I'd been having weird dreams lately. It was always me with Travis on one side and Wyatt and Nate on the other side. I could never tell if I was supposed to choose between the two; I never really had the time. Before I knew it, the ground—or the foundation—would completely crumble under me and then I would fall until I jerked myself awake.

"Hadley bug, can you run some errands for us today?" Dad asked, as he came down the stairs. He was buttoning his work shirt as he popped a kiss on top of Melody's head and ruffled Will's hair as they sat in the living room. Melody had puppy-dog-eyed Will enough to convince him to play Barbies. Her favorite was Animal Rescue Barbie. Melody was the only one who could actually play Barbie; everyone else had to play the animals.

"Sure, Dad," I mumbled, not really paying attention. I started pouring myself over Kaya's journals again to see if there was any mention of weird dreams or visions or anything like that. So far, nothing. Not even my mom had ever mentioned anything about having visions in her sleep.

I realized too late that Dad was listing the things he needed me to do around the reservation that day right as he was wrapping up. Looking up from Kaya's journal with wide eyes, I mentally kicked myself. "…drop off his groceries for the week. Is that too much on your plate?" Dad finished.

"Uh…" I blinked. "Can you repeat, like…everything you just said?"

He gave me a fake stern look. "Hadley," he faux scolded.

"I'm sorry," I said quickly, closing the journal. "You have my full attention."

Dad shook his head lightly, smirking at me, "Ok, ready?" he asked slowly. I nodded, training my attention on my dad. "I need you to do three things for me today. Go to Port Angeles to get the new order of parts and take them to the Forks shop. When you get back, Mom has the new pack's patrol schedules at the old Alpha house; you'll need to take it to Wyatt and walk him through it. And I already put in grandpa's grocery order at the store so you just need to pick it up at around 4 and drop it off. How does that sound?"

"Easy peasy," I told him, flashing a smile. "Do you want me to bring you guys lunch today?"

Dad started toward the door, "No, don't worry about that. But I do have a car you can work on if you're bored later."

"Sounds good. Have a great day!" I called as he left. I re-opened Kaya's journal and flipped through it, quietly. Tapping my fingers on the smooth leather, I felt myself swallowing this irritation that was building inside me. It wasn't at my dad, never that. It was more of this idea that I was still more or less an errand girl. And it was no one's fault but my own. I'm the one who agrees to do these things because I love my home and I want everyone to be as comfortable as possible. But, I guess, other things seemed more important lately.

I don't know…maybe I needed to get my head out of the clouds and back to reality. Maybe doing this will help with my nerves.

My brother walked into the kitchen where I was sitting and opened the fridge. He grabbed a water bottle and asked me, "Hey, did you ever tell Mom and Dad that that guy and his kids are Children of the Moon?"

"Um…that didn't come up," I mumbled, flipping through the pages again.

"Don't you think you should let them know?"

"There's no reason to cause alarm when they're not posing a threat to us."

"That's dumb, Hadley," he said deadpanned.

Will sat down next to me and placed a firm hand on top of the page I was reading. "Come on, this feels serious. I wouldn't say something if it didn't mean something."

I sighed as I pivoted in my chair until I was facing him fully. "I'm not discounting anything that your intuition is tell you, Will. But what I'm saying is that I've already taken care of it. I've talk to both Reese and Travis and they just want to have a normal life here. The least we could do is give them that."

"I don't care about them as much as I'm getting weird vibes from the guy. The older guy."

"Matthew," I corrected.

He nodded. Will never talked much so, when he had something to say, it was best to listen. "He just gives me the creeps. Sometimes I'll see him walking around in the middle of the night. And he's always alone. Don't you think it's weird that his own kids don't hang around him ever?"

"It's just a little bit more complicated than that," I tried to explain. "Yes, it's weird, but that doesn't mean he's dangerous."

"All I'm saying is we should keep an eye on him and tell Mom and Dad, just in case."

I rubbed my temples in frustration before agreeing, "Fine, I'll find the time to talk to them."

He stood up from the table and I could tell he wasn't happy with that answer. Will left to go back into the living room with Melody, shaking his head. And then he stopped in his tracks and he said, "You know what it feels like when people don't listen to you even though you know you're right?"

"Yeah?"

He clenched his jaw before saying, "You do that to me sometimes."

