Sup y'all! So for reference, I have written 13 chapters of this already, and am hoping that I won't lose inspiration before I get to the end. Fingers crossed. This chapter should be interesting... hopefully. Anyways... All rights to Stephanie, I own Kensi and Dani!!!

Dani pounds on my door for hours. She can hear my irrational heartbeat through the door. I realize my effort in crying silently is effectively wasted around her.

A headache sets in between my eyes as a direct result of Dani's racket. I climb out of my bed and answer my door. I walk down the hallway without saying a word and get a glass of water for myself.

"Paul imprinted." I say quietly. "I thought it was just an illusion when I saw him in the store Dani. And I didn't figure that I should hold you up on a hunch so I sent you home."

Dani is silent. "And on the offhand chance he was there, I didn't need to ice the grocery store."

"Exactly." I say quietly.

Dani shakes her head.

"I've convinced him to get his inheritance from us. But after that…" I shake my head indicating he isn't getting another shot.

Dani nods. "He kept us a secret."

"Embry thinks it's because Paul was afraid of what the pack was going to do to him when they found out. He was worried about what Sam would do. And he had a right to, Sam and Embry were pissed."

"Embry?" Dani asks, furrowing her eyebrows. "Who is that?"

I blush slightly and shake my head. "He just gave me a ride home, that's all. And he promised to keep Paul away from us."

"Kensi? What aren't you telling me?"

"Paul has a daughter." I admit. "Mackenzie Danielle Lahote."

Dani's jaw drops in shock. "No way." She whispers. I nod.

"Rachel and Paul." I sneer. "The only girl who wouldn't touch him is going to marry him. They aren't married by the way."

Dani sighs. "Oh man."

I nod. "Yeah. Rachel didn't know we were Paul's sisters either. No one did."

She shakes her head. "I can't think about this. Talk to me about the hottie I saw drop you off." Dani wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.

"He's damn fine." I snort. "Very easy on the eyes. Solid 13 out of 10."

"You hope he doesn't have an imprint." Dani snorts.

I raise my eyebrows. "Didn't consider it when he gave me his number."

"You hope he imprinted on you. Otherwise you're going to be one heartbroken little shit when he imprints on someone else."

I snort rolling my eyes. "You can avoid that by being the literal tin man."

Dani rolls her eyes at me.

"When do I get to meet the boy who caught my twin's eyes?" Dani teases.

"He didn't catch anything. He is a catch, don't get me wrong Dani, but he didn't catch my eyes." I roll said eyes at her.

"Oh come on, Kens! I know you better than you know yourself." Dani laughs.

I shake my head at my sister. "Maybe you'll meet Embry's friend later and I can tease you."

Dani smirks. "What if he did imprint on you?" Dani asks. Her voice is serious this time.

I stop to consider it. "Well that's unfortunate." I murmur. "I'm still going to be hunting vampires and he's still going to worry when I'm gone. Hypothetically."

"Imagine-"

I cut Dani off with a glare. "I don't want to. Can you imagine how hard it would be to do our jobs when there's a constant pull demanding we stay here? How distracting that could get? And 'distracted' while fighting vamps is dangerous."

Dani doesn't answer and I don't offer anything else. That argument gave her more than enough to think about.

Dani frowns as she turns to the stove. She shuts it off, and let's whatever she was cooking rest. I really am in no mood to eat it and now neither is she.

"I'm going to bed." I mutter as Dani stares at the floor.

"Going hunting tomorrow before nine AM?" She asks.

I shrug. "If I'm awake I'll let you know."

Dani smirks. "If nothing else we can be stretching before our run after they take the couch."

"You really want to run in the morning." I tease her with a smile.

Dani laughs. "Actually I want to go for a swim down at the beach."

"Go for a swim, and I'll wait around for them to take the couch. And once they're gone, then we can go for a run."

Dani accepts this. "I'll see you when I see you then. Sleep tight."

