Javan was going to fuck Rowan Cullen into the ground.

It wasn't a simple thought or wish or fantasy. He was going to. He couldn't get the man out of his head. He was too tempting. Javan had seen him a few nights ago, in the woods with Elias. They had been beautiful. Hands running over each other, under their clothes, over their hair with lips locked together. Elias had kissed his throat while their hips rubbed together, their pants undone and bare members rubbing together. Rowan had tossed his blonde head back, a low, silky moan coming from him. They had looked at him, lilac and amber eyes on his as Rowan pulled Elias's hips closer, hands on the other man's ass and ground against him. The two had that same uncaring air about them Rowan had the first time he saw him. Rowan and Elias didn't give a shit who was watching. They were toying with him and Javan was loving it as much as he hated it. To make matters worse he had come across Edward who had 'Defile Me' written all over his pretty, fuckable face. But that was a different conquest. That one needed to come to him.

Javan would accept nothing less.

He returned home, deciding to get out of the woods before he came across another desirable scene. The music he gave no second thought to, but the sight of Anala sitting in the kitchen drunk and teary-eyed piqued his curiosity and concern. She sat at the island, hair falling softly around her body and her splotchy, flushed face angled away from him. He moved to her, touching her hair. "What's wrong? You look like someone just ran over your puppy."

Anala brought the bottle to her lips. It was mostly empty and Javan was slightly impressed she was still coherent. "Don't have a puppy."

"Well if I brought you one and it got run over, this is what you'd look like." She looked up at him, the pain in her eyes making him angry. Who the fuck upset her? He wondered if she was drunk enough to tell him so he could start ripping parts off bodies. He was a bit disappointed to say he hadn't done that in a while. Javan stared at her. Probably not. But he could smell Emmett in here, so there was that. Anala hadn't said anything, but she was upset, more upset than he could remember her being in a long time. And that big stupid vampire was at the center of it.

"Are you getting me a puppy?"

"Do you want one?"

She sighed. "What would I even name it?"

"Roadkill." He suggested.

Anala shook her head, wobbling in her seat. "S'not funny. Horrible man." She sniffled. "Poor puppy. Fuck you Jay." And she was usually a friendly drunk. He thought it'd been funny, but Javan supposed Anala didn't appreciate the irony of it. She sighed. "Am I a terrible person? Was I wrong to say nothing and accept death?" Javan frowned. Unfortunately he didn't have the answers to her questions and he didn't like hearing her ask them. It made him worry.

"Jay if I said you had to, would you kill me?"

He snatched the bottle from her hand and she groaned in protest. Alright, pet. You're officially cut off. "Why would you ever say a thing like that?"

She stared ahead, seeing nothing. "What's dead should stay dead."

Javan placed the bottle on the counter and cupped her face. Such a sad, beautiful creature she was. Her eyes were dulled and glazed. She stared up at him. To think he had almost never got to look at her again, see her lovely face. She didn't deserve to be this sad. He leaned in and kissed her lips. He savored the warmth and softness of her mouth. Anala leaned up, sighing into the kiss. He drew back and his lips pulled up slightly.

"If that were true dear, then you wouldn't be sitting here."

Nolan took a deep drag of the joint between his fingers. He sighed, enjoying the quiet. He was sitting in the small garden, once a memorial to his sister's memory and now merely a small plot of land with a small stone bench that was wet from rain on most days. Luckily today was not one of them. He didn't look, but he could feel the three women looking at him from the house, curious. They were the only ones in the house at the moment and Nolan wasn't sure which was which. Jas had mentioned visitors, Tanya, Irina and Kate, but he hadn't met them yet and Nolan wanted a few quiet minutes after spending the day at the warehouse, finalizing last minute details and continuing to try and restore order so he could begin to bring his people home finally, to bring his sister home again, after so long. Food was an issue however. Restoration was one thing, not everything had perished and the reconstruction hadn't been too problematic, just time consuming. However healing the land was another thing. Once he had visited the communities of his people he asked those with the proper skill to help in this task. He wanted to fill the passageways of his home without his people fearing starvation and he wanted to open the market, reopen trade routes with the neighboring lands and he wanted to accomplish it before Harvest. He watched Anala approach from within the trees. She stepped over roots, moved around trees in silence, and Nolan smiled slightly, mood brightening. She made her way across the grass towards him and sat next to him. He passed her the joint and she took it, taking a drag. He had missed this more than he could ever describe, the comfortable silences in each other's company. Their sides were touching and her warmth was reassuring. After a few long minutes Anala spoke.

"I think I should leave."

