Alec had been with us two weeks. He was fitting in just fine. I didn't even have to phase to hunt with him; Chelsea and Marcus always came along and chased him down when he went off track. It was amazingly pleasant.

The ladies were taking over the operation of one of the hotels in town. Marcus was helping with renovations to some of the suites before they reopened for the summer. I'd voiced my concerns on them staying in a building surrounded by humans. They reminded me that they were taking turns at the desk so no one would have to endure too long. Also, the vast majority of the time, all the humans were either in their individual rooms, with their scent safely tucked behind doors, or not in the hotel at all. Finally, they held up their spotless record in the two years since Lucia and Ren had joined us. How could I argue with the proudest statistic I had?

Easily, they wanted to take Alec with them.

"No way. He is not ready for that."

"Sure I am. I only step out when I'm on the hunt. I'm not completely without self-control," he argued.

I narrowed my eyes on his orange ones. He had cheated before leaving Forks. That was on Jacob's head, I didn't blame myself for that. Still, how could he question me when the proof was on his face. The sense of entitlement coming off this pansy was enough to kill me. He had been the golden boy for so long, he didn't seem to realize he was bottom rung here.

"I said you're not. I want all of the red out of your eyes. I want you to have a month with no one stopping you mid-hunt." His face grew more indignant with each stipulation. "And I want you in a yoga workshop."

That turned heads all over the room.

"What? What does yoga have to do with anything?"

I met Chelsea's eye and she smiled slyly and nodded. "Just this. Hot sweaty humans. For a four hour stretch. Twenty bodies in a room little larger than this. You can handle that, I won't worry about you when some mother comes down the stairs clutching her screaming toddler. Deal?"

I held my hand out to him. He looked at it skeptically. I shrugged. "You can just stick around the house. No skin off my-"

"Deal." He grabbed my hand and squeezed it painfully. I just bared my teeth and squeezed back. It made the strain on my tendons worse, but I didn't care. I wasn't letting this punk-kid push me around.

He dropped my hand like it was a hot coal. "Damn. Are you always that hot?"

"Mmm, yeah." Marcus answered for me and I blushed. Which of course brought him instantly to my side.

Alec shook his hand. "I'd like to hunt tonight," he said crossing his arms. "If I'm going to have to go a month, I want to start as soon as possible."

"Fine by me. I'll see you at dusk."

Alec proceeded to meet all my conditions. I still accompanied all his hunts, but he never needed to be pulled off a human trail. He came to my yoga class and raised the temperature of the room as he entered. Being that he was cold as ice, I found the fact funny. Of course, he hadn't expected aroused sweaty humans. Several cougars were looking to pounce before I pulled them off the poor boy.

"Ladies. This is my husband's cousin. I'd appreciate if you didn't sully his innocence." There were titters, but they took the warning as that. This was my family and I'd flay the one who tried to put her hooks in him.

The class was the last condition. He picked up his mat and headed straight for the hotel. I glared after him as I tidied the room. I was sure he wasn't going to be that easy.

I sat chatting with Chelsea about a couple of mutual clients. There were several families who benefited from Chelsea's intervention after I'd helped them remove some of the obstacles to their relationships. I looked up to see Alec. I hadn't seen him in a few days, he being at the hotel so much. I hadn't hunted with him since he started helping there either. He looked at me and turned quickly for the stairs.

"Wait." I jumped up and ran to him.

He turned slowly. His eyes were burnt orange. "What happened? Who was with you?"

He looked to Chelsea, so I did as well. "You?" I accused.

"No," she whispered.

"Who?" I demanded. I felt heat roll down my spine. I was going to phase if I wasn't careful.

"Marcus," Chelsea continued to whisper. Now I knew why she did. I felt the bottom fall out of my stomach.

"When?" I wanted to cry. "And how?" I shook my head and felt the tears starting to flow. "Never mind. He's at the hotel, right? Chelsea, make sure he doesn't leave." I ran out the door without waiting for an answer.

