Changes

by Corinder

After a few years of peace and Elena is made alpha, things start to get a bit strange for the pack, as someone returns and an disease hits every bitten werewolf in the US. OC/Anne Includes bonus chapter- honeymoon.

6. Tests

Home.

I stepped back into the apartment, the one I'd meant to move into years ago, the good furniture a little less intimidating now, a baby under arm, Nick not far behind with the other two. Antonio glanced up at us and his face lit up, throwing the paper aside, capturing me in a big hug that lifted me up off the ground.

"Welcome back."

"Thanks."

"How are you feeling?"

"Human." I smiled anyway though, kissing one of his cheeks, the warm welcome adding to this. "Okay. I'm not sure what to do here."

"It's New York! There's a lot to do." Nick offered his babies to Antonio. "I'll go get our bags."

"How much has got to come up?" Antonio took the girls, kissing each of their foreheads, nostrils bringing their scent up to him.

"We brought some stuff. Nick wanted to move the entire nursery here but-" I shrugged. "We don't need it."

"Not yet. But when we kick Reece out of that other room..." Nick called through the door as it closed, cutting him off, and Antonio sighed. Smiled.

"He might be right about needing that room. Reece and Daniella may have to move in with me." He made his way to the couch, carefully lowering the toddlers to the floor, and quickly blocked off the balcony with the toddler gate that was stored behind a desk against the wall. I let Dominic down behind them.

"Ana at school?"

Antonio nodded and headed into the kitchen, gesturing for me to follow, three plates already out.

"I wish I could have been around." I muttered. "I have to stay in here for another few weeks. Stay out of sight."

"Is that because of the attack?" Antonio asked and when I nodded he frowned. "I heard the Cabel were taking care of that."

"They...were?" That made no sense to me. I didn't know a lot about them, sure, but why would they personally get involved?

"That's what I heard. Two weeks inside is going to be tough with those three and just you."

He wasn't kidding. I glanced back at the three 'monsters', two on the couch, love and dread mixing there together. "I'll manage."

We tried to fit in, Reece, Daniella in one room, the triplets in our bedroom like they usually were in New York, Ana in her own room. Apartments were great but with four adults, a teenager and three toddlers... it was just lucky we were so high up. Not many neighbours to complain if it got noisy. Antonio spent most of his time there as well, between lunch, before breakfast, after dinner, which was a relief in some ways.

And Nick...

I'd have liked to say he was better behaved now but the truth was, the second we were back in New York, was the second he went back to his old habits. Late nights out. He was working, apparently, business meetings with clients, but a lot of those meetings were at bars. Which meant Nick returned home in the early hours of the morning sometimes, sometimes before midnight, but usually very noisy and pleased and hoping for a little action again. Then he'd be gone before nine thirty in the morning.

Reece and Daniella worked too, Ana went to her school, and whenever I tried to ask her about it, it was always 'Fine' or 'Okay'... with occasional additions about what that meant. I remembered saying that to my mum and sister when they asked. Fine. Okay. Now I got how frustrating that answer was. Some part of me had hoped we'd bond, she'd tell me all her little problems with her friends, like sisters.

Nope. Fine. Okay. Can we have pizza. Sometimes the occasional slippage but she was already on the phone to new friends when she needed help. I ended up sitting there, talking to Matt on the phone when he came home from school, exhausted. Antonio was usually the only one who came home for lunch.

The positive thing was, while I was home alone with the triplets, I found that I could ignore the things missing. Maybe this was a problem I had, I was too happy to pretend everything was okay when it wasn't, I was too eager to 'put it behind me' when it really wasn't. We hung out, I changed nappies, we ate together, babies ran around half naked as I tried to change and clean them when they got messy together... till I gave up and just let them go for it, run around in nappies and loose pants, the apartment was warm enough and they messed up less clothing that way. Which meant less washing.

Antonio brought lunch home too. We flopped side by side, eating whatever he'd brought back, bonding over our exhaustion. Being a boss sounded like being a mother, at least it did to me, exhausting and full of goodness all at once.

"So you don't sleep here?" I asked, after some days. This aspect still confused me a little.

"I do sometimes." Antonio shrugged, offering today's lunch, sushi and noodles. "Mostly I stay there. It's home. Didn't you notice I vanished most nights? Or Nick tell you?"

"Nick didn't tell me about it till a few weeks ago." Nick didn't tell me a lot of things. "I figured this was it."

Antonio shook his head slowly. "He's not been very open since he hit his head. I noticed that too. Hes been out late again too, hasn't he?"

"He's got things to do. Antonio, how is the disease situation going?" I wasn't really keen to think about that- how much Nick had been going out.

"Don't change the subject." He prodded me with a chopstick. "Where's his wedding ring?"

"I don't know." I admitted. Stabbed at sushi instead of picking it up. "He's gone out. Clients."

"Did he wear the ring at Stonehaven?"

I shook my head. Bit the sushi in half.

Antonio had to stop for a moment, as Susie tried to steal sushi, and he offered her one of the ones without raw fish. "So it's just you and these three?"

"Reece and Daniella too. Usually." They tended to stay away later though, and I sort of envied their freedm. "I wanted Nick to be where he was happiest. If he's happy then-"

"Then you have to raise babies like his good wife while he flirts all over the neighbourhood as if he's thirty again?" Antonio's brows creased closer when I cringed. "Sorry. Bad choice of words. But you don't have to spend all your time here. Why not do something you enjoy?"

"Study doesn't start for a while, and anyway, I don't know about babysitter with these three." It was excuses, really, some part of me didn't want them to leave my sight now that it was all I had to moniter them with. "I don't like leaving them alone." I admitted, glancing up at him, quieter. "Now that I can't hear them if I go into another room. I keep picturing them getting hurt."

"Because you can't hear them?"

"Or smell them." I glanced at them. For the past week I'd been longing to change in here, in the apartment, just so I could smell them again.

"Would you like to take them tonight for our change?" He asked, quietly, and when I blinked, Antonio nodded at the calander. "It's tonight."

"Ah. I forgot." I hadn't even realised it was Friday night. "It's not a good idea."

"Why?"

"Because..." I paused, trying to figure out how to explain it. "I was addicted to morphine. While I was in the cell, it was how they got us to keep quiet and behave. But when I refused to take it and got over the withdrawals, I knew that if I got my hands on some, I might not be able to resist doing it again and then I might depend on it more than my own strength. If I ...change. I might not be able to stop it. I might need to do it more and more. Their smell..."

"Might make it hard to come back?"

I nodded. "I don't even know if it's possible to stay wolf."

"It's possible. We won't let you." He muttered, sitting up straighter, putting the half eaten food away.

"I don't want to but I don't want to tempt it."

Antonio seemed to understand. He reached out to squeeze my hand and went back to eating, quiet, our eyes going back to the kids on the 'waterproof play mat' we'd set them on with their noodles. That was until we both got a text at the same time. Nick, he wasn't coming back here tonight. "I'm getting you a babysitter."

"It's ok-"

"No, it's Friday night. It's not okay. You're getting a break tonight, the triplets and Ana are going to stay at here with Reece and Daniella, and I'll stay with you for the night after the change. I'll get us something to drink." He slid up straighter, clearly making up his mind.

"Reece and Daniella? I can't ask them to do that."

"They don't mind. I already asked them if they'd take a night shift. Nick was supposed to be doing the nights still." Antonio rubbed his forehead. "Okay. I have to return to work. We'll drop them off on the way to the forest and then come back and relax for a night. Do you want to go out dancing with me?"

I blinked at him and he smiled, somewhat. "You dance?"

"Of course I dance." He tried to look offended but just looked amused. Antonio picked up his wallet off the table and the keys. "It won't be at a bar but it'll be dancing."

"Okay." I nodded. "But aren't I forbidden from going out?"

"You'll be with me. It won't be a problem. See you tonight then."

It was barely half an hour after he'd decided that Reece got in touch with me and agreed to babysit. I couldn't believe that I'd get a break, I texted Nick, who didn't get back to me. It was while I was packing that I wondered where Ray had gone. I hadn't really heard much of him since I'd woken. Surely he was okay. I texted him too, after a quick thought.

Neither of them got back to me by the time Antonio showed up with Daniella and Reece. Daniella seemed to have recovered again, eagerly picking up the babies as they crowded around her, overwhelming her straight away with questions and offers and statements that made no sense.

