"Fancy seeing you here." A familiar voice came from beside me. I opened my eyes and … I was sitting on the wreck of the car. The dark haired woman, Eve, was sitting beside me, leaning back, gazing casually up at the stars. "That thing's really got it in for you. We tried to warn you, you know, but you're as fucking stubborn as your children."

Eve. The dead woman Jamie saw. I stared around, shocked, realising that once again I was not in my body. Reece was down below, dragging my limb body out, eyes wide open and empty like Daniella's had been. His chest was heaving with raggad breathing, panicked, only barely glancing or noticing as Hope dragged herself out. Any other time and he'd have been a gentlemen. She had to do it herself though.

"Poor guy." She commented softly, leaning over, as he tried to do CPR. "You guys got us some good information though. Skin-walkers. We'd never have thought of it."

"Is this it?" I asked, quiet. The grief those words invoked in me, the idea that I had to leave Reece right now, it made something in my chest hurt. "I can't leave him like that."

"We're still not ready for you. Apparently you're contracted to have another child." She shook her head, taking out her sword, gazing at it. Eve said it so casually, so calmly, but she glanced sideways at me. "Maybe next time we meet."

"Contracted? What, now?" My eyes were still fixed on Reece. He was struggling to breathe, struggling to do CPR, panic and the urge to change fighting with his urge to get me back. "I'm not ready for that."

Eve smiled somewhat. "Not for a while. You can relax. The fates aren't that cruel usually. But-" Her smile faded as she gazed down, her eyes going to my legs that were still half in the car. Blood. Seeping out. "It was delayed a little while. The child will come back for another go later."

I stared at the pool of blood starting to stain the ground between the pants. It took a while to understand why I was seeing it, took a while till I saw the bruise around my stomach, remembered the seatbelt. It was my body and it was miscarrying.

"It's not easy." She said softly. Now she wasn't smiling. "Just try and remember. It's the same child. It's not giving up."

"It's ..."

"Dying. It knew it would. We tried to warn it that you wouldn't go full term this time but its one fucking stubborn kid. Good luck with it." She said quietly, a form coming. Lillian. Eve shifted down to kneel beside my body. I felt desperate to get back in. Eve gently reached down through my body and pulled out something, a small glowing orb of light, glowing gently in her hands. "Didn't we? Go back and wait a little longer."

She handed it to Lillian, the form growing large, a large orb of light and energy. Lillian smiled and waved, fading away with it in her hand.

"If I'm not staying dead, then..."

"Reece is terrible at CPR. Oh. Hello. I'm Eve. Savannah's mother." She glanced up as she moved back up. Eve shrugged and flopped back down beside me. "Ever thought about getting your tubes tied?"

I scowled at her question and she smirked at me. "Thought I was meant to have a stubborn child."

"You've got five of them. But yeah. Think about it after." She stood back up. "We've got a minute or two before the cavalry fly in. Here. Follow me."

Just like that, I was following, floating in a dark room. Standing. I wasn't sure what you called it when you had your feet on the ground but you felt nothing there. Eve leaned against a wall casually, standing beside a bed, the sound of two babies sleeping filling my ears. My babies.

"Like I said, maybe you should get your tubes tied." She suggested lightly, amused as I rushed over to the crib. I tried to touch them. No luck. "Relax. Look behind you."

I looked behind me. The window was open and someone was coming in, slowly, adrenaline pumping through them. Karl and Nick. A quick heave and they were in the building. Stared around. They saw what I had missed straight away- that there was a body on the bed, Karl holding his finger to his lip to Nick. Nick nodded.

They crept to the bed, slowly, their heads moving in odd directions. It was to catch the sound of anything beside our babies, I knew it, but it still looked funny. The house was quiet. It was like the only people in the house was them and the babies.

"She's dead." Karl said softly, prodding the still form. "Can't be long either." He bent a limb, a long grey-ish limb, one of the bare feet going an odd shade of purple. "She's still bendable."

"Don't play with her." Nick hissed. He crossed to the crib right beside me, not seeing me, the look of relief on his face as he saw the twins lying there. "How did she die?"

"Don't know. Don't care." Karl dropped the leg and went for one of the children. He may have been cold to us but he was careful with Reece, gently lifting him up, clearly having experience in this. "Let's get them and get the hell out of here. Don't know where her guards went but we don't want them to return. Antonio."

Antonio's head popped around the doorway. "I found him."

"We'll remove any evidence that babies were ever here. The guards might know but as she had them illegally, they won't speak up. What about the old man?"

"Dead. He's gone stiff. At least four hours dead, maybe longer." He came in and took both Reece and Rose, careful, and Karl started to dismantle the crib as Nick searched the room in the dark for anything else related to the children.

"There we go." Eve said, loudly, making me jump. "Mother to mother, I figured you'd want to know they're okay. They'll find her and assume it was a heart attack, she was pretty old, her heart just stopped. Being dead has some advantages. But you've got to go back soon and I want to show you something else."

Then, suddenly, we were back at the crash. What a contrast to the bedroom, so richly decorated, with the people I loved inside it.

"Look, here they come. Watch this." Eve pointed.

I watched. I had expected to see someone I knew. Instead I saw owls again. A lot of owls. Reece didn't notice- he was frantic now, pushing so hard on my chest that I was afraid he'd break my ribs, pleading.

"Where's Daniella?" I asked, suddenly.

