[Well, this has been a long while. I am really sorry for blowing you guys off. I am sorry to inform you that I may not be updating every Monday like I had been originally doing.

This chapter is dedicated to my cousin Josh who died January 3rd, 2012.]

My lips pulled in as I took in the sight before me. There was Kenzie, who seemed to be nude from what I could see of her under the covers. Next to her was the Connor boy. His arm was tucked around her neck and her arm was draped around his waist.

"No," I muttered to myself. "No. No. No," I closed my eyes, wishing I was anywhere but there. How could Kenzie do this to herself? She had been so innocent... Maybe I had assumed too much. Maybe they hadn't done that... that thing.

It wasn't long before Kenzie opened her eyes and sat up in the bed, clutching a light blue sheet to her chest. Her eyes stayed on Connor momentarily, and she gasped when she caught sight of me across the room. "Gene!" She started saying loudly, but quieted to a whisper, "You're home," she beamed at me.

Her dark brown eyes that I loved so much shined and I couldn't believe she was reacting that way to me... Why me?

"What did you do?" My voice cracked as I tried to remain as low and calm as possible.

Finally breaking eye contact with me, she rolled her eyes. "Trust me, not as much as you're thinking I did."

"Really?" I heaved. "Then where's your shirt? And his pants?" God, even thinking about her with him like that made me want to double over and barf all over the douche's room.

She bit her lips. "Well, there was some over the belt stuff..." she said, blushing while using the terms we had learned in sex education class last year. "But I still have my panties on," she smiled.

Then, as much as I loved seeing her bare skin, I removed my shirt and flung it at her. "Put that on."

She did. And damn did she look good in it. Slowly, she rose from the cushioned bed, pulling the hem of my t-shirt almost to her knees. I never realized how small she was until I saw her in my extra large shirt. "Why did you come here?" She asked me very quietly, taking a seat on the very edge of the bed.

My mind swirled back into rational thoughts. Reasons why I was there in some random kid's room with the girl of my dreams. "Claire," I blurted out, finally remembering, "Her work called this morning and said she didn't show up. Do you know where she is?"

Her eyes focused on the ground in thought and perhaps, confusion. "I'm not sure. She said she was going right home."

I became worried. Where was my little sister?

"Oh!" She opened her mouth and lightly tapped her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Last night she sat around with your cousins Tona and Kimi, maybe she drank too much and they brought her to their house?"

I pondered this for a few seconds. "Claire doesn't drink."

She smirked at me. "That's what you think. Trust me, your sister isn't as innocent at you think," her lips twisted evilly. "One time, she was so-"

I plugged my ears like a child was. "Uh, no thanks. I'd rather not here about her like that."

For some reason she blushed again. Not that I minded, it was so damn sexy. "You really care about her, don't you?"

"Of course I do. We're blood- and that runs deep." Not too mention how caring Claire was and how understanding and how much she helped out after Annie died...

"Good luck with finding her then," she yawned silently. "I'm sure she'll be fine. She's really smart."

And I knew that. I had always known that. It surprised me so much that she missed work... she had more responsibility than a president.

"Hey," I said coolly, "You want a ride home?" I asked her as I learned against the door way.

"Um, sure," she replied smoothly. She got on her feet and looked around the room for various articles of clothing. "Why don't you head down? I'm going to change into my dress. I'll be down in one second."

I glared over at Connor, then back at her. "Not with him in here."

She rolled her eyes and walked past me with clothing in tow. I followed her down the hall to a bathroom and she closed the door in front of my face. "Go get the car started, I'm cold," she told me loudly as she turned the lock.

At that point I had no other choice. I had to turn the heater on for her. As much as I wanted to be the one to warm her up, I didn't know if she would be comfortable with that.

My feet carried me away but my mind still lingered on how beautiful Kenzie was with the morning sun shining through the window. Her rosy cheeks against her creamy skin.

I climbed in Tyson's van and turned the heat all the way up. As I waited for Kenzie, I turned the radio station and tried to find some kind of rock. Soon enough, Led Zeppelin was playing out of the small speakers.

She arrived only minutes later. She hopped in the passenger side, still wearing my shirt but she had a dress on underneath. A very short dress. I could only fantasize about how the rest of her body looked enveloped in the red material.

