A/N: Thanks to Niffer01 and guardian music angel for their reviews of the last chapter!

Wow! These chapters keep getting longer and longer. Once again, it's a bit steamy, but I wanted to get the relationships to certain points before the action starts, so here you go. If I can figure out how, I'm going to start a poll about whether or not I should kill off Chase for good, or if I should keep him alive in case I decide to do a sequel.

Review and Enjoy!

When he had called to ask her to dinner on Wednesday night, she'd nearly burst with joy. There was just something about Tyler that sent her spinning. She had never felt like this before, and it was a little scary.

She'd been in few real relationships before, preferring momentary pleasures to long-term commitments. That wasn't the say that she didn't one day dream of taking a mate and having a family, but she feared she was too much like her father, who had left his wife and children in a heartbeat because he had grown bored.

She had told Talia of her fears, and the girl had flat out refused to let her think like that. Jess loved Tal, and the older girl's faith was reassuring. But despite that faith, she felt the wanderlust inside of herself, so in self-defence she had always kept her relationships casual so that the issue of commitment never came up.

But Tyler was so sweet, and so unlike all the men she had known before. Growing up in a mostly-wolf pack, she had been surrounded by big, arrogant, domineering men. Like Talia, she had never felt the emotional pull to them, but unlike Tal, she had figured out that even if she wasn't looking for Happily Ever After with them, she could still have some fun.

Jess knew it was easier for herself, the wolf males were more likely to accept that she wasn't interested in mating because she was a different species; but with Talia, especially since she had turned sixteen, it had been assumed that every touch, every glance was a signal of interest. It was part of the reason why they spent so much time away from home on assignments.

Wolf men weren't so bad, they were just…possessive, which some women liked, granted; but Jess was not one of them. She wanted to be cherished and wanted, yes; but she also wanted space to be who she was. Tyler seemed to understand that. Even though her sense of smell was not as well developed as a wolf's, she could tell from very early on that Tyler was attracted to her. But he hadn't pushed it, he'd taken things slowly, almost too slowly, and he never tried to control her.

Daring to hope that they would all survive and that everything would turn out okay, she thought she might like to stay in Ipswich, stay close to Tyler. She was sure Talia wouldn't mind, although Will might just have a conniption.

But in reality, the likely hood of things being that easy were slim, and although it scared the shit out of Jess, she had decided she'd rather have what time she could with him and live with the pain afterwards. For some reason, the threat of emotional pain was no longer enough to keep her from following her heart.

And now, Jess was in heaven. She was finally kissing him. With tongue! And he was gooood.

Like the man himself, his kiss was intense but not demanding. His lips were soft and skilled, curving against hers in a smile as she let out a little moan of pleasure. His hands were politely fixed on her hips, appropriate for a public kiss, but his fingers were squeezing her hips slightly, communicating his desire.

She tunnelled her fingers through his soft, slightly spiky dark brown hair, pulling his face closer and deepening the kiss. It was his turn to moan, and he wrapped his arms completely around her slim waist, moulding her against him. She could smell the desire in his scent, just as sure as she felt it in the tension of his body, but he still pulled back, giving her one last soft kiss before gently taking her hand and continuing their leisurely walk down the softly lit Main Street.

He had taken her to this romantic little Italian restaurant where they had talked for hours, in between three courses of the most delicious food she'd had, save her own mother's exquisite cooking. She'd come to realise that while he could be a fighter if he had to, to protect those he care about, he was one of those truly noble people who just didn't have it in him to be dark.

They had finally left the restaurant, where after paying for the meal and leaving a generous tip, he had then opened all the doors for her, further proving that he was the perfect gentleman. The wicked part of her was tempted to try and push and see just how gentlemanly he could be under pressure, but she was enjoying herself so much that she decided to wait.

They had decided to walk a little before going back to his car, going into the local shops and enjoying the crisp evening air. They had been walking in a comfortable silence, when he'd conversationally said, "Jess, I'd like to kiss you now."

He was so sweet, asking permission instead of just taking! She had shyly answered back "I'd like that too," her eyes fixed on her shoes. Before she had taken her next breath, he had rounded on her, softly but firmly capturing her lips with his own.

They now made their way slowly back his hummer, their hands never separating. When they got inside the car, Jess decided that she was tried of slow, and grabbed his face communicating her desire through her kiss. He groaned, quickly kissing her back with equal passion before pulling back gently but firmly, their breath coming in ragged pants.

