Chapter 5

"I think that's enough." Annie chuckled using the hand that wasn't saturated in vodka to stop Nick from pouring more. Instead of emptying the bottle on her hand Nick brought it to his lips, taking a swig of it. The burn as it went down was welcomed. He held it out to Annie, but she declined. "So spill why did you really buy this dump?" Annie asked as she shook her hand in an attempt to dry it.

"Watch what you're calling my newest baby," Nick defended his project, running his hand along the bar as though comforting it. When he looked back up at Annie his eyes were more serious. "I decided it would give me something to do in Syracuse, if you ended up taking a job here after school." Annie hadn't expected that answer, hadn't realized Nick was that serious about them. That he would uproot his life and replant it where she wanted to be had her looking at him in a new light.

"You really surprise me sometimes." Annie murmured with a small smile. "For instance, I never would have pegged you as the jealous type. Mr. Man of many flavors." Her smile turned teasing as she leaned her left elbow on the bar.

"I never was. Before you." With his free hand Nick tucked a strand of Annie's hair behind her ear. The moment was interrupted by the blaring of an alarm: Pete's phone. By the sounds of the one way conversation it was Jeremy. The Mutt was dead. Clay and Elena were fine, but they hadn't gotten the chance to question him.

"Well, Marsten didn't give us too much." Pete informed Jeremy. Jeremy didn't seem too bothered by that, claiming they'd work on him later. The conversation didn't last much longer. Jeremy gave several directions to Pete before hanging up and that was it. During that time Nick and Annie had moved over to Logan and Pete.

"Boom, cross a killer Mutt off the list of life." Pete announced happily after hanging up.

"Let me guess, Clay got him?" Annie elbowed Nick for that response. Everyone treated Clay like a time bomb. True, when he was pissed he tended to go with violence first and talking later. Still, he had shown self-restraint in the past.

"All I know is Jeremy says you and I can go," Pete nodded to Logan, who shared in Pete's enthusiasm. He had a woman to get back to, whereas Pete was going to try and catch the rest of the band's tour. "As for you two" Pete added turning towards Nick and Annie. "Jeremy gave you strict orders to bring the Princess here straight home."

"Did he say why?" Nick inquired, looking as confused as Annie was. It wasn't like they were planning on going anywhere else, so the fact that Jeremy was making sure they came home, when Pete and Logan didn't have to, was a little odd.

"Nope," Pete shrugged, not seeming as bothered by it as he made Logan hug it out before moving on to Nick.

"No wedgies," Nick warned him, making Annie laugh, before Pete launched himself at him, jumping on him and planting a kiss on his cheek. When Pete jumped off him, Nick murmured 'God' as Pete moved on to Annie.

"I'm gonna miss ya Princess." Embracing her in a big hug he lifted her a foot of the ground, kissing her on the head before setting her back down. "I love you guys, my family" Pete exclaimed before pulling them all into a group hug. He kept his arms around Annie and Logan's shoulder as they left the club and headed for the car.

Nick dropped Logan and Pete at the train station on the way back to Stonehaven and they went through goodbyes one more time. Pete called Nick out, telling him to treat Annie like a Princess should be treated and making Annie blush. He also told Annie to keep Nick's butt in line before hugging them both once more. Goodbyes were always hard for Annie. She ran after Logan and Pete to give them one more hug before they disappeared into the station. Other than Elena, they were the two members of the pack she saw the least throughout the year. When she returned to Nick he pulled her into a side hug as they walked to the car, knowing how much she hated goodbyes.

When Nick and Annie returned to Stonehaven it was to find what was left of the pack waiting in the den. Elena seemed both shaken and slightly angry, not really looking at Clay who sat beside her on the couch. Jeremy was behind his desk while Antonio sat in one of the chairs beside the fire. All four of them looked up when Annie and Nick entered the room.

"Good, you're both home." Jeremy spoke first, remaining in his seat behind the desk. "There's been a development."

"You know who bit the Mutt?" Nick asked expectantly. That was the only development he could see coming from tonight. Though the Mutt had been killed, perhaps they discovered who bit him before he died.

"No, Clay and Elena didn't get the chance to interrogate him." Jeremy responded softly before turning his attention to Elena, silently asking her to share what she had found.

