"Sleeping Beauty is, as the name suggests: sleeping. Can't really confirm the beauty part though, when I left she was curled up on her side, all buried under her blankets" Paul said with a grin, the very first words out of his mouth as he met his brothers on one of the dunes overlooking the beach, "could have been drooling everywhere for all I know but she's safe and sound. She didn't snore once and I'm pretty sure I didn't cause any long lasting injuries, disfigurements or the like.." his mouth tilted upwards as he watched Dwayne, "she's still got ten fingers and those weird eleven webbed toes..."

He was met with silence. Neither Marko nor David reacted to his joining the group and Dwayne himself said nothing, not giving even the slightest reaction his toe joke.

Paul had hoped for a tut or you know, a tensing of the shoulders at the very least but it appeared that the night was not going to progress like he would have hoped.

He felt his smile tighten.

He'd felt their tense, slowly steaming but distinctly angry energy miles away so he knew what he was flying into but still...he'd hoped.

He turned away from his brothers.

There was a little party going on in the distance, a roaring fire with a few dedicated, scattered figures dancing around, laughing, completely off their faces with drugs and alcohol. It looked like a good time. There was almost always something happening, almost always something going on and he loved Santa Carla for it. Summer was wild and hopping but winter didn't disappoint, either. No season did, not really. The town was a magnet for the wild, young and free and that's exactly what he was. Hell, after summer the visiting, holidaying families left and it was just the locals mixed with the truly wild and free hanging about. That meant there was even more fun to be had...but not tonight, of course.

No, there would be no fun tonight.

He glanced at the moving figures, partly wanting to join them, certainly wanting to feed from them and just generally wanting to avoid the conversation that was looming.

He wanted to be down there, laughing and fucking around.

Nothing good was going to happen tonight, he could tell.

Dwayne was dead in the face, even more so than usual. Fuck, even when the dude was being his stoic self there was a spark of knowing there in his eyes but tonight? Dude was deader than dead. Marko looked angry, it was visible from the way he was holding himself. He looked barely restrained, like he was ready to take flight and slaughter someone any second and David? Well. David himself was clearly stewing over something, his eyes were narrowed and mouth was open a little, his jaw set slightly to the left.

From their body language alone he knew that the night wasn't going to be a good one. He actually couldn't remember a time when everyone had been so...off.

They weren't talking with each other, either. That much Paul knew. They'd just been waiting for him to arrive and the thought of the three of them so unusually rattled, so unusually tense just standing there, waiting was a strange one.

Paul once again turned to observe the bonfire, hearing a fight breakout among the rowdy group. One of the women was wailing as two of the men shoved each other, tussling stupidly close to the bonfire.

Now it really looked like a good time down there.

"We gonna go put them out of their misery?" Paul asked the group mildly, trying hard to smirk and be light, "or add to it?"

"Grow up"

He looked at Marko with an indignant frown. He had been hoping someone would speak and interrupt his thoughts, interrupt the frigid atmosphere but christ alive, that's what he got? A muttered comment like that? From Marko? His bud?

"Fuck you, you prissy bitch" Paul responded immediately, tugging a smoke from his tux.

That had done it.

He'd been relaxed and chilled and having fun with Elizabeth and now here he was, pissed off within minutes of meeting his pack?

What world was he currently in?

Dwayne blinked at him, face still as dead as ever but he made no move to speak and Paul looked away from him. Why the fuck was he beating around the fucking bush? Of all people. Why him? Paul wanted to turn around on the spot and just leave. When was Dwayne anything other than direct and to the point? Why couldn't he just ask, 'what did you find out?' and why couldn't they just come out with what they'd found out, too?

Since when did they all pussy foot around and let the atmosphere cut into them.

Why wasn't David stepping up like he usually did?

