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Anna, the spoil-sport hadn't given Piper the bottle but as Dinner progressed, Piper sure as hell wished she had. Up until that point, it had been tense but everyone had been acting amicably. That is, everyone excluding Leah. The woman was mostly snarling one-word answers as Bran and Charles laughed about previous holidays.

One story they told, the men had actually had to hunt for their turkey. Charles had somehow fallen into a leaf-covered pit some younger village-boys made. Bran remarked with a smile how Samuel had laughed for days.

As the Marrok spoke of his sons, Leah became even more upset. In fact, Leah had quit eating sometime after the third story on this topic. Piper sensed a blow up. As did Anna, as the woman kept trying to change the subject. Every new topic seemed to relate somehow back to Samuel or Charles. Sensing his wife's distress, Charles helped.

"Isn't this your guys' anniversary, Da?" Piper felt sick. It was easy to forget, with how cold the two were, that they were still a couple. She shifted in her seat, hoping for another subject.

Bran smiled strangely at Charles for a moment. "Yes. It is."

Charles smiled back. Piper saw some malice in the look. "How long has it been..." He turned toward the blonde, "Leah?"

The woman looked suspicious at Charles. "Twenty years," she said, "tomorrow."

If at all possible, Piper grew more nauseous. She stared stupidly at her plate, on the solid wood table. Twenty years wasn't as long as it could have been, but still, Bran and Leah had been together almost as long as she'd been alive. A stone dropped into her stomach and something changed. It was exactly what Piper needed to hear. She glanced at Charles and he smiled reasurredly. He knew.

Charles nodded and backed off. His mate, however, did not. "I've never heard...How did you two meet?"

Piper watched as they both glanced at eachother. It was such a married-couple act, something ugly fluttered in her stomach. Piper pushed the plate in front of her, forward.

"I'm not sure this is the time to-"

"What, Bran." Leah snarled, "Don't want your girlfriend to hear?"

Piper had done nothing to deserve the middle of this situation. And from then on, she promised herself to leave the Alpha alone.

"Fuck you."

"Piper, stop," Anna scolded. "I Shouldn't have asked." she admonished.

She rolled her eyes, "Fine. Un-Fuck you."

The subject attempted to be changed, but everyone was too silent. Leah and Piper and Bran didn't touch their food.

Anna asked Piper whether she had gotten a hold of Van. Leah growled, "whore!" and pounded a fist on the table.

It was all getting very repetitive to Piper.

"How many times do I have to flush you, before you go away?"

The woman jumped up and wildly directed a finger at her, "You are a whore! And now you're here trying to take the Marrock."

Piper glanced toward Bran. He looked like he was calculating something. She figured he was going to let this play out.

"You are bat-shit crazy, Leah."

She snarled, "I heard it directly form your old pack! I asked them about you. They told me what you did!"

That peaked her interest. Did someone in the pack really think she'd split Van and Alex up? "Who?"

Small satisfaction played in her gaze. "His second."

T.J.? T.J. had become a close personal friend. He knew everything about her. How could he think that?

"I don't believe you." Even to her own ears, it lacked conviction.

"Really?" Leah goaded, "Believe this… he told me that your recklessness and stupidity practically tore the pack apart! That in your haste to get to some stupid gun-fight, you got your brother killed!"

Her stomach dropped at that little detail. The tightness in her chest ached. She was sure the others saw the guilt on her face. Leah continued to snarl Piper's sins, "He said you whored yourself to anyone willing to buy you a drink, including him!"

Piper heard someone inhale sharply. A distant part of her, realized Bran still hadn't stopped Leah. Well, fuck him. Fuck them all.

"-AND THEN HE TOLD ME THAT ALEX LEFT VAN BECAUSE OF YOU!"

The accusations, the lies, using Mac's name all snapped Piper's control. As she spoke, Piper looked directly at Bran, he was barely listening. "Well, congratulations. You're right."

Anna looked shocked.

"I'm reckless. I'm the reason Mac's dead..." Her voice started to raise, "...and Leah, just because you and your MATE sleep in different fucking rooms, doesn't mean that everyone else can't get laid!"

Piper realized, detachedly, she was screaming now. Not caring, she looked between Bran and Leah as she snarled, "I CAN SLEEP WITH WHOMEVER I WANT TO..."

She didn't care what either of them thought of her. They were mated twenty years. This flirtation, this fued- it was over.

"VAN DIVORCED ALEX BECAUSE SHE CHEATED ON HIM, REPEADELT, YOU IMBOSILE-BITCH, I WAS THE ONLY ONE WILLING TO TELL HIM!...AND JUST SO WE'RE CLEAR, I NEVER HAD ANY INTENTIONS ON FUCKING BRAN," She glared at Leah, "BUT NOW, JUST TO PISS YOU OFF, I THINK I MIGHT!"

The bitch snarled, about to jump across the table. Piper flicked her off, before storming out of the house.

She was congratulating herself on not putting silver through the blonde when a hand grabbed her arm.

"Let go of me," she snarled.

Anna put both hands up, "I'm sorry. You need to calm down."

"I am fucking calm!"

"Piper, stop. Bran is already yelling at her. It's over."

As Anna spoke the words, Piper saw an emotion pass, It was...disapproval, she realized.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's just..." Piper saw Anna decide, she lifted her chin. "I love you, but I understand where Leah is coming from."

Stupidly, she wondered if her friend was joking. "You...what?"

"Piper, he's her mate!"

"I'm not coveting BRAN!"

Anna didn't believe her, "Piper, you two are obvious."

She couldn't believe this. Leah had won. She was loosing her closest friend. "You believe her. You think we're sneaking around."

"I just... I don't know what to think. They way he looks at you..."

"I can't help how he looks at me!"

"I kow, but... Piper I see you two together. You just... light up around him. If it was my mate I'd-"

"Your mate should know for himself that nothing is going on between me and Bran!"

"Charles won't tell me anything. He's doing his whole, 'it will all work out' in his the spririts have spoken to me tone."

"So it's my fault that Charles isn't talking to you, about Bran's lovelife?"

"No! It wouldn't bother me. Except, well... Bran isn't some guy. He's the Marrok."

"You all say that like he'd a god. Bran is still just a man, Anna!"

"That's ridiculous, Bran's not just some wolf. He's the most powerful leader in the States."

"The President would disagree with-"

"PIPER! BRAN IS NOT GOING TO LEAVE LEAH FOR YOU!"

The words felt like a slap across the face. Piper was disgusted with herself that she had hoped to prove those words contrary since Leah had showed up in her room. Worse though, the person she'd felt closest to these past few weeks honestly believed she'd been having an affair. The Betrayal left her sick.

"You know what? Stay away from me."

Anna looked shocked. "What?" she asked, unbelieving.

"You and your werewolves and your mates can all shove it. I've stayed away from Bran. And if anyone should believe me, it should be my best friend...Clearly, that isn't you."

Piper turned away and despite Anna's calls for her to stop, began to jog back to the motel.

It wasn't until a short while later, when a large pair of arms wrapped around her as she lay on the motel bed, that Piper realized she had been in a state of crying. As she sobbed, Tag held onto her tightly and whispered in to her ear, "It will be alright, dove."

Happy Thanksgiving :)