"Before the Mutt died there were a few moments where we talked. He didn't tell me anything about who created him, and he didn't seem too repentant about his killing spree." Elena started. Nick nodded as if he was expecting as much. "Before that though, he…" She paused, looking to Annie. "He knew your name." The room was silent for a moment after that as everyone processed the information. Elena had only told Jeremy what the Mutt had said when she called to inform him the wolf had been killed, hit by a car.

"What do you mean he knew her name?" Nick demanded, confused at how things had turned.

"I mean he seemed to know her. He said it was a pity I was the one there. That he hoped Annie would have come." Elena elaborated, quoting the Mutt. "I tried to get more out of him, even using force, but it only caused him to change." Terror flooded Annie at the information Elena had given. She was fairly certain she hadn't met the Mutt before, his scent hadn't been familiar to her. Even if she had met him before the change, the foundation of his scent would still be the same. Which begged the question, how did he know Annie?

"The email." Annie murmured to the confusion of everyone but Antonio and Jeremy. "He was the one who sent it." Of course there was no way they would know for sure, the Mutt was dead and not able to give them any answers.

"What email?" Nick rounded on Annie, crossing his arms as he stared her down.

"Possibly, though I doubt it. Whoever sent it knew who your father was. Knows what you are. The Mutt would be too new to this world to know it in that much detail." Jeremy answered carefully, thinking through it methodically.

"What email?" Nick repeated louder, sensing that whatever it was, it was not good. Jeremy looked to Annie, sharing a silent communication. It was time they let the others in on the content of the email Annie had received. When she nodded, consenting to sharing the information, Jeremy rose from his seat. Going to sit in Jeremy's chair, Annie logged on to her school email, something she had avoided doing for the past few days. Elena, Clay and Nick all moved to gather behind her as she sifted through her inbox until she got to the unfamiliar address.

"Oh my God," Elena murmured after reading the short message and seeing the pictures.

"Why didn't you tell us about this?" Nick demanded of both Jeremy and Annie as he pointed at the computer monitor.

"I didn't want to worry you over nothing." Annie replied softly, shrinking slightly in her seat at the look Nick shot her.

"Someone stalking you, sending pictures like that, is not nothing." Nick was shouting at that point, not even attempting to rein in his anger. How could Annie be so stupid as to think this wasn't important? Someone was threatening her.

"We had the Mutt dumping dead bodies around town and on our property to deal with. He was top priority. Besides, I was with the pack. I was safe." Annie looked to Jeremy in desperation, searching for help with the situation.

"I made sure she was never alone after the email. One of us was always with her, oftentimes more." Jeremy thankfully chimed in, backing Annie up.

"The pack should still have been informed," Clay, who had been uncharacteristically quiet on the matter, spoke up. "Being aware of another danger is always better than being sidelined by it."

"It was my call as Alpha not to inform you right away. Are you questioning my actions as your Alpha?" Jeremy's words were tinged with hostility and made both Clay and Nick shut up on the subject. Though Annie got the feeling that would not be the last time she'd be hearing it from them both.

"Did you try tracing the address? To see where the email was sent from." Elena asked, looking to Jeremy and Antonio.

"I tried, but it was a dead end." Antonio answered. "The account was deleted and whoever sent it used a public computer at the University library. Whoever it is, they were smart about it."

"What about the girl's body, who took care of that? Obviously nobody found it or else they would have contacted Annie. Either to inform her or to interrogate her." At Clay's words Annie's stomach lurched. She hadn't even thought about what would happen to Caroline's body. God, what kind of roommate was she? Or person for that matter.

"I took care of it. I called in the cleaning crew, made it look like she ran away. Once the University notices she's missed enough classes they'll investigate and spread the news of her running away themselves. Of course, they'll probably call Annie to see if she knows where Caroline might have gone and if she showed any signs of taking off." The pack turned their attention to Annie who sat frozen at the desk. "Annie, we're going to need your cooperation." Antonio added, shaking her out of her thoughts.

"I'm supposed to lie and let everyone think Caroline is still alive?" Annie had seen Antonio do it before, for people she didn't know and had never met. But this was her roommate they were talking about, the girl Annie lived with 9 months out of the year for the past three and a half years.

