In no more than a few days, Sky found herself working at a local pet store where she was allowed to bring Ghost as long as he was well behaved. So her new schedule became: work five days a week, eight and a half hours a day. The other Cousland siblings found jobs easily as well: Ana, a waitress at the Mystic Grill, Duncan, a bartender also at the Mystic Grill, and Fergus, a sales associate at a local book shop.

"Well," Duncan said as he drank back a beer, "that was easy."

The four siblings were sitting at a table at Ana and Duncan's workplace after everyone was finished their day to celebrate their own success at finding jobs so quickly. Sky nodded, "Yeah, I expected it to be harder to get employed."

Ana raised her glass and smiled, "I would like to say congratulations to us all for having settled in so well in Mystic Place. And I'd also like to toast to new beginnings."

Before the four could clink their glasses together, a certain feeling made them all stop and glance around the restaurant. Ana was the first to spot the brunette at the bar and locked eyes with him for a second. The other three siblings followed her glance and also noticed him who was soon joined by a darker haired man. Sky's nose twitched ever so slightly as she tried to catch their scent and tried to determine what they were.

Worried for her siblings' safety, Ana stood up and began to push her chair in, "Grab your coats. We're leaving. Stop looking Pup." The younger three echoed their sister's movements and left the Mystic Grill.

Once outside in the parking lot, Fergus shivered, "What were they?"

Ana shrugged her shoulders as she led the way to her vehicle, "I'm not sure but I know I don't wanna find out."

Duncan puffed out his chest and muttered, "You don't think they're going to be any trouble, do you?"

"Let's hope not," the eldest wolf said, "we don't need any more trouble in our lives."

Sky looked down at her feet and rubbed her nose, "I tried to get a scent from them but it was too crowded in there. Too many smells at once... I couldn't get it."

In an attempt to make her feel better, Duncan put his arm around her shoulders and said with a laugh, "Well baby sister, you're probably just losing your touch. Age does that to you, you know."

Before she could make some sort of sassy remark, Sky stopped in her tracks and turned around. The two from the bar followed them outside and were starting to make their way towards the siblings. "Um, Ana? We might be in some more trouble..."

Not knowing what her sister was talking about, Ana turned around and every muscle in her body tensed when she saw the two walking towards them. "Pup," she began, "get back."

Duncan pushed Sky behind him and stood shoulder to shoulder with Ana as the unknown men approached. With nothing but fresh air disturbing her, Sky inhaled again and immediately knew what they were. "Vampires," she muttered under her breath.

Fergus stood closer to his younger sister and frowned, "Great. Just what we need..."

Ana took the first initiative when the vampires stood no more than a few feet in front of them and said as politely as she could, "Can we help you?"

"What're you doing here?" The brunette asked.

Out of nervous habit, Sky began to twirl the ring on her fourth finger and looked at Duncan. "He's so tense he might be the one to start a fight," she thought to herself.

"We were just having a drink," Ana answered, "and now we're leaving."

"For good?" The darker haired man asked.

Duncan became more noticably agitated as he spat back, "What's your fuckin' problem Fangs?"

The dark haired vampire's eyebrow raised and he smirked when he said, "I just don't think it's a good idea to have a pack of mutts running around."

Sky could feel the blood drain from her face as she looked up to her brother. Duncan's fingers curled into fists and his jaw clenched. "This could be bad..." she thought to herself but, before she or Ana could curb him, his eyes began to glow and a growl rumbled from his throat. Fergus took to action and stood in front of his younger brother then put his hands on Duncan's shoulders, "Hey kid," he began, "now is not the time." The two brothers stared at each other for a moment and, as the seconds ticked by, the slight glow began to disapate.

While the two boys calmed down, Ana tried to remain diplomatic and said to the vampires, "We just want a chance to survive. We don't want any trouble. Please."

"The only way to make sure you don't cause trouble," the dark haired vampire said, "is to put you down like the dogs you are."

