Disclaimer: Copyright infringement of any kind not intended. I graduated from the Google School of Criminal Justice with a minor in Supernatural Studies. Unbeta'd, but always in search of any volunteers.

Author's Note: This is the reposted third part to The Miseducation of Leah Uley. Rated M for strong language, violence, and mature situations.

Enjoy!

Chapter One

Tonight was the last night of 2019.

In a matter of hours, a whole new decade would grace this side of the world. Another Roaring Twenties. A start of something potentially wonderful, Dr. Murad had told Leah during their last session of the year. She had tasked Leah with writing a well-thought-out list of new year's resolutions. Leah did the work, of course, but her cynical side, the one who had been her constant companion for the past couple of years, wasn't expecting much – It was just another start to another decade. Another year. Most likely with the same shit.

2020.

"The year when all of our hard work comes into fruition," Captain Paul Lahote had declared the week prior at the Chicago Police Department's Voldemort Unit holiday party. The usually (but understandably) pessimistic leader had a wide grin on his face, a ridiculous Santa hat on his head with a beer in each hand. "The year when we become legends."

The captain's rather dramatic declaration had been met with loud applause, cheers, and a great deal of Fuck Yeah's. All Leah could do was snicker into her eggnog cocktail. She had appreciated the captain's boisterous optimism, but she wasn't entirely sure if she shared the good feelings. Not then, and certainly, not now.

And legends?

Maybe?

The potential was certainly there.

This investigation was definitely one of a kind, the type that would inspire books and movies. If the Voldemort Unit could somehow end the investigations with several convictions, they should be considered legends. The investigation had been a complete, utter clusterfuck, From the Chicago Dahlia murder, the Deal, the coven mafia, public corruption, the Slaughterhouse homicides, the Midway Heist, and the Green Lawn Ditch murders—

A particular name flashed through Leah's mind.

Tia.

Leah hadn't seen nor heard from the informant since their last conversation outside the hospital. That had been months ago. Tia's cell phone had long been disconnected. Apartment emptied and sanitized. Nothing on the internet or the police systems about her apparent disappearance. Nothing from Maria, Tia's supposed best friend, and righthand woman. It was puzzling and concerning, but unfortunately, as far as the Voldemort Unit's priorities were concerned, Tia wasn't one.

The detective still held out hope, though. No matter how small, something was bound to come into the limelight. Tia would have never been able to weave her way into the Fangs, Maria's and her murdered husband's life without something.

All she wanted to know was if Tia was okay.

And give Gianna Castellano's mother some closure. And the loved ones of Jessica Stanley. Of the Slaughterhouse victims. The Green Lawn Ditch victims. Riley Biers. Despite some of the victims' less than noble activities, they deserved justice for their murders—

"Leah?"

The sound of Seth's concerned voice snapped Leah from her thoughts.

Oh, right.

She forgot she was sitting inside her black Honda CRV, parked outside of Jacob's place, where she and Seth were supposed to be a half an hour ago. She should push away all thoughts of work and get on moving. She checked the time on her car's clock. Damn, she was really late, and she was going to hear Jacob's mouth about it all night. But in her defense, most of the time wasted was due to a three-car-pileup near the exit to Lake Shore Drive.

Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt.

Leah drew in a sharp breath, slowly exhaled, and loosened her grip on the steering wheel. "Right," she mumbled under her breath, unbuckling her seatbelt. She pointedly avoided her brother's gaze as she turned off the engine, gathered her belongings, and exited the vehicle.

When Leah realized that Seth hadn't moved from the front passenger seat, she could only shake her head. The concern, worry, and the oh fuck vibes the younger Clearwater was emitting reminded Leah of her mother and Jacob. Both of whom seemed to always be convinced that the detective was going to lose her shit one of these days. Which wasn't fair; Leah was just a little on the stressed side. The past few months had been hell.

She was fine.

"It's all good," Leah insisted with as much conviction she could muster as she opened the trunk to grab a bag. The 'insistence' was directed at her brother, but it could've also been directed at herself – it was. She closed the trunk. "Honest. Just had a lot on my mind."

Which wasn't a lie.

Unsurprisingly, her words didn't completely do the trick, but at least Seth no longer had that infuriating look of pity on his face when he got out of the car and grabbed the rest of the bags from the back seat. "Oh, come on, Big sis," he sang, delivering a slap to Leah's shoulder. His worrisome vibes were slowly being overtaken by something more cheerful. Thank goodness. "No need for the long face."