"Leah!" Alec called after me, but I didn't wait. I ran into the hotel, nodding briefly to Ren before running up the stairs, following my nose. I stepped in and closed the door behind me. Marcus had heard someone coming, but probably didn't know it was me until I entered the room. Then again, the bond might have warned him. In either case, he had already turned off his sander.

"Leah? What's wrong?" He was instantly at my side. I pushed away from him.

"You know very well what is wrong. How could you? How could you not tell me!" I started circling the room trying to hold off the bitch. I needed to be able to speak. "I'm not going to ask how you could let this happen. I don't want to know that. But to not tell me! This is my territory, Marcus. These people are under my protection. How could you not-" My voice cracked. Hot tears were falling down my cheeks. I let him hold me now.

"I'm sorry, Leah. I didn't know what to say, how to tell you. He blinded me. When I could see again, he'd already disposed of the body. I don't even know who it was." His voice was heavy with emotion, too.

"He blinded you?" I had known Alec could do that, but he hadn't since coming here. He could leave a person completely unaware of everything around them, black and silent. It scared the crap out of me. "Why would he do that?"

"He was gone when I came to. I haven't seen him since."

I nodded. "I failed." I held his shirt and hid my face in it. I hadn't felt this vulnerable in a long time. "Someone died on my watch. Someone I didn't try to protect. I should never have relied on you and the others. This is my duty."

Marcus squeezed my shoulders. "No, Leah. You should count on us. We need each other as much as you for this to work. That's part of the reason we've stayed together. You showed us that. We can help each other. Don't blame yourself for what he did. He could have done the same to you." He stroked my hair but I couldn't let his comfort in. It was my fault, just not all my fault.

"I need to see him again. He's at the house." My voice was steel. I ran from the hotel. Marcus was at the door just ahead of me. He was going to be seen. I growled at him, but he held the door open to me.

Chelsea stood still in the middle of the living room. I ran to her shaking her shoulders. "Chelsea? Where is he, Chelsea?"

"He's blinded her, too."

"He is pieces." I ripped off my shirt and shorts, phasing and tracking. I found him north of town, standing over another tourist. I lunged at him, giving the woman a chance to run. I closed my jaws on his arm just before everything went black. I didn't let go. I may not be able to see it, but that arm was still in my mouth. I dropped it and phased back to human.

"Alec. Why are you doing this? If you really don't want this diet, why did you stay?" I couldn't even hear myself speak, but if I knew how his gift worked, he could. "Go back to Volterra, but don't stay here. You aren't helping the others. You must know what you are doing is wrong or you wouldn't be hiding like this. Please. Either let us help, or leave. You can't pretend to do both."

I could see again and Alec was standing beside me. He wasn't any bigger than me, young when he was changed. His orange eyes were filled with shame. He kept looking away when I tried to meet his eyes.

"Why Alec? Was the temptation too much? Too many humans too close together? You kept it up for the whole month so easily. What changed?" I tried to put on the councillor hat and banish the bitch that I still felt just under my skin.

"I – I needed..." I waited, less than patiently, but quietly at least. I stretched a little, trying to fight the bitch. "I needed to know I could. When it was too much, I could still break away and..."

I shook my head. "You didn't know if you could get around us and take a human? You really don't understand, do you? You will always be able to. Humans will always be there, easy prey. The hard part is not preying on them, not getting permission to. If all you wanted was permission, you could go back to Volterra. They'll happily join you in your feeding. You came here for a reason, Alec. What was it?"

"Jane." He looked at my bare toes and I wiggled them, trying to urge him to look up. His eyes rose slowly and then jumped to my face when he was reminded I was still naked. I really didn't care. This was more important.

"Jane?"

"I never had a mate, but Jane and I were twins, closer than siblings. I don't imagine the pain is anything like Suplicia's, but I miss that connection. I hoped..."