I promise her I will before slipping off to my bedroom. Outside, my window rattles as a wolf howls. It's so close. I look out my window and it's just mere feet. I inhale and I can smell the warm and comforting scent of werewolf, along with pine sap, morning dew, and moist dirt.

The wolf howls, seemingly to the moon, and I can hear the response to the howl far off. The response is sad and longing, and that howling doesn't seem to stop.

"Goddamn!" I hear Dani growl from the kitchen.

I laugh at her as I close my blinds. I'll open them after I change.

"Not like you're sleeping anyways." I say in return to her.

"Shut your mouth Kensi." She growls at me.

I laugh pulling my shooting shirt for basketball on from this morning and opening my blinds again. The wolf is still lying in the yard behind the privacy fence that extends from the side of the house to the edge of the woods. He lies on his belly with his almighty head resting on his ginormous paws. He faces my bedroom window, watching it.

"Got to admit." I mutter. "Kind of creeped out with you staring into my bedroom window."

The wolf releases a snort before standing up and rotating 90 degrees. He lies parallel with the house, and turns his head away from my bedroom.

I linger at the window for a few seconds, listening to the heartbeat of this wolf. The sound is beautifully strong and prominent, and roars in my ears. Werewolves' heartbeats have a resting heart rate of 80 beats per minute, but this wolf is soaring at 160. Danger zone for humans.

Puzzled, I flop down on my bed, flipping onto my back in the process. The covers are a twisted tangle of blankets, covers, clothes, pillows and who knows what all else.

Why would a resting wolf's heartbeat be that fast? Sure, one of his pack mates is clearly in distress, I can't understand the howls like he can, but that wolf has quieted down. And I'm going to guess the wolf in distress was Paul.

Disgust hits me at that thought. He's got no right to be upset after what he did to us.

I shake my head at the thought and direct my thoughts back to the wolf. Why is it sleeping outside my window? Was that Paul's request? I know Paul's wolf is gray, but his wolf has more of a white and black undercoat, not a tan one with black patches. Not Paul's wolf.

So who?

Embry.

Right. He did promise to keep Paul away. And when he howled I could sense the angry intent behind it, when keeping Paul at bay.

Embry is protecting us. Guess I'll thank him tomorrow.

But why is he so bothered? I mean…. That's 165 here. That's very fast. 165 beats per minute isn't normal for a werewolf even.

I shrug it off, but I can't deny I'm worried about him. I mean, Embry looked after me when we were in school together for three weeks, and growing up on the rez he looked out for is every now and then. But I kept my distance because of Paul's whoring around and my mother's drinking problem.

Still looking after us I guess. And after everything he did, I guess I feel obligated to worry about him.

Oh don't lie to yourself, Kensi. There's no obligation.

Maybe my consciousness has a point. I don't feel obligated, part of obligation and worry is guilt.

Gratitude instead.

Peculiar.

I turn onto my stomach, resting my head on my arms, feet up on my headboard, lying in the moonbeams that stream through my bedroom windows.

There's a squeak of the floorboards and Dani's prominent swearing second later.

I jerk upright and look around my bedroom. I furrow my eyebrow before pulling on a pair of jeans and grabbing my sword.

"Dani?" I ask quietly as I walk out of my bedroom. The soft glow of my golden sword gives me more than enough light to see by. Silently, I walk down the hallway, knowing to step over the squeaky floorboard that just gave her away.

I come into the living room to see Dani unlocking the window and silently slipping out. Where the hell is she going? And why? It's the middle of the night!

My arm snaps out and I flick the lights on in the living room. The sudden burst of illumination makes me wince, but Dani cries in surprise, leaping away from the window, and sitting on her ass on the floor.

"And just where the hell do you think you're going?" I retort.

"What are you? My mother?" Dani growls.

I narrow my eyes. "Why are you so upset?" I ask relaxing. I was expecting Dani to be confronting some stranger in our living room or something. Well… I guess she would've been stealthier if that was the case.