He wished he could have just stayed with Liz instead. She was an easy enough person to chill with, easy person to hang with, super fun when she was off her face with drugs but good company sober, too. He liked her. He'd enjoyed his night with her, despite his ulterior motive for visiting. Even knowing that she'd all but forgotten her brother, knowing that meant something was going down, he could still enjoy goofing around with her. He wished he could just go back, curl up at the end of her bed like a whipped dog and pretend the whole night wasn't happening...and then he felt a flash of anger.

What the fuck even was happening?

Everyone was pissy and he didn't get it.

Thinking on it, Elizabeth was happy and content. She'd forgotten about her brother but she was so cool with everything, it was life as usual for her.

Did he - did they - want to be stirring the pot? Whatever was going on...the girl was fine. If she was fine, was there any point in getting so riled up? What was the saying? Let sleeping dogs lie and shit, right?

"Just tell us already" Marko said tersely.

Paul exhaled a stream of smoke.

So were they waiting for him to just come out with it? Kind of fucking hard while all three of them were so fucking tense, pounding down on him with their anger and constipated seriousness. How was he supposed to know what they wanted from him?

"Well obviously you already know. The two of you looks as constipated as Dwayne usually does" Paul replied and when Marko just stared at him, he continued, confirming what didn't even need to be confirmed, "no Michael"

He bit down his, 'duh'.

"And Elizabeth?"

"Yeah, I'd say she's pretty much forgotten the dude"

"Why?"

Why? Why? Did they want him to write them a book about his findings? A report? A five page essay about the missing Emerson? Was David going to grade it with a red pen?

"She didn't mention him. Didn't call his room his room, didn't find it weird or really acknowledge that it's empty...invited me to be an Emerson, said I'd be the fifth. Made a joke about how Paul, Liz and Sammy Emerson sounded"

Was that evidence enough?

David asked, his voice oddly detached, "did you ask about Michael directly?"

"Fuck no?"

Christ on a stick, did they actually think he was stupid?

Michael had clearly slipped her mind. What was the benefit to reminding her? Would she suddenly remember him and fly into a panic about why she'd all but forgotten him, about why his room was empty, about why he hadn't been around? What would happen then? Would she accuse him of messing with her memory? Would she wonder if Dwayne had done it? Would she demand to have answers there and then? Probably and yeah, it would be fair but fuck, he wasn't the one. He didn't fucking know what was going on. Seriously, why would he rile the girl up? Why upset her when he didn't have the answers for her? What if he told her he thought Star was the reason? He wasn't the one to explain the girl's history, the half-vampire shit she had going on. It was a whole can of worms and he knew better than to fuck with those on his own.

Knowing the truth without knowing the truth wouldn't help her and upsetting Liz wasn't something he particularly wanted to do. He liked the girl, for fucks sake. She was good people. Besides, they were a pack. They acted as a pack, they made decisions as a pack. He wasn't going to do or say anything without clear instructions. That's how it had always been, that's how he wanted it to keep on being.

Instead of voicing his thoughts, he simply ground out, "I'm not a fucking moron"

Neither of them snorted in derision at his comment and he knew it was serious. Whatever had them so fucked over wasn't a little thing. He flicked the dregs of his smoke onto the ground.

He didn't actually want to know but he knew there was no point burying his head in the sand about it, "so what did you find out?"

"Michael has left town, Star is joining him at some point tomorrow and she's got a very strong lure"

Succinct and concise but this time Paul himself snorted in disbelief. Star having a lure? That was ridiculous. She hated her vampiric side, she wanted nothing to do with it. Whatever limited skills she had by default, she buried them way down deep - the need for blood, the weakness that overtook her during the day. She fought hard, she pushed her mortality to the surface every single waking second and come on. They'd lived together. They'd seen her. He could admit that she had balls of steel but those aside, she had jack. She had nothing.

Nada.

Squat.

For her to have a lure? A strong lure?

"No way, man"

"Seriously" Marko replied, shaking his head as if he knew exactly what Paul was thinking.