The brunette frowned and looked over to his second, "Damon, don't-"

That small remark made Duncan's already heated attitude spike and he immediately lashed out. "You wanna fuckin' fight?" He screamed out. Fergus attempted to calm his brother again but failed when he was aggressively pushed aside.

Ana was next in trying to cool her younger brother's rage by blocking his view from the two vampires who both started to look a little uneasy at Duncan's outburst. He became so angry his whole body began to shake and his eyes stayed glued on Damon as growls reappeared through his panting gasps of air. Subtle changes began happening in his physique that the vampires didn't notice though the siblings knew immediately what was happening. The whole situation was so stressful for Sky that it seemed like some punched her in the stomach. "No," she began to think as she shook her head, "they can't know... no one can know..."

Without thinking, she forcefully turned Duncan to face her and smacked him across the face. "Stop it you idiot!" Finally his eyes seemed to focus on her and his ragged breathing slowly began to level out. Not satisfied with how slow he was regaining his composure, Sky back handed him as hard as she could against his cheek and glared at him, "Get a hold of yourself bitch! Put in a tampon and let's go!"

At her words, Fergus and Ana began to lead the slightly disoriented Duncan to their waiting car while Sky looked at the two vampires who watched with increasing interest. "We just want to stay alive. Please, just leave us alone."

The whole situation gave the siblings an opportunity to get into Ana's car and begin to drive away from the grill. About halfway back to their house, Duncan was fully coherent and was pouting in the back seat. "I coulda taken 'em."

Fergus shook his head, "It's not about not being able to 'take them'. No one can know what we can do. These rings' magic is too unique," the elder brother said as he indicated to the ring on his four finger which was identicle to the other siblings' rings, "if anyone besides us knows what they're capable of then they'll find us for sure."

As Fergus was saying all this, Sky looked down at her own ring and sighed. The rings themselves were unique enough to give them away with their ivory carved moons encased by white gold bands but the young woman knew that none of them could part with the magic they were so accustomed to. Duncan huffed and crossed his arms, "Well, those two will be trouble. Someone should keep an eye on them and I say it shouldn't be me."

"Who else would it be?" Ana asked from the driver's seat, "You're the strongest out of all of us. You would be able to handle yourself better than the rest of us if a situation were to arise."

The stubborn wolf shook his head, "No. I refuse. I hate that asshole. If I ever see Fangs again, I swear to fuckin' God-"

Feeling exhausted of her brother's melodrama, Sky hit his shoulder and almost screamed, "Fine! I'll do it! God you are a child. An actual child."

"Hey!" He said as he glared at his younger sister, "You've hit me enough today! Ana! She keeps hitting me!"

"Kids." Ana said as she continued driving. "Play nice."

With that said, Duncan looked over to Sky with a triumphant smirk on his face and raised eyebrows. In response to her brother's look, she stuck her tongue out at him. "Anyways," he started, "Pup shouldn't be allowed to do it. Instead, I guess I'll force myself to do it."

Now in the mood to spite her brother, the youngest sibling started to protest, "Hey now! I already said that I'd do it!"

The two in the back continued to argue while the two elder siblings sat in the front and let the youngers argue until they got back home. When they pulled into the driveway however, Ana turned off the ignition in her car and said, "Duncan will keep an eye on the vampires. Pup," she said when Sky tried to argue, "stop arguing and accept your loss." The family then proceeded to make their way into the house when Ana began to lecture Duncan on how to act. "You must keep your temper in check. Don't let them get into your head and if anything happens, and I do mean anything, call us immediately and we'll be there as soon as we can. Got it?"

Annoyed with his older sister, he muttered, "Yeah sure, got it..."

Sensing his lack of commitment behind his voice, Ana stopped and made Duncan look at her. "I said, got it?"

He shrugged out of her grasp and said more clearly, "Yes. I got it."

"Good." Ana looked noticably uncomfortable as she rubbed her hands over her forearms and nodded, "Remember, anything happens-"

"I call you." Duncan finished, "Don't worry about me. I can handle myself. Let's just hope those vampires can say the same about themselves..."