Emily didn't get a chance to talk to Jasyn about the night with Arion for several days after, on account of Sanctuary being in uproar. Due to her time being spent mainly with Jasyn who led a very solitary existence even at a boisterous place like Sanctuary, Emily was not always aware of things that were going on in the household until the whole of Sanctuary were affected by them. The bears were in a bit of a huff anyway because of something to do with Aimee but they were all pretty tight lipped about it. Margie mentioned that Aimee had fallen in love with a wolf named Fang whom her parents disapproved of; Emily thought it was a case of extreme double standards going on considering that the unmated male members of the bear clan were shacking up with different, unscrupulous woman every night of the week. Also all hands were now on deck because of a large clan of Katagari tigers had arrived seeking sanctuary after barely surviving an attack by Arcadian sentinels. Emily, being trained in basic first aid for human and animals, worked closely with Margie and Carson trying to help the wounded.

"Damn it!" Carson cursed, his hands buried deep inside a pregnant tiger he was performing a caesarean on while Margie concentrated on trying stem the blood flow from a wound in her back. Emily watched threw the pane of glass in the other smaller section of the surgery where she was treating cuts and bruises and stitching minor wounds. The obvious amount of pain the female was in was very distressing to Emily who had never been able to cope with the trauma of childbirth. Emily bent her head and focused on the task at hand, she was bandaging the broken paw of a tiger cub, Emily had worked with tigers before and knew that being small did not stop the cubs from biting when in pain. This cub was too frightened to even bite her or scratch her; Emily wanted to cry as it shook with fear. She cut the bandage and secured it then picked the cub up in the towel she had wrapped it in; Emily lowered it into a little box that she'd lined with blankets. At the moment they were in so much chaos that no one had informed her of the cub's parents, their whereabouts or if the cub had any relation amongst the adult tigers at all. Emily had tried to communicate with it through her telepathy but found the cub far too traumatised to speak.

As efficient as Carson was he's inability to keep proper records and data meant that at times of great confusion such as this he lost track of what he was meant to be doing. Emily had stopped him from trying to treat the same tiger three times, it seemed even Were men had difficulty with multi-tasking, for Margie had no trouble keeping track of who she had treated and who needed treatment. To make things easier on everyone Emily had begun to label the patients, names and numbers had been written on their casts and bandages or stuck on their beds. Always a stickler for organisation, Emily had gone so far as to record those names and numbers on file and what they were treated for and by whom.

"No!" Carson shouted, "No, no, no, no!"

The beeping from the monitor the tiger was hooked up to slowed down then flat lined, try as they might the combined efforts of two dedicated individuals could not bring the mother back. Emily moved into the room and went to relieve Margie of the cubs; Margie gave her a grateful look then moved back to the gurney and covered the mama tiger with a sheet. Emily swallowed the bile in her throat, there was so much red all around, not just from the tiger on the gurney but others that had been there that day, some had lived and others, like this female, had died. Carson was snapping his bloodied gloves off and throwing them from him, suppressed rage was so near the surface that it looked like one careless word could have him bringing the house down. The doctor hawk prowled around the surgery as if looking for something to vent on, Margie kept her head down and focused on the clearing up. She'd obviously come into contact with this side of Carson before, the frustrated doctor, the compassionate nature that caused him so much pain. Emily rubbed the afterbirth from the cubs, she made sure their airways were clear and tucked them together in warm blankets.

"We need milk for them," she said, glancing at Carson then at Margie when she got no joy from him.

"I'll see what I can do," Margie said nodding, "their may even be a mother in here somewhere whose still expressing."

She left the room, taking the bloodied trash with her; Emily looked over at Carson who looked terrible.

"Are you okay, Carson?" Emily whispered, the surgery was quiet now, as if out of respect for the deceased, any sound louder then that seemed a violation of the respect for the dead.

"Do I look okay, Emily?" Carson said with a slight bite in his voice, he wasn't looking at her. He was taking off his apron and had started to wash his hands.

