Chapter 3

Elena didn't come home until Sunday. Which meant there was a good chance Annie would be missing classes. Knowing that falling behind wasn't an option, Annie spent most of Saturday in her room with her course books. It was tedious, studying material that hadn't been covered in a lecture yet, but Annie was anything but a quitter. If she started something, she was always Hell bent on finishing it.

Tire tracks on the drive was the first thing that distracted Annie from her work. For a minute she thought it might be Elena, home at last. To her disappointment, when she went to her window, the car was a police one, belonging to the town's sheriff. The coroner confirmed it was a wolf kill and people now wanted a bounty on killing the wolf. Hunting wolves was illegal, but Annie doubted if that would stop the Hunters in Bear Valley.

"We need Elena," Annie heard Nick's voice from downstairs. No one said a word in response, but Annie knew everyone agreed.

It was true, Elena was their best tracker. Her sense of smell was incredible. The pack needed her to help them hunt. They needed all the guys for their strength and force. Annie was beginning to wonder what her part in this hunt would be. She was slighter and shorter than the guys. Even Elena was taller than her. Annie stood at a human's modest 5'6", but for a wolf that was on the short side. Though she was one of the fastest, speed wouldn't help her this time. Getting to the Mutt first would mean she would be taking him on alone, a fight she would be sure to lose.

Perhaps she could be the bait. So far the Mutt's targets had been females. Annie had that going in her favor. Turning from the window she went to study her reflection in the mirror hanging above her dresser. She turned her head from side to side to examine herself from different angles. Annie had never been a vain person, but she considered herself pretty enough. Her Italian background gave her a slight exotic look with an olive complexion, thick dark hair, and almond-shaped brown eyes. With some make up and the right clothes, she might be tempting enough for the Mutt. Of course, she'd have to use a bit of perfume to cover her scent. It wouldn't do if he knew what she was.

Annie's thought process was interrupted by the sound of the home phone ringing. A little curious and a little tired of her self-imposed study lockdown Annie found her way downstairs to the den. Everyone was in there when she arrived, and no one was on the phone, which had stopped ringing on her way downstairs.

"She hung up." Clay admitted gruffly.

"Why are you answering the phone?" Nick demanded in frustration. "We're trying to get her here. Not remind her of the reasons why she left."

"That's not fair Nick." Annie murmured as she made her way further into the room.

"He's right. She won't be calling back." Jeremy sighed in disappointment, causing Clay's shoulders to hunch ever so slightly.

"We don't need her to call." Annie replied forcefully. "We just need her to come home. And she will." Ever since Elena left, the pack had taken it in turns to make Clay feel like crap about it. Maybe not always on purpose, but they'd done it nonetheless and Annie was getting tired of it. "Clay, I could use some training practice. Meet me out back in ten."

Annie knew training would help cheer Clay up. There's few things he liked better than showing someone up in a fight. She was also hoping it might get his mind off of Elena. And being completely honest, Annie knew she could use the workout. What she didn't need was an audience to what was sure to be her ass-kicking. Though that's exactly what she got when she met Clay in her old sweats, as Nick was leaning against the back wall with a cup of coffee. Attempting to ignore him Annie walked by without a word and met Clay who was waiting in the middle of the yard. She took her starting stance with her arms up in a block by her face, readying for the attack.

"You look so cute when you're serious." Nick called out, distracting Annie for a split second. It just so happened that was the second Clay decided to come at her.

By some miracle she managed to stay on her feet, though he had caused her to stumble back a few feet. Not waiting for her to set up again Clay came right back at her, wrapping his arms around her in a tackle. That time he took her to the ground. Rolling with the hit she used the momentum to maneuver them so she was on top. The vast difference in their frames didn't allow it to stay that way for long. Annie had speed on her side, allowing her to untangle herself from several pins. However her punches and kicks—though aimed perfectly—didn't pack as much force behind them as Clay's. The sparring ended with Clay pinning Annie face down in the ground.

Though she had lost, Annie had lasted longer than she had anticipated. She was feeling pretty good about that. Clay helped her to her feet with a small smile. Their exercise had helped to raise his mood and that more than anything made Annie feel as though she had won. Though she had not appreciated the face full of grass she got. For that she waited until Clay was off his guard before knocking his feet out from under him then running for the house before he could retaliate. As it was it only resulted in Clay smiling wider as he righted himself and followed slowly behind Annie.