Dani's heart pounds inside her heart, faster and faster, because she's pissed, and because I scared the shit out of her.

The sight would be comical if she didn't look murderous.

"Dani what happened?" I ask, trying to console her.

"You know, my brother, Paul? That one?"

"Is there another?" I ask slowly, not following.

"The bastard imprinted and never told me!" Dani screams wildly. There's a sword strapped to her hip, and her eyes are puffy and red from crying.

As soon as I talk her down from whatever is making her so upset, I will murder Paul for making my baby sister cry.

"Dani?" I ask quietly, taking a tentative step forward.

"No. Don't Dani me, asshole. How are you okay with this! The bastard didn't tell us a damn thing! And then he has a kid too! And tells us nothing, like this is all okay!"

"Dani." I begin cautiously. "I screamed at him in the grocery store and launched a jar of tomato sauce like it was throwing it into the In-zone during the Super Bowl! And then I came home and cried for three and a half hours!"

"You're way too calm to be angry now." Dani snaps. "It's like you don't even care anymore! Kensi he doesn't care!"

I roll my eyes. "Dani I've known this for years, I'm not surprised. Hurt yeah, but I'm getting over it. I've known for years he's a shallow jackass. You still seem to think he hung the damn moon."

Dani's eyes blaze with anger as she leaps across the living room, tackling me. Sure, I'm surprised by her brash and violent action, but I recover quickly, shoving the blade out of her and I's reach before grabbing her arms as she tries to hit me. I flip her over, manhandling her roughly. I pin her to the ground, sitting on her legs.

"Dani stop!" I cry fighting her. "This is crazy!"

"I'm going to kick his ass! Kensi let me go!"

The thing about Dani. She's the sweetest woman you'll ever meet, but cross her and she's easily the most dangerous.

"No!" I cry. "What are you going to do!?"

"I'm going to track him down, and I am going to light his ass on fire!"

The problem with elementals is that this is entirely possible. She's angry enough, she's pissed. She's furious. She's capable of cold-blooded murder.

Dani's body gets warmer and warmer under me, the angrier she gets. Soon enough she's going to combust into flames and light the house on fire.

"Dani, you need to calm down." I attempt to put out her flames, but it doesn't work. She gets angrier. She gets more hateful. She gets pissier.

"Dani, you're going to burn something by accident! And when you calm down and are thinking clearly, you are going to realize that Paul is your brother and even though you're angry, you still love him and you'd really hate yourself if you killed him."

Dani shakes her head. "Get off." She spits, literally. Her saliva coats my face.

"No!" I growl trying to keep her down. Or should I let her up so that she doesn't light the house on fire.

House or forest…

When I'm in thought, I squint with one eye and the other eyebrow arches. It's not something I can control, it's just a tick I can't get rid of.

And unfortunately it's also going to be my downfall.

"Never allow yourself to become distracted in a fight, girls. This will spell your downfall." One of the last tidbits of wisdom I remember from our father's training. And man oh man was he right.

My distraction gives Dani a window of opportunity which she gladly accepts. The heel of her hand drills in my jaw so hard that she throws me halfway across the room.

I roll over onto my side with a groan as my entire head and neck ache painfully now.

Dani stands up and runs past me. I grab her ankle as she runs for the window. All I do is manage to trip her, and she face-pants into the wall.

"Let me go!" She screams. Dani wiggles and kicks at my face in an attempt to get away from me. My iron grip on her ankle is steadfast as I drag myself into a crawl and grab her leg.

It's risky being low like this, it gives her the upper hand.

Dani turns around and kicks me in the chest before slipping out the window.

Gasping for breath I stumble backwards across the floor and pick up my sword before flying out the window after her. I tuck into a roll and summersault across the dewy grass.

I run barefoot through the grass, following the trail of dead and singed grass that Dani's unbearably hot skin left. When an elemental gets angry, their body temperature heats up, getting hotter and hotter until finally, we snap. We turn into the three men in the fiery furnace.