"Got an appointment. You can't see her." She said it like Daniella had stepped out of the office not 'Daniella's dead'. "She's not allowed to stay here."

"Bet she argued about that." I muttered. But I still wished I could see her. See that she was okay, that she was happy, something.

"She's not impressed about the whole thing. Now watch the owls and stop getting distracted. Watch this." Eve pointed. The owls had circled around the clearing where the car had crashed, circling, landing on the ground. Then … one shifted. It was hard to describe. The wings seemed to bend in an unnatural position, and suddenly it was changing, the feathers sliding backwards as if they were a coat, a man's body contorting into a human shape.

His eyes snapped up to Eve and myself. He looked a bit startled and jogged over to Reece, shoving him aside, taking over the CPR. It was Alan. I gawked at him. His head came back up to me, eyes fixing in mine, before he returned his attention to my body.

"Can he see us?" He'd just made eye contact. I blinked.

"That's how they keep out of our attention, isn't it? You've been hiding for a long time." She called to the man, who scowled, shooting her a look. "Hurry up and put her back. I've got a job to do."

"Go find my sister, witch." He snapped. Like she was really there. Reece's head searched the space we sat, confused, but the man had gone back to CPR.

"Not my job." She stood up and shoved at me. "Get back in there. And stay there! I can't keep rushing back and forward to have chats."

Suddenly, I was there, the mouth pressed against mine, lungs filling with air that smelt like bird. Eve was gone. My stomach and hips hurt, hurt badly, the warm blood seeping out, my heart racing under the aching ribcage. It was like being slammed with mortality AND getting injured all at once, I gasped, heart racing, all trace of Eve or the spirit world long gone.

"Where's my sister?" Alan hissed, leaning back, the owls taking off. "What happened?"

"Anne!" Reece grabbed me, pushing him aside, tugging me out of the wreck and into his arms.

"I said-" Alan repeated, voice low. "Where's my sister."

Reece glanced back at him. There was no anger, just grief, and guilt. "She … I don't know. She and Daniella aren't there."

"Daniell..." I swung around, staring at the car, but he was right. Daniella's body was gone. Selene was gone too.

The man swore and stood up, glancing up, the owls taking off. I inhaled slowly, pulling Reece hard against me, his heart racing against mine.

"Where are you bleeding?"

I glanced down, face draining of blood, aware of what was going on now. Even though Eve had told me this child wasn't giving up, even though I didn't want anymore children... a miscarriage was a miscarriage. Seven months. I was eight weeks along then.

"Anne?" Reece's gaze followed mine. "Is that ..."

"I was pregnant, apparently." I admitted and he inhaled sharply. "It's okay. Eve said the child's giving it another go later."

"God." He groaned, shutting his eyes, pulling me harder against him. "I thought you smelt odd."

He did? I almost wanted to tell him off for not telling me this. Almost. But she'd said it wasn't supposed to happen now. I grasped him, holding onto him, Reece's body shaking. Reece was too traumatised right now anyway. "You died. Again." He groaned, clutching hard. "Like her. Wait, you saw ghosts again?" Reece pulled back, sudden. "Did you see her?"

"No." I glanced back to where we'd been sitting on the car. "I didn't. Just Eve and Lillian."

Reece squeezed his eyes shut, head flopping against my shoulder, his grief returning. I watched Hope sleep, blood running down her forehead, but she smelt and sounded okay. A bit burnt from the air bag but okay. I sat there, stunned, my body barely able to move, stomach screaming at me, neck and arms and ...everything, it just hurt. I ran my hands along Reece's body, trying to find where he hurt, and found the same pain, bruises, torn skin, a gash across his shoulder and neck. He inhaled sharply as my searching hands found torn skin or worse than usual bruises. But nothing seemed broken.

"I'm okay." He muttered. "Your ...you're loosing a baby."

"Lillian took it. It's already gone." It was just the body. I shut my eyes, squeezed them shut, wondering how long this had been there and I hadn't thought. I never thought. How many times had I put my body through some physical stress lately? I had to think about things like this. Maybe Eve was right about the tubes tied thing.

Reece's hand grazed over my stomach, his breathing shallow, stroking the tender skin.

"Hope?"

"Hit her head, may have broken an ankle." He glanced back to her. "She crawled out on her own while I was trying to get you free. Dan... and Selene weren't there. When I woke. They weren't there."

"Did you see what Alan did?"

Reece blinked at me. "I saw him walk over."

I wasn't sure if it was because he'd been focused on me or what. I'd seen it though. Eve had wanted me to see it- how he'd gone from being Owl to Human by 'pulling off' a thing of feathers. It wasn't that simple, his body had contorted, but it couldn't have hurt as much as it did for us- he was walking as his body shifted.

We lay there a while, both stunned, both breathing fast, my senses starting to let in other things. The smell of fuel all over the place. Blood. Reece's heartbeat, fast, panicked, and Hope's slow heart as she lay slumped against a tree, eyes shut, blood trickling down her forehead. The tickle of blood as it ran down my thighs. I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't loosing a child. It was coming back.

It took a while for the shock to wear off. As it did I also became aware that we were sitting in the side of a deep dip beside a curve in the road, glass sparkling and covering the grass and dirt, bits of large and small pieces digging into our legs as we sat there, some of it cutting in. The car had fallen forward and it was like the front of it had just folded in on itself. If Hope had been any larger I doubted she'd have gotten her legs out of there. One of her heels was wedged into the twisted metal and it showed how lucky she was. A branch had gone through the windscreen and must have struck her head, but it had also blocked the car from completely hitting the ground- the car was somewhat leaning against the branch.

