Welcome back, everyone. Thank you to everyone who's been reading this. It's too bad that Bitten has such a small following. Not many people know about this great show. Seriously share this with your friends.

Sorry, it took a while to update. I've been reading several books and fanfics to find a way to do something different with my OC. I see a lot of writers change some of the canon due to the OC's influence, so I'm going to do the same. Small things will change leading to bigger changes and we'll slowly figure out more about Ashley's background.

Thanks for all the follows and faves, but please review.

Anyway, let's get on to the chapter.

Chapter 8: Fallout

They all gathered in the great room in silence. Just a day before, Pete was leaving with his arm around Nick and Logan and now they were mourning his death. It almost seemed unfair but they couldn't grieve all day. They needed to put their grief aside and focus on catching Pete's killer.

Jeremy stood up from his desk. "I sent Antonio to deal with the fallout of Pete's disappearance and bring the other families up to speed. In the meantime, we have two Mutts to deal with." His eyes wandered to Ashley, who had deduced the same information the night before Pete died. But Jeremy did not listen and sent everyone home, even after Ashley protested. And it cost Pete his life. Though he had no time to feel guilty. He simply had to move forward with the information he had. "In the meantime, we need to identify the dead one from the rave and find out who made him. Nick, you and Logan will go to the flophouse where he lived. Turn it upside down. Wipe it clean when you finish."

"Got it," said Nick.

Logan countered, "I'm supposed to be speaking at a psychology conference tonight in Toronto."

"I can handle the flophouse myself."

"I'll go with him." Jeremy looked at Ashley, who had her head in her phone. "Clay and Elena will be going together, so it's better if Nick also has someone watching his back."

She hadn't looked at him since Pete died and Jeremy knew why. She advised him but he ignored her and Pete died. But the others knew nothing. They all turned to look at Jeremy. Jeremy had always kept Ashley hidden in the house because of her identity as a female wolf. She was the first and only until Clay bit Elena, and even then, Jeremy took great measures to keep her a secret by hiding her scent, sometimes keeping her in Stonehaven, and other times, keeping her out. Ashley rarely took part in Mutt hunts, and even now, she mostly stayed home and researched.

"Okay." Jeremy agreed. "But, you must be very careful. All of you. I thought the threat was over when the first mutt died and Pete paid for my mistake." He walked and leaned against the front of his desk. "I know better now. Clay, I want you and Elena to go into town. Assess the mood of the locals and more importantly, see if you can pick up the scent of the new killer."

"If he's in town, we'll find him," Elena nodded.

"When you do, I want him alive. Are we clear? Clay?"

"We're clear."

As everyone got up, Ashley called, "Wait," stopping them in their tracks.

"We should watch out for Karl Marsten," she said. "He was at the club. He's the only one who knew where Pete was before the ambush."

Logan turned and said. "But Karl Marsten is a con man. He's opportunistic. He doesn't lead, he follows."

"Which means someone has a leash on him," Jeremy continued. "Which means at least 3 mutts." Jeremy sighed. "Okay. Be careful. All of you."

Elena and Clay left in his car while the rest split up to do their designated assignments. Ashley stopped Nick at the door and turned to Logan when he came out with his carry-on. He walked up to him, wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. "Be careful, okay. Stay vigilant and watch your six."

"I will."

"I love you," Ashley said. She didn't get a chance to tell Pete, but she felt a great levity in her heart when she told Logan. She let him go then walked into Nick's car before pulling out of the driveway.

At the flophouse, Nick and Ashley kept quiet and out of sight as they entered. They wore gloves on their hands as they searched the apartment high and low, putting everything back in place as they found it. Anything that could be of use in identifying the mutt, they placed in a trash bag, including the body parts the mutt left from his dinner.

Nick searched under the bed to find a pair of shoes. "Hey, check this out."

He raised the shoes up to Ashley. "Shoes?"

"Prison issue."

They didn't find anything else so Ashley wiped the house clean with wet wipes and bleach. She sprayed a hair freshener in the air to cover up the scent of the bleach. "I think we're done here." She stood at the door, looking at their work. They left the flophouse cleaner than a hotel room, wiping the handle as they shut the door. They left as if they were never there, throwing the trash bag in a trash bin a few blocks from the flophouse. Nick took the shoes with him.

While they were in the car, Nick finally said, "What's going on with you and Jeremy?" Nick asked. "You barely looked at him at all today."

