I couldn't do it. Not to my Alpha. Not to Reece. Not even to her. It was too risky and it could have meant more than just the loss of Pack.

Clayton would notice. And if he thought she was a threat, no matter how many big brown eyes or big green eyes came at us, he would do what he had to do to protect the Pack. He'd make her vanish. It was his job. It was a job he expected me to do. If I tried, if I at least tried, then maybe she'd be safe. And she didn't have to forget forever. Just long enough.

But Reece saw it in my face, saw the second I'd decided it, and I saw the betrayal dig deep. Saw hurt there, real genuine hurt, and instantly wished I hadn't done anything. Saw the rage there, the rage at me, and suddenly I was no longer his best friend. I wasn't anything to him. I was a stranger.

Something else too, and I was too slow to see it, the sudden feral rage that was so alien on his face, too slow to react as he suddenly grabbed Clayton's collar and slammed his head into the metal bars. Clayton went down. Reece went at me, ignoring Selene's cry of fear, went at me as if I was a stranger.

"Re-"

He cut me off, his fists flying, grabbing at me with a kind of strength I wouldn't have expected from him while he was sobering up. The bricks met the back of my head, as he slammed me against them, and I crumpled to the ground, darkness and pain exploding through my vision. I fought against it, I struggled, feeling hands tugging something out of my jeans and ...I saw Reece and Selene's feet. Climbing out the window.

I tried to get up, smelling blood, tried and …it didn't work so well. I sunk back onto the floor with a soft groan.

Selene

He was back. This scary side was back. I saw him knock them both out within seconds, mere seconds, blood seeping from their heads. But when he looked back at me, there was no monster, just Reece. He held out his hand.

"Come on. It's time to run."

"Are yo-"

"They'll kill you if you don't." He snapped, hesitated, and, "Just trust me. I wouldn't hurt my mate."

Mate. The single word seemed to echo around the room, heavy with meaning, and his eyes stayed fixed in mine as he pushed the small window open. He didn't mean the kind Australians used, clearly, as his eyes went to my swollen lips. The dream came back. Running. Running beside him. This big wolf, this wolf that didn't scare me, and then that monster. He knelt to tug something out of Anne's pants. A wallet. Then keys from the scary one.

"Okay." I heard myself answer. Reece slid up and out of it, jumping easily, and pulled me up after him. Reece made his way quietly to a car, keeping me to one side, his eyes on the house as he unlocked it and got into the car. I slid into the other side.

His expression was odd. Wild, it was the only word for it, his eyes darting around as he pulled away quickly. He was a werewolf. He was seriously a werewolf. Did that make me seriously... something else? Why hadn't my brother told me?

"This doesn't mean we're speeding it up."

He stared sideways, blinking, not getting it.

"Still slow dating."

Reece's shoulders relaxed. Only for a second though, his eyes going into the mirror, as headlights appeared on the road behind us. The car sped up and he grasped the wheel tighter.

"They'll be okay." He said softly. I felt his hand reach out for mine, this hand that'd just smashed their heads in, and his head twisted in my direction. "We're fast healers. That's why I'm speeding. Clayton's going to be after us the second he snaps out of it. Put your seatbelt on."

I did so, tugging it across me as he sped, heart thudding hard against my chest. Reece put his on, keeping the car steady as he made his way away from the place, and for some reason I didn't quite get, I let him take me away. Far away.

Anne

I woke with Elena sitting beside me, something cold under my skull, and saw Clayton still unconscious nearby. He looked pretty nasty- the blood wasn't slow at all, Jeremy trying to fix it.

Elena stared at him, her face white, and I sat up slowly. The world spun and I nearly fell back, her hand catching my arm.

"Slow. Antonio and Vi have gone after Reece."

"Bloody idiot." It felt like I was saying this a lot about him lately. Was I? Probably. "Clay?"

She didn't answer, just returned her eyes to him, her hand loosening on my arm. I slid up slowly and sat beside her as Jeremy pressed hard against the gash where the metal bars had struck a little too well.

"I wasn't going to hurt her." I said it quietly, lifting the ice pack to the back of my head, cringing as I felt dampness there. "He's lost his mind. Think we need new rules about dealing with mates." I muttered, quieter, giving up on talking. The words, however soft, were like someone was hammering at my head. Elena's gaze fell to her hand. The two tiny scars, so innocent, her jaw tightening as she stared at them. We were idiots when it came to our partners. That was all there was to it. The wolf didn't understand human complications and politics. It understood something else. And it reacted.

"We'll worry about that later." She said finally.

Nick came down and slid down to sit beside me, kissing my shoulder as he held me close, his eyes going to Elena. "Ambulance is coming."

"Ambulance?" I stared at Jeremy, who grimaced and nodded.

"This isn't something I can treat."

It was that bad? We never went to hospital. As far as I knew, we never had. Something to do with our genetics- it was one of the first things Antonio had told me about.

"Take Elena and Anne upstairs, Nick." Jeremy said softly, his hand still over the wound, and Nick lifted both of us up. Elena seemed as unable to stand as I was, let him push her up the stairs, her face still shocked.

