred easily. In his eyes, vampires were to blame for his circumstances and in part they were, the wolves existed because vampires did. I understood his reasons and I made no comment about his frosty attitude towards me. With persuasion from me, Jake had agreed it was best left alone for now. It was better to let him settle rather than push him into accepting me.

It wasn't his hatred of me that bothered me, no. I truly didn't care what he thought of me. It did however irritate me when he gave Ettie the same look. When the loathing in his eyes was noticeable even to her.

"Why does Connor hate us?" She asked me one afternoon. We were walking the length of the beach, collecting sea shells in a bucket when she sprang it on me.

"Oh honey," I began, "he just doesn't know us that's all."

"But if he doesn't know us," she quizzed, "why does he hate us?"

A very good question. I sighed, crouching down to pick up a pretty shell, hoping I could draw her attention towards it as opposed to her observations. My attempt failed. Her green eyes stared at me expectantly, waiting for me to answer her question. I decided the truth was a better route here.

"He doesn't us because of what we are, or rather what our fathers are," I explained tentatively

"What is my father?" She asked,

"Well," I added, "I have never personally met your father, but you are like me, and that means your father is like mine. It's very important Ettie that you don't tell anyone what your father is, or what you are, do you remember me telling you that?"

She frowned but nodded.

"I will explain it to you later," I told her, glancing to make sure no one was in sight or hearing range of us, "we shouldn't talk about these things out here, ok?"

She was satisfied with my answer for now. I had explained everything to her that night. Before, I had shown her photos of my parents on my cell, and explained what the difference was between us and them. Told her about our mothers being human and that was why we were different.

"I can't help what I am," she said sadly, "so why does he hate me for it?"

I felt tears threaten and I reached out for her, comforting her with a hug while I thought it over. How could I explain it? She wasn't a normal child and because of that I went with the truth.

"It's something called prejudice, Ettie," I explained, "have you ever heard that word before?"

She shook her head.

"Basically, it means thinking something bad about someone because of who they are,"

"But that's not nice," she replied instantly

I smiled proudly at her response, "no it's not."

"So for now, we have to help Connor see that we aren't bad people just because of who we are," I explained.

She nodded, "ok."

She went to bed quietly that night, deep in thought it seemed. Me on the other hand, I wasn't as easily calmed by words. I felt anger simmering beneath my skin, burning hot through my veins. I found him at the dining table, textbooks scattered on the surface around him. His head was bent over his notebook, but he looked up at hearing my approach. For a brief moment, he looked afraid of me before his sneer at my presence returned.

"Let's make something very clear," I seethed, "you can hate me all you want but you'll keep your opinions to yourself from now on. No more glares when you think no one's looking, no more snide comments or remarks about my family. You will be silent on the subject."

"Fuck off," he told me, "You don't get to tell me what to do."

I grinned in a knowing way, "no I don't. But Jake can."

The defeat in his eyes upset me, but I was too heightened by anger to back down. I heard Jake approaching us and still I didn't back away.

"Ren, this isn't the place," he told me, "Ettie might hear you."

"I'm doing this for Ettie," I snapped.

He sighed, "come on, Ren."

His presence calmed me, the anger seeping away. He led me outside and we sat beneath the cover of the porch, watching the rain fall in heavy sheets. He put his arm around me and pulled me close, I sighed as my troubles seemed to melt away at his touch.

"What's bothering you, Ren?" He asked, concerned.

"Ettie noticed," I replied, "she noticed that Connor hates us, she didn't understand why. She was so hurt, Jake. She's just a kid, she doesn't deserve it."

He stroked my arm, tracing patterns on my skin. I sighed, taking comfort from his touch.

"I was born this way, she was born this way, just like you guys," I continued, "he's not being fair to her. She's just a kid who doesn't understand the world yet."

"You could say the same thing for Connor," he replied.

I frowned, turning to look up at him.

"Fifteen to you guys means something different. I get that. You don't act like a teenager, but Connor is young, really young. He doesn't understand the world any more than Ettie does, his mom sheltered him it seems, and this is all coming as one hell of a shock. I mean it would to most people, but she home-schooled him, barely let him outside. Ren, his upbringing was pretty close to yours except he only had his mom and now she's gone."

I felt bad, I honestly did but it didn't change how I felt about his attitude toward Ettie.

"It still isn't fair to treat Ettie that way though," I repeated, "if you'd seen her face, Jake, you'd understand."

