Ana
I sat there watching these strangers, relaxing back, finding it like watching a different looking version of my own family. They smelt like wolf, the smell all over the place, but that didn't bother me too much.
Maybe it was because the babies were cute. Annoying, sort of, but cute. I was over babies. My little brother was that age a few years ago. It was nice to watch them when I didn't have to do anything to help. Mum had always needed my help with my little brother. But then, my little brother changed frequently into a jaguar cub whenver he wanted, and these three thankfully stayed human all the time. Three werewolf cubs, or I guessed they'd be called puppies, racing around may have forced me to help.
The picnic with the kids had been better, easier, because they didn't need or want my help. We got to go out into the bush, they showed me things, we ate, and then I amused them by turning into a jaguar. One of the other kids, Matt, could turn into a wolf cub. We waited while he changed and then we pretended to hunt Logan and Kate. Matt loved it- I showed him how to be really quiet and stealthy. Wolves had no idea.
Then they impressed me by hunting us right back, even though they couldn't change, showing how good they'd be when they got older. Swimming was great too, the four of us splashing around, the biggest fear we had was of leeches. I told them about anacondas and other big scary things in the Brazilian jungle while we swam, and watched them play games.
This hadn't just been to get to know them. I had bigger plans in mind. If they got to know me and their mum and dad saw I was good with them, I might have been able to babysit them on weekends. Make some money. I might have even babysat the triplets for an hour if they paid enough. Thirteen was old enough to care for kids for a little while! It wasn't hard. You just fed them, told them stories, and acted impressed. Or turned on a TV. Dad couldn't give me much money after he'd had to pay for the tuition fee, I only got a small amount each week, so I wanted to earn a bit extra.
Elena, the alpha, told me that Anne couldn't take me shopping after I'd gotten back. Something about her being looked for by the police. After she'd vanished in New York and I'd heard she'd beaten up a couple of losers, I knew it would probably be bad, but when I saw the bruises I sort of already knew she'd be having to stop for a while. She had babies. It was surprising that she was hoping to help.
Then, just halfway through the party, as the kids were cutting their cake, I realised how sick she and the man was. No one else seemed to notice at first, the two adults asleep, but I knew. No mum would be asleep while her kids were blowing candles out. She was sweating like crazy, so was the man, and after a while I had to shyly point this out to the older man, the ex-alpha Jeremy.
"Huh?" He glanced at me, his face wide with a grin, as he watched the triplets.
"She's sick." I pointed at Anne. "She wouldn't be asleep for this."
He blinked as he looked at me, then to Anne, who was curled up against the side of the couch. Some of the amusement faded. "You might be right. We'll see if she wants cake. If she doesn't, we'll move the party into another room, and I'll take her upstairs."
"Him too." I added, eyes going to the tall guy with the blonde curls. "They're both sick."
Maybe he couldn't smell it. I could. It made my hair stand on edge, made me want to drag the babies out then and there, the instinct in me saying to get kids out now.
Jeremy's eyes went to the guy, Clayton, and his nostrils flared as he moved closer. Another look of surprise. He hadn't noticed the smell pouring off him. None of them could.
"Can't you smell it?" I asked. "She smells like it. So does she." I pointed at Elena and Daniella. They had it too. It was like glue, sort of, and like dirt, and mould. "They all smell like it."
His eyes went to them and then to me, quieter, and gestured me to follow him out. When he spoke his voice was quieter. "You sure?"
"I can smell them from here. They're not as strong but they all have it. Don't you smell it?" I blinked.
"No. I can only smell their sweat. What's it like?"
I told him. He frowned and glanced up. Nick had come in with cake on a plate.
"She doesn't want cake. Didn't want to eat." He informed Jeremy. "She's hot. So's Clay. Clay didn't want cake either. Do you think they've got a cold?"
Jeremy's shoulders stiffened, I saw him put it together, and he told Nick to get everyone into the dining room to finish cake and food. He glanced at me.
"Elena and Daniella too?"
I nodded.
"I'll keep an eye on them. Tell me if you smell it on anyone else, but only me, I don't want them to panic."
The party continued in the dining room. It was quieter now though, now that it was obvious Anne and Clayton were sick, Elena vanishing up and downstairs as frequently as Nick was, and Antonio went upstairs occasionally too. Then Jeremy was on the phone to someone in Russia. Russia?
"So what did you need?" There was another Australian, a guy, kneeling beside me. "Jeremy told me you needed stuff. We could take you." He looked towards the Australian blonde, Daniella. "We're going back to New York tomorrow."
I was tempted to say 'She's not', the smell on Daniella getting worse all the time. It was fucked up to know, when no one else seemed to notice it, but instead I told him. It had been like sitting with Anne, smelling her odd smell, and knowing she wouldn't take us.
Elena smelt worse too, every time she came down. And when I smelt it on Matt my heart sank. I grabbed the old man, Jeremy, and told him. Matt had it. Matt's smell was getting stronger faster than anyone's smell.
By the time night came, Matt was in bed with a fever, and the sorcerer and witches that'd come for the party left quietly.