"You've got some dirt right there." Nick murmured, rubbing his thumb across Annie's cheek when she had returned to the patio. Instead of removing the dirt it only spread it further across her cheek.

"If you're looking for excuses to touch her you could always fight her." Clay spoke up as he came to stand beside Annie on the porch. "A workout might do you some good." He added, playfully hitting Nick's stomach.

"An interesting point Clayton," Nick responded with a smile. "How about it Annie, we could take the workout and those moves to my bedroom." His smile turned to a slight smirk as he winked at her.

"Tempting, but I don't want to wear you out, you'll be needing your strength." In a rare moment of confidence Annie sent Nick a coy smile before leaving him and Clay behind on the patio. Turning to make a comment about it to Clay, Nick found him sending him a stern look.

"No innuendo's about her in front of me. You may be my friend but she's still my baby sister." Nick held his hands up in surrender, which was enough for Clay.

Annie was in the kitchen and opening her third bottle of water when Clay and Nick came in. Clay grabbed the bottle from her hands and took a sip causing Annie to let out a cry of indignation that was quickly, quite literally, drowned out as Clay squirted water from the bottle in her face. That's what started the water fight as Nick and Clay grabbed more ammo from the fridge and Annie used the hand sprayer from the sink to start spraying the boys with. By the time Jeremy intervened, all three of them were soaked and large puddles of water covered the kitchen floor. Taking one drawn out, silent look around the room at each of them he ordered the three of them to clean it up before exiting the way he had come.

With the mop from the closet and towels from the hall closet they went to work soaking up the water until the room was once more dry. As for themselves, they were still soaked. Clay commandeered the shower first, using his age as leverage, leading Annie, the youngest, to be last. Nick came knocking on her door when he was done, wearing nothing but a towel, to let her know it was her turn. Annie admittedly stared for a moment before gathering her things up for her shower.

"Like what you see?" Nick asked with a raised eyebrow.

"A man in a towel isn't an oddity when you live in a coed dorm." She retorted, trying to sound more nonchalant than she felt. The boys at school were just that, boys. Nick was on a whole different level, but she didn't want him to get too big of a head.

"The dorms are coed?" It took a couple of minutes for Nick to come out with that, meaning her statement had gotten to him. Annie just shrugged before disappearing into the bathroom.

Annie was running out of clothes. She realized this when getting dressed after her shower. She had worn her last clean shirt during training and now it lay wet at the top of her hamper. Pulling on the jeans and boots she wore Friday and her last clean bra she made her way down the hall to Elena's room. She was hoping Elena might have left something of hers behind, but it turned out she had done a pretty thorough job at packing. Knowing better than to go nosing around any of the guys' room she went in search of one of them. She ended up finding all four of them in the den.

"I'm fresh out of shirts." She announced to the stares she was receiving, crossing her arms self-consciously in front of her.

"I'll grab you one of mine," Nick offered, rising from his seat on the couch. "But personally, I like this look." He added before he left the room.

Keeping her arms in front of her, Annie took Nick's spot on the couch as she waited. Clay sat on the other side of the couch shaking his head at both Annie's lack of apparel and Nick's response to it. He knew why Nick was so quick to offer up his clothes, it was one way he could put his scent on Annie. Not that he could blame him for wanting to, Clay had wanted to do anything possible to let others know Elena was taken back when she was home.

Nick returned moments later with a black V-neck of his, which Annie took gratefully. Pulling it over her head her senses were filled with Nick's scent, which meant it was one he had worn already otherwise it would have smelled like laundry detergent. Annie didn't mind that it smelled like him or that it was several sizes too big on her. In fact, she kind of liked it. She wasn't the only one, Nick quite liked seeing her in his shirt.

"Jeremy, I'm going to need to go back to school. Get some more of my things." She had originally only packed for the weekend, hopeful that the hunt would be over by then. Clearly it wouldn't be seeing as the whole pack had yet to come home.

"You could buy some new things." Jeremy offered at the same time Nick offered her free range of his closet.

"That's nice of you, both of you. But I'd really like some of my own things." They understood, sort of. At least they agreed to let her return to school as long as one of the guys went with her. Jeremy wanted to send Clay, but Annie knew Clay wanted to be home when Elena decided to show up. So Annie volunteered Nick. They were set to leave first thing the next morning.

