Anne

Antonio drove fast, Nick in the back with the triplets, and me sitting there restlessly jiggling my legs up and down. Bloody hell. Reece had done something stupid again, something so stupid that even I was taken back by how careless and thoughtless it was.

"You're sure he did it?" I asked, eyes meeting Antonio's eyes, and he nodded. Frowned. Glanced back to Nick as Nick just sat there. "She all right?"

"Clayton had to knock her out. Not like that-" Antonio said, when I inhaled sharply, "-but he had to cut off her airway till she had passed out. Jeremy's got her sedated and is using an ice pack on her throat to get the swelling back down."

"No chance of just talking to her?"

"She panicked. Clayton is a bit scary at the best of times." Antonio's lips tightened. "This is why Elena likes to send him to do intimidation. Not to be diplomatic."

I nodded, distracted, and waited impatiently to get there. The drive seemed to stretch out.

Clayton was waiting outside when we got there.

"I left Reece in your room. Figured a cage was a bad first date." He didn't smile. "Go on down, I'll get them out." Clayton moved past me to take Lily, his face softening as she called his name, but he glanced back at me. "Reece was a bit drunk again."

Oh, bloody hell. For a moment I squeezed my eyes shut, frustration flooding through me, and I headed inside to go down into the basement.

The frustration with Reece vanished when I saw Selene asleep inside the cage. The door was open, Jeremy glancing up at me as he sat there with Hope, but the bruises on her neck made me feel annoyed all over again.

"She panicked. Was screaming about cages and for us." Hope's eyes met mine. "She must have seen it."

"Yeah." I sat down beside her, brushing the hair out of her face, gentle. She looked totally scared out of her head, even now, even sedated. I'd forgotten what kinds of faces Clayton could do. This must have been a shock after Reece had waved a paw at her. She'd already been so stressed that her mind was snapping a week ago, this was why we'd wanted her here, and that might have just made it worse for her.

"Reece apparently asked her out on a date and suggested he'd like marriage." Jeremy's eyes rose to mine. His lips twitched, a faint amusement under the concern, and he added, "You might want to talk to him about how to attract someone."

"If he was drunk then he's probably got the charm of a skunk." I sighed. Last time he'd been really drunk, he'd been in my room and trying to hit on me. It had been the least attractive thing I'd ever seen. "When will you let her wake up?"

"In a few hours when she can talk again. The swelling's going down. But Anne. Pack law is pretty clear about what happens when a human finds out." Jeremy's eyes fixed in mine. "We're going to have to decide toda-" His voice cut off as his eyes swung to the stairs behind me and I turned to see Reece standing there, again having escaped his ropes, staring at Selene's bruised neck.

"I'll take him back up." I stood up, stroked her hand briefly, and went to drag Reece behind me back up the stairs. He'd hidden the smell of alcohol with cologne, something that'd burn into his nose as much as mine, but I smelt it under the stench of chemicals. Reece didn't resist me. He followed, hand tightening around mine, baring his teeth slightly at Clayton as Clayton raised an eyebrow at him.

I didn't know how to help him. I didn't know how to be with this kind of grief, this kind of grief that made someone usually thoughtful and affectionate become blunt and stupid. I led him into our little bedroom and locked the door behind us. Nick was already there, waiting, rolling up the rope Reece had escaped from. Getting it ready for the next round, I guessed, trying to help me with this.

"Reece."

"Hey." He grinned, held out his arms, and leaned against the door.

Nick threw a pillow hard at Reece. "You better have gotten a date out of this for us to miss our lunch."

"Reece, come here." I took the rope from Nick and went up to Reece, stroking his face, letting him kiss me as I tied up his wrists all over again. Yuck. Cheap Australian beer. The guy was really going to give us a bad name if he kept this up. The warmth of Nick's chest met my back as he moved behind me to help me get the ropes right.

"She said she sees Daniella." Reece said against my neck, soft, and I froze.

"Where?" My mind jumped to the skin. The skin that'd been taken. Elena had been forced to stop handing out free cures for the past three weeks. She hadn't said anything to me yet but I doubted this was going down well with the supernatural world.

"In her dreams. In reflections. In the clearing." He leaned against me, breathing a bit harder, struggling to talk. When I knelt with the rope to tie up his ankles, he grinned, probably seeing another advantage to this position. "Do you want..."

"No." Nick said from over my shoulder. "Not while you're drunk. That was one of the rules."

"Fair enough." Reece tried to hold up his hands,, but they were now attached to his ankles. "You won't let them kill her, will you?"

I didn't answer, just lifted him up and dropped him onto our bed, Nick helping. Now, now that he was safely tied up, I could let him have it. I flopped onto the bed beside him, sitting there. "What the hell, Reece!" I snapped at him. Reece blinked and grinned sheepishly at me from where he'd been dumped in our bed. "Seriously. What did you do!"

"I thought you were going to get rid of her. So I told her I wanted to date her, marry her and that I was a werewolf." He said, very straight forward, trying to sit. "When can I see her again?"

"God. Is this how you pick up chicks?" I had this sudden vague sense that maybe this was why I'd never seen him date anyone. It wasn't just because he was fixated on Daniella. He was also ...strangely clingy.

"Well, I did tell Daniella more or less the same thing." Reece admitted. "But it was different."

"How? You didn't blurt it out?"

"I didn't blurt it out. I informed her that she'd killed a carrot, apologised for being a jerk, discussed Twilight, then suggested that we date." He shrugged, sat up, trying to reach for his head. Reece added, practical, calm, like he wasn't sure what hte fuss was about, "Then let her know I might like to marry her and that I was a werewolf. I did put it in the right order."

I groaned again, couldn't believe it, couldn't believe that I'd never seen how ...how... clueless this man was. Okay, I'd seen it in bed with him, this funny awkwardness and Nick's instructions maybe seriously guiding him. And Twilight? I didn't even know Reece knew about those movies. I wanted to hit him again for it, for even knowing that word was connected to a story, I wanted to … I had a husband for this. I grabbed for Nick, dragging him forward, literally pushing him at the bound idiot on our bed. "Nick, do something about this."

Second I had I knew I'd asked the wrong person. Nick? Had proposed to me in three days. Maybe he was a little more tactful, sort of, but he wasn't exactly the king of it. Clayton? Had apparently bitten Elena when Jeremy tried to get rid of her. Now Reece had done something more or less equally as stupid. I loved him, he was my best friend, but ...what the hell! Were all werewolves driven by 'instinct' instead of 'thinking'? Maybe Jeremy was the best person for this.