"You know why we have those bonds here, right? It's not Chelsea. It's not something forced or fake. It's a bond that came from us working together, helping each other. You aren't helping them, like I said. You're hurting the whole family. We are happy to have you, Alec. You are welcome to join us, but you have to be willing to work with us, let us help you. You will always be able to run from us, blind us, trick us. Real bonds are based on trust. You're going to have to earn our trust back."

"Your trust?" he frowned, no longer avoiding my eyes.

"That's going to be the hardest. You knew that, didn't you?"

He nodded. "That's why I did this on a hunt you weren't on." He stepped a little closer to me. "How will I ever earn your trust? You never trusted me."

"You need to work for it. Have you ever worked for anything, Alec?"

He looked down again and shook his head. Seth had never been this mopey. I pushed the bitch a little further away and put my arms around his shoulders. "It's all right, Alec. I know you miss her. I know you're doing this for her. You let her down last night, too. You let us all down."

He shuddered in my arms. "I'm sorry."

"I hope you are. I hope you understand. Because I'm going to give you another chance. Dammit, Alec. If you'd been hunting with Marcus and just given him the slip, I'd be mad, but I could handle that. You planned this. You chose to hunt that person; it wasn't an accident, the heat of the moment." I felt the ripple and knew I wasn't going to be able to fight it this time. "You need to understand."

I still had my hands on his shoulders when the claws came out. I tore his shirt even as my jaws found his arm again. I felt myself going blind and latched onto his leg before it took me. The last thing I heard was Marcus. "Leah, enough."

I didn't seem to be blind long when Marcus stood where Alec had been. He was a little behind Marcus, his clothes in worse condition than before.

"You've made your point, Leah. I'm not going to let you tear into him anymore."

He wasn't going to let me? I snarled and felt the blindness coming again.

"No, Alec. Leave her be. If she wants to tear me apart she can, but she isn't touching you."

The blackness receded and Alec streaked out of sight.

"I was listening, Leah. You got your message across, but you were going to undo it. I couldn't let you do that."

Again with the 'letting' me. I growled again and my heckles rose. He closed his eyes, surrendering. The bitch lost it, and I lost control of her. When I came to myself again, my beautiful husband lay in pieces around me. I phased back, sobbing. I was no better than any of them. I couldn't control myself any better than Alec. How could I have done this? I sniffled and pulled one of Marcus' legs closer to his torso. I was shaking and it took a few tries to line it up properly. I found his arm, the bracelet, the Wei Ha, still tied there, and I couldn't handle it. I phased back to wolf and ran with no intention of ever turning back.

I'd spent enough time as a wolf, I should have known it wouldn't be that easy. I hadn't gone more than a couple miles before I was curled up, human, whimpering and crawling to hide. The wolf doesn't grieve. The wolf was has no concept of guilt or betrayal. The form rejected me.

"Leah?" I snapped my head up, tucking myself further into the craggy crevice I'd found. "Leah, it's Chelsea. Come on out. It's all right."

I sniffled again. "N-o-o-o. It's no-ot all r-right." I stuttered through my tears. "I lost it. I-I'm no better than-"

"Fool!" she snapped at me. "Why would you be better than us? Wasn't that the point? Now stop feeling sorry for yourself and get that skinny ass out here."

Chelsea was trying to be hard, but her high voice just didn't do it properly. I continued to cower, turning her words over in my head. She was right. I was able to help them because I had the same problem they did. Humans would always be there, and so would the bitch.

"If you don't come out, I'm bringing Lucia."

That worked. "No, not Lucy. I'm coming." I pushed myself out. Chelsea held out a sundress to me. She was sparkling in the sunlight. "Thanks. How is Marcus?"

"He's fine. You knew that." She smiled at me.

I nodded.

"He's fine, Leah. Stop beating yourself up. When we lose it, people die, when you lose it, you wreck some clothes. Let's face it, I'd rather have you slipping up."

I blubbered a chuckle. "Yeah. You just put yourselves back together."