…BNB…

"Ready for our road trip?" Nick asked sounding enthusiastic when Annie entered the kitchen a half hour after he had acted as her personal alarm clock. She had thrown on the same clothes as yesterday. The tee she borrowed from Nick still smelled mostly like him, with a little of her scent mixed in.

"I get to pick the tunes." Was Annie's response. They were taking Nick's car which meant Nick got to drive. If she couldn't drive, Annie at least wanted control over what they listened to on the way.

Annie got to pick the music, but neither of them really listened to it as they spent most of the ride talking. The conversations weren't deep or meaningful, but they were entertaining and led to laughter. No one could make Annie laugh as much as Nick could. He just had a way of making her feel more at ease. At least, he did when he wasn't insinuating things, especially now that Annie knew they weren't all jokes. When they were getting close to the city they stopped for food at an all you could eat fish place that Annie and Clay would sometimes eat lunch at. A contest ensued to see who could eat the most fish. Nick won.

They arrived at her dorm at a little past 11, meaning Annie's roommate would most likely still be sleeping. Nick took in all of his surroundings as they made their way to Annie's room, fascinated with this part of her life. When they got to her door Annie put a finger to her lips, signaling him to keep quiet. Unlocking her door she moved silently into the room so as not to wake Caroline. She went straight to filling her duffel with clothes from her closet while Nick grabbed some from the dresser. As he was methodically stuffing clothes from the dresser into the duffel he noticed the picture frames resting on top of the dresser. They were filled with photos of the pack: Jeremy, Elena, and Clay. There was one of Nick and Annie after a snowball fight during one of her winter breaks. She had jumped on his back in an attempt to take him down; they were both smiling like crazy. Nick had that same picture on his own dresser.

"I think that's enough to last a while." Annie jostled Nick out of his thoughts as she zipped up the duffel. It was the first either of them had spoken since entering the room and Nick checked to see if Annie had woken up her roommate. She didn't, the girl was still out like a rock.

"Does she always sleep this late?" Nick asked nodding towards Annie's snoring roommate.

"Pretty much." Annie responded as she pulled a water bottle from the mini fridge and two aspirin from her drawer, setting them on the table beside Caroline. "It's just something we do," Annie explained at Nick's questioning glance. Crossing back over to her bed she reached out, planning on hoisting her duffel on her shoulder. Nick beat her too it, grabbing the bag and carrying it for her. Thankfully Caroline remained asleep. It would have been hard to explain why Annie was emptying out her closet. Unfortunately, they ended up running into Ben as they were waiting for the elevator.

"Annie, where've you been?" Ben greeted her, stopping on his way down the hall. She could feel Nick's questioning gaze on her as they both waited for her answer.

"I've been at home. There was a family emergency. I just came back to grab some more of my things." Annie chose her excuse carefully, giving enough information that it wouldn't cause more questions but not too much that she wouldn't be able to recall the lie.

"I'm so sorry. If there's anything I can do" Ben immediately apologized, taking a step towards Annie.

"We've got it covered." Nick spoke up, placing the hand not holding Annie's bag on her shoulder and eyeing Ben irritably.

"I don't believe we've met. I'm Ben Anders." Ben introduced himself while sizing Nick up and making a point to square his shoulders and puff out his chest. Nick's gaze darkened. So this was the pansy that kissed Annie.

"Nick Sorrentino. I'm a very close friend of Annie's." Things really couldn't get much more awkward than they were at that moment. It was like Nick and Ben were having a contest. A contest Nick won when the elevator finally showed up and Annie went with Nick. She spared Ben a quick goodbye before pulling Nick into the elevator with her and slamming her hand against the door close button.

Nick wore a satisfied smile all the way back to the car. Even though Annie knew Ben would probably start some rumor about her being a slut—especially seeing as she was obviously wearing a man's shirt—she couldn't make herself care. She would only be at school for a few more months, she could survive the rumors till then.

"I'm glad you came with me," Annie admitted as they merged onto the highway. It was nice, spending time with just Nick. "I miss you. When I'm at school." School would be so much better if the pack could be there with her. It wasn't that Annie didn't like school, it had been her idea to go. She just got home sick.