"Well, it would be a lie if I said you looked great," Emily murmured tonelessly, Carson glared at her through the mirror above the sink where he scrubbed down.

"You think that's funny?" he accused fiercely, his eyes furious and black; Emily blinked and looked at him.

"Huh?" she said confused.

"A joke like that? At a time like this?" he growled, snapping paper towels from the machine on the wall, Emily frowned.

"I didn't make a joke," Emily said warily, the guy actually looked a little crazy. He scared her far more then Jasyn would if he were in such a mood. Perhaps it was because until recently Jasyn had always been in that type of mood, and Carson was always placid and kind.

"When Margie comes back I'll give you guys a hand moving the body," Emily said quietly, trying to change the subject from her apparent attempt at humour. Had there not been the body of a mother lying on the table between them and her orphaned cubs in the room, Emily would have given Carson a piece of her mind, for she had never found anything less humourless in her life.

"No," Carson objected abruptly, "I'll do it. She died on my operating table, I'll do it …"

There was a pause and a tense silence filled the room, Emily swallowed before speaking again.

"You did all you could, Carson," she consoled kindly, looking at him with pity in her eyes.

"I wouldn't have had to do 'all I could' if it hadn't been for -" Carson bit his lip and turned his back on her, his voice had been so full of rage.

"Hadn't been for what, Carson?" Emily demanded, a chill in her voice as she spoke to him now. Carson whipped around to face her, his eyes mad with anger and pain.

"Arcadians!" he snarled, "there. Happy? Arcadians, humans, your kind!"

Emily was used to Jasyn giving her the 'our kind your kind' speech but she'd never expected it from Carson and it took her aback.

"Your people did this!" Carson cried, "This is what you come from. A race of murderers! A race of villains and heartless executioners!"

"How dare you!" Emily hissed, "For your information I do not have a kind! How dare you think you can categorise me in the same box as a bunch of merciless butchers because of my parentage! How dare you think to blame me for the actions of another person because we come from the same race! How backward are you that you would think that?"

Margie walked back into the room with bottles of milk in her hands and Dev was beside her, Emily shoved past both of them.

"If he wants anymore help from me tell him he can go fuck himself!" Emily cried jerkily over her shoulder and went to her room. She slammed the door so hard that had someone been standing with their fingers on the jamb they would have lost them. Too angry to cry, Emily just paced the length of her room at a march trying to shake the sudden adrenaline surge from her body. Her limbs were trembling with anger; her heart was such a mix of deeply distressing emotions and her mind awash with disturbing thoughts. Emily hated being judged and disliked for things that weren't her fault or of her doing. She didn't cause these atrocities to happen and though she didn't like that the race she was from were known for committing such crimes, Emily didn't carry a sense of shame or disgrace. She was indignant to think that people would expect her to! Emily didn't feel a specific connection to her Arcadian heritage, she felt like she was lost somewhere in between the two races, or more like between the two species: the Were-Hunter world and the human one. And the fact was Emily knew that there were good Arcadians out there, she knew for instance that Dev and Papa bear were Arcadian. She hadn't said it to anyone because both bears hid their scent pretty well and all the other Weres could not sense it but Emily could smell in them that same gene which she associated with herself. She hated that it was like some shameful secret, like a birth defect that you had to be ashamed of. That to be accepted and respected you have to be Katagaria in this place. You could not simply be a Were-Hunter who couldn't care less about genetics but focused on merit. Under all this indignation Emily was so full of fear and pain. She could not believe that one person could do this to another. Emily could not believe that a species so extraordinary and in possession of knowledge far beyond that of the human race could not overcome this war between them, could not move out of the era of blood debts and honour battles. That they could not at least acknowledge the futility and stupidity of the war, and recognise that if the Fates had caused this hatred between them, that they with their free will had the power to put a stop to it. Surely for the sake of their children and cubs they would want to try?

There was a knock on her bedroom door, Emily answered and wasn't all that surprised to see Dev there, obviously if an argument is going on in his family home he's going to want to know what it was all about. He gave her a friendly, commiserating smile that Emily didn't return, he gestured with his head before he spoke.