We headed out for the forest that he and Nick usually went for, changed, and spent a good two hours out there, playing and bounding around. Again, like before, the second I was wolf, I suddenly was normal. Back to my usual self. I could smell, I could attack, and Antonio tested- I could defend myself. Nothing was unusual. Except, of course, that I didn't want to change back once I'd changed. Some deep part of me resisted that, returning to human, fought it even as Antonio had changed, trying to make me stay wolf. I had to struggle with that, picture the babies, Nick, home, to get through it, the agony of it not just physical but mental too, anguish as the sounds of the world, the scents, the taste of it, faded from my head.

"You okay?" Antonio called, when I stood up naked, tossing clothes to me. "Took a while for you to change."

"Some part of me wanted to stay that way. Sorry." I tried to shrug it off with a smile but he frowned and nodded a fraction. Now that I was human, my heart broke all over again, as Antonio's scent vanished from my world. I dressed as he turned his back to me, tugging on the dress I'd brought out for dancing, trying to push down the sense of loss and grief at what had gone again.

"It's like that now?"

"I'd almost stay wolf if I could." If I didn't have the family to return to. He nodded stiffly.

Halfway back we stopped so I could buy him the Australian beer I'd promised, and we left it in the car to go dancing. Live music played, Antonio relaxed, amused as he got shot interested looks by women. I hadn't ever really thought of him as 'attractive' before, even though he was close to Nick's good looks, but the looks he was getting? It was kind of hilarious. He did look half his age at least, maybe even younger, and was fitter than most men half his age.

"Why haven't you gotten a new girlfriend by now?" I nudged him, and he laughed, shrugging.

"Don't want one. Come and dance." He took my hand and led me into the crowd. Live jazz, Antonio's relaxed laughter, and I relaxed too, letting him swing me around.

"I'm rubbish at this." I warned him and he shrugged.

"So step on my feet as much as you want." He grinned, swinging me around again, amused as I did exactly that. Woops. Lucky for him that he wasn't human- I was probably going to be doing that a lot tonight. "When am I getting more grandchildren?"

"Not in your life time. Or mine." I responded, smiling now, relaxing as he swung me around and swayed, the music and life amusing. It was a very different atmosphere from the bars Nick liked.

"Ten years?"

"Maybe in ten years. Twenty."

We danced, drank some wine, relaxed and joked. It was nice to not be stressing out and, unlike with Nick, I felt no objections or jealousy what so ever when Antonio went to dance with others. In fact it amused me. Most of the women going for him were my age. He kept returning for another drink, brushing off my teasing, and taking me back out. Some other men offered too, at least at first, but when it was obvious I stepped on feet more than on ground, it was really only Antonio who was brave enough to try it.

Some hours later, as Antonio danced with a middle aged blonde woman, I was yanked back out of the crowd. A fist closed around my arm and yanked me into someone else's arms. The rudeness of it had me thinking it'd be Nick, for a second, somehow. It wasn't Nick. It was Tyler Lake.

Antonio glanced in our direction a moment, but I shook my head at him. The mutts didn't know yet. If Antonio came charging in, he'd guess something was up, and he didn't seem willing to get very close.

"You changed mates, hm?" He hissed in my ear, a hand on my waist now, trying to dance. His hand crushed my hand in it, trying to get a rise out of me, and directed us out of the crowd into the corner. I resisted the urge to cringe as I felt something in my hand crack.

"Shouldn't you be far away? Several states away, in fact?"

"I had to come test out a rumour." He grinned a feral grin at me, sweating hard, face red, his breathing hard. "See if I could ... have a chat with you. Tell me. Is it true? Are your pack members getting sick?"

"Where'd you hear that, hm?"

He ignored my question, pressing me against a wall, but there was still hesitation there, almost as if he was afraid of me. And so he should be, I narrowed my eyes at him as he pinned me there. But when I didn't shove him off, I wouldn't have been able to if I tried, he got a bit bolder. Pushed a hand between my legs, pressing harder. "I'm going to fuck you up for what you did to me. I can't have sex but I'll enjoy you getting raped."

The threat cut deeper than I had to admit it did. That was one thing I was not keep on going back to, even if I knew it was about power, and I had to let it go or it'd make me panic. Make me call for back up. Antonio was right there, right in the room, and I was safe. I had to threaten him right back or he'd know something was up.

"Did you ever hear what an angry chimpanzee can do to a person's face when they're angry?" I interrupted his threats, sudden, ignoring the invasion of his hand trying to get under my skirt, the other one fishing in his pocket.

"Huh?" Tyler was taking out... a syringe? He was still hesitating thought, body tense, like he was ready to leap back at any second.

"A chimp. Have you seen what they do when they're angry? See-" I reached up to touch his face, his body flinching, grasping his nose. "They can rip this off. This." A touch of his lips. "This." A finger dug into his mouth, sudden, finding his tongue. "These." His ears, I yanked at them hard enough to hurt him. "And gouge out these." I prodded at his eye, enough for the hand between my legs to let go and try and bat away the annoying hand. He pushed the syringe into me, squeezing, and I cringed as I felt it go in.

"If you don't get the hell out of the state soon, mutt, when I wake up and Antonio has you tied up for me, I'm going to stop following the orders of my alpha and disfigure a part of you that you can't hide. Slowly. Keep you alive through every last rip of skin and muscle." I hissed. I didn't need strength to scare him. I had history with him. I grabbed at his face, hard, the blood draining from his face as I pulled at his lip. "Do you want a demonstration now, before I fall asleep? Antonio won't rush to rescue me, he'll have to rush to rescue you."

He stepped backwards, glancing at the hall, then back to me as I felt the hallway start to sway, but kept my eyes fixed in him. Bared my teeth slightly. Two thirds of mutt threat was intimidation and bluffing, apparently, and I wasn't kidding. I'd rip anything off that came close enough now, my rage rising, breathing harder as I stalked closer to him. You didn't need to be a werewolf to be able to inflict damage on someone. That just helped. One jab in his eye socket with a thumb and...

He stepped towards me, hesitating as I bared my teeth wider. "Oh come closer, Tyler, please. Let me blind you. Give me an excuse to break rules." I hissed.

Tylers eyes went sideways again, suddenly, and he jumped backwards, turning and running for the car park as Antonio barrelled through the door. We heard a car screech outside and then vanish.

I tried to stand up, breathing hard, leaning against the wall.

"You okay?"

"He injected something into me." I grabbed the skirt and lifted it up so Antonio could see where the tiny jab had gone in my thigh. The hallway was spinning worse all the time. "No more dancing tonight."

Antonio knelt before me, I felt his breath on the skin there, inhaling. He was trying to figure out what it was. The world heaved sideways and I fell across his shoulder, an arm sliding up to catch me before I went the other end.

"Alcohol or injection?" He asked as he slid me back down, into his arms, probably also able to smell the alcohol.

"I don't know. Maybe both." I muttered. Shut my eyes.

When I opened them we weren't at the hall anymore. Instead we were in the mansion, in Antonio's room, a book in his hand as I lay on the bed. When I sat up slowly, rubbing my thigh, he breathed out slowly in relief, throwing the book aside.

"Welcome back."

"Just a sedative?"

"Looks like it. You had a nice nap for a few hours." He smiled. "Not even a murmur of complaint. He might have broken a finger or two though, so I've bandaged your hand up."

I lifted it. "I don't really feel pain."

"No, that's why Jeremy thinks it's a sedative. Alcohol and a sedative." The smile vanished then. "Did he figure out you were weak?"

"I don't think so. I threatened to go chimpanzee on his face if he pushed me. Suggested that it'd been an order to stay calm." I smiled a little. "But he seemed strange. It was strange. I don't remember what he said but-" But what? "I don't know. It was like he was pushing me. Trying to get me to attack. He said something about watching me get raped. I guess mutts know each other."

"Some do, yeah. That mutt's been a bit too much of a pain in our ass for a while. We'll have to do something about it." Antonio muttered.

"Clayton can't do it though."

"He and Reece can. His reputation is just a threatening as his fists." He didn't seem concerned.

"It's not that. He just seemed a bit..." I wasn't sure how to put it. Depressed? I tried to stand up. "It's hard for him."

"Which is more reason for him to get out and see that he's still just as useful as before. Forget him. How are you feeling?" Antonio stood up and strode over to the bed as I stood up.

"Ready for that beer I made you buy." I answered. Tested one leg, then the other. I was a bit unsteady, sure, but not that bad.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." He rubbed his head. "I already drank a bit tonight."

"You can drink it. I'll sip one. Don't let that one ruin our fun." I insisted. "Where are we drinking in this mammoth of a mansion? Or will we wake up your mass of servants?"