No wonder why Daniella had acted claustrophobic. Bloody hell. Argh. Nick just stared blankly at me.

"What's wrong with being upright and honest?"

"Besides scaring off every woman you meet? Come on. You can't tell me that you told every woman you met that you just wanted to sleep with her and never see her again, did you?" I felt like I was going crazy, like I was the only one besides Clayton and Elena who got that what Reece had done was stupid.

"Well, yeah. I did." Nick blinked at me.

I was in love with two socially challenged men. The realisation struck me as I stared at their blank faces, the confusion in both pairs of eyes, and I stormed out to find understanding in Clayton and Elena.

They didn't look surprised to see me. I flopped down in the study as they spoke softly about what to do about this. Killing her wasn't the best choice. Killing her meant that we severed any chance of getting assistance from the skin-walkers and with one wandering around, this was not a good thing.

"Clayton, how did you get Elena?" I blurted out.

He blinked at me with that same 'What?' expression Nick'd had. "I got to know her over a few months and proposed to her. How else?"

"How many months?"

"I don't know. Six or seven. Right?" His eyes met Elena who nodded. "Why?"

"I think you better be the one to teach my boys about instinct and women." I muttered. That made him laugh, relax, and reach over to hug me against his side. How mad. All these men, and none of them had a clue about how to approach a woman they wanted for longer than a few days. All except for Clayton who'd apparently only dated one woman, Elena, and had gotten her. Not smoothly, he'd done some pretty stupid things, but he'd gotten her. Antonio had, sort of, but then he'd also gotten her pregnant and eloped with her. Maybe that was the best way at the time. Now?

I still couldn't believe Reece had said that to her. He'd been a little drunk too. Maybe he was drinking more than I'd realised. I couldn't see him ever having been this stupid before Daniella... not even by half. He had usually thought things through a little more than this. And when it came to drinking, no matter what the Australian sterotype was, he wasn't a drinker.

"I think Antonio has to talk with him." I added, quieter. It wasn't just what he'd said to Selene. If that was the only problem then it'd be okay, then I wouldn't feel so uneasy, but I did. Something about this was wrong. The drinking, the strange behaviour, and even if Selene was his mate- he'd decided this before Daniella got murdered- the attachment to her was a bit much. If she was then he'd loose her before he got her. "He's getting reckless."

"Think you might be right there." Clayton muttered. "Endangering a human, drinking, you smell that shit on his breath? Ain't sure who he is right now. Wasn't like this when we met him."

I didn't blame Clayton for what he'd had to do, to get Selene to calm down, even if it looked drastic now. Jeremy wasn't impressed. She'd panicked though, she'd apparently not even heard him say he was just going to talk with her, screeching something about cages and help. She must have seen the cage. Or maybe the punch to Reece's head had scared her. She had been close to snapping.

"Reece seriously showed her his paw?"

"Yep." Clayton scowled. "She looked shocked enough about the proposal."

"Bloody hell. He said he thought you guys were going to get rid of her."

"We were. We'd arranged to rent a house just outside Stonehaven across the road for Karl's family and for Selene." Elena rolled her eyes, leaned back against Clayton, and grabbed a sheet of paper from the desk nearby. "Not literally get rid of her. But she's a perceptive kid looking for the supernatural in a house full of them. Keeping her here was just till we could get her somewhere close and safe. Anne, I want you to try and remove that memory."

I didn't nod. I hesitated, self-doubt rising up, as she stared at me as if she fully expected me to do exactly what she asked. "Re... I don't know if it'll work. I've never done it for that purpose."

"No time like now to try." Clayton squeezed Elena's side and stood up. "Better she forgets than the alternative. Reece." The growl made me flinch and I turned to see Reece hopping past us, still bound, hop-hop-hop in the direction of the basement. There was a sudden crash, a curse, and I went out to see Reece had tripped over a wheely bear toy. One I suspected Clayton had thrown in his path, because Clayton seemed pretty satisfied with this. He prodded Reece in the side. "You going somewhere?"

"Yeah." Reece grabbed Clayton's foot and yanked him hard, throwing him off balance, trying to stand up as Clayton fell on his ass.

Elena pinned him down with a foot.

"Reece, you're already in trouble."

"A little more can't hurt then." Reece inhaled as her foot dug in, face going white, and I heard the distinctive crack of a rib and Reece inhale sharply, face drained of blood, "Elena!"

"I don't want to break a leg, Reece." She knelt beside him, reaching down to lift him up, sighing softly. "I don't want to punish you. I know you're having a hard time about Daniella."

Reece flinched at the name. "She sees her."

"Even more reason for you to stay away. You think she's your mate? Then stop being an ass. You've got years." Elena prodded the spot where she'd probably fractured or broken a rib, and he hissed sharply, his eyes squeezing shut. "Not hours. You will if you keep this up. We need you to help us keep the pack safe."

"You got everyone else for that."

"Reece, we've had over three hundred and sixty two threats in the past week because we're refusing to hand over the cure. Because we don't want Daniella to be used like a coat." Her voice was soft and even, but there was this look in Elena's face for a fraction of a second. "We need everyone for this. All pack. This isn't a time you can fall apart."

"Three-"

"Clayton, snap him out of it and bring him into the study. I want him to have each one read each one out to him." Elena cut me off. She had a job to do, a wayward wolf to discipline, and apparently a week in the cage wasn't good enough.

Clayton nodded, hoisted him up, and broke the ropes. "You mind if I spend a few hours, darling? Going to take a little while to sweat that shit out of his body."

"Go ahead."

I got it suddenly. What he was going to do, how he was going to 'snap him out of it', and felt relief. Clayton dragged him outside and into the forest. He was going to do what he'd done to me. Beat him up, make him work, and hopefully... get him back into being able to think.

"Anne, come on." Elena touched my arm. "I suppose you better read them too."

I followed her into the study and started to read the printed out emails. Every single one. Some were sharp and to the point. Some less so. Elena had ten to a folder, each with details of who'd sent it, what information she could get, or where it'd come from. This must have been what she'd spent all her time doing for the past three weeks. Getting information on who wanted to kill her. I knew she'd been the one to do the files on mutts, that she was organised like this, but this was pretty heavy work.

"Rose sent a threat?" I stared at the name, sudden, eyes meeting Elena's eyes. It was strange that she would. She'd been connected to the person giving out the cure. Promiced us the cure too, though she'd apparently ended up stealing the twins again, so why would she threaten us?