Leah rolled her eyes although she had to admit that her brother was right. Not that Leah intended to ever give him the satisfaction of admitting such aloud. She wouldn't hear the end of it.

But yeah, Seth was right.

Jacob had invited them both to a New Year's Eve get-together at this place, featuring good food, card games, football, and absolutely no discussions about work (per Paul's request… erm, demand).

Leah fondly shook her head as she locked the car. Seth's smiles were infectious and had the uncanny ability to lift any spirits. Even the traditionally-cynic, over-stressed detective. "Big Sis?" she questioned. Funny coming from a man who specialized in believing he had something over Leah just because he happened to be the tallest sibling. Date of birth, be damned. "Really?"

Seth shrugged. "Don't know what the problem is… It's only a fact you've been reminding me of since I was born," he snarked in a way that made Leah proud. "C'mon," he said, jerking his head in the direction of the building entrance.

"Like your memory can go back that far," Leah returned good-naturedly and smirked at the finger Seth had sent her way as she followed him across the street. "Lil Bro."

"Ugh! Don't call me that!"

Leah cackled the entire way to Jacob's building.

"About time," Jacob greeted from his front door with a wide grin plastered on his face and wolfbane-infused beer in his hand, dressed in that ridiculous, ugly-as-hell, lit-up Christmas sweater – payment for his latest failed Embry-involved sports bet. He pulled Leah into a half-hug, despite her mumbled not-so-protests, and exchanged a fist-bump with Seth with his free hand. He offered to take the bags, but Seth declined as he walked past the man and into the apartment.

Once freed from Jacob's grasp, Leah exchanged greetings with everyone else inside. Paul was in the living room with Quill, engaging in an animated conversation about Jason Statham movies while the television displayed said actor's movie. Jared, from the sounds of it, was rummaging through the fridge. Embry hadn't arrived yet with his girlfriend, as fully expected, because he didn't believe in punctuality.

"Dude, you really did fix up this place! Not a stray sock in sight!" Seth disappeared into the kitchen, loud as ever, "Hey, Jared, please tell me you finally watched Iron Fist! It's been two years!"

"How does he come into my house insulting me?" Jacob shook his head, though he was more amused than offended. "And here I thought he was the nicer Clearwater sibling."

Leah glanced at her brother, who was gushing with Jared, flailing arms and all, about some guy named "Danny." A Marvel character, no doubt. That man lived and died by those comics. She lightly chuckled at the sight.

"That bastard's been more unbearable since he started working at the department," she said, shrugging off her oversized coat. Contrary to the rest of the pack's (namely Embry's and Jared's) belief, just because they had a higher body temperature than humans did not mean they should forgo a jacket in the middle of the Chicago winter. "I think his S.O.'s attitude's rubbing off of him."

"Well, McNulty's known for being an endearing asshole," Jacob joked as he took Leah's jacket and turned to hang it up on the coat rack. "But rest assured, Seth's in good—" He stopped and quickly turned back around with a deep frown.

Leah didn't know how to take the change of mood, but she certainly didn't like the look on Jacob's face. "What?" she asked. Hopefully, it was nothing too serious. "What?"

Jacob gave Leah a once-over. "You good?"

Leah's eyes widened, but then she realized she didn't even have to ask.

She let out a sigh, having been fully convinced she had left her moodiness back in her car. She tried to think of a snide remark to take the heat off her, to change Jacob's expression, but the delicious smell from the kitchen served as a perfect distraction.

"I need to eat," Leah ended up saying, rubbing her hands together as she took in another whiff. Good food, without a doubt, would do wonders to her spirits. "Preferably in the next minute. Haven't had anything all day."

"Give it another twenty," Jacob said, mouth curving into a slight, amused smile, but was dropped almost immediately. He crossed his arms and peered down at Leah through narrowed eyes as if disappointed that she dared to change the subject. "You didn't answer my question."

Leah huffed as she unraveled and hung her scarf on top of her coat. "You can be a persistent ass; you know that, right?" She reached up to tap Jacob's cheek a couple of times. "Hey, just need a break," she insisted. "That's all."

Jacob dropped his arms and nodded, seemingly in agreement. "Don't we all," he replied in a whisper. "Fucking Paul, and this damn case."