"I know it is hard Annie, but it's a necessity. We can't have you under any scrutiny or any other attacks be connected to us." Jeremy explained, speaking as the Alpha. Though his concern for Annie showed in his eyes. He didn't always like making his pack do things that were hard. Annie knew Jeremy was right, making Caroline seem like a runaway would be what was best for the pack.

"Caroline was an Art major. She went through her moods. Her paintings didn't always depict the happiest of things. She spent most nights partying and never woke up before 1 in the afternoon. In essence she's the perfect runaway." Annie finally responded, rattling off what she would tell the police when they contacted her. And they would. Annie lived with Caroline, so she would be the best one to ask about Caroline's routine.

"Thank you." Jeremy said with sincerity. Annie simply nodded in response.

"So, we don't know who the bastard his, where he is, or what exactly he's after." Nick spoke up for the first time since he had shouted at Annie, summing up what they knew about Annie's stalker. "Where do we go from here?"

"Since the Mutt tonight knew Annie, or at least about her, perhaps it's somehow connected to him." Elena suggested a starting point.

"Or maybe it was him. He's a psychotic killer. I was a random target. Maybe it all ends with him." Annie mentioned hopefully. Though she wasn't sure how much she actually believed that to be true. There were too many pieces that didn't match up. She just really wanted the whole thing to be over with.

"Tonight's Mutt was newly turned. Some of these pictures date back at least a year. He wouldn't even be aware of the existence of werewolves." Elena clarified, going through the facts. Researching Mutts and their history had been her job when she lived with the pack, she knew how to piece together information to create a clear picture. "He didn't start this."

"But we'll find out who did." Jeremy added confidently. "Elena, you'll go through the files and this time pull up any Mutt that has been near the Syracuse area in the past few years, noting any that have had a run in with the pack. Antonio, check in with your connections down in DC, see if you can get them to decode the address any more than we already could. Clay and Nick you're on bodyguard duty. Anywhere Annie goes you go with her. She is never alone. Annie, even with the wolf dead the townspeople will still be wary of us, you'll need to work your personal relations magic." Jeremy rattled off his orders.

"Jeremy, I need to get back to Toronto. If my…friends hear that Logan's back and I'm still here they'll just ask more questions." Elena pleaded, causing Clay to let out a hostile sigh. "You don't need me. Annie knows the files as well as I do." Contemplating Elena's request Jeremy looked to Annie for verification.

"I can do it if need be," she finally admitted. Annie was just as pissed at Elena as Clay was at the moment. And just like with Clay, Annie's anger stemmed from being hurt. Not only was Elena saying her life in Toronto was more important to her than the pack, but that it was also more important than Annie.

"Thank you Annie. I'll keep in touch and do whatever I can while in Toronto." Elena wrapped her arms around Annie—who was still sitting at the desk—from behind. Annie was still angry with her, but she didn't push away from the contact. Even so Elena could sense her displeasure. Elena also knew family and pack meant everything to Annie and the fact that Annie was helping Elena—both family and pack—would override Annie's anger.

Jeremy officially gave her permission to leave after that, setting Clay storming off to his room. After his door slammed shut Elena told everyone she would leave in the morning. Jeremy and Antonio left shortly after that, most likely to have a drink in the kitchen, leaving Nick and Annie alone. Annie began logging off Jeremy's computer as Nick stared down at her from his spot beside the desk. He had been staring since Jeremy had formed the pack's plan.

"I'm not going to say I'm sorry," Annie finally said, standing from her chair and looking Nick deliberately in the eye. "I still think it was the right decision not to…" Annie didn't get to finish. Pulling her towards him by her leather jacket Nick shut her up with a kiss. It was different than their first couple of kisses. That one was more forceful and passionate than sweet. Nick took his frustration and channeled it into that kiss. Instinctively Annie reciprocated, feeding off of the intensity. Both of them were breathing heavy when they finally parted and Annie found her hands gripping a fistful of Nick's shirt.

"I don't want an apology. Just promise from here on out you won't keep me in the dark. I want to know these things Annie. I want to know everything, good and bad." Covering the small distance between them Annie kissed him again. This one was short and sweet.

