AN: Ahhh I love this chapter! It has ALL the angst and suspense ;) I hope you enjoy it! If you do, let me know what you think! :D

"Who killed my parents?"

The question caused Christmas to freeze. She dropped the glass she had been cleaning behind the bar. The sound of it shattering pierced Roy's ears, but he barely flinched.

"Excuse me?" came her gruff reply.

"You heard me."

"I heard you, boy, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't dreaming. What kind of question is that to ask?" Christmas was irritated at the abruptness of his question, but Roy didn't care. He wanted, no, he needed, answers.

"I'm not playing games, Christmas."

Her hands lowered to her hips, eyes narrowing dangerously. "So now you suddenly care?"

That question threw him. Her tone caused a flare of anger within him, but he reined it in. He was not in the mood for arguing. He just wanted answers.

To be perfectly fair, his Aunt had every right to call him out on it. Once his wolf had awoken within him, it had seemed like he hadn't cared at all that his parents had died. Roy hadn't liked it, but he told himself at the time that he was just dealing with it his way. It hadn't been healthy.

Roy sighed, the weight of the day finally overtaking him. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. His whole body visibly sagged in defeat. Saying nothing, Christmas simply continued to study him. "Here, let me." Rounding the corner of the bar, he began sweeping up the glass around his Aunt's feet.

"You okay?" Roy shook his head, raising from his crouch. His Aunt took the dustpan and brush from him and gently, but firmly, guided him back around the bar. He sat him down on a bar stool and she joined him.

"Do you want to tell me what is going on?"

Roy sighed. He didn't know where to begin.

"Your parents were…" She cleared her throat, clearly not prepared to have this conversation. "They were killed. In Central Park. The police were baffled at the cause of death." Christmas paused and Roy wasn't sure if she was going to go on. He wanted to tell her to stop, that it was okay, she didn't have to tell him, but that wasn't the kind of person his Aunt was. She wasn't a sappy person. She was abrupt and straight to it. She told the truth even if she knew the person she was talking to didn't want to hear it, or she didn't want to say it.

"There was nothing to indicate the murder. No stab wound, no gunshot wound, nothing. It appeared as though they dropped dead."

Roy swallowed, the information slowly sinking in. Wait…

"They did an autopsy to determine why they died. People could drop down dead, but not two people simultaneously. There were tiny puncture marks around their necks, as if they had been injected with something. Whatever was in those needles killed them instantly."

Her fist clenched on the bar, her voice turning sharp.

"They never found the bastard that did it. I swear to God, if they ever do I will go out there and kill them myself for taking my big brother away from me."

"Thank you," Roy stuttered. "For telling me."

The small stutter in his voice was a stark contrast to the way his mind was whirring in that moment. In such a short time, he had been led to believe Riza had killed his parents, murdered them when she had first turned into a wolf. Now, after speaking with his Aunt, it wasn't as Riza had first thought. If his parents seemingly dropped dead, then there was no way Riza had anything to do with it. She had spoken of waking up covered in blood.

"Was there…" Roy cleared his throat, his brain trying to keep up with the revelations currently happening. "Was there any blood?"

Christmas shook her head. "No."

That simple answer threw everything he thought was true on its head. Gripping the edge of the bar tightly he braced himself. The wood creaked under his hands, and the noise shook him from his trance-like state.

Riza didn't kill his parents.

Noticing the tenseness within him, Christmas mistook it for anger and pain, rather than relief. "Look," she smiled sadly. "You had every right to know. I didn't think you would ever ask. Although I didn't particularly want to go through it again, I'm glad you seem to have finally come to your senses." She shot him a knowing look, referring to his out of character behaviour these past few months. "However, I completely understand and share the anger you feel. Promise me you won't go out and do anything stupid?"

Roy's gaze snapped up at that, confused by the question. His Aunt regarded him with a stern look, as if warning him about what would come his way should he try and track down their killer by himself.

"I promise," he whispered, not quite believing the words himself. How could he go on living knowing that their murderer was out there, possibly still at large?

"I mean it Roy boy," she warned. "Leave it to the police."

Christmas stood and returned behind her bar. Before she did though, she clapped him hard on the back in a show of affection. "Here." She poured him a whisky. "You look as if you need it." Roy nodded. You have no idea.

He thanked his Aunt and bid her farewell.

"Where are you going?" she asked sceptically.

"I need to clear my head. This has been… A lot to take in."

Christmas was silent, then made an uh-hu noise quietly to herself, as if she didn't quite believe him. "Just remember what I said."

Roy nodded. Turning on his heel, he quickly exited the hotel and into the woods.

