AN: Finally getting this chapter out after I missed a week of posting! So here's a double chapter for ya.

Hope you enjoy this one! ;)

"Riza, hang in there okay? Don't change back into a human. We need to get that thing out of you first."

A whine was the only response to Rebecca's orders.

Drawing Roy back to the present, he turned and saw Riza lying on her side, panting heavily. Blood seeped from behind her ear and her forehead. Rebecca had also suffered a number of injuries. Blood ran down her right arm from a cut on her shoulder. Her eyes were bright red, an effect of the incense. Roy couldn't possibly tell the extent of her injuries.

All he could do is stare as the scene unfolded around him. The discovery of Hughes' true self had left him reeling. He had known that man his whole life and only now was finding out he was a vampire.

Questions swirled around his head. How old was Hughes, truly? Was Gracia the same? Elicia? Why did he keep this to himself, especially after I changed?

"Roy?" the man in question asked quietly. His face was apprehensive, as if he wasn't sure how Roy would act towards him now.

In truth, Roy didn't know himself.

"Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

The black wolf continued to stare at the vampire in front of him, trying to process and make sense of what he had just witnessed.

"Hughes!" His attention snapped to Rebecca, registering the urgency in her voice. "I need you over here."

Roy followed his friend as he jogged over to the two woman. Riza was panting heavily, lying on her side. Whines continued to escape her as she lay there, her face contorted in pain.

"I know, Riz. I know it hurts," Rebecca offered softly. "We will get it out of you but you need to stay still, all right?"

Riza's nod was short and sharp.

"I'll hold her down while you pull it out," Rebecca ordered to Hughes. The latter looked alarmed. "You are the strongest out of any of us. Just make sure it is quick."

Hughes nodded and swallowed, looking down at the bit of wood sticking out of Riza's leg.

As Hughes touched it, Riza let out a howl. It was so full of pain and anguish… Roy had never heard anything like it.

"Shhh Riza. Shhh, it's all right. It will be over soon. We need you to stay as still as possible."

Hughes gripped it tighter this time, ignoring Riza's weak struggle or anguished howls.

"On three," Rebecca ordered, having to raise her voice over Riza. "One, two, three!"

Riza's final howl was more like a banshee shriek. She thrashed against Rebecca who was currently holding her down. Her struggle may have been weak before, but now it was full of energy, desperate to get away from those who were causing her pain.

Rebecca continued to try and soothe Riza by stroking her fur.

Then the woods went eerily quiet as Riza passed out.

The sight finally kicked Roy's brain into gear.

How dare they do this to Riza.

He took a step forward, but was stopped by Rebecca as she commanded his attention.

"Go to our house with Hughes and get my medical bag. It has everything in it I need to treat Riza. She is too weak for us to move her."

Roy looked down at Riza's exhausted frame. Her golden fur was matted with blood. Where the bolt had punctured her leg, Hughes was currently putting pressure on the wound, but it was spilling through his fingers. The offending crossbow bolt lay on the grass, tossed to the side. Roy took one look at it and felt sick.

The end was twisted and barbed. It was likely that when they went in, they were designed to not be able to come out.

The world suddenly turned very red for Roy.

"Roy!" Rebecca shouted. "Are you listening?" He snapped his gaze back to her, baring his teeth. A low growl escaped him, threatening her to back off. He would hunt down the bastards that did this to her if it was the last thing he would do.

"Go to the house. Now." Roy's anger dissipated slightly at the look in Rebecca's eye. It was a "do this or I will kill you" kind of look. "Riza needs our help. We can deal with this later."

"She's right. We need to act fast," Sam interjected. "She is losing a lot of blood. That bolt was designed to stay in the body and not come out again. With an injury like that, she won't be able to regenerate fast enough."

"Let's go." Hughes nodded to Roy. The pair regarded each other for a moment. It still hurt that Hughes hadn't told Roy about himself. However, there were bigger things to worry about right now.