The next day Elena took me into town with Kate and Logan, Reece tagging along. No shopping in New York, they were too worried about the sick people, so I helped out with Kate and Logan while they got a list of things Jeremy had sent them in for. We got as much as we could for my school as well. It didn't bother me – that I was shopping here instead of in New York- but it was worrying. That smell was still getting stronger in Elena's smell all the time. Slowly but it was obvious. She'd even started to sweat a bit more, exhausted looking, clearly appreciating my help with the kids while Reece shopped with her. It took her hours to get it done and by the end of it, she couldn't drive, she was sweating, hot, half asleep.
We'd had to call Jeremy and Reece drove back while I held a bag of frozen peas to her face, reassuring Kate and Logan that she just had a fever. The stench of her sickness though made it hard for me to breathe. Mould, glue and dirt. Sweat. By the time we got back she was delirious, muttering things that made no sense, and Reece had to tie her up to stop her thrashing around. The kids were out of their head with fear at seeing her like that.
Jeremy was waiting when we got there, lifting her up and carrying her upstairs to where her husband was already sick, intending on keeping the two of them close.
Daniella got sick two days later, just before the Indian doctor and his Russian daughter-in-law arrived. Jeremy refused to let her go back to New York with Reece, after checking with me, and he'd made up an excuse for her to stick around and take a few more days off her job. She'd just been about to rush home when she'd gotten sick.
I ended up babysitting for free, feeding and caring for Kate and Logan, while the adults tried to help the sick ones. Reece came back within hours of finding out she was sick, spending most of his time upstairs going from room to room, ice and other things going up and down, the doctor barely getting any sleep. The triplets were upset too, but their dad and their grandpa hovered around them, Reece near them too, the three getting spoiled rotten. It was Kate and Logan who were more or less left to me.
Then I smelt it on Vi. Jeremy looked so exhausted when I went to tell him, so worn out, that I almost didn't want to say it. When I did I wished I hadn't. He stared at me, almost like I was death itself, white face draining of any remaining blood. Scratches were across his face, dark shadows under his eyes, exhausted and trying to keep going with caffeine.
"You're sure?"
I nodded.
He sighed a long drawn out sigh. "Thank you. Tell me if you smell it on others."
"I will."
It almost looked like he expected one of them to die, the look on his face then when he saw Vi, this dread. He told her though, unlike the others, and she just tossed her head and told him that she'd help as long as she could.
Kate and Logan wanted me to sleep in the room with them now, so I did, as if they needed a 'big sister' to depend on while their mum and dad were sick. Jeremy's girlfriend showed up too. They didn't ask me, they didn't want to, but they were afraid that they'd die. Four days after Anne and Clayton had gotten sick I'd started to wonder too. They were tied to beds, bleeding from gashes they'd inflicted on themselves, fevers raging so high that we'd be woken up at three in the morning as they were dragged into a shower to lower their temperatures again. Five adults and Matt meant that there was a lot of showers, a lot of fear, a lot of sleep lost.
Matt seemed to get better though, fast, and this seemed to calm Kate and Logan down. After a week he woke up, was starving, and was walking around the house with a walking stick, trying to joke and play.
It took us a day to realise that he couldn't hear us like he used to, or smell things, or that he wasn't getting stronger. Matt was the first one to realise it. He was like Kate and Logan all of a sudden, like he was still human, and when Jeremy realised this … when we pointed it out to him...
Again I wished I hadn't said anything. He'd lost all his blood in his face again and taken Matt away to test it. That was the night before I started school and, while I knew they wanted me to stay, Kate and Logan upset when they were reminded, they didn't want me to miss the first day. So Antonio and I got on a plane for New York, neither of us really wanting to go, and we had to leave them.
"You excited?" Antonio asked as he glanced at me, while we sat on the plane, watching the city get lower and lower under us. When I shook my head he sighed. "Nervous?"
"I haven't been able to think about that." I hated to admit it but Kate and Logan reminded me of my own little brother. I was worried about them now. "Kate and Logan are just a bit older than my brother."
"I didn't want to leave either. Call them in the morning before you go. I'll call Jeremy tonight and let him know to watch them." Antonio sighed. "They go to school tomorrow too. That should help."
I knew Jeremy wouldn't be able to do much more than he already had.
"Do you know how to get there?" When I shook my head again he nodded. "I'll drive you. We'll do public transport after a while."
"You don't have to." I glanced at him. "You work."
"You've been really helpful. I'll drive you." Antonio tried to smile. "That's the good thing about being the boss. I can be a little later."
"Thanks."
We got into the New York airport just after eight and had dinner on the way back to the apartment, picking up pizza again, I guessed he was trying to make me feel better. It didn't help. After being the one telling Jeremy that everyone was getting sick I felt guilty. What if I'd brought it? What if I caused it? This overrode any nerves I had about tomorrow and meeting new people...