The wooden walls of his Aunt's bar had been closing in on him as they had discussed his parents. Now, out in the forest, Ry felt like he could breathe.

Bending over, he rested his hands on his knees.

So, Roy summarised in his head. If there were no injuries on them that meant Riza couldn't have killed his parents. She had said she had woken up covered in blood. The relief that flew through him was so great, he felt his body shake in response. She didn't kill them.

Riza didn't kill his parents.

That one sentence alone filled him with joy. A small sound of both relief and disbelief left him as he repeated the same phrase over and over again.

Riza didn't kill his parents.

The anger and hatred he had felt towards her had dissipated in an instant. Roy had even wondered if it had truly been there. He couldn't quite believe it, the relief was so great. For a few hours it had felt like his world was a train wreck and he couldn't do anything about it except sit and stare, horrified. Now, he was able to breathe and get into action.

He started towards Rebecca and Riza's house. He needed Rebecca to help him find Riza. Although he knew the truth, Riza still thought she had killed two people. The dread that had set in at that thought almost stopped him short. She had run away assuming she was a murderer. She was out there alone, thinking she had killed two people when she hadn't. Thoughts like that could lead to rash and wrong decisions.

That kicked Roy's brain into gear. He needed to move fast. At the moment, finding Riza was his number one priority.

"Riza?"Rebecca called out in her mind. The wolf moving through the trees was still just a dark shape. The sky was darkening as the sun set and the forest with it. The wolf slowed to a stop, but didn't answer her. Rebecca cautiously approached them, circling around to their front.

As Rebecca approached, she almost sighed in relief as hints of golden fur became visible. However it was short lived as Rebecca realised it wasn't Riza.

"Who are you?" she asked, her tone cautious as she continued to approach the strange werewolf. Rebecca had heard two cracks before. This was one werewolf, so where was the other? Were they the reason the Hunters were so close to the Resort?

One thing was for sure. Rebecca would remain on her guard.

The wolf slowly turned to face her, face neutral.

"My name is Sam. Are you Rebecca?" The name Sam was familiar, however Rebecca couldn't put her finger on it. Saying nothing, she waited for the wolf to speak again.

Sighing loudly, he shifted impatiently. "Look, I'm for a Rebecca and a Hughes. Riza has asked me to warn you that Hunters are on their way to your location. This is important," he urged.

Rebecca paused her movements. Riza.

Rebecca dipped her head, nodding. "I am Rebecca. Where is Riza?"

Sam's gaze shifted, not looking at her.

"Look, this is important as well,"Rebecca hissed, the hours of frustration building within her. "Where is she? If the Hunters are out there, we need to find her."

"She volunteered to lead them away. Well, didn't give me much choice," Sam added bitterly.

Rebecca blinked, her muzzle dropping open in surprise. Fear spiked through her. There was no telling what Riza's state of mind was like at the moment. The fact she had voluntarily decided to lead Hunters away from their location didn't bode well. Riza always took things hard and this revelation that she may have possibly killed Roy's parents… Rebecca shuddered at the possible punishment Riza would think up for herself for something this severe.

"Where is she now?"

"She headed down the valley to the north."

Rebecca nodded. "Hughes' home is about a mile away. Keep heading in this direction. He is a vampire, so you will be able to sniff him out. He wants that secret kept hidden though, do you understand?"

"What a minute, where are you going? You're not seriously thinking of going after Riza?" The disbelief in Sam's voice irritated her. Of course she wouldn't leave her out there to face Hunters alone.

"No matter what she thinks she has done, I won't leave her."

"The Hunters are coming though. We need to form up and get out of here."

Before Rebecca could respond, she head Hughes' shout her name. Sam tensed beside her.

"Easy. That's Hughes."

Rebecca changed back into her human form and jogged towards him. He looked distressed, which wasn't good.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Have you seen Roy?"

"No, I thought he was with you?" Hughes ran his hand through his hair agitatedly. "You lost him?"

Hughes' shot her a warning look. The pair weren't exactly on the best of terms considering their last meeting, but Rebecca wasn't going to let him get off easy with leaving the most defenceless member of her pack out in the forest, alone, especially at this particular moment in time.

"He is a grown man, not an object," Hughes snapped in response. Rebecca was about to fire back, but the retort died on her lips as she watched Hughes' face fall. It looked as if he had aged ten years since she had last saw him. He shut his eyes, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I didn't lose him," he replied, his voice calm. "He left my house and I don't know where he went."

"Where could he have gone?" Sam asked, changing back himself. When Hughes' looked at him questioningly, he smiled and offered his hand. "The name is Sam. I'm… an acquaintance of Riza's."

