Sorry guys, know it's been a while. Been working towards my Masters and writing time is extremely rare right now.

Chapter 14

I pulled thebike into my garagenot at all surprised that Cynthia was already there. Pulling off my helmet I couldn't stop the words from tumbling out "you shouldn't have come here." She flinched at my tone before her eyes hardened "forgive me for being concerned about my best friend's well-being. Just because you were able to forget about me doesn't mean I forgot about you."

"I didn't forget about you Cynthia, I have never forgotten about you nor the fact that your life was almost taken because of me."

"Jesus Christ Catt! When can you move on from that! I am still alive, I am still doing just fine. And I don't know if you remember but I wouldn't still be alive right now if it weren't for you. And you're stupid ass would be dead if it weren't for me!" I flinched at her tone before letting out a sigh, "I know Cyn, and I will forever hate you for-hey ow I was kidding!" I rubbed the sore spot on my arm where she had punched me not holding back her strength. Joking aside I ran my hand down my face, "it is good to see you Cyn, I don't want you to think otherwise but-"

"you also don't want me involved."

"no I don't, have I not caused you enough trouble? Enough pain?"

"Apparently not. But even if my answer was yes I would be staying Catt, if what your saying is true about all of this, then this is a problem for more than you and your human. I saw the news about Port Angeles, they are being careless and reckless. It could expose us all." I took in her words and would not admit she was right "…if word gets out you're working with shifters-"

"I'm not working with shifters, I am working with you. I am tolerating shifters."

"the implications-"

"I don't give a flying fuck about the implications Catt, and you know damn well neither would Aidan. Now are we going to check out Port Angeles or not?" I pursed my lips "fine. But were getting food first, I'm starving. And you're buying." She let out as tinkling laugh "save that pout for your mate love. Which we will be talking about." I groaned before swapping the keys out for the car and pulling back onto the street. I pulled into the least packed restaurant I could find and we took a seat in the far corner. We didn't say a word until the food was ordered. "ok, let's have it."

"have what?"

"details Catt, the details."

"mmm can you be more specific?" she let out a little growl but humored me "your mate, how did you meet her?"

"at a bar." Her eyes narrowed at my smirk "how old is she?"

"…18." Her own smirk lifted her lips at the slight blush that heated my face. "shut up."

"I'm not judging. So what if your dating a high school student."

"Cyn!"

"ok ok sorry. At least she's legal. How'd she take the whole 'I'm not human' conversation."

"she already knew I wasn't human actually so surprisingly well."

"what? How?"

"well, she dated a vampire, was hunted by another vampire, and she's friends with a pack of wolf shifters." Her eyes widened dramatically before "well shit. Your girls got balls I'll give her that. So she dated a leech huh?"

"yup. That scrawny one with bed head whose arm I took off."

"hold up, that was her ex?" Her laughter brought a few glances our way "Well at least she upgraded." I let my own lips lift into a smile as I thought about mon ange. Hey own eyes softened "I am happy for you Catt, I can see it in your eyes how much you love her, how much you have changed. I admit I was a bit concerned about when you would find your mate."

"why's that?"

"…because your incredibly stubborn, so it would take an incredibly stubborn woman to bring you out of your little self-imposed exile." A laugh burst from my lips "she is incredibly stubborn Cynthia, you have no idea."

"well she does put up with you." I know it was a joke but it was also just as serious, she did put up with me, from my claws to my tail to my oh so many character defects. And she loved me just the same. "she does."

We finished the rest of our food and coffee in comfortable silence, something I did miss about her presence. She paid and we headed back to my car, "so how do you want to do this? It is the middle of the day."

"true, sometimes I wish I had the nose of a wolf. How about we just take a very long walk?" She rose a brow like she was questioning my sanity before shrugging "I've got nothing better. Should we take the car back?" I nodded my head and turned down my street to drop the car off before we took off on foot. "You know we could always head to Bend if you wanted? With both of us we would never be spotted." I admit I thought about it for a few moments before deciding it wasn't worth pissing off everyone. "We could, and it would probably be much easier that way. But Bella would kill me, literally kill me dead." I could already picture her furious face and shuddered at the thought. Her tinkling laughter brought my attention back to the moment "your human scares you that much?"

"…you have not seen her mad, I have seen her silence vampires Cyn."

"…fair enough, we can just check around here then and see what we can find. When you called you had asked about Jax and your mother, you think they are involved?"

"I'm not so sure anymore. I had thought so because as I'm sure you remember, she can bend just about anyone's will. Now that I know Andre is involved my not sure, he would not need his will bent."

"mmm I still have not heard anything of your mother, though I haven't really asked. Word would most likely get back to her."

"yes let's not poke the…Panther. If she is not involved I'd rather avoid getting her interested."

"of course. So we go to Bend, get the information, you most likely kill Ryder, then I call Aidan."