Riza needed him. He wouldn't let her down.

Roy nodded. Turning towards Riza and Rebecca's house, he ran side by side by side with Hughes.

"How is she?" Roy asked a tired-looking Rebecca. In truth, they were all exhausted. So much had happened overnight that there hadn't been a lot of time to process it. The five of them were currently in Rebecca and Riza's house. Riza was in her bedroom, asleep. She hadn't regained consciousness since after the fight. Rebecca had worked on her through the night. The other three hadn't bothered her as she did so. Instead, they waited around the living room, anxiously awaiting any news.

Rebecca and the other wolf, who Roy had learned was called Sam, left the skirmish relatively unharmed. Rebecca had one deep cut on her shoulder which had easily been bandaged up. She had also suffered the effects of the incense, but was fine now. The only clue was a trace of redness around her eyes. Sam was unharmed, along with Hughes and himself.

"She is all right now. I've managed to get most of the poison out of her system. Now the body just needs to fight the rest of it off."

Roy thought back to when he had suffered from the poisoning and shuddered. That would not be pleasant.

"The wound on her leg is not healing as it should be," Rebecca frowned.

Sam nodded. "A bolt like that is made to kill. We removed it so it did more damage."

"Are you saying we shouldn't have?" Rebecca asked. There was no anger in her voice, simply fear.

Sam shook his head. "It was definitely the right thing to do, don't worry. If it had stayed in it would have killed her. Think of removing it as a blessing in disguise. Also…" Sam began, but stopped himself uncertainly.

"Also?" Hughes prompted him.

Roy watched as he debated with himself internally before continuing. "If the person is going through a great deal of stress, or has suffered something traumatic recently, then wounds can take longer to heal."

The room fell silent. Everyone knew what Sam was talking about. The fact Riza still believed she had killed two people made Roy feel sick, but there was nothing to be done about it.

"How do you know so much about this?" Hughes asked curious, breaking the silence. Roy hadn't brought up Hughes' newly discovered vampirism in the couple of hours they waited. It was a discussion for another time and, in all honesty, Roy wasn't sure where to begin.

"I grew up in a large pack in Maine. We have observed and learned from the Hunters since they first became a threat."

Hughes opened his mouth to ask another question but was cut off by a bout of violent coughing from the other room. Rebecca turned on her heel and left them, rushing to check up on Riza.

The sound vomiting and crying reached Roy's ears and it made his heart ache. He wanted nothing more than to take her pain away, but instead all he could do is sit there helplessly.

"I'll be staying at the resort if you need to find me," Sam offered, taking it as his cue to leave. He held out a small white card with a phone number on it. "I'll be back in a day or two, I have a few things to wrap up. Call me if you have any questions."

Roy took the card from their new acquaintance and offered him his hand to shake. "Thank you. For coming back to help us." Hughes piped up in agreement.

Sam smiled. "Don't mention it man."

He silently slipped out the door.

Hughes was uneasy. He wanted to leave as well. He needed to see his family, to ensure they were truly all right. The last he saw his wife he knocked her over so the Hunters wouldn't see her. The memory shook him to his core. The last thing he had ever wanted to do was hurt his wife, but it was for her own safety. Roy had reassured him they had made it there safely, but with everything that had happened, his anxiety had remained.

The reason for his unease was his old friend sitting across from him. He studied Roy as he stared into space, lost in thought. The way Roy had looked at him in that field after he realised his true identity… Hughes was worried for his old friend. There had been a lot to deal with over the past few weeks. Was he handling it? No doubt this newest revelation was another stress to put on his mind.

His whole life he had wanted to tell Roy what he really was. However, Hughes had sworn an oath to keep it a secret. His family had been small and had lived apart from vampire society. They didn't agree with how vampires treated humans and his parents had moved away from it all before he was born. The family had lived in peace for seventeen years before the old vampires had finally discovered his parents. They were killed for so-called treason.