"Come on." He smiled, an arm under my arm as I swayed a little, guiding me downstairs. "We're home alone. No need to hide."

We made our way down the staircase, slowly, and I was left in the living room ...or was it a sitting room? Palor? Family room? Grand...relaxation room? These places always made no sense to me. I headed for the couch, sitting on the ground in front of it, relaxing there as I started to really wake up again. Antonio returned with the 'VB Bitter' and threw one to me.

"Sip it slowly." He warned me. "Don't make me take it off you."

"Your order is my command. Or something." I glanced at it then, "Can I get a coffee first? Or-"

Antonio was gone and returned with an iced coffee out of the fridge. "I remember you said warm ones make you sleepy."

"When did I say that?" I blinked at him. He was right though. "Thanks."

"A few months back." He shrugged and took his beer. "So let's try this Australian beer."

So we sat, we drank, and we put the music on again. The look on Antonio's face was priceless when he tasted the horrible crap. I said it was Australian. I never said it was good.

He put on a late night movie as we sat there, some old sci fi that was pretty awful, letting me rest my head on his leg as we watched it. I kept checking my phone as we watched, checking till the battery died, but still no messages from Nick or Ray.

"Nick's not answering you?"

"Nope. He's been busy."

Antonio sighed and we returned our attention to the movie, drinking slowly, relaxed with each other. I must have fallen asleep, because when I woke, I felt a hand trace across my face.

"You look like her." Antonio muttered, reaching up to stroke my face, thumb tracing along my jaw. He dropped his hand as fast as he'd lifted it, swinging away.

"Who?"

"Lily. Lillian. Your hair's lighter but ..." He reached for his bottle of beer and breathed out slowly, shutting his eyes.

I looked like Nick's mother? Was that sweet or ...disturbing? I wasn't sure. I heard men went for women that reminded them of their mothers. I drank the wine, shutting my own eyes, leaning against his shoulder.

"Is that why you liked me straight away?"

"I could see you were a good person." Antonio's voice was a little slurred, as he tried to speak, twisting sideways, lowering me into his lap. Fingers stroked along my hair. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

When he spoke, it was slow, like he struggled to say it, grief there. "Nicky. Not knowing how to help you. It's my fault. I didn't raise him to respect women."

"He treats me good."

"Up." Antonio lifted me up, suddenly, and we stood up, swaying, grabbing onto each other. This was silly... we were both unsteady. "Dance with me."

"Again?"

"I can still dance." He guided my hand onto his shoulder, tugging me up closer, arm wrapping around me. "Not too drunk yet."

"When did you last dance with a woman before tonight's flood of them?"

"Years." He laughed, swinging me around, lowering me down. "Still got it."

"You're drunk. I'm drunk. We're delusional." I reminded him, laughing too, the earlier sorrow gone.

"Yes we are." He didn't seem to care, singing something in Italian in my ear, a surprise... I didn't even know he spoke Italian.

"You speak Italian?"

"Of course I do. My father would have been horrified if I didn't." He replied, the two of us swinging around, loosing balance more than we were dancing. "Can I teach the babies Italian?"

"Of course. Teach them any language you want." I nearly fell over, arms grabbing at me and tugging me closer to the centre again, flopping against his chest. "I think I'm too drunk for this."

"We both are." Antonio agreed, slowing the dancing, breathing a little faster. He was smiling now, eyes crinkling, head on my shoulder. "There. Now you're smiling."

"I have everything. Nick, you, the babies, I don't have a reason to be sad." I replied, yawning, resting against his neck. Antonio's body was keeping me up now, and he clearly knew it, arms wrapping tighter so I didn't flop down.

"You've got us. We'll protect you."

"No." I leaned back, staring at him, a small smile. "No. I'll protect you."

Antonio's eyes met mine, mouth open, the smile still in the corner of his eyes. "While you're weak?"

"Till my last breath." I reminded him, and he nodded, breathing in slowly, his eyes shutting. For a moment he looked like Nick, more so than usual, as he let the words sink in.

"I know you would."

I felt a wall behind me, not aware that we'd headed for it, but I realised Antonio was swaying and had probably decided we needed additional support... how much had we drunk? I had thought, at the time, Aussie beer was a good idea... but apparently not.

"Can't stand up?" I asked as we leaned against it, my body pinned between it and him, Antonio's forehead resting against the wall beside me. He shook his head and I laughed, making him laugh, the two of us struggling to stay upright and not fall on our asses.

"That shit was awful, Anne. Awful." He muttered, shaking his head, a hand against the wall, the other keeping me upright. "Never again are you giving me Australian anything."

"You get the next choice, when we can get a babysitter and do this again." I promised.

"I'm holding you to that. You drink what I bring."

"As long as it's not expensive."

Antonio lifted his head, fixing me with a stubborn look, another echo of Nick there. "I said, you drink what I bring. Okay?"

"You're my boss." I replied, he laughed, and kissed me.

The action was so unexpected, so sudden, that I stood there, warm lips against mine, the wall meeting the back of my head. A warm flush spread through my chest at hte contact, rough lips brushing against mine, a kiss that was not at all fatherly. He'd kissed me before like this, that wasn't unusual, Nick kissed Elena like this but... but this was Antonio. He flirted a bit but he never did this.

But we were drunk, against a wall, and drunk. The kiss wasn't controlled or teasing, it was serious, his chest pressing harder against mine, and probably not because he was about to fall over.

"Shit." Antonio muttered, stepping backwards, nearly tipping over something. "Shit. Sorry. I don't ..."

"It's okay. Don't fa-" I grabbed for him as he tipped, trying to yank him up as I forgot I didn't have the strength to do that right now, and ended up falling over with him. An arm was quick to slide under my head as we fell, luckily, the coffee table shoved aside as we almost crashed into it. Somehow he ended up on top of me, which knocked the breath out of us both, making us laugh.

"Don't do what?" He laughed, lifting my head, checking to make sure it wasn't injured.

"Fail to lock the front door?" I yawned, shutting my eyes. I felt him get up, lift me onto the couch, throw a blanket over me.

"I'll see you in the morning."

Happy, sleepy, and a bit drunk... or maybe a bit drugged, there was not as much difference as I'd have thought, I curled up, hands under my chest, nuzzling into the fabric in the warmth of the blanket.

I woke to find him climbing on top of me in the dark, his face intense, almost triumphant, the drug and alcohol making it difficult for me to react.

Lips found mine again, harder, a bruising kiss that had nothing to do with innocent affection, body shifting above mine. He was trembling, the smell of alcohol, but he seemed strange somehow too. I didn't know how to explain it. I realised I was outside now, on the grass, near the walls. Huh? The ground was cold. Wet. An autumn leaf stuck to one of my legs. I stared up, confused, blinking slowly at him.

I saw stars above me, shut my eyes, felt something tickling my legs, breathing against my neck and making hairs rise. Weight. It was all over me. Something was pinning me down and the wet grass, rain, it was making me wet all over.

Something hurt, my eyes opening, something that for a moment bothered me. For a moment I saw it, someone on top of me, hip bones pressing into mine, pain in my hips. Arms hugging me close to him. Ow. Had I said that aloud? I wasn't sure.

I opened my eyes again, when I realised they were shut, seeing a man's shoulder and back against my chin, one of my bare legs dangling limp over his arm as he lifted it up. He was moving his bare bottom, a little ugly, a little saggy, a pimple there, up and down so fast that I wanted to giggle, except that it hurt, a strange disconnection from what was going on. The garden was getting a nice rain tonight. That was good. Summer had been dry.

Eyes shut again. Maybe I was struggling because I heard a voice against my ear.

"Trust me." He breathed against my neck, holding harder, tighter, not slowing. "Baby, trust me."

Baby?

He groaned, suddenly, as he came, heat flooding deep inside me. For a moment, it wasn't Antonio's face, but someone else. And someone else nearby. I tried to see them in the darkness. Legs. Laughter. Or was it something else? I couldn't understand who though and when they saw the shock in my face I was turned over, flipped onto my stomach, the man grasping my hips and pulling me back towards him. I felt him bend over, push himself back inside me, and start to thrust hard again, a low growl there with every thrust, claiming me. It was the wolf, I could sense it even without understanding it, the wolf claiming me for his, arms wrapped around my waist, gripping me there. I felt my body slide into unconsciousness as he claimed me, flopping forward, my body being slid backwards and forwards across the grass as darkness crashed over me.