"…Yes, and no. Whether or not I kill him will depend on the information I get. I will not start a war if I can avoid it. The information also decides if Aidan is needed at all."

"Catt, sweetheart. Do you think we can just show up and demand information from Ryder and they will what? Just give it up and let us walk away without a fight? Ryder isn't as bad as Andre but he also isn't any better love. Also, we both know you won't be able to see him and not want to rip his throat out." She finished her lecture with a tiny growl, she felt the same way I did about the brothers, and it was not good. I was silent for a moment as I thought about it, She makes a good point. "I Know, he will die by my hands whether he talks or not."

"He deserves it, and more-wait…do you smell that?" I stopped in my tracks and took some air in over my tongue only to gag a second later, "wolf."

"not just wolf, that scent, its bloody rancid."

"it's not a Lycan…"

"no, but something isn't right." We followed the scent a little longer as it led to the water, we looked around spotting only humans. They milled around the shops filtering in and out unaware of the danger that lurked around. "I can still scent them but can't pinpoint where."

"Same, this is where those humans were attacked right?"

"yes, but the scent wasn't this bad even with the blood." I looked around and let out a frustrated growl before "Catt, there." I turned to her and leaned over the railing that led to the water, a ways down there was a sewer outfall pipe that led under Port Angeles. "You have got to be kidding me."

"shall we?" I looked at her for a moment hoping she was joking, "…I just bought these boots." I know I was whining but come on! I followed her towards a less popular area before we quickly flung ourselves over the railing and into the pipe that hung 5 feet over the water. "this…is disgusting."

"yes but can you scent that?"

"yes and I have never been more tempted to rip my nose off before."

"no, don't be so dramatic. The wolf, I can still scent the wolf over all of this."

"…your right. The wolf's scent should be overpowered. Shit I just remembered something."

"what?"

"A while back Bella had a run in with a vampire and a shifter, at least I was pretty sure it was a shifter. But the thing was mangy, fur was missing in spots, other places the fur was matted, and it was scrawny. I mean tiny, that's why I thought it was a shifter."

"ok, the scents are quite different though Catt, which did you smell. It could have been a rogue."

"I'm not sure…I was a bit distracted by the vampire creeping up on my mate. But the wolves, Jake and his mate were there, they could probably say."

"Then we will ask them, after we check this out." I nodded my head as we made our way deeper into the dark sewers under Port Angeles. I gave Saphira a little give and changed my eyes to see better in the dark, Cynthia doing the same. We had to have been a mile or two in when we started to hear grunts and growls, the scent growing stronger with each step. We had decided to go in the straightest line possible to avoid getting to lost in here.

We rounded a corner only for me to pull her back, we slowly peaked my head around the corner once more where 20 yards down was another mangy looking wolf hunched over in what I thought was pain until I saw the bloody arm dangling out of their mouth. My stomach churned not only from the scent but memories of that being me before I shook it off and really took in the wolf. It was lanky and mangy much like the one in the forest, but I was still leaning towards werewolf instead of shifter. The eyes are what made me certain, shifter eyes are 9 out of 10 times some shade brown or black. These were a dull blue, and there was little to no humanity in them as they whipped around to land on us. "a rogue?"

I didn't get a chance to answer as it was splashing through the filthy water as it charged us. We each took up a side of the tunnel and waited for it to get to us, my panthers eyes taking in how every step seemed to pain the beast, how close it came to stumbling multiple times, the way it favored its left side. If I caught all of that I know Cynthia caught it and would use it to our advantage. "Saphira?" Ready. I leapt up just as my claws lengthened flipping myself over the dog and raking my claws down its side. Cynthia took its distraction and went for his throat and from the blood that spurted out I know she hit her mark. The wolf dropped shortly after with a thud and splash and I met her own wide eyes with my own, hers filled with shock. "Is it just me or was that way to-"

"Easy. It was way too easy."

"Catt, what is going on?"

"I have no idea; did you see its eyes?"

"Yes, they were clouded, but it's definitely a werewolf. But was it a rogue?"

"I don't know, if it was it recently became one, there was still a man behind the pain in those eyes. Behind the frenzy."

"…ok. Ok let me get a few pictures and then burn it."

"Let me gets some of its blood first. I'd like to rule out anything else like infection."

"Right." She took her pictures and I soaked some of its blood into a cloth. Once she finished with the pictures, I pulled on the flame inside of me and covered the dead wolf with it. We didn't leave until nothing but ash was left to wash away down the pipe.

We caught a few glances as we flung ourselves back over the railing but otherwise no one paid us much attention as we headed back down the street in silence. "Friday" I utter, "We will get our answers Friday." She nodded her head still deep in shocked thought. It didn't take us long to make it back to my place and take the elevator up. I head for the kitchen as she takes in the place. I throw two blood bags into a cup and heat them up. And then I add some whisky to mine because what the actual fuck. I placed her cup down in front of her as she takes a seat on the couch. She took a sip before "2 bedrooms?"