Dani's quick heartbeat is something I quickly catch up to. She isn't running at the speed of light, it's exhausting. But she's still fast. I'm faster and more agile, but she's angry. Anger is a good fuel here.

"DANI!" I scream as I jump over logs and run through foliage in the darkness.

Dani doesn't answer, but I'm close enough to see her outline in the faint moonlight. I can see pretty well in the dark myself, but there is nothing darker than a magical forest.

"DANI!" I holler as I trip over a log. Stumbling, I keep running. Having the sword is a serious inconvenience, because it throws off my balance a little bit.

The forest is alive as Dani sprints through it. She's heading west, so eventually she's going to hit the ocean.

I follow her through the trees, ducking between the thick trunks and leaping over fallen ones. It feels good to run and all, but this is ridiculous.

To the south, a wolf howls.

Dani freezes just barely. Enough I catch up to her and manage to grab her wrist.

"Dani!" I cry out as she charges forward. I wince as her wrist is ripped from my grip.

"DANIELLA!" I holler, my own temper fizzling up angrily.

I chase after her at a dead sprint again, furious. A flash of gray catches my eyes to my left.

"You'd better run." I mutter. "She's pissed."

The wolf barks and keeps pace with me. Dani is close enough that I could grab the hood on her sweatshirt if I wanted to. But I'd probably trip when I tried.

Twigs snap and leaves crunch underfoot as two or three wolves chase us through the trees.

"Dani!" I whine. "Dani stop!"

"I'm going to fucking kill Paul. That means figuring out where he is. I can do that using the wolf I heard on the beach." Dani throws it over her shoulder casually, letting the wind pick it up and carry it to my ears.

"Dani!" I pant. My side is burning and so is my jaw from where she hit me. I know she left major marks. I can see the dark bruises on her arms from where I tried to pin her down.

"Dani!" I holler again. "You're not thinking straight! You're going to regret this!"

Dani scoffs, and she finally stops. I collide with her, tackling her like the running back. We struggle in the saturated sand for a few minutes as the wolf pack surrounds us.

I get Dani on her back and shove my knee into her sternum, winding her slightly.

Her body is hot underneath mine, and I can feel her steaming under me.

Waves lap the shore nearby, soaking Dani thoroughly to the bone. My jeans quickly become soaked in salt water. I finally catch her hands as they try to hit me and I pin them against the sand above her head.

I pant and breathe heavily, almost as hard as Dani. I am definitely in better shape than she is.

"Are you through now?" I growl as she jerks against me roughly.

"No! Paul! I'm going to fucking kill him!"

I growl shoving her deeper into the sand.

"No, no you aren't. I won't let you. I hate him, but he's still my brother, and you don't have permission to kill him."

I inhale, which hurts the stitch in my side, but I ignore that temporarily. I can smell Embry, Sam, and two other scents I don't know, but all four are definitely werewolves.

"I don't need your permission." Dani spits. "You aren't my mother."

"You're damn right I'm not." I growl as she struggles again. Her body grows warmer and warmer, reminding me that she's about to hit her boiling point.

"Dani." I say with worry wobbling my voice. "You really need to calm down. I might be fireproof, but the wolves are not."

Dani growls. "Perfect. I'll burn Paul to death. That will do it. Why don't you go find him for me?"

I wince. "Ah. No. No I won't. Dani I'm serious. You need to-"

I don't get to finish what I was saying because Dani starts smoldering. "Oh fuck." I mutter standing up and dragging her up by her wrists.

"LET ME GO!" Dani roars in fury. She kicks at me wherever she can. She makes solid contact with my ribs causing me to wince, but I manage to drag her into the water and hurl her out into it.

Seconds later there's a flash of orange from under the surface of the inky black waves and I know she 'flashed over' successfully.

I grip my sword handle tighter as thousands of air bubbles float to the surface.

"MACKENZIE MARIE LAHOTE!" Dani roars as she resurfaces.