"So, you just get on 94 and take the first exit to county road 9," she told me while buckling herself in.

"I know," I put the vehicle in drive and took off towards the highway. After I few seconds, I realized how creepy that must have been. "Because my sister's your best friend. Remember that one time, when I had to pick her up from your house?" I pulled the lie out of my ass. Kenzie couldn't know about my ability to find her sense from miles and miles away. Sometimes, when there was a vamp in the area, I ran by her house just to check up on her.

After my slip of the tongue the rest of the ride was, for the most part, silent. There was no doubt that she also felt the thicker than butter tension. Multiple times I had opened my mouth to say something, but no noise came from my throat. Instead, I just turned the radio up until we sat parked in her driveway.

"Thanks," she said, turning to look exactly at me. "It means a lot to me, Gene." Her voice broke on my name and she moved her right hand to the door handle.

"Wait," I touched the material of my shirt that draped over her shoulders. She looked the other way and I could immediately sense something was wrong. "Are you okay?"

Her sniffles gave me the answer as she attempted to get out of the van. The sound of her crying was enough to make me wish myself dead. As she strode away, I followed her. Right up to the front door of her small, read house. She leaned her back against the door frame and looked me right in the eye. Mine were mad with worry and hers, teared up.

"Can you please tell me what you're upset about?" I begged her bringing my hands to the sides of her face. She was shocked at first, most likely from the heat I was giving her, but then she relaxed.

"I just feel so stupid," she whispered, wiping the water from her cheeks with the back of her hands. As she let them fall to her side, I grabbed a hold of each, clasping urgently.

"You're not," I assured her. "You're the smartest person I know." Also the most beautiful and kind and forgiving.

She giggled a little then blushed. "I'm glad you're back."

We must have stood there minutes just staring at each other. This was interrupted by a crash from inside the house and a muffled shout. She pulled away and started to enter the home. "Gene, go. You have to find Claire, remember?" She widened her eyes and gestured for me to leave. I had a feeling there was more going on, but I started to leave anyways.

On the way to Aunt Emily's the conversation played again and again in my head. I rubbed the palm of my hand with my thumb, thinking about her soft, tiny hands enveloped in mine. I tried not to worry too much about the ruckus I had heard through the walls that had disrupted our rare connection. It was most likely nothing and I had to really focus on finding Claire.

When I pulled up I saw my aunt, bent over strapping a baby into a car seat. She saw me almost instantly and got out to greet me.

"Hey, Aunt Em," I said as she reached out for a hug.

She laughed and held my shoulders at arm's length. "Hi, it's nice to see you. You know, I have a nephew named Gene that looks just like you. Boy, do I wish he'd visit more," she kidded, pulling me in again.

"Sorry," I apologized sincerely. I really could not remember the last time I visited.

"That's okay," she folded her arms across her ches. "What can I do for you, honey?"

My mind refocused for the hundredth time this morning. "Did Claire come here with Tona and Kimi last night?"

She bit her lip in thought. "I'm not sure. They came back so late that I had already fallen asleep. I'd go check the girls' room."

With that, she took off in her car.

Approaching the house, I could already tell Claire hadn't been anywhere near the house. Figuring it wouldn't hurt to ask, I entered the house quietly.

I went inside and found Emily's husband Sam digging through the fridge. My nine year old cousin Susie was eating Frosted Flakes at the kitchen table.

"Hi, Genie!" She called to me enthusiastically then ran to me for a hug. Sam gave me a polite wave from across the room.

"Hey, Susie Q," I said, rubbing my hand across her head. "Can you go wake up Kimi for me?" She nodded and ran to the door that led to the basement.

Sam gave me a questioning glare.

"Claire didn't show up to work this morning and she was at the same party that Kimi and Tona were at last night. So I was hoping that they might know where she was."

Susie entered the kitchen again with Kimi trudging behind her, yawning and rubbing at her eyes. "This better be important," she said to her little sister before noticing that I was there. "Oh, hey Gene. What are you doing here?"

Once again I explained what Kenzie had told me. "I figure, since you guys were talking, if you know where she went."

She looked puzzled. "Claire was going to drive Derrick's truck to his house to drop him off and then go home."

"Why would she drive his truck?" I displayed my confusion to her.