"Can I come in?" he asked politely.

"It's your house," Emily muttered tersely before wandering back to her bed and sitting on it, Dev followed her in with a small chuckle and closed the door.

"It's your room," he countered.

"No it isn't," Emily stated definitely, Dev gave her a sad look.

"Carson feels terrible about you two arguing."

"Good," Emily said balefully, Dev winced slightly, realising this might not be as easy as he'd originally thought. Emily might be a nice girl but even she admitted she had a vindictive streak.

"He's very sorry about it."

"So he should be," Emily sniffed not the least bit apologetic herself. Dev eased himself down on the bed beside her and angled himself towards her, resting his hands on his jeans clad knees.

"You see the thing between Katagari and Arcadians -" Dev begun but Emily cursed crudely.

"I am so sick of this bullshit!" Emily shouted as she flew from the bed and marched across the room; she whipped the door open then stood there with the door held in one hand looking at Dev.

"What is it with you people?" she yelled, "why can't the lot of you grow up and take some fucking responsibility!"

Unbeknown to Emily, people had begun to poke their heads from their own rooms and from downstairs to hear her rant.

"Arcadian this, Katagari that! I am sick of you thinking that I will stand there and take all this shit people are giving me because … what? They're mad at people I share a fraction of my genetic code with?"

Dev winced at how trivial and immature she made the whole thing sound.

"It's more complicated then that! You've got to understand -"

"I don't have to understand anything!" Emily hollered so loudly her throat hurt, "Because I understand you all perfectly and have uncomplicated this situation for you. Your lives are long and boring and meaningless! You are consumed with and consist of nothing more then hate! What have you to show for the centuries that you've been alive? What do you do when you're not working, when you're not fucking around looking for your mates or when you finally get your mates for that matter? I see absolutely no joy in any of your way of life. Your entire existence on this earth is mapped out by fate, the people you love and the people you hate. My God, humans may be cruel and selfish but at least we celebrate our free will. Most countries laws are based on the fact that we have free will and are responsible for our individual actions!"

"The Katagaria have suffered more then you will ever know because of Arcadians," Dev shouted back at her, standing up.

"And is that my problem?" Emily screamed, "Is that what you live for? To hate someone for something they had no idea existed? You are all sheep! Mindless, dull, stupid sheep! No wonder the Were-Hunter race is on the brink of extinction when you have sheep too stupid to realise that they are killing themselves."

Emily stamped into the hallway and Dev followed her, both red in the face and furious, she turned to him.

"I mean, come on!" she said hoarsely, "is that really all you see when you look at me? An Arcadian? Because I see a woman and a were-hunter who has just spent half the day cleaning and stitching wounds of Katagaria tigers and comforting their young with pity in her heart. There was no animal and human divide. Simply humanity and compassion! It was everyone else that made it complicated."

Dev didn't say anything else and Emily desperately wanted him to, she wanted someone to explain to her so she could understand why it was so hard for them to see the bigger picture? She needed to know why they were letting fate rule their lives. Emily spun on her heel and stomped down the stairs, every landing she went passed stood were-hunters of every description staring at her. Stiffening her spine and sticking her chin in the air Emily refused to acknowledge them, she walked through to the bar, passed Remi. He didn't look up as she swished passed him but at the door Emily distinctly heard him speak.

"I'd be careful if I were you, lady hawk."

Emily huffed defiantly and moved into the street, she felt utterly wretched and miserable. Being a Were-Hunter had completely complicated her relatively simple life, she had thought it wondrous at the beginning but now she rather wished she were human again. The heavy barrage of accidents, insults, hatred and blame she'd experienced all because she was Arcadian was wearing her down now. A part of her was feeling stung by the inability of everyone to see past what she was to who she was, and she was rather indignant on behalf of the Arcadians who couldn't always have been the trouble makers. For God sake, the law of averages said that Katagaria had to be wrong on one occasion! Emily thought resentfully.