"Someone from the address she's in. IP means that we're only able to go off who pays the bill. She has a number of employees." Elena replied. She was sipping coffee, looking a bit green all of a sudden, as she went over something on the computer screen.

"What is it?"

"Nothing much. I think the smell of that cologne on Reece is a bit much for me." She scowled as she tried to ignore it. Now that she mentioned it, it was lingering a bit too much in the air, those chemicals. Elena got up and opened a window. "Do you know how much he's been drinking?"

"No."

"Neither do we. He hides it." Elena glanced at me. "You're close to him. I need you to take over his money for a while. Keep him close and watch him. Antonio's got to work still and we don't need Reece getting alcoholic on us. How is Nick coping?"

"He seems okay. Why?"

She nodded, distracted, attention back on the computer. "How about you?"

"I … I'm okay. Worried for everyone else." I swallowed. "Don't have time to think about it."

"When you need to, tell me. Let me know you need a while." Jeremy's voice came from behind me, soft, and he came across as Elena searched the emails on her screen. A hand squeezed my shoulder. "There's no shame in being sad. Just give us some warning so we know. A note, a letter, a text, if you can't talk. That's what family is. We're there when someone needs to be helped for a while."

"I'm really fine." I insisted. "Worry about them. Can I help you with this? Or anything?"

Elena's head shot up. Apparently so. She nodded and started to print pages off. "Yes. I'm printing off emails and the information we got, the IP address and who pays for it. Before you try changing that memory, can you read each of these and mark them if you recognise any names?" Elena threw me a pack of little sticky bookmark things in a handful of colours. It already had 'blue for unknown mutt', 'red for known mutt', and so on. I didn't know a lot of mutts but she opened a filing cabinet and gave me that as well.

Jeremy sat down beside me as I started to read through the two dozen or so emails again. I had to take a break minutes later as Nick called that the twins wanted me, and while I wasn't sure that they could speak yet, he was right- they quietened down when I held them. I ended up sitting in the study with them lying in front of me, playing, their eyes coming to me every few seconds. Then the triplets wandering in not long after. Jeremy sat in the corner and read to them while I tried to read the emails.

"Quite a few from the Cabal." I noticed that in the files she'd already sorted, the 'Green for Cabal-net' labels were sticking out quite a bit. I had to guess this meant it was emails from their employee internet. Companies usually had their own one.

"Yes, I sent those to Cortez to look into. There's about thirty in the files we've sorted." Elena nodded. "Speaking of him. He's very insistent on speaking to you."

"To me?" Ah. It was about the twins.

"Afraid so. I've been holding him off but he's determined. Can you speak to him tonight?" Elena turned to me.

"Today?" Wow. How was he even getting in the state? "I suppose so."

"He's offered to get the last elders in, in exchange for a meeting with you." She smiled an apologetic smile. "I had to make that call."

"Fair enough, I guess." I wasn't going to ask her to ...I didn't know. Tell him to bugger off and wait another month, another six months, for these elders to come. Maybe this was why she'd had me search through the filed threats, so she could see why she wanted them here faster.

I went back to reading, she went back to reading, the two of us scouring over them for familiar names or mutts. And play with twins. And pacify triplets. And change nappies. And get them something to eat. And try and convince them to nap...

Finally Elena gave up trying to multitask. "Where's Nick?"

"He was trying to work." Jeremy muttered. "I'll get him. He'll have to do it after they're in bed."

He headed off, bribing the triplets to follow him, the three of them not sleepy and not wanting to nap.

Finally, Jeremy had to call Nick back and Nick had to put off work till later that night, because we weren't getting anywhere. Once the triplets were gone, the twins carried off with Antonio, we managed to get back to reading the new emails that'd come that day, handing around the dossiers in the study, marking them with colors. Yellow was for 'unknown' and pink was for 'dead'. The sad thing was that most of them were unknown. We didn't know all the supernaturals. The mutts were the majority though, thankfully, which wasn't too big a shock. Elena was the Alpha of the only pack and they were all currently still 'sick' and weak while the Pack was all cured.

"We've had several people from Rose's employees." Jeremy commented from where he sat beside me, sorting the marked pages into files. What a crazy day. Sorting death threats and other threats into 'files'. Reece blurting out he wanted to marry some poor girl who was probably still afraid of him. And it wasn't over. Apparently Cortez was having a meeting with me as well.

Some part of me just wanted to curl up in bed.

Clayton returned, breahting heavy, stinking of sweat. Reece wasn't far behind. He looked a bit sheepish and glanced at us with eyes that, I realised suddenly, were actually clearer than I'd seen them for days. Weeks. He was bruised, beaten, limping, blood trickling from a split lip, but it looked like he'd at least gotten some good blows back to Clayton. Clayton looked a bit bruised too.

"Sorry." He muttered. "I think I'm drinking too much."

"Damn right you are." Clayton snarled softly. "Go get it. Bring it out. All of it. The shit you were waiting to throw out in town, bring that out too."

All of it? I watched Reece vanish. Then he started to make trips back, over and over, dumping slabs of beer on the ground where Clayton pointed. Not just a few. There was a lot of it, a serious lot, and then a garbage bag that tinkled like it was completely full of empty metal cans.

"How's the sorting?" Clayton asked, sitting beside Elena, pulling her against him for a hard kiss. It was kind of rare to see it in public, that sort of affection, but he ignored us as he grasped her face and kissed her.

"Almost done." Elena smiled at him, reaching up to wipe the blood off his face, and his face softened as their eyes met properly. "How bad was it?"

Clayton muttered something like 'Twilight and beer every night', looking disgusted, and Elena laughed, his eyes snapping to the doorway as Reece returned with another couple of slabs and another bag of cans. "You sure that's it?"

"Not quite." Reece avoided my eyes. He looked more and more ashamed, as he stared at the pile, looked more and more like he just wanted to hide under the house in the basement and never return. He was gone for another few minutes and then dropped harder stuff down. Tequila. Vodka. Another Vodka. Rum. A cask of wine. "There."

"Give Anne your cards." Elena said softly. "All of it. I want her to be in charge of what you eat and drink for the next six months."

Oh, bloody hell. As if five babies under five wasn't hard enough. But this was an order from my Alpha and I carefully put the papers to one side as Reece came over, sheepish, handing me the cards and money and his wallet. His eyes finally met mine, saw the disbelief in them, and he grimaced.

"Okay. Anne, you take him and make him pour it down the sink." Elena said, her eyes meeting mine. I wondered why me, just for a second, before I got it. I was 'addicted' to something else. This wasn't just a lesson for him. It was for me too.