Nick made her a coffee and she sat there holding onto it. He checked my head, I felt him press the ice pack back up against it, the other hand on her shoulder. She stared at the door until the ambulance came and by then Jeremy had lifted Clayton up and carried him into the room. He got into the ambulance with Clayton and we watched them leave.

"Are you going?" I asked Elena, turning to her, and she shook her head.

"I can't. I ...I need to change. Anne, lock me in the cage." She stood up, so calm looking, so quiet, but her arms were shaking. Her hands. She looked like she was about to go from calm to raging wolf. "Nick. Someone."

Nick led her downstairs and I heard him shut the cage nad come back up, shutting the door behind him, his eyes meeting mine.

"What was it?"

"He was bleeding out of the ear. Jeremy thinks Reece might have broken one of the bones in the skull. Let me check your skull, Aussie." Nick moved around me, kissing my hair as he went. "It's not too bad."

"Good." I leaned against him as he wrapped his arms around me, kissing my shoulder, the sounds of Elena's change below us starting up. "Reece..."

"Gonna punch him when I see him." He muttered. I felt him lift me up. "Elena wanted to stay there overnight, unless she's needed."

"Okay."

"Do you mind if we sleep on the couch tonight?" Nick gazed down at me. "I pulled it out."

"No, that's okay." I nodded and let him carry me into the living room and lowered onto it. "I should go find Reece."

"Dad''s looking right now. I keep forgetting how young he is." He crawled onto the bed beside me and lay back, staring at the ceiling, Nick's hand threading through mine.

That was right. Werewolves aged slower. Reece was just a few years younger than me, twenty five, but mentally he was probably about nineteen. Like Selene was. So he was probably not quite over the teenager thing yet and it was also probably making this attachment to her worse. More intense. I lay there, Nick shifting over to kiss my shoulder, feeling awful. He trusted me and I'd let him down.

"What's on your mind?" Nick asked softly, kissing my shoulder.

I told him what Reece wanted me to do and he frowned. "You couldn't lie to Elena."

"I know. But I wouldn't have hurt her." I stared at the ceiling in the living room. Rain started outside, heavy rain, hiding the sounds of Elena's change downstairs. "He looked at me like I was about to attack her. I think they kissed."

"Ah. I get it." He nodded slowly, a small smile creeping over his face, reaching over to pull my head in his direction. Nick kissed me gently, his breathing getting a little faster as he did, his tongue meeting mine as he shifted half over me. It did something to me as it always did, my heart sped up, my love for him overshadowing the rest of the world. Nick pulled away and grinned at me. "See? We go crazy when we kiss. One touch and I want to jump you."

"In the living room? When kids could come down any second?"

"In the living room. When kids could come down any second." He shifted over me, pulling my legs around his waist, sliding his hands up the rough fabric of the pants. "I love it when you wear skirts. So many pants." His head lifted as we heard a car coming, sliding back, one of my legs slipping down.

"That Antonio?"

"Yeah." Nick lifted the leg he hadn't let go of, nipping my foot, making me squirm. He grinned. "If I ask you to put on a skirt..."

"I should wear something better for bed." I tried to free my foot as his mouth nipped and tickled it, teasing me, trying to push him off it. Nick tugged me backwards off the bed and stood up. I stood up as Antonio pulled up near the house, hurrying to the window, cringing as the bright lights hit my night vision.

Reece wasn't with them. My heart sank as I saw that, saw that an Owl had come to land on the ground nearby, the skin shifting off Alan as he strode for the front door and tucked the skin of feathers into the bag he always carried over a shoulder. He didn't look shocked, he looked pissed off, like he already knew what had gone on.

"Did Reece take your phone, Anne?" Antonio called as he jogged up to the door. Vi was on her phone, light hair glowing in the lights of the house, trying to shield her phone from the rain.

I felt for my pockets. Reece's cards were gone and his wallet. "Just his wallet and cards."

"Damn. So he's got cash." Antonio swore softly and his eyes met Alan's eyes. "Where would your sister want to go, to hide?"

"I don't know. Damn it." Alan went back out into the rain. "This how you take care of your guests? Run off with them?"

"She knows about you." I said quietly. Alan's eyes shot to mine, fixed me with that stare that reminded me so much of an owl, his lips tracing the words.

"How?"

"Reece told her."

"The one that ran off with her? Typical." He hissed a low hiss as he took out the skin again. "My Elders aren't impressed either. Where's your Alpha?"

"Dealing with the problem." I said before anyone else could. Alan's eyes going back to me. I didn't raise my voice, I didn't growl, but I wasn't going to let him go in and interrupt Elena. My loyalty to her was absolute. "Reece's actions were stupid. We're going to get him and she'll be near him. He won't let her get harmed till then."

"Yeah, how do I know?" Alan snapped. "She's alone with a fucking wolf. He could be-"

"He's mated to her." Nick spoke up, his hand coming to wrap around my hand, stepping closer. "Or at least, he thinks he is. We know Reece. He's going to wait on her hand and foot till we get our hands on him."