"Star's got jack shit, the girl's got squat"

He would be the one to know. He had spent hours with her, trying to get her out of her self imposed isolation, trying to show her that life as a vampire was a dream come true. He'd hung out with her, hell, he'd fucking looked after her. How many times had he held her while she sobbed? He'd even spent a few of his nights collecting a bunch of shells from the shore because he knew they'd put the ghost of a smile on her face.

He had been nice to her, he'd helped her, he'd pushed her and then he'd prodded her and nothing.

The girl had nothing. It had been a lot easier to push and prod Marko into embracing what he was and from the start, Marko had skills pouring out of him.

Star? She had zero.

"She's got something" Marko insisted.

"She has a goal" David said, his voice still unnaturally flat, "she's found her shot at happiness and she's utilizing skills she had always buried. We shouldn't be surprised"

Was there a hint of bitterness in his voice? Paul wasn't sure.

"Well yeah but we always knew she wanted out?" Paul said, shaking his head. It wasn't making sense. They had to be wrong about her having a lure, "that's not new, she always knew she wanted out, she always had that goal-"

"-but now she sees it" Dwayne stated.

It was the first time he had spoken and while it had taken Paul by surprise, given the expressions on both David and Marko's faces, they were taken aback too.

He must have been doubly stoic the whole night.

That didn't bode well. Dwayne was only that silent when he was thinking some serious thoughts.

What was going down in his head?

"Star sees a chance with Michael. Having a goal and actually seeing your goal are two different things"

Paul nodded.

OK. Yeah, that made sense but..."what's the big deal, then? She's happy, he's happy. No danger. In fact, I'm sure Liz'll be happy to know that her brother's happy...fucking happiness fest over here"

So what if Star was using a lure? He honestly doubted that she had one but even if she did, there were worse things.

Why the fuck were they so serious?

Was that it?

Star and Michael off into the sunset together. Cliche and tacky but so what? The girl was going to make a slap up trophy wife, she was going to do whatever she could to make her man happy. Probably not the direction Mikey himself envisioned his life going but Santa Carla was a dead end, anyway. Everyone knew that. Fuck, it was practically the town's second motto. What was he gonna do after graduation? Same as every other sad fucker: slog away in a menial job, trying to save as many nickles and dimes as he could, get sucked into the world of illegal drugs or gangs in the hope of making it or just doing what a fuck ton of the population did...die. Those that thrived were few and far between. In the grand scheme of things, there were worse things the dude could be doing than shacking up with a cutie who would give him everything she had and more.

If this is what had his pack mates so stressed about, they were fucking morons.

He had half a mind to tell them, putting a damn damper on what was a good night just because they thought Star had a lure.

"You think running off into that sunset as a half was part of her goal?" Marko almost drawled.

That gave Paul pause.

There was a little bit of sarcasm in his brother's words and while he didn't bristle at it, he recognized that his dismissiveness was being brought into light.

What wasn't he seeing?

"...what did she do?"

Looking at the bigger picture, Star using a lure - if she even had one - really wasn't that big of a deal. Mikey was into her anyway, so what if she sweetened the deal with a bit of lure? Most chicks batted their eyes, wore makeup that worked magic or pushed their tits up to great heights with those sexy bras. Star just had a better, more direct approach. That didn't warrant the tense atmosphere but it sounded like they were getting to the root of the issue.

Star had done something.

That's what he wasn't seeing - it wasn't even about the lure, not really.

That was secondary information.

She must have done something. Nothing else would have riled the pack up like this, certainly not the girl having a lure. She was gorgeous, if she did have a skill, the fact that it was that wasn't such a shock. Marko was good at it because he was a sly mother fucker. She was good at it because of her charm, her beauty. It made sense, really. He doubted it was real but that wasn't here or there, not any more.

It was her and the goal. Dwayne had said she sees her goal...she must have done something to make sure she could reach it.

"The fuck did she do?" he repeated, getting a little frustrated by the lack of response.

David, without speaking, retrieved a somewhat crumpled letter from the inside of his jacket. He held it out to Paul and he knew immediately that he was the last one to read it.