"I miss you too Annie. A lot." Nick glanced down at the brunette sitting beside him with a smile. Reaching over he took her hand in his, giving it a squeeze. Nick held her hand for the rest of the trip. They didn't stop to eat on the way home, instead they drove straight through. Once again Nick grabbed Annie's bag from the car before she could get her hands on it so she made her way empty-handed to the house.

Both of them could smell it as soon as they set foot in the house. Elena was back. Following her scent Annie ran up the stairs, leaving Nick to follow behind her. Elena was in her room. Annie knocked twice before barging in tackling Elena in a hug. She had been on the phone with Diane, but Elena quickly disengaged from that conversation in favor of Annie. Nick joined them shortly, after dumping Annie's bag in her room, saying his own hello to Elena.

"Your bag is in your room for you to unpack." He informed Annie. "Unless you want me to do it. I have no problem going through your undergarments if that's what it takes." The last was added with his trademark trouble smile making Annie quick to claim she'd get it. Elena offered to help and that's what the two did while they caught each other up on life. Well, at least life since Thanksgiving break.

"I can't believe Nick and you kissed." Elena exclaimed while folding some of Annie's shirts. "I guess I never thought he'd actually make a move." Apparently Elena was as aware of Nick's feelings for Annie as Clay had been. When Annie told her what had happened with Ben while waiting for the elevator Elena couldn't hold back her laughter. She could just picture the expression on Nick's face while all of it went down.

"I'm so glad you're here." Annie admitted with a small smile. "The family's never really complete without you. I've really missed you." Although Elena couldn't verbally admit as much, she did squeeze Annie's hand before moving to hang the last item in the closet.

The two went downstairs together, heading to the kitchen for some food. That's where Nick found them and informed Annie him and his dad were going into town to wait for Pete's bus. He then asked if she wanted to come with them. After being informed there would be food involved Annie readily agreed. She extended an invite to Elena, but she declined.

Pete's bus was late. That made the Sorrentino men antsy. Nick began bouncing his knee, a nervous tic he had as long as Annie could remember. Annie placed her hand on his knee to still it, making Nick choke on the huge bite of pie he had just taken. Almost immediately Annie started to move her hand away, but Nick wouldn't let it as his hand flew down and interlocked his fingers with hers. Annie, who hadn't expected that, blushed slightly at the contact. Nick noticed, and getting that kind of reaction from Annie had him smiling. Thankfully Antonio had been too busy eavesdropping on the locals to notice anything happening between the two pups sitting across the table from him.

"Let's wait for Pete outside." Antonio suddenly suggested as he stood up and threw some money on the table for their meal. Nick and Annie were a little confused by it, but stood to follow Antonio anyways, letting go of the others hand as they did. Before they could get too far the Sheriff and her Deputy had come up to them, expecting introductions.

"Antonio Sorrentino," Antonio took the hand the Sheriff offered. "This is my son Nick, and…" Before he could introduce Annie the Sheriff was interrupting. She hadn't known the two men, but she did know the girl.

"Annie Danvers." At the mention of the Danvers name the table of locals snapped their attention on the girl who stood between the two unfamiliar men. "I didn't know you were home from school."

"Yeah, I'm just taking a little time off." Annie replied with a small smile. Unlike the rest of the pack, Annie had tried to have a decent reputation with the townsfolk. Over the years the people of Bear Valley got accustomed to her, and even saw her as the one redeeming Danvers. This was how Annie got her job of doing PR for the pack.

"Still graduating this spring?" Nick's eyebrows rose at that, not expecting anyone from town to know Annie well enough to know she was in college and when she was graduating.

"That's the plan. Hopefully Bear Valley could use another nurse when I do." The Deputy was the one who assured her with all the hunting season accidents the town was sure to need her. He went on to connect hunting accidents to how his hunting friend mentioned seeing a wolf up by the Danvers' place.

"If a wolf is settling on your property, we're going to have to come up there." The Sheriff added to Annie. Antonio was the one to answer her, assuring her they understood.

"We've all heard wolves up there before." The deputy chimed in, sending a hostile look at Nick. It annoyed Annie that the people in town could immediately act cold towards her pack simply because they didn't chose to socialize in town much. There was no reason for the Deputy to antagonize Nick.