Reece was shaking. I stared into the car for signs of Daniella and Selene, now that I was getting my senses back. Nick was working right now. I had to as well.

"Reece, are you able to walk?"

He nodded, leaning back, staring down at me with that same pale shocked face.

"I'm not going to die. Sniff out Selene. We let her come with us. We're responsible for her." I pushed him back, careful of the glass, trying to stand. Reece helped me up, his gaze shooting to my stomach, his nostrils flaring as the movement made it more obvious to our heightened senses what my body was going through.

"You-"

"Selene, Reece. Go look." I pushed at him gently. He hesitated only a second longer before he nodded, leaning down to kiss my forehead, and went around to the door she'd been in. I stepped across the glass carefully, making my way to Hope, my legs trembling with the effort. It was just a few metres. It felt like a few miles.

I glanced back at Reece as he traced his way around the clearing, trying to smell over the stench of blood and fuel. "Oh. Her brother's a skin-walker."

Reece's head shot up. I saw it, the fear, the shock, and qas quick to add, "Not that kind. Not the one that's chasing us. The owl kind."

He mouthed the words several times before he got it, glancing up, an owl swooping overhead and meeting Reece's eye contact dead on. It nearly hit his head, the breeze from the winds ruffling his curls. "That's a fucking skin-walker? Is she one?"

"I don't know. Her brother is though." I watched her brother swoop across the clearing. It explained why the owl had been protecting her. "Don't tell anyone, I think they're hiding it, but … don't be alarmed."

He shook his head and knelt back down, trying to sniff, ignoring the big owl as it circled over the clearing a few times and then back out over the forest. Ground and air search and rescue.

I stroked Hope's face, brushing the silky dark hair out of it, some of it matted with blood. Her eyes opened after a while.

"Sorry. I'm tired."

"Probably a concussion." I sounded much more confidant about this than I felt. She let me check her ankle, gently squeezing it the way Jeremy did with mine, a low hiss of pain as I felt along the bone very carefully. It wasn't broken. "It doesn't feel broken."

"Good. You know what it's like running after a toddler with one of those." She smiled weakly. "Karl's going to be pissed."

"Maybe." I checked her, scrapes and bruises, but she was more or less okay. "He's got the twins. The house had no guards."

"How did you..." Hope lifted her head and fixed me with a look. "You died, didn't you?" I nodded and she groaned softly. "No guards. That's strange. Even while the old woman was out of town, there were guards."

"She was dead when they got in." I said it softly. There was no doubt about that. The old woman's body had been dead for some time. "I'm not sure what that means."

"Means you're now the mother of two heirs to a huge sorcerer family, that's what it means." She sat up a bit straighter, picking glass and stuff out of her hair, cringing. "Maybe the guards are looking for you to start sucking up."

That had never occurred to me. My head shot up as she tried to shake the crumbled glass free, the shards tumbling all over the place in the dim moonlight. Heirs? Oh boy. I had enough problems with magic as it was, without suddenly having to be involved in their world. I'd talk to Elena later.

A shout came from a few hundred metres away, right up on the road, and I heard Reece's feet, pounding, running back for the clearing. The owl swooped across and landed in the dark forest as Reece came out with Selene.

She was covered in blood. It was everywhere, her arm broken, feet cut up, and head lolling around like Daniella's had been. For a horrible few seconds I thought she was dead but … I heard it, her heart beating hard, and Reece wouldn't have rushed if she'd died.

He collapsed beside us as Alan came running in, shoving something into his bag.

"She was on the road. I think she was trying to get help." Reece lowered her down carefully as I slid across.

"Check the car for first aid stuff. Carefully." I slid across, Alan on her other side, and he was pulling out a first aid kit. Like Jeremy. The man was apparently prepared.

He tossed me a bandage and we got to work, trying to keep her body flat, head turned, Alan splintering her arm as I found where the blood was weeping out from a gash on her leg. Probably where the metal had crushed into her. There were nasty bruises all around it.

"I told her to stay away from you." Alan muttered, annoyed, but not so much with us.

"We're-"

"Wolves." His eyes met mine. Challenging eyes, dark, sharp. Like the owl. "Don't deny it. She doesn't know."

"Does she know about you?" I asked as I pressed the cloth down hard on the deep gash, trying to slow it. Reece was with Hope again, holding a ice pack from the car on her head, her eyes struggling to stay open.

"No. Don't tell her." He gazed down at her with that exasperated look, that look a brother got when they both loved, were frustrated and furious with their sister. "She's not ready to know yet. When I tell her, I have to tell her everything. I want her to be happy first. Look, just let that part alone. Okay?"

I nodded and he tried to fix her arm, his face pale, as I pressed hard on her leg. She'd lost a lot of blood and being out here, in the cold night, it was not going to help.

"We need to get her inside."

"Help's coming." He muttered. "I went for it when I saw the crash."

"Help?"

He nodded, didn't elaborate, but shrugged off his warm jacket and put it around her, trying to keep her warm.

"Did you see where Dani... where the other went?"

"Someone carried her away." Alan's jaw tightened as he heard Reece inhale sharply. Reece was already at the door, trying to find the smell. "You're not going to find the smell. They don't have a smell. They don't have anything."