He was about to find out what had gone down, what had really happened and this time he didn't want to bury his head in the sand.

This time, he wanted to know.

He read the neatly written words carefully but fast, his eyes darting back and forth over the softly scented paper and straight away he could feel a range of emotions tumble over him.

He understood it.

He understood his pack mate's feelings now.

That tense atmosphere? The anger? Totally warranted.

"You...are fucking shitting me..." Paul bit out slowly, gawping down at the letter in his hand.

Was Star trying to get them killed? After everything...this is what she was going to do?

"That fucking..." he hissed, eyes narrowed in disbelief. After all they had done for her? "What? Does she want a fucking war? This is straight up setting us up for slaughter-"

He looked up at David for clarification, for some kind of explanation.

"I imagine she was trying to force us to keep our word"

The calm tone of David's voice did little to quell Paul's anger because he knew.

He knew the rage David was hiding.

"Did she-"

"-no" Marko interrupted, "she wrote it down but she was obviously debating over it before we arrived. There weren't even any stamps on the envelope"

He seemed to have calmed down somewhat now that they were all on the same page, his snappish, tense anger had lessened.

"We should kill her" Paul said decisively, shaking his head. The fact that she'd had an envelope? The fact that she'd even put pen to paper like that, that she would bring that fight to them with no warning?

Jesus fucking Christ.

He had liked her. He had tried for her, he had fought for her. When she had first found her way to the pack it was his vote against Dwayne and Marko's that had halted her death.

He'd fought her corner and for what?

There was betrayal and then there was this.

There were four of them and they were impenetrable as a pack. Few vampires had ever strayed into their territory and those that did posed no problems. They were ruthless, they were brutal and they were skilled but there was a line that shouldn't be crossed. They could protect their territory and their pack because they were impenetrable. Sending an enemy information? Details? That was unforgivable. After everything, even after their relationship had fallen to shit...it was unforgivable. Star knew exactly what she was doing and that's what made it worse. They had offered her protection when they first found her, embraced her despite destroying any and all strays to wander into the territory. She should have been killed there and then but no. They had sheltered her, kept her safe from the one who had turned her and what? She was actively setting them up for an attack, actively forcing them into a fight with the one she had fled from?

She was taking away their control, their power over the situation and she knew it.

For her to do this? If she had sent the letter...

It could have been bad.

Really, really bad.

It was...fuck, she was setting them up for a..what? It was a sneak attack. No other way about it.

"You two were right" he said, looking between Dwayne and Marko, "seriously this is fucked. We should have killed her from the start"

Dwayne's eyes flickered to David's still form for just the briefest of moments and Paul looked at Marko in response. The younger blonde looked away with a rueful glance and Paul found himself feeling so torn, so conflicted that he didn't actually know what the fuck to do.

He wanted to respect David's feelings, he wanted to respect the complicated nature of the matter but he was furious.

"She's leaving" Dwayne said, his voice flat. He had moved to stand beside David and Paul didn't even know when, he'd been so focused on trying to settle his racing thoughts, "she isn't going to approach him. She's leaving town, the pack is safe"

Marko snorted and Paul felt a surge of camaraderie with his brother. Star couldn't go unpunished for this, "so that's it? She obviously isn't going to just deal with being a half. We've seen that-" he spread his arms out almost imploringly and Marko nodded, "-so if she's still alive, she's still a danger-"

The letter crumpled in his fist.

"-not a danger" Dwayne shook his head once, "she's afraid of us, she's afraid of him-"

"-hardly!"

For a moment, nobody spoke after Paul's impassioned interruption.

"...she was debating on whether she could send it. She was frightened" David intoned, staring off into the distance and Dwayne nodded once more, as if that was evidence enough, "look. We forget Star"

"For fuck's-" of course the girl was frightened! Look who she was penning a mother fucking letter to, she'd be thick as shit not to be frightened.