"The files?"

"Clayton can clean up and finish." She gently pushed Clayton up.

It took Reece half an hour to get the alcohol poured down the sink, the cans dropped into bags, the bottles making him inhale slowly as he saw the money spent on it just fade away into nothing.

"You've been drinking this much?" I asked quietly as he watched the alcohol go with that pained expression.

"I didn't want to worry you." Reece muttered. He tried to smile. "I just ...it helped. You had problems of your own. Nick wouldn't like me ...clinging."

"Never too many for you, you idiot. I'm sure Nick would never think you're being clingy." I reached up to hug him against me, pulling him close, Reece's body shuddering as the warmth of my body merged with his. I felt his lips kiss my neck, trembling, his fingers spread through my hair as he held me close against him.

Another body came to join us. Nick? It smelt like it, his body coming to snuggle against my other side, and when Reece muttered, "What the hell do you want?", Nick laughed softly.

"Thought you two were about to start up. Didn't want to miss out." He kissed my neck and stepped back. I doubted that was seriously it. Nick sat up on the bench. "If you need to talk then come in and talk. We weren't just borrowing you for cuddle time. You need a friend, come get her."

Reece nodded, swallowing a lump, and started to pour it down a little faster, accepting my hand when it came to find his.

"Do you think you're addicted?" I asked quietly as he started on the last 24 slab box.

"I don't know." Reece muttered, tearing each out of the cardboard, and tipping it down the sink. "Maybe."

"Is it okay with you if he comes in, if he feels a craving?" I glanced at Nick, who nodded.

"Yeah. We'll distract you." He grinned at Reece. "Got more to teach you."

"Selene. I was ...bloody hell" Reece groaned softly, throwing the can into a new bag. "Did I propose to her?"

"Yeah." I agreed. Laughed as he rubbed his forehead and got him a glass of water, shoving it at him. "Drink up. You're going to need it for the next few days. Your body's going to be upset."

"Fuck the body. What the hell did I do that for?" He threw another empty can into the bag, grabbing another can, nearly crushing it as the humiliation flooded his face. "You should have seen her face, Anne, she thought I was nuts."

"We all think that." Nick said lightly from behind me. His hand traced across my hair, along my neck, teasing me with gentle touches as he kept his gaze on Reece. "But we like you for it."

"Nick, what do I do?" Reece stared up at Nick. No teasing. He geninuely wanted help. "I can't scare her off."

"Finish off that box and sober up again." Nick replied, his smile gone from his voice, pushing the box closer to the sink. I glanced back to see that he was frowning a fraction now. "You did break Pack law. You've got to talk to Elena about what they'll do with her."

Shock flashed across Reece's face, like he'd forgotten, like he'd been consumed with everything and it'd been shoved back. He got to work faster now, the regret gone from his face as he poured it into the sink, getting all of it gone and destroyed as fast as he could. Then he leaned over, kissed me, and jogged for the study, the regret replaced with purpose.

Nick pulled me against his legs once I'd shoved the last box into the bag and tied it up. I gazed up at him, body melting a little as his eyes met mine, his hands cupping my face. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah." Why did everyone ask me this? I reached up to pull his head down and kiss him, kiss him hard, Nick's body shuddering slightly as my hands slid up his thighs. We hadn't slept together for weeks. I wasn't sure if I was ready yet, even now, wasn't sure if I could be till my body stopped bleeding. As if he'd read my mind, he pulled my head back again, and fixed his eyes in mine.

"I love you. You can wake me up too. Day or night."

I felt a bit confused by this but I nodded, kissed him again, nuzzling into his neck. "I can do it soon. Just give me a few more days, okay?"

"You can have a few more years if it'll help." He slid his hands up my sides, stroking the skin, fingers sliding up under my bra's top I inhaled slowly, shutting my eyes, as Nick fingers teased the nipples, his teeth grazing my neck. "But I don't mind if you want a few days either."

"It might be a few hours if you keep that up." I muttered and he laughed. One of his hands vanished from my top only to reappear sliding down the front of the jeans, pressing against me through the fabric there, stroking me. I shut my eyes and ignored Reece as he returned, breathing a bit faster, unable to resist Nick...

"Clayton's coming to stop Nick." Reece warned us. Nick swore and let go of me as Clayton came out, fixing Nick with a look. Then he vanished back into the study. "You're removing her memory, Anne?"

"I don't know if it'll work." I admitted as he stared at me, no expression obvious, just stared. I had this distinct sense that he too suddenly thought something was wrong with me. It was starting to drive me nuts.

"Just be careful with her head." Reece came over to stroke my face, glancing at the sink, his eyes squeezing shut and then returning to me. For a moment, suddenly, it looked like he didn't ...completely have trust in me. For a moment I saw it, this fleeting doubt, this doubt I'd never seen directed at me. And it really hurt. I nodded stiffly and headed away, muttering something about wanting to read a book about it, leaving them alone.

I stared in the mirror for a while, trying to figure it out, and when Matt came in he tried to help. Neither of us could see something that'd make them feel worried. No dark shadows under eyes, no messy hair, it was just me. Maybe I had a pimple, it looked like one, but that was it.

"I don't think anything's wrong with you. You look and smell normal." He reassured me, staring at my hair, my face, trying to see it. I only saw loyalty in Matt's face. Complete and utter loyalty. "Want me to ask Uncle Nick?"

"That's okay." I shook my head. "How's your homework?"

Matt showed me what he had to do and I sat there. He was a smart kid. He had it all figured out. The only problem was that his writing wasn't as clear as other kids his age, spelling wasn't as good, and apparently the teacher had sent him home to re-do his work. But his mind was incredible. What he lacked in grammar, spelling and writing skills, he had in brain power. It wasn't just me being a bias aunt- I made him read it out to me and instead, he put it to one said and told me what it said without needing to glance at it once.

"Can I record me and then give it to her? I can't make it happen on paper." Matt scowled. "She doesn't get it. She thinks I get answers from other kids when I answer questions because I can't write good. And she thinks I steal lunches because I eat so much." That made me flinch. Matt hadn't told me that.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"She told Elena when she came to school and Elena told her. I said I'd tell you. I just didn't tell you fast." He frowned up at me. "I have to eat. I'm hungry. I'm like you."

"I know." Oh, bloody hell. This must have been why Clayton had been homeschooled. The sheer amount a werewolf needed once they started their changes was enough to make any human suspicious. "Do you want to keep going?"