"He was protecting her. Or he thought he was." Antonio said quickly when Alan's eyes fixed on him. "She wasn't in danger."

Nothing we were saying did much but at least his shoulders relaxed, just a fraction, just enough to make the veins stand out a little less. "Right. But I'm warning you. My Elders are delaying the meeting till you find them or your Alpha turns up." Before we could speak, he was gone, body mutating into the skin, and the shape of the big owl fading into the rain.

We watched him go and Vi came inside. She glanced up at one of the windows where Pav was waiting. They were going soon, heading back to Russia, I knew that Pav wanted to get home to her children. And getting out of America wasn't tough.

"What about Australia?" I said, suddenly, as I realised. Reece had spoken to me about Australia. "Did you check the airport?"

"Not the international part." Antonio was heading back for the car though, keys out, not even bothering to discuss it. "We'll call. Nick, you up for this drive?"

"Yeah." Nick kissed me quickly. Nick hurried after his dad and slid into the car beside him. They headed off again quickly, and I wondered if I should go.

But the look on Reece's face when I'd decided to side with Elena, it made me want to stay here. Hide. Cowardly, okay, sure, but I'd hurt him. I had to do it though. Vi tugged me inside, made me sit down, and I felt her check my head as I stared out the window.

"You are not okay." She said as she sat down in front of me. "What happened?"

"Reece asked me to pretend to do it. I thought it was better for her if I ..."

"You were right, of course. Could you not have asked Clayton to take him out?"

I hadn't even thought of that. "I don't think so. He reacted pretty fast. Clayton didn't even get time to blink."

Vi nodded, checking my eyes with a little torch. "Clayton was not in a good way. I told Jeremy to get his head checked at hospital. Pav's father is meeting them to make sure it goes right."

I groaned softly and didn't resist when she hugged me hard. "Vi, he looked at me like... like … I don't know. He was so hurt."

"He is grieving." She reminded me. Like I could forget that. "So are you. We all are. I want you to stay awake tonight to be sure."

"All night?"

"All night." Vi confirmed. "Elena is in the cage?"

I nodded and she glanced downwards towards the cage. We could both hear it, hear the sound of an upset wolf so loud that even the heavy rain wasn't drowning her out, throwing herself against the cage as she tried to get out. Tried to go after Clayton.

"She asked."

"Good." Vi sat back and rubbed her head, yawning, then stood up. "This house should have real coffee."

"Doesn't it?" I blinked.

Vi shook her head."This house only has decaf. Did you not notice?"

I didn't. Now that she mentioned it, it explained why it wasn't working, why the coffee hadn't been doing a damn thing. She glanced back up as she heard Pav coming down the stairs, standing. "You can sleep."

"I know I can sleep." Pav kissed Vi, taking her hands and pulling her into the living room. "But I can't sleep. What movie are we watching to stay awake?"

We ended up watching Bollywood like we used to, the three of us, Vi pretending she wasn't interested. She was. She kept sneaking glances when she pretended to be reading and it always seemed to be at the exact moment Pav would appear on screen. Like she knew by heart every scene, every second, every part of the song her wife would show up.

Pav and Vi nudged me every time I 'rested my eyes', knocking me back awake, the two of them watching me carefully. It was probably fear of a concussion if Clayton's head was really as bad as Jeremy suspected, fear that Reece had hurt me badly, but I felt like it wasn't that bad. Even now, even if I'd hurt him, he couldn't quite do it. Couldn't hurt me. He'd just knocked me out long enough to get out of the house and into a car.

Clayton was a shock though. It couldn't have been a concious choice to do that, it would have been the panic, the wolf trying to disable the pack enforcer rather than Reece trying to knock out Clayton. I knew he trusted Clayton. But that must have started to fray, maybe as soon as Reece had seen what Selene's neck looked like.

"I let him down, didn't I?" I asked quietly.

"To him, probably. To the pack, you had to do what you were told." Pav said softly. "If it was Vi then I wouldn't think clearly either."

"I would not. But when I calm down, I would see. Reece may calm down."

"He slept with me. And Nick." I said it softly, feeling their eyes on me, unwilling to see their expressions. I was still battling with the idea that it was 'strange' or 'slutty' of me.

"We know. Daniella told us." Vi replied. "I assumed it meant Nick knew. She was very angry. This does not change that you had duty to Pack."

I nodded, sighed, and let the red head snuggle me against her side. I feel asleep, the two of them finally letting me, the slow heartbeat of Vi against my ear, Pav speaking to someone on the phone in her language... Hindu/... only to be nudged awake a few minutes later when Nick called.

Antonio and Nick didn't find Reece at the international airport. They didn't see a trace of Selene. And Alan, who'd apparently taken the search to air, had no luck either. Reece had just driven off. Logically, I'd done the right thing, logically, this was what I should have done. Suddenly I couldn't sleep. I sat there beside them as Pav fell asleep, then Vi, staring at the TV screen without barely seeing the movie. The night stretched by and I started to curse logic for being impossible. By the time morning came I was more than willing to beg forgiveness if he just rang. But he didn't. Nick and Antonio had flown into New York city to check the airports there, in case he drove all the way to the city.