I woke, sick, head pounding, sheets tucked in tight around me, vague memories of ...dancing? A kiss? I wasn't sure. I felt like shit. Same old 'not get drunk again' promise echoed through my head, as I rolled over, trying to not throw up.

Antonio looked exhausted. He was sitting there beside me, I could see that he was wet, maybe rain. Dirt on his shirt, on his hands, and on me. Lots of dirt on me. Had I gone outside?

"No more Australian beer?" I remembered, vaguely, that we'd agreed on that. Something about Antonio being the boss of alcohol from now on. I wasn't sure if that was accurate or not. Was that why he looked so buggered?

"No more Australian beer." He agreed. Antonio offered a plate. "Food. Eat."

"Nick here?"

"No." Antonio shook his head. He glanced at me, a strange look on his face, and when I met his eyes, he went back to his plate. "He'll be back soon."

"Work?" I glanced at the clock, cringing at the bright red light in it. It was after eleven. "You're late."

"Called a sick day today. They can survive without me for a day." He replied, flopped, trying to eat and sleep at the same time.

We ate, both united in hangover mess I assumed, my body aching from head to toe. I could remember other things, nothing making sense, though I swore for a moment Nick had been there. Maybe he'd found us drunk and ran away again. I wouldn't have blamed him if he did.

"The babies." I blinked, sitting up, cringing as the movement made blood go too fast.

An arm pushed me back down. "Reece has it. It's okay."

"It's not." Shit. They were my job, not Reece's job. "I should go."

"You're staying."

I shut my eyes as I tried to sleep, feeling water pressed against my lips, and opened them again. The sun had moved position, Antonio was gone, plate gone. I was clean now, dirt gone, my hair damp, and Nick was standing at the window, arms crossed, frowning. Shut my eyes, and then suddenly he was beside me, sun somewhere else, darkness cut apart by a lamp beside me, water sliding down my throat.

It was Nick again and he was trying to get me to drink. "Drink this. Remember how you got out in the garden?"

"I was in the garden?" I drank eagerly, tongue funny against the glass, eyes shut. "I don't remember that either. Just woke up here." I slid up, tugging him closer, nuzzling against his chest. "Welcome home."

"You're grounded." Antonio spoke, as he stroke in, cringing as light hit his eyes. "For leaving me alone with her. She has terrible taste in alcohol."

"She's got good taste in everything." Nick stroked my back, probably trying to suck up, and it worked. I leaned up to kiss under his jaw, gentle, using his head as a shield from the light coming in the window. "See? Except where to sleep. Honestly, Aussie, sleeping in the garden." He shook his head at me, but there was something there in his face when he looked at me, a tenseness, something that made my stomach clench.

I shut my eyes again, ignoring it, letting him snuggle me. When I opened them another half hour had passed and Nick hadn't moved, but looked like he was tempted to. "Stay put."

"What did you drink to be this bad?"

"Tyler injected her with something." Antonio was sitting up, I realised, changed. He still looked red eyed but better. "It might be a little while before it gets out."

"Tyler Lake?" Nick's entire posture changed from a relaxed slump against me to stiff, upright. "When?"

"Last night. We had words." I muttered, reaching out for him, refusing to let him up. "You leave too much. Stay here."

"I need to go to the bathroom." He gently unwrapped my hands. "And talk to dad. Find out what else I didn't know. Go back to sleep."

I let him lay me back, curling up, hiding my head from the light under a pillow instead. Nick returned, I wasn't sure how long after, and wrapped himself around me in the bed, chin on my shoulder. It felt like he was watching me sleep.

I rolled onto my back and felt his lips press against mine, gently, kissing.

"Why so tense?"

"My dad found my mate slumped over in the garden. Who wouldn't be tense?" He tried to joke. Tried to. As much as Nick tried to smile, that crease was there between his eyebrows, that 'I'm seriously worried' look.

"I don't even remember going out there." I stroked the crease, gentle. "Maybe I was looking for you."

"Maybe." He tried to smile, but it still didn't work. "Maybe you were."

"Nick, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." He nipped my neck gently. "Nothing. I'm on holidays. You and me now, just us. We've finished organising the marketing campaign so you've got me all to yourself."

"Shame I feel sick." I muttered and he smiled a fraction. "Are we going home?"

"They're bringing the babies and Ana here instead. We don't want to leave this property for a while."

"Why? I thought you said you hated this place." I nudged him.

"Safer." He kissed me, gentle, stroking my aching forehead. "I'm sorry I was away so much."

"I wanted you to work."

"You came out here just for me." There was that look again.

I sat up, sudden, cringing as I felt pain shoot from my head right down to my toes, seeing scratches all over my legs and arms. Huh? "What's going on? Did I walk through a bush?"

"I think you might have been attacked out there." He sat up with me, hand stroking across some of the places covered up by bandaids. "Maybe you did walk through something. A rose bush. I'm more worried about getting that shit out of your system."

"Thanks." He was still lying. It confused me, I wasn't sure why he'd do that, and let him lie me back down and give me water through a straw. "Relax. I'm not dying."

"Course not. I just feel bad." He muttered. "You came out here for me and I ignore you again."

"I want you to be happy. Enjoy yourself." I nudged him. "I loved you when you were in the middle of your normal life, I didn't want you to change that."

"Except one night stands."

"Well, yeah." I nipped his finger, eyes shut, pressed against his leg. He was still sitting up. "No more that." I yawned, shutting my eyes, sleep giving back in.

It took several days before I really snapped out of it and realised that it was already Thursday when I looked at my phone. Thursday? I'd gone out on Friday. That didn't add up. I got out of the bed, and realised I wasn't even in that big mansion now. I was home. Forestwatch? What?

"Nick? Antonio?" I called, as I tried to dress, already feeling lost and I hadn't left the room. Things seemed wrong, all of it, the early morning sunlight bothering me, the sound of a car, the quiet outside otherwise. So quiet. There was no answer. I headed into the hallway, past one of the doors, vaguely aware that it had opened.

Arms grabbed me, scaring me, and I swung at the person hard. Clayton caught my hand before it got his face. "Already attacking?"

"You snuck up."

"I didn't." He scowled. "You want a shower before we go?"

"Go?"

"Elena sent me to bring you over." I tried to remember what he was talking about. Clayton blinked. "How much have they told you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." I glanced around, confused, finding a wall to lean on. "We were in New York. When did I get here?"

"Yesterday. They had to return for the meet so-"

"Meet? Now?"

"Today, yeah." He wasn't sure what to make of it. "What do you remember last?"

"Being in Nick's giant house. He said I was drunk and … I ran into a rose bush? I don't know. Where's the babies?"

"Stonehaven."

"Why are they there?" I blinked, sudden, panic flooding through me. "Are they hurt? Did something happen?"

"No. Shit, hasn't anyone spoken to you?" He swore, glancing down. "Antonio found you in the garden torn up the morning after. Nick's there on overnight toddler duty again."

"That'd be the roses." I muttered.

"No. It wasn't roses." Clayton frowned. "Do you feel well enough to go?"

"Yeah. I'm just confused." I muttered. "I don't get ...why I've been asleep so long."

He waited outside while I showered, like some kind of guard, I heard him on the phone to Jeremy. The cold water helped snap me into some sense of reality, the disorientation and dizziness fading a little more. But not much. I had memories of liking how it was raining, and thinking that it was wet outside, but ...if it wasn't roses, then what? So what had happened? Antonio found me outside and I'd been ...what? It nagged at me.

"So what was it?" I asked as I stepped out, tugging the jacket shut, trying to fight the after effects of the drug.

"Hm?"

"If it wasn't roses."

"A couple of mutts who decided to rough you up pretty badly. Tyler and ...we're not sure. We dealt with him. He had his three warnings."

I blinked at him. "Why didn't they tell me?"

"Don't ask me. Nick's been acting strange since he got back. You're okay now." He shrugged. "Come on."

I went with him in the car, trying to get over the disorientation that came with loosing almost a week, and we made out way to Stonehaven. Nick took one look at me and told Clayton to take me back.

"She's pack, she's here."

I glared at Nick. "Roses?"

"You've been injured. You're weak." He tried to wrap his arms around me and I sidestepped. "Come on, Liz, you can barely stand."

That wasn't the point. I could stand fine if there was a wall nearby.

"Leave her alone." Jeremy came out to hug me. "It's just the drug. They gave you enough for a werewolf and …"

"I'm not?" I caught that end before he could say it. Maybe my version was a little blunter than he intended but he nodded, lips tightening.