"-but we don't forget what we promised her"

Marko tilted his head back, staring up into the dark sky, smirking unhappily at Dwayne's words, "we promised her we would free her because it served our purpose, Dwayne. We didn't do it for her and we don't need this now"

"It still serves our purpose" Dwayne replied, "we've let a rouge vampire settle on our territory. That's unacceptable. It's still something we have to address, it was always something that we were going to stop. We just got-"

"-distracted with Liz" Paul said, reaching for another smoke, the letter now crumpled in his fist, "Liz. You remember her, right? Your mate? The mortal. You wanna go fucking around with this shit while we have your mortal in our pack?"

Dealing with rogues was one thing, they'd dealt with their fair share and had never not come out on top but with a mortal in their pack? It was ridiculous.

"Jesus" Marko rolled his eyes.

"I'm fucking furious that Star would bring the fight to us and here you are, you wanna go after it anyway?" Paul moved to stand beside Marko and suddenly it was two versus two. This is what had happened when Star had first come to the pack except Paul had been stood beside David, ready to take the chance and let the girl in, "we kill Star, Mikey goes home, nobody is in danger. When Liz becomes one of us and is safe, then we make a move"

"I don't want to 'go after it'" Dwayne retorted with a frown, "of course not but this was always something that had to be done. Our situation has changed, that doesn't mean his has"

Paul knew that bringing Elizabeth into the conversation was a cheap shot but the whole situation was fucked up. Star wasn't just endangering them but she was putting their newest addition in danger, too just by proxy. He understood that David and Dwayne had a deeper connection but this was some next level bullshit. Dwayne would support David through hell and back but this was next level stupid.

"Listen to me" Dwayne said with a serious frown, "Star doesn't know she has a lure, she didn't know she had done anything"

"Yeah, big fucking whoop-"

"-Paul is right. We should kill her" David said, meeting Paul's eyes with a nod.

At the icy blonde's words Paul felt, for lack of a better word...bad.

He knew that David had liked Star, had felt some connection to her. They weren't mates but for a moment, David had allowed himself the luxury of feelings. He had been a selfless leader, there was no denying that. He came off as detached and cold but he always put the pack first. Both Paul and Marko had dated girls steadily in the past, knowing they would never turn their companion or reveal their true nature but allowing themselves to enjoy what were generally nice relationships. Dwayne had a few special girls in his past, too, though he never committed. Guess that was his past trauma coming up but David? He'd never permitted himself to have anything other than a one nighter. The one time in his entire undead life he'd allowed himself a moment of selfishness, it had come to bite him on the ass.

Paul didn't like it.

That made him want to kill Star all the more.

"Listen, all of you" Dwayne almost barked, commanding all of their attention, "we know what was going on behind the scenes because Elizabeth told me. Michael obviously did the same with Star. It was the younger kid and Elizabeth he fought with..they're both young, impressionable. Star needed harmony, she needed Michael happy with her so without even knowing what she was doing, she made them forget. She made them not care about him, she erased the conflict she knew was happening. No conflict. The lack of drama with his siblings meant he could focus on himself and focus on her. Do you follow what I'm saying?"

Marko and Paul shared a glance and Paul felt some of the tension leave him. He had always been more passionate than the others and having Dwayne finally step up and be his calm, self assured self was comforting. That being said, he understood the words being spoken but he didn't understand the point behind them and so he shook his head, "so?"

"So when Star leaves, the effects of her lure will probably lessen"

"Probably.." Marko muttered, "and if it does, then what? Does Liz get upset? Do we tell her all about Star and Mikey?"

"Got to be honest, don't think the girl will be thrilled about it, dude. Can't imagine she'll be OK with her bro shackin' up with a half...Jesus, we don't even know if he'd wanna be with her. Obviously Liz's gonna have the same reservations here"

"No" Dwayne said with a shake of his head and both Paul and Marko looked at him in shock.

No? No...don't tell Elizabeth what was going on with her brother?