Jeremy rang just as I was getting breakfast for the kids with the help of Pav and Vi. Clayton had needed some minor surgery, apparently, and because of the disease filling the hospitals they were eager to release him straight after when they'd confirmed we had two nurses in the house. They'd had to put his bone back into place near the ear and there'd been a bleed causing pressure on the brain. Or something scary sounding. He said it very casually, adding that Amar- Vi's father- had been there to ensure that no blood was taken. It had been one hell of a risk though.

Elena woke when I went down to tell her that Clayton was coming back, curled up on her side behind the overturned bed, naked and shaking. She smiled weakly, standing, reaching for the clothes she'd knocked all over the place.

"Jeremy said it went fine and they're driving back now. Vi wants to know if she can prepare your room for him- she apparently likes it clear around the bed and specific color sheets and..." I shrugged lightly, trying to smile, but I couldn't. "Nurses."

"She can do whatever she needs to. I'll help." She tugged on her pants and dressed slowly, shaking, her breathing faster. "He's okay? Did he say what..."

"The bar must have broken the bone, like Jeremy thought, they fixed it, released pressure on the brain from a bleed, and they're trying to empty his bed so they can get someone else in." I tried to say it as lightly as Jeremy had, tried to sound relaxed like it wasn't a big deal, but it was. It was his skull and brain.

"He will take some time to recover." Pav made her way down beside me as she opened the cage door. "But he will recover faster than a human. Roman has said Vi must stay until he is fine." She tried to smile.

"Your twins though..." Elena pulled her bra on. "I can't ask you to do that."

"You didn't. Roman did. And he's right. I'm heading back like planned and she'll come soon after. Let me check you before you put a top on." Pav went in to check the bruises Elena had sustained while panicking as a wolf.

"Are my kids okay? Do they know?" She let Pav circle her as she met my eyes and I shook my head.

"They're eating breakfast."

"I'll talk to them." Elena breathed out slowly, squeezed her eyes shut, and waited as patiently as she could for Pav to finish. When she could she headed upstairs as fast as her legs could carry her and we followed.

Elena spoke to them quickly, somehow making it sound not so bad, and then headed up with Vi to get the room ready for him. I stayed downstairs waiting for news. Or the car. Or something.

Jeremy pulled up half an hour later, easing Clayton up in his arms as if he was made of paper, carrying him carefully in. I'd never seen him like this, not even when he'd had his heart stopped, this pale face, smell of blood and other stuff I couldn't place, half his head covered in the bandage that must have covered where they'd done the work. Pav helped him get the big guy upstairs while Kate and Logan asked questions which she answered smoothly and with experience. Like a nurse did.

Matt's arm snuck around my waist and he stared up, sniffing, not as fooled as easily as they were. He could probably smell how serious it really was under that bandage. "He's hurt?"

"Reece got a bit scared. Forgot how strong he is." I told him quietly, snuggling him into me as he watched his hero get carried up like that. "He's okay. They fixed him up."

"Are we going to school today?" He glanced up as Kate and Logan were shooed out of the bedroom.

"I'll ask Elena." I wasn't sure if Kate and Logan were, and if they weren't, it was unlikely Matt would go. He came up with me as I went upstairs and slid my head into the door as they lowered him down carefully. "Elena, are the kids going to school today?"

She nodded, reaching down to brush a curl out of Clayton's face, sliding onto the bed beside him. "Can you get them ready? He's just sleeping right now, they don't need to worry. The bus picks them up from the gate. Pav, can you-"

"The little ones?"

Elena nodded.

"Of course."

The two of us tried to ready little ones for the day and get the big ones dressed and at the gate on time. It more or less worked, Pav hurrying them to the gate while I finished off feeding the twins as I sang a song with the triplets, doing my best to balance both sets of babies equally. The nursery school possibility had gone for this year. I kind of wished we'd tried harder but it was too hecitc to get the hell out of Stonehaven long enough. She got about two minutes away, the twins crying for no apparent reason, the triplets screaming for me...

Pav reappeared at the door after two minutes, apparently having been running, and got the twins into the pram. I watched as she took them down the street with the big kids wandering along beside her under their umbrellas, the twins apparently calming down now they were being wheeled through the rain, the weather covers keeping them dry and the blanket keeping them snug.

It was funny how much difference one person taking them for a few minutes made. While Pav took the twins on a walk to the gate in the rain, once I could concentrate fully on the three toddlers, life got a tiny bit easier. Sort of. Susie had tongs and was pinching my leg, Lily was bouncing around like a frog- she had not gotten over this obsession since her birthday- and Dominic had a xylophone out and wanted me to watch him play. I had one pair of eyes and three toddlers wanting me to give them undivided attention.