XXXXXXXXX

Will's words stuck with me almost the whole afternoon. I managed to get to and from the auto parts shop in one piece, dropping off the boxes to my uncle Quil before heading back to the reservation. I drove my car all the way to the old Alpha house, parking in the dirt driveway. I sat there for a few minutes, taking deep breaths as I enjoyed the small moments of silence by myself.

Even from here, I could hear Mom and Bebe laughing and joking around. I always loved their relationship; they had such a true mutual respect for one another and trusted each other fully. They knew each other so well and raised their kids together so seamlessly. It was admirable. It was everything.

I still hadn't talked to Cass about what happened at the Council meeting, but I would soon. I think. I just really didn't want to think about it. I wasn't mad at Cassie, not at all. But there should be more trust there, right?

When I walked into the old Alpha house, the little motion sensor thing made that 'bee boop' sound. "Mama," I called, looking around. It was a quiet day. Usually, the phone was ringing off the hook, something's printing, one of them is running around looking for something.

"We're upstairs," she called back. I walked up the stairs like I had a million times before. I grew up here. Before my brother and sister were born, Mom would pack me up for the day and let me run around the house and the yard for hours. And then, when it was time for me to start kindergarten, I begged my mom not to go because I was way more interested in learning about our people than learning numbers and stuff. I knew how to count to 100 already! What other math did I need?

I fell over the arm of mom's office couch and sighed dramatically, "What a day!"

"It's only 11, Drama Queen," Mom chuckled.

"What's going on, little one?" Bebe asked, lifting my feet so she could sit under them. "You haven't been around much lately. We miss you."

I tried not to let on my shock that Bianca didn't know why I had all but disappeared from the Call household. No, it makes sense. Cass isn't the type to tell on herself when she feels guilty. "Oh, you know…the usual. Wrangling new wolves, running errands for Dad, being in everybody's business," I joked, smiling.

"She's got that last one down to a science," Mom commented, rolling her eyes playfully. "I'm convinced she knows what's happening just a second before we do at all times."

Bianca giggled, "I can definitely agree with that."

"It's my job," I tried to reason.

"No, it's not," Mom laughed.

"Well maybe it should be," I pouted. "I'm so good at it."

"Maybe a little too good," Bebe cracked. She stood from the couch as soon as the phone in her office started ringing. "Come over for dinner soon though, kiddo."

"I will, promise," I said as she walked out. Sitting quietly, I watched as Mom answered some emails. You could never guess that she had three kids just by looking at her. She had exactly six gray hairs gracing her hair line. She always jokes that I caused three of them, Will caused one, and Melody caused the other two. But she never wanted to cover them up; she says she likes that it makes her look more mature.

Her hazel eyes met my brown and she winked. "You look in good spirits today," she commented.

"I'm taking things in stride," I told her.

"That's my girl," she said, before clicking on her screen a bunch of times. The printer started whirring before it churned out two sheets of paper. "You need the patrol schedules, right?"

I nodded as Mom pushed her chair toward the printer. "Dad asked me to go over it with Wyatt today."

Her eyebrows flew up. She grabbed the papers but kept them close to her. "Are you sure you're alright with that?"

"Of course," I dismissed. "I don't mind."

She hesitated but handed me the schedule anyway. "Maybe this will be good for both of you."

I flashed my best fake smile. "Can't wait."

As I stood up to leave, I knew it before she even said anything. "Hold on. Pump your brakes."

So close… "What's up, Mama?" I asked, turning back around.

"Sit for a sec," she told me. I groaned a little before taking my place back on her couch. "You've been pretty restless the past few nights. Is everything alright?"

My first instinct was to nod as to not worry her. But I'd been thinking a lot about what Reese said to me about being real. My natural need for people to not worry was stopping me from being able to do so many things. Like be honest with Wyatt about my feelings or tell my parents that Travis and his family have the capacity to potentially hurt one of us. I never wanted anyone to worry. I wanted to handle it myself.