"That's why I didn't tell you! Of course I do! Kate and Logan can go to school so I want to go." Matt looked like I'd betrayed him. I hadn't even suggested he stop. I'd just asked. "I thought you'd understand."

"I do. I don't want you to get into trouble, that's all. Here. Let me try and help you clean it up..."

I did that for the next hour, delaying the attempt to wipe Selene's mind successfully, and Matt more or less got his writing and spelling fixed a bit. Then it was dinner time for the hordes. Lucky I'd defrosted it the night before. But we'd have to start cooking soon, we'd run out of frozen meals pretty fast, and then I had to clean...

I was getting ready to do this when a long dark car pulled up outside. Elena glanced over. "That'll be Benicio Cortez. You and Antonio can go into the study. Nick, stay here and help."

Nick frowned and nodded, Antonio taking my arm and leading me outside to welcome him in.

"The Elders are dropped off at Forestwatch, Elena." He called, his eyes meeting Elena's eyes, and she nodded. Then he followed us into the study.

"You had an issue with the human girl?" Benicio Cortez asked.

"Elena's handling it." Antonio replied. "We need to discuss the twins."

"Yes. We do." Benicio agreed and started to pull out folders. "Tony, go and stand outside."

The body guard I'd seen around a few times, who I kept thinking was called Troy or something, nodded and headed out to stand on the porch. Benicio continued to thumb through the papers he'd pulled out.

"Rosa Da Vinci..."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Not even a tiny bit." Benicio's lips twitched though. "She died of what appeared to be a stroke. We suspect. Her wishes were to be cremated alone. No fuss. I was there and a few others. Her ashes were scattered in front of colleges and friends. I hope you don't mind that I didn't subject you to hours of being stared at by humans and supernaturals alike."

"No. Thankyou." The idea made my skin crawl.

"I know what your kind can be like. Her husband was buried with his family. His real family. Her story- Antonio shared it- checked out."

Antonio nodded, hand on my leg, as he took the papers. "I wanted it checked out."

I didn't mind about this either. But it suddenly felt like people were protecting me more than they really had to. Was this because I'd died? Was this why people were treating me like I was made of glass?

"In families like hers, this wasn't seen as such a strange thing. She was the heiress of their family. Not her father. But the interesting thing is that her mother was actually a mistress, not the wife, and she hadn't met her father until she was ten." Benicio said it so lightly, so casually. "Her mother died and she had to go live with him and her step-father. Mistresses weren't and aren't unusual. We marry for business and power. Rosa Da Vinci was originally called Rose MacNamara and her name was changed when she moved in with her father. Her mother was an Irish woman who'd settled in America with her family. They're more or less gone now. There were no other relatives in Rosa's family, or I doubt her step-mother would have accepted her, and when her half brother died she became heiress. The rest you know. Here is records of her, photos, family trees, medical information, and other information you can share with your twins should they wish to know more." Benicio gave me the largest folder out of the lot of them. It was huge and I noticed it even had a book inside it. "I had the photos turned into a book for you."

"Thanks." I wasn't even sure how I'd explain to the twins how they were conceived. Reece knew how he had been. He'd been ...well, sort of okay... and had accepted it. Maybe the twins would be okay.

"There's another collection on their biological father." He pushed another folder onto the table. "He was legally disowned just before he was killed. As were the sons. We're still unsure as to how they died."

"Wait, they died?" The ex-Alpha and his brother were dead?

"Not long after their father." Benicio's eyes met Antonio's eyes. "You didn't tell her that part?"

"Not at the moment." Antonio's hand tightened around my knee and I got the distinct sense of being protected all over again. It really annoyed me now. "What about the twins themselves?"

"That may require coffee."

I realised I'd been rude. Not offered him coffee or tea. I stood up hurriedly, flushing. "Sorry. Would you like some? Or something to eat?"

"I would love something to drink. Coffee would be good. If you have something sweet, I would love a cookie, but with the rations I am not expecting you to go out of your way." He smiled, a nice pleasant smile, but it didn't quite seem to reach his eyes.

"I'll get them and be back in five." I went into the kitchen and started to get the machine on. Tray, milk on tray, sugar, I found some cookies that hadn't been raided by the twins, as Elena stood nearby loading the dishwasher.

When I got back the two of them were talking intently, glancing up at me, Antonio shifting the information for me to one side so the coffee table between the chairs was cleared again. I put the tray down and let everyone help themselves, figuring everyone knew what they liked best, and waited patiently.

"The twins are the only family left in her family. I searched, made sure no one could sneak up and try and claim it, but they are. There's been a series of accidents and mysterious deaths stretching back generations." Benicio glanced at the books he'd given me. "As you'll see when you read it over later. That family is one of the four big families. Or it was. Her son hasn't maintained it all that well."

"What does that mean for my babies?" I didn't care if it was the royal family itself.

"It means that you'll have to take over their business or assign someone to the position of CEO. Multi-billion dollar company in pharmaceuticals and biotech. Scientific labs. It seems that a lot of it is based around supernatural study, unofficially, and I suspect you'd want to keep an eye on that. We are in partnership with each other and they're the major shareholders in other businesses also dealing in pharmaceuticals and biotech."

I sighed. Stared at it. I didn't feel particularly impressed or inspired by 'CEO' or 'billion dollar' stuff. But this was what my son and daughter might one day want to be in charge of. "I'm not going to pretend. This isn't an area I'm good at or interested in."

"I know." Antonio nudged me gently. "There's other ways. Hiring a person to manage this may work."

"If you're not interested, I can assist by starting a hiring process on your behalf. I would have to do it unofficially though. We're not supposed to nose around in each other's families." Benicio shifted back. "It would be done under your name and I'd ask Lucas to take care of it. You'd still receive a salary, however smaller it might be. But I would recommend you take part in this company in some form."

"I don't know a thing about business though." I repeated, or it felt like I was, as the older men exchanged glances again. There it was. That sense that they'd already discussed this without me.

"We do. We talked about it." Antonio spoke carefully, calmly. "We both think that it might be wise to hire someone on a contract basis for the time being and do a course in business. Decide when you've finished the course and spent some time working in the company somewhere."

"You talked about it?" I raised an eyebrow at Antonio. He didn't flinch, he just fixed his eyes in mine, clearly not feeling regretful or like he'd crossed any sort of boundaries.

