As ever, disclaimers on the first chapter.

Reading back on this, I realize that this is probably the weakest of my chapters. As for why? I'm not even sure anymore. I'll be the first to admit, though, that re-reading this chapter made me cringe almost as bad as looking at some of my old art from before high school.

Nicholas

It was well past midnight before I was ready to leave the bedroom. I wasn't lying when I said I really did want the Pack to know how I knew about them. Maybe they knew some sort of trans-dimensional half-demon who could help me get back, or something, but this wasn't a fairy tale. There was serious permanent drawbacks to telling a skittish pack of werewolves that their intimate details are literary entertainment for the masses where I come from.

After Antonio had left, I had hopped into the shower to free myself of the dirt and twigs that still clung to me and my hair. As the scalding water caused the nicks and cuts on my body to sting, I focused on my almost-conversation with Antonio, wondering what I could have said or done different to make myself seem more trustworthy. I could swear up and down, until I was blue in the face, that I wasn't some mutt that will turn on them when some better offer comes along, but until I got into Clay's good graces, I was pretty much screwed.

I was sure that Clay was the key to gaining the Pack's trust. Antonio and Nick were more than willing to cautiously take me under their figurative wing; even Jeremy and Elena were willing to train me at the very least, giving me the tools I would need to make the proper decisions. Clay, though, was the hardest one to win over. More wolf than the others, he didn't have the ingrained desire to give a person the benefit of the doubt. Where normal people saw things as "innocent until proven guilty", Clay saw it as "guilty until they screw up to prove it." I was hell-bent determined to prove to Clay that I was worth the Pack's time and energy, even though it meant that I wouldn't be part of the Pack after.

Towel drying my hair, I made my way down the staircase making a mental list of things I needed. I was pretty sure becoming a werewolf didn't mean that my scalp conditions would let up. If anything, I'd get something akin to pet dander on top of it all. That meant that I needed the usual shampoos that I knew worked. My hair was too wild to let it hang loose, or just quickly tie it back like Elena does, so I would need my regular hair-ties, too. I didn't know how I planned on paying for all this, though. I didn't have any identification and it just seemed like a really bad idea to try and land a normal job anyway. It already bothered me that I was a couple hundred in debt to Jeremy for the clothes, and here I was about to ask for more in the form of toiletries and other bathroom essentials. I reassured myself that I wasn't going to be staying long, so it was okay to as for at least the bare minimum. As I passed by the study, I paused when I saw a sliver of light flickering out from under the door. I knocked softly before trying the doorknob, finding it unlocked. With a cringe at the squeak of protest that the door gave me, I leaned in and scanned the room.

The room itself was dimly lit, the main source of the light coming from the fire that was built up on the other side of the room. At the desk, a small goose-neck lamp was turned on. It's soft, warm glow was almost lost in the harsh brightness of a laptop screen that glowed right next to it. I blinked a bit, watching as Nick scowled at the screen in front of him. His fingers fairly flew over the keys as he typed, followed by rapid clicking of an external mouse.

I straightened and cleared my throat to announce my presence as I stepped into the room. It became an immediate regret when I felt the first dripping of water from my hair stream down my back and soak my shirt. It was too late to back out by that time, because Nick and paused mid-keystroke and blinked at me from across the room.

"Hey," I said softly, giving him my best awkward half-smile. "Am I interrupting anything?"

Nick frowned and shook his head. He didn't answer until he finished what he was typing and closed the laptop, sentencing us to the warm glow of the old lamp and the fire. "I probably needed the interruption. This project has me frustrated. What are you doing up?"

I shrugged a bit. "Couldn't sleep. Common problem of mine. Either can't get to sleep or I can't move once I do." I felt my lips move to their more natural position of a smirk.

He nodded, as if he completely understood the gibberish that just fell from my mouth. I chewed nervously on the inside of my lip, actually worried that I had stepped in on something that I shouldn't have. We were quiet for a few moments longer before he looked up at me and gave me an easy smile.

"Want some ice cream with me?"

I grinned at him. "As long as there's chocolate!"

"I'm tellin' you, Nick, your choice in colors is your problem here!"

I pointed at the laptop monitor, twisting my wrist so that my finger was drawing an invisible circle in the air around the screen. Our ice cream bowls were sitting, forgotten and melted, on the side of the table. While in the kitchen, Nick had told me that he started taking over the web design aspect of his father's company and he was working on his very first project. Somehow I convinced him to allow me to take a look at it, suggesting that a fresh eye may be what he needs to get the project going again.

His look of disbelief that I was interested in the website told me that he was still stuck, mentally, in the pre-computer age. That caveman time of only geeks and nerds knowing computers and that women found jocks far more attractive than a man with brains. You'd think he'd have learned watching Clay, the only man-wolf who held a PhD in Anthropology (emphasis on man-beast tribes), that brains were just as attractive these days. Uh, not that I was interested or anything.

"Reds and greens?" I wrinkled my nose at the site mock-up. "Unless this is a temporary Holiday site of a severely Christian-constipated group, you might as well kiss this client goodbye."

He growled at me, more of the human variety than wolf-like. "It's the colors I found."

"So change them." I leaned back in the chair and looked up at him. As my head bumped his chest and my line of vision showed me the underside of his chin, I realized for the first time that he was actually leaning over me.

"They don't come in--"

"Change them!"

I didn't wait for him to respond. With a sigh, I did a quick scan of the application dock at the bottom of the monitor. I didn't see anything resembling Photoshop or GIMP down there, so I opened his Finder and scrolled through the applications on his MacBook in search of an art program. After three visual scans of the applications, I felt my jaw tighten with frustration. I was sure the company provided Photoshop for the rest of the web team. Why didn't he have it on this computer?

"Well, your first problem is you're using a Mac, but that's to be expected in this line of work." I shut the laptop and stood, turning to face him. "Your other one is you don't have any software to tweak images with. No Photoshop, GIMP, nothin'."

Nick frowned at his laptop, as if he could get what he needed done by intimidating it. He was quiet so long that I decided to leave him alone. Just as I grabbed the two ice cream bowls and stepped around him, he caught my arm to stop me and took the dishes from me.

"Come with me and Antonio to the office next week, then. You can show me how to use Photoshop, since you seem to know it."

I frowned a bit, not sure if I was ready to leave Stonehaven. What if it was too soon? What if I wasn't in as much control as I felt I was. I wasn't exactly known for my infinite patience before and now that temper came with fangs, fur and claws.

"Please? You'll be fine. You'll have me and Tonio there."

My mouth fell open in surprise as I looked up at him. I wasn't sure how he was able to guess at my worries. When I realized that I was catching flies, I looked away and thought about it for a moment. "If Jeremy gives his stamp of approval," I said quietly, "I'll go with you."

"Fair enough."