"What do you mean?" Reece hissed. He tried to sniff, his heart racing, breathing fast again. "I found her. She was dragged..." And then he was gone. Running. His panic was back, panic for a body that was no longer her, but for Reece... it was impossible to let go, I got it, I knew if it was Nick's body...

"You better bring him back. If you can walk." Alan's eyes met mine and there was regret now. "He's not going to like what he finds."

"What he finds?"

"Skin-walker. Needed a new s-" He couldn't say it. I saw it, the disgust and repulsion, his grip tightening on the bandage. "Fucking evil. Our kind have a choice when we start to change. We can choose. This one chose humans and lost all humanity. Became what you see. If it'd chosen an animal, if it stayed in our laws, we wouldn't have... " He trailed off, maybe saying too much, but his eyes met mine again. "But it's banished and it needs a new skin."

Hope got it seconds before I did, her sharp inhale, her body shifting up. I got it. Daniella. The skin-walker was after a skin. It was after a body. It was after Daniella's body. Maybe that was the whole fucking point. Maybe it'd hoped for mine. I didn't know. I didn't care.

I got up, running after Reece, ignoring the glass cutting my feet or the pain of branches, twigs, twisted metal, hearing him crashing through the bush after Daniella's scent.

He found her. Or what was left of her. The blood filled the air, so much blood when she'd already died, and Reece's vomit as he collapsed beside her. The green eyes were still there, staring up at the stars, but … the rest. It was just gone. Clothing shredded. It was just muscle.

Bile rose in my throat and I leaned against a tree, throwing up, coughing and trying to not see. This was wrong. Whatever the fuck it was, it was wrong, and …

We couldn't leave her here. We couldn't take her home.

Alan wasn't far behind. I heard him coming through the bush in a deliberate loud way, not wanting to startle us, but he coughed and I saw him. With a shovel. What the hell?

"I ...sorry. Here."

"You done this a lot?"

He scowled at me. He didn't say no though. "We've got a duty to destroy those ones. The ones that break the law."

"There's many?"

"Not anymore." Alan's voice chilled me, his eyes avoiding the body, his face still white. "She tried to protect my sister. I saw it. Saw her stare it in the eyes. I don't want her to just be left."

I wanted to be angry with him. Reece looked like he would have gladly been, except he'd collapsed next to a tree, probably in shock, his eyes fixed on the body lying out in the open like that on its side, the arms twisted strangely, head up, like they'd just dropped it. Daniella. They'd just dropped Daniella.

The sound of metal going into dirt startled me. Alan was already working. Reece just sat there. They'd need that sheet. The pillow. I didn't want her to … I wanted her to be protected.

I made my way back to the car slowly, Hope with Selene, glancing up.

"Bleeding's slowing." Hope said softly. "I think she's okay. Could do with a hospital for the arm though. Did you find..." She didn't continue the question. The image of it rose, rose with such force, that it felt like everything in the area could see straight into my head. It would never go. Hope's eyes shut, squeezing shut, but there was no pleasure in that. "You did."

"I'm getting the sheet." I lifted it up and the pillow. Headed back for the place she'd been left, Alan continuing to dig, Reece hadn't moved a muscle. He just stared. Blankly stared. It was one thing to loose your mate, it was another to ...have them insulted like this. I kept an ear on him. If I had to knock him out again I'd do it without hesitation. He growled when I stepped close, then shook his head, trying to clear it of the wolf.

"What are you doing?"

"Covering her." I said softly. Reece didn't get up, didn't speak again, just shut his eyes. He'd be no help. I had to do it, trying to ignore how it felt, how she felt, her body starting to go stiff. Wrapped her in the sheet until it was just a human shape again. A normal human shape. No one would know. The real Daniella was gone, long gone, off in the world my mother was in, Lillian, Eve. This wasn't her. It was a shadow of the real thing.

Alan swapped with me and I dug, ignoring the ache in my stomach, the cramps, knowing my body was trying to end the pregnancy at the same time. Trying to 'clear the slate'. It hurt. It didn't hurt as much as the pain in my chest, in my throat, the loss of someone I should have protected better. Vi and Pav were right. There'd only been the four of us. We should have been there for each other.

We buried her out there, in the darkness, deep in the pine forest at the base of an big old one, a pillow under her head. The smell of pine needles filled the air there, reminding me of Christmas. It was beautiful there, in a way, quiet. Peaceful. Reece just sat there the entire time, stared, his heart the only thing making noise. It was an unmarked grave, except for a large unusual shaped stone I insisted on putting in a gap inside the tree, near her head. Just ...to say she was here. Just to know where she was if we ever came back. It was getting light by now. Selene was awake when we got back, though she was in pain, and Alan gently lifted her up and we made our way up the embankment, my arm around Hope, Reece following. Alan had driven but he'd parked some distance back. They'd find the car.

We didn't go far. Just to a city. There was a motel near an airport there, Super 8, apparently named so because there was some kind of race track nearby. Alan got us a room and leaving to take Selene to a hospital- she told us she'd tell them she'd crashed- and find clothing for us. I was too numb to argue. Hope collapsed into the chair, Reece curling up, and I got into the shower as the cramps got worse. There, in some motel, I saw it. Larger blood clots, one almost the size of an orange, and I knew it was over. My body was giving up on the third pregnancy. I couldn't flush it, even if I knew it wasn't a person now, even if I knew that the child was coming back, I took it outside as the early morning light increased and buried the large blood clots nearby. Got some pads from the office, the woman there taking pity on me, and crawled back into bed beside Reece.