"We can't," he told her, almost whispering.

"Why not, we both want this. I don't understand!" She could tell he wanted her, but the animal side of her just felt him pulling away, and she didn't understand why.

"Our first time shouldn't be in the back of a car," he replied solemnly.

She paused, understanding dawning. "Tyler, you know I'm not a virgin, right?" she asked softly. "And I know you're not." She smiled at his confused looked, they had never actually spoken about this stuff before. "Reid tells Talia everything. About everyone," she laughed.

He just shook his head. "No, I mean our first time. It should be special, something to remember when we're old and grey. Not some fumble in my car."

Her heart clenched when he said it, and she realised that as much as she wanted him right now, she would always want to remember it, whatever happened down the line.

Refusing to think down that road, she smiled at him, "You're right. We can wait. Not too long though," she added, giving him a soft kiss.

He grinned, starting the car. "I have an idea."

Pogue pushed the open the door of his bedroom, only to be greeted with the sight of Alex's delectable body stretched out on his bed. She was completely naked, lying on her stomach with her feet at the headboard, eyes fixed on his wall-mounted TV as she killed monsters on his Xbox360.

She had spent the last couple nights at his place, since his father wasn't back from his business trip and his mom was visiting her sister in D.C. Neither of them would be back until the end of the week. They had pretty much spent the time naked, not bothering to re-dress in between passionate bouts of mind-blowing sex.

Their arrangement was still just about sex, but it would seem that both of them had a lot of pent-up desire to release, many times a night. He didn't know how he'd survive once his folks got back in town. They were pretty open minded about that kind of thing, but doing it with you parents in the house, even a house as big as his was little creepy.

He watched her for a few minutes, pondering this girl was fast becoming his best friend outside of the Sons. They could talk for hours about nothing, or just lie in comfortable silence, listening to each other breathing. They could argue with passion over unimportant things and still laugh. Her constant presence in his room didn't even irritate him, even though he was used to his solitude.

She shifted slightly, her legs parting, drawing his attention to the present. Suddenly feeling himself harden again, he set the sodas and the chips he had brought back on his desk, then he moved towards her, dropping his boxers as he went. So absorbed in the game, she didn't even notice he had returned until the bed dipped, and by then it was too late.

He kissed his way from her butt checks to her soft neck, tasting every inch of her smooth back on the way. Dropping the controller, she turned her head and their lips met, sharing slow leisurely kisses, burning deep. She tried to turn onto her back, but he held her firmly in place, his large hand sliding to her hips and lifting them, pulling her to her knees in front of him.

"Mmmm, yes," she murmured in approval.

She was already so slick that he slipped into her with the sweetest friction. She moaned as he filled her completely and began to thrust slowly, pulling out almost completely and then pushing back in just and steadily, letting them both feel every single inch.

He wrapped one arm around her shoulders, pulling her up off her hands to lean back against him, as the other slid to her hips, holding her still against him as he increased the pace until he was slamming steadily in and out, sweat beading on their straining bodies. Her hands were clutching at his arms and a low whimper was escaping her delicious lips with every thrust he made.

The pressure was building fast, and he could feel his climax fighting to break free, but he wanted her to come first, so he slid his hand from her hips into her mound, circling his finger quickly over her swollen clit. She gasped, and seconds later she was pulsing around him, pushing him over the edge, his groan of release joining her own hoarse cry.

They collapsed on the bed, spooning, Pogue's large body wrapped around her smaller one, his deflating cock still inside her. Slowly, there breathing evened out, and Pogue realised that Alex had drifted off. Shifting just enough to grab a quilt from the floor, he pulled it over them before he settled down, happy to join her.

"How are things going? Any developments?"

"Not really, we've got a friendly witch in Boston looking into a couple things, but she hasn't gotten back to us yet. The Council has been riding me a lot, but they've come up with jackshit too. At this point we're just waiting for Garwin's birthday to see if the Rogue or Collins makes an appearance, hoping that no one else turns up dead in the meantime," Willem replied, his voice tired.

"I've had a report that someone up there has hired some Shifter muscle from one of the smaller West Coast packs, Coyotes we think, but we still have no name or location. Whoever this guy is, he's good."

"How many?" Will asked, frowning.

"Half a dozen. No special training though. Do you want me to call the Council and send back up?"

"Nah, Boss, I'll only draw attention. Tal and I can handle them no problem. It's this damn witch that's fuckin' everything up."