"You are." Clayton growled. He headed inside, ahead of us. "Just got to wait a bit longer."

"You are." Jeremy agreed. "But your body's fluctuating between the two. It might return to normal on its own, we don't really know. If you want to be up for this then we're not going to argue. Are we?" He glanced to Nick, who was standing there with his arms crossed.

Nick sighed and threw his hands up, releasing the tension. "Course not."

"Why didn't you tell me they'd beaten me up?" I turned on Nick, Jeremy's hand tightening on my shoulder, angry at him. "It's not the first time."

"I didn't want to ..." He shrugged, avoiding my eyes. "Upset you."

"I'm upset. You promised to be honest with me, even if we didn't like it. Roses?" I pushed past him, ignoring his attempt at grabbing me. "Can't even make up a good lie."

My 'charge' into the house brought me right into Reece and the three toddlers, all three of them in is arms, all three trying to get into mine the second they saw I was awake. Reece hugged me, sa I hugged babies, helping me hold them all at once, a juggling act that relaxed me again as the babies giggled and prodded and grabbed at us. They thought this was a great game- try to not drop the babies- and didn't seem to care if they were at risk of being dropped.

"Why are we called here?" I asked, as Reece hugged me, his amusement fading somewhat.

"Got a problem. We need to figure out what to do."

"Disease?"

"Bingo." He finally managed to get them onto the ground. "Ana's babysitting. So's Paige."

"Paige?" I blinked and glanced past him into the living room. I could see her in there, her eyes coming up to meet mine, her own surprise there. "Hi. Didn't see you."

Paige stood up and stepped over, glancing at Jeremy who was behind me, confusion there. "What's wrong with you?"

"Something about drugs and alcohol and angry mutts. Why?"

"You're under a spell again." She reached out, touching my forehead, and I felt the confusion and disorientation literally lift off. "Feel better?"

"What was that?" I blinked. Suddenly, I wasn't disorientated, I wasn't confused, I didn't even feel sick. I was sore all over though and I suddenly saw it, when I hadn't before, saw the bruises there, the cuts turning into gashes, the injuries worse than I thought.

"Confusion, something else, gone now." She wasn't sure what to make of it. "Feel better?" I nodded, standing upright more, and Paige smiled.

"You sure it was a spell?" Jeremy asked, softly, a hand coming to rest on my shoulder.

"Yeah. Sorcerer spell." She spoke the last words, understanding, lips tightening. "I'll call Lucas while you're in the meet."

"Check everyone else first."

Paige did that, walking from person to person, as we settled down in Stonehaven's study. No one else seemed to be confused in any way and she left with the toddlers.

Jeremy and Elena were talking, quietly, Amar in the corner of the room.

Nick glanced at me. Now that I didn't feel like I had, I saw it, the fear there, something else, he was not okay. He kept glancing at me like he was afraid I'd breakdown right then and there. The wedding ring was back on his finger too now. I wondered when he'd put it on. When I got injured?

I glanced down at my own hands and saw rings. My own rings, back, repaired, and the diamonds a fraction larger. Or was that my imagination? Nick's hand slid over to mine, grasping it, refusing to let go when I tried to push him back.

Elena moved forward and there was no time for this. I pushed his hand back harder. She raised an eyebrow at us. "There's time for that later. The disease is spreading."

"We know, we've been hunting down the bitten mutts." Karl muttered. "They all got it."

"Tyler Lake has it."

The words echoed around the room, as it suddenly got quiet, each werewolf's mind ticking over that.

"He's not bitten." Clayton glanced up at her and she shook her head.

"He's not bitten. Amar did the autopsy on him-" I froze at that, no one had told me he'd been killed, but what had I expected them to do with him after it? "-and it's mutated. We have to stay put for now. Here."

"Shit." Nick muttered.

"There's already a mutts in the US who contacted us about the disease. It's not a secret now and they apparently are afraid they've got the fever- the early stage. So the question is, what do we do with them?" Elena paused.

"We're not sure how far it spreads." Elena admitted. "It only seems to exist in humans safely."

Amar moved forward and started to hand out sheers of paper. "We've got information on the disease. The more you each know, the safer you'll be. It's spread through water, it seems, and through bodily fluids. Humans carry it without harm."

"So now we need to figure out what to do. The werewolves are our responsibility and we're not able to let hospitals get hold of them as they get sick."

We went quiet then. Suggestions of killing them weren't attractive, even as it was suggested, and the hereditary werewolves couldn't risk going near them all of a sudden. This effectively put everyone who wasn't bitten on isolation in the house.

After a while Elena spoke up. "We've got two choices now. We're immune now, all the bitten that survived, and we could warn them. Tell them the early stages and signs of it and to stay out of sight. "Or we pretend that we're going to help, and kill every mutt that shows signs of being sick."

"That could be every mutt in America." Jeremy said quietly. "And their children."

"It could be." Elena agreed, quieter. "But they may die anyway, if they're dealing with this fever on their own, and may risk exposing themselves if they're found."

"Would fix some problems." Clayton spoke up, quiet too. "Ain't saying it's the right one but ..."

"If they survive they'll probably be like us. Weak. Nearly human. Yeah?" I asked. I ignored Nick's hand as he tried to grasp mine, at least at first, and then sighed and took it, relief in his face. I only tolerated it a moment before I pushed it away. Maybe the spell had made things worse but he hadn't told me the truth either, and that stung, because no matter how much the truth hurt, he'd promised to always give it.

"Most likely." Amar agreed.

"What if we don't leave them alone to deal with it? What if we help them survive it? Set up a safe place, keep them out of sight, keep them alive till it's over? They'd be pretty grateful."

"They might panic if they find out what the end is like." Clayton muttered. "Being human. I supposed we could tell them the bullshit about a cure and-"

"There might be a cure." Jeremy cut Clayton off with a sharp look.

"Yes, there might be, and do you know how long it can take to find one?" I replied, the bitterness creeping into my voice now. "It might take years. Decades. Nick, stop it, I don't want to hold your hand." I shoved it away and he stood up, leaving the room. Antonio got up and followed him quickly.

"We're working on it." Amar offered. "The help has been speeding it up."

"Do we cure them if we have a cure?" Elena asked, quieter, not really asking anyone but herself. She tapped the pen on the desk as we went quiet there.

"Anne might have been right about how grateful they'd be." Clayton scowled then. "But I don't want a bunch of mutts bowing to us. Bribing us for a cure. Resentful if we don't give it."

"If we don't tell them, they might get sick, and we can't kill them all." Jeremy muttered. "Don't forget- it's only the bitten who can leave the property now. You're all human, as far as your bodies think, except when you've changed. That'll limit how much you can do when taking mutts out."

"The only people who can leave to take care of them are the bitten." Elena spoke up then, louder. "Who protects the hereditary? How would we stand against a mutt's strength anyway when we've got the strength of a human man or woman?"

No one seemed to know. Truth was, no one really knew much about it still, except that it'd started out as a water born disease and had mutated at some point to spread through blood. No one even knew how or where it'd mutated. Winter would mean that it might slow down, when autumn cooled down enough, but mosquito were still carrying it around in the warmer states.

"Do we tell them all to go north into the colder states?" I asked. When they blinked at me, not understanding, I added, "Mosquitoes. Don't they spread blood based stuff like Ross River virus and malaria? Would they spread this?"

"They might." Amar nodded slowly.

"Or how to make sure that mosquitoes don't breed nearby." Jeremy nodded slowly. "Though in some area that may not work, some areas are wet and swampy. Avoid sharing food and water with humans."

"Why not let them just get it?" Karl muttered. "Solve a lot of problems."

"The more people that have it, the higher chance we get it. Your kid too." Jeremy reminded him. Karl blinked and his jaw tensed.

"We could start a hospital." Vi muttered. "Triage. Far from here. Tell them to come if they get sick. It will keep them out of sight and we can heal them or kill them as they come. Maybe there will be no more cases."

"Are we contagious?" I suddenly asked, blinking, lifting my head. "I mean, do we carry it?"

"You have the old strain. It clearly makes you immune to the new version, so no, you're not contagious to the werewolves here. If we were-" Elena smiled grimly. "Well, we wouldn't be having a meet."

That made sense.

"Anne?" Antonio called, from outside the window, "Can you come out here?"

I hesitated, Elena's head nodding in the direction of the door, and stood up. I went outside. Antonio looked stressed, suddenly.

"What is it? If it's Nick-"

"It's Nick. But don't go." Antonio's hand shot out to grab my arm. "I need your help. Come on."