I did fall asleep though and when I woke up, the nerves finally caught up with me, realising that I was going to school. Today. For the first time. High School. I suddenly started to panic, trying to make my hair less frizzy, the curls all over the place, tried to figure out what to wear, what to take, what to pack, and what about lunch? For a second I forgot that lunch was covered, throwing a banana in my bag. I wished Anne was here now. Antonio didn't get it. She'd get it. This was an all girls school. All girls. This meant I had to look good. I called Stonehaven and got Nick. He always wore fashionable stuff. It amused him when I asked him, but he seemed to have good ideas, and he seemed eager to help even if he sounded exhausted. Told me to use one of Anne's bags in her wardrobe, apparently he'd bought it for her a few weeks ago and she refused to use it because it was expensive. I had no problems with that right now.
Kate and Logan talked to me as I packed, Matt in the background eating still, and after a while we had to hang up and go to school.
My heart sank as we got into the car and pulled out. Now I really wished I could talk to Anne. Nick had helped with a bag, some leather bag, but Anne would get it. Girls always did.
The day didn't go so bad though. Home room, we had a young male teacher, most of the girls giggling. I was a bit too stunned and out of my home by this point to notice or care. At least with Anne's pack, it was sort of like ours, except that jaguars preferred smaller family groups. Now I was in with a group of American teenage humans and ...it was a bit scary. They thought my family had been scary, sneaking in the jungles, killing people with the brain bites, they had no clue what girls my age were like.
The other shock was that I was called 'black'. Black? This was not something I had even thought about. I was the black girl from Brazil. I was used to the 'they're humans and we're not' separation. Not the 'you're black and we're white'. I couldn't resist retorting that I was actually orange with black and white spots, which made the other girls laugh, and they seemed to relax then.
I did play soccer. Maybe this was a bit silly, because the Americans thought all Brazilians played soccer, but I liked it. I won some points there too by agreeing to try out for the soccer team. Lunch was some catered meal, chicken curry, I'd never seen anything like it before. Then other classes, straight into the work, and I had homework straight away. No time to relax. They wanted us working the second we got in.
By the time the end of the day was over, I had a few phone numbers and emails, and stumbled into Antonio's car exhausted.
"How's it go?" He glanced at me.
"Okay. Any news?"
Antonio shook his head.
We drove back in silence.
It took a week before we found out news, a week of homework and a new routine.
Anne
I didn't get to rest or recover. I didn't want it. The second I could walk around without help, which took half an hour, and the assistance of a walking stick to keep upright if I lost my balance, I was put to work and I relished in it. Laundry. Cooking. Domestic stuff. The laundry shocked me though, it was suddenly heavy, the basket of wet clothing almost knocking me over. It was probably more than a human would have carried but before this, I did it without thinking, the large industrial washer needed for the amount of people who could be here at any time. Right now it was sheets and baby clothing that needed washing. Lots of them. Nick followed me around as much as he could but that wasn't much.
I tried to help upstairs. Elena, Daniella and Vi were still at full strength, I got thrown across the room at one point while trying to re-tie a restraint around Elena's ankle, but Clayton wasn't. He still threw me off several metres, which said something for the guy's strength, but Jeremy or Nick easily held him down. Jeremy thought that was a sign he wasn't far from coming out of it again. They weren't like that all the time though. Most of the time they were just asleep, feverish, muttering, trying to get up and wander around. No wonder why Reece thought I might have 'escaped the bed'. Daniella seemed an expert at getting herself loose and he'd had to chase her down more than once that afternoon while she wandered around outside, delirious, completely unaware of the world around her.
The babies were heavier too. I struggled to carry one and they were used to me able to carry two of them around all the time.
By the time the first night had come and Matt was back, the triplets had taken up any last energy reserves I'd gotten from the food and I was buggered, asleep on the couch downstairs while they played.
"You lost your strength too?" He asked as I glanced up. "Me too. Jeremy says they're going to cure it."
"I hope so." The words slipped out before I could think about it. Funny how I'd gotten so used to it and now...how did people do this? Keep up with three toddlers? Wash all their clothing? Clean? Cook?
Matt slid onto the couch beside me and yawned. Kate and Logan came in a minute later and glanced at me. I saw it, the sudden hope that Clayton was awake, and they were upstairs before I could call them down.
"Is Clayton awake?" Matt asked quietly.
"Not yet."
"Bugger." He muttered. I smiled at him, at the Aussie slang, reaching over to hug him closer. "That's all they could talk about today."
"Can you change still? Jeremy said you could."
"It takes longer and hurts more." Matt admitted. "But you can smell things again, and hear things, and it's worth it."
I suddenly longed for it, to change, to be a wolf. I couldn't even feel the wolf inside, right now, it was all gone. Just a great gnawing hunger that had more to do with it than just food. I couldn't hear Nick.
"Mama?" Lily held her arms up and I groaned.
I tried to lift her and found I couldn't do it.
"I can't lift you, baby, sorry."
"Up!" She demanded, again, jerking her arms up at me. Two other pair of arms showed up at that point too. They were making their 'please or I'll cry' faces again. Tantrums were just around the corner...