In the middle of this Benicio Cortez returned and to my shock, handled the triplets like a professional. I kept forgetting he'd had children of his own and now had grandchildren. He took over Susie's tongs and gave each of them a giant feather as long as their arms each, in three different colours, which got them distracted long enough for us to sit down at the kitchen table.

I filled out the paper for the coursework while he helped by giving the triplets the attention they wanted, got a kitchen knife off Susie when she'd found it instead of tongs in the kitchen, and even managed to get Dominic to stop banging on the xylophone for a few minutes. He was right. I needed an office. There was no way I'd be able to study if they were like this.

A nanny too. I hated it. But maybe I did need help. Not now though. I couldn't do it now.

Pav came back, throwing her coat aside and getting the babies out one by one, glancing around at the minor chaos she'd left. Benicio nodded to her and I managed to get the form filled out for him. Lucas would get to work on the employment issue today. Contact me in a few days. I yawned, nodded, seeing it wasn't even eight yet. Some people needed a life outside working. Or was this normal now?

Hope and Karl turned up, thankfully, distracting the little ones more with their own three year old. The four three year olds entertained themselves in the living room with the three adults watching.

"There's a nursery school nearby." Jeremy's voice came from over my shoulder as Benicio checked over the paperwork for the course. "It isn't as fancy as the other private one you two liked but they're willing to take your three. Numbers have apparently dropped there."

"A nursery school?" I didn't give a damn about the private part.

"It has shown to help kids be more social. With your three, with how jealous I've seen them around the younger babies, it might be wise to get them used to other kids early." He didn't judge me, I knew that, but I felt terrible anyway. I was their mother. Shouldn't I have been able to teach them everything? Apparently not. Jeremy placed his hand on my shoulder. "Kate and Logan probably should have gone but Clayton... well, you know how he'd handle that idea."

Yeah. I did. He'd stalk the nursery school from the second they went in, to the second they came out, just like I had the urge to do. "Yeah."

"They'll play, they learn some basic skills, meet other children, and then come home. It might help you focus. Antonio picked it out." Jeremy sat down as he glanced at the paperwork for the course.

There it was again. That 'protect you' vibe I was getting from everyone. Like people wanted to sort my life out for me.

"He is their grandad. He should know what's safe."

"Believe me, he's got that place checked out." His lips twitched somewhat. "If you're interested I can get them in tomorrow. The place is so empty that they're desperate. They pick the kids up from the gate every morning, and one of us picks them up at night, a part of getting them used to school."

"Will they be safe?" I meant if they were attacked or stolen. But they were probably going to be ignored by that 'resistance' group of supernatural beings that wanted to take over the world with kids. They wanted to kidnap all 'special' children to take over the world. Elena and Clayton's twins were counted- they were the first children born of two bitten werewolves- and my twins would be. Werewolf and sorcerer hybrids. The triplets were more run of the mill with Nick being an ordinary hereditary werewolf. This didn't change the fact that I wanted to camp outside that place.

"Of course." Benicio spoke up. His eyes met mine. "You can afford a security guard. To watch the place. I can offer you one of mine, a trusted one, a half-demon. With your fortune and your position, I'd recommend you hire several."

Holy crap. A security guard. I kept forgetting that I was apparently rich now. This wasn't a pleasant reminder, to be honest, I wasn't that keen on being rich. Wasn't even sure what to do with the money. Pay off my student debts might be a good start.

"A half demon?"

"Yes. We employ only half-demons, vampires and sorcerers for security. Humans aren't that useful. His family would rely on you for healthcare. Cabal care for their employees, so he'd expect the same from you." Benicio lowered the papers. "But I imagine you'd pay it to keep the triplets watched."

Of course I would. I could apparently afford it. I nodded. I heard myself agreeing to them, to the two older men, aware that again I'd just had another decision made on my behalf. Antonio and Jeremy getting the triplets into nursery school, Benicio hiring a man for me and already arranging wages and health benefits. I tried to pretend that this didn't bother me.

He left soon after Elena came down, not even accepting a coffee, rushing for a plane back to work. I sat there and yawned, tucking my legs up, feeling buggered and not hungry for my own breakfast. Flashes of Reece's face kept haunting me, chasing me around, his laughter, or his trust, or ...and the way he'd lost that trust today. I would do anything right now to get him to come home. It was like loosing someone in my family all over again. '

Elena tried to eat beside me, as she kept nudging the plate of food at me, and I finally gave in and made myself get through the entire plateful. It felt like a chore right now. Chew, swallow, chew, swallow, chew, swallow. No pleasure in it. No hunger. Just the raw gaping hole that'd been left behind when I'd let him down.

Elena looked like she was struggling with eating as much as I was and I had to guess for different reasons, with Clayton upstairs so badly off, but we both somehow managed to do it. Finish off the 'right' sized breakfast for a werewolf.

"Elena. Why is everyone doing stuff for me?" I couldn't take it. I asked her quietly, her eyes blinking as mine met hers, and she leaned forward.