"Oh. My bad." I whisper, backing up slowly. "Oh fuck. We're fucked. Shit."

I look at Sam with a bashful smile. "My bad."

Sam lets out a throaty laugh before a few of the wolves back up.

Dani stalks out of the water and walks up the beach. "You threw me into the ocean!" She screeches.

"Yeah?" I ask. "And you, like the lovely motherfucker you are, decked me in the face, kicked me in the ribs, and probably broke my sternum."

I smirk at my sister, dripping wet. "Besides. It looked like you needed to cool off."

Dani's eyes flicker with anger again as she lunges at me.

"Getting sick and tired of this Dani." I remark as I raise my arm up from my side. Vines as thick as my wrist spring from the smooth and hard-packed sand. They lash around her ankles and crawl up her body, pinning her arms to her sides.

"KENSI!" Dani hollers. "LET ME GO!"

"Sorry sis." I reply walking forward. She screams in anger and frustration, hatred and malice icing her glare at me.

I watch her start shaking furiously and I know she's trying to get out of this. "You'd better split if she breaks through those." I murmur to them. "I can't tell if she was lying or not when she said she'd invade your minds to find out where Paul is."

Sam shakes his head.

My eyes widen. "She just exploded into flames under water, and started smoking, literally, and you're content to stay."

There's a soft whine from behind me and the wolf I've deemed as Embry nudges my calf.

"Fine. Your funeral." I muse as Dani struggles.

Dani uses the ocean behind her and draws up a stream of water that swirls through the air. I watch as it divides into two thick streams, one of which slams me in the chest, sending me stumbling back into Embry, and the other one wraps around the vines.

I reorient myself with a wince, but use the saltwater on my skin to heal myself.

I jerk to my feet as the ice freezes the vines, and they start dying and cracking, breaking off like stones.

"Oh shit." I whisper as Dani stalks towards me, furious.

"What do you plan to accomplish?" I say straightening. "You find Paul, and you're going to do what? Make his imprint afraid of you? Make his child cry? Piss of the wolf pack for threatening an imprint? Because if you do that then I'm going to be pissed at you also."

Dani shakes her head furiously. "I plan on ripping him a new one and kicking his ass."

I shake my head. "Dani, I would love to kick Paul's ass, but you'll go overboard and end up killing him and you'd never forgive yourself."

Dani glowers at me before running at me. But at the last possible second I flip my sword around, twisting it over my wrist so I'm using the blade as the hilt. I shove the sword's hilt into Dani's gut, and she doubles over.

"Damn." She groans, dropping to her knees. She gags a few times as her stomach threatens to empty itself of its contents. "Ow."

Dani slouches onto her side, clutching her stomach at my feet.

"You through?" I ask in a nonchalant tone. I slowly look at the hilt of my sword, inspecting the edge of the blade.

"Yeah." Dani whimpers. "I'm done."

I sigh. "Sam, Embry, two others I don't know, meet Dani."

Dani sits up in the sand and looks around the group. Sam's large wolf bobs his head, while Embry doesn't move with me this close to his wolf as if he's afraid that he'll hurt me somehow.

Dani flicks her eyes over the other two wolves. One of which is a sandy colored wolf, with a white belly and white paws. The other is a massive russet-furred wolf. It's large, a little bigger than Embry, and the same size as Sam.

Dani's eyes linger on the russet wolf. I can hear both of their heartbeats: synchronized. And very, very, very quick. Dani's scent grows ever stronger.

"Damn Dani." I retort with a smirk. "Never seen him in his human form and already lusting after him?"

Dani gives me a withering glare before blushing back to the roots of her hair.

"Oh the things I could say about you, Kensi Marie. And I mean it."

I laugh quietly. "Are you going to try to kill Paul still?"

Dani sighs. "No."

"Great." I stifle a yawn. "Because I can think of three better things to be doing at three in the morning. And 'keep Dani from killing Paul' isn't even on the list."