And Nick showed up, much to my relief, at a run. He glanced at me and lifted the three of them up at once, making them laugh, tantrum averted. Three of them? There was that crazy werewolf strength again. "Mama's still tired. I'll carry you around." He informed them, somehow managing to keep all three safe in his arms.
"Mama might need picking up too." I admitted and he glanced at me, the crease appearing between his eyebrows again, worry there. I had to relax him, play it down, make him think I was somewhat useful still. "After all the washing you didn't do."
Nick relaxed somewhat. "I'll bring it in."
"It's okay. Matt can help me." I glanced at Matt and he glared at me, flopped back under the fan. "And he gets extra meatballs tonight for it."
That made him jump up. "Okay."
"Let's see if they're dry yet. Sun's warm enough." I got up and headed outside, walking stick in one hand, ignoring Nick's face as he saw me use it. I couldn't stand the idea that he thought I was weak right now. There were bigger problems upstairs. How would Clayton take it? Elena? Daniella? Vi? I could cope, I'd adapt, there were always ways to do things. I'd buy a washing trolley. Stay flexible with yoga. Find ways to increase strength in other ways. They were the ones, particularly Clayton, who I worried about. He was already weak.
Matt helped me, the two of us folding them as we got them off the line, it made it easier to heap them up. Logan and Kate reappeared, clearly disappointed, and shocked me when they started to help too. Jeremy had told them to stay downstairs till dinner.
They didn't leave my side for the rest of the day, clinging close, trying to help, never more than a few metres away. When I offered to help with homework it seemed to cheer them up. Let them help me roll up meatballs. Watched as they stayed in the kitchen, even though they'd have normally happily run off into the bush with Matt, they weren't clingy kids. They were independent and confidant, like their parents. Today though... they weren't either of those things.
I rang Ana as we cooked. She'd been at school for a week now, had been approved for the soccer team, and had tons of homework. She sounded relieved to hear my voice, wanted to know what she should wear, if I thought this girl liked her or was being mean, and then Kate and Logan took the phone and vanished with Matt. Nick reappeared with toddlers for feeding, I tried to help, but again it exhausted me.
I'd taken it for granted, the amounts of strength and endurance that came with the bite, and now... now I missed it, with the two year olds screaming when I didn't want to pick up two of them, tantrums starting, Nick having to vanish upstairs again in a hurry and leaving me alone with them. I almost hated them, which sounded awful, but all my body wanted to do was curl up and sleep. Not chase around three demanding two year olds who were used to Mama or adults giving itno their every whim.
They blinked when I finally snapped and yelled, big blue eyes and big brown eyes filling with tears,then I burst into tears, Jeremy finding the four of us in tears.
"You, back into bed." He pointed, gentle. "You've done plenty to help."
"The meatballs only need ..."
"We've got it. Thankyou."
"And the triplets..."
Jeremy pushed me out of the kitchen.
I wandered upstairs. The shower was going, bathroom door open, Clayton in it. Nick and Reece were on either side of him.
"He needs cooling down." Nick explained as I blinked at them. "We had to do this to you too."
"Can I help?"
They opened their mouths, then their heads twitched, and Reece shook his head. "Jeremy says go to bed."
I hadn't heard him. They had. Swallowing the tears, I turned and trudged to bed, finding the sheets changed to one of the ones I'd washed earlier, the restraints gone. I crawled into it, sliding onto my side, sleep taking me over the second my head hit the pillow.
I was woken by the smell of meatballs and the mattress sagging. No scent with them, just meatballs, floating into the room. Not floating, not really, but it was strange to smell the food and not the person with it. Was it Jeremy? Nick? Reece? Hadn't I seen Karl before?
"Wake up. Dinner is served." It was Nick, snuggling up to my side, shaking me gently.
"I'm awake." I muttered. I opened my eyes and gazed up at him. "Was just trying to figure out who you were."
He frowned. It'd been so long since he'd been 'human' that he probably couldn't even remember what it was like. "Are you hungry?"
"Starving." I sat up and took one of the forks. He had a huge bowl of meatballs and pasta, apparently for both of us, and we ate side by side, Nick's arm around me. I found that if I kept my ear against his side I could hear his heart again, and it relaxed me, snuggling closer. "Now I can hear your heart."
He smiled at that. "Good."
"Can we count this as a second date?" I muttered. I didn't care if it was just lying on a bed eating meatballs or not.
"It's a second date then." He replied, hugging me closer. "It might not last long but-"
"Something wrong?" I strained to hear. Did he hear something I couldn't? "Is someone calling you? In trouble?"
"No." Nick blinked. "No, just warning you."
"Oh." I sighed and shut my eyes. Concentrated on his heartbeat.
"I'm going to have to put the babies to bed soon, that's all. I'll come back." He added. "Jeremy's letting me have six hours rest soon. It's nearly time for bed. Reece is entertaining them."
"I couldn't cope with them alone."
"You just woke up." He reminded me, offering another meatball. "They're tiring. Don't be hard on yourself."