"Promise," she murmured once she pulled away.

…BNB…

Elena was gone by the time Annie got up the next day. Which was a feat because everyone else was still in their prospective rooms sleeping when Annie made her way down to the basement. She had a lot of work to do, and not being as familiar with Elena's filing system would only make it take that much longer. After an hour of working through some of the files Annie heard the others start moving around: feet on stairs, shutting of doors, and the stove starting up. She was taping up a map of Syracuse and the surrounding area where she had drawn a radius to work with when footsteps sounded on the steps.

"Clay is in full brood in the nude," Nick sighed as he set a mug of coffee on the table beside Annie. She had heard Clay leave the house earlier, but hadn't known it was to go running. At the moment she wished she would've joined him. Annie could use a run to blow off some of her frustration.

"Elena's being selfish. I don't blame him for being upset she didn't stay. I'm upset too." Picking up the mug Annie turned to face Nick, taking a sip of the freshly brewed coffee before adding, "Not to mention a little overwhelmed."

"I didn't just come to deliver coffee, tell me what to do to help." Annie picked up a file from the table and plopped it in front of Nick in answer before pulling another one in front of her. Other than mapping out the perimeter of where they were looking Annie had also compiled folders of all the Mutts that had a run in with the pack within the last four years. Now it was just a matter of pulling the ones that were in the predetermined area.

They spent a good part of the morning as well as the afternoon looking through the files and they still hadn't found anything. The most recent run-ins with Mutts, save for the recently deceased, were Santos and Cain. Neither of which had been near Syracuse. The Holsten twins passed through several times, but the pack hadn't had problems with them for years. Besides neither of the twins seemed smart enough to pull all this off.

"I give up," Annie exclaimed in frustration. "Hopefully Antonio will find something in DC because I don't think we'll get anywhere with any of this," she sighed, motioning to the stacks of paper around them.

"Let's take a break." Nick agreed, setting aside his file. "We'll unwind a little then come back to this later."

"What did you have in mind?" Annie asked as she followed Nick upstairs.

"Seeing as Clay is supposedly the other half of your bodyguard team and he hasn't done squat, I suggest we join him." Pulling off his shirt and throwing it to the ground he raised an eyebrow at her. "Let's run."

Annie hadn't been on a run in a while, at least not with the pack. Every month at school she'd go to a local park and run alone—it kept the change from occurring at school—but it wasn't the same. She missed running with her pack mates. So she agreed to Nick's suggestion. Though, unlike Nick, who spread his clothes out along the way to the woods, Annie kept hers in a nice pile by the tree line. The transformation hurt a little more, it had been a while since her last run, but once the transformation was complete Annie relished it, the feeling of being on four paws.

Nick was the one to start the game of chase, nuzzling Annie and nipping at her ear before taking off through the woods. His fur was pure black except for the light brown specks on his chest, whereas Annie's fur was a chocolate brown. In a game of chase, it was easier to pick out Nick than Annie, which oftentimes allowed her to sneak up on him. It was after she had done just that, launching herself onto his back and causing a short scuffle, that they went in search of Clay. He was more than a little irritated when they found him, snapping at Annie in a not so friendly way. Clay caught Annie's paw between his jaws as she was trying to get him to play, biting down harder than was necessary, causing Annie to let out a sudden whimper of pain.

Nick immediately lunged at Clay, snapping and biting in retaliation until Clay backed off. Returning to Annie Nick nuzzled her until she let him see her paw. Blood was already matting the fur around the punctures. Annie let him lick it a couple times before shifting to stand, balancing on her good legs. On those three legs she hobbled back to the house, Nick staying close beside her and growling anytime Clay—who followed them—got too close. The boys phased back before Annie and both were arguing as they waited for her.

"I didn't mean to hurt her," Clay argued gruffly with Nick. "I was just pissed off about Elena."

"I don't care if you meant to or not. And I don't give a damn about what you were dealing with. Annie was just trying to help and you did end up hurting her. " Nick normally accepted Clay's excuses about doing impulsive things because of Elena, but this was one time Nick wasn't going to take any of them. In fact he was about to lay into Clay even more, when the rustling of leaves distracted him as Annie stepped out of the trees. She had her shirt balled in her left hand as her right wrist was still dripping blood, though it looked as if the change had helped heal it a little.