"Yeah, they've passed through. But they keep on the move," Nick was only slightly less hostile towards the Deputy. Normally Annie wouldn't condone it, saying it only sparked more distrust in the townspeople, but she had to admit the Deputy did deserve it for how he was treating Nick.

Sensing the hostility the Sheriff interrupted, assuring they just want to catch the wolf and stop the attacks. Apparently there was another missing girl. This was news to Annie. Apparently it was to Nick and Antonio as well seeing as they shared a look after that. Before anyone had a chance to say anything else the bell above the door rang and Pete called out to them. His bus had finally arrived. After another knowing look with his father Nick stepped forward, playfully pushing Pete back towards the door and claiming they were just heading home. Annie followed behind them as Antonio brought up the rear, claiming they would help in any way they could.

It seemed no sooner had they stepped out the door that the Sheriff and Deputy started talking about them. All four of them had anticipated it, and were listening to see what they would say about their interaction. The Deputy mentioned how everyone from Stonehaven seemed odd to him. Of course, the Sheriff tried to remain diplomatic about the Danvers and their guests.

"They're not bad people. Look at Annie. She's a very nice, smart girl." Annie was surprised to hear the Sheriff talk so highly of her. She knew people around here tolerated her better than the other pack members, but she didn't think any of them actually liked her.

"Pretty too," the Deputy added, surprising Annie even more. "Seems to be the only normal one in the lot of them. It's a shame she ended up with that family."

"Looks like somebody's got an admirer." Pete interrupted the eavesdropping as he engulfed Annie in a big hug. "I've missed ya kid. How's life?"

"Pretty good, all things considering." Anne responded once Pete set her down and she could breathe again. "How about you? How's touring?"

"Amazing. I've got so many stories to tell you guys." Pete rubbed his hands together, showing his enthusiasm. Pete always had like telling stories.

Pete's stories about touring lasted all the way back to Stonehaven as Annie kept asking him different questions making him expand on his answers. She couldn't imagine what life on the road would be like, all the challenges it would pose for a wolf. Pete was one of the members she didn't get much chance to see as his band schedule rendered him unable to come home during her school breaks. It's what made seeing him now so bittersweet. It was a shame it took something so horrible to bring everyone back together.

"I think you'd really like everyone. I wish you could meet 'em." Pete commented as he finished another one of his stories.

"Maybe I'll become a groupie after graduation." Annie joked with a smile, making Pete laugh.

"I've really missed you Princess." There was that nickname again, this time in English. Annie didn't know how it came about, but she knew it was a term of endearment and not meant to be sardonic.

"You wouldn't have to miss me if you came around more," She chided him good-naturedly. "But I know how musicians must suffer for their music." With a kiss on the cheek and a goodnight thrown to all three of them Annie headed up the stairs to her room. It had been a long day.

When the three had arrived back at Stonehaven it was to find the others had retired to bed. Annie supposed everyone felt they should rest up while they could, prepare for the hunt. She knew she ought to rest up too, but she was having a hard time falling asleep. Counting sheep had never helped her, and the sounds of crickets from her open window doing the trick tonight. Slipping out of bed she grabbed the shirt from the spot on the floor where she had discarded it earlier and pulled it over her head. It still smelled enough like Nick that it did the trick; it comforted her enough that she could fall asleep.

Annie woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon. It was a pretty good way to wake up. On a mission to make it to the kitchen before the bacon was all gone, Annie pulled on the first pants she found, fixed her hair into a messy braid, and left her room. Everyone but Elena was downstairs when Annie arrived, and they all looked up as she came in.

"Is that one of Nick's shirts?" Pete asked in slight confusion after giving Annie a good morning hug.

"Yeah, it is." She murmured, taking a seat at the table.

"You slept in my shirt?" Nick raised an eyebrow at her from across the table. Pete was still staring at her in confusion, not knowing anything that had transpired between his two pack mates since winter break.

"Why would you even have one of his shirts?" Pete asked before Annie could respond to Nick's question. Not that she had even wanted to answer either of their questions. As Annie's embarrassment grew, the kitchen seemed to get twice as hot. Thankfully Antonio had the courtesy to break up the conversation by suggesting Nick go get Elena so they could all eat. Though Pete was still waiting for an answer as he stared her down from his seat next to her.