"Nick?"
"Yeah?" He glanced down, pushing it against my lips, grinning a bit. "Open up."
I opened up and let him shove it in my mouth, very aware of what he was thinking at that point, and it amused me enough relax me a bit. Maybe he was right. I'd been awake for a few hours and expected to be okay straight away? When it was gone I nudged at him.
"Shut the door."
He got up, shut the door, locked it and jumped back onto the bed, food forgotten. "What?"
"Second date. You get a kiss." I sat up a bit straighter, pushing exhaustion aside. "In the shower. I need a shower and you need a kiss."
He grinned at that. "Shower?"
"How long till you've got to put the babies to bed?"
"Half an hour." He glanced at his watch, as he unbuttoned his shirt, throwing it aside. "I think that's enough time for a shower. I don't remember us doing this for a second date though."
My head jerked up at that, as he slid his pants down his hips, attention grabbed from undressing. "You remember the second date?"
"It came back to me a few days ago when I saw a boat on TV." He winked. "I'll take care of our third date. It'll have to last all day though, if we're repeating it, I won't have just a few hours."
"How much else do you remember?" I asked, sliding down clothing, leaning on the bed so I could manage. This wasn't fast enough for Nick, who had slid his boxers down and was hurrying over to help, hands dragging across my body a little slower than necessary.
"You forgot me, how our third date went, and how that night went." Nick lifted me up with one arm, yanking panties off with the other, easily handling both tasks. "I remember how we met now and how we re-met. After that, I don't remember much. Want me to carry you?"
I nodded and he lifted my legs up, our bare skin brushing against each other, my head resting back against his chest so I could hear his body again. Any excuse to hear it. Any excuse to be close enough to smell him.
"Just a kiss." I reminded him as he lowered me and got the shower going for us. "And a shower."
Nick did kiss me, taking advantage of the fact that I didn't tell him where to kiss, and by the time he was down there, I couldn't resist. His hands had teased me enough while 'scrubbing' to melt anyway any resistance to this kind of kiss. He'd had to hold me up, my legs over his shoulders, laughing as my legs gave way when I felt something firm and wet dip inside me, he'd slid up quickly to catch me and adjust my position so he could keep going.
Briefly, I remembered what I'd tasted on his lips at the nightclub, but that thought vanished as release flooded through me, any annoyance gone again by his eagerness to make sure I enjoyed the 'kiss'. Then he stood up, arm under my arms, holding me up.
"You want a kiss?" I asked and he blinked at me. Grinned wider.
"What kind of kiss?"
I wanted to do the same for him, I wanted to try it, but I knew we'd run out of time. So I leaned up and teased him with a chase kiss instead, feeling a groan in his chest as he tried to pin me there, and slipped out carefully before he could suggest something else.
"That's it?"
"You've got to put babies to bed first. I'll give you a better one later." I winked at him, a shy wink, my cheeks heating as that wide face splitting grin returned. That was something I'd never done for him. Never. I'd thought about it, quite a lot actually, because I knew he'd like it. Other women had probably done it too. But ...inexperience made me shy about trying it.
If he had to go put babies to bed then maybe I could google it. Or something.
"A better one, hm?" Nick turned off the shower. "I better hurry then."
"Good luck."
He helped me dress in the slip he'd bought me months ago and dressed, hurrying, practically running down the stairs. I heard his feet then. He was stomping all over the place.
I climbed back into bed and grabbed for my phone. Good old smart phones with internet. Immediately I had what I needed. The suggestions, even if I knew it well now, were enough to make me blush and feel nervous all over again. This was the kind of thing I didn't like- doing something new, when I didn't know how to do it.
Nick may have tried to hurry this part but the toddlers weren't co-operating. Then he was called in for help again, I could hear him swearing, loud enough for even me to hear. I curled up on my side and waited, trying to stay awake.
I woke hours later, Nick curled up against my back, my heart sinking as I glanced at the phone. I'd fallen asleep. Poor guy...
"Go back to sleep." Nick muttered from behind me. "It can wait for the third date. I need sleep too."
I went back to sleep.
We were woken up suddenly by the sound of our door slamming open, a familiar accent, groggy and slurred as if he was drunk, Clayton's voice slamming my head out of dreams.
"What the hell is wrong with Elena?"
I slid up out of bed, Nick climbing out the other side, his hands out.
"Careful, Liz." He called to me. "You there, Clay?"
Clayton blinked at him, shaking his head, acting and looking drunk. "What the hell is wrong with Elena?"
"Clay?" I stepped closer, reaching out to touch an arm. "She's sick."
Clayton shoved me back, hard, enough strength to send me flying onto my bum. Nick grabbed onto him, Clayton fighting for all he was worth, though it wasn't nearly enough strength to stop Nick from grabbing his arms and holding him down.
"Jeremy!"
"Clay?" I stood up, blinking. His hand had felt pretty hot.
"He's still out of it, Liz, stay away." Nick hissed, struggling with the big guy, pinning his arms down. "Jeremy, Clayton's up."