"You can't lie to her" Marko stated and Paul nodded, "like, literally"

He just couldn't see it happening.

"You're right, I don't think I could lie to her" Dwayne said, "I don't want to lie to her but I do want her safe. If the effects of the lure lessen, if she is upset then we comfort her-"

"-but don't explain?"

"...not immediately"

Jesus.

"Meaning?"

"The high school's annual fall trip. Elizabeth and her brother go, we make our move and when it's over, when it's safe...we tell her everything"

Paul knew exactly what Dwayne was talking about, it was a long standing tradition going back thirty years or so. Every year the high school arranged a two day trip to the Grand Canyon. It was stupid, like a scene from a cheesy movie. There was camping and s'mores, strictly enforced segregation between the sexes and a fuck ton of plant hunting and clipboard clutching. Lizzie would probably love to go, the girl was a total nerd. It would give Star and Mikey enough time to be together, enough time for him to figure out if he really wanted to be with her when she was mortal and the lure she was apparently using ended. It gave him chance to come back to Santa Carla, to re-enrol at school and get back on track.

He was pissed that Star was getting off free but idea wasn't terrible.

"The Emerson's aren't exactly rich, that trip isn't cheap"

He nodded at Marko's words.

Dwayne spoke calmly, "it's not like we can't swing it. We send Liz and the kid on the trip. She's safe, she's secure and out of harms way. Then we make our move"

"I don't wanna deal with this just because we made a promise to Star. He's powerful, it isn't going to be an easy fight" Marko bit out and Paul agreed, "we owe her jack shit"

Personally, Paul was up for the fight. He knew it wasn't going to be easy but he knew they would come out on top.

"It's not about Star, not really" Dwayne told them with one shrug, "I never cared for her, you know that. We told her we would free her because we were going to kill him anyway. We had to. We have to, that hasn't changed. Just because we have been preoccupied doesn't mean he has. He knows he isn't welcome but he's established himself here, we've already dropped the ball. One of us is going to make a move and it has to be us. We can't afford for it not to be"

Paul sighed.

Dwayne wasn't wrong.

"I don't like being pushed into something" Marko repeated and Paul nodded. Being pushed into wasn't good and certainly not with their newest addition around. It just made everything more complicated. That being said, an attack in the not so immediate future did have its benefits. It would be unexpected, that was for sure. The rogue's guard was still somewhat up but if they waited too long he'd get suspicious.

Elizabeth aside, it wasn't a terrible idea.

The school trip was a few months ahead of them.

That meant they had enough time to plan and prepare, they could make sure she was safe. The teachers ran that trip like a military organization, there was no sneaking in and no sneaking out. Again, Paul would be the one to know, he'd spent fucking hours flying there, hoping to get the dirty on with one of the shy little seniors he'd spent months seducing only to find that it was practically impossible without a shit ton of work. He'd have to lure teachers, support staff and fucking camp staff that had been roped in, too. He'd flown back to Santa Carla with balls bluer than the ocean only to find Marko getting down and dirty with the popular seniors who'd stayed behind and thrown a beach party. There was no doubt Elizabeth would be fine...they could do what had to be done without being distracted by her fragile mortality.

If push came to shove, if he wanted to hurt her as a means to hurt the pack, he'd have to go through a shit ton of people and that was a problem. That would draw far more attention to him than he would ever want...

It could work.

Marko repeated again..."I don't like being pushed into this"

"Same" Paul nodded along with Marko. He wasn't sure if he was just being petulant at this point, letting his anger towards Star cloud his judgement but having Marko on his side was comforting...unless they were both being petulant, both letting their anger cloud their judgement.

"We were going to do it before Elizabeth came" David reminded them all.

That much was true, certainly but a mate was a pretty big distraction.

"Yeah, and that was on our terms. This isn't, there's a big difference. Our hand is being forced by Star, what the fuck aren't you seeing?" Marko shook his head and Paul added, "I think we're all pretty attached to Liz at this point. I for one would be pretty fucking put out if anything happened to her-"

"-it won't" Dwayne stated.