Leah looked over to where the captain was sitting. Jacob's comment meant to be a joke but didn't mean it was entirely fair. Paul was simply a capable captain who refused to only sit on his ass (or cases) until a promotion or retirement was on the horizon. He got shit done, for better or worse; he never believed in taking the easy route. Definitely for better or for worse.

"He got nothing to do with this mess, really. It's those asshole-criminals' fault. Not Paul's."

"Yeah, I know – The Washington wilderness is still on the table."

Jacob's efforts to find affordable weekend getaways were admirable, but Leah gave up having a vacation months ago. "We couldn't even take a long weekend to LA. What makes you think we can convince the… Speaking of the devil."

With his large flashing party-hat, Paul let out a hearty laugh and delivered a heavy slap to Leah's back. "Me, the devil? After all, we've been through?" He pointed at his detectives with his beer-free hand. "And for the last time, this is a work-free zone. Nothing about investigations. About goddamn mobster vampires, or any of that shit. That's an order."

Jared emerged from the kitchen with Seth and three beers. Leah hoped for his lightweight-sake that none contained traces of wolfbane. "You can't give orders like that, Paul. I thought we were not talking about work? You're not our boss until Monday."

"Another word, Cameron, and you're back to mail duty for a week!"

Jared threw up his hands, impressively without dropping anything. "Oh, come on!"

Everyone laughed except for Paul, who would maintain his glare for the next several seconds before joining in.

Quill looked up from his bowl of chips. "I don't understand how you all work together," he remarked, shaking his head. "Not at all."

To be honest, Leah often wondered the same thing. They all had different personalities and spent significant time getting on each other's nerves. But she supposed it was all out of love, and anyway, the Voldemort Unit hadn't collapsed once during the past couple of years, so they must be doing something right.

Jacob pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "Here we go again," he said, knowing exactly where this conversation was heading. "One day without them going at it. Is that too hard to ask?"

Leah shrugged. She wasn't going to complain; the squabbling was the perfect distraction she needed. She just shook her head, softly chuckling as she entered the living room, where Quill was sitting in front of the television, also amused at Jared's and Paul's playful bickering.

"Where do you want these?" Leah asked when she entered the kitchen with a few bags in her hands. Carrying the heavy bags was technically supposed to be Seth's job (since she had been the one driving), but he was too engrossed in The Witcher fan theories to be productive.

Jacob had his back towards his partner as he returned numerous seasonings to their rightful place in the cabinet. "On the table." He glanced over his shoulder. "Your mom made it okay?"

Leah put down the bags on the counter. "Yeah, she's been camping out around Times Square with her buddies since noon." She showed Jacob a picture taken by Sue from earlier this afternoon. There was her mother was, standing in the middle of a sea of people, obviously freezing her behind off, but obviously having the time of her life. Good for her. "I don't understand the hoopla about standing there all day long to watch a ball drop for ten seconds."

"You gotta get a hotel near the ball-drop." Jacob snapped his fingers. "Then it'll be worth it."

"That has to be expensive."

"Shouldn't be that bad if you reserve months in advance."

Leah cracked open a wolfbane beer from the freezer and leaned against the counter, watching Jacob as he moved around the kitchen. "Is that an offer?" Because if it was, she was down for it. Just as long as she didn't worry about losing her place in the ten-second-ball-dropping-watching crowd because she had to use the restroom.

"Work should die down by then, yeah?"

"One can only hope." Leah pushed off the counter and joined her friend at the stove. All eyes were covered with pots and pans, but the one in the front stole most of Leah's attention. "No, seriously. That smells amazing. Where did you buy it from?"

"Buy it from?" Jacob grinned and shook his hands. "This masterpiece was crafted from these in this wonderful, too damn small of a kitchen."

"Are you sure?" Leah challenged with a smirk. "Since when you know to make something either than burgers, bacon, hot wings, and breakfast food?"

"I know how to cook, thank you. Just never really had the time. Food Network is my Bravo Channel when sports aren't on, except it's more educational and less catty."

Leah placed a hand to her chest and gasped. "I don't know what you're talking about. You can learn a thing or two from the Real Housewives franchise. Like for instance, don't commit fraud to keep up appearances. And, most importantly, if you're gonna spread rumors, make sure you have receipts."

Jacob chuckled. "I'm pretty sure you don't need a reality show for those life lessons." He uncovered the pan, cut off a small piece of the meat, and held it up to Leah's face. "Steak au Poivre. Tell me how good it is."