"That company, that family, it's too important to loose." Benicio said. "We almost lost them and then they married into this company and created one of the bigger companies in the American region. Renowned for their discoveries of new medicines and scientific breakthroughs into human genetics. Your children aren't expected to keep it afloat but you are, at least till they're legal adults themselves, and this depends on more than just hiring a CEO. It depends on you. The decisions come through you. If it falls apart, the blame falls on you. The supernatural world already blames us for this disease. One more fall of a family and we're not going to have as much stability."

Great. I gulped some of the hot black coffee down as they waited. Stared at me. "So if it falls..."

"We're going to have a few problems."

Another weight on me. I suddenly felt like I was five years old again being told I had to drive Daddy's car to the hospital or he'd die. Like too much was thrown at me too fast. But how would it feel for my babies when they got older? I hoped one of them liked this stuff. "So your suggestion was..."

"To hire a temporary CEO on a three year basis and complete a six month course in business. After that, I'd suggest you do further study in executive business while working part time there, but we'll see how you feel after six months. No one expects you to know straight away." Benicio replied. "Lucas will support you with the hiring process. Antonio can give advice."

"Not so much as you probably want." Antonio added, quickly, "This isn't my area. But I can help. Nick can also help a little. If your triplets are heading into nursery school soon then..."

"Then I have a little more time." I agreed quietly. Argh. Time to sleep, not time to go back to school.

"Did you ever go to college?" Benicio asked.

"Australia doesn't have colleges. I studied fine arts and then I studied ...well, therapy." I remembered a bit too late I wasn't supposed to mention hypnotherapy.

"Hypnotherapy. It's not going to be hidden for long. Another reason you might not want to be CEO. It may ...not help." Benicio said, quieter, and I saw that for all his smiles and nice attitude, the real business man underneath, shrewder, maybe even a bit manipulative. "You will still have power without the title. Still be able to influence this company. You are the major shareholder now, as mother of the twins, and that will last until they are of legal age to take all these assets as their own."

"And you'll be there to tell me what the Cortez company needs?" I added. He actually laughed then, nodding.

"You're good at least at seeing what people want. Yes. I may ask. I won't expect, but I may ask, and you may ask things of me as well. Others will ask. That's something your counselling modules in hypnotherapy might be used for, noticing when people want something of you. This isn't something you have to decide tonight."

"I can do the course from here?"

"The six month one, yes." Benicio nodded. "Though I'd recommend you set up an office for it. One without children."

"I was thinking that today." Antonio's eyes went to the pile of toys in the corner where the triplets had been earlier, his lips twitching. "The three of us need somewhere to study and work."

"I guess you're right." I kind of liked it. But if I was doing some full on boring course about business then I probably did need to avoid getting distracted by the wiggle dvd playing Big Red Car for the fifteenth time in the corner. "All right. I'll do the course and talk to Lucas about hiring someone."

"I'll call him tonight and let him know. He'll probably contact you in the next few days." Benicio didn't stand. I half expected him to, now that I'd given in, but he went for the last pile of papers I hadn't seen. "Now. Inheritance."

Again, for the second time in three years, I was suddenly rich. Well. Technically they were. I was their mother. We owned the house in Miami which, as it turned out, wasn't a cheap one. Apparently Hibiscus island was a popular place to be, which was kind of amusing as Macleay Island in Australia was a cheap place, and the house itself was value at around six or seven million. Million! My only reaction was dread and the sudden urge to vomit. Who needed a house that much anyway? There were other things, contents valuing some other amount I was too stunned to stare at too long, their savings, the fact that now the twins were seriously heir and heiress to a fortune that was going to keep them secure for their lives, their babies lives, and ...also, apparently due to run one of those evil Pharmaceutical companies us artists used to complain about in Fine Arts.

I was glad Antonio was there suddenly, this calming grounding presence, his hand not leaving mine as Benicio listed off everything. Some of her will went to charity. Some of it went to friends. But, to my shock, she'd more or less dedicated it to the twins. Even her last name. Her original maiden name. She wanted them to be called MacNamara.

"Can we split their names into Sorrentino- MacNamara?" Antonio asked and Benicio nodded.

"I did ask. As she didn't say in her will that they were only to be named MacNamara, it should be fine. It just has to be on their birth certificate." He nodded slowly.

"We were giving them some extra names anyway." I sighed. So what was it now? Michael Reece Sorrentino- MacNamara and Nicky Rose-Ella Sorrentino- MacNamara. Bloody hell. I'd never remember how to spell all that. "Did she say anything else?"

"Suggestions, as my lawyer put it, about private schools, diets, things like that. It wasn't apart of her legal will, even if she did staple it to it, it looks like she just rambled off what she wanted for them. She was in the process of creating a new will on her death. One that did try and exclude you." Benicio's eyes met mine. "She didn't complete it. Legally, it's just a piece of paper. We got rid of it."

They made it happen the way that benefited all of us, in other words, not just me and the twins. I wasn't going to complain. I was too shocked to complain.

"I can decide about schools and diets and things. With Nick." I muttered. Antonio squeezed my hand.

"I have no doubts. That's it, more or less. The transfer to your account will happen if you just fill this out and sign a few pages and contracts. Antonio, can you get Nick and then act as their witness?"

"Not at all."

Selene

I woke, neck aching, the traces of fear lingering without much to connect them to. My head was heavy, my arms and legs struggling to move, and it took me a few seconds to get that I was lying in a cage. The cage.

Panic erupted and I reached for my neck, feeling a cold thing slide off it. An ice pack? And the door was open. What kind of mafia treated their victims and left the captive's door open?

It was clear who'd woken me when I heard a soft, "Shh" and matched it to one I'd heard. Before some crazed guy had tried to strangle me. This was the crazy guy who'd proposed to me.

I stared at him in the dark, his eyes darting up, and then he moved closer to the bars. His eyes fixed on my neck and he frowned. Reece. The guy who'd proposed to me. It didn't matter how many times my head said this, it never sunk in, it never made any more sense than the last time.

"Y-" I cut off as the talking part didn't work well. My throat was dry and I accepted the water from him without realising he'd held it out, drinking it down thirstily as he watched. "You."

"Yeah. Me. I came to say sorry again. I was a bit ..." He grinned sheepishly, rubbing his head, looking a little ...less manic than before. Sort of. "I do like you. I didn't mean to throw it all at you in one hit."

"Werewolf?"

"Uh huh." He agreed. Glanced back upstairs and then came in. I noticed in the light of a lamp nearby that his face was bruised, his neck, his arms. Had they beaten him up? "I got in a bit of trouble for telling you."