"Exactly. Now come home."

I stepped through the door cautiously. I looked up through a curtain of hair. Alec was the only one in the room. I sighed and tossed my hair back. "How're you, kid?"

He snorted. "You realize I'm over a century old, right?"

"Yeah, and you still want a big sister. So suck it up, kid." I smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Are you okay?" he asked now.

I shrugged. "I've had better days." My lip started to tremble. The piercing smell of vampire and four cold arms surrounded around me. I laughed a little at Chelsea pressed to my back and Alec pressed to my front. "Okay, really, personal space. Look into it."

Chelsea laughed and let go. Alec continued clinging to my waist. "You're so hot."

I bopped him on the head with a fist. "I want to see if my husband is all in one piece, thank you."

"Yeah, but, you're hot... Okay." He reluctantly backed off. I continued to shake my head.

"You watch your step, junior."

He rolled his eyes. "Seriously, I'm a hundred years older than you."

"Uh-huh." I ignored him, passing through the kitchen to the back. Chelsea was suddenly on my arm again.

"Leah. He, um. He isn't in one piece." She handed me something and my eyes went wide. It was a piece of Marcus. A piece he was definitely missing.

"Did I take this off?" I was shocked as she put his shaft into my hand. I almost dropped it.

She grinned at me. "Yes. You dismembered him."

"Oh, just stop. That's awful. Why did you take it?" I asked her now.

She snickered. "It wasn't me." She covered her mouth and continued to giggle.

"Who?"

She shook her head and fanned herself, obviously still fighting the laughter. "Uh-uh. I'm not telling. Just... keep it warm..." She lost it then and left me standing there continuing to hold my husband's unmentionables.

I looked at it. Why was it hard? Oh, I really didn't need to be thinking about this. It twitched in my hand and I nearly dropped it again. "Chelsea!" I yelled for her. Was it supposed to do that?

"Yes, Leah? Oh." Her eyes were wide on the squirming penis. "I can't say I've seen them like that often. Um. What do you want to do with it?"

"Disgusting!" I retorted immediately at her suggestion.

"Well, it's not like it hasn't been there before."

"Seriously. Shut up."

"I'm just saying."

"No, no, go away." I walked away from her, still clutching the gyrating dong. I tiptoed into our rooms, the out-building. Marcus wasn't there, but it was obvious he had been. Our room looked like someone had just robbed us. Things were tossed everywhere. "Marcus?" I called, knowing if he was anywhere nearby he would hear me. No answer. In the meantime my thumb had been idly stroking the shaft and it was more rigid and still, almost throbbing.

"Damn you, Chelsea." I would never have considered this otherwise, but now I got a little smile on my face and licked the icy tip. Plunge down, suck up, lick around the top. This was bizarre. I held it tightly and it started moving again. I had to feel that. I was blushing ten shades of red as I spread my legs, putting the tip to myself. I heard a noise at the door and shoved in, pulling my shorts up.

Marcus came into the room a moment later and hugged me tightly. I gasped as there was a twitch inside me. Then he backed up anger in his eyes. "Why, Leah?"

I hung my head. "I lost control. The wolf took over. By the time I knew what I was doing, you were in pieces. That's why I ran."

He softened slightly. "I know a little bit about losing control." He put an arm around my shoulders. "I could see it coming. That's why I stopped you."

"But you didn't stop me, Marcus. I ripped you apart. I saw the Wei Ha still on your arm, even though you weren't moving, you weren't..." I was losing it again. I choked on tears when I felt a movement inside me again. Why had I done that? I felt worse than ever now.

"I forgive you, Leah. Just, tell me where you hid it."

"What?"

"If you were so upset, why did you take it at all?"

"What are you talking about?"

He looked right at me and I blushed. Right. I hadn't taken or hid it, so I was a little slow on the uptake.

"Tell me, Leah."

I shook my head, unable to speak. I rubbed my thighs together as I was suddenly very warm.