Emily didn't know New Orleans all that well, Jasyn had only ever taken her to the Bayou and since most people in Sanctuary were on the run, it wasn't like they relished taking a mid-day stroll out in the open. Especially not with her. After an hour or so her feet began to ache, she'd left Sanctuary without her purse and couldn't just go and sit in a café somewhere and brood. Emily stopped outside a doll shop and peered through the window at a cute, little old lady who was showing a little girl a pretty doll with a porcelain face.

"Hey."

Emily looked over her shoulder at Jasyn, he had his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans and was giving her a rather handsome smirk which was a tad to teasing to make it kind. Emily rolled her eyes, expecting him to tell her how out of line she was and how she was truly coming into her Arcadian own right now. Jasyn let out a defensive huff of a laugh and gave her a harmless, I'm-just-looking-at-you expression. She couldn't muster up any type of light-hearted play so she turned back to the window; the girl's mother was paying for the doll now. Jasyn came up silently by her side and gave her shoulder a comforting nudge with his own.

"Am I being thrown out of Sanctuary?" Emily sighed miserably; Jasyn rolled his eyes at her.

"Don't you ever listen to what I tell you things?" he snapped impatiently, "you can only incur a ban from Sanctuary if you violate the rules of house. Number one being you can't physically attack another person while in Sanctuary. Though I would like a few people thrown out for just being plain stupid. But luckily for you having a difference of opinion doesn't get you the boot."

Emily crossed her arms against the glass and buried her face in them, she moaned pitifully.

"New York, New York it's a wonderful town …" she sang tunelessly to herself, missing her lonely yet homely little apartment terribly.

The corner of Jasyn's mouth turned up, he looked inside the doll shop and saw that the little girl was now pointing at another doll that caught her eye.

"So are you here? Comforting yourself?" he teased, "thinking of buying yourself a doll to revive your childhood."

"I've never owned a doll or played with one," Emily said carelessly and pulled back from the glass, Jasyn wanted to bite his lip; he sometimes forgot that she hadn't had the ideal childhood. They began to walk with each other down the street, Jasyn wondered if she knew she was heading back to Sanctuary. He felt quite sorry for her, as much as he disliked Arcadians; Jasyn admitted that her time in New Orleans hadn't been easy. She'd had to learn things about their world that weren't pretty or nice, like how friends can turn on you. Jasyn had no love for the young doctor hawk and liked him even less now that he had hurt Emily. Emily suddenly turned to him as they crossed the mouth of an alley, her eyes were fiery and determined, her face set in stone.

"Jasyn, I want you to start teaching me how to control my magic," she said firmly, Jasyn nodded and said nothing.

"Like now," Emily prompted, "its imperative I learn as soon as possible."

"Emily," Jasyn hesitated. He didn't want to offend her but he didn't know how else to put into words her irritating need to be the best at something or accomplish things that were for the most part practically impossible for young Weres of her age to do. "There are some things that you just can't do at your age. Your magic needs time to mature before you can do some of the stuff that other Weres can."

"Well, I'm not like other Weres, Jasyn," she said impatiently, "and I don't have time to wait. I have a life in New York I have to get back to."

That was like a slap in the face for Jasyn, he didn't know why he felt the sting of her words so much but he did. The way she said it was as if she wanted to get as far away from all that she had seen and experienced in New Orleans, including him. After today was he still part of her best memories? Jasyn nodded without expression.

"Then we'll begin as soon as we return to Sanctuary," Jasyn said coldly and they walked along in silence.

Once they reached Sanctuary's doors Emily sighed, she unexpectedly gave Jasyn a painless punch on the arm, which had all the intimacy of a hug.

"Thanks for coming after me," she gave him a grateful smile, Jasyn inclined his head.

Jasyn walked Emily up to her room, just in case there were any vengeful Weres about that wanted try and ambush her on the stairs. On the landing just below hers Dev was standing there, they drew up short when they saw him and Jasyn sensed Emily's unease but to her credit she stood firm and defiant before him. Jasyn repressed his proud smile, she was learning.