"Was it a joke?" It felt like a dream now. I stared at the bruises and the split lip, faint concern and disbelief as I saw the dark purple one right where the blonde man had struck him hard and knocked him out. Without thinking about it I reached up to touch the spot on his head that was swollen, aware that I'd picked up the cool ice pack and held it there, and the look on his face ...to say it made my knees go weak, however teenagerish it was, it was true. He smiled and his hand covered mine, as I pressed the thing to his head, my heart going a bit faster.

I had liked him. When he'd come into the shop, I had. Every time he looked at me like that, that intense stare, his eyes on my lips and my eyes, I kept forgetting the weird shit that came with him. The anger, the monster, the ...all of it.

"No." Reece's hand stroked mine, a tiny gesture that made goosebumps rise on my hand, reaching over to touch the swollen throat carefully with a thumb, leaning closer. "He really got a bit carried away."

"I thought he was trying to..." I remembered it, the panic, the fear that he really was going to kill me. It had really happened.

"No way in hell. He'd have to do it to me first." He muttered, shifting closer again, sliding across the bed as he did. I stared at him as he came closer, his eyes on my lips now, cheeks going red, hand dropping to rest on my knee...

A cough made us both flinch. That silver blonde haired woman stood there, arms crossed, looking somewhat amused. She held up an icepack.

"Elena." He grinned at her, pulling me up against his side. "This is Selene."

"I know." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Selene, what you saw-"

"Was real." I muttered. She sighed. "Don't tell me it wasn't. It felt real."

"Was something you aren't suppose to see. We're going to have to take that memory away." She continued.

My eyes widened and I felt a kind of shock run through me. "You can do that? Please, let me keep it. I've been looking for people like Reece for all my life."

Reece tensed beside me, standing, and again I found myself shoved against his side. He seemed more steady now though, more alert. "Elena, she doesn't have to … she could keep it secret."

Elena shut the cage door. On both of us. Reece grabbed for it and she shoved him back, so sudden, so violent, that it startled me, and Reece crashed backwards over the bed. He looked unharmed, just shocked, as she fixed him with a stare.

"We are taking the memory away, Reece." She said softly, lowly, a kind of strange growl there. Like she was warning him. It suddenly reminded me of her husband. This bizarre ...scary... threatening stare. This predator.

Like a wolf.

"Wait, you're one too." I stared at her. She blinked, stared at me, and stepped closer, that scary gaze falling onto me suddenly. Trying to shut me up. "You are, aren't you? So's your husband."

I'd just let them lead me into a house full of werewolves. Like an idiot. I'd been snooping around a house full of werewolves.

"Werewolves aren't real. Are they, Reece?"

"She knows, Elena." He stood up and rubbed his head. "And that hurt."'

"Do you change with the full moon?" I asked, standing up, but hesitated as she stared at me like I was ...well, nothing. Like I was just a human. What was wrong with them anyway? "Do you hate silver? How many are here?"

"I'm sorry, Selene. We can't let you remember this." She said, quietly, stepping back. Away from me, from my eager questions, from my attempts to connect. "Reece, you've got a few hours. Don-"

Feet cut her off. A man came downstairs and he stared at me. I hadn't seen him before.

" Benicio..."

"She's the sister of the skin-walker?" He strode up to the cage. Ignored my shock, ignored me, staring at me like I was a rare species in a cage. I felt Reece's hand come up to touch my lower back as he moved closer. "How long are you keeping her here?"

Sister of the skin-walker? Were they saying my brother was the monster? My jaw dropped as she hurried him out, glancing back at us, hurrying him away before I could ask questions.

I sat down, staring at my knees, trying to understand. Trying to get this. I'd spent my whole life searching for... for things that explained what I saw. Why I saw it. I'd been haunted by owls no one saw, I'd been chased around, and now they'd called my brother a skin-walker. I couldn't believe that was the truth. If he was then he would never have scorned what I loved. Never.

"What is that thing, Reece? Is it a skin-walker?"

"Yeah."

"Is my brother one?"

He hesitated. "I d..." Reece went quiet, his lips twisting as if he was trying to hold the answer there, suddenly looking away. "Not for me to tell you. Ask me about being a werewolf and I have all the answers."

He didn't say no.

"We're not allergic to silver. There's a handful of us here." He sat down beside me. When he reached for my hand, I didn't pull back, I watched him play with the lines on my palm. "Moon doesn't matter much."

"Is it like Twilight?"

Reece laughed and shook his head. "Not even close. We're different. The reality's a bit nastier. And vampires don't sparkle."

Wait, what? "Vampires are real?"

"Course they are. They don't burn in the sun either." He leaned back. "May as well tell you it all."

And he did. Everything. He sat there and he told me everything. Demons impregnating women here and creating half-demons. Vampires. Witches. Sorcerers. Shapeshifters. My brain struggled, even though I believed in all of it, it just struggled with it. Some part of me expected him to turn around and add 'This isn't real, this is a joke', but …. I couldn't. Necromancers.

"Ghosts too." He said quieter after he'd finished telling me about the others. "There are ghosts. I don't see them. The necromancers see them. But I heard skin-walk..."

"Walkers can see them too?"

He nodded and met my eyes.

Suddenly horror flooded through me. I stood up. "I ...I'm not a monster. I'm not one of them."

Reece blinked and held up his hands, sudden, shaking his head. "No, you're not one of htose monsters. Shit. I guess if they're ...not all skin-walkers are monsters."

"What do you mean?"

"What did your stories tell you about them taking shapes of animals?" He asked quietly. It took me a few minutes to get over my shock and put it together.

"But I'm not that. I don't do that."

"Not yet. But if a wild animal walks up to you and falls dead at your feet, call your brother." He swore softly. "I don't even know ...why he isn't … why he doesn't tell you this."

"I'm a human." I stared at Reece, without really staring at him, just stared. My life was flashing through my head. Unexpected things. Animals. Owls. People no one could see. Dreams about running. The memory of this dream, this dream that had happened over and over, it hit me across the head as I remembered it. I dreamed about running with a …. "Oh my god. I was running with a wolf."

The word came out, Reece's head swinging up, and I stared at him. Remembered the dog outside my window. The tan-gold fur. The paw. The …

"When?"

"In a dream." I was running with a wolf in a dream. For months. Running, and running, and running, for no reason except to run. Except to feel the sheer joy of running. Running with a wolf that set my blood on fire. That I felt attached to like nothing before. Just running.

Reece stared at me, standing up slowly, staring down at me. "A wolf?"