"If you poison me…." Despite the wonderous aroma, Leah laid a skeptical eye on the fork, but she ultimately took a leap of faith and immediately was grateful for her decision. She looked up at the man, impressed. "I see you've been keeping secrets from me, Black," she said. "Gimme another."

Jacob shook his head. "No can do." He placed the cover over the pan and adjusted the heat enough to keep the dish warm. "I don't want the guys thinking I'm playing favorites."

Leah scoffed. "Can't have that." She leaned in closer and attempted her best doe-eyed look. She wasn't exactly an expert in such a maneuver, but she really wanted another piece, and it was the closest thing to begging. "C'mon. One more won't hurt."

Apparently, whatever she did had worked. Jacob relented without much of a fight. "Here." He held up another piece of steak. "Don't say anything."

"Ride and die," Leah vowed and took a bite. Just as mouth-watering as before. She might have to bribe the man to make this dish specifically for her. Numerous times. "My lips are sealed."

Jacob placed the fork aside and re-covered the pan. "Like I said: I don't want any problems from the guys," he joked with a lopsided grin. "Problems break packs."

"Oh, they'll be fine – Hey, thanks for letting Seth tag along tonight. He's been dying to spend more time with the pack, being obsessed with everything supernatural and all." Leah glanced at the kitchen opening, where she could see half of the living room space. "Now, he can nerd out with Embry and Jared instead of asking me five-billion questions, most of which I can't answer."

Leah did not entirely mind Seth's enthusiasm regarding the supernatural; it was better than screaming, but damn, the younger man could be too inquisitive for his own good.

"No problem. I know this was supposed to be a strictly pack-thing, but then I told everyone they could bring a plus one, which I realized only meant Embry because we all suck at romance."

It wasn't that bad.

Quill might have a sort of thing with Claire, the owner of the salon across the street from his bar. Jared was "finding" himself through OK-Cupid and Tinder with varying results. Paul might or might not have a thing for Jacob's sister, Rachel (currently in a complicated relationship with her Hawaii-based fiancé, which no one wisely talked about). Leah was casually dating (if she could call it that), and Jacob seemed to be a dedicated member of "Team Single and Sort-of Ready to Mingle," so…

So, the man might have a point.

"We don't suck." Leah gave Jacob's arm a squeeze. "Remember: someone actually married us. They must've seen something they liked for that kind of commitment."

Jacob snorted as he washed his hands over the kitchen sink. "And look how both of our marriages turned out."

Fair enough.

"Pessimism gets you nowhere, Black."

"Ha! Now, you sound Mathis." Jacob turned off the water and laughed when Leah threw a kitchen towel at him out of spite. "No one would want to sound like Mathis." He put up his hands. "No offense."

Leah shook her head. Mathis. Oh, Leah remembered Professor Mathis. He was only the star of many of Jacob's rants during the Fall semester. Apparently, night-time Philosophy classes weren't Jacob's thing. "There's quite a lot of offense," she retorted, crossing her arms. Of course, Jacob was only messing around with her; she knew it and simply played along. "You hated the man."

"I didn't hate him," Jacob insisted. "Just found him annoying as hell."

Leah drew in a sharp breath. "So, are you insinuating that I am annoying?" She shook her head at Jacob's alarmed expression. "Just missing with you – If you're still interested, Bella's cousin's really milking the success from her out latest singles' event. I hear that a certain TV network may even reach out to her. Maybe give Sarah a call and see if she can work on some magic?"

Jacob waved off the suggestion. "I'm good."

Leah sighed.

Team Single, it was.

"Speaking of professors, ready for another round of academic learning?"

She had to give Jacob a lot of credit for going back to school. She knew she wouldn't be able to do so at this time in life. Just the thought of studying anything outside of work – other than the directions of meal-kit recipes – made her head hurt.

"Yeah, only two more weeks of freedom, then back to hitting the books." Jacob slapped the dishtowel over his shoulder. "I thought about just taking the whole semester off, but… I decided to drop two of 'em. Two night classes and one on Saturday should do the trick. I'm not doing five straight again. I don't have the time, especially with all this investigation-mess going on. For some reason, shit loves to hit the fan at night." He let out a snort. It had been a trying past few months. "I'm gonna get this done, though, come hell or high water."

Leah gave Jacob a warm smile. "I know you will," she said. "At least, time's on your side. It's not like you need to get a degree ASAP for a promotion. It helps, of course, but it's not… you know, necessary."