Dev sighed when he saw her and then chuckled, unable to hold any type of grudge; he gave her a 'truce?' kind of look and Emily nodded.

"Lets just say we both had different versions of right," he proposed and Emily gave a reluctant smile.

"Sure," she amenably, "agree to disagree or what not?"

"Exactly!" Dev threw Jasyn a wink, "how good am I at smoothing ruffled feathers?"

Emily rolled her eyes making Dev laugh, "look, if you're not too pissed off, we could still use your help in the surgery."

Emily looked like she'd rather not but nodded; Dev inclined his head and left Jasyn and Emily on the landing.

"Well, I guess I'll head off to the surgery then," Emily muttered in a tone that suggested she'd be dragging her feet all the way there. Jasyn nodded and watched her head back down the stairs; he let her get out of sight before ascending to his own room.

Emily barely acknowledged Carson's presence when she returned to the surgery; she gave Margie a small smile and went to where she had left the tiger cub. As soon as she stepped into the smaller room the tiger's head rose over the lip of the box and its huge eyes looked at her hopefully. Emily put her head around the door and spoke directly to Margie, deliberately ignoring Carson.

"Has this cub been fed?"

Margie sighed and got up from her chair, she went to a table and brought out two bowls from beneath a kitchen towel, she brought them to Emily.

"We've been trying to get him to eat but he won't."

"Okay," was all Emily said as she took the bowls from Margie, Emily brought them in and shut the door, closing herself and the cub in together. The cub who Emily, having no imagination for this type of thing, named Cub, made a small mewling noise as it stared at her. Emily didn't want to spook him so she set the bowls down beside his box and went about arranging the paperwork on the desk, whilst surreptitiously watching to see if he would eat. Cub sniffed at the bowls but constantly returned his eyes to Emily, Emily sat at the desk and began to write up the mass of unorganised records and put them in order. An hour or so went by and Emily looked down at the box, Cub was gone. Heart pounding Emily almost sprung from her chair until she noticed two big eyes staring at her from her ankles, she absolutely melted. Reaching down she tried to pick up the cub but it backed away out of her touch, so Emily decided a more gentle hands-on approach. She got up from her chair and sat crossed legged on the hard, cold tiled floor; she drew the bowl of food towards her and took a finger full. She rested the back of her hand upon her knee and waited patiently for Cub to approach, he did. Within a few moments he had crept towards her and sniffed and licked gingerly at her finger, then finding that it was good almost bit it off. Emily continued to hand feed him until he lost interest in his food and wanted to play. Now that his apparent fear and shyness had worn off, Cub chose to bite and claw at all the furniture he could get at. He climbed by clawing at the wood, he tore the stuffing from the already ripped desk chair and found Emily's shoelaces particularly interesting.

"No," Emily made her voice stern, Cub's big eyes stared up at her and she felt herself caving, "you mustn't do that. It's bad."

She pointed her finger in his small furry face as she said it and watched as Cub's eyes crossed trying to keep the tip of her finger in sight. She bit her lip to keep herself from smiling but as soon as he sensed her amusement, Cub nipped her fingertip.

"Ow!" Emily laughed, trying to pull her hand from his mouth, "Cub must not eat human fingers. They can give you a bad stomach bug!"

"Only if people don't wash their hands."

Emily turned at the sound of Jasyn's amused voice behind her; she tried to turn with her finger still trapped in Cub's mouth.

"What are you doing here?" she asked happily, he shrugged without answering and moved into the room. Jasyn turned to pull the shade down on the door window, he saw Carson glaring angrily at him before Jasyn pulled the shade. With a smirk on his mouth Jasyn moved the cub from the chair to the floor and sat down on the uncomfortable chair and picked idly at the stuffing poking through the fake red leather.

"I thought I'd come down here to keep you company," Jasyn murmured, he watched with a raised eyebrow as the tiger cub began to attack Emily's shoe laces again. "What did the doctor say when you walked in?"