"I ran out of clothes so he let me borrow one of his shirts until I could get more of my stuff from school." Annie finally admitted, hoping that would be enough of an answer for Pete.

"So, did you sleep in it?" Pete asked Nick's question as a follow-up. He still seemed a little confused as to why she was wearing it now that she had her own clothes.

"Yes, I slept in it. And that's all the questions you get on that subject." Annie quickly responded, she could hear Nick's footsteps in the hall and didn't want him to start in on the subject as well. To prevent Nick from picking up where he had left off Annie went to the fridge to get herself some juice. By the time she was back at the table, Elena had joined them.

Antonio started filling everyone's plates with sausage from his pan. When Elena told him he gave her too much everyone stared for a moment. She put it down to city living, that she's had to eat less there and that she's been trying to get her appetite back up.

"Impossible," Pete declared. "I tell the crews I travel with I have an immobile pituitary gland. Otherwise with all the food I eat I'd be reality show huge." Nick and Clay chuckled at that.

"It's easier when you're a guy." Elena retaliated.

"She's right. I've had to tell several people I have an eating disorder and that food's a touchy subject so I could get away with eating so much." Annie backed her up, to which Elena gave her a thankful smile. It only made Pete chime in on Nick and Clay's laughter. A stern look from both Jeremy and Antonio quickly quieted them.

As soon as everyone was seated, Jeremy had taken the first bite, and signaled for the others to eat all the boys practically inhaled the food piled high on their plates. Elena was the only one to attempt starting a conversation, she wanted to start tracking immediately. She was just like Clay, wanting to start the hunt as soon as possible. Though Elena wanted to start so it would be over and she could leave while Clay just wanted the Mutt to pay. Jeremy gave Elena the same answer he had given Clay, they were to wait for the whole pack to be home. For now, Jeremy wanted them to rest.

"I don't need to rest, I have work to do." Elena murmured once Jeremy had left the room.

"It's true she's out of practice. We should take it easy on her." Pete spoke around the huge amount of food he had in his mouth. The pack was used to him talking with his mouth full, the only reason they could understand what he was saying.

Insisting she didn't need anyone to take it easy on her led to Nick challenging Elena to a fight. He gave her 5 minutes to meet him out back. The pack slowly disbanded with Elena and Annie heading upstairs: Elena to change into more comfortable clothes and Annie to check her email as well as grades to see if Friday's test had been posted yet. It hadn't. A little disappointed about not knowing whether she passed yet, she logged into her email and went through her unread messages. There were the regular emails about activities on campus and different clubs. There was even one from her professor saying the test scores wouldn't be posted until later that week. Deleting them as she went she came across an address she didn't recognize. Clicking on it her hands began shaking as she read the short message with no name attached to it.

I know what you are. I've been watching you for a while. Adriano wasn't hiding you from the world, he was hiding you from me.

Attached to the email were several photos, most of which Annie was the subject of. There was one of her and Clay walking on campus, one of her in class, and some of her around campus with her friends. The last picture was a picture of Annie's dorm room, but that wasn't the real subject of the picture nor what caused her heart to sink into her stomach. In the reflection of the mirror above Annie's dresser she could make out the mutilated form of Caroline. The time stamp read 8 am that day.

She didn't realize she was crying until a tear fell on her hand. Caroline and Annie hadn't been great friends. They gave each other space and had different circles of friends, but they had their moments. Annie would always leave a bottle of water and some aspirin beside Caroline's bed when she came in drunk from the night before and Caroline would snag Annie extra food from the cafeteria—knowing Annie had the appetite of a college guy. Now she was dead.

Annie didn't join the others in the backyard. Once she finally calmed herself down enough she unplugged her laptop and took it with her in her search for Jeremy. She found him and Antonio watching the fight from Jeremy's studio. Both of them looked up when she entered and immediately could tell something was wrong. Though she had calmed down, there were still tear stains on her face.

"There's something you need to see." Annie stated shakily, placing her computer on the desk by the window. After opening up to the email Annie stepped back as she let both Jeremy and Antonio read it.

"When did you get this?" Jeremy asked after thumbing through the photos.

"I just checked it a few minutes ago. Jeremy, he killed Caroline." Unable to hold her emotions back Annie let out a choked sob. Immediately Jeremy wrapped his arms around her in both comfort and protection while Antonio placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Do you think it has any connection to what's happening here?"