But I couldn't always do that, I was starting to realize. I couldn't just brush it off in front of everyone and then scramble to find a solution, only to be saved by my friends or my parents at the last minute. As much as I hated to be scrutinized for every sniffle, cough, or sneeze that comes out of me, it was more important to know that it's nothing than to find out it's something when it's too late. I studied Mom's face for a second before letting my eyes drift behind her to one of our family pictures. We all looked so happy. So carefree. That's what I loved most about this place: even when it was hard, when you're with family, you find a way to make it work. "I've been having very strange dreams," I admitted. "I don't know if they are trying to tell me something or…maybe I've been eating too much cheese before bed again."

Mom made a humming noise before very casually taking out a journal and a pen. "Strange dreams?" she repeated as she poised her pen. "And when did these start?"

I dropped my head back as I groaned, "Not the notes again, Mama. Please don't do that."

"Hadley, baby, this is for all of us, not just you," Mom reminded me gently.

She said that every time she pulled out that little leather bound journal after I tell her something new. My shoulders sagged a little in defeat. "They started the night after the Council meeting."

Mom nodded as she quickly wrote that down. "What makes you think it's a message from the ancestors?"

"Um…" I thought for a second, "the boys are usually in it. Wyatt and Nate. It's like…I'm stuck and I can't get to them no matter how hard I try. And then the ground literally collapses under my feet. But I force myself to wake up because…" I paused. "I think I'm afraid that falling will lead to…"

"Death," she finished for me, quietly. I didn't say anything. I just held her gaze for as long as I could let myself.

It felt like death was always around the corner and it killed me (pun unintended, of course) to not know when or how or for what cause.

Mom closed the journal and set it aside. I could tell she was trying to figure out what to say. She took a deep breath. "Ok…maybe there's another way to see it play out without you actually having to be asleep."

"How am I supposed to sleep without having this dream though?" I asked.

"I don't know," she said, rubbing her eyes in frustration. "We were going to take the new wolves off the rez for training tonight. I might have to reschedule that until we can get you settled."

I shook my head, "No need. I'll be fine." The lie slipped so smoothly, I didn't even realize it was one until after I had already spoken. "I can come with you guys and help."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I wanna help with my boys."

She still looked concerned but, as she tapped her pen on top of her desk, I could tell she thought it was a good idea. They could keep an eye on me and maybe figure out what these dreams mean together. "Alright," she nodded finally. "We're leaving at 8 tonight; if you change your mind, that's totally fine too. We know it's been a rough adjustment since the Council meeting."

"8:00. I'll be there," I told her, standing up. "I'll remind Wyatt and the boys."

"Thank you, sweetie. I love you."

"I love you too, Mama. Always."

XXXXXXXXX

I found Nathaniel and the Cameron boys in their backyard throwing a football around. Nate spotted me first and spiraled it to me. Wyatt's eyes followed the ball as it zipped through the air and landed effortlessly in my hands. He met my eye and there was an instant conflict. Being excited to see me and reserving that excitement because things were still so unsteady. Instead, he just held out his hands, prompting me to throw it back to him.

"It's Hadley!" August exclaimed. He ran over to me and hugged me right. He was the youngest of the Cameron boys and easily the sweetest. He wasn't burdened with pack stuff yet; I know he was excited to be a wolf but I liked that he was still young and naïve to it.

"Hey buddy," I said, hugging him back. I messed his hair before making my way into the backyard.

"Look what the wolf dragged in," Nate joked.

I laughed, "We'll have to work on those wolf puns later." I held up the folder Mom gave me before I left. "I have the schedule for the next two weeks."

"Oh, I'll take that," Wyatt said finally.

"Actually, Mom and Dad asked me to go over it with you." I told him, handing him the folder.

"I think I can handle it," he retorted.

"It's non negotiable," I shrugged. "I'll meet you inside."

I went into the Cameron house and jaunted through the kitchen, down the hall, and into Wyatt's room. It was actually clean for once, except for the unmade bed. I sat on top of the messed comforter and set the folder next to me.

There was a photo on his nightstand of the three of us. Nate, Wyatt, and me. There was always something special about the three of us. We understood each other in a way that I'd never seen before. And that was before the supernatural-ness of it all. We got each other on a human level.

Wyatt came into the room and shut the door behind him. He faced me and leaned his back on the wood. He gave me a tight smile, just standing quietly. Since he phased, his body had changed so much and it was really working for him. Wyatt looked more confident and comfortable with himself. Except for right now, of course. "It's good to see you," Wyatt said, awkwardly.