It was Hope who got in contact with Elena. Neither of us could speak now. Reece pulled me against his front, arms wrapping around me, his head buried in my hair as we lay there. Enough of the strong bullshit.

Alan came back with Selene, her arm plastered, leg stitched up and gave us food and clothing. We took turns showering and re-dressing, trying to get rid of the blood and the dirt and everything else, all of us looking beaten up, stunned, out of it. Elena told us to say put so we did.

Breakfast came and we ate quietly. Selene seemed to know what had happened. She didn't ask where Daniella was. Instead, she sat with Hope, the two of them talking softly outside. Alan was waiting with them. I wondered if Elena had asked him to wait. Maybe she had.

Reece and I sat inside with the bags of McDonalds that had been fetched for us, sitting on a bed together, with me pressed up against his chest, his arms wrapped around me. He still hadn't spoken a word but the close contact helped him. Werewolves were naturally physically affectionate and cuddly and … after the past twelve hours, it was suddenly not just a matter of being affectionate, it was something else. Comfort. Reassurance. He was okay. I was okay. We were here. Everytime someone came in, I felt it, felt his body tremble, and knew he wasn't going to be okay long. Reece needed pack.

It was after lunch when we got exactly that. Antonio pulled up outside. I didn't need to hear his voice to know it was him, didn't need to hear him get out, I just knew. Reece did too. A shudder went through him, a soft whine against my neck, we hadn't moved all day.

He came in and gently unwound Reece's arms, murmuring encouragement, Reece letting him.

"We're flying home." Antonio said softly. "Do you need a sedative?"

I didn't. But Reece nodded, his shoulders tensing as Hope came in, swallowing hard. He was struggling. Antonio got him a drink as Hope dropped off another small feast of burgers, backing off quickly. Karl was pulling up outside too. I breathed out, relieved, knowing that right now it was better if she, Selene and Alan didn't ...come with us. Not too close.

"Nick's already on a plane back. With your twins." Antonio gave Reece the food laced with the stuff, his dark eyes meeting mine. "They're safe. Healthy. A bit fat."

"Good." I muttered. "How long till we get home?"

"We'll be home by tonight. We've got some help. Cortez has a plane waiting for us." He reached out for me as Reece ate, quiet, the warmth and love in it breaking something in me. We stood there a long time, my head against his chest, while Reece ate almost everything Hope had brought in. If it helped him get onto a plane then I had no complaints.

"Rose is dead, isn't she?" I asked against his chest, feeling him nod, stubble grazing the side of my face. "I saw it."

"She died." It was the first thing Reece said, his voice low, arms coming around the two of us as he leaned against me. "Anne died again."

"Thought I told you to stop that." Antonio said against my ear. Only the merest trace of humour. "But yes. She passed away last night."

"Good." Reece growled softly.

After some time the sedative kicked in and we made our way for the car Antonio had hired, heading for the airport. Karl was already there with Selene, Alan and Hope, Hope getting checked by someone on the plane. It wasn't Jeremy. I wished it was. But seeing Pav was almost as good, her smile meeting ours, a sad smile that told me she knew more or less why Daniella wasn't here too.

"Sit and let me check. Vi went ahead with the twins." She checked Reece over, when Antonio got him into the plane, while she had Antonio check me over. Aside from looking like I'd been in a car accident- cut, and bruised and cut all over- I was more or less okay. He knew I was bleeding. I told him I had to tell her about that in private. It was silly to say, nothing was private with our sharp hearing and he'd hear anyway, but Antonio didn't press.

We sat back as the plane took off, Reece's hand clutching to mine, his heart racing even with the sedative. When it levelled off Antonio got up and headed for Alan, eyes fixed on him. Selene was asleep now, exhausted, Pav beside her as she double checked everything the hospital had done.

"You understand, this is serious." Antonio spoke quietly, sitting with the other man, no threat there but … an intensity, as he glanced back at us. "I understand you want to keep it hidden but..."

"We're under laws to keep quiet." Alan hissed softly. "Our survival depends on it."

"I'm sorry. Yours might depend on how much you talk." Antonio said it softly, even gently, but there was that undercurrent of a threat now. A warning. "I know you've helped. I don't want to pretend otherwise. That's why I'm making it clear. We're not going to hunt down your species."

"You saying I have no choice?" Alan said quietly. Antonio nodded. "I heard wolves were like this."

"We prefer the other way." Antonio glanced back at us. "But … given what happened. It's suddenly become a matter that's too big to be polite over."

"I suppose I understand. Wait till we get there. My sister doesn't know." Alan said quietly. Antonio nodded, stood back up and headed over to check Karl and Hope.

Finally Pav came over and I told her why I was bleeding. Her face paled as she checked me over, Reece's head swinging to me again, unfocused eyes trying to find mine. There was nothing particularly wrong, maybe bruised ribs, maybe a cracked one, which accounted for a lot of pain. The seat belt had more or less done what it was supposed to do.

I tried to read the paper. New York was now off limits to the rest of the country. I wondered how we'd managed to get a flight in, it had to be one hell of a difficulty, but apparently it was done. The measures to keep it contained were scary. If someone was suspected of being sick, they could now legally be shut in their house for good, only with doctors in hazard suits bringing food and water. Same went for whoever lived with that person or had contact with them. It was encouraged to dob in neighbours for 'your own safety'. Elderly were the most likely to die from the disease, but it was affecting a lot of people, and it was deadly. It wasn't just a handful of humans. One out of three who contracted the disease died, so far, and those who'd gotten sick were still being treated. Rations? Normal now.