There was thoughtful silence from the phone.

"Maybe you should tell these 'Sons' who you are and why you're there. You'll get answers one way or the other."

"Yeah," Will sighed. "We thought of that, but the Council are still 'considering the matter in detail'. Which leaves us sitting on our asses, waiting for them to make the first move."

Pause.

"How are the girls? Rena's been asking me every five minutes, and you know what she's like when her daughter and Tal are in the field."

Will chuckled. "They're doing fine, but…" he trailed off.

"But what? Come on little brother, you can't leave me hanging like this!"

Will sighed. "I'm worried they're getting to close. Tal's got this whole love/hate thing going with Garwin, and I saw Jess kiss Simms when he dropped her off the other day." He shook his head, although obviously since he was on the phone, his brother Jacob didn't see. "I worried that they're gonna get their hearts broken when we have to leave. That's if we don't all get killed before then," he added, ever the optimist. Not.

"How serious is it?"

"Parties mostly, they're all friends. The Void too, but she's okay." Will answered, knowing what his brother was asking, and trying to avoid it.

There was a gusty sigh from the other end of the phone. "That's not what I meant Will, and you know it. Are they fucking them?" His alpha's voice was low and even, brooking no argument.

"I doubt it. You know what Tal's like with guys, and even if Jess does, she smart enough not to get attached. It's just puppy lust, no worries so far." He hoped. Prayed.

"Yeah, well, even puppies grow into wolves one day. Keep an eye on it. The last thing I need to have to explain all this to the Council because you couldn't keep them outta trouble. They're damn good at their job, but they're still just kids. I'm counting on you little brother."

Will felt a surge on pride and the trust he had been given.

"How're Anna and the baby?"

Jacob voice practically beamed. "Anna's great, and we felt the Little One kick yesterday. Boy or girl, it's gonna be strong." He dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "To be honest bro, I can't keep my hands off her, she's so damn sexy! I think I'm gonna keep her pregnant, she's so beautiful. I mean, once she gets past the vomiting and the mood swings- Ow! Baby, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it… Damn! She heard me. I gotta got man, call me when the shit hits the fan." And with that, the line went dead.

Will shook his head in amusement. Their older brother Jacob had been mated exactly seven month to Anna, and she was exactly seven months pregnant. As alpha of their pack, he didn't work directly for the Council, but he was still involved, seeing as they were hispack members on loan. Will, Tal and Jess hated being away from home, they hadn't seen Anna since she had started to show, but the Council had promised after this assignment they could take a breather, hopefully before the baby was born.

He looked at his watch, cursing when he saw it was already eight-thirty. He was supposed to be meeting Tal in the woods just now. They were going to do a thorough run of the whole town, searching for any scents. It would take a good few hours, going on 'till the early morning, but at least there were two of them to speed it up. Maybe he would catch a whiff of some of the mercs that were hired, coyotes were never too smart.

He was a bit reluctant to leave with Jess out on a date, but what he said to his brother was true, Jess was smart enough to keep her heart out of this.

"I thought we could look at the stars for a while," Tyler said, spreading a blanket out on the hood of his still-running car. The heat from the engine would keep them warm from the chilly night air.

He had driven his hummer out onto the sand dunes, the ocean only a couple dozen feet away, the waves lapping soothingly. He lifted Jess up onto the hood, then climbed up beside her, pulling another thick blanket over them both and drawing her into his arms.

"It's beautiful," she said with awe, her head tipped up to the stars.

"Yeah," he agreed, his eyes fixed on her.

She turned to look at him, her eyes sparkling, and suddenly they were kissing, pulling at each other's clothes.

"So having sex inside to car isn't allowed, but having sex on the car is?" she asked raising an eyebrow. "Kinky. I like it- oh!"

He had slipped her skirt and panties down and had replaced them with his mouth, tasting her sweet cream. Feeling her fingers clutch at his hair, he grinned, then plunged two of his fingers inside her pussy, switching his mouth to her clit. It wasn't long before she was coming on his fingers, chanting his name over and over.

"Please Tyler, more! Please!"

He moved back up her body, scattering kisses and positioned himself to enter her for the first time.

"Are you sure?"

She was wrong. His kiss weren't heaven. Not compared to this, his mouth on her, bringing her to a crashing climax fast than ever, his fingers working inside her, drawing the wave on and on.

He was saying something, but her brain was currently up there with the stars glowing above their heads. "What?"