Nolan looked at her. He hadn't been expecting to hear that. First, he wanted to deny it, to tell her she was being stupid and that he couldn't let her leave. Then his head caught up to him. If she wanted to leave, then that was her choice. Anala was staring out at the trees. He had the feeling something had happened. She and Emmett hadn't been talking recently but the vampire had seemed especially withdrawn as of late, and Anala . . .

"Where will you go?" he asked

She shrugged. "I just feel like I'm standing still. I need to do something productive with myself. I've been thinking of returning to the temple, at least for a while."

Nolan exhaled a cloud of smoke. He took her hand as she lay her head on his shoulder. "Is this because of . . .?" he trailed off, letting the question hang.

"no." she hesitated. "Yes. I guess partially but mostly I . . . I just want to feel better than this, you know?"

"I do." He told her. "You should wait though, at least until you Transition."

Anala looked down and Nolan saw the pain in her eyes. She looked tired, like she hadn't been sleeping and there wasn't much color to her cheeks. Anala may have had other reasons to go but the biggest was that it hurt her to be so close to the man she loved, was mated to, and unable to be with him. Nolan had done a good job of staying out of it, it was between them, but he wasn't going to let this stubborn, irrational evasion continue. His sister was in pain. He could sense it and Nolan could not sit idle for very long. He knew her. If Anala believed that she had no other choice then she'd go, despite whatever she may feel, for Emmett. She understood the repercussions of the action. Emmett did not. Something had to be done, and quickly. Rosalie seemed to be the only one outwardly objecting. The outspoken woman made her thoughts very clear, they belonged together, as they all already knew. That Emmett was an idiot. "Pull your head out of your ass," she had told the man just the other day.

She knew something he didn't. He could tell, Edward too. Nolan got the impression they didn't want him to know and as it was, he'd find out eventually. Nolan always did. Anala wasn't decided yet, so at least it gave him some time to observe and draw his own conclusions. He already had a few suspicions it involved one of these women. Nolan wrapped an arm around his sister's shoulders. He wanted to ask what was wrong, if he could ease her somehow but she wasn't ready, and he wouldn't push her.

Maybe she needed to leave. Perhaps it would do her some good to get away from this place. She had died after all, she deserved some happiness even if it wasn't here and maybe, just maybe, Emmett really would pull his head out of his ass. For both his and Anala's sakes. If not he could just tear him a couple new assholes. Nolan supposed it could go either way.

Anala left not long after that, saying she needed to go into town. Nolan made his way into the house and was greeted by the three blonde vampires in the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and looked at them. "Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Nolan."

The one closest to him spoke. "Jazzy's mate?" she had strawberry blonde curls that framed her pretty face and she was giving him an appraising look.

"Yes," he smirked a bit at hearing his mate's nickname. He leaned against the counter and crossed an ankle over the other. "And you lovely ladies would be . . .?"

"Tanya." she said. "These are my sisters."

"Irina," said the shortest of the three, with dark blonde hair and pouty pink lips. The tallest one stepped forward, smiling. "Kate." Her golden hair was pin straight and she looked at him through smoky amber eyes.

"We're visiting from Denali," Tanya said.

"Ah, so you're the famous cousins I've heard so much about." Nolan took a sip of his water. They were all perfect, pale and inhumanly beautiful, making him think of the ancient Valkyrs. "Where is everyone?"

"Edward's with his human, Carlisle at the hospital. Esme just left to get paints. Rose and Alice should be back any minute now and as for the boys? No clue."

Kate spoke next. "Was that your sister?"

Nolan nodded as he sat on the counter. "Twin, actually. Anala."

"Lovely name." The sound of the front door caught his attention. A second later Alice and Rosalie were in the kitchen, their flawless faces smiling at him.

"Nolan, hey!"

Nolan smiled. "Hey Alice, Rose. You just missed my sister."

"Really?" Alice pouted slightly. Nolan saw something flash across Rosalie's face. He thought for a second, debating as he watched them.

"She's going to leave."

Rosalie's eyes snapped to him. "What? Bu—" She paused. "When?"

"I don't know."

Her lips tightened slightly. Nolan took another sip of his water and trailed his finger over his knuckles. His doubts were extinguished. He was sure now, that there was something more to this distance between Emmett and Anala. What are you hiding Rose? Usually he wouldn't have wanted to know. If it wasn't his place to involve himself and he could respect it, but this concerned his sister. This involved her thinking of leaving her mate and she seemed to be seriously contemplating it and it all had to do with Emmett. Whatever the vampire chose was up to him, he couldn't force him to do anything, but Nolan was going to make sure he knew the responsibility of it if this wasn't decided soon. For now however, he was going to bide his time, sort his thoughts, and get to know the three blonde guests in the room.