"Annie, I'm sorry," Clay started moving towards her but Nick stopped him, pushing him away.

"You don't get to ask her for forgiveness." Nick snapped before turning his back on Clay to ask Annie how her arm was.

"It'll be fine. I think a few bones were broken, but they healed during the change." At the mention of broken bones Nick rounded back around at Clay, about to blow up at him again before Annie stopped him. "Nick, don't. He already feels bad enough." Turning towards Clay she narrowed her eyes slightly. "I know you're pissed and hurt and trying to deal, so this is delivered with pure love. You need to get your shit together. Next time you bite me I'm going to bite back, harder."

Annie let Nick tend to her wound: rinsing it in the kitchen sink, applying isopropyl alcohol that stung like Hell to disinfect it, then wrapping gauze around it. "This hand's been through a lot the past two days huh," Nick joked as he applied medical tape to the gauze.

"It's definitely seen better days," Annie agreed, about to pull her hand away when Nick stopped her, claiming he wasn't done yet. After adding a kiss on top of the gauze he gave Annie her hand back. "We should probably get back to the files." Sighing Annie hopped off the kitchen table and led the way back to the basement.

The second round of research was even slower going than the first since Annie was working with only one hand, and her non-dominant one at that. They added a few more Mutt's to the suspect board, but none they felt really convicted about. At the sound of the dinner bell they set their work aside once more. When Annie took her regular seat beside Clay he sent her an apologetic look. Figuring he'd had enough time to brood over hurting her she offered up a small nod of acceptance.

"Annie, what happened to your arm?" Jeremy asked, noticing the gauze when she started dishing out mashed potatoes on her plate.

"Clay bit her during a run." Nick answered before Annie could. She had been trying thinking of some excuse that would seem plausible so as not to throw Clay under the bus. Apparently Nick had no qualms of giving Clay up to Jeremy.

"Clay, is this true?" Jeremy tone was sharp as he turned his attention to Clay.

"I didn't mean to hurt her." Clay ground out the same answer he had given Nick earlier.

Annie stepped in on Clay's behalf, resulting in his only 'punishment' being dish duty. Nick followed Annie up to her room after dinner, where he sprawled out across her bed as she went to sit at her desk. Giggling the mouse to wake her computer from sleep mode she checked her email, expecting a response from the Dean of the nursing program after emailing him her decision to take a semester off for personal reasons. Her inbox was filled with junk ads from the school for different on campus organization meetings. The response from the Dean was the fifth message down that said he hoped everything would turn out okay and that she could return to finish her last semester in the fall if she felt up to it. That was an immense relief to Annie, as she had half expected him to kick her out of the program. After saving the email Annie went to cleaning out her inbox.

It was as she was deleting all the junk email that a new one popped up from Pete. Email wasn't Pete's preferred mode of contact, he saw it as too formal, but he did send the occasional email when he couldn't get good phone service on the road. Figuring that was the case Annie wasn't too alarmed with receiving an email from Pete. As usual there was no subject—Pete always had a hard time summing up his email in a subject so more often than not he left it blank. It didn't take long after opening it for Annie to realize the email wasn't from Pete.

I hope you like the present.

The message was even shorter than before, but as with the last email she had received there were visuals. Pictures of Annie and Pete at the train station that if put together would have made a flip-book of their movement. Pictures of Annie running after Pete and hugging him goodbye showed up as she continued to scroll down to the end. At the bottom, the last picture made Annie stop breathing and had her whole body shaking as though she was having a mini seizure. Abruptly she pulled open her desk drawer, grabbing the flashlight she kept there in case of power outages, and made her way towards the door.

Nick called after her, following behind her as she took off in a run once she hit the front door. She didn't stop until she reached the end of the drive where she was frozen in place. Choking on a sob she let the flashlight fall from her hand, landing by her feet, as she took in the lifeless, bloody body leaning against one of the Stonehaven pillars just as the photograph had depicted. Pete was dead.

A/N Another chapter here! I'm really having fun with this story and looking forward to writing the next chapter. Hope everyone enjoyed this update :)

Rach

xoxo