Bo and Kenzi set off the following morning. There was a lot of grumbling and groaning from Kenzi when Bo dragged her out of bed at eight AM, as well as a last-minute crisis when it looked like they might not be able to cram all of Kenzi's luggage into the car, but they finally managed to shove it in thanks to Bo's enhanced fae strength; then they climbed into the front seats (sliding them forward a bit to accommodate the bulky bags behind them) and hit the road at last.

As they approached the sign delineating Toronto's city limits, Bo eased off the accelerator, letting the Camaro coast to a near-stop while she took one last look back at her home and wondered when she would see it again.

Kenzi craned her neck to see what had distracted Bo, then looked over at her with a slight frown. Even though she had lived in or around the city all her life, she'd never felt the same attachment to it that Bo had developed. To her, it was just the place she happened to be, where she'd had some really wonderful experiences as well as some gut-wrenchingly awful ones, and the only reason she'd never considered leaving was simply that she didn't think Toronto was likely to be any better or worse than any other city.

Still, she understood why the idea of putting down roots might appeal to a perennial drifter like Bo, so she gave her a moment (luckily, there was nobody else on that particular stretch of road just then) before gently shaking her out of her reverie. "Hey," she said encouragingly, "it's not like this is forever. We'll be back, and when we are you and Trick and Little Sis will all be one big happy fae fam. It'll be fae-tastic, right?"

She grinned brightly, determined not to let her mixed feelings about that scenario show through, and it seemed to work; Bo didn't appear to suspect anything as she laid a hand over the one Kenzi had placed on her shoulder to get her attention and squeezed it while smiling back at her.

"Right," she replied in a determinedly upbeat tone, "and in the meantime I get to go on a road trip with my bestie. This is gonna be great."

Turning her eyes to the road ahead, she put her foot back on the gas, and soon Toronto's skyline disappeared over the horizon.

###

As they drove past the woods bordering the city, they came within a mile of a certain wolf whose whereabouts they had wondered about for the last two days, though they had no way of knowing it. The rumble of the Camaro's engine was carried on the wind, disturbing the peaceful silence of the forest and causing the unnaturally large creature to lift his muzzle and sniff the air.

Nothing he smelled caused him undue alarm, but Dyson got up anyway, stretching and shaking himself off. After a couple of days of running wild, giving the animal inside him free rein, his mind felt clearer than it had since he'd stormed out of the Norn's house, the maelstrom of rage, pain, and betrayal that had driven him to transform tamped down to a more manageable level. Those feelings weren't completely gone, of course; that would only happen after he confronted Trick and heard from the man's own mouth why he'd been so determined to end his relationship with Bo…which meant he needed to change back.

The clothes he'd worn on that fateful night were gone now, ripped to shreds when he shifted and discarded somewhere between the Norn's quaint abode and the woods' edge; luckily, he had prepared for such an eventuality months ago by burying a bag containing a new outfit in a place so far off the beaten track that the chances of hikers stumbling across it were extremely low. Finding his cache undisturbed, Dyson dug it up, then focused on reclaiming his human form.

A shudder rippled through him from nose to tail as his body shrank, his bones and organs restructured and rearranged themselves, and his thick gray-brown fur retracted into his skin. The whole process was over in the blink of an eye, leaving an ordinary (to all outward appearances) man where the giant wolf had stood mere seconds ago. The man quickly dressed himself in the jeans, t-shirt, and shoes he took from his gym bag, then picked it up and started walking toward the city. He would need to refill the bag with a fresh change of clothes before reburying it in preparation for his next run…but first, he had to talk to Trick.

###

The Dal was still closed for business when Dyson arrived, though Trick had finally decided it was time to start getting ready to reopen in the hope that things would soon get back to something approaching normal. Even if they didn't, running a bar that was popular with both Light and Dark fae was a good way to stay up to date on the latest news. Unfortunately, he still had some work to do before welcoming back his regular patrons, so it was rather irritating when he heard someone walk in, blatantly ignoring the sign that clearly stated that the Dal hadn't yet resumed its normal operations.

"We're still closed!" he called out from behind the counter, where he was sweeping.

"I'm not here to drink, Trick."

Upon hearing the familiar voice of his right hand man, he instantly put down his broom and hurried around the bar, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw the wolf-shifter standing there, unharmed as far as he could tell. "Dyson! Where have you been? When we last spoke, and you said you were considering visiting the Norn…" He let his voice trail off, not wanting to probe too obviously or too deeply into the potentially sensitive matter of whether his lieutenant had struck a deal with the devious crone, and if so, what payment she had extracted from him.

Fortunately, Dyson answered his implicit question without further prompting. "I did go to the Norn," he said in a soft, subdued voice. "In exchange for lending my strength to Bo for her fight against Aife, I offered her my wolf."

"I'm sorry," Trick said earnestly. Though he didn't fully understand the dual nature of shifters, not being one himself, he knew that their inner animals were more than just alternate forms they took on sometimes; they were part of their souls, integral to their identity. Now he found himself wondering whether he could have spared Dyson from having to give up that essential piece of himself if he hadn't resisted using his blood so long, if this was yet another way he'd failed someone he cared for.

"That wasn't what she wanted," Dyson continued as if he hadn't heard him. "Looks like my priorities have shifted since the last time I tried to bargain with her; my wolf isn't the thing I value most anymore. She demanded my love for Bo as the price of her intervention."

This time, Trick was too stunned to say anything. To think that his bond with Bo had become even more important to Dyson than something that formed the very core of who he was… It made him feel even worse about the lengths he'd gone to in order to keep them apart.

Still Dyson kept talking, barely giving him time to process what he heard. "She wasn't able to take it, though, because it seems not even an Ancient can break an imprint." At that, he finally looked Trick straight in the eye, his hard stare boring into him. It was then that Trick realized he wasn't being so quiet because he was depressed over some great loss, but because he was fighting to keep his temper in check.

"But you already knew that, didn't you?" he asked, his voice still soft, but with a note of steel in it now. "After all, you did everything you could to keep me away from her, short of using your blood."

Knowing that any attempt at prevarication was useless at this point, Trick said frankly, "It wouldn't have worked. Breaking a bond that strong would have required writing either you or Bo out of existence entirely, or both of