"You too," I agreed, tucking my hair behind my ear. "I've missed you."

"You have?" he looked surprised.

"Every day," I admitted. I stood up and walked until I was in front of him. He was taller than me now. Bigger. More muscular. But he was still my Wyatt. "Let me fix it."

His hands settled on my waistline and, doth my ears deceive me, but his heart skipped a little. I rested my hands on his chest and leaned into him. "Ace…" he sighed.

"You're calling me Ace again. That's a good sign, right?" I smiled.

"Lee, stop," he shook his head. "I can't just let you talk your way out of this."

"And I don't want to," I told him. "I want to fix this. Us. I want to fix us."

He was searching my face for that glint of any deception. But I was being completely real. No angle, no tricks, no nothing. Just me. I entwined our hands to show him that I was serious. He stared at our clasped hands for a second before meeting my eyes again. "You're serious," he observed.

"As a heart attack."

So he kissed me. Hard. He pressed his other hand into the small of my back until I was completely flush against him. It felt so desperate and I couldn't get close enough to him. Wyatt whirled me around until I was trapped between him and the door.

My heart was pounding so hard, I could hear it in my ears. But that didn't matter. I felt like I might explode. But that didn't matter either. This right here was all I needed. His full, soft lips on mine were the only thing that could make all of this nonsense better. And when he buried his fingers in my hair, I knew more than anything that I wasn't willing to do anything to mess this up again.

When he broke away, he peppered kisses down my neck and on my shoulder before stopping completely. He rested his head on me for a second as he caught his breath. "I've missed you too," he whispered.

I breathed him in and felt my heart flutter. "I'm sorry for everything. The kiss, the Council meeting, not being honest with you about how I feel. All of it. And I know sorry isn't enough, but—."

"Shh…" he hushed, stroking my cheek. We locked eyes and everything that hadn't been said yet was all there. "I want to talk through this, but not right now. Too many ears."

I nodded in agreement. "You're right," I said, slipping my arms around his neck. "How about tonight? I told Mom I'd go with you guys for training. Maybe we can sneak off and talk. Just the two of us."

He smiled at me. All was right with the world. "I'd love that."

I pecked his lips again just once. His little dimples were ever present and seeing them made me realize how much I really missed him through all of this. "So you don't hate me?" I asked quietly.

He shook his head, "I've never hated you, Ace."

We stood there for what felt like ever before I convinced him to let me walk him through the patrol schedule. We sat on his bed, hands, knees, and shoulders touching at all times. Mom always had this special, color coded way of showing who would be in which section of the city and at what time. It was needlessly complicated. Coincidentally (wink, wink), Mom had scheduled me and Wyatt together on, not one, not two, but three patrols in the next week and four more the next week. Very subtle, Leah.

"So, usually, Mom will have the schedules posted outside the old Alpha house so everyone won't have to search for them and we can keep them out of the public eye. But since this is you guys' first time, she says to just give everyone their own individual days and then next time, yours will be at the Alpha house with the parents'," I explained.

"Ok, I can do that," he said breezily.

"And, usually, someone does a check in at the end of every patrol shift. So, if Mom and Dad are gone, I'll just project out super quick to whoever just finished and ask if there's anything to look out for or if it was a smooth ride," I told him. "Sometimes that means waking yourself up at like 4 in the morning. Are you cool with that?"

He snorted, "Do I have a choice?"

"Well yeah, we can alternate, if you want. I can take those late hours. I'm awake then anyway," I shrugged. "No biggie."

"You sure?" he looked up at me.

"Yeah, it's not a problem at all. This is an adjustment for all of us. I just want to help."

Wyatt agreed to letting me take the late night hours only for a couple of weeks until we're all used to it. He was Alpha after all. I let him make the final decisions, but we came to them together.

As we walked out of his room, hand in hand, I was on cloud 9. We weren't 100% yet, but this was something, right? Before we made it to the back door, Wyatt pulled me to him again. He cupped my cheek before ducking down to kiss me again. I smiled against his lips as I returned his love. "It's good to have you back, Ace," he said when we broke apart.

"Feels good to be back," I beamed. I was about to walk outside when I felt something in his hand that was on my cheek. Gently pulling it from my face, I held his palm open to see a crescent moon shaped scar in the middle of his hand that was identical to mine. My brows furrowed. "Have you always had this scar?" I asked.