"I said are you sure?" he almost growled, need apparent on his flushed face.

She kissed him. "Yes."

"Thank God," he muttered, plunging in smoothly, filling her deliciously.

His lovemaking was like his kissing, slow, sweet and intense. His beautiful blue eyes pierced her to her soul unlike anything she'd ever felt before, sparkling brighter than the stars. She felt herself coming again, and could tell from the tension in his shoulders that he wasn't far behind.

As he began pulsing inside of her, he shattered her world apart again with what he groan from his talented lips.

"Oh, God Jess! I love you!"

Caleb was reading, once again, through the Book of Damnation, trying to find something to explain what he knew couldn't be true.

And once again, he found nothing.

He hadn't told the others of his suspicions, hoping if he found answers, it wouldn't be as painful. But with Reid's Ascension less than two weeks away, he couldn't hold off any longer.

He had to tell them.

Chase watched as Caleb left the old Danvers colony house and speed off back to Ipswich.

In the three weeks since they'd arrived, the two Shifters had inserted themselves as seamlessly into the Sons lives as easily and quickly as Sarah had. Too bad none of them were working with him, or his life would be a lot easier.

Not that he had any problems he couldn't handle with his new friend's help. Everything was just where they wanted it, and come Blondie's birthday, they'd all get what they deserved.

Pain.

"What did you say?" she asked as soon as she'd caught her breath.

He met her eyes. "I love you, Jess. I didn't mean to say it like that, but I do mean it. I know it's sudden but I can't help the way I feel. I don't expect you not say it back or anything I just…" he trailed off, realising her was beginning to ramble.

She just looked at him with big, wide eyes.

"I think…" she frowned, then met his gaze, her warm brown eyes steady. "I've never been in love; I don't know what it's supposed to be like. But with you, I feel like I know you, and suddenly I can't imagine my life without you in it." She grasped his face in her palms. "I think I love you too."

Relief washed over him, and he let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He wrapped her in his arms holding her close, a big silly grin on his face.

If Jess' own smile was a little sad, only the stars saw it.

"Where were you last night?" Reid demanded, as soon as he saw her in the morning, cornering her in the hall.

"Nowhere," she answered petulantly.

She had been out late last night with her brother, scouting the town, but had found nothing. Not a single solitary whiff of the enemy. By the time she'd gotten back to her room, in had been four in the morning, leaving her less than three hours of nightmare-tortured sleep. To top it all off, Jess had called this morning, sounding upset, and had asked to met with her and Alex after school, refusing to say what was wrong. Plus, Caleb had been giving her weird looks since Monday and she had no clue why.

She was tired, frustrated and worried, and that was not a good combination in a short-tempered wolf.

Unfortunately, Reid didn't know this.

"I called you, came to your room last night, but you weren't there. I know you weren't out with Jess last night, because she was with Baby Boy. Where were you?" he demanded, following her down the hall.

"Look, I just had thing to take care of, alright? It's none of your fucking business!" she snapped.

"None of my business? I'm you're fucking boyfriend! Of course it's my business!" Reid yelled back. By now, they had quite the audience.

"God, you're just like every other domineering arrogant prick of a male on this whole fucking planet!"

"Well if you hate me so much, maybe we should just break up!" he roared without thinking.

"Fine with me, Garwin!" she snarled, turning on her heel and stalking down the hall, the people in her path jumped out of her way at the angry look on her face.

Reid shook his head, stomping off in the other direction. Crazy bitch.

The next couple of classes passed in a blur, and Reid got more and more pissed off. She's my girlfriend, but she won't even tell me where she was. Great trust there.

Reid decided to avoid her and the others at lunch, so he made his to the empty classroom where they had made out on Monday. He was staring broodingly at his shoes, so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice he wasn't alone, until he was halfway across the room.

Meeting her furious gaze, he realised she'd obviously had the same idea as him.

The next thing he knew she was trapped between him and the wall, her leg wrapped around his waist, kissing him back with just as much passion and anger and he felt himself. Her hand reached between them, unzipping his pants and freeing his throbbing cock from his boxers. Not bothering to remove any clothes, he just flipped up her skirt and pushed her panties to the side, thrusting hard and deep. Their coupling was angry and primal, all scratching nails and biting teeth.

After, when they were straightening their clothes, Tal said the first thing since their break-up in the hallway. "So that was make-up sex, huh?"