Jacob matched Leah's smile. "Yeah, I know." He then looked past his friend and raised an eyebrow. "What's in the bag?"

Leah glanced over her shoulder to the bag on the counter and flashed Jacob a devilish grin. "My contribution to tonight's festivities," she announced. She took a few steps back and pulled a large bowl from the bag. She tapped on the plastic cover. "Something I know you would appreciate."

It was more like Sue's contribution, made right before the flight to New York. That woman knew how to make a mean salad. Not that salads were particularly difficult to make, but if it were up to Leah, she would simply cut up some lettuce and tomatoes and call it a day. But not Sue. Oh no, she added cucumbers, olives, shredded carrots, and numerous other canine-friendly raw vegetables.

And Leah vowed to ensure that Sue's work didn't come to waste, despite the look of defiance on Jacob's face. He was never a true believer in leafy greens.

"You bought a salad," Jacob said, deadpanned. Leah found his expression hysterical. "You brought rabbit food for a pack of wolves."

"Shapeshifters, except for Seth, of course," Leah cheekily corrected. "And yeah, I brought a salad. I told you I was bringing a salad. You were fine with it yesterday."

"I thought you were joking—"

"It's lettuce, for Heaven's sake. It's not going to bite." And before Jacob could protest, she put up a hand and added, "And yes, you all will be having some, and I'm going watch you all eat every single green leaf. And there will be nothing sugar-related consumed until you do."

Jacob was horrified. "Don't you think you're going a bit overboard?"

"Under normal circumstances, perhaps, but given that everyone not-named-Quill seems to forget that leafy greens are an integral part of a healthy diet, no, I am not." Leah stopped and grinned at the sound of a recognizable voice coming from the living room. "Looks like Embry finally decided to bless us with his presence. Be back—and you better not throw away that salad."

She chuckled as she left a groaning Jacob in the kitchen.

"You're late."

Embry sauntered into Jacob's apartment. "Fashionably," he declared, tossing his jacket at Jared, who threw it back in his face. "You know how I do," he told Leah with a wink and a wide smirk. "Happy Soon-to-be New Year's, Miss Clearwater. You looked wonderful tonight. Movie star-worthy. Got a hot date?"

Leah rolled her eyes. She was sure she looked like a Hollywood star in a simple long-sleeved, plain cotton shirt and jeans. She shooed the teasing man away to greet the other newcomer, Lisa Chan, Embry's girlfriend of several months, who looked terrific in her long wine-colored sweater dress. So, terrific that Leah might need to know where to get herself one.

"So glad you made it," Leah said with a genuine smile, drawing Lisa into a hug. She was a pleasant person to be around with, and judging by the past several months, seemed perfect for Embry. Lisa adored the man, and he certainly adored her.

It was disgustingly, tooth-rot-inducingly cute.

To this day, Leah couldn't believe that Embry, Mr. I'm-A-Flirt and aspiring lifelong-bachelor, would be the only member of the pack in a solid, stable, committed relationship. And Embry wouldn't shut up about either. Not out of jest, of course, but because, as he had put it early in the week, "No one believed in me. Not even my own ma. I can do serious… when I'm serious. And I'm damn serious about this."

Like Leah said: disgustingly, tooth-rot-inducingly cute.

Plus, to make things even better, Lisa was completely unfazed by the whole shapeshifter thing.

"I thought I wasn't going to," Lisa said with a grin, returning the hug. She took a step back to hang up her and Embry's coat. She greeted everyone else with a wave and a wider smile before turning back to Leah. "Trial starts on Thursday, and I thought the boss was going to make us poor paralegals stay the whole weekend like last time." She let out a relieved sigh. "For once, he remembered that Holiday weekends were important, and compiling copies of witness statements could wait until Monday."

"It's about time he gives you guys a break," Leah remarked, earning a laugh from the other woman. She then deeply breathed; whatever Embry was carrying smelled amazing, but based on the younger man's track record when it came to cooking, she had to ask, "Is it...safe for consumption?"

While Lisa burst into a fit of laughter, Embry wasn't nearly as amused. "Oh, fuck you, Lisa made it. Okay? I know I'm not the best cook, okay?"

Lisa gave Leah two thumbs up.

