I opened my eyes and found myself staring into the greenest eyes I'd ever seen. The guy smiled when he saw me awake and gently lifted me to my feet.

"Thank God you're awake. I was getting worried."

The world came back into view and I remembered what had happened. Nate had tried to attack me. And for some reason Christian had saved me. And not Mason. That fact bothered me. It was my birthday and he knew that with Christian and Nate around, they might try something but he was happy to still leave me completely unprotected? I tried not to think about how much this realization made my heart ache.

I tried to walk but the blonde guy held me back. "Take it easy. Your body's in shock."

Uh yeah it is. I was almost werewolf meat. But still, it was unlike me to faint and feel this weak. Being in love must be damaging me.

"Damn you Mason, you've made me soft," I muttered under my breath.

"Excuse me," he said, staring at me puzzled.

"Nothing," I said, waving it away. "If you don't mind me asking - who the heck are you?"

"I'm a wizard, just like you," he answered, twirling his wand between his fingers.

I rolled my eyes. Obviously. "How did you know I was in danger?"

He looked away guiltily for a moment. "My Dad, he's an important government wizard and he has a machine that picks up wizard signals. When you waved your wand, you sent out a distress signal and luckily I was sitting by the monitor." He paused, uncertain. "Don't tell my Dad, I wasn't supposed to be listening to it."

I smiled. "You just saved my life. I figure I owe you one."

He smiled back and held out his hand. "I'm Daniel."

"Alex."

"So Alex, do you have any idea why werewolves attacked you?" he asked, and I was vaguely aware he was still holding onto my arm.

"Long story," I said to him while shrugging my arm out of his grip.

"You ought to stay away from werewolves you know. They're trouble."

You're telling me, I thought. Ever since I've met Mason, it's been one drama after the other. Not to mention how much he's changed me. Grrr.

"They're working to round them all up but they're having difficulty gathering evidence to build a case since they know how to hide their tracks. But wouldn't it be good if we could finally hunt them all down?"

"Yeah good," I agreed, my mind so hung up on Mason, I was barely listening to Daniel.

"Do you want me to help you inside?" he asked as we walked to the door.

"No, I should be alright. Thank you for all your help."

"No problem," he said with a grin. He took out his wand, and in a flash, he was gone.

I took a few deep breathes before pushing open the door. I was barely a foot inside when an arm slung around my waist and pulled me back into the darkness. Panicking, I flung my arms around, swiping at the shadows.

"Oww! What did you hit me for?"

I peered into the darkness. "Mason?"

Hair and all, Mason leaned in closer and I caught sight of his face. "It's you," I said, relieved.

"Are you okay?" he asked urgently, his hands running up and down my arms and face to check for bruises or wounds.

"I'm fine, do you...do you know what happened?" I asked nervously.

His face changed. "Roughly," he said quietly. "I was miles away when I heard noises. It was them, wasn't it?"

"Yes," I admitted. "But it's not what you think. Nate attacked me but Christian saved me. I thought it was you."

Mason looked mildly surprised. "It should have been me," he said furious at himself. It was weird seeing him angry.

"It's fine, I'm fine, really I am," I said reassuringly, patting his arm.

He didn't look convinced but dropped it. "You should get inside love."

"They won't miss me," I pointed out, hugging him close. I wasn't game to kiss him while he had hair growing on his lips so a hug would have to do. He lifted me off the ground slightly as we embraced before setting me back down.

"You should get back inside," he repeated. "It's cold out here."

I nodded. The lack of expression in his voice worried me. It seemed his brother and the past he was trying to avoid brought out a different side in him like he brought out a different side in me. And I wasn't sure I liked it.

"I'll call you tomorrow Mason. Don't do anything stupid," I called out after him.

He didn't reply as he bounded away on all fours but I was sure he'd heard me.

I groaned. Who the hell was running the blender at 9 in the morning. Did they not know I was sleeping?

I dragged myself out of bed and stomped downstairs to find Justin and Harper sitting in the kitchen with smoothies in hand.

"You want one?" Harper asked as soon as she caught eye of me.

"Careful," Justin warned. "Alex can't be talked to until after twelve. Last time Max asked her to take him to the park at 10 in the morning, he ended up hanging by his underwear on the chandelier." He winced at the memory, almost reliving our younger brother's discomfort.

I smiled palely. I'd outdone myself with that one.

"Oh Alex isn't that bad, she's probably just exhausted from the party last night."

The party. It had almost slipped my mind. No one knew the main event had actually taken place outside with two full grown, very angry werewolves and I would be keeping it this way. I was determined this secret remain with me.

"She wasn't even in the room for half of the night," Justin interjected.

Harper paused. "Yeah, where were you Alex?" she asked, addressing me.

"Uh I was outside with..."

"Mason?"

"Yeah let's go with that," I replied with fake cheerfulness, heading to the cupboard to grab a glass.

"Awww, you guys are so cute. Isn't everything just going great? Me and Zeke, You and Mason. There's no drama and everything is just perfect."

"Don't say that Harper," I told her, chugging down the remainder of the smoothie in the blender. "You when someone says that in the movies, something goes wrong."

"This isn't a movie Alex," she pointed out. "Nothing's going to go wrong."

I just shrugged and plonked myself next to her. Justin soon scurried away, coming back a few minutes later with the wizard computer in his hands. He sat on the couch and placed it in his lap.

"What are you doing?" I asked him. It way too early for someone to be on the wizard web.

"Checking the wizard news," he replied, scrolling through websites.

I rolled my eyes. Of all the possibilities, only he would use the WizWeb on something completely boring.

"Uh, Alex, I think you better come here," he said a few minutes later, his voice unnaturally high-pitched.

"What's wrong Justin? Did they pass a law forbidding geeks becoming the family wizard?" I asked with a smirk. It wasn't one of my best but he was still sure to feel the sting.

"Ha Ha, no! Just get over here now."

I sighed and flounced over to the back of the couch, reading the screen over his shoulder, my mouth dropped agape.

The title of the article he was reading was labeled 'New Wizard Law Passed - Goodbye Werewolves'.

No. No, they can't mean that they're going to...

"Click on the video below," I said hurriedly, my panic rising with every second.

He pulled the video up and a man wearing an important suit appeared in front of us.

"As you know, werewolves have been a menace for centuries now and it has been difficult to build a big enough case against them to exterminate them. But a recent attack on a teenage wizard is the last straw and the testimony given from a witness is enough to convince us to deal with this problem for good. The wizard in question was distraught and her health was threatened by this beast and it is in the best wishes of all wizards and fellow magic creatures that we destroy all werewolves. Trained monster hunters will be sent out everywhere to apprehend the said monsters but if you are confronted, we urge you to contact emergency services if you can not capture the wolves.
We believe this move is in the best interests of yourself, the public, and we expect full support on our bid to rid the magical world of werewolves."

The image disappeared along with all the colour from my face. I could only think of one thing: Mason.

"Alex, what are we going to do?" Justin asked softly.

I felt a rush of appreciation for my brother just then; he'd said 'we', meaning we were in this together when it really wasn't even his problem. But I had no time to bask in the glow of our brother/sister love. I grabbed my jacket and my wand. I didn't really know we were going. All I knew was I had to fix this. Especially since I was the reason for putting Mason in immense danger.

Justin caught on and climbed over the side of the couch to be by my side.

"You should stay behind Harper, just in case it's dangerous," Justin told her, pulling out his wand from his back pocket.

Harper nodded, not really looking at all bummed that she wasn't coming.

"Told you not to say it," I whispered to her, as my brother and I disappeared in a flash of light.