Rebecca's gaze snapped back once more at the sound of someone changing. Her heart rose into her throat at the sight of Riza alive. Her head lifted and ears perked up.

"Riza!" Rebecca cried, hoping the other woman would hear her. Riza had broken her bonds with the pack, but wolves could still communicate with each other when in close proximity with each other. It hurt to know Riza had broken away from the pack, but after everything Rebecca had said and the revelation she may have killed Roy's parents, it was no wonder. Rebecca was surprised she had even came back to them. Her relief was unbelievable.

"I leave you guys for two minutes and this is what happens?" Rebecca smiled at her comment as she approached her side. Nodding at Sam, Riza thanked him for coming. Rebecca noticed a there was a sadness in her voice. However, she was acting somewhat like her old self.

The Hunters on the other hand, readied their weapons as the familiar crack reached them. They trained their crossbows on the small group in return. The wolves could smell the fear coming off of them. No doubt they were here because someone in their family had been a Hunter before them. They had no real idea about fighting werewolves and vampires. For most, this was their first time seeing one.

The wolves tensed in response to the raised weapons. Riza scanned the row of Hunters before them. They were about fifty strong, and they were getting restless. Roy needed to get out of here with Gracia and Elicia before the fighting started. Preferably, there wouldn't be any fighting. However the Hunters were never in such a giving mood. If they found out you existed, they hunted you until you were dead. Luckily, Riza thought, they haven't seen Roy or Gracia. As Riza once told Roy, to even be associated with them would get them killed.

Hughes, however, remained calm.

"Easy, we don't want anyone to get hurt," Hughes soothed, raising his hands in front of him as a show of peace.

The man in the centre sneered. He was older than the rest of them, with long grey hair that fell past his shoulders. His beard was also grey, grown down to his chest.

"No one could get hurt? You do realise they could kill you at any moment? They are beasts." He spat on the ground in front of him. Riza lowered her head and growled, fangs bared. The way he spoke about the werewolves made her hackles rise. He spoke as if they were nothing more than dirt under his boot.

"I don't think so," Hughes replied, shaking his head. "My friends wouldn't hurt anyone. However," he continued, his voice turning hard. "If they were provoked, they will fight for their lives and for those they care about. "I can assure you of that."

"Then you leave us no choice."

Riza braced for an attack, however none came. Their "leader" turned to one of his men and spoke in a hushed tone. Little did they know, their opposition could hear every word.

"We go with plan one. Is this definitely every beast you saw?"

"Yeah," the man nodded. "Three wolves. Never seen that guy before though."

"If he's with them then he's against us."

The younger man looked at Hughes nervously, obviously uncomfortable with the thought of killing a human. Boy, you have no idea.

"Look, they haven't harmed anyone here," Hughes stated, trying to negotiate their freedom with the Hunters. "And they are not going to, I can assure you."

"It doesn't mean they won't!" the leader snapped back, rounding on Hughes. He stalked forward, away from his Hunters into the middle of the clearing. The men and woman behind him, surprised by his boldness, fumbled with their weapons, getting ready to shoot if need be. "I can't take that risk." The hatred in his voice was clear as day. He harboured strong feelings towards werewolves. I wonder if he has had a run in with our species before, that's why he hates us so much.

"One of my men said he saw two of the beasts fighting each other. It was ferocious. If they can turn on each other so easily, what's to say they won't turn on humans?"

Hughes, confused, turned to face Riza and Rebecca. The question was clear as day on his face. Rebecca hated to admit it, but she nodded. It was subtle, one the Hunters probably wouldn't even notice. Not that they would look at the wolves anyway. The majority were too terrified.

"Who did you fight with?" Riza asked Rebecca fearfully, although she already knew the answer. Perhaps she didn't want to believe that her actions could cause two of her pack members to turn on each other.

Rebecca shot her a look. If it were possible, if she was in her human form, Riza would have paled.

"Oh God. Are you okay?"

"Look, Riza, don't worry about that for now. We are both fine. We have bigger problems right now."

Rebecca was right, but anxiety, fear, and shame gripped Riza at the same time. Two of her friends had fought together because of her. She had caused that. God, Riza. You are useless. Both as a werewolf and as a friend.

Rebecca huffed to her right in frustration. "Riza,"she called to her sternly before the blonde could spiral into a pit of self-destructive thoughts. "Leave it. I mean it. I dealt with it."

Rebecca knew this wasn't over, she could see Riza's mind turning as she worried and tried to process the information. Rebecca wasn't happy with how she handled the Roy situation, but it had happened. It was in the past, best leave it there. Especially right now.

"While that may have happened," Hughes continued, drawing their attention back to the matter at hand. "I can assure you it was a personal matter. They pose no harm to anyone here." Hughes gestured to the three of the wolves, his expression obviously frustrated. "They have been here for years and have you ever heard of any trouble?"