"Coming." Jeremy called, sounding exhausted. "How hot is he?"
"On fire again."
"Into your bathroom." Jeremy grabbed one of Clayton's arms and directed him past me into the guest bedroom's ensuite. "Liz, go see what Elena's doing."
I went past into Clayton and Elena's bedroom. She wasn't there.
"Shes' in her old room." Jeremy shouted and I headed on to her old room.
She looked confused, stumbling around, touching furniture, muttering. Nothing she said made sense, it was just a jumble of words, about wind, and gone, and females, and Clayton.
"She's here." I called and she swung around, eyes not fixing on me, confusion.
"Is she making sense?" Reece was hurrying up behind me, tugging on a shirt. "Sorry. I fell asleep."
"No." We watched her move around the room, touching things, not being violent... but not looking that good either. Jeremy hadn't replaced the old furniture that'd been exactly piece for piece- there was another four poster bed but the furniture had less curves and was sharper, not as feminine, no china dolls on the dresser.
"She's okay." Reece sighed. He wrapped an arm around me and pulled be back further.
"Did I wander around like this?"
"A bit, yeah." He grinned. "Mostly looking for Nick. Clayton looks for Elena, usually in the cage. Elena, you never know, and Daniella ...well, she attacks. We've had to leave her tied up. Shit."
He tugged me behind him, suddenly, stiffening, as we saw something. Nick and Jeremy, holding onto a giant blonde wolf, their faces red with effort as they tried to hold Clayton. Reece grabbed Claytons' head, trying to get a belt around the snapping jaws.
"Cage?"
At their nod he backed down, the belt holding Clayton's muzzle shut.
"Don't go into that room." Reece snapped back at me.
I watched Elena, or tried to, but she'd fallen. For a second I forgot the order, just a moment, stepping in a fraction, then stepped back again. I was told to stay out.
But what if she was hurt? Collapsed? Convulsing? Reece wasn't one who could order me anyway.
"Mummy?" A small voice came from beside me. I turned to see Kate standing there beside me, clutching the rail, trying to see.
"Don't go in. I'll check her." I reassured her, touching her shoulder, her eyes coming up to look at me.
"Okay." She seemed to accept that. Kate was shaking.
I stepped in slowly, quietly, stepping around the bed. Elena was convulsing there, body contorting, changing. She wasn't far off from being a wolf herself, I could see it, the panic and rage in her eyes as she caught my smell too close, a snarl. No sense of Elena there.
I backed up and grabbed Kate, lifting her up, knowing the wolf would probably be after me. Maybe touching her chidlren would upset her, maybe she wouldn't be aware of them and would go after me, maybe she'd attack Kate if Kate didn't stay in her room... I wasn't sure and didn't have time to ask Elena.
I hurried into the kid's room, Logan wide awake too, yelling something downstairs to Jeremy about Elena changing.
"Mum's changing?" Logan asked. He paled as I shut the door and locked it.
"It's safer if we let her wander around." I explained. There was fear in their faces though. I put Kate down and she hurried over to sit beside Logan as I stood beside the door, determined to keep it shut till one of the stronger ones got up. "She's sick."
"We know." Logan tugged Kate over, holding her hand, the scene cute at any other time but now. Now there was a wolf outside the door, growling, trying to push the door in.
"Anne?"
The growl froze, at the same time my heart leapt into my throat. Oh shit. Matt.
"Matt..." Kate whispered.
The wolf vanished, suddenly, a growl, running feet and the sound of a heavy body slamming against something.
"Don't open this door." I didn't need to say it but I did anyway as I slid out the door, slamming it shut, deliberately trying to get Elena's attention. She was snapping and snarling at Matt's door, trying to shove it in, while Matt struggled to push it shut. The blonde head whirled around as the door slammed behind me, blue eyes not recognising me like they might have, almost sick looking. Sick wolves were not safe ones. Particularly when they were starving, as she probably was, if she was too sick to eat...
Matt probably looked like a chicken wing to a sick wolf.
I heard him scream as she pulled him out, throwing him onto the ground, and I flew at her, using all my weight to knock her away into Jeremy's room, the two of us rolling away from Matt, anxiety flooding through me for him- I couldn't smell if he was bleeding or hurt or... I fell over her head, rolling a bit more than she did, hitting the side of Jeremy's bed and feeling it hit my nose. Blood welled out.
Matt slammed the door shut. He was good enough to run. That had to be a good sign.
Elena got up as I did, inhaling in the smell of my blood slowly, lips curling up in a growl, ears flat back, fur already risen along her back. I felt my own lip curl up, automatically, my own growl rise up and answer it. A challenge, threatening her, threatening her to try it. Bluffing, silly move, but she was trying to get to Matt...