Ashley exhaled as she closed her eyes. "Last night, I analyzed the Mutts and I inferred that there was more than one new mutt, plus the person who bit them. But, then Clay called and Jeremy dismissed everything I said. He called Pete and told him that he and Logan didn't have to come home." Ashley inhaled deeply as she held in her tears, but her voice was breaking. "If he just listened to me and told them to return to Stonehaven, Pete wouldn't have been alone. You, Pete, and Logan would have been together. Even if you were ambushed, you would have had each other's backs."

Nick understood Ashley's sorrow because she felt Pete's death was avoidable. Nick remained silent as he drove. Although he wished Pete was still alive, he wasn't so certain that it was entirely Jeremy's fault. Nick also felt a tinge of guilt. Even though he wasn't with Pete, he felt that he was too weak. Among the Pack, Clay, Elena, Ashley, Jeremy, and even his father were better fighters than him. He didn't spar with Pete and Logan as much, but he still felt inferior in his fighting abilities. His complex only deepened when Pete died. Though Ashley didn't know it, Nick didn't have as much confidence in himself as she had in him.

When they returned to the manor, they met in the basement, each of them presenting what they found. Nick placed the prison shoes on the table. While they were out, Jeremy was compiling a list of escaped convicts and Elena identified Scott Brandon as the Mutt from the rave. But something was still not right as they also identified Karl Marsten and Zachary Cain as the ones who created the Mutts. Zachary Cain wasn't smart enough to come up with an elaborate plan to dethrone the Pack and Marsten was too much of a loner to suddenly want his own Pack. Someone else must have brought them together for a common goal. That person wanted the Pack out of the way.

They all came to the conclusion that the true mastermind was still hiding.

"What should we do?" Clay said as he looked at Jeremy.

"Let's ambush them at the motel."

"I'm not going." Everyone turned to look at Ashley. "You can go, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were long gone by now. We may think they're dumb but even they're not that dumb. I'm gonna stay here to look over our records. The mastermind is someone we know and I'm gonna find them."

She remained in the basement, reading more recent records, starting from the times of Malcolm Danvers. As Antonio had said, the last time the Pack had so much trouble was during Malcolm's time as Alpha. Jeremy defeated Malcolm and took the seat of Alpha, but Malcolm left the Pack and became a mutt. From the stories she heard over the years, Malcolm hated Jeremy, so he couldn't stand being bested by his son, let alone being subservient to him. Knowing how much Malcolm hated Jeremy, he was at the top of her list. He was a narcissistic psychopath who loved seeing others suffer, even his own son. He was a smart and cunning man who was more than willing to create elaborate plans for his own entertainment while bringing Jeremy misery. The attacks on the pack and their effect on Jeremy would surely bring Malcolm pleasure.

But, it couldn't be Malcolm. Jeremy had told her that Malcolm died eight months before and dead men did not make plans. But, Ashley still kept him in the back of her mind as she explored other possibilities.

She moved on to Daniel Santos. Like Malcolm who hated Jeremy, Daniel hated Clay for killing his brother. The Santos family was a part of the Pack during Malcolm's time but left after Jeremy became Alpha. Years later, Daniel's older brother came to challenge Jeremy for the Alpha position and Clay killed him. Although Ashley had never met him in person, she was present when Clay killed the Santos older brother. She remained in her room, shielded by the scents of herbs and lavender so the wolves would not sense her presence in the house. She heard everything.

It was the first death she ever experienced, the first dead body she ever saw. But she didn't feel anything for the man. He had come into her home to attack Jeremy so she felt like he got what he deserved. She felt relieved that Jeremy was safe. After Clay moved the dead body, she removed the blood-stained carpet and cleaned the stains off the floor.

Ashely knew that later, Daniel had a run-in with Elena and clay while they were canvassing the Mutts where Elena bit his ear off. She smiled at the thought. He looked like he deserved it. She never met him in person but looking at his photo, he resembled a man or wolf less than he resembled a snake. But, she felt like Daniel didn't have enough balls to think of such a sophisticated plan. He was a weasel and an opportunist and a convenient scapegoat.

The number one suspect in her mind was still Malcolm Danvers, who was dead. But was he? She looked between Malcolm's and Daniel's photos. She shook her head and removed Malcolm from her mind, deciding to focus instead on the person she knew for certain was still alive.

Just as she finished, she heard the front door open and the Pack returned. They all came straight to the basement, their faces dejected and angry. By the looks of things, they didn't find anything. Ashley exchanged a look with Nick who just closed his eyes and shook his head.