Hughes shook it. "Maes Hughes. Nice to meet you Sam." He really did seem pleased to see Sam. Rebecca supposed that the more people available, the better. It would help with the search.

"We need to go and help Riza," Rebecca stated firmly. "With the Hunters closing in we can't leave her out there alone. Especially not after that she has just been through."

"I agree, however, they are on their way," Sam reiterated. "We don't have a lot of time."

"Roy can't be left out here alone. I don't like leaving Riza out there any more than you do," Hughes began. "However, if what Sam saying is correct and they are on their way here, we won't have a lot of time to manoeuvre around them without being spotted."

Rebecca geared up for an angry retort, but Sam quickly added to Hughes' train of thought. "Look, Riza is more than capable of taking care of herself. Even I know that and I barely know her. She won't get herself killed."

"But you don't know her like I do," Rebecca reminded him. It sounded harsh, which hadn't been intentional, but now was not the time to worry about such minor things. "She takes things very hard. She is convinced she has killed two people. That is something she would not take lightly. She may have said she wouldn't get herself killed, but she knows she deserves punishment for her crimes. What that punishment is though… I think we can all come to the same conclusion."

Sam and Hughes' faces were grim as Rebecca spoke. They both knew she was telling the truth.

Several voices carried over to them on the wind. Both werewolves shifted to the sound, remaining on the defensive.

"Boss, we're almost a mile out from the first building."

"Good. We keep going."

There were several moans of displeasure. The three of them shared a look before slowly and quietly backing towards Hughes' house.

"I guess this answers the debate for us," Hughes whispered. However, there was no joy in his voice. He was simply resigned to his fate.

Rebecca's chest tightened at the thought of Riza being left out alone. She wanted nothing more than to run now and find her. She knew Riza would do the same for her. It seemed like a poor excuse to be leaving her out there.

Sam picked up on what Rebecca was thinking. "You haven't failed her. They would spot you in no time, especially if you changed now, and they would run you down. There are about twenty of them heading this way."

"I could still do it," Rebecca replied, her voice hopeful s she weighted her options.

"Can you fight night vision goggles?" Both Hughes and Rebecca looked at him. They had turned and picked up the pace to a light jog. Sam shook his head. "There is no chance."

For what felt like the hundredth time in the past couple of hours, Rebecca let out a frustrated sound.

I am so sorry Riza. I have failed you.

A reminder of the horrible words she had spoken to her closest friend the last time they saw each other washed over her, filling her with such an intense sadness. Rebecca wasn't sure if those were the last words she would ever say to the blonde. Her heart wrenched at the thought and she prayed that was not the case.

The trio were silent as they ran. The only sound was Rebecca wiping the tears from her face.

Boy, it is just one thing after another today.

When Riza had first started to lead to Hunters away, she had been confident they would never catch her. Now, the emotional distress she had been through was taking its toll on her. She could feel herself slowing as she ran, panting as she led the Hunters away from her friends.

On the upside, she only had about thirty minutes of daylight left. She only need to keep them distracted for another half hour. When it was dark, they wouldn't be able to keep up with her and she would continue her tracks in the same direction. Once a trail had been set, she would change back and head back to Hughes' house. She only prayed Sam had reached them already and passed on the message to leave.

However, with an upside, there is also a downside. Riza had quickly discovered this. The Hunters had apparently been getting creative. Instead of guns, the four following her had crossbows. This meant the bolts could be covered in wolfs bane. It was much more effective than bullets.

Bullets themselves rarely killed werewolves .They healed too quickly to die from blood loss and their skin was much tougher than a human's. If shot, the wound would close up within a matter of minutes, sealing the bullet inside. When Riza had first heard of this, she didn't like the idea of walking about with a bullet in her.

"When you change back to a human where does it go?" she asked Rebecca, who looked equally as disgusted as Riza. Riza poured over the book in front of her, hoping to find an answer, but there was none.

"Let's just hope we never have to find out," Rebecca replied with a shudder.

Riza lost her footing briefly, but staggered back to standing. She pushed forward shaking the memories from her head.

Focus.

The smell of wolfs bane had been a constant for her over the past two hours. It continually sapped her energy and made her feel terrible. In all honesty, the thought of pressing forward was becoming less and less appealing. Riza simply wanted to return home now and rid herself of this tedious chase.

Something whipped by her head, to her right, and Riza instinctively ducked. Lowering herself into a crouch, Riza turned and backed up, scanning the way she had come for the enemy.