Emily gave him a what-do-you-think kind of look before she spoke. "He didn't get a chance. I just came in here and availed myself to paperwork."

"Just you and the tiger?"

"Just me and Cub," Emily said and looked down on the tiger with glowing eyes, Jasyn rolled his own but felt sillily happy that she had taken so to a Katagaria cub rather then an Arcadian one. He didn't mention this though, anymore mention of the whole Katagaria and Arcadian issue and Jasyn was willing to bet she'd explode.

"Yes, I believe I heard you tutoring him in the ways of righteousness when I came in."

Emily wrinkled her nose at him before picking up the cub and sitting down opposite with him plonked in her lap. She began a soothing massage on the cub's head and behind his ears, immediately he dropped his chin on to her knee.

"So it's you're night off?" Emily asked, never losing her rhythm on the tiger heads lest he wake with more energy.

"Yep and I chose to spend it with you. What joyful frolics have you planned for tonight," Jasyn said, after days with her he'd picked up a sarcasm virus.

"Well, its not like you've got anything else to do but sit in your room and brood," Emily retorted, the small smile on her mouth softening her comment, "and personally I think brooding does not go well with you. It tends to make you homicidal."

Jasyn's lips twitched.

"What do you do on your nights off?" Emily asked, "sit and read?"

She snorted as if she doubted it very much and Jasyn shrugged noncommittally, feeling a little ashamed. The truth was the norm for his nights off was for him to go in search of a willing human female to pass a few hours with. He would scan Sanctuary for one he liked the look of; he would pick her from the crowd and take her to the back room if it were just for a quickie. But if his needs demanded more he would tell them they were going back to her place and spend however many hours shagging her, then he'd leave without so much as a thank you. They never denied him or refused him and they never, ever complained until the next time they came into Sanctuary when they discovered that Jasyn would not even give them the time of day.

Jasyn did not want Emily to know that about him, he could imagine that one half of her would be indignant on behalf of her sex and how he'd treated them and the other half would be jealous. Just as he would be if it were the other way around - minus the indignation of course. For Jasyn could not care less about the feelings of the other men Emily may have been in a relationship with, he'd just be jealous that they got to her first … like that damned Edward.

If Jasyn was honest with himself he could not understand why he had automatically stopped his usual habits when Emily had first come to Sanctuary. Perhaps even then he had subconsciously recognised his attraction to her; perhaps he knew that for him to be seen with another woman would cause a rift between them. For even before the sexual attraction was acknowledged by the both of them, Jasyn had felt there to be a subtle intimacy that existed there. The relationship of a teacher and a student but the intimacy of knowing he was the first to have found her. He was introducing her to the Were-Hunter world the way her first lover would do to sex, an experience that could not be gained by explanation or reading but something that had to be experienced by oneself to truly understand the meaning of what it is to be a Were. Jasyn felt shame flush him again, unlike the first lover; he had not been gentle, kind or considerate of her feelings or her pain.

Emily sighed with relief when the cub fell into a deep sleep; she lifted him from her lap and placed him in the box. He squirmed a little and clawed at the blankets then fell back into a deep, dream filled slumber, she smiled up at Jasyn before retaking her seat.

"My God," she whispered, gently stretching out her legs, trying not to make the chair creak, "I never realised taking care of a cub full time was such hard work."

Jasyn had never cared for tiger cubs before so he shrugged.

"Please tell me Were-Hawks only have one egg?" Emily said flippantly as she yawned, "I don't think I could take a whole nest of them on my first go."

Jasyn gave her a one sided smirk and refused to think about her being a mother, because it caused far too many feelings to crowd beneath the skin of his chest.

"He's doing well now?" Jasyn asked softly, glancing to the sleeping young.

"Oh yeah, much better. I thought he'd be in shock for days but then youngsters have a lot more resilience then anyone gives them credit for."

Emily looked at Cub thoughtfully then to Jasyn.

"It baffles me how someone could ever hurt him."