Elena lunged at me, snapping, knocking me off my feet as teeth went for my throat. I wished I had a belt, suddenly, the strength of her much more than I could take, all I could really do was grab her head by the ruff and keep her head back enough away from my throat. I could feel it though, feel the wind her snapping teeth caused, the sensation that came with flying specks of spit hitting my skin, claws digging in as she tried to get her teeth in somewhere soft and sensitive. She was strong. I hissed in pain as claws dug in harder, all my strength in just keeping Elena half an inch from my neck, though it felt like she was getting closer to the soft skin with every snap. How long was passing? A minute? Two? Sweat beaded off me, I used my knees to push her up higher as she got just a bit too close, I felt her nose against my neck for a second, or was it a tongue?
Something flew over her, a brown strap flying around her muzzle, Reece sliding it shut with a snap, his legs tight around Elena's sides. He didn't just look like a crocodile hunter, he acted like it too, legs tightening harder and falling to the side, forcing her to roll with him to get her off me, his legs pinning her against his stomach as she struggled to get the belt off her muzzle with her paws. I grabbed for her paws, holding them, so that she couldn't get her jaw free again.
"Aussies." Nick was grabbing me, yanking me back, Jeremy taking my place. "Can't resist."
"Shut up." Reece grinned at me, his tanned face white, clearly amused. "Good one."
"She went for Matt." I explained, trembling, as Nick lifted my chin to check the bloody nose.
"He came down for us. Smart kid climbed out the window." Nick explained. "We couldn't hear over Clayton's growls."
"Did she bite you?"
"Only tried." I reached up to wipe my forehead, breathing hard, Nick pressing a tissue against my nose. Now that I knew Matt was safe, I felt exhausted all over again, like I could curl up then and there and sleep. All the adrenaline vanished as fast as it'd come.
"It's just a blood nose, Nick, help us." Reece grunted as Elena's head swung back and hit him hard in the face. "Ow."
Nick blinked, as if he'd remembered Elena was there, and grabbed for her back legs. "Cage or ..."
"Her room. Cage's occupied." Jeremy grunted. "Anne, help Reece get up."
I went behind him and tried to lift as best I could. This didn't work as well now- he was a fully grown man over six feet- but he pushed with legs, I pulled with arms, and we got him and Elena up.
They carried her in, I found Matt standing in the hallway, not looking at all afraid. In fact he almost looked ...excited. No, that was the wrong word, but alert. Not a single thing about him screamed fear.
I thought I understood. For a moment, just a few minutes, I almost felt ...like I used to. I almost felt stronger again, almost felt like I had before I got sick, even if I was weaker. The adrenaline had triggered something that was closer to the werewolf than the human.
He grinned at me, face flushed, and I grinned back weakly.
"Good work." Right now though... "You should be in bed. Did she hurt you?"
"She didn't even get through my shoe." He lifted up his foot to show me.
"When did you put that on?"
"I wanted to go for a walk outside." He explained. "You can hear more at night."
That made sense to me, I missed hearing things, and I reminded myself to go with him one night. Not tonight though. "Go to bed tonight. Actually..." I glanced at Kate and Logan's door. "Take your stuff and sleep in their room."
"Okay." He agreed.
Jeremy and Reece suddenly backed out, fast, Nick waiting at the door, the door being slammed shut. A body thumped against it, a growl, Elena unimpressed.
"She's lost her strength." Jeremy muttered.
"I didn't notice." I blinked. Had she? "You sure?"
"You wouldn't have been able to hold her up like that if she was fine." He glanced at me and came over to check my neck. "Lucky for you. Nick, go calm your babies down while I check Anne, okay?" Nick's eyes went back to me, before he turned and headed down the hallway, heading for the other half of Stonehaven. Where the triplets were. I couldn't hear them. Were they scared? Upset?
"Are they awake?"
Jeremy nodded and blocked me when I went to pass. "First, we get your bloody nose cleaned up."
I followed him downstairs, Reece following Nick to check on Daniella, and heard snarls and growls from the basement.
"Clayton is loud. I can hear him. Is he weak?"
"No." Jeremy shook his head. "Not like Elena. She seems to have lost it faster." He pressed a cool cloth against my nose. "Press down on the top of your nose here." He showed and then headed for the fridge. "I'll get you something to eat."
"I'm-" I was going to say not hungry, but now that he mentioned it, my stomach was growling. Was I hungry? "I guess I am hungry." I pressed down on my nose as I watched him throw things on a plate. "Jeremy?"
"Mm?" He glanced at me as he sliced up tomato.
"What would happen if I got bit now?"
"I don't know. Don't try it- we've got enough to worry about upstairs." He shot me a look. "Don't even think about it. Nick's on orders to keep biting out of it."
"I just ..." I hesitated. Maybe it was bad to mention it. Clayton and Elena were both in a bad way now, so was Daniella and Vi. "Nevermind. That looks good, thanks." He'd slid me a sandwich and was making a few more, eating one as he made them.
"We're working on curing it. The mutts, when they captured you, collected more information on werewolf biology than anyone. We've got most of it and Lucas is trying to find a way to get the rest, trying to get more off the laptops he found on the boat." Jeremy sat beside me, leaving the plate on the bench, coffee in one hand. "Amar's been trying to go through it and understand what's different now, between your blood then and it now."