There was no doubt in his voice and for a second, Paul was glad he wasn't the rogue.

Dwayne was scary enough on the regular, with a mate to protect and fight for...fuck. He was going to be utterly relentless.

"...but the longer we wait, the more dangerous it is"

The party down the long stretch of beach had quietened since Paul had arrived and he looked over, observing the now languid figures. Two figures had slunk away and were making love in the sand and considering how rowdy and rough they had been as a group before, it was a little strange to see them being so tender.

He was going to kill them first.

"Are we really doing this?" Marko queried.

"It was always the plan" David reiterated.

"We all know can't have a rouge vampire on our territory...just because he's been quiet for now, doesn't mean he will stay quiet"

"Star gets her happy ending" Paul sighed.

"It's not about Star, not anymore" Dwayne said, still stood beside David, "when I realized she was doing something, when I got that vibe from Elizabeth, I knew there was more to it. I couldn't articulate it but when we saw Star today, I realized. It's the rouge. We let him slip...have any of you encountered him?"

All three of them shook their heads, "we don't know what he's been doing"

"Could be lying low, maybe he did just want to settle down? Maybe he did just want a pack? Maybe he took the fucking hint. We didn't exactly give him a warm welcome"

"He could be" Dwayne nodded, "or he could be planning, just like we should have been"

That was the more likely scenario.

"Or he could be fucking leaving already" Paul said, knowing now that he was just being contentious.

The decision had been made and while he - and he knew Marko felt the same - wanted to dole out some justice and kill Star for even dreaming of betraying the pack like she had done, he also knew the plan was not a bad one.

Anyway, the truth of the matter was that he liked seeing Dwayne assert his authority. He still wasn't sure that just killing Star and being done with it wasn't the best course of action but when Dwayne had his second in command hat on, it was hard to go against him.

"The point is, Star gave us a wake up call"

Silence surrounded them for a moment.

"...so that's it?"

"For now"

"Business as usual?"

"For now" Dwayne repeated.

Paul and Marko nodded.

That was it.

A few months down the road kill the rogue and tell Elizabeth everything...before then, just carry on.

Paul figured he could do that.

"...you said Elizabeth is young" Paul said, nudging Marko's shoulder as the two began heading towards the dying party, "interesting that you finally acknowledged the age difference..."

"I hardly died an old man" Dwayne replied, his body now angled towards David.

Paul knew they were going to have an intimate discussion before joining the dying party for some feeding.

"Still. You were what? Twenty two? Twenty one?"

"Could've been early thirties" Marko drawled, also satisfied with the decision of the pack but still clearly steaming.

Betrayal did that to a person.

"You do have crow's feet"

"Where is this going?" Dwayne asked.

"You said it's business as usual?" Paul said innocently.

"You said that, I confirmed" Dwayne replied, turning his back to the twosome and giving David his whole attention.

"I was going for a pedo joke" Paul told Marko, the two of them walking comfortably over the sand, "just don't have the energy for it right now"

"I know. I'm the same. I'm sorry for earlier"

"Don't mention it, bro. This might make us feel better"

"Are we saving them some?"

Paul shook his head. They could fend for themselves.

He was annoyed about the betrayal and he wanted to unleash his anger. He knew that when he killed his first victim he wouldn't be saving any but he also knew that when he'd worked out some of the rage, he would feel better.

Marko, too.

The two men took flight, leaving their lowly conversing brothers on the dune.

A/N: Yay! The Muse came back! That made my weekend and I'm very, very glad. Thank you all for the reviews and the continued support! I don't think you'll be too surprised when The Rogue vampire is revealed but I can't stop typing and things are picking up. I've also been quite inspired by Marko recently, I love the idea of him having an incredibly dark side. I've been sitting on a little one-shot with him and finally decided to upload it. Please check it out, if you have the time. Have a lovely week ahead, everyone and I hope you're all safe and happy, wherever you are.