"Not all Arcadians are like Colt," Jasyn found himself saying. He detested Colt on principle, the bear was Arcadian and Sentinel, two things that Jasyn wanted to eradicate from the earth. But deep down he also acknowledged the fairness and values that Colt stood for, it was something that Jasyn himself lacked. Jasyn wasn't sure why he'd let that comment about Colt slip out, he slandered the bear whenever he could. Emily just seemed to draw out an alien trust in him that allowed things like that to slip from his carefully guarded lips.

Emily, however, didn't care too much about Colt but threw Jasyn a glare, when she spoke her voice was stiff.

"I know you don't agree with what I said today. But I don't always agree with what you say most days. Anyway I don't think we should talk about this, we'll only end up fighting."

Jasyn smirked slightly.

"Emily, we won't end up fighting as long as we both respect one another's opinion."

Emily's jaw dropped, "speak into my good ear and please state your name for good measure."

When Jasyn gave her a glare she dropped the sarcasm but her look of shock stayed in place.

"When did you become so reasonable/"

"It only happens around you."

Emily wanted to scream at him and throw something at his stony face! He told her there was nothing between them, he insisted that there never could be and that he hated Arcadians yet he persisted in saying things like that to her that made her feel the most special and important person in his world.

"Emily, I understand what you said today," Jasyn began, "I really do. To be judged for your race rather then the content of your character is something I am very familiar with. But you have to realise that it's something that all Katagaria are familiar with. Arcadians believe that because they have a human heart that they innately better natured then their Katagaria brethren. They believe they have the right to hunt us into the ground and slaughter our families."

Emily felt her eyes fill, she sighed shakily, at that moment she couldn't construct a counter argument in defence of her race because Jasyn was like the voice of an angel bringing only truth.

"I don't think you will ever understand the suffering of the Katagaria," Jasyn said softly and sincerely, "and I honestly hope the Fates are kind and you never do. I hope in a hundred years time you are still as lovely as you are now, that you may take a Katagaria cub into your arms without malice or prejudice and care for it like it were of your race. I am not a religious Were, I don't worship Artemis or the Gods because I think they've done fuck all for me. But were I guaranteed that … I would pray for it everyday."

"Oh, Jasyn," Emily whispered, her heart wrenching, she got up and wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. He didn't wrap his own around her but it didn't matter, his words had said what he would not allow his body to express. They were not just people who wanted to jump into bed with one another; they had inexplicably - without rhyme or reason - become friends.

"I will do my best," she whispered and Jasyn closed his eyes, it made it all the more valuable that she had not promised him anything. Jasyn knew that she understood the dire state of affairs and deepness of the hatred between the races because she did not promise him she would stay the same and be forced to break it. Jasyn pulled back with a flip laugh and took her arms from his neck, he set her from him.

"Lets not go there," he said easily, though his eyes were tense, Emily nodded with a smile she didn't feel.

"Lets not."

"I wonder how he got here?" Emily wondered aloud looking down at Cub thoughtfully a few hours later, Jasyn shrugged carelessly.

"One of the others probably brought him," he suggested, "I guess they figure they did their duty to their clan by getting him to safety, now I suppose they think every man - or tiger- for himself."

"Poor little fur ball," Emily cooed, her eyes going weepy, she had fallen hard for the cub, "damn, I hope his parents are alive. I'd hate to think of him stuck up in this world all alone."

There was a beat of silence then, "Jasyn?"

"Yes?"

"What exactly is so special about Sanctuary?"

"Well, it's a Limani."

"Yeah, I know," Emily said, her brow wrinkling as she thought, "but what is it really? Because to me it's just a word. I mean does this place have spells on it that means should someone really violate the rules it beams them up or drops them outside or what?"

"What you think this is? Star Trek?" Jasyn snorted, Emily gave him the finger which amused him immensely. He sighed easily before settling himself back in the chair and crossed his legs, Emily was momentarily taken aback by how at ease he seemed.

"Well, Limani is an ancient word that roughly translates as haven or home. The rules were decided aeons ago by the Omegrion -"

"The what?"