I followed him through the house and outside, arms crossing. "You didn't tell me either."

"I was waiting for you to wake up properly. Half the things I said you didn't hear. I feel a bit bad, you were supposed to be under my protection."

"There was a spell on me, apparently, even you can't protect against that."

"A spell?" Antonio blinked at me. He paused, as we made our way through the forest, in the direction of Forestwatch. "You sure?"

"Second she stopped it, I felt good." I glanced around. "Are we going to Forestwatch?"

"We need to. Nick's there. You better hurry." He hurried, and I tried to hurry, pushing myself a little harder.

"What happened? When you found me?"

Antonio glanced back, hesitating, as we jogged. "You really want to hear it now?"

"Yes."

"It looked like you'd been beaten up and raped. I don't know if that was what happened-" He added, as I froze suddenly, reaching out. "You had your cycle and there was a … they used something to hurt you, something..." He hesitated, uncomfortable. "The gardener left a tool outside that had been used, the handle. It's possible that was what I saw. But you were hurt."

It had been due around then, but I froze a moment anyway, my heart suddenly pounding, fear and panic and rage trying to overwhelm me. This was why I didn't think about things like this. It always made logic fly out the window. "You think I was raped?"

"You were bleeding. But it may have been that time." He repeated, hand on my arm. "It may not have been what it looked like."

"You can smell though. Smell it. Was it there? On me?"

"Yes, and I smelt blood and... it. Only on the ground around you. Not on you. I didn't smell it on you. The rain was pretty heavy though." He didn't rush me, didn't push me to start to jog again, but I could see he wanted to, his legs tense, attention in the other direction. "If I was certain I would have told you. We took measures to protect you, a morning after pill, just in case, and Tyler wasn't able to have sex of any kind. He may have just used the tool to ...take revenge." It was bad enough, really, but he was trying to make me feel better. I wasn't sure if it was working or not.

"Why are we going to see Nick?" I tried to refocus my attention on the future, not the past, tried to get this out of my head.

"You'll see."

Nick was sitting beside the pool, sweating, his head in his hands. He glanced up as he heard us, a smile, but it was tense, stressed.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm hot." He didn't mean 'sexy' either. He glanced at me, then at his dad, real genuine fear there. "I feel hot."

"His temperature's higher than usual." Antonio explained softly. "I can't help him if he's-" He hesitated, trailing off, hating the words. "Vi is coming with Ana to confirm it."

"You can't get sick too." I muttered.

"He can't get sick too." Nick agreed. "If it's that." His skin was shiny in the darkness, now that I looked at it, and his hand had been hot before. I hadn't thought about it.

"I can't drive." I couldn't get him away.

"No, but you have to get me away from here. From our babies." Nick muttered. "If it is-"

"It might not be." I interrupted him.

"If it is, we need to keep them well. They're too little." That fear returned then. Not for him but for everyone. Nick stood up, slowly, avoiding his father's gaze. "We need to leave now."

"Where will we go?" New York was out of the question if Nick changed like Clayton and Elena had. If he was sick.

"I'll call Elena." Antonio replied. He spoke on the phone to her, voice soft, and nodded. "We'll rent a place in the desert." Antonio answered behind me. "Dry. Not many mosquitoes. She's already arranging it. Vi will go with the two of you if it's the disease. Savannah and Adam are coming to assist with protection there, Paige and Lucas here. Amar will stay here."

"Okay." I agreed, turning back to Nick, who was still standing there, face white. "Nick?"

"I'm still here. Just trying to will it to be something else." He smiled at me, a weak smile, reaching out. "Can I hold your hand yet?"

I grabbed it and held it, relief in his face, fingers tracing over mine. "Still, be honest with me. About everything." He was warm, sweaty, but I wondered how much of that was fear. His heart was racing in his chest, the whites of his eyes showing, trembling.

"Dad thought they might have raped you. But he isn't sure. Maybe they didn't." He muttered. Rubbed his head. "There. I said it."

"He told me." I reached up to stroke his forehead, the sweat slick under my palm, warm skin against it. Nick leaned into me, lowering his head down so he could nuzzle against my neck, breathing in and out slowly. "It's okay."

"I meant to come home."

"It's okay. They probably just wanted to scare me after what I threatened Tyler with." I stroked down his arms, slowly, trying to ease him.

"Dad, you can go now. I don't want you to get sick." Nick glanced up at him. "Don't hang around. You might get it."

Antonio stood frozen on the spot, as if he couldn't quite bring himself to go. "You sure?"

"I've got him." I nodded and he frowned, hesitating, before he backed up. "Go. Make sure the kids aren't sick."

Antonio nodded, turned, and headed into the forest at a fast jog.

"Come on, I'll pack up some things, you stay in the kitchen."

"Love you." He kissed my neck, wrapping arms tight around me. "Carry me in your arms?"

I snorted and went inside, Nick behind me, leaning against me. Once he was safely in a chair, though he clearly was still well enough to try for 'pity kisses', I headed upstairs and threw things in a bag for us. Threw some of the triplet's clothing in too, I didn't want to go without something of them, and chargers...

"You're still going to help me after I ignored you?" Nick's voice came from the door, as I packed, leaning against it.

"You're annoying sometimes." I admitted, ignoring him, "But I love you. Course I am. I know you work hard."

"I just want Dad's approval. I wanted him to see that I could do this without screwing it up." He stepped closer, tugging a shirt out, throwing it to one side. "Not that one."

"Too unfashionable?"

"Get the dodgy ones. They won't last." He flopped onto the bed, sitting, watching as I packed. "Dad always expected me to fail and he kept letting me."

"Let you fail?"

"I mean, if I ask for something, he does it. Always." He muttered. "I want to do this one properly. Not screw up."

"You aren't going to screw it up." I reached out to stroke his face, finger across his ear, affectionate. "You want truth?" He nodded. "He's more worried about you and me, than your work. I think he likes your work."

"Us?"

I nodded and he sighed, rubbing his head. "Urgh. I don't know how to do it. Balance it. The clients want to be wooed, to be faithful to you, the women flirting and getting upset when I don't do it, and I want to work hard."

"You can flirt." I zipped up one of the suitcases and rested in his lap, gently, looping an arm around his waist. "I never said you couldn't."

"I know. I wanted to be a real husband. They don't flirt, I think, they come home by five, and … I have no clue. Marriage isn't something I understand much. You, us, being mates, that I get. Human marriage? No sense to me." He muttered, fingering his ring. "I experimented. If it was on, they weren't open to me, the clients. If it was off, they were happy to flirt and agree to things, even if they knew about you. I don't get them."

"That why you weren't wearing it?" I asked, softly, nuzzling against his neck, letting him have my scent. If he was sick...

"I lost it." Nick admitted, a sheepish grin. "It wasn't a planned test. You know, I had to fire my secretary because of it."

"You did? Why?"

"She'd hidden it on me. Flirted." He groaned, softly rubbing his head. "I had to stay back late to find a new one fast and do all that work. Found it hidden under the desk, taped there."

"That's what you get for hiring a young woman." I nudged him.

"She was sixty two."

I snorted, and he gave me a look, teeth biting my hand playfully. "Maybe I should hire you. You can flirt with me all you like."

"You wouldn't get any work done." I nudged at him, gently, trying to ignore the sweat, the pale skin. "We'd be in your office all day."

Nick nodded, breathing in and out slowly, trying to relax. The fear of what he was going into was still there, maybe because he'd seen us go into it... "Do you miss it?"

"What?"

"Being normal."

"So much that I want to stay a wolf sometimes." I admitted, and he tensed, his arm looping around my waist. "Very much."

"I'm not going to be able to smell you after this, am I?" Nick murmured against my neck. "Or them?"

"Cure, remember?" I nudged him. "Maybe you're not sick. We don't really know yet. Werewolves get sick with other things."

"Not often." He murmured. His head twitched down, and I knew Vi had arrived. Nick called, "We're here."

Vi came up with a bag and smiled a tense smile at us. "You look sick."

"Thanks."

"Shirt off. I will take some blood." She put the bag on the bed beside us, taking out some equipment, glancing at him as he blinked at her. "We can see it in your blood now. We know what to look for."

"How long does the test take?"

"We will be on the road when the results come. First though, up." She nudged at me and I got up, shifting out of her way, as Nick tugged off his shirt. I admired the view from the wall, his wink at me making Vi roll her eyes, no attraction or appreciation in her face. Vi felt the inside of his arm, prodding in, and wrapped a thing around the top. "Squeeze your hand. Okay. Small pain-"

I had to look away then, and heard Nick hiss in surprise, as she just got to the blood taking part. He complained, "That's not ..." at one point, then "Woah," and then I heard a gentle thump on the bed.