Wyatt looked down at it and shrugged, "Yeah."

"Where did it come from?" I pressed as I held out my hand. "I have the same one."

"You remember, it was from…" I watched as his eyes darted back and forth, trying to place the memory. His face twisted in confusion. "It was from…"

"You can't remember either," I said.

"I…" he stopped, thinking hard. "Why can't I remember?"

"I don't know," I mumbled. "Just add it to the list of things that don't make sense around here."

When we got outside, more of the boys were in the backyard playing around. Nate was sitting on the porch stairs and looked up at us as soon as we crossed the threshold. "Aww, did you guys kiss and make up?" he cracked.

"Very funny choice of words for someone with super hearing," I joked back at him. I sat next to him. "So check this out."

Wyatt and I held out our hands, my right, his left, to show Nate our identical scars. Nate's brows pulled together. "What am I looking at?" he asked.

"We have the exact same scar in our palms and absolutely no recollection of where they came from," I explained.

"Look, they're even facing opposite ways," Wyatt pointed out.

"So, when you put your hands together…" Nate started slowly. Wyatt and I put our hands together and they matched up perfectly. "That's so weird."

Nate was quickly becoming an expert on all things supernatural. Every time I'd seen him lately, he was either completely enthralled by one of the history books or he was coming back from the old Alpha house, dropping off books. He wanted to know anything and everything. Our soon to be resident expert. "Thoughts?" I asked.

Nate thought for a second. "Could be some kind of trauma that made you both forget?"

"What kind of trauma?" Wyatt asked, crossing his arms.

"Uh, an accident maybe? Like if you both hit your head after? Or if something happened that was too distressing for both of you," he explained. "Ringing any bells?"

Wyatt and I both shook our heads.

"Struck by lightning?" Nate tried.

"I think we'd know if we were struck by lightning," I rolled my eyes.

He shrugged, "Maybe the ancestors put them there?"

It was possible.

"Can you let us know if you find anything?" Wyatt asked.

"'Us,'" Nate repeated, smirking. "Yeah, I'll definitely let both of you know…together."

"Nice, man," Wyatt commented. "Your subtlety is unmatched."

"Are you guys back together?" Cam called from across the lawn. He jogged over with a smile on his face. "Is the power couple finally back on?"

Wyatt and I exchanged a knowing glance. "TBD," I said coyly. "How's Cass feeling?"

"She's fine. She gets her cast off next week," Cam said, slipping his hands in his pockets. "She asked about you the other day."

"Oh, yeah?" My eyebrow twitched up. I leaned back on the stairs, casually. "That's news."

"She feels pretty bad about what happened at the Council meeting. I don't know why she would ask you to lie…that just doesn't make sense to me," Cam said, shaking his head.

"Well, I mean, I—wait, what?" I sat straight up. "What do you mean you don't know why she asked me to lie to the Council?"

Cam shifted his weight a little uncomfortably. "It just seems out of character for her, that's all I'm saying."

"Cameron," I started, "she told me that you said the Council was deciding on whether or not to kick the Holts off the reservation. That's why she asked me to lie for her."

"I never said that," he shook his head.

I blinked at him, completely unable to comprehend what he was saying. "What?"

"Damn it, Cass…" Nate mumbled under his breath.

"I told her that I overheard Mom and Dad say they don't want her hanging around Reese anymore because she might get hurt again," Cam said. "But I never said they'd get kicked off the Rez."

I ran a frustrated hand through my hair before shaking my head. "You know what? It doesn't matter," I decided. "Let her know it's water under the bridge. Everything is fine."

"You sure?" he asked, uncertainly.

"Yeah," I fake smiled as I stood up. "There are bigger things to worry about than something that's already passed."

"Are you alright, Ace?" Wyatt asked cautiously.

"For sure," I dismissed. "I have to go pick up my grandpa's groceries, so I'll see you guys later tonight for training." I kissed Wyatt on the cheek before swiftly exiting the house. It's fine. Everything is fine.

XXXXXXXXX

I made it to the grocery store about 15 minutes too early. The car chirped behind me as I strolled up to the building. I was kind of alright with this part. It felt so normal. So human. When I got up to the services desk, there was a bored looking blonde girl behind the camera, chewing gum. "Order for Billy Black? I'm a little early," I said.