Antonio sat down beside me and leaned against me from the side, an arm going across my shoulders, his comforting scent washing back over me.

"I hope Elena bought up big." I said softly.

"She did." He replied. "I'm sorry you lost it."

The child. He knew. Of course he knew. With his hearing, in a tiny airplane, of course he knew. I shut my eyes. "Eve said that it'd try again later."

"You saw her again?"

"She took me to see you guys breaking in." I replied softly. I wasn't sure if she'd broken rules or not with that. The afterlife was a whole other world I had no clue about. "I watched her take the child away again. Lillian did. She took it."

Antonio breathed in slowly, deep, his arm tightening. Then he leaned against me. It was too much for us. The entire pack. Antonio and Nick lost Lillian, now we'd lost Daniella, and a child I hadn't even known I was carrying around. Too much loss. I hoped Alan would talk. Clayton would not care in the slightest how helpful he'd been. He might not have known her well, Daniella, but she was pack. The child I'd lost was pack. He'd be grieving too.

"If it's coming back, we better think about where you're going to put it." He said softly. "Another one. Nick will be horrified."

"Eve suggested I get my tubes tied."

Antonio's lips twitched against my forehead and he said softly, "Not such a bad idea." Reece shifted over to sit on the floor, leaning against our legs, his eyes shut. Antonio reached down to place a hand on his shoulder. "We're nearly there."

"Yeah." Reece muttered. His eyes stayed on his hands, running across them, an arm looping around my leg. "Nearly there."

"What are we doing now?" I asked quietly. I was lost. I didn't know what to do.

"You two are going to my home. Eating. Resting. We're having a meet tomorrow. There's no obligation to go but-"

"We're going." Reece muttered. His head twisted up to meet mine. "Yeah?"

"Of course."

"-But we expected that." Antonio finished. His small smile returned, sad, tired. "I think we're going to go after it. Demetruis is dead. Your twins are safe. Elena's sharing the cure with everyone. Breathe for a few days."

But it wasn't over. I felt it. It felt like it was just starting. This thing, Daniella's body, the disease starting to destroy humans from the inside, and that I'd become the mother to two babies in an apparently important bloodline.. it felt like it wasn't over. How absurd. It wasn't like Aaron. All I had to do was hunt him down, kill the pack off and castrate him. Quick. Easy. Then back to life.

It wasn't that simple now. Nothing made sense still. Demetruis's death, his mother's death, that thing that had started to stalk us around, and the reappearance of the Skin-walkers. Daniella's death almost marked the start of a whole new battle. It made the wolf in me restless. Anxious. Upset. Nothing seemed okay. No quick werewolf-style justice. It was out of my experience, out of my instincts, and it frustrated me.

When Antonio offered me a sedative, I accepted it, and fell asleep against his side, the warmth and comfort of my pack the most important thing.

I woke in bed. Nick lay beside me, waiting, eyes half open as his breathing came in and out slowly. Reece wasn't here. I reached out for him, feeling like I needed to comfort him, but he wasn't here.

"Dad's with him." Nick said softly, leaning over to stroke my face. "He gets it."

He got it. Of course he did. Antonio and Reece. Loosing their mates. I leaned against Nick, pulling him against me, his scent crashing down over me. It was mixed with the scents of our children, the scents of all that I would give my life to protect, and I felt his own grief there. Beneath the surface. Felt it in the way his hand shook, running along my back, his lips kissed mine tenderly, the protective way he bent across me in the dim light of the lamp.

"How long have I been here?"

"A few hours." Nick gazed down at me, stroking my face, kissing it again, and again, and again. "I love you."

"I love you." I reached up for him, pulling him on top of me, holding him there. His weight was comforting. Crazy, maybe, but it was.

"We lost one." He said it quietly. Slid down, slowly, sliding my top up. The bruise of the seatbelt had become purple and red. A nasty mark. Remind us of what'd been there.

"They said the child would try again." I said quietly, watching him kiss my stomach, no trace of horror. However much we didn't want more kids, we had more than enough, it didn't change that if it happened... It was obvious we'd try. I would. Even if it was too much, even if five were too much, I'd still try. Maybe that was selfish. I didn't know. "We lost Daniella."

"I know." His gaze met mine, Nick sliding back up, kissing me gently. "I know. You tried. They were cowards."

They were. Using a knife. Using magic. If they'd tried against her without either of those things, without one of those things, it wouldn't have gone that way. If she hadn't backed up so far. Why had she done that? Because we were supposed to hide? I inhaled slowly, pain running through my heart, Nick's kisses probably trying to comfort me.

I wrapped my arms around him, holding him, our hearts beating hard near each other. "You did good with the twins."

"It was easier than we thought." He murmured against my ear. "You want to come see them?"

I nodded and he slid backwards, helping me up, Nick's arms lifting me up. Maybe I should have protested, let my pride say 'No', but instead I just let him. He carried me through the dark quiet house, sounds of sleeping people here and there, and I opened the door he stopped in front of.

I was let down and walked in, quiet, Nick behind me. The triplets were asleep in their beds, faces at ease, without knowing about what had gone on around them. The girl's curly hair had been tied back and braided. Probably Pav. I smelt her in the room from earlier. Dominic's hair, slightly less curly, was all over his pillow. It was getting long too.