The Hunter's leader paused for a moment, looking between the three. In turn, Riza's eyes scanned the line of Hunters. They all look so young, she thought to herself. It was a shame, really. Fear and uncertainty rolled off them in waves. No doubt this was not what they signed on for.

One boy in particular – boy being the appropriate way to describe him, he couldn't be older than fifteen – was shaking. He could barely hold his crossbow up, never mind aim it if he needed to.

"Well, no," the Leader answered. Doubt had crept into his mind, thanks to Hughes lie. If it saved their lives then Riza was all for it. "But –"

He was cut off by the sound of a crossbow firing. The Hunters jumped in response, not expecting the sudden attack.

Hughes dropped into a crouch, ducking any potential bolt. The wolves dropped in unison as well, except for one, who staggered backwards and fell to the ground.

"What was that, Roy?" Gracia whispered, fear evident in her voice. "I keep telling myself that I slipped, but there was too much force. Something knocked me over."

Roy could tell the woman was scared. Her eyes were fearful as they walked, scanning the forest. Her grip on Elicia tightened and she held the girl protectively to her chest.

In truth, he didn't know what had knocked Gracia off her feet. He had seen Maes disappear over the top of the hill. If he had seen the incident, surely he would have rushed to Gracia's side? Hughes was one to make a fuss over everything, even if Elicia had a tiny scrape on her knee. It couldn't have been Hughes that pushed her. First of all, he wouldn't do that to his wife. Second of all, that was some force she hit Roy with. He would have to be incredibly strong to do so.

Wait…

"Mama?" Elicia asked, her voice tired and small.

"Yes sweetheart?"

"Where is Daddy?"

"He said he will meet us at the resort, okay? You don't need to worry about him. He will be right behind us."

Elicia nodded, seemingly satisfied with her mother's answer. As her head returned to Gracia's shoulder, the woman kissed the top of her daughter's head.

Over the years, as Elicia had grown up, Roy had often wondered what it would be like to have a child. He had always hoped to have one someday, but it was looking less likely nowadays. Would his condition be passed onto the child? Would the child survive if he was with a human? Would the mother survive if she were human?

The first thought that popped into his head was Riza. While he had decided he wanted a future with her in it, children were out of the question right now. Steady Roy, you're not even together. His next thought was would she even want to be with him? Not only after everything that had happened, but in general?

Anxiety bubbled within him as he thought about Riza. She still thought she killed his parents, when she didn't. Roy had no reason to doubt his Aunt. She wouldn't lie about something like this.

There was no way of knowing what was going through her head right now. It couldn't be anything good.

He needed to tell her the truth. Sooner, rather than later.

"I really don't know what it was," Roy replied, answering Gracia's initial question. He lowered his voice as they passed a couple of tourists. The Resort was bustling with activity tonight. "But something isn't right here, and I don't like it." Leaving out the part about Hunters was probably best. Gracia gave no indication she knew werewolves existed, even though Hughes did. He didn't want to scare her. "Once we get you two inside, I'll head out and look for Hughes."

Gracia's eyes widened in worry, but she nodded in agreement. "Okay. Please do. I don't like the thought of him being out by himself with all this strange stuff going on."

Roy nodded, agreeing with Gracia.

Roy ushered the duo to the bar where his Aunt spent most of her time. She greeted them warmly, although spied Roy's odd look.

"The Hughes family will be staying with us tonight," Roy explained to her. "Maes is treating them for the weekend."

"Oh, how lovely," Christmas replied. "Are you two hungry? I can bring some food through here." At the mention of food, Elicia perked up.

Roy motioned with his Aunt to join him at the side of the bar.

"That would be lovely, thank you Chris."

"Not a problem. I will mention to the staff right away." Christmas snapped her fingers twice and, in an instant, a young girl was beside Gracia, ready to take her order.

"What's going on Roy boy?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I don't know," he replied, truthfully. "Something… Weird has happened tonight. It just doesn't sit right with me. Hughes told those two he would meet them here. Has he arrived?" Christmas shook her head. Roy's shoulders sagged. "I was afraid of that. I'm going out to look for him. Can you… Keep them busy?"

"Of course."

"Thank you. I won't be long." Christmas made a noise as if she didn't believe him, but waved her nephew off anyway. In truth, Roy didn't believe his statement himself. He jogged through the bar and out the door. Once he hit the trees, he changed into a wolf.

The Hunters had found them. He had heard them speaking just before Riza left them. That could only mean bad news. If those two were out fighting them, he couldn't stand by and let them do it alone. His pack needed him.