She breathed heavily as she turned around to check the orders behind her. I scanned the shelves quicker than her and saw it wasn't there yet. Blonde girl took her sweet time checking before turning back to me. "What's the time on the order?" she asked.

"4 o'clock, I think," I told her.

"Hmm…" she said, blowing a bubble. "Looks like you're early."

That's what I said. "Is there any way I can get it sooner?" I asked.

"Hmmm…" she repeated. "Not really. But you can wait and I'll call the name when it's ready."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Great, thanks." I tapped on the counter before walking away.

I decided to browse the magazines while I waited for Grandpa's order to finish. Seemed pretty counterproductive. I could have just shopped for him with all of this time. But it'll be fine. I picked up the newest Cosmo, seeing some YouTuber on the cover. I sat on the ground, mindlessly flipping through the pages.

Cosmo was one of my mom's favorite magazines growing up. They were always on the coffee table for as long as I could remember. I wasn't supposed to read them, buuut sometimes curiosity got the better of me. So, I grew up reading about who they deemed Bachelor of the Year and "10 Positions to Get You Off First" and "Your Weird Period is a Normal Period". It was like having the big sister I never had.

I was reading about how curated piercings were the new tiny tats when I felt a pair of eyes on me. It was unnerving. My head snapped up, looking at each end of the aisle but seeing nothing. A woman pushing her toddler in the cart passed by, politely saying excuse me. Pay attention to your surroundings…I heard this little voice in the back of my head.

My senses were spiking just a little, but not because of a vampire. I ignored it, shaking it off. I let the magazine distract me for a little bit longer before I felt it again. I checked again but saw no one. I tried to ignore it again; for about five seconds, it worked before the hairs on the back of my neck started to rise again. Slamming the magazine closed, I shelved it and opted to walk around instead.

It would be the first time I'd be seeing my grandfather since the Council meeting. I didn't know what I was supposed to say to him. Is he mad at me? Disappointed? I know love is unconditional, but what do you do when your family is also your superior? It's hard to find where that boundary is.

Browsing the frozens, I wasted time looking at every single kind of ice cream. Ben and Jerry's, Talenti, Halo Top. I grabbed three pints of Ben and Jerry's for me and my siblings. Strawberry Cheesecake for me, Milk and Cookies for Mel, and Gimme S'More for Will. Maybe ice cream and bonding with my brother will make him a little less icy toward me.

It was right around the time for me to pick up Grandpa's order so I headed toward the register to pay for my items. As I rounded the corner, my heart lurched out of my body and I gasped loudly as I ran smack dab into a big, hard body. I didn't even notice the pints of ice cream drop onto my feet as I was stopped dead in my tracks by the boring eyes on Matthew Holt.

He stared at me for a second before smiling at me. He bent down to pick up the Ben and Jerry's from the floor. "Miss Hadley," he said, "sorry about that."

I couldn't bring myself to speak.

"Fancy running into you here," he spoke so casually, handing me the ice cream pints. I grabbed them, clutching them to my chest. "That's quite a bit of ice cream."

"It's—it's for my brother and sister," I choked out. I checked behind me before turning back to Matt. "Were you watching me before?"

I probably sounded like a complete paranoid psychopath. It's a grocery store, Hadley. Get a grip. More than one person can exist in a grocery store.

He chuckled lightly, "No, ma'am. I was just picking up dinner to cook for tonight." He stepped to the side and showed a half full cart of…from what I could see, random crap. There was a pack of ground beef, two potatoes, a bag of gummy candy, and some Ibuprofen. "It's a work in progress," he shrugged.

I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding. "Well…let me know if you need anything. I'm here to help."

I started to walk away when he called me back, "I heard you've been having a bit of a rough time around. I'm sorry to hear that."

"Where could you have heard that?" I asked. "We keep pack business pretty private."

He waved it off, "It must have been in passing or something. I didn't mean to impose. I just see how much you work around the reservation. I'm sure it's hard to go through your day to day, feeling underappreciated."

I narrowed my eyes at Matthew a little before stating, "I'm not in it for the accolades; my family being healthy and unharmed is thanks enough for me."

He nodded, "I completely understand."