"You've seen a friend murdered, skinned and now your other friend's run off. We take care of each other. Just let us do it for a while." Elena reached out for my hand, squeezing gently. She added quieter, "I might need your help too for a few weeks. Clayton..."

"How bad is it going to be?"

"Vi warned me that he might have to relearn some things." She said it so quietly that I had to strain my ears. "It's the area of the brain for short term memory. He might not remember what happened, he might struggle for a while to hold onto short term memory, or he might struggle with words. Names."

"Or he might wake up and not understand what you are stressing about." Vi added, coming into the room, sitting on Elena's other side. "This is the worst case. He is not human."

"No." Elena tried to smile. She glanced at me though and I saw it, this trust in me, and that she might need me. Like they'd been trying to do for me, I'd have to try and be there for her, help her out.

"He is pretty stubborn." I added as Vi gave me a grateful look. "Even if something is difficult, he won't let it last long."

Vi moved around the table to check my head as I sat there, inspecting where the bricks had met my head, but she didn't seem concerned. "You can sleep now."

"Sleep? I don't feel tired anymore."

"Then go upstairs and lie in bed." She squeezed my shoulders. "Babies are happy. Triplets are playing. Children are at school. Your head is healing and sleep will hurry it. Go relax."

"That's an order." Elena added, a little firmer, but she looked tired too. "To both of us. I'm coming with you. Wake me if ..."

"I will. Rest. Both of you."

Elena followed me upstairs. When she said she'd be coming with me, she literally meaning it, and I had to admit I was glad for it. We crawled over the covers of my bed, tugging blankets over us, and somehow it worked. Her smell, my smell, the sounds of our bodies relaxing, it did ease me into sleep.

Selene

Reece had not driven all night. We'd gotten out at one point and he'd left the car somewhere they could find it, he'd apparently 'borrowed' it from that scary guy, and we'd swapped cars several times from different hire places.

Then he'd stopped at a motel, after dropping the second hired car off, a motel near an airport. We must have crossed over state lines because this airport was still more or less working. I crawled into bed while he sat nearby, watching out the window, alert.

It was strange. I didn't fully understand it, except that what I knew, what I'd discovered, it would get me killed. Maybe he blamed himself.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Reece's eyes met mine.

"Did you tell me?"

"You'd have found out sooner or later." He shrugged. "I won't let them hurt you."

I lay there on the cheap bed, watching him in the darkness, a little confused. I did have feelings for him. I'd more or less decided they had been there since I'd met him in Miami. This entire thing felt like I was being swept along by a current I couldn't swim in. Reece seemed like that. Like he was sweeping along fast.

"Would they do that? Are werewolves really like that?" I asked quietly as he sat there. He didn't seem like ...well, actually, he did. I'd seen what he did to the guy in the alley, to his friends, I saw what he'd done. Them too.

"They killed my parents. Werewolves. My mother, she was raped by them, and she escaped. My father was supposed to kill her for it. Instead he fell in love with her and adopted me." He didn't meet my eyes as he spoke, quiet, staring down at his hands. I only noticed now that one of his hands wasn't quite right. Two fingers were half gone. "They found me out when I met Daniella. She was the daughter of the Alpha in Australia and her father made her trick me into giving him their address. He killed both of them, even though it'd been years, just for daring to have a child. I don't want to risk you getting caught up in this kind of world."

"Why not let them take away my memory?"

Reece's eyes met mine in the dim light then. He scowled softly, shifting, his knee jiggling a bit. "Because you shouldn't have to give it. Like my father shouldn't have been punished for loving someone or for raising me. Just because something is a rule doesn't mean it's a good rule. You wouldn't have told anyone."

I wouldn't have. I hadn't been looking to tell the world. I'd been looking because it was a hunger in me. A need to find out that what I already knew was real, to confirm that I wasn't mad. Not completely mad anyway. "Your fingers?"

"Couple of mutts- non-pack werewolves- scaring me off." He replied quietly, staring back down at his hand. "The pack adopted me."

There it was. Regret. He regretted running. They were his family. I didn't know much about wolves in general but I knew they were pack animals, like dogs, knew that they liked family.

"Then we'll take you home." I said quietly. His head swung up and I saw panic flare in his face.

"No fucking way. Not if they're going to harm you." Reece shook his head hard and sat back up straighter, returning his gaze to outside.

Was this because he'd called me his mate? This strange Australian, who I had dreamed about, who I'd liked, and now who was sacrificing his family? It felt like much too much, much too fast, it was a bit frightening.

I lay there on the bed, shutting my eyes, not relaxing in the slightest. The bed dipped, suddenly, and hands gently turned me onto my back. I opened my eyes to find Reece there, his face softening, reaching down to pull my face in his direction.

"Hey. It's okay. Whatever happens, it's okay." He said softly, hands stroking over my tense shoulders, eyes going to where my heart was racing. "We're not staying away forever. Just till they calm down and see I'm serious about this."

"You'll be in trouble when you get back." I said softly, breath hitching as he lowered his head down to kiss my bruised throat, hair tickling my face.