"I added it for Lauren, she had a…tough home situation she needed out of." She regarded me "that was, very nice of you." I sent her a smirk "you mean very unlike me?" With her own smirk "same thing." She then rose her class to mine "to finding your mate, and to hoping your mother is not involved in this shit show." I rose my cup to meet hers with a "I will drink to that."

"you would drink to anything, I could smell the whisky as soon as you poured it."

"ahh I have missed your judgement." She rolled her eyes as she downed her cup, me doing the same.

We spent a little more time catching up as she asked about Bella and I asked how her mate was. It was around 2am when we finally decided to call it a night.

When I woke up I was not surprised Cynthia was still sound asleep next to me, nor the fact that I could hear a steady thrum of raindrops outside. I sent a quick group text to let the few workers I employed know that we wouldn't be opening this weekend and then wished Bella and Lauren a good day at school, letting them know we would see them afterwards. I took a quick shower and put on some clothes that would be easy to travel and fight in. I added a few blades just as an extra precaution hoping I would be able to stay human. She began to stir as soon as I finished getting ready, "I'll make some food while you shower."

"aye" she mumbled still half asleep. I quickly put together a ton of food knowing between us two we would have no problem finishing it. Which we did when she came out in similar clothes she must have brought with her. "Did you run here?"

"No, I wanted to but decided on bringing the car. Figure It would be safest with the distance alone." I nodded agreeing with her. "then you can leave it here and we will take the bike back to Bella's to meet the others."

"sounds good, I'm just about done."

With that we finished up and headed down to my bike. We were quickly speeding down the winding roads, I didn't bother heading for Bella's yet deciding to go to the reservation. I could feel Cynthia tense up as soon as she realized where we were headed. When I pulled up to Jakes house I was not surprised he was already outside with a few members of his pack and Leah. He stood up to greet us as we climbed off. "Catt, Cynthia was it?" She nodded her head choosing to remain silent, though he didn't seem to mind. "did you guys look around Port Angeles yesterday?" We shared a look, "we did." I told him of the scent and the wolf we ran into in the sewers. He listened to every word as a few of the wolves started to vibrate, he shut it down quickly though. "I see."

"The good news however is that if this was a rogue wolf issue, and Andre is involved, it means my mother may not be."

"That is good news. We have decided that again Paul and Embry will go with you if that's alright."

"Of course, I appreciate it. Will they be ok with running it?"

"Yah I gave them yesterday and today off to rest and eat before tonight."

"Good. It shouldn't be too bad of a run but still. So it will be us two, two wolves and at least two vampires."

"That still leaves you outnumbered. Do you want another wolf with you?"

"No, I'd rather most be focused on Bella. Speaking of, the vampires, will they be granted permission." He ran a hand through his short hair, "it wasn't easy but yes. I was able to get permission for Kate, Irina, Rosalie, and Alice. As long as they stay within the sights of a wolf."

"I'm impressed, and that shouldn't be a problem. Were gona head out to meet them at Bella's, when your wolves wake have them meet us there before sundown."

"You got it." We said our goodbyes and climbed back onto the bike. "these…shifters, they seem different."

"They care. Not only about Bella, though that does help. But they care about the humans around here. And they are far more openminded then ones we have met in the past."

"Indeed." She rested her helmet head against my back and I knew she was deep in thought.

We pulled into Bella's driveway the same time the humans and vampires did. My heart stuttered as her eyes lit up on me and a beautiful smile took its place. "Ello love." I pulled her into my arms and pressed my lips against hers. She deepened it easily as she swiped my tongue against my lips. I pulled away as a couple different throats cleared, her face reddened I couldn't help but smirk. I did notice Kate also wore a slight smirk though the others rolled their eyes, Tanya speaking up "It's been what? A day since you last saw her."

"A very long day" I drawled. "But to business, shall we?" I gestured everyone inside and they followed all taking seats in the living room. Firs we went over what me and Cynthia ran into in Port Angeles and Bella scooted more into my side, Kate inching closer to the edge of where she sat. Then, "Alright Paul and Embry will meet us here shortly. But until then, Kate, Irina, Rosalie, and Alice will be allowed to stay with Bella and Lauren on the Reservation. But you must be always accompanied with a wolf. Not my rules."

"I didn't see that coming."

"Yah me neither honestly, but their priority is the same as ours. To protect these two." They all nodded in understanding. "The two wolves will come with me, Cynthia, Tanya, and Jasper to Bend. Where we should run into Ryder and 6 other wolves."

"Were outnumbered." Didn't surprise me the soldier caught that. "Yes, we are." He nodded as if it was just another obstacle. It technically was. "Ryder is good, but he isn't an Alpha, which helps us even it up a bit. Any questions?" I ask as 4 wolves walk through the door ready to go. "Jake filled us in. Seth and Leah are here to take you guys over the border. Billy already called your dad over for a game, he will be by after work."

"Perfect, then, shall we?"