"Why did you propose to me?" And mention Jacob Black? And Bella's baby? I stared at him. If I only had a few hours left then I wanted answers. I wanted to stuff my head with the world. Maybe something would stick. "Who the hell proposes to someone after five minutes?"

Who the hell dreamed about running with a wolf or a monster? Or forgot about the wolf part when it was so good? I'd had nightmares and avoided sleeping, but then I'd gone to sleep and the wolf was there. Only I'd forget by the morning. Only now, only while he was getting close, did these memories snap back into my head.

He was getting closer. His breathing was faster, intense stare catching me like I was a rabbit, my heart hammering in my throat.

"I don't know you."

"No." Reece agreed. Leaned down, hands grasping my arms, so careful now. Like he was petrified he'd bruise me. "You don't know me. I didn't come here to hit on you. I came here to say sorry."

"I've never seen you before."

"No." He agreed. Inched closer. "I've never seen you before. Do you want to date?"

"I don't know ..." I hesitated. Stared at him. Unconsciously licked my lips, feeling awkward, feeling ...heated. Like suddenly all I wanted to do was kiss the living daylights out of the man. I had dated before but … "I don't know ...if I want that marriage part. I just want it to go slow. Dating. You can date me. I don't kno-"

"You don't have to know everything." Reece laughed. One of his hands came up to brush my hair out of my face, amused, and then he leaned down to brush his lips against mine. When I didn't resist or pull away the hunger in his eyes spread to his kiss. He kissed me so hard that my toes curled, heat blooming in my belly, and relief. How, or why I felt relief, I didn't understand. I just felt relieved, my mouth opening, the taste of him as much of a memory as the dreams had been. Like we'd already done this in them. Over and over and over.

It made no sense, and for once, I didn't have the urge to research or to write a book on it. I just let him do it.

His hands slid around my back, pulling me back with him, the heat building as he pulled me back and sat on the bed, pulling me into his lap. Reece pulled his head back, blinking at me, and then his gaze went right down my front. He didn't try and hide it, didn't try and pretend her was looking at a fly or something, he just openly stared down my breasts, my belly, down to between my legs, his nostrils flaring.

Oh god, I thought, my eyes widening. Tell me he can't smell what he's doing.

"So. The monster."

"Don't want to work right now. That smell." He inhaled again, a long deep breathe in, drawing everything into my lungs. "You know how hard it is to take this slow?"

"Yes." I knew. But he had no choice. I needed it to be slow. "Slow. Dating."

"Liking our first date so far?" Reece glanced up at the cage, at the basement, his eyes going past me to the locked door. He frowned. "Which you'll forget."

"I don't want to forget." I admitted. His eyes came back to me and he bit his lip. "I was looking for this. I knew it existed. I don't want to forget."

"I'll just ask you out again after."

"That doesn't help."

Reece growled softly, shutting his eyes, pulling me harder against his chest. I heard steps coming down the stairs and Anne coming around the corner, her eyes on us, looking a bit startled and amused. And sad.

"Reece..."

"Pretend you did it." He said, soft, so soft I was sure she hadn't heard it. "Pretend. I think she'll help better if she knows."

Anne hesitated, as my eyes met hers, the look on her face suggesting she wasn't keen on this any more than I was. "I ..."

"Pretend, Selene." He murmured against my ear. Nipped it, sending chills through me, ignoring my attempts to stand up. "Anne won't let me down."

Anne

I'd never seen Reece like that.

Well, actually, I had. And it chilled me. It chilled me because it looked exactly like how he'd looked when he was pleading for Daniella to come back. It was this plea from something so deep inside, so intimate, that I'd actually never touched it. We loved each other but ...not like this.

Holy crap. This chick, this little dark haired teenager, she was his mate. Or if she wasn't, she was something pretty damn important, and from the look of her swollen lips and hair messed up all over the place, she'd accepted him one way or another. And the way her dark eyes met mine, pleading, this look that matched Reece's pleading eyes.

I wanted to hit Reece when he told her that I wouldn't let him down. I wanted to hit him and kick him and I wanted to throw him ...off the roof. Or something dramatic that involved him crashing to earth again because wherever those two were... it was not here. And it made me angry, and tired, esspically after having to sign all these papers and be told I had to be some kind of CEO or something and … now, Reece wanted me to lie to Elena and Clayton.

No, I realied, act the lie out. Clayton came down to watch. I had to act out the lie. To his face. I didn't want to lie to his face. I didn't want to lie to anyone.

Big brown eyes. Big green eyes. Pleading at me.

"You want a coffee?" Clayton touched my shoulder and I jumped. Nodded. "Be back in a sec. Don't start without me."

He headed upstairs and I flopped in the seat outside, trying to avoid their gaze, trying to ignore the silent pleading on Reece's face.

"You want me to lie to Elena." I hissed softly through the bars, coming closer, Reece standing. He brought Selene over, he didn't leave her behind, his arm around her shoulders.

"She dreamed of me too. Of running with me." He pleaded, glancing at her. "Tell her."

"I did. It was this big wolf, blonde and tan and … I was running with it. It always came after the dreams with the monster. I always forgot about it." She flushed, looking embarrassed as my eyes went to her. "He said I could be a skin-walker."

"Did he?" I met Reece's eyes who shrugged. "You might also be a human."

"I don't care. I see ghosts. Don't I deserve to be ...to know about your world? Aren't I good enough?" She looked like a kid suddenly, like a kid who'd been bullied and teased, and I remembered what shed' said. They'd taken her to shrinks. Her brother teased her when he himself was apart of our world. She'd hidden herself.

"Reece, this could get us both kicked out of the Pack." I snapped, trying to stay quiet, grabbing him and pulling him hard against the bars. "Not just you. Me too. And if they think it doesn't work, if they think she knows too much, then you know what Clayton's action will be, if he thinks he has to." I added, quieter. "I ..."

I heard Clayton opening the door upstairs and backed off. Reece backed up as well, pulling Selene behind him, the smell of coffee drifting down the stairs. I headed back and took my cup, ignoring the two pairs of eyes in the cage, Clayton's eyes going from me to them.

"You want to sleep?" He checked and I shook my head. Sleeping would make me feel worse. I wouldn't sleep.

Lying to my Alpha or taking away her memories when she had lived her whole life trying to get them. I couldn't even be sure it'd work. What if it took away all her memories? What if it took nothing?

Clayton reached for the cage door and pulled Reece out, ignoring him, and then looked at me. I had to do something.