"Of course, I understand where you're coming from," he told me, "And I will talk to him, but I won't force him to play nice, ok?"

I nodded; I could understand that. It hadn't been fair of me to threaten compliance through my mate.

"I won't force you to play nice either," he said, making a frown crease my forehead.

"I'm not going to make his life difficult if that's what you're getting at?" I snapped, "I won't treat him badly for this, Jake, that's not who I am. I was raised better than that."

He smiled knowingly and seemed pleased by my response. He knew I wouldn't treat him ill as the norm, despite my anger, I wouldn't treat him as he seemed intent on treating me.

I kept to my word on that.

I never treated Connor any differently than any of the others. I would be no better than him if I did. The next few days were difficult. He made his distaste for me even more obvious, but to my relief, he refrained from glaring at Ettie anymore. I was thankful for that as the days drifted into weeks.

June dawned bright, a let up from the sheets of rain that had fallen throughout May. It was ironic that the first day of sun brought with it further clouds of worry into our lives.

Fresh from the shower, I headed towards where I knew Jake would be. The smell and sizzle of bacon told me where to find him. Ettie was exactly where I'd left her, sprawled out on her favourite blanket that Jake had gifted her that first day, colouring with felt tips and pencils enthusiastically. Connor and Billy sat around the dining table; the former was engrossed in some schoolwork as I passed. I said good morning to Billy as usual but to my surprise, he offered no reply to me. His gaze was fixed on the newspaper clutched in his hand. It was a local paper. A deep frown creased my forehead as I read the headline over his shoulder. "Local girl missing". A picture beneath the story made my worry grow.

I found Jake in the kitchen, his task complete, he leaned casually against the counter, munching on a piece of bacon. Like my own, there was a deep frown on his face too.

"You saw?" I asked quietly, knowing from his expression that he must have.

He nodded, "could be nothing…"

His voice trailed off, deep in thought it seemed. He clearly was starting to think there was more to this than we'd first thought. It was all just a little too coincidental.

"It could be," I agreed, though suspicion was starting to get the better of me of late. Since we'd found Ettie's mother in the woods, a further seven young girls had gone missing from the surrounding areas, three of whom were from Seattle, the other four, now five, from the small surrounding towns nearby.

I went and stood beside him. Our legs brushing together, sending shockwaves through me at the contact. I pushed the thoughts away, we had other things to think about right now. He put his arm about my waist, and we stood quietly for a time.

"Do you know the girl who went missing?" I asked when the thought passed through my mind.

He shook his head, "I don't know everyone here."

A hint of laughter in his voice brightened my mood slightly. I was about to ask more when she came bounding into the room.

"I drew you a picture!" She declared proudly, thrusting a piece of slightly crumpled A4 into my grip.

I took it and studied it. Her drawing was far better than most toddlers or even pre-schoolers could have achieved but it was still the drawing of a small child. I didn't want to ask but curiosity got the better of me.

"Oh it's lovely!" I praised, hesitating before asking, "What is it?"

"Leaves and flowers!" She exclaimed happily, before rushing off back towards the little corner of the lounge where she was settled out of Connor's eyeline, drawing contentedly.

"I don't see it," he commented then.

I stifled a laugh as I moved across the room, placing the picture with the others on the refrigerator, securing it with a tiny silver magnet.

"And you say my education is lacking. It is clearly an abstract piece which your untrained eyes simply cannot appreciate."

He laughed and embraced me suddenly, my back moulding to his front as his strong arms held me close. I leaned my head back against his shoulder and sighed, utterly content in that moment.

"Jake, can you -" Connor began, interrupting our moment. He rolled his eyes at us, shook his head and stalked off.

Jake sighed deeply, his annoyance obvious.

"I'll be back in a second," he told me, before reluctantly following the moody teenager. I took a strip of bacon with me as I went and took a seat beside Billy. His expression had warmed now, and he smiled at me when I sat.

"She's a charming little one," he stated, glancing over at Ettie, "she drew me a lovely picture just now. It's been a long time since a little one did that for me."

His voice was reminiscent as he spoke. Connor huffed annoyed while Jake's attention was firmly planted on whatever schoolwork Connor had sought guidance with.

"You act like she's a normal kid," he scoffed.

Jake tilted the textbook to stare down at Connor, his look of warning wasn't enough though.

"Why does everyone act like you too aren't the enemy?"

I bit down on my tongue and fought to say nothing.

"Connor, enough."