"It's kind of like congress but the Were version," Jasyn explained, "We have two representatives for each breed of Were, one Arcadian and one Katagari. And it's there that the laws of the Were-Hunter world are made, where the violators of said laws are punished, and so on and so forth."

"I've got to say that I'm surprised that you could even come up with such a reasonable idea let alone implement it when there's so much hatred between the races."

Jasyn nodded with something akin to pride in his eyes, "Yes, it was a struggle. We all knew what was needed but it took a long time for it to be put into practice. Kind of like humans, they know that global warming will one day kill them but they refuse to see it until that day comes."

Emily's face crunched up on one side giving him a rather cynical look that said she didn't think much of his analogy.

"But eventually, with the help of Savitar, we got it off the ground."

"Who?"

"Oh, he's just this all knowing, all powerful being that referees that Omegrion. Nobody really knows who or what he is, but should you break the laws of the Limani or the sanctity of the Omegrion he flash fries your ass and laughs about it."

Emily gulped then threw Jasyn a glare.

"You know, I am so glad I do not have to have an exam on this, I would have flunked - badly! You are one lousy ass teacher!"

Jasyn chuckled darkly while Emily shook her head. Jasyn waited for her next question, he had a feeling he knew what it was, for she was avoiding his eyes and drawing circles into the arm of her chair with her nail.

"Jasyn?"

"Yes?"

"Have you ever been up in front of the Omegrion?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, no offence but you give the impression of being a bit of a tearaway."

Jasyn laughed but didn't answer and Emily didn't ask again.

"It's a great honour to be afforded the right to own and run a Limani," Jasyn said suddenly as if he were just carrying on conversation.

"Why?"

"Because it's hardly ever done," Jasyn replied simply, "Savitar is the only one that can grant the rights to a Limani and he doesn't do that often. Besides once you get it off the ground you have to keep it going. The bears are smart, they hide what this place truly is behind a lucrative business that not only rakes in the bucks, but can provide bullet proof camouflage for Weres against humans. But all this was possible because Lo and her family have been able to stay neutral over the centuries."

"I see what you mean," Emily murmured vaguely, her eyes far away, "how can you keep your own laws if you're a raving Katagaria hater."

"Exactly," Jasyn confirmed, liking how sharp she was.

"Why did Mama decide to open Sanctuary?"

"Her two sons were killed in an attack on their family by Arcadians," Jasyn said, a bite in his voice when he said the 'A' word, Emily was sure he didn't know about half the Peltier family's gene pool. "Lo vowed never to let another mother whether she is Arcadian, Katagaria, human or Apollite experience the pain of losing a child. And so here we sit in the fruits of her labour."

"That's sad …" Emily whispered, her heart giving a painful tug for Mama Lo and her family.

"Yes it is."

Emily leaned back her mind abuzz with all that Jasyn had told her, she felt a sudden tugging at her shoe laces and smiled before looking down. It was Cub again, he was awake and as bright eyed and bushy tailed as ever.

"Jasyn?"

Emily looked over at him and saw that his head was hanging over the back of his seat, she saw a movement in his cheeks that suggested a curving of his mouth, he was smiling.

"Yes?" He said before raising his head to confirm her suspicion.

"Do you want young?" she asked casually, wondering what future Jasyn saw for himself if he planned to stay in Sanctuary. Immediately she wished she hadn't asked, Jasyn's face darkened so fast it was like a shadow dropped over him, Emily wanted to bite her lip but her words were out.

"I will never have young," he said so firmly that it cut off any further questions or arguments, Emily sensed he'd had enough for the night and remained quiet. A few minutes later he got up and left the room muttering that he was tired, Emily let out a relieved breath when he left, though it wasn't until she was alone with Cub once more that she realised he never really answered her question. His answer was so ambiguous that she'd simply taking it as meaning that he didn't want kids, but his words were 'I will never have young'. Emily thought about this and saw what he meant without him having to tell her, whether he wanted them or not was irrelevant, his life simply didn't permit him to have home, young … a mate.