His hearing came back first.
The rustle of clothing as people moved about, breathing, the crunch of the ground beneath feet, rushing water nearby. People talking. What are they saying?
He tried to focus through the pain. His body felt like a giant toothache. He inhaled, wincing at the stomach-churning mix of in vampire and incense, dirt and blood and death.
Seth sat up with the memory. He tasted blood and it wasn't his.
"Take it easy, man."
He blinked, blank faced, at Harlen who sat atop a milk crate with a beer in his hands. "What hap…" Seth's words trailed off. Annaliese sat on the ground with her head between her legs. Relief crashed over him. He launched himself from the low cot and gathered her into his arms. "You're okay," he breathed, cradling her to his chest. "Thank God."
Annaliese craned her head back and the sadness in her eyes wrenched at his chest. "I'm so sorry," was all she said before those eyes welled. Her face crumpled, the tears cutting streaks through the dirt, blood, and ash caking her face.
"It's okay, it's okay."
He wasn't sure how long he held her or how long they sat on the ground, arms tight around the other as if to do otherwise meant death. At some point, when Harlen had taken up space on the cot and his sister and Embry took their seats on milk crates, Seth raised his head to analyze their surroundings.
The tent, though marred with a million scents that battled against each other, was familiar in a way that tightened his stomach. Just beneath the grime and violence was honeysuckle. Sweet, floral, somehow watery and earthy at the same time.
Seth exhaled and tightened his hold on Annaliese, who'd begun to doze as she leaned against him.
"Everything is fine," Leah whispered with a reassuring nod. Seth doubted that for more reasons than he could count. "We're taking turns watching over you two, but at some point, you have to leave."
He turned his head. The was the last thing he planned to do.
"Not her," Leah corrected. "Just here. It's anarchy out there. Half of them want us — you — dead and the others are just happy to be free no matter what the cost."
He didn't hear anyone fighting, no snarls or breaking bones.
As if sensing his thoughts, Embry answered. "They're scared of us. Jake's got us all surrounding the perimeter to keep anyone from leaving until Annie's ready to fix things."
"She didn't break anything." Seth snapped his head back in their direction, eyes flashing.
Embry frowned. "You know that's not what I meant."
"He's right…"
Seth looked down as Annaliese shook off the ghost of sleep and slowly began to untangle herself from him. Seth closed his arms back around her, yanked her tighter, and hooked his chin on her shoulder to keep her in place. He growled.
Annaliese laughed a sad sound and leaned her head back. "I can't sit here forever."
"You died," he muttered. "The least they can do is give you time."
She held his face between her hands, thumbed his cheek, and then stood up, easily shaking off his hold. Seth glowered and rose, too.
"Wait," he said. "We don't even know what's happening — besides anarchy."
"Zel's dead, Damian's no longer a shapeshifter, Annie's brother's alive, and…" Leah paused and blew out a heavy breath. "…And there's a pile of bodies with your name on it, bro." She grabbed a green glass bottle from the makeshift table between them and passed it to him. "You need to take a cap full of this three times a day."
Seth cast a glance at Annaliese who appeared unbothered by any of the information. He could smell the indecision and grief, however, and his hands reached out for her.
Annaliese rotated her shoulders and straightened her back. "We gotta face the music, sweetness," she said. "Might as well get it over with." She let go of his hand. "It might be better if we keep some distance until I can talk to them. Especially with…"
Seth looked away and the guilt poured in.
Annaliese squeezed his shoulder. "Any of us — and I do mean any — would have done the same thing. They attacked you and you held your own. No one can fault you for that."
He said nothing and waited for her to leave the tent first. It hadn't just been self-defense. Though his wolf was in control, Seth knew what he'd done, and the guilt wasn't for the coyotes' deaths. It was for his lack of remorse. In some small part of him existed a piece that felt bad, but it was overwhelmed by a single fact: the coyotes' deaths had been vengeance. Retaliation. Everything he'd warned Annaliese against. And it was all a means to an end until he could get to Zel, who had protected the one person who had tried to destroy them all.
And in the end, none of it had mattered, because Damian still lived, and he hadn't even been the one to end Zel. Leah wrapped her arm around him and squeezed, knowing. She pulled him along after Embry as he left the tent and, as they stepped back into the clearing, the reality of Seth's actions hit him with a crashing wave of shock and disgust. There was the remorse.