He growled. "Fine. When you're ready to tell me, you can find me."

"No." I jumped up, but too slowly. I heard only a few of his steps. I decided to start cleaning our room up. I wondered when he'd come back.

I slept without seeing him twice. I accompanied Chelsea and Alec on a hunt. He let himself go this time and I realized he hadn't been hunting so much as tracking before. That was why he had never gone off the path. He let himself go now and Chelsea stopped him when he went after the wrong scent. I caught up and she still had her hands on his forearms.

"Are you all right, Alec?" I asked.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"No. Don't apologize for this. Even Marcus still does this. This is why we hunt together," Chelsea reminded him.

"She's right. You let go; you really tried. That means more than whether you succeed or fail. You tried." I hugged him now. "I'm proud of you."

"Thank you, Leah."

I had no idea why my trust, my pride, my esteem meant so much to him. I was glad it did though. I don't think he could have been a part of our family without that.

That night I tracked Marcus down. He was in a storage room in the hotel, whittling. "Really?" I asked when I saw what he was doing.

"Well, I can't seem to focus on anything big. I'm a bit distracted."

I almost laughed, but managed to stop it before it bubbled out. "I can understand why you might be." I had left him at home. Walking like that was not easy. "On the other hand, you might have new focus without..."

"Don't," he warned. "How long?"

"Pardon me?" I didn't understand his question.

"Till you give it back."

"You are a smart man, Marcus. I'm sure you'll get your hands on it soon enough." I kissed his cheek and turned to walk away.

"You are an evil woman."

"So I've been told," I said over my shoulder, closing the door behind me. I ran out of the hotel before doubling over laughing. Then I went home to play some more.

It was the next night he came to our room. I just had time to throw the cover over my legs. He twitched inside me and I groaned as the door opened.

He saw me lying in the bed and his eyes raked over my exposed chest. I felt a throb inside. "Don't mind me. I'm just going to look again."

I licked my lips. "By all means. This is your room." I watched him look through a chest of drawers. "I've missed you," I told his back. I squeezed against the cock inside me. I watched the muscles of his back and shoulders move as he changed shirts. He must have been wearing that one for days. I felt more heat inside me. My hand moved to my breast.

He looked over his shoulder at me, his black hair hanging into his eyes. "Really? I thought you still had me."

I shook my head and bit my lip. "Not enough."

His eyes fell on the hand on my breast and a light came to his eyes. "You want more?" he asked. "You would take something else?"

I squeezed again. "No, not take. Give." I moved my hand under the blankets but he stopped it, gripping my elbow.

"Wait," he whispered. His breath in my ear made me shiver. The dong moved again and I bit off a shriek. "I think you can take a little more first."

He was insane, but apparently so was I, otherwise I wouldn't have his disembodied body in my own. His lips moved down my neck and over my breast.

"I'm sorry, Marcus." The words were stuttered as my breath caught in my throat. His cold lips on nipple, his warm hardness inside me. It throbbed and I cried.

"Leah." He chuckled. "Don't ever do this again."

"Never," I vowed.

He slid his pants down as he pushed my cover aside. My legs were slick and writhing. I was going to climax on the shivering, pulsating rod inside me.

"Marcus," I begged moving my hand to pull it out.

He stopped me. "Not yet." He gave my clit one lick and I crashed.

"No! Oh god! Please. Please." I shook and clenched and arched and screamed.

Marcus slid his body up mine, covering me fully, pressing me into the bed. "Oh," he moaned as he tensed. "There."

Now he pulled it from me, only to thrust again. I continued to scream. "Never. Again." I panted between cries.

"Never," he agreed.

Credit to Evieeden (http:/www()fanfiction()net/u/2141372/) for her blow job description. All blow jobs should be described that way, apparently. Go read her stuff. Do it.

Thanks to Sharebear for her constant Beta. Sorry if I made you pee your pants on this one. I almost did the same.