"Have a good day, Matthew," I said, ending the conversation.

"You too, Miss Hadley."

I went into overdrive, paying for the ice cream, grabbing Grandpa's groceries, and booking it to my car. I spotted Matthew's black pick up right next to my car and felt so uneasy. Bad vibes. Such bad vibes. Holy shit, what was that? Maybe Will was right; he's creepy.

I made it back to the reservation and felt my nerves calm down with every turn. When I pulled up to Grandpa's little red house, I noticed his girlfriend's car in the driveway. Lucy didn't live with him, but she might as well. I took her presence as a positive because maybe, just maybe, I could drop off the food and slip out without having to get the look of disappointment from Grandpa Billy.

He always kept the extra key in the flowerpot next to the door. Considering it was the only pot on the property, it wasn't the best hiding place. But we didn't really worry about break ins or anything like that. Small community, 80% of the population has supernatural hearing, little crime activity. I slipped inside the house and heard the tv playing Family Feud. Setting the two paper bags on the kitchen table, I quietly put his food away. "Hadley bug?" Grandpa's gruff voice called from the living room. "Is that you?"

I silently cursed. "Hi, Grandpa," I called back.

Billy rolled himself into the kitchen, wearing pajama pants, a big t shirt…and his cowboy hat, of course. He gave me a kind smile. "I was hoping you would come by today," he told me. "I've missed seeing you around."

I opened the fridge and shelved his milk. Dad had him on soy milk now. Says it's better for him. "Yeah…I'm sorry. It's been busy."

"Uh huh," he said suspiciously. "It's really been busy or you're avoiding me?"

I froze in my tracks and faced him. He was getting older and that was scary. I never wanted to imagine what the world would be like without him. But I also grappled with this idea that I, as my own person, could be upset with him, as his own person, for how things have been transpiring. Not as grandfather and granddaughter. Not even as pack member and Council member. But as Hadley and Billy Black. "Well, I figured we all needed a little room to air out after that intense meeting," I decided to say before grabbing his frozens. "Water under the bridge." I've been saying that a lot lately, it seems.

"I hope you understand why we made this decision," Grandpa said.

I nodded fervently, not speaking.

"It's not personal, you know that?" he asked.

"Of course not," I agreed, closing his cabinets. "Pack business is business. You made the right call."

Grandpa watched me as I cleaned up his kitchen just a little before I made my way to the door. "I hope you're not upset with me for too long, Hadley bug. You know I love you more than anything."

"I love you too, Grandpa," I told him honestly. I leaned down and gave him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'll come to family dinner soon, I promise."

I left his house quickly, calling a greeting to Lucy before the door closed behind me. Sitting in my car, I blew out a breath to relax. My nerves were still rattled from my interaction with Matthew and now being kindly confronted by my grandfather. Too much. Too much for one day.

Although, I will say that my curiosity was getting the best of me again. Would it be so bad to know more about Matthew since he's still living on our reservation? Everyone has a right to privacy, of course. I just needed to know if he was lacking in social cues or if he was up to something. It could be either. I had the time to find out.

I drove back to my house to park my car and drop off my goodies for my siblings before taking a long walk to the end of the road. To the house closest to the tree line and farthest away from everyone else. The black pick up wasn't anywhere to be seen, so I took that as my cue to go full steam ahead. I could hear some rustling around in the house and country music playing. I walked up to the front door and knocked a few times.

Just as I was expecting, Travis opened the door with a surprised look on his face. When he registered it was me, a bright smile spread across his face. "Hey!" he greeted me. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to stop by and see how you're doing," I smiled back. "Are you busy?"

"Not at all. Just cleaning up."

"How about some company? Can I come in?" I asked.

"Oh, for sure! No one's here right now." Travis opened the door wider to let me inside. I stepped into the house and immediately took notice that it looked different than the last time I was in here. Everything was cleaned up and it looked like they had brought him a few pieces of furniture.

"Where is everyone?" I asked, looking around.

"Matt is running some errands, I think," Travis answered, "and Reese…she's been MIA for a few days."

"Yikes, did something happen?" I felt bad for Travis. He really cared about his sister and I think, sometimes, he felt like there was no payoff to that.

He rolled his eyes in frustration. "I think she and Matt got into another fight. She's probably just blowing off some steam."