"Guess all you had to do was spread your legs and - "

I never knew how that sentence would end. Jake grabbed Connor by the shirt collar and removed him from the room before he could say another word. Pulling him outside into the brief sunshine to have words with him.

"He's a troubled boy that one," Billy remarked, "I remember Jake struggling with this change too. He won't always be so angry, and he'll regret his treatment of you, I'm sure."

I didn't agree with Billy's assessment, but I smiled and nodded before excusing myself from the table.

My thoughts had returned to the missing girl by evening. I'd kept myself distracted most of the day but once Ettie was asleep, my mind resumed its musing. Jake had a night off from patrolling the woods tonight. He had sent Connor out with Levi and Embry tonight in the hopes that "a good few laps of the forest" would calm his fury for a few hours.

I lay beside him, our limbs tangled together beneath the comforter, his arms keeping me close. There was a tension between us, and I knew it had to be spoken aloud now.

"Do you think it's all connected somehow?"

I felt the muscles in his forearms tense.

"I have a bad feeling it might be," he admitted, "thankfully no more corpses dropped on our doorstep though."

His words lingered in the back of my mind as I slept that night. Images of broken, torn apart women clouded my dreams. I was startled awake at the sound of Jake's ringtone at 3am. He groaned loudly at the disruption, but I woke up more easily than he did. I reached across him and glanced at the caller I.D before shaking him and explaining.

"It's Levi," I told him, "They might have found something."

That made him wake. He sat up quickly, grabbing the cell and answering.

"Hey Jake," Levi greeted, "Can Ren come and check Connor? We were mucking about, and he smashed into something. His shoulder looks bad, it started to heal fine, but he panicked and phased and now it doesn't look right."

Jake turned to me, and I nodded in reply. Throwing the cover off and hoping out of bed. so incredibly relieved it wasn't something else to visit the woods for tonight. I dressed quickly, being quiet and careful not to wake Ettie or Billy with my departure.

The woods were alive with life despite the early hour as I sped through the trees, moving with ease through the woodland. I found them without too much trouble. Connor looked horrified when he saw me.

"Oh god, not you," he muttered when I approached. I said nothing to him and instead just silently observed the injury. It appeared to have healed wrong thanks to phasing interrupting the process. Thankfully, it was a simple enough fix.

"I don't want you touching me," he said angrily.

"Jeez, Con," Levi said quickly, "it's fine. She's not going to suck your blood, she's a nurse for fuck sake. She fixed my leg before, just get it over with."

At his companions' encouragement he sighed and gave in. Allowing me to physically touch his shoulder joint, where the bone and muscle had fused wrong.

"Now I won't lie," I began, "this will hurt, but hold still and it won't take long."

His reluctance was obvious, he didn't want me to touch him again. He didn't want me anywhere near him let alone allowing me to cause him pain.

"Levi, could you hold him still please?"

He obliged and within a few minutes it was over. The shoulder was back in place and Connor seemed much happier for it. He said nothing to me. Barely acknowledged that I had even been here. Once I was sure he was ok, I returned back to the house, leaving them to carry on their patrol. I went into the house making little noise and slipped back into bed, under the covers, tucking myself up into his warmth.

"Everything alright?" He asked, barely awake.

"Hmm, yeah," I murmured, "The boys were being idiots. All sorted now."

Jake's chest vibrated in muted laughter.

"Sounds about right," he told me, pulling me close.

Sleep claimed us both, and to our surprise we slept long into the morning. Ettie hadn't disturbed us. I panicked at the thought. Upon waking the sun was higher in the sky than it ought to have been. I threw back the covers and headed to where Ettie usually slept in an infant sized bed at the opposite end of the room to ours. Empty.

My breathing sped up, worried I took little notice of Jake trying to get my attention and left the room, seeking sight of her.

"Yeah, so if the cards look the same, you just shout 'snap' and put your hand over the deck, get it?" Connor's voice caught my attention first. He sat cross legged on the carpeted floor, a deck of playing cards between himself and Ettie.

"Yep," she replied eagerly, she was beaming with joy at the teenager sitting opposite her. Watching his every move, she studied him and learnt how to behave as he did. They played cards together for a long while. All I could do was watch, thrilled but mostly shocked by this development. He was being kind to Ettie, going out of his way to engage with her and I couldn't hide how it made me happy to witness.

"Maybe you're not so bad after all?" Jake suggested, winking at me before heading off towards the kitchen.

I watched them a moment longer, saw how genuine he seemed with her and smiled at the sight of them both together. Maybe we could make this work after all.