A pyre had been built and on it, five coyotes slashed to pieces. He could feel himself slipping away as the edges of the word grew fuzzy. Someone lit the pyre up and the higher the flames rose, the more out of focus everything became. Beside him, Leah squeezed his hand, but it was too late. He'd seen what he had done firsthand, without the cloud of wrath blocking the truth. He cared and yet he didn't, and that fact turned his stomach.
Seth swallowed hard and turned his eyes to Annaliese who stood alone feet away from him, surveying the damage. The urge to close that gap pulled him back to the clearing, to her, and he fought to focus. Her head bowed for a long moment before it rose again, and she took in the faces around them.
"You've seen everything," she began, her voice carrying over the land. "And we all lived it, some of us more than others. I came back for one purpose: to kill Damian. For myself, yes, but also so that we had a chance to live how we wanted. No more unbreakable commands, bullshit rules about the outside world, and no more stirrin' up fear of people who ain't like us."
Annaliese stepped closer to the center. "I know it doesn't seem like it — what with the wolves and vampires — but this is proof that the outside world isn't what he made it out to be. All of us were pulled from situations we still have nightmares about." She cleared her throat, eyes flying to where two towering men stood, one bearing a sickening resemblance to Damian and another, Seth realized, to Annaliese. "But the past is the past. You get to decide how to live now. Not me, not Damian, not the guards. You."
Someone scoffed. "You say that, yet you prevent us from leaving."
"Jake," Annaliese said, casting her voice to the alpha that stood at the far edge of the clearing. "Thanks for giving me the chance to explain, but they're right." She shook her head. "Leave if you want or if you have to. Go where you need to go. But you will always have a place here."
"You abandoned us," someone shouted.
"We thought you were dead," another said.
Annaliese nodded. "If I stayed, I would've been. So, I had to leave. I had to leave so Damian wouldn't kill me for something I can't control. Something I don't want to control."
Seth tensed as eyes shot to him.
"The wolves ain't a threat," she said loudly. "They came to protect me because they knew how dangerous Damian and the people loyal to him were. Yes, he gave us a place to run to when we had no other option, but who here can say we truly had freedom?"
Annaliese waited with her arms out, expectant.
"A pack is not built on fear and violence," she said. "At least, it shouldn't be, which is why I'm tellin' you: Go. Stay. You have a choice without fear of death or retaliation."
"Tell that to my mate."
Seth's eyes narrowed on the light-haired woman who'd accosted him before everything began. A small child no older than five clung to her leg with wide eyes and tangled hair. It must be the pup, he realized.
"None of us here can pretend to be saints," Annaliese snapped. "And if someone attacked us, we'd kill them. You know that as well as I do, Brin. As Mark's mate — and especially as Tony's sister — you held more privileges than most here. Still, didn't Damian threaten you, too, when your son got too close to the fence?"
The woman — Brin — scowled. "It was for his safety."
Annaliese shook her head. "And your scar, was that for his safety, too?"
Seth watched Brin's hand instinctively grip her side.
"If you stay, this pack can't be the same as what Damian created. That doesn't do anyone good — no one but the person in power." Annaliese sighed. "Jake, please let them through if they want to leave."
Jacob scowled but the perimeter slowly dissolved. Seth watched his friends all gather behind Jacob with a strange detachment.
Annaliese waited for someone to move. No one did, not even Brin, though her scowl remained etched into her face.
"Who will lead us then?" Brin asked. "You? Your wolf?"
Annaliese laughed without humor. "No, I'm nobody's alpha, Brin, and you know that. And Seth —" Her eyes locked with his and she smiled. "He's here for me. That's all. If you're looking for a leader…" Annaliese nodded to the two tall men Seth gathered were Damian's son and Annaliese's not-dead brother. "It's in Silas's blood, but there is goodness there, too. He came back despite nearly being killed by his own father because he loves this pack."
"He's a boy," Brin said.
Annaliese rolled her eyes. "Man's, like, 25, Brin. And he's not Damian."
Silas walked forward, Annaliese's brother in tow. "I can't excuse my dad's actions or that I didn't have the courage to stand up to him sooner —"
"— He'd've just tried to kill ya sooner, kid," It was Wate who spoke then, stepping out from the crowd. "Fuck 'im."
Silas snorted.
"If Silas wants to give bein' the alpha a go, I say let him." Harlen walked from behind Seth and went to clap Silas on the shoulder. "Jordie knew good people when he saw him, and I trust my boy's judgment."