"Sorry, I just have to ask. For the sake of everyone's stomachs?" Leah tapped the grumbling Embry's cheek a couple of times, "Good boy." She chuckled at Embry's flailing before turning to Leah. "Thank you," she said, sincerely. "We're trying to avoid a trip to the hospital and become government experiments."

Embry threw up his arms.

Lisa gave a toothy grin. "He knows how to make pasta and use the rice cooker. Taught him last week," she said, clearly amused by her boyfriend's reaction. "Next time, we're going to work on chicken."

Leah brought a hand to the chest and let out a dramatic gasp. "Really?" She pinched Embry's cheek. "Look at you," she cooed. Teasing him was just as entertaining as teasing Seth. It didn't take much to make the man fluster, despite what he wanted everyone to believe. "She's a keeper."

Embry slapped Leah's hand away and shook his head as if he was some disappointed parent. "You know, I expect this kind of behavior from the guys, but not from you," he chided, though fooling no one, including his chuckling girlfriend. Embry whined at that, "Oh, come on, don't feed into this."

"Learning how to cook is very important," Lisa innocently explained, though the mischievous glint in her eyes said otherwise. "Every person should learn."

"I'd listen to your girlfriend," Leah advised Embry with a wink.

"As any wise man should."

Leah and Lisa shared a wide grin and laughed.

Embry ran a hand down his face and groaned, "I wished I never introduced you two…." Then his face lit up when Jacob emerged from the kitchen. "Dude, I love the sweater!" he called out, laughing so hard he almost toppled the coat hanger. "It brings out the eyes! Doing absolute wonders to your shoulders."

"Oh, go to Hell."

"Do you hear this verbal abuse?" Embry said, wiping away an invisible tear. "That's the fool I chose to follow."

Leah raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't that make you the fool?" She teased, sharing a fist-bump with Lisa while Embry just shook his head in disappointment and reiterated his ill-advised decision to bring his girlfriend around the rest of the pack.

"I don't care what Cameron says; we will not be playing Spin the Bottle because we're not in high school." Paul declared following dinner. It was never a get-together with the pack without a game and Paul calling the shots. He pulled out the infamous deck of UNO cards and placed it in front of him. "Okay, you know the drill, but we're gonna spice it up a bit." He made a dramatic pause. "Teams."

Leah raised an eyebrow. Unless she had been living under a rock, she was pretty sure that, "There are no teams in UNO," Jacob pointed out. It was as if the man could read her mind. "I'm pretty sure there are no teams unless I'm missing something?"

The grin plastered on Paul's face was downright menacing. "There are now."

"Things have become interesting," Seth said in a low voice, rubbing his hands together with a mischievous glint in his eyes that had Leah very concerned for a moment. Only a moment, and she would never admit anything to anyone when asked. She wasn't afraid of her little brother, thank you, just his indiscernible mastery of the children's game. "Things have become quite interesting…."

Everyone except for Jared groaned. "Oh, shit!" the second youngest person at the table exclaimed, way too excited for Leah's liking. This new twist to an already contentious game was going to be a mess. "This night just got more interesting – Seth, you and me? Show these plebians how it's done?"

Leah rolled her eyes so hard she was seventy-five percent positive she saw her brain. Confidence was the last thing both Jared and Seth needed at a time like this.

She just didn't understand how Seth could be so good at this godforsaken game.

Seth gave Jared a thumbs up. "You got it!" He then turned to Embry. "Sorry, man."

"It's all good 'cuz Lisa, and I are going to kick all of your asses," Embry declared, exchanging a high-five with his equally confident girlfriend. "Be warned and ready to fork us all the money."

Jacob gave Leah an expectant look. "Leah?"

Leah shrugged as she gathered her cards. "I'm down," she said. It made sense. She and Jacob were partners in almost everything else. So why not a card game? "Just don't fuck me over, and we won't have no problems."

Jacob raised his beer and flashed a toothy grin.

"So, it's settled," Paul declared.

Embry shot up from his chair. "Uh, not it's not!" he argued. He had a serious look on his face, but with Embry being Embry, no one truly knew if he was actually serious. "You can't have Leah and Jacob on the same team! It wouldn't be fair. I'm pretty sure they can read each other's mind – Oh, c'mon, have you seen them during interrogations? I'm telling you there's some serious telepathic-shit going on. Seth should switch with Leah, so we can all have a fighting chance. Hell, have Quill substitute in."

While Leah and Jacob both mouthed, What the fuck? to each other, Quill stood up to declare, "As I've mentioned a thousand times before, I am never playing a game of UNO with any of you ever again. Not after last time."