"What are you suggesting?" Dani asks as I help her up.

"Sleeping would be number one." I offer. "Because you know, Dani, most people sleep at night."

"Knowing you, the other two are hunting and training."

"Huh. Yeah training would work there too I guess." I muse. "Sorry about this guys. I'll see you in the morning Sam."

Sam nods to me but Embry and the russet wolf that is still staring at my sister step closer together.

Dani glances at me in confusion but I don't have an answer.

"They're offering you a ride." Paul says quietly from the woods beside us. "They're just worried about you." When the hell did he arrive? And does he have a death wish?

"Oh you've got a lot of nerve, Lahote." I mock quietly. "You didn't hear her screaming about wanting to murder you from Seattle?"

Paul nods. "I did. But I came as a translator. Jake is offering Dani a ride. He heard her ribs crack slightly when you hit her with the hilt of your sword."

I look over at Dani in horror. "Did I really?"

Dani shrugs. "They'll heal in a few days. It's just a cracked rib."

Isigh. "You're riding back with Jake." I say pointing between her and the russet wolf. "Because there's no way in hell I am letting you run back home with a broken rib."

Paul nods. "I have no say here, but I agree with her, Dani. Please, let Jake take you."

"So you suddenly care now?" Dani snarls.

"Dani." I whisper in a pleading voice. "Just let it go. You can yell at him tomorrow, but right now, is not the time. Just go with Jake."

Dani sighs as she limps over to Jake. Jake's massive Russet wolf lowers himself to the ground and Dani limbs on. "Damn you hit hard." She groans as her side flares with pain.

"Maybe don't try to kill my brother next time." I growl. I look at Paul. "Not that I care about you, it's just I'm saving the pleasure of making your death as slow and painful as possible for myself."

Paul holds up his hands. "Don't let me stop either of you, I deserve it."

I roll my eyes as Embry nudges my hip. I debate internally for a few seconds. Potentially awkward ride with Embry, running home.

"I don't know what it is to you, but I'll take you up on your offer." I mutter patting Embry's neck.

Embry nods and starts to lower himself so I can get on, but I easily swing up onto his back without pulling on his fur. His breathing rumbles in something that's almost a growl that vibrates my entire body. I shiver, and not because of the cold.

Embry's warmth against my legs is more intimate than I anticipated, but it's thrilling. His almost excessive warmth thaws part of my heart that I think I would prefer stay frozen. The protective barrier around my heart that's protected me from anyone and anything that might potentially hurt me somehow.

The only people who I've ever let inside the walls I built because of Paul are my father, and Dani.

Walls kept Anderson out, but they couldn't stop the fear he left. They couldn't stop the lasting trauma he left: I can't walk down an dark alley that smells like trash and sewage without thinking about his wolfishly handsome smirk, his unnerving cockiness, and overconfidence that let him believe that he could pull me.

And maybe it's because of Anderson and what he tried to do that is making me let Embry inside. Because Embry rescued me from Anderson that night, saving me and my innocence in more than one way.

Maybe because Embry already proved himself to be more honorable and trustworthy than Paul, and any other man I've ever met for that matter, I let him inside these walls I have.

I shiver against my will again and lean into Embry's warmth again, my face in his fur, inhaling his scent.

I hate it. But I think Embry made it inside my walls. I hate it because if he's inside the wall around my heart, if he melted the ice that protects me from evil people, then I have to trust him to protect me and my heart again from others.

I hate it with a passion, because love is a weakness. I can't afford to get close to too many people, because in my line of work, that's just someone else a bad guy can use against you. Love makes you weak, it's a distraction.

And therefore: I can't let myself love Embry, no matter how warm he is. No matter how nice he is. No matter how kind he is. I can't let myself love him.

But can I refuse to love him too?

Figure it out Kensi. I muse to myself. Otherwise this is going to be real hard to leave for your next mission. Otherwise this is going to be real hard to leave for your next mission.