Nick led me to a crib in another corner. The twins lay side by side on their backs, fast asleep, healthy. Relaxed. Happy. Rose's hand was around the foot of a teddy that'd been attached to the side of the crib, a thumb in Reece's mouth, and I wondered how her thumb had ended up in his mouth. He didn't seem the least bit upset by this.

Arms wrapped around me, Nick brushing hair away from the back of my neck, kissing it as we watched them sleep.

"Michael. Mick." He said softly, against my neck, nuzzling it. "After Mick Dundee. Reece Michael and Nicky-Elle Rose."

"Nicky Elle?" I smiled somewhat. Poor girl. Nicky-Elle Rose. It kind of worked though. "After you and Elena."

"Course. My best girl. Besides you, of course." His teeth grazed the back of my neck, voice soft, and we moved out slowly. "I was ...thinking Daniella. But it might be ..."

"Too soon." I shut my eyes, squeezing them shut, Nick's hand squeezing mine. It was too soon. "It is. I like the names."

"Good. Come for something to eat so we can go back to sleep." Nick led me downstairs, guiding me through the dark, and we sat downstairs eating. It worked and we passed out downstairs on the couch together, TV on, Nick's arms tight around me.

The next two days were a daze. Reece and Antonio spent a lot of time together, outside, working in the grounds. It was how he was coping. Working in the grounds with Antonio, autumn getting close to the end now, the two of them grieving together, and he barely spoke a word to anyone besides Antonio. I worked with Elena, trying to figure out how to ration out what she'd gotten before the stores had to change how much they gave out, trying to figure out how much time we'd have before we got into trouble.

In the end we had to accept that if we really wanted to do this, survive with 'rations', we had to go back to Stonehaven. We'd come for Lillian's funeral and to be here for Antonio. It was clear though that we had to go back. Drive back, taking everything we could get our hands on, particularly with so many kids. The meet would take place here and then we'd leave. Antonio's business wasn't doing so well anyway, now that so many of his employees were sick, and he was sure that he could manage it from Stonehaven. Same went for Nick. Elena helped me with the babies and the toddlers, I needed help, Pav and Vi never far away. Nick as well. I'd need help and I'd see him hurry over, no words spoken, like he was watching me day or night. Maybe it helped him deal with Lillain's death. I wasn't sure. I tried to do the same for him, watch out for him, tried to take care of him. Neither of us did a very good job but... we tried.

As to where Selene went, or her brother, I didn't even think of it. Not till I realised I'd barely seen Clayton and asked Elena. Selene was with Karl and Hope, they were keeping her safe, and Clayton was with Alan. In the gatehouse. Alone. Elene must have seen my expression at that, adding hurriedly, that it was fine. Alan was talking freely. He was just nervous. And Clayton knew he'd saved my life. She wasn't going to risk loosing a potential new ally and supernatural species.

The day of the meet came and everyone came back. Selene was upstairs with Hope, apparently recruited to help Hope with research into an article and to watch the kids with her. Paige had come too. To my surprise, Matt was there, but Elena and Jeremy had talked and agreed... he could start to come. It was better he knew what was going on, than to be surprised all the time, as long as I agreed. I did. After how he'd dealt with the last fight, he deserved to be involved a little more.

Clayton and Alan were the last to arrive and come into the room, both looking tired, but there was no signs that Clayton had to use his techniques to get Alan to talk. They just looked tired.

"I don't know where to start." Alan admitted when everyone was sitting.

"Start from why your group started to follow our pack then." Clayton leaned back. "Tell them."

"We heard about the disease, the one that'd come through us, and ignored it. Heard that your pack was leading the treatments to keep people alive. Ignored it. Then we got sick. We'd been trying to keep out of sight and find a way to reverse the disease. If we got sick while in our animal shapes, we got stuck in them, and ...they're still stuck. So we looked into where it'd come from and ...we found out it started in your pack." Alan's eyes went over me. "We thought it might have been your pack, at first, except the free treatment made no sense. Then our elders agreed it may be an attack. We wanted to see if there was a cure. So many of us are stuck in animal form. It's dangerous. Some already have lost their minds and are not coming back from it. We came to Forestwatch to see the first woman who got sick, to see if she was cured. Then she-" His eyes were on me, "-was in this house being robbed, and there was a human skin-walker outside, and the house was on fire. No one wanted to see her die. We tried to put it out. Tried to keep her asleep. Tried to kill the abomination. We got the fire out but the rest failed. So we've been watching. Trying to protect you without drawing attention. It wasn't owls that kept it away from you." Alan's eyes met Jeremy's eyes, and Jeremy blinked slowly, understanding coming.

"That was your group?"

"I saw you. That wasn't a hallucination." I blinked, breathed out. So I did know his shoes. Holy crap.

"Nope. When we realised that you were being stalked by this thing, when we caught sight of it, we hung around. Watched. Took turns. I went home after a while when my sister came home from college." Alan added, quietly, "They're probably still keeping watch over those lands. Not just owls."

"It's not just owls?" Jeremy asked quietly. "I saw other things."

"Owls are our group's usual form. It could be anything. The animal would choose us when its' time for our first change. They lie down before us and die. You ever hear of Selkies?" A nod from me and Hope, everyone else looked blankly at him, and Alan raised his eyes. "Women and men who wore the skins of seals, became seals, then took them off and became humans again. We're the same thing. We're all around the world. My family come from Ireland on my father's side. There was a group of purely Native American skin-walkers, who only bonded with cougars, but they died out a long time ago. We saw it happen to them and we decided it was time to fake our own demise. Till now." He frowned, rubbing his forehead. "They're going to be angry."