She rolled her eyes and folded her arms, reminding me of my aunt. "He was hammered. Couldn't barely walk."

"What about Claire? Did she drink?" I asked, growing more and more concerned as our conversation went on.

"She was fine. Not one drink. Maybe she decided to stay over at his house," she shrugged and yawned again.

Oh, great. I had heard all to much about that kid's 'sleepovers'. Claire never believe the shit our brothers gave her about Derrick. She was never around while I heard him talk about his latest 'conquests' in the boy's locker room.

I found myself thanking Kimi and then rushing out of the house. My feet moved at an immortal speed to my truck, and I drove. A year ago Claire and I had went to a birthday party that was hosted at Derrick's home. He lived far out, all the way up in Neah Bay. The party hadn't been that great, but Claire had fun.

It took me forty minutes, speeding up the highway at eight-five miles per hour, to pull up to Derrick's house. Outside there was a dark blue truck that I recognized as Derrick's, along with a nice red Ferrari. It didn't surprise me; his father was a well-known lawyer.

I don't know what I expected to happen but I didn't expect to find Claire's scent in the truck but not anywhere near the house. I rang the doorbell twice anxiously.

The blue-gray door opened widely and Derrick stood a few feet in front of me. He was wearing only a pair of plaid boxers, had extremely messy hair, and looked like he was recovering from a serious hangover. "Hey," he said to me, disoriented.

"Where's Claire?" I got right to the point, not even bothering to greet him.

"I don't know, sorry," he rolled his eyes and began to close the door.

I held my arm out and kept the it ajar. "Look, I know that you left with her last night from the party. So how about you just tell me where my sister is and then I'll leave you alone, okay?" I started to get a really defensive tone.

"Read my lips, buddy. She. Is. Not. Here." He said with the attitude of a six year old.

"Then where is she?" I growled through my teeth. He was starting to really piss me off.

"Hell if I know. Probably stumbling around the trees somewhere," he told me with arrogance.

"Huh?" My eyes went into a glare. He had some serious explaining to do.

"Oh, fuck. She got pissed and got out of the car and went into the woods. I couldn't find her so I went home."

My mind swam and I pressed a hand to my forehead. "Why would she do that?"
"Don't know. Now please leave me the fuck alone, okay?" And with that the door slammed in my face.

I counted out ten steps to the van. Five seconds of deciding on what to do. And then less than one less minute I was running through the forest, howling the alarm call. This was not good. As I called three times I continued to sniff everywhere, running bigger and bigger laps around his house. I couldn't even say his name any more- I couldn't even think it!

Kail and Tyson were the first to phase, most likely because they recognized my call. My angry thoughts were forced into their mind before they got a chance to ask what's wrong.

He must be fucking lying, Gene, wait until I get a hold of that douche fag... Kail's vision went blood red, and see saw nothing but irrational rage.

I couldn't smell any recent traces of her around his place. Only a faded scent from his truck. She isn't in there though. I explained to him as Jacob's two sons came into our heads.

Within ten seconds they were both running in opposite directions, searching the forest. Through the next ten minutes, each and every wolf were all in the search. The only exception was Jacob, who went with his wife to visit her family in Canada. Also, Quil, who was still in Seattle with his own family.

Embry thought briefly about calling Quil and letting him know what was going on. As one of Quil's best friends, Embry worried about how he would take the news.

Immediately Leotie rejected the idea. He's got to be with his father right now. We'll find Claire.

After a while, Tona started sharing with us his guilty thoughts I don't know why I let her go home with him, I should have known better.

Stop, Yuma ordered him, Tona, Kail, go North. Tala and Howi; east, Tyson, Embry, and Skah; west... He went on and on, giving us all specific directions.

[What's next?]

My senses were everywhere, listening to every motion, smelling every grain of dirt in the ground... I knew I had to find my sister. I owed her a lot of things. Trees came and went through my vision constantly, my nostrils begging for the smell of Claire.

When Tyson finally picked up the faint scent of peaches, we all came towards him. I prayed to whatever god did or didn't exist that my baby sister was fine.

It wasn't for a good three and a half minutes before our hearts all sunk into our stomachs. Tyson came upon a huge piece of green material, covered in blood. Claire's dress... he said, reaffirming our sad thoughts.