It took five minutes to reach the bottom of the slope where he had landed with Gracia. As he did, he heard something fire one shot. He ducked instinctively, dropping onto his belly. His heart almost jumped into his throat. There was a burst of commotion, both growls and shouts, along with the sound of weapons being readied. He sprinted up the slope, pushing his legs to carry him as fast as he could.

When he crested the hill, he froze.

Riza staggered as something hit her right leg. Intense pain flared throughout it, causing her to collapse to the ground. Panting, she looked around at her leg. The sight of a crossbow bolt sticking out of her rump was sickening. One saving grace, however, was there was no burning sensation in her leg. The bolt was bare of wolfs bane.

Everyone seemed frozen in shock. Both Sam and Rebecca were shouting at her in her mind, asking if she was okay. They didn't dare move, afraid if they did someone else would fire.

"I'm all right… There is no poison on it."

"I'll kill them all," Rebecca replied, furious.

Despite the ferocity of her reply, a small part of Riza couldn't help but be pleased by Rebecca's response. After what was said between them, she was still fiercely protective of Riza. That cemented the fact that Rebecca hadn't really meant what she had said. One less thing to worry about.

Riza turned her head back towards the Hunters, who were all looking towards one in particular. It was the same young boy Riza had picked out earlier. His hands were raised in front of him, as if he was still holding a crossbow, however the weapon had fallen to the floor. He looked like he was either about to vomit or pass out.

She could tell straight away he didn't mean to fire it.

Movement burst around her. Hughes was yelling at the Hunter's leader, who was yelling right back. Both Sam and Rebecca had burst into action. They sprinted at the Hunters, growling and snarling, who turned and ran in fear. Only a handful remained. They were older people, probably those who had hunted werewolves before.

"Riza!"

As she was rising shakily to her feet, Roy's voice reached her. Her heart leapt in response to the tone of his voice. He sounded worried about her. There was fear in voice.

Then reality came crashing back down and Riza remembered what she had done to Roy. It was enough that it almost stopped her breathing. She staggered, partly from the poison which was already in her system and partly from the gravity of her actions.

"Riza, are you okay?" Roy whined as he shifted in front of her. He wanted to help, but he didn't know how. He dipped his muzzle to under her chin, lifting is as it drooped.

"I'm all right," she panted in response. Lifting her eyes to the carnage in front of her, her vision zeroed in on a Hunter who was aiming right for Roy. Before she could think, she butted him with her own body. Yelping in surprise, he fell to the side, out of the way of the crossbow bolt. Riza ducked, however she was still too tall. Like her previous injuries on her head, the bolt skimmed behind her ear, breaking the skin.

Roy looked on in shock as Riza literally took a bullet for him. He watched her cringe in pain as it passed over her head.

"No…"

Riza was the first to recover. She sprang to her feet and barrelled towards the Hunter who had just shot her. Clearly, they didn't expect Riza's reaction. As the massive wolf sprinted towards her, her face fell and she turned and ran.

Roy sprang to his feet as well. Looking around he could tell that by just chasing the Hunters they would turn tail and run. The other wolves weren't fighting, simply driving them back into the trees. Roy wasn't sure if it would work, but he was determined to help. Pushing his worry for Riza aside for the moment, he joined in.

"You brought this on yourself," Hughes snarled, catching Roy's attention after a few moments. The black wolf hadn't even noticed he was here. After cresting that hill, his attention had been entirely focussed on Riza.

Hughes moved so quickly it was hard for Roy to follow him. He was sure that if he didn't have his wolf's eyes, he would miss Hughes' movements. In a swift move he kicked the back of the older man's leg, causing him to crash to the ground. In an instant, he was on his back while Hughes placed his hand on the older man's chest. He struggled beneath Hughes, but couldn't move.

Impossibly quick movements.

Incredible strength.

No way…

Hughes was a vampire?!

Roy was stood, transfixed by the exchange.

He had known Hughes his whole life. Now he was finding out he was a vampire?

There is no way…

But there it was, right in front of him. The evidence was clear as day.

"Leave us be, and don't ever come back," Hughes hissed. He was ferocious and frightening. Two qualities he had never seen from Hughes before.

Lifting the older man off the ground, he raised him off his feet before tossing him towards the trees, where his other Hunters had ran off to. The man didn't travel far, but he landed hard on the ground. The fear was evident on his face as he turned to face Hughes. Red eyes bore into his human ones. Scrambling off the ground, he ran through the trees, away from them.

However, Roy couldn't take his eyes off his old friend. How could Hughes not tell him what was going on?

Hughes turned and his eyes met Roy's. Time felt still as the pair regarded each other. Hughes was the first to turn away, casting his eyes to something happening behind Roy.

Anger spiked within him. Roy felt betrayed. Hughes had found out his secret, yet didn't feel inclined to share his with Roy? The lack of trust stung.