"Your boy's judgment got him killed," Brin snapped.
Harlen growled. "To no fault of his own. Jordie, like Silas, wasn't afraid of humans, and he learned to not be afraid of Damian either. We all know that's the real reason he was killed."
"Fear kept us alive," Brin persisted.
"…No, fear kept us survivin'. That's not the same thing." Harlen turned away from Brin and addressed the rest of them. "Who here takes issue with Silas' leadership?"
"If you don't like it, get fucked," Wate growled.
Brin reached down to grab her son's hand. "I'm out," she grumbled. "And if the rest of you were smart, you'd be outta here, too."
The blonde woman who'd tossed Leah to the ground moved to Brin's side and Silas shook his head. "I thought you of all people would stick around, Mama."
Val.
Seth watched her as she steeled her jaw. "This ain't no place for me, Silas. Not after everything I did."
From the murmurs behind Val, he got the impression what remained of the coyotes agreed.
"Besides," Val carried on. "Brin's gonna need help when her boy comes of age."
"Anyone else?" Wate hissed. No one else moved.
Silas nodded. "Mama, Brin, we'll help you gather your stuff and give you some pocket money to get you wherever you're gettin' to. In the meantime," he looked around at the fallen tents. "Rest of us can start picking up the pieces. Annie…You stayin' or goin'?"
Seth knew the answer before it had come out of her mouth. "For now, I'm stayin'. I can't answer for later." He didn't bother to look at Jacob or his sister. They didn't need to be inside his head to know what her answer meant for him. Seth wasn't going back to La Push.
Silas nodded. "In that case, y'all should go get cleaned up. You look like hell."
Annaliese snorted and turned her eyes toward the forest. "She should be buried," Annaliese said. "Whatever her crimes, Zel healed us when we were sick or injured."
And they did. It had taken what felt like hours and the sky had started to grow darker by the time they'd finished gathering the body-shaped pile of ashes that had matched Zel's scent. Seth held his disbelief and confusion at bay and helped them dig the hole beneath the tree she'd died under.
When that was done, Seth followed Annaliese, Yara, Leah, Embry, and a few coyotes whose names he didn't know through the forest and to a wide creek. They stripped and plunged themselves into the water and the wolves did the same, mimicking each action the coyotes performed with ritual focus.
The blood and dirt washed from Seth's skin in the frigid water. He scraped the packed herbs off his torso and watched it all float away, diluted by the slow-moving stream. Without warning, Annaliese howled a low and sorrowful sound. His hand found hers instinctively and the coyotes joined the song of mourning.
A chorus through the trees added to the somber noise and they made their way back to the clearing where fresh clothes had been laid out near the tree line.
"Y'all go ahead, I'll catch up," Annaliese told the coyotes. Yara led them toward a huddle of tents that were being re-organized. Annaliese turned to them and smiled. "Thanks for having my back. I know this all happened quick and none of you asked for it, but if you ever run into an issue, feel free to tag me in."
"Life doesn't really operate on our timeline," Embry said looking out at the compound. "So, I wouldn't worry too much about how quickly things went south."
She nodded and rubbed at her neck. "You, uh, you're welcome to hang around for a while. We could use the extra hands in case anyone else decides to high tail it out of here."
"We would, but I think Jake and the vamps are getting antsy," he said, squinting at their leader who hadn't moved from his spot near the fence they'd jumped over. "Did you know?" Embry asked. "That Zel was…"
"… a witch?" Annaliese offered. "Nawh. I mean, well, yeah, but not…" She trailed off and settled with, "Zel was just Zel to us."
Embry eyed the fence with skepticism. "You think it'll shock us again?"
Leah knelt, picked up a stick, and sent it hurdling through the air past Jacob's head. The alpha growled to his sister's amusement. "Doesn't look like it," she said as the stick bounced through one of the chain link gaps. "See you around," she said with a nod to Annaliese before pulling Embry across the clearing.
Annaliese finally turned to him. "Seth, I —"
"— don't," he said. "Not here. Let's focus on getting the compound cleaned up."
He kept his face straight as he approached Jacob. No words filled the air between them, but Seth was certain Jacob of all people would understand. His alpha simply nodded and held out his hand. Seth shook it and nodded to Edward, whose gaze he avoided.