"We're apart of an Interracial council." Elena spoke, calm, leaning forward somewhat. "The world's changing. We're working to protect each other."

"Not working that well, is it?" Alan scowled. "Almost everyone in my species got sick."

"We have a cure for it. It's free. No commitments, no cash required, it's free for everyone." Elena replied. "Is Beth going to change?"

"One day. Maybe. Her mom was a different mom to mine. She might not. But she does see us. Humans usually can't see us." He shrugged, sighing. "If she does, it's not for a few years yet. I tried to get her to experience a human life. She's been fighting it every step."

"Maybe she ain't human." Reece muttered. I elbowed him, he shut up, sliding back a bit.

"Maybe she isn't. But if she was, I didn't want her to expect this, only to be disappointed." Alan sighed. "There. That it?"

"No. Tell them about the ones that use humans." Clayton's eyes were fixed on Alan. Reece tensed. "The one that's stolen our pack-sister."

Alan's face paled and he sighed. A long deep sigh. "It's like us. Except they rejected their animal. I don't know who it is. It happens sometimes. If you reject your shape, if you reject the change, you become like that. People do it on purpose because they can then …. take human shapes. They loose their own body. Become something else. And as long as there's a body to go into, a shape, they don't die. It's as close to immortal as we get. Technically it can make a person last hundreds of years, if they keep taking new young bodies, live out a life time in a new body and then swap before death. It's evil. Wrong. We kill them the second we hear about it."

"Except this one."

"It must be a new one." Alan sighed. "I can't offer you an alliance. It isn't my place. You don't get it. I've already said enough to warrant punishment."

"Worry more about this thing." Reece snapped. "Walking around. Trying to kill us."

"We know what it looks like. Our elders... think that.. fuck. I guess I'm already in deep shit now." Alan said quietly. "Our elders think that it may have gotten sick. Maybe it blamed your pack, like we did, maybe it's stuck. It might not take her shape. It killed the man we hold responsible for the spread of the disease. It can stop hearts while in that form. That's about it, to be honest, but ...it's enough. It also seems to have servants. Followers. They'd have to do the dirty work. The longer its stays in that form, the less it's able to touch the physical world, till one day it'll pass over. It must be getting desperate. It won't be long before that dark haired angel can take it away."

"You can see Eve?" Jamie. I hadn't even noticed her, I'd been so stunned, but there she was. Behind Jeremy.

"We can see ghosts sometimes. It helped us stay out of sight. We don't like to be noticed by people in this world or the next." Alan nodded.

"It won't take her shape?" Elena asked, careful, her attention on Alan and Reece at the same time.

"That's the theory. It might try. You have a cure and you've been giving it out freely. If it got some of the cure, then maybe..."

"We've only given it out to a handful of people so far." She sighed. "I wanted it to be freely given. They're making more. We ran out."

"Maybe we better hold off for a while." Clayton muttered.

No one spoke a long time. In other words- if it had been cured, it was Daniella's shape now. It looked like her. I wondered how much the likeness was shared. Would it smell like her? Would it speak like her? "Look, let me contact my elders. They'll want to talk with you. With the Alpha. It's a mess."

"Everyone, leave us alone." Elena nodded, everyone standing except Clayton. "Clayton's going to stay in the background."

"Understood." Alan nodded. "Please. Don't tell Beth. Give her a few more years before she has to worry about this." His soft plea was at us, at Reece, at myself, the people his sister had met. I nodded, Reece just scowled and left.

We filed out and left the three of them alone.

Reece stuck around now, stuck close to me, as we worked on packing the moving truck with the non-perishables. Nick stayed inside with Pav and the little ones, the bigger kids helping us when Antonio promised them payment for it.

"Can I come sleep with you two tonight?" He asked, voice low, when Antonio was gone. I glanced up. Reece smiled, a small sad smile. "Just with you two. No sex. I just want the contact."

"I think it's okay. I can't...do that right now anyway." I was still bleeding, still in shock, and he nodded a fraction, leaning close to kiss my forehead gently. "You okay?"

"No." He admitted. "But I'm not letting you get hurt. We're going back. We're going to chase that fucking thing out of your land. Can't face the people who murdered my parents if I can't face a stupid ghool in a white sheet, can I?" The look in Reece's face, this recklessness, this fury, it kind of frightened me. He suddenly looked like he wanted to take on the world. Wanted to take revenge on anything that hurt him or the people he loved. I saw it, his fists flex, tense, and he no longer was looking at me, though his eyes were on me. They were on something else. On memories, on ghosts, on things that filled his eyes with bloodlust that was not Reece. It was someone I didn't know.

"Yes, you can. Don't do anything stupid. I don't want to loose you." I snapped. Shoved him back, going inside for another box, ignoring his call to come back. Stupid pride. It was going to kill all of us.

Elena came out after a few hours and helped us finish packing. There'd be no sleeping here overnight, apparently, we'd be leaving tonight. She wanted to get back. Apparently the elders had taken over Forestwatch, trying to keep me out of it, and while this should have pissed me off... they'd protected Jeremy and the kids. Somehow I didn't care. Let them use it. There were worse problems at the moment. Problems we'd all be hit with soon enough.