The trees were dense here, but she could still make out four figures still heading her way. The group has slowed to a walk, but had still remained on her tail. Riza was frustrated, because she should have lost them by now. Her energy was leaving her quickly thanks to the constant assault from the wolfs bane. She didn't have much time left.

"I think I got it!" A woman shouted excitedly.

"You didn't hit it you fool. You hit a tree."

"How can you be so sure?" she asked indignantly.

"Because the damn thing just turned and is looking this way. If you had, it would be on the floor."

Riza's heart dropped when she realised what the odd shapes covering their heads were. Night vision goggles.

"And now," the last person to speak continued, irritated. "You have just announced our presence." The man growled angrily, but broke into a run towards her.

The woman muttered to herself, Riza was finding it harder and harder to make out what they were saying. Her sinuses burned due to the wolfs bane while her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool. It was becoming increasingly difficult to concentrate.

"It's struggling! Get it!"

A few more bolts were let off and flew around her. That was enough to get her moving again. In Riza's first few steps she stumbled around the trees, bumping into two or three. Riza could barely see, her eyes streamed as the smell of the foul plant grew closer to her.

"Take aim guys!"

Four crossbows clicked and loaded very closely behind her. Panic began to set in as she blindly tried to make her way through the ever darkening trees.

She had told Sam she deserved to lose her life because she had taken two. However, in the moment, Riza was terrified. She didn't want to die. She wanted to be at home with Rebecca, laughing over something they were watching on the television. She wanted to see Roy one last time. Riza wanted to tell him how sorry she was and that it wasn't intentional. In that brief moment, she found herself thinking of how life would have been different if they had kept in touch.

As the pair had spent more time together, Riza found herself wanting to see him every day. She knew that as members of the same pack, this was normal. Packs generally felt the instinct to stay together. However, this was different from what she shared with Becca. It was a pull deep within, which made her want to see him smile towards her and laugh with her. She wanted those arms to envelope her and tell her everything would be okay.

"Fire!"

If that was ever to happen, Riza, then you need to live first.

Survive!

As Roy wandered, oblivious to all that was happening only just two miles away from him, he was completely lost in thought. He was only shaken from his daydream at the sound of a woman shouting.

Roy jumped, not expecting the loud sound. He was about to crouch defensively and curse himself for being so careless, when he recognised the voice.

"Gracia?" Roy called back, spotting the woman frantically running through the darkened forest.

"Oh Roy!" she exclaimed in relief. Tears wet her cheeks. The distress was clear as day on her face.

"Hey, what's wrong? What's happened?" His brain had kicked into overdrive as he thought up all the possible scenarios that could have occurred. The thought of Gracia finding Riza dead in the forest, killed by Hunters, shook his core.

"It's Elicia, she's gone," Gracia let out in a rush. "Maes told us to head to the Resort, that he was taking us out for the night. I knew something was off, because it was almost Elicia's bed time and we had already had our dinner. I wanted to ask, but I could tell he was getting increasingly agitated." Gracia's voice was increasing in pitch as she spoke. She was on the verge of hysterical. Roy tried to soothe her, but to no avail. "I told Elicia to go on ahead, I was only going back in the house for a scarf because it was colder than I expected, but when I came back out she was gone."

Gracia was crying now, clutching at him desperately.

"Easy Gracia, easy. Don't worry, we will find her. I promise." Roy pulled her in close to his chest as he scanned the forest. He sniffed the air, trying to pick up some kind of scent, but there was nothing. One scene that did catch his attention though, was the faint smell of wolfs bane. Roy's eyes widened in response, but before he could react, he remembered that Elicia was out there by herself.

"Look, we need to move Gracia." Roy's voice was low as he continued to sniff the air and search the forest. The smell of the toxic incense was wafting slowly closer to him. They needed to get out of here.

Gracia looked up at him, spotting his tense stance and searching eyes.

"Why?" she asked, wiping her tears away. "What is wrong, Roy? What are you and Maes so worried about?"

Forcing himself to calm down, he turned towards his friend. He hoped his smile was reassuring, but he doubted it. "I'm just worried about Elicia. She couldn't have gotten too far though. Let's head back towards the house. She is probably there just now."

Gracia nodded, but clutched her scarf tightly. Biting her lip, she hurried back the way she came, leaving Roy behind her.

Boy, it is just one thing after another today. Roy wasn't sure if he could handle any more emotional distress today.

Before turning to catch up with Gracia, Roy turned towards the direction of the wolfs bane. He could see nothing though the trees, hear no one approaching, however that didn't mean they weren't nearby. Backing away slowly, he turned and focussed on finding his goddaughter.