Chapter Twelve

Fang's POV

"Shouldn't Ella be okay by now?" Nudge asked worriedly. It had taken all day, but Ella finally delivered her children; a healthy werewolf boy and an underweight human girl, according to Esme when she called.

The room was suddenly filled with an awkward silence. Everyone had been informed of Ella and Esperanza's conditions half an hour ago so it seemed a little soon to talk about. Nudge looked guilty for her question, but I'd take that over her blabbering to fill the silence any day. Her clone, on the other hand, had yet to master the art of silence.

"Isn't it cute that she picked your name, sorta, for her son?" Nuala asked, looking identical to my sister of sorts with the smile plastered on her face. She kept the rambling skills though. I kinda missed it with Nudge.

"I mean, your real name is Alexander and Alejandro is sort of like a brother name to it, don't you think? Hey, where is your brother, Fang? Shouldn't Nickolas be back by now?" She asked in a blur of words. "I mean, he left six months ago to do the takedowns, or whatever it was that he left for, and should be home by now, huh?"

I stared straight ahead, not bothering to answer her. I knew her scatter-brained mind would forget the entire conversation in a minute. I, however, wouldn't be able to get it out of my mind for the next few days. My twin, Nick Ravenwood, had decided to go off in search of any remaining School facilities.

Since we had taken in the Crew, he had made it his mission to find any other secret, hidden facilities around the country. He went on a new excersion every three months, but each time he had come back without any other experiments or even a hint of where another facility might be.

The Flock offered to help him in the search, but he claimed that he didn't want us to be separated from our families and since he had none, he didn't mind going alone. That comment always hurt every time he brought up an upcoming trip. I was his freaking twin for goodness sake! But I guess what the School did to him after I killed him messed with his sense of loyalty to me. Not that I can say I'd be different if he had been the one to kill me.

Max walked into the Crew Headquarters, startling me from my previous thoughts like only Max could do. I could feel her distress over her sister's health. It was weird that after all the years, I could still sense her feelings sometimes and, if mine were strong enough, she could "feel" mine too. We're not sure why Nessie biting me did this to us, but I have to admit that it's helpful at times.

"Why don't we give them some privacy." Iggy said, trying to usher the remaining Flock and Crew members into the other room.

"No, it's alright." Max said weakly. Even this devastated, she was radiant. God, I loved her. Her warm brown eyes snapped up to look at mine and she half-smiled. "I needed that." She mouthed, knowing that I'd be able to know she was talking about my emotion transfer.

"So how are they?" Serenity asked quietly, like she said everything else.

"Ella isn't doing too hot." Max said, trying to sound strong even though her emotions betrayed her. Always the strong leader, even with something this huge looming over her head. "Alejandro is phasing already, though so that's a good thing, I guess." She looked reluctant to add the next part. "Esperanza isn't doing well either. She's been placed on a breathing machine and will probably stay on it for most of her life."

"Don't think so negatively, Mommy." Annie said, appearing out of nowhere. I thought she was in the playroom with Will, Allie, Arian, and Jayden.

"She was, until she heard Max arrive." Two-Two, Angel's clone, said, reading my mind. "She has Gremlin's hearing, remember?" She said, reminding me that Anastasia was technically not my daughter.

Max frowned at this comment too. Though Max II and a random experiment had created Annie, she was, and had been, our daughter for the last five and a half years. I didn't like being reminded that she wasn't fully ours. 'Sorry, Fang.' Two-Two apologized quietly in my head.

'It's okay.' I thought to her. 'Just stay out of my head, alright?' She nodded, happy that the other children were coming in here now so there was somewhat of a distraction.

It was strange to think of how many times I had told her double this. Luckily, Angel seemed to have learned her lesson over the years. Now the only mind she worried about was Seth's and that was only because she was completely in love with her imprinter.

"When is Angel due back?" Nudge asked, looking around the room for the only missing Flock member. Though she was now a mother and wife, Nudge still loved Angel like the best friend/sister she had always been.

"She'll be here soon, I promise." Iggy said gently, sensing his wife's unease. He kissed her cheek soothingly as he adjusted Sierra on his lap so the little girl could sleep more comfortably.

"Like Seth could stay away from all this drama." Nessie teased lightly, though there was still sadness in her eyes.

Ella was like a part of her family as well since Collin was one of the few wolves that still lived at La Push and was fed by the Blacks whenever he was patrolling. If Ella didn't get better soon, her imprinter would go crazy and try to follow her in to the light...or so the Quillite Legands tell us.

"All I want is to go see her for a few minutes, is that too much to ask?" A loud unfamiliar voice said from outside the back door. The Flock and Crew members tensed up and prepared for a fight, but the Blacks didn't seem phased.

I heard a familiar laugh in response and smiled inside my head.

'Door's unlocked.' I told Angel as they reached the back patio.

Angel, Seth, and who I assumed was one of the other wolves came into the living room. It was now getting kind of crowded, but no one other than myself seemed to mind. I had always been the most claustrophobic of the Flock members after all.

"Tobias, you can't see Ella if I can't. And since Alice said the Main House was off limits, that means that no one is going." Angel said stubbornly, though still with a smile on her face. She looked like she was in on a big secret, but her expression changed as soon as I starting thinking about it. She looked at me strangely, so I thought, 'What are you hiding, Ange?'

"It's nothing." Angel said cryptically, though the devilish grin was back.

AN: Sorry, this was sort of a filler. We'll get back to the actual plot next chapter, but I had to get us there first. Review if you think you know what's going to happen next. (Hint: it's been foreshadowed for a few chapters...)