"I don't know. Possibly. Whoever it is has targeted you for a while. I wouldn't rule out anything at this point." Jeremy answered after a moment of thought. The sound of laughter from the backyard brought the trio's attention to the group outside that was just disbanding.

"Would it be okay to ask we don't share this with them right away?" Annie asked, not wanting to drag the rest of the pack into it. Jeremy agreed after another couple minutes of silent deliberating. Though Annie would have to agree to stay with one of the pack at all times. And until her threat was cleared up, even if they found the Mutt, Annie would not be returning to school. She had expected as much and she didn't put up much of a fight on it. In truth it would be both depressing and weird to return to school without Caroline there. Not to mention creepy seeing as whoever emailed her had kept pretty close tabs on her while at campus.

Annie spent the day doing mundane chores to try to keep her mind off of the email and the picture of Caroline. Starting with laundry she grabbed her own dirty clothes then told the pack to bring down whatever they needed washed. While the loads were running she went through each room: sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, and dusting until most of the first floor was spotless. Logan arrived just as she was finishing folding the last load of laundry. Greetings were skimmed over as Nick dragged him downstairs to where Jeremy and Elena were. Annie followed the rest of the pack downstairs, knowing now that everyone was there it was time for Jeremy to inform them of his plan.

"A local girl was killed by a Mutt. Her body was dumped on the outskirts of town and now we have hunters on the edge of our property. With a bounty on this wolf you can be sure that there will be more. We're going to put an end to this. Tonight. Let's not forget that we could be dealing with anybody that has crossed our path in the past." At that last statement Jeremy's eyes flicked towards Annie. He quickly moved on to the rest of the pack, not wanting to draw too much attention to her.

Moving on with his plans he began dividing the pack into teams. Peter and Logan were to head to West Bear Valley while Annie, Antonio and Jeremy took Main Street, leaving Elena, Nick and Clay with the industrial area. Annie suspected Jeremy was keeping her close to him and Antonio because of the email, otherwise she would most likely would have gone with Logan and Peter. Main Street wasn't large enough to require more than two of them to patrol it. Of course she didn't say anything about it. If Jeremy thought that was best, then that's what she would do. As everyone started filing out Annie fell into step beside Nick.

"Be careful out there." Annie murmured as they started up the stairs. Her nerves were even more on edge after that morning's events and she couldn't help but feel the danger had escalated for everyone.

"We'll be fine." Nick assured her, throwing his arm over her shoulder. "We outnumber the bastard and the hunters in this town aren't smart enough to bag any of us." They had reached the top of the stairs at that point. Sending Annie a parting wink he went to join Elena and Clay. Annie watched them take off before going to join Jeremy and Antonio. Their plan was to park at the top of Main Street and work their way down trying to sniff out the Mutt.

They were working their way down Main Street for the second time that night when they got the call from Clay. Elena had found the Mutt's place. He hadn't been there at the time, but they got a good read on his scent and would recognize it if they came across it again. There had been another kill as well. Elena had found the scalp of a girl, most likely the missing one the Sheriff had mentioned. After Jeremy hung up they returned to the car and headed back home.

Everyone regrouped in the den. Logan and Pete had been the last to arrive, and Jeremy waited for them before recapping what they found out. Everyone was suggesting the actions that could be taken next. All Jeremy had agreed on so far was that they should keep a surveillance on the Mutt's place and grab him when he comes out.

"What if he's already been back and smelled Clay, Elena and Nick? He could have changed his home base by now." Logan speculated. If that was the case then a surveillance wouldn't be of any use. They'd be back at square one trying to locate him again.

"I have an idea," Anne spoke up for the first time. She had been sifting through everything they knew about the Mutt so far and had come full circle back to her original idea of how she could be of use to the hunt. With everyone's eyes on her she was a little hesitant to voice her strategy, but she had to say something so she pressed on keeping her eyes focused solely on Jeremy. "Use me as bait."

A/N Hey everyone! Hope you all are enjoying this because I'm having a lot of fun writing it. Thank you to demonicseer and HeavenlyKitten for your reviews. I enjoy hearing what you think. As always Reviews are lovely.

Rach

xoxo