"Baby." She laughed and I turned to see what she was talking about. Nick had passed out on the bed, not from the fever, but from the shock of seeing his own blood taken out. "Men do this more than women. Tell me, has he had this long?" Vi yanked his pants down one hip and showed me something else. A long scratch mark, very long, that was red, raw looking, and even the horrible sight of white puss at one end.

"I don't ...know." I admitted. It looked like someone had scratched him. Had I done that? "I wasn't well."

"He is probably fighting an infection." She rolled her eyes as she prodded it. "No fever. Infection and fear. We can cover it up."

I felt fear suddenly, that maybe I'd given him the fever by doing this to him, that maybe I'd passed it on. But Elena said we couldn't do that. Maybe it'd attracted mosquitoes. I blinked as Vi held my finger to it. It was, at least, an exact fit.

"Maybe I did it." I muttered and she shrugged.

"Maybe."

A small cough from the doorway made us both jump. Ana stood there, face white, arms crossed. She smiled at me as I went over but her eyes were on Nick. When had she come here? I wasn't sure. Maybe she'd come back with us.

"Not at school today?"

"It seemed like a good idea to come here. Jeremy and Elena asked me to come back till the weekend was over." She replied. Ana glanced over her shoulder, Elena coming up the stairs behind her.

"Is he okay?" Ana asked.

"He fainted getting blood taking out. Watch." Vi moved to slap her hands together over his head, sudden, and Nick leapt up and blinked, staring around wildly. "He is good."

Ana tried to smile but flinched when Elena touched her shoulder.

"Does he smell like it?"

"I don't know." She was reluctant to even step into the room, her eyes going to me, then to Nick.

"Do we have a place to go?" I asked as Elena led her inside.

"All arranged. Just got to get the flights there. It's okay, Ana, he won't bite."

"Why are you asking Ana about his smell?" I gazed at her and she almost looked guilty, cringing a little.

"She can smell the disease." Vi explained. She was covering the cut along Nick's side as he cringed. "She warned me."

I glanced at Ana who got that guilty look back. Was she afraid she'd caused this? Or had she had to smell it on us before we'd gotten sick? I moved over to her and wrapped an arm around her, feeling her flinch, as if she wasn't happy about it.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, avoiding all of our eyes, backing up a bit. "It's not him that has the smell. He's fine. Someone else does."

"Who then, honey?" Elena asked softly.

"Dominic and Logan. I'm sorry. I ..."

Nick stood up, sudden, and my own panic reared up. Elena's face had drained as well, as she stared at Ana, her hand clutching Ana's shoulder hard suddenly.

Vi was the first to think clearly, as we fought with the panic, moving out and taking Ana with her, on the phone to Stonehaven.

Nick moved to grab both of us, arms capturing the two of us, and I didn't need to hear like normal to know that Elena's chest was probably being beaten up by her panicked heart as badly as my own. Our puppies. Our babies. I wanted to snarl, I wanted to thrash, beat someone up, I wanted to throw things out the window. Elena just stood there, face white, staring through Nick's shoulder.

"We can convert this room."

"No. No, we have to … isolate. It's the plan." Elena's voice wasn't working properly. She tried to shake her head. Tried to go with plan over her instinct to keep them close. "Isolate all sick werewolves, pack and mutt, in the desert until they're well enough to care for themselves."

"We can put fly screen and mosquito nets on the windows and over the door. There's an en-suite in here. They're too little to be taken far away."

Elena seemed to agree, her jaw opening and shutting, her eyes shutting as Nick tried to hug her closer and kiss my forehead, his own body shaking. "Yes. Maybe you're right."

"Adults can be sent away. Not the babies."

"Not our babies. They're too little." She breathed in a low shuddering breath. "Ana?"

"Yeah?" Ana was standing outside in the hallway in Vi's arms, shaking a little herself. I wanted to hug her, comfort her, she looked devastated to have to tell us that.

"How strong is the smell?"

"Just faint."

"We've got time to set up then." Elena was speaking, trying to comfort herself, and when Nick pulled us closer, closing the gap, she didn't resist but leaned against me. "Don't worry, Ana, it's good that you told us early. We've got time. Antonio, no, Cla..." She hesitated. Shook her head. "No, it'll have to be Daniella. She'll have to go get what we need."

"Clayton's going to be fine with this." Nick tried to comfort her. "Trust me. He'll go a little dictator-ish if things aren't ship shape but..."

"I know. Which is why we need to make it clear everything's under control before he gets here. Vi, call Daniella, tell her we need her to separate Logan and Dominic and then to go buy these things and bring them back. Nothing cheap. Make a list between yourself and Amar about what we need. She has to leave in half an hour. I'll bring them back myself. Nick, you have to leave."

Nick froze then. "I can't leave. It's my son."

"You have to leave or you'll get sick. We might let you look in the doorway but you can't ..." She withdrew, as his arms got a bit too tight, his heart racing. "Sorry. But you might get it from him."

Nick clung to me, harder, the sweating and warmth from the infection nothing to this. I could feel it,every inch of him wanted to resist and plant himself down here. In the doorway. Guard them.

"Help me clear the room of our stuff." I asked, soft, and he blinked, nodding. The room may have been too big, realistically, for just two little bodies but ...the windows were easily covered, it had an en suite, and wooden floors. Plus it was home. It was my home, my territory, and I didn't want to take my baby off it. He knew this room as well as he knew his room.

Nick and I worked quietly, throwing things into suitcases and bags, and we dismantled the bed. It'd just get in the way in here. Vi brought in the pieces of the smaller beds from another room, as we passed the big one to her, Dominic's toddler bed and a single bed. The reality of what this was going to mean only sunk in when we saw them there, side by side, and restraints arranged. Restraints. For these tiny beds.

"I don't know if I can do this." I admitted, as I stared at Dominic's bed, just barely four feet long, a teddy bear still tied to the edge. What if they weren't sick? That'd be a relief but … Nick carried out the mirror and set it in the room we'd dumped the big bed. He returned, wrapping his arms around me from behind, his fear of the mild fever he had forgotten now.

"We'll do it."

"You're going to need one more bed." Vi spoke up, after half an hour, and we realised Ana had gone. Fear screamed in my head, that it had spread already, that it was going to spread. Faster.

"Who?"

"For the shift worker. Whoever is watching while they are sick will need a bed."

I breathed out, a slow deep breath of relief at that, and nodded. She didn't mean that Ana had smelt it on another person.

We got the last single bed in there, making the sheets for the three of them, Vi directing us to use plain white things, single pillows, white blankets with spares folded up nearly on the dresser. We emptied it out so that she could fill it with other things, medical stuff, spare sheets, spare clothing for whoever was in here.

Elena returned with Dominic and Logan. Logan looked wary, as if he suspected something was going on, Dominic blissfully unaware. He lit up at the sight of us, arms going up for us, and Nick grabbed him to hug him close. Elena pried his arms off him, or attempted to, the harder she tried, the harder Dominic tried to hang on. Maybe he could sense the distress in Nick, because I could, and it broke my heart when I realised that the only one who'd separate them was me. Damn. Damn. Damn...

"Nick..." I said, quietly, and he glanced at me, nostrils flaring over and over, Dominic's head against his neck. "You have to stay healthy."

"I know." He glanced down, trying to smile as he handed Dominic over, a grimace that made Dominic's face scrunch up in a frown. He only relaxed when he realised it was me he was being handed to and calmed down again. "Shit. I know."

"You've got to go downstairs now. Into the den. Shut the door." Elena spoke softly but it was a firm order, not a suggestion. He scowled, nodded, and headed downstairs. "You can stay as long as you stay there. You'll hear everything that goes on. I want you to leave tonight though."

It was getting dark before Daniella returned and we got the nets up, using glue and nails, not worrying about how it'd look once this was over. She'd gotten it for everyone else too, Elena vanishing with the materials to take it to Stonehaven, and we worked as the light faded in the room, Logan reading a book and his attention on us, Dominic trying to copy the bigger boy. Another set of nets across the door, so that people had to walk through them, which would hopefully do some good.

"It's my turn, isn't it?" Logan spoke up, as he watched us, pages unturned.

"For what?"

"To be sick."

"It is. But it won't be long." I hoped it wouldn't, anyway. "Matt was only sick for a week."