The only reason Hughes was alive today was because they thought his parents had only had one child. Hughes' brother died that day as well, leaving Maes alone.

The picture of his parents and brother lying, decapitated, on their living room floor was something that would haunt him for the rest of his long life.

He couldn't expose Gracia to that.

"You okay?"

Roy's question brought Hughes back from his past. He blinked, clearing his vision. Roy was regarding him with a concerned expression. There was no hate or distrust there, like Hughes had expected. The hurt in his eyes made Hughes feel bad enough.

"Yeah," Hughes replied, clearing his throat. The memory still had a grip on him and it was always hard to shake.

"Look," Roy began, leaning forward, his elbows on his knees. "Go and see your family. There is only going to be more waiting around."

Hughes nodded, perhaps jumping up from his seat a little too quickly. He paused before leaving, turning back towards his friend. "I'm sorry I kept it from you," Hughes began. "I had my reasons, but I promise, I will tell you everything."

Roy nodded. A small smile ghosted over his face. "Don't worry about it man."

Hughes nodded and exited the house, hurrying back to his family.

Left alone, Roy lay his head back against the armchair, his gaze finding the ceiling. He closed his tired eyes, finding respite in doing to. There had been too much worrying and thinking tonight. He wanted nothing more than to drift off to sleep.

"Roy?" a quiet voice called to him. Groggily, he opened his eyes. They were heavy and protested against the action. Roy fought it, raising himself into a sitting position. His neck was stiff from being extended so far back as he slept, leaving a sharp pain every time he moved his head.

"Yeah?"

"Could you sit with Riza and keep an eye on her? I would but… I started running on fumes about an hour ago."

He nodded, raising himself out of the chair. "How long was I asleep for?"

"About two hours. Just keep an eye on her. Help her if she starts vomiting."

Roy swallowed worriedly at that last part.

Nodding, he entered Riza's small room.

It was dim, but there was a warm glow from the bedside lamp. The sun had begun to rise outside, brightening up the room slightly.

Finally, Roy's gaze rested on Riza's form. His chest hurt as he studied her, feeling even more helpless from before. Her skin was drenched in sweat, her hair plastered to her forehead. Her skin was worryingly pale, apart from the angry redness around her eyes. Riza's breath were short and sharp, as if struggling to breath. Every so often a limb twitched and her face grimaced in pain, even in sleep.

Roy felt his knees go weak at the sight of her.

He silently pulled up a dining room chair Rebecca had placed in the room and grasped her hand tightly. The hand itself was freezing, a stark contrast to the high body heat werewolves normally possessed.

Roy knew Riza's condition was bad, but didn't realise how much so. He had been such a fool as well. Instead of asking her what had happened with his parents, he had jumped to conclusions and simply assumed it was her. If he hadn't lost it like he did, she wouldn't have ran away. Perhaps, if he had been more level headed, it would have saved her some of her injuries. If he had been paying more attention to the fight, Riza definitely would have been saved of one injury.

Roy brushed the hair back from her forehead. A large gash lay across it, the skin puckered and red. Another, the one which was the result of his lack attention, lay just below her hairline. It looked worse than the other. Either way, both made Roy feel sick. The fact this woman had put herself in danger to save him… It made him uneasy, but also grateful there was someone watching his back. Another emotion lay simmering under the surface, but he decided to let it slide for the moment. He didn't deserve to feel that way. not after all the pain and grief he had caused her.

"Please be okay Riza," he whispered.

Her hand twitched in what Roy thought was a response. Hope filled him, only to be crushed by the sight of her face contorting in pain. Shifting in his seat, he stroked her hair in an effort to soothe her. He whispered to her, about nothing in particular and about how thankful he was she had found him.

After what felt like an age, Riza's face relaxed and she remained asleep.

Sighing, he picked up a damp rag from the bowl on her bedside table and spent the rest of the morning tending to her wounds.