Seth didn't want to see the sympathy mixed into that golden look any more than he wanted to taste it in the air around his friends as they nodded goodbye to him, phased, and cleared the fence. Leah looked back at him with a sad smile before disappearing after the others.
Seth found Harlen and Wate and helped them re-pitch several of the less than sturdy tents. "What do you do when it snows?" he asked. It wouldn't be long before the chill in the air grew colder and rain turned to flurries.
He nodded to the center of the clearing. "Usually have a fire going there. If it's a real bad season, we split and fill up the motels. For those who don't wanna phase back, there's a decent sized cabin about half a mile west of here with the basics. No running water or electricity though."
"And you guys are all right with that?" Seth tried to imagine Annaliese curled up by the fire in her coyote form, Yara nestled into her side like a wayward duckling.
Harlen shrugged his shoulders. "Spend too long as an animal, you start forgetting what it's like to be on two legs. They don't give a damn, neither do we." He stacked a set of worn blankets just inside the tent closest to him and nodded to a row of rusted shovels leaning against a stack of wooden pallets. "Matter of fact, you can help us make the pit."
Late into the night, Seth worked alongside Harlen, Wate, and, eventually, Annaliese's brother whose name he learned was Caleb. As they carved a wide circle into the center of the clearing and stripped the cold ground down a few inches, Seth listened to their jokes, piped up when needed, and distracted himself with each new task someone pointed in his direction.
It reminded him of being at his cousin Emily's house, with all the kids running around and the adults dashing between inside and out to bring out new food, drinks, or fetch something for their elders. Or the occasional food or supply drives down at the school. All of them working together for their good of the family, the pack, and their community.
Once the shallow pit was cleared and the grass wet, wood pallets were stacked in the center and lit. His teeth clenched. Just beyond the fire for warmth sat the funeral pyre he'd been responsible for. It had gone up faster than he thought possible and there was barely any evidence left of the bodies that once lay on top of it.
"Another of Zel's tricks," Harlen answered at his confusion. "She had this powder she'd tell us to put around the body when someone died. You couldn't let that circle be broken either, otherwise the stench of death would hit you like a brick wall, man. Guess we should've known something was up then."
Seth looked at the fence. "How did you stay unnoticed by humans for so long?"
He laughed and shook his head, and Seth understood. Zel.
The woman had done more for them than it seemed anyone knew.
"She didn't mean for Annie to die," Harlen said. "You probably don't care long as your girl's alive, but that was Zel's doing. The old bat basically said she's the reason we exist, and she was tired of living life, so she called it quits."
Wate nodded. "Can't say I blame her. We live long, sure, but centuries?" He shook his head. "Here for a good time, not a long time, right?"
Seth frowned and watched Annaliese catch a lanky and small coyote as it playfully tackled her. They tumbled to the ground and Annaliese rose on all fours. "What did Annie's death have to do with anything?"
Silas answered then. "I imagine Zel could've died whenever she wanted, too. But she had a reason to stick around for a while."
Seth nodded. Annaliese. Yara. Getting rid of Damian.
"I was apparently the only way she could take dad's shifting, which is scary shit. God rest her soul, but," Silas shivered. "I don't know if anyone should have that kind of power."
"Does his shapeshifting just…disappear then?" Seth asked. "And what, he gets to live happily ever after as a human?"
"Hell no," Silas snapped without missing a beat. "My dad has to pay one way or another. Losin' his shifting was just the beginning. Once we get settled, we're gonna take one of the trucks and drop him off at the police station in town. Once they fingerprint him, they should get something and if they don't, once he starts rattling off about shapeshifters and vampires, well…" Silas pretended to wash his hands.
It sounded like a plan, but Seth couldn't shake the urge to finish what they'd started. And he hated that feeling.
"Don't sit too long in that shit, man." It was the first time Caleb spoke more than a word or two in his direction. "Trust me, some things ain't worth dwellin' on."
The death of five shapeshifters felt like something he needed to carry with him, but Seth didn't say anything except, "Thanks."
Silas watched him for a long moment and jogged toward one of the tents, reached inside, and tossed something at him. Seth caught the glinting flash in his hands. Keys. "You and Annie go pick up some new gear for the stuff that's too broke to fix."
Seth followed Silas's pointed thumb to the far end of the compound where two large trucks were parked beneath a weather-beaten carport. Annaliese ruffled the fur of the young coyote she'd been rough housing with and headed in the direction of the trucks without looking back at him.