"It was one time," Paul said as he continued to hand out the cards. Not a trace of sympathy in his voice. "It's not our fault you lost a hundred bucks."

"Which is exactly the reason why I'm not playing," Quill said, shaking his head again. "I like not losing money," he added, earning a laugh from everyone. "I will simply watch from afar and provide the necessary commentary."

"Paul."

Leah gave Embry an extremely unimpressed look before returning to her cards. It was only a children's game, for goodness' sake. "I'm sorry; why are you so concerned again? I thought you and Lisa were going to, what was it? Kick all of our asses?"

Jacob gave Leah a thumbs up while Embry gave her the finger.

Lisa just chuckled behind her hand of cards.

Seth's eyes widened as he looked from up his cards. Then, he leaned forward and whispered to his sister, "Wait, you can read each other's minds?"

Leah chose to ignore her brother as she arranged the cards in her hands. She thought she had a decent enough chance to win just as long as Jacob upheld his end of the bargain.

"Yes," Embry answered for Leah.

"Shut up, and for the last time, we are not telepathic." And when no one looked convinced, Jacob turned to his partner. "Leah Clearwater," he said in a voice reserved specifically for court appearances. "Can you read my mind?"

Leah couldn't believe they were having this conversation. But then again, with Embry and Jared involved, anything could happen. "Nope," she declared loud and clear.

Jacob slapped the table, then threw up his hands, feeling vindicated. "Thank you."

Embry narrowed his eyes. "Lies."

Paul smirked.

"Hey, enough with the conspiracy theories," Quill said with a loud clap. "Let's get this show on the road. I wanna see a good game."

"You're not even playing," Jared pointed out.

"And?"

"You guys are hysterical," Lisa laughed. She then patted Embry's hand and grinned. "Honey, we'll be fine."

"Listen to her, Embry," Leah teased as she rearranged her cards from the umpteenth time. She had a decent enough hand. However, judging from the shit-eating grin on her brother's face, not as good of hand as Seth. That bastard. He was going to win again, wasn't he? That bastard. She didn't understand how someone could be this good at winning money from a damn children's game.

Embry rolled his eyes as Leah and Lisa shared an air-high-five from across the table.

While Embry continued his unsuccessful campaign to separate Jacob and Leah and prove their nonexistent telepathic abilities, Jacob leaned back in his seat, looking past Embry and his flailing, to where Leah sat. The corner of his mouth lifted when Leah met his gaze. "You good?" he mouthed.

Leah rearranged a card and gave Jacob a thumbs up.

Yeah, she was. It had only taken about ten minutes after arriving at Jacob's for most of Leah's stressors to melt away. Even with all of the teasing, the unnecessary comments, and jabs. It was clear that this was where Leah belonged. With the pack and with Seth not too far behind. Even if sometimes they mutually got on each other's nerves, she always came running back, and they felt the same way about her.

They were like an extension of her family, and not all families had to share blood – She had learned that years ago with Aisha. Sometimes, they were more reliable than Leah's blood-relations – She had learned that two years ago with Emily.

And you know what? Fuck the investigation. She could worry all about that Monday morning. Three days away. For now, Leah's focus needed to be on conspiring with Jacob to dethrone that infuriating little brother of hers as also known in the pack – and perhaps, the city of Chicago – as the "King of the Uno."

After several rounds of cards and unsurprisingly losing money to the reigning King and his infuriating teammate, Leah retreated into the kitchen, claiming to fetch another cold beer. Instead, she took out her phone and skimmed through the new messages. Most of them were New Year wishes from family and friends on the east coast. Heart-warming, but none of them contained the information she desperately needed. It had been months and not one damn lead.

She barely noticed Jacob entering the kitchen. He placed the empty beer cans on the counter and approached his partner. "What did they say?"

Leah let out a dejected sigh and pocketed her phone. "Nothing," she said. "They have nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's like we're dealing with a goddamn ghost."

Jacob squeezed Leah's shoulder. "We'll find her," he promised. "She knew too many people and was involved in too many things just to drop off the face of the planet. Something's gotta give." He gave Leah a small, reassuring smile, then jerked his head towards the living room and held out a hand. "C'mon, the countdown's about to start."

Leah nodded, then took Jacob's hand into hers. Then, without another word, she followed the man out of the kitchen and into the living room.