"A week's a long time." Logan said, quietly. "Mom going to be here?"

"I think we'll have trouble getting her to leave. Your dad too." I smiled weakly, watching Dominic tip a truck on its side, trying to see the first sights of the sickness. There was nothing yet but Ana seemed sure.

"Can I write them a letter?"

"Huh?" I blinked. My mind immediately assumed it was a 'goodbye letter'. "Why?"

"I'll tell them to get sleep." He decided. "They might not sleep if they think I want them awake and I don't."

Vi smiled somewhat. "That might be a good idea." She brought him up some paper and pens. When he was done, with some help from her, Vi asked, "What would you like to listen or watch while you're sick?"

"Won't I be too sick?"

"Not all the time. Tell me and we will make a list." I wondered if she was right. Maybe she was just humouring him until he was too sick to care.

She had us make dinner while she watched the two of them, Daniella and myself heading downstairs, Daniella looking as upset about this as I was. She had a soft spot for the babies, ever since she told me why she was afraid of babies in general, constantly trying to help. Mothering them. If I had one baby that may have been annoying but I had three, and any extra arms had been welcome.

"I'll help." She said, softly, as we heated up something instead of cooking from scratch.

"I know." I tried to smile.

We covered the pre-made pizzas with some extra things, halfway through the cooking, they were too crappy to be left alone. I thought so anyway. Vi came down, sent Daniella up to watch the kids, and got me to mix up some other things, orange juice, some other things, she wanted there to be as much nutritious food cooked up that night as possible so it could be free to use.

"This training for helping mutts?" I asked, trying to joke. Vi didn't joke. She just nodded a stiff nod.

"Vegetable soup with chicken. Freeze it in small bags. Make some vegetable soup and chicken separate and separate vegetable and chicken from broth so we have broth. Do we have many oranges?" She wrote it down as she said it.

"A bag."

"I will make a list." She pinned Logan's list to the fridge, instructions for soup next to it, and started a new one. "Make as much ice as you can."

"We don't have enough ice trays."

"Then we buy that too."

I nodded and started to get vegetables out for the soup. Practical was a good way to behave at times like this. My baby was sick? Then I had to work and not panic. Working was good. "We'll need more vegetables. More chicken."

"Use as much as you can. Lots of water. It can be weak soup." She shrugged. "Left over is good too. Make a lot."

I nodded, slicing up the celery, onions, anything else I could get my hands on in the fridge. Nick came in, slowly, apparently having not left the house the entire time. He smiled a small smile at me, ignored Vi's glare, and picked up a knife.

"Soup making?" He was asking if he could help, in other words, his attention on the floor above us. Nick was already washing his hands.

"Till Elena chases you out." I pushed half the bags of veges at him and onions. "Put onions into the bowl first, we'll fry them up a bit."

"Dominic sounds okay right now." He said quietly, trying to cut the onions without crying and failing. "Shit. How do we do this?"

"Fast." I might have gotten a bit more used to it than him through. We dumped the onions and garlic into the soup pot in the middle of us, working, Nick ignoring the sweating. "Did I scratch you there?"

"Getting into the car, you did, yeah." He grinned at me. "It was very cute."

"Cute." Vi snorted. "You have strange ways of being turned on."

"It's infected. You should have cleaned it." I rolled my eyes as he shrugged.

"We don't usually get infected, remember? Guess you had something nasty under your nail." He shrugged and continued to slice up things. "Last of onions." Nick threw the bits of onion into the bin that were making his eyes water and run all over the place, growling at it, and slid the pot at me. "Do I do the rest?"

"Yeah, just chop them up." I nodded and took the pot.

We cooked the soup, Nick taking orders, Vi making lists and on the phone to Pav who suggested other things. Herbs and spices that were helpful, that Vi didn't think of, other foods. I wasn't even sure if they would eat, to be honest, but the practical work made me feel better. Water was poured into two soup pots, chicken fried as the water heated up, skin and all, and then we dumped half the veges into each pot, the fried onion too, and vegetable stock. It'd be weak but Vi was right- it'd have a lot of good stuff. Then we ate pizza, pizza taken upstairs, trying to stay calm and not panic. Panic was a very good idea, somewhere deep in my mind, but ...

Dominic showed the first signs of it. The second Daniella called down that he was sweating, Vi had to shove Nick out of the house. When he refused to go, Elena showed up quickly, Clayton with her, and between the two of them got him to get in Elena's car. Clayton stayed with us, heading straight upstairs, planting himself in the room and waiting.

I went upstairs and we sat there, watching Dominic sweat and play, Logan starting to look a little less happy himself. He was trying to hide it through where as Dominic didn't know or care about that game. The second he started to feel warm, he started to grizzle and complain, coming up to us for comfort. I sat next to him as he lay on his bed, fanning him, heart in throat as I watched him get more and more upset with the uncomfortableness of the heat. He was still accepting water though in sippy cups. Logan was drinking lots too, Clayton coming up and down the stairs for water, till Vi gave him a jug and cups and told him to get it out of the bathroom.

By nine, we got the two of them to go to sleep, which wasn't that hard when we got a fan out and had it move between the two of them. Clayton planted himself outside the door, sitting on the floor in the hallway, I sat opposite him with my legs against the wall,the door ajar so we could listen. The plan was to check every half hour.

Neither of us slept or spoke. We sat there, taking turns to sneak inside, refusing to move, waiting. It was almost sunrise when Clayton finally spoke up, exhausted looking.

"Think it's a natural disease?"

I blinked at him, trying to snap out of the sleepiness, trying to let the words sink in. "I didn't think about it."

"That sorcerer shows up a year and a half after he has a fit about a baby he was hoping to get, makes up shit about you in Central Park, then suddenly you're sick. Then we're all sick. Now it's spreading to our kids." He spoke quietly, softly, glancing inside. "I ain't a big fan of coincidence."

I blinked at him, slowly. It hadn't even occurred to me to connect them. "I- I didn't even think about it. I guess it is pretty close."

"Your attack too."

"Tyler Lake?"

"Who had the mutated version. I was surprised he showed his face to you after what you did to him and after our warnings. His history with the pack should have kept him away from now on. Seemed like a suicide mission, not revenge, like he was hoping you'd kill him." He spoke softly. "Maybe he knew he was sick."

"Did you get to question him?"

"No. The fever got to his head before we found the hole he'd crawled into." Clayton glanced to where his son was sleeping. "What did he do with you?"

"Beat me up. Injected someth-" I breathed in, sharply, understanding what he was getting at. "You think it wasn't just sedative, do you?"

"I don't think so."

"Did you tell Elena?"

"Course. And Jer. There's no proof yet though."

Dominic's cry made us both flinch, I jumped up to my feet, heading inside. He had gotten hotter and sweatier all night, though the fan had eased it for him, but now he was feverish. Clayton wasn't far behind, offering the ear thing, so we could get a quick reading. I smelt urine though, and relaxed somewhat, never in my life having been as relieved as I was right now that he'd dirtied his nappy. Maybe that was all it was.

"I'll wake Vi just in case." Clayton said, voice soft, as I comforted Dominic. Clayton backed out.

Water seemed to calm him down, he took the cup and grasped it, the tears flashing in the darkness. Or was it sweat? He snuggled up to me, hiccuping a little, dark curls sticking to his damp forehead, a thumb replacing the water when he'd drunk as much as he could. Vi came in and while she checked him, I changed his nappy, Logan still fast asleep. Vi checked him too, quickly, but his fever was still fairly under control, not too bad.

Vi tugged off Dominic's damp sheets and replaced them with some of the fresh ones, dropping the soiled ones in a bag, and once he was changed he calmed down more, falling asleep against me, curled up in my arms.

"He is all right." She reassured me, as she measured his temperature again. "Put him down and let him sleep some more."

I thought of something, as I put him down, and glanced at Clayton who was waiting out in the hallway. Dominic was asleep within seconds of touching the sheets, relaxing again, his little hand curling around the leg of the teddy bear.

"Clay, I haven't gotten close to them since I got sick. They wouldn't let me." I said, quietly. "It couldn't be from me."

"Mosquitoes might have spread it." He answered. Frowned. "Come on. We need sleep. Vi, can you wake us if-"

"Of course I will wake you. Go sleep." She nodded, sliding down to take the place we'd sat in, yawning as she woke herself up.

I crawled onto one of the spare beds, Clayton heading for the couch downstairs, and tried to sleep through all the nightmares and anxiety that came flooding into me from the day's attempts at pretending I was okay. It was not a good sleep.