"Hey, man," Silas called to Seth as he followed Annaliese. "Take your time."
Seth gave him a lazy salute and tossed Annaliese the keys. She snatched them out of the air and slid into the cab of the blue truck and cranked it up. She didn't speak a word, not even when they were back on paved roads and the noise of the compound was but a fading hum in their ears.
It wasn't long before the town came back into view, a path that was familiar to Seth. Every road Annaliese took brought them closer to the motel he'd stayed at countless times before he'd ever met her. When he'd run through the forests with wild abandon, not knowing there was an entire pack just miles outside of his perception and he out of theirs. That Annaliese had always been close, even then.
She maintained her silence as she slipped out of the truck, disappeared into the office, and reappeared with a key that had seen better years. Outside the truck, she caught his eye and nodded her head toward the door behind her.
Seth tried to exhale the tension building in his body as he got out of the truck. Annaliese didn't wait for him. He pushed through the thin door, and it shut behind him with a snap.
Annaliese gripped his face in her hands and kissed him without reservation or pretense. She melted against him, her tongue teasing his lips apart like she could breathe him in, like somehow the world would disappear if she stayed like that.
"I'm not leaving," he whispered, slipping his hands into her hair. He rooted them at the nape of her neck to pull her lips back to his.
She groaned and pushed him onto the bed. "I don't wanna think about anything that's not you inside me."
"Come here then," Seth pulled her on top of him and let his hands commit the slope of her hips to memory. He trailed a hot line along the curve of her back as she arched against him, and he smiled at the small shiver dancing across her skin.
Whatever fabric separated them hit the floor in tatters, their grip frantic. Seth groaned as she eased herself onto him and he tilted his hips, delighting in the slow rise and fall of her body as she took him to the hilt. Annaliese found a slow pace that wound his body tight with need.
"Fuck," he exhaled slowly.
Annaliese laughed and leaned to kiss him. She drew his lower lip between her teeth and winked, letting him go. "I like it when you're desperate for me."
Her slow smile lured one of his own and he pulled her down to his chest. "Don't play with me," he warned.
"But you make it so fun," she said, winding her hips against him. Seth growled and eased her off him. "Awh, come on."
He grinned and, for once, she let him do what he wanted. He laid her on her back and pulled away, his hands gently trailing down the length of her legs before guiding her knees to her chest. She narrowed her eyes, suspicious and exposed to his hungry gaze. "What are you —"
A quiet gasp cut her words short as he flipped her to her stomach and palmed the soft curve of her ass.
"On your hands and knees, Annaliese," he said firmly. He laughed quietly at the dirty look she tossed over her shoulder, but she didn't hesitate to bend to his command.
She drew her hips up toward him and arched her back. Seth sucked in a slow breath and let his hands roam with deliberate easiness along her inner thigh. She quivered with anticipation under his touch.
"Ask nicely," he teased, brushing his fingers along the slick lines of her pussy.
Annaliese moaned as he reached her clit. Her hips eased into a slow whine, threatening to destroy his resolve. He held her hips still much to her frustration. She'd avoided him since they left the tent. Was determined to send him away. He'd felt it in every quick glance away, every careful step she took around him as he'd worked to build the fire.
"Seth…". Her quiet whimper sent his senses spiraling.
Now she wanted him. He leaned down, replacing his hand with his tongue. Annaliese bucked against him as he worked her to a frenzy, savoring the sweet taste of her desire. Her scent surrounded him, coated his fingers, reminded him that no matter what she said, neither of them could run from the truth.
She craved him as much as he ached for her.
"Gods," she groaned, her ecstasy settling into his head like a siren song. "Keep it up, baby, and I'm gonna come."
Seth stopped and she growled in warning. He licked his lips, straightening to tower behind her. Her hands were curled tight in the covers, face flushed, eyes darkened with need. She bit her lip as she looked over her shoulder.
"Please," she begged.
He leaned over her back, the hard length of him grazing her backside. She whined until his lips danced along her shoulder blades, nipping the line of her neck from behind. "Say you want me to stay," he whispered, voice thick with lust.
Annaliese nodded. "Stay, Seth," she whispered. "I want you to stay," she continued. "I want you to stay with me. I need you —" She moaned as he drove himself inside her. He watched her eyes roll back with satisfaction, pulling sweet sounds from her lips as he deepened each stroke.