Elena stood in front of Ashley with sadness in her eyes before she held out her hand to reveal Pete's ring. Her hands trembled as she took the ring between her fingers. "Pete's finger?" she asked.

"We found that too," Elena replied.

Ashley closed her eyes and nodded. She inhaled deeply before releasing a harsh breath. "Ok, so what now?" They all looked at Jeremy.

Elena wanted to run out and hunt the mutts while Jeremy, cautious as always, wanted to talk with Daniel Santos, who had approached Logan in Toronto. He wanted to offer information for reinstatement into the pack.

"No," Ashley said. She stared straight into Jeremy's eyes. "We can't trust him. Other than your father, he's the only one who has a strong enough grudge against the pack to plan all this. He hates Clay for killing his brother. He hates you for being Alpha, whom his brother challenged. And he has this disgusting obsession with Elena."

"Ash is right. The last Santos who walked through that door tried to kill you," Clay said from behind Ashley. "I say we take him out the moment he walks in."

"No," Jeremy said.

"Then, let me be the bait. I'm the bitch that he wants," Elena replied.

Jeremy closed his eyes before opening them. Although Nick said nothing, he could tell that all of them wanted to hunt and kill the mutts. They were all on edge from the constant attacks on their territory and Pete's death, but those heightened emotions could get them killed if they made any mistakes. Jeremy wanted to do the same but he had to be more reserved. He was responsible for them and he would not lose another member of his family. "No."

Elena walked past them, running up the stairs, with Clay chasing after her.

"Okay." Ashley pinched the bridge of her nose. "Enough about Santos. Jeremy, what about your father?"

Jeremy flinched slightly before saying. "He's dead."

"Are you sure? You didn't see a body, which means there's no confirmation. And we both know Malcolm could have used Marsten's rumor mill to make sure news of his death got to you if he wanted to stay off your radar. More than Santos, Malcolm is the kind of psychopath who would plan something so elaborate. So, several psychopathic ex-cons just happened to break out of prison at the same time and happened to be turned into wolves, who happened to target the Pack with several other mutts who hate us. That's a lot of coincidences. Someone is responsible. Someone with a lot of resources. Santos doesn't have those resources. Malcolm does."

"Malcolm is dead," Jeremy replied, but a sliver of doubt formed in his heart. All the things Ashley said were exactly something Malcolm would do. He was a cunning and patient man, and he hated Jeremy above all. Jeremy could not deny that it was something that his father would do.

"Okay." Ashley placed Pete's ring in Jeremy's palm. "Sheriff's coming."

It was then they heard the sirens that always brought trouble to their doorstep. This time, it was the trigger-happy hunter who was missing and his truck, full of blood, was found by the property line.

Ashley returned to her room to lie down. She was exhausted and stressed and everything was just becoming too much. The worries on her heart mounted like bricks. Not only were they being targeted by mutts, but those same mutts brought the police to their doorsteps, threatening their secrets. It was like everything important to her was just blowing in the wind and could come crashing down at any moment. She needed a rest.

Ashley awoke from her nap just as the search party was coming to an end. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled, and took a few more meditative breaths before going to the bathroom to wash her face. She looked through her packed bag to find a small pouch she brought with her without thinking. She strapped the pouch to her wrist, keeping it hidden under her long sleeve.

After she was refreshed, she headed downstairs, just as Nick entered the house. His nose was bleeding. "What happened to your face?"

"Braxton's dead. Elena's moving the body," Nick reported. "I picked a fight with one of the hunters to give Elena some time." Ashley took the cloth from his hand and wiped his nose for him.

"We should be out there," Clay said.

Ashley picked up Jeremy's voice outside the door. "He's here."

Jeremy entered the house followed by Santos, who said, "Does my brother's blood still stain the carpet."

Ashley walked to the door to greet him. "Of course not. I made sure to bleach the floor after we burned the carpet with his body," she said with an amused smile across her lips.

"You're not Elena," Daniel said when he could scent a wolf on her. "Did Clay bite you too?"

The smile never left her lips as she said, "No." She extended her hand to Santos. "This is the first time we've officially met. I'm Ashley Danvers."

Thanks for reading. please don't forget to leave a review. It inspires me to write. I already have a few chapters written and will try to write one every week to update.

I love OC fanfics so I'll also be writing a Vampire Diaries OC fic. I never understood why witches draw their power from nature (Gaia) rather than the goddess of witchcraft and magic herself. I'm just starting so it may take a while before we see a first chapter of this fic.

I want to know what you think so far compared to the source material.