"Worth it." His head dipped down to kiss me. The 'only just met you' part of it was suddenly irrelevant all over again, particularly as his body came half over mine, and I found my mouth opening for him automatically.

"This is your idea of slow dating?"

"Kissing you in a motel?" He grinned at me. "Second date. First was interesting."

"Not many girls get taken to a dungon. No." I admitted. His grin got a little more easy at that. "You still don't know a thing about me."

"Okay. Tell me about yourself." Reece shifted back, lying on his side beside me, watching me. The way he looked at me, the intense stare, I felt like the most interesting creature in the owrld. And I hadn't spoken yet.

"I went to collage and ...well, I guess you know about that. My parents died when I was nine and Alan was nineteen. He's my half brother and he raised me while working and studying. He's been there ever since." I spoke quietly, as Reece's hand came out to touch my face, brushing hair back behind my ear.

"How did they die?"

"My mum drowned. Dad couldn't cope. He committed suicide a few months later." I said it quietly. It'd been ten years and I still felt pain, still felt my eyes go damp at it, and the confusion I'd had when I was that age. How I'd wondered if I hadn't helped my dad enough or something. He'd just given up when she'd died, like I watched him die, just faded away while alive. "I found him."

"Shit." Reece slid closer, forehead meeting mine, hand stroking down my arm. "You found him?"

"Alan wasn't home. He'd already gone for college. So I … called the ambulance and then they called him. I knew he was dead. I'd seen mum dead so I knew. I didn't sleep properly for months after. I kept seeing owls everywhere. Alan swore he couldn't see them but I saw them all over the place. He took me to see a shrink and I had to keep seeing one till I left for college. Post traumatic stress disorder or something." I frowned, the grief rising up, and not just about my parents. "Alan's a skin-walker?"

"He said he wanted you to be human. Said you might not change." Reece admitted with a frown. "He asked us to not tell you."

"I wish he had." It felt like he'd betrayed me. I squeezed my eyes shut and felt those rough lips come to meet mine, hesitant, careful. This time I kissed back, maybe a little desperately, feeling Reece happily meet it.

"You said I'm your mate." I opened my eyes.

"Yeah."

"What if I am a human?" The words hung there a while.

"So what?" Reece shrugged. "My mum was human. Dad loved her. You can be anything."

"They killed your parents?" I asked quietly. There was a flash of pain there, and suddenly it was me shifting closer, an arm over him as I wished I hadn't asked.

"The Alpha had a rule. Only he could have children. My mother wasn't supposed to live and my father was supposed to make sure she didn't. He left the pack and raised me as his own. Daniella... she led them to my parents. We met at University and we fell in love. She was so much like you then." He smiled a small sad smile, face twisted in pain. "I mean, she was cute. Easily distracted. So trusting. Wanted it to go slow too. She was afraid of men and I was the first one she trusted. I thought she'd tricked me when I saw her and her father with my parents, when I saw them... and I ran away. To here."

"She tricked you?"

"I thought she did. Her father told her he was going to welcome them back and she loved me." Reece rubbed at his eye with his hand, suddenly restless. "It wasn't like that. Her father was a bastard and she wasn't the same after what he ..."

"What?"

"Some werewolves are bastards." Reece growled softly. He flinched when I touched him, when I touched his face, and blinked as if he'd only just remembered I was there. "I lost it when I saw that guy trying to force you, because … Daniella's father sold her. Traded her. Gave her to a mutt here and she was raped exactly like my mother was. I can't … any coward like that, I can't pretend I don't want to kill him." His body shook, a shudder going down his spine, and I kissed him hard. Reece stiffened under my head, only for a second, then his body pushed me onto my back, coming over mine, kissing me hard as the tremors changed.

"I can't rush this." I said quietly, staring up at him, as he pulled his head up to gaze down at me.

"Why?" There was genuine confusion, like rushing it seemed like a natural thing for him to do. Then suspicon, the shadow of that rage I kept seeing. Reece was full of it, anger, pain, all this stuff I hadn't seen when I'd first met him. Had he hidden it?

"I had a boyfriend who was a bit ..."

"Did he force you?" Reece cut me off. His face was going red again. I felt that warning in me, that 'shut up', already wanting to flinch. Go quiet. Leave the room. It was too much like my ex-boyfriend.

"No. But he hit me and drank too much." I felt myself visibly cringe and saw him shift back, suddenly, the rage draining out of his face. "I got rid of him fast. But I don't like..."

"When I get angry?" I nodded and he flopped back in the chair, breathed out slowly, his head in his hands. "Shit. Sorry. It feels like I'm going crazy. Daniella, and you, and … I don't want anyone to hurt you. The idea makes me angry. I would never touch you."

"No, but he said that too. At first. Then he lost it." I said quietly as I sat up. "Daniella was your girlfriend?"

"I was protective of her. I still loved her and she kept trying to tell me it was over. I ..." He seemed a bit regretful now, staring at me. "I made you come with me."