Their pleasure echoed back to him, loud and reckless. He couldn't care less if someone heard them — No, he wanted someone to hear them. To hear the way she sang his praise in soft moans and quick gasps, each growing louder and more heated as he hastened his pace.
"That's it," she panted. "Fuck me, Seth. Goddamn," she groaned as their bodies met again and again. Seth's grip tightened on her hips as the pressure built inside him. He groaned, throbbing, and pushed through the all-consuming need to cum inside her.
"Hands on the headboard," he hissed.
Annaliese's hands shot up to grip the headboard, quick to drive herself back against him as they rose to their knees. Her back pressed flushed against him, his arms circling her waist, hands gripping her chest. His stroke deepened, quickened, edging her closer to climax. She tightened around him, and he gasped.
"Let it out, baby," he breathed. "Cum on this dick."
Her head fell back against his chest as she began to quake around him. Seth bit his lip at the grip of her pussy around him. She had given over to the first crest of her orgasm, but he wasn't done. He traded the roundness of her breast for the heat of her pussy, matching his stroke with his fingers against her clit.
Annaliese's moans hit a crescendo and her grip tightened on the headboard, splintering the frame as her climate hit its peak. She stilled against him, and her eyes pinched shut as she shook in his arms. "Keep going, Seth," she whispered. "Don't stop 'til you fill me."
Seth's eyes rolled back, his body complying with whatever she asked of him. He reveled in every second of it — their bodies slick with sweat, her relaxing against him, trembling as he pulsed inside her.
Annaliese turned and lifted her head enough to kiss along his jaw. He basked in her affection, afraid of the end.
All too soon, Annaliese eased off of him and slid from the cage of his arms. "Be right back," she said, kissing his lips.
Seth shuddered, suddenly cold. Maybe he should've waited, should have considered the best next course of action given the reality that waited just outside their door, but as soon as the shower came on, he was next to her, lifting her back into his arms and wrapping her legs around his waist.
"Seth?" she gasped as her back hit the shower wall. Shock melted into bliss as he guided himself back inside her. Her arms draped atop his shoulders, languid.
"I won't leave you to pick up the pieces alone," he said, kissing her softly. He tucked the hair away from her face. "I can't do that. You own every part of me, Annaliese."
"Yeah," she conceded, rocking against him with easy movements. "And the same goes for you, sweetness, even if I don't wanna admit it." Without much real concern, she added. "But your pack…"
"They won't miss me." Seth nuzzled her neck, leaving a line of kisses along the sensitive curve there.
"Mm," was all she said, lost in the movement of their bodies against each other.
Seth dipped his head to leave kisses across her chest before taking one of the sensitive buds into his mouth. Annaliese jerked in his arms and laughed, breathless, at his tongue's teasing.
"I like that," she moaned, running her fingers through his hair as the hot water fell around them. "And you," she said and writhed against him as he pulled her closer to climax again.
She didn't need to say anything else. Seth felt it — God, did he feel it — in the way she opened her eyes and held his face as she came for him again, the adoration sending him tipping over the edge himself. He buried his face in her neck as he came. He stayed like that for a moment before gently setting her feet back on the ground.
Annaliese wobbled, laughing, and leaned against the shower wall for support. She sighed and her smile slipped. "They won't trust you," she said and pulled him against her, arms lazy as they held each other.
"Then I'll earn their trust," he answered simply. "I watched you die. You don't know what that was like, Annie. I can't —" He swallowed and splayed his hand against the wall to keep it from balling into a fist.
Annaliese's rubbed his back. "I know, sweetin', I know." She paused. "You know Leah might hate me."
Seth shook his head. "She understands."
"And Jacob?"
"Fuck 'im," Seth muttered. Jacob didn't get to disappear for years and demand loyalty from him anymore.
"You don't mean that." Annaliese pulled back to analyze his face. She laughed. "Alright, maybe you do. It could take months, you know — maybe even a year or two — to get things situated."
Seth nodded. "That's okay. We'll come back to La Push to visit."
"La Push is your home. I can't ask you to —"
"You are my home and my pack now, Annaliese."
The two of them stared at each other in surprise. Seth felt the color rise to his cheeks, flustered. After all that, this, is what gets you?
Annaliese shook her head and smiled, smacking the hot water from her face. "Okay," she answered. "Okay."
"Good," Seth responded. "Good."
A/N: What do you think? Should we end it here?