"Yeah, I think so," Reid grinned.

Talia looked thoughtful. "We should break up more often," she grinned back. "I'm starving!"

Reid laughed, holding out his hand. "Come on Babe, let's get you some lunch."

Alex was sitting with the others at their usual lunch table, waiting for Tal to show up. Tyler had told her that Tal was looking for her, but she had no idea why. The others were all waiting to see who was going to show up, the rumours of their break up were all over school, and judging by the surly looks of each other their faces all morning, it was true.

But the big surprise was when they walked through the doors together, Reid's arm around her shoulders, and hers around his waist. I wasn't difficult to guess what they'd been up to, what with the dishevelled clothes and hair, not to mention the huge grins on their faces.

Pogue silently handed Tyler the ten bucks he had lost in their earlier bet, and Sarah rolled her eyes. Caleb however, was giving Talia a very…bizarre look, which the young wolf obviously noticed. But Caleb just smiled and then started talking to Sarah.

None said anything as they walked around to the two empty chairs, but as Talia started to sit down next to Alex, the witch stopped her. "Buttons."

Talia frowned in confusion, then looked down at her school blouse, which was slightly askew. "Damn," she muttered, spinning to face the wall and quickly fixing it.

Reid just sat back, a huge, satisfied grin on his face.

A few hours later, Reid sat in the softly glowing candlelight of the cave, waiting for Caleb to speak.

Since Monday, Caleb had been acting strange, but he hadn't talked to them about it until this afternoon, when he'd told them to meet here, refusing to say why. The three of them had no idea why he'd called them here, they hadn't felt Chase Use, but it was obvious that something had happened to spook him. He looked like whatever it was, he really didn't want to be the one to say it.

"It's Talia."

Their heads snapped up. Reid stiffened. "What about her?" he demanded.

"Her tattoos, I've seen them before," he sighed, "on the girl we found in the alley."

Silence.

"That's not possible, the Doc said the girl would be bruised for weeks, and covered in cuts, but we met Tal a week later and she was fine," Tyler reasoned.

"Ty's right, there's no way it could be her," Pogue agreed.

"Not if she's human," Caleb replied, looking straight in Reid's angry eyes. "Look, I know it's not what you want to hear, but I was the only one close to her that night, and I remember seeing them. If it's not her, then it's someone with the exact same tattoos, which isn't likely to be a coincidence is it?"

Reid just glared, fighting to control his anger.

"If it is her, she either heals really fast, or someone else healed her. Either way, it's magic," Caleb stated.

"If that's true, how do we know she's not working withChase, and all this is part of some elaborate trap?" Pogue asked quietly, his voice betraying his disbelief at his own words.

"Because I know her!" Reid yelled, furious. "Even if she is involved with this somehow, she'd never work with Collins!"

"Yeah, but how much do you actually know about her?" Caleb asked.

"She has three older brothers. Her parents died when she was nine. Her favourite color is red. She can speak, read and write four languages, not including English or Latin. Her favourite poet is Pablo Neruda. Her favourite author is Jane Austin. She loves art and music, though she can't sing for shit. She loves great white sharks but hates hammerheads…"

"Reid!" Caleb interrupted. "I get it, okay? But we still don't know that much about her past. We need to find out how she's connected with all of this." He looked sadly at Tyler. "Jess too, maybe even Alex. And we can't tell Sarah, not yet. She won't be able to hide it from them."

"Even if she's not working with Chase, it doesn't mean she won't hate us when she finds out we're just like him," Tyler said quietly, his face ashen. It was clear he wasn't talking about Tal. There was something almost broken about his best friend's expression.

"We're nothing like him," Pogue spat.

"Neither is she!" Reid exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

"We know!" Caleb yelled, his voice booming. "We know," he repeated, his voice softer. "We're all friends with them. But we have to be sure. They may not be the kind of people that would do this, but Chase damn well is. He might even be pulling their strings without them really knowing what's going on. We need to know."

"This is bullshit!" Reid growled, but he sat back down, willing to listen, if only to prove Talia was innocent.

Reid was lying in bed, listening to Tyler toss and turn, unable to think of anything but her.

"…there are things about me, about my life that I can't tell you about, not because I don't want to, but because I can't."

Is this what she meant? Was she really involved? Was she trying to warn him? He didn't believe that she would work with Collins, but he didn't want to think she would keep something like that from him.

"There are things about my life I keep secret, too."

Was he really any better?