"For a few days though?" I looked at him. "That sounds like a long time."

"I'm trying not to worry about her too much…" he admitted. "So, I'm keeping myself busy."

"Well, I'm happy to provide a distraction for you," I quipped.

He chuckled, "Thanks a bunch, darlin'. I was just about to head back to the shed if you want to come. I'm workin' on a secret project."

"I'm intrigued. Lead the way," I said. We crossed through the back of the house and walked over to the shed. He dug the key to the padlock out of his pocket, humming along to the music still playing in the house.

Travis unlocked the shed and effortlessly slid the barn door open to reveal a gorgeous red Mustang convertible. 1967, I think? I whistled, completely impressed. "What do you think?" Travis asked.

"She's gorgeous," I exclaimed, running a hand over the red paint. "Where did you get this?"

"There was a guy in Port Angeles selling it for dirt," he told me. "I'm building a new engine for it. That's my special project to get away from it all."

"That's a lot of work, Trav," I warned, looking at the new engine and all its parts. "Are you up for that?"

He nodded as he sat at his little footstool. "My dad used to have one just like it. When I saw it, I knew it was meant to be. Like a little piece of home."

I helped him out for a bit; he walked me through everything that needed to be done for it. I was procrastinating. Admittedly. I waited to hear the familiar sounds of their Ford F-150, but it didn't come anytime soon. "Can I use your bathroom?" I blurted.

Travis looked up from under the hood and said, "Sure. It's the first door on the left."

I went back into the house and headed straight for the bathroom. I splashed water on my face and worked up the courage to do what I really wanted to do. What was I looking for though?

The first door next to the bathroom looked like it belonged to Travis. It was pristine and smelled exactly like him. The door next to it was most likely Reese's. I spotted her signature flannel on the ground next to a carton of cigarettes. Her scent was old now because she had been away from home for so long.

That only left the door across the hall that was shut tight. I tested the doorknob and was surprised when it opened. It was just as clean as Travis's room, but noticeably lived in. A bottle of vodka was tucked under the bed, but you could see the red top peeking out. Do I dare go into this man's room? I lifted my foot to step inside and squeezed my eyes shut as I crossed the threshold. As if I was waiting to be struck down by the gods or something.

Beware of your surroundings, little wolf, I heard quietly in my head. I glanced around to make sure no one could see me. He had completely covered any natural light with newspaper since the last time we had made eye contact through the window last week. What was I looking for?

Open the closet…the voice told me. The closet was slightly ajar on the other side of the room. I didn't know what I was looking for, so I didn't know what to expect. There was a small square piece of paper on the ground. Squatting down, I picked it up to realize it was a photograph. When I flipped it over, I about lost my shit.

It was a photo of me, coming out of my house mid evening. I was wearing a pair of jean shorts and a t shirt I had knotted at the bottom. I instantly recognized that day; it was the day Wyatt and I saw a Child of the Moon destroy that vampire from the cliff. "What the fuck…" I whispered.

Standing up, I pulled the closet door open to see dozens and dozens of photos. Most of them were me. Some of them were of Wyatt. Some of Nate. A couple of Cass. But…the majority were of me. Me walking, me sitting on the cliffs, me talking to people, me on the beach, me from afar, me close up, me, me, me, me. The photos of the others were marked up; one of Cass had a question mark over her face, and then the other just said 'NO' across the bottom. Same with Wyatt and Nate, except with 'MAYBE' across the bottom. There was one close up of me with 'ABSOLUTELY' written diagonally across it.

My ears were ringing as I took all of this in. My heart was pounding, my hands were shaking. What the hell is this? Sitting on top of the dresser in the closet were scraps of paper, cut up. I picked them up and saw they were articles. Like those articles you use for writing essays and stuff. Journal articles, I guess. "QUILEUTE DESCENDENT TO LEAD SUPERNATURAL REVOLUTION", "FIRST CHILD BORN OF TWO SHAPESHIFTERS RUMORED TO BE MOST POWERFUL", "QUILEUTE SUPER CHILD SAID TO BE TELEPATHIC PROPHET".

I was about to be sick. My stomach churned as this information settled in.

TURN AROUND was yelled in my head. I whirled around to see Matthew's stone-cold face right before he knocked me out.