"Guess there's one good thing about being captured by a group with a mad scientst." I muttered, trying to smile, and he smiled wekaly back. "There's always oen good thing."
"True."
"Is it spreading?" Jeremy's shoulders stiffened and he glanced up. "That a yes?" I blinked. Karl, the one I barely had met, wasn't here. Hadn't he been here? "Where's Karl?"
"Investigating a report. It might be." He replied. Quieter now. "Not many mutts are bitten though so we're unsure. If we warn them, they'll know we've lost Clayton and Elena, and if we don't..."
"They might be taken to a hospital?"
"They might be taken to a hospital and expose us. We have assistance. Lucas and Paige have already been keeping an eye out." Jeremy caught a yawn from me and blinked, shaking his head, as if he hadn't meant to speak about it this much. "It's not something you need to worry about. Head up to bed."
"You should sleep."
He smiled then, reaching over, squeezing my leg. "I will sleep, soon, but I'll go sit with the kids for a while. Take them some food and wait with them till Elena is asleep. Goodnight, Anne."
I headed upstairs with my sandwich, wiped my face clear of the blood, and crawled back into bed with it. Nick came in a few minutes later, tugging me close, trembling, his heart racing as his fingers traced over my neck.
"It's okay."
"Lucky you wrestled all those crocodiles in Australia, Aussie." He rested his head beside mine, breathing in slowly, shutting his eyes. "Goodnight."
"Night." I yawned, shut my eyes too, and settled down with him.
The next morning more energy had returned, I was much more refreshed, and Nick looked it too. He was already up and about when I woke up, triplets in the room with us, toddler gate on the door, the three of them occipied and happy. The girls sat at their little table, Nick must have brought it in for them, eating breakfast, drawing on the table as they ate. Dominic was asleep on my arm with his thumb in his mouth, fast asleep, traces of breakfast still on his face. When I shifted, Dominic grumbled something in his sleep, around his thumb, baby talk that had no real meaning. Unlike his sisters, who were already real talkers, he seemed to prefer noises and the occasional word. I thought it was cute. He liked to sing though, making up words, singing with me when they were having a bath.
They'd forgotten yesterday, when I'd screeched at them, not caring now.
Nick was sitting at the desk and going through emails. He glanced back as he heard me wake. "Elena's awake."
"Properly awake?"
He nodded and I smiled, relief flooding through me.
"Only Elena?"
"It's a good start. You and Elena. She's keeping Clayton calmer just by being in the basement with him."
Dominic lifted his head to stare up at me, sleepy brown eyes in mine, before he wriggled across to Nick's side and went back to sleep now that he wasn't being disturbed by a talking person.
"Does she know?"
Nick nodded. "She's more worried about Clayton right now and the kids. They've glued themselves to her. Jeremy's letting them stay home today so they can see she's all right."
"Good." I flopped back, shut my eyes, relieved she was back. "Is she like..."
"You and Matt? Yeah." He shut the laptop and crawled onto the bed on the side Dominic hadn't claimed, half off the edge of the bed, so I wriggled across for him. "I think so. Hard to tell, she's so focused on Clayton."
"Daniella? Vi?"
"Still feverish as ever. Reece is with them. Jeremy had them put in the same room to make it easier." He rested his chin on my arm. "Dad says hello, he's glad you're awake."
"I'll call Ana and Antonio later." I muttered, yawned, Nick's finger tracing across my neck again. I leaned down to nip it gently, licking it, careful not to break the skin. Truthfully... I was afraid, afraid that if I bit him, I might make him sick. He seemed to like what I was suggesting with his finger though.
"Practising?"
"Got to practice with something." I opened one eye, as he dipped his finger deeper against my tongue, his mind somewhere else. I smiled, licked it, feeling his hips press against mine slowly. "Calm down. Babies in room."
Nick glanced over me at Dominic and the girls playing and flopped back. "I'm just glad you're awake." He admitted.
I was more worried about the implications of this disease, than whether I was awake or not, but I didn't mention that. I let him relax against my side, his breathing slowly, falling back to sleep. Dominic on one side, Nick on the other, the girls drawing things as they ate... this was how it was supposed to be. This was why I wanted to protect the pack so much. If mutts found out about us- if they knew us women were 'weak', what would they want? What would they try and do with our girls?
Weaker or not, that didn't make us helpless, I reminded myself.
Ana seemed to call then, and she was in the car with Antonio, trying to get my help with homework she was trying to finish on the drive in. I helped her, curling up to watch Dominic sleep beside me, reaching out to stroke his baby soft hair. Apparently her home room teacher was nice and she didn't want to dissapoint him with late work... well, okay. I didn't get it, I didn't even know what home room was, but the questions were easy enough. Strangely appropriate too. Something to do with the use and misuse of power and what was power anyway. Was that the kind of thing they did in home room? Talk about that? Apparently not, he'd asked, and said answering was optional. Ana wanted to answer after she'd heard what happened to us.
She was gone within a few minutes and I shut my eyes to get a few extra minutes nap before the day really started for us.