"I wanted to keep my memory." I reminded him, sliding up, staring at him. "You are hard to say no to, though."

He didn't answer. He returned his attention to the window, frowning, shifting back. "You get some sleep. I need to think."

I lay back down, slowly, watching him stare out the window at the rain, the occasional flash of cars lighting up the window. Reece didn't look at me again.

When I woke he was beside me, an arm over my waist, fast asleep. And we weren't alone. Nick, Anne's husband, was sitting in the room. So was his brother. Or something like that, I wasn't sure anymore, the two of them sitting there like they'd been there for hours.

Reece lifted his head and inhaled in a sharp hiss, sliding across me, between me and them in seconds.

"Reece, give it up." Nick yawned. "We're tired."

"She's not ..."

"She's not in trouble." Antonio spoke up, quiet, his dark eyes on me. "Did he drink last night?"

"No." I thought. I was asleep. It was a strange question though.

"I had bigger problems." He snapped, but he seemed to look a bit guilty. "How did you-"

"Clayton's car, hired cars, not so hard to trace." Antonio said as he stood up and came across. He ignored me, he hoisted Reece up, twisting his arm back. Reece struggled but ...somehow he wasn't fighting as well. "You drank."

"I might have."

Antonio sighed. "Okay. Here's what will happen. I'll ask for Selene to be left alone." I stared at shock at him, at this older man I barely knew, his eyes first on me and then back to Reece. "You have to come back and face the music though."

Nick yawned, stood and came to me. "Relax. Anne doesn't want you hurt. I'm going to take you back. No cage. You'll have to stay with us a bit longer though."

"No cage?" I asked quietly. "But I know stuff."

"Yeah. You do." Nick didn't look as concerned as Elena had. He glanced at his dad. "How fast can we get back?"

"Pretty fast." Antonio hoisted Reece outside and I hesitated.

"Anne'll kill me if I hurt you." Nick added, glancing at me. "You're okay. Reece is the one who should be nervous."

I followed him out slowly, watching Reece get shoved into the back seat, wincing as his head struck the side of the car. Antonio just shoved him in roughly. No wonder why he was used to violence. They were all violent and strange to me.

Nick's hand touched my arm, briefly, as he glanced back. He smiled a warm geninue smile. "Relax. He's in trouble for hurting Anne and Clayton. We're not going to kill him. Just make him sobar up in the cage."

"You won't hurt him?" I felt my voice come out without thinking about it, voice small, Reece's eyes coming to meet mine.

"Elena's going to have to punish him somehow." Antonio said as he stood there near the open door. "Let her worry about it."

She'd shoved him across a bed. I remembered that. I remembered the violent shove, the anger in her face, and shook my head. "I can't. I need to worry about it."

"All right." Antonio shut the door on Reece, coming around the car and came to me. I flinched a little as he came up, as his hand rose up, but he just stroked my arm gently. "We do fight. You know what we are. Wolves fight, not to be cruel, but because it's our way. He will be forced to run around the propery, if I'm the one to punish him, forced to run for a few hours and drink water. I'll work him till he has to vomit, till he's exhausted, then I'll make him train with me. Fighting. He's drunk. He's been drinking for weeks now and I'm going to make him sweat and vomit it all out."

It wasn't a pretty sight. Reece scowled but ...he didn't look distressed. I didn't like it. "That doesn't sound okay." I didn't know why, I didn't know why they'd even listen to me, why they'd even care what I wanted for Reece. But for some reason they did. For some reason, like Reece did, they were taking the 'mate' thing seriously.

"He's grieving over Daniella." Antonio said softer. The grip on my arm, so feathery before, tightened a fraction now. "Which I understand. My wife, Nick's mother, died a week before she did. I'm not doing this for pleasure. I'm doing this because he's my brother and I can't let him fall apart. He may have a harsher punishment when we've snapped him out of this. But he won't be killed. He won't be beaten up for the fun of it. We don't take pleasure in this."

"This isn't Reece that we know." Nick added. He glanced at his dad. "He's not like himself."

"No, he's not. You want to protect him. He's going to be protected." Antonio agreed. His eyes met mine again. "How would you punish him?"

I didn't know. I hesitated, bit my lip, staring back to Reece in the car. He sat there staring at me. "I suppose ...I don't know. He's a grown man."

"Yeah. But he's still broken some laws." Nick muttered. "And a skull. You're not going to be punished. Anne's his best friend though. My wife. We can't overdo his punishment or she'll be upset. So ...you can trust us."

I didn't know if I could. But I didn't know what else to think. "If I think up a better punishment on the drive back..."

"Then please, tell us." Antonio smiled a small smile then, lines appearing on his face, showing that this was something he did. The smile looked more natural on his face. "You've got the right to have a say in it. Come on. Let's get him home."

I got into the car. This wasn't what I'd expected when I'd believed this was real. Violence, and cruelty, and ….a hand snuck into mine, Reece shifting forward to grab it, squeezing it. I felt his lips brush my ear, gently.

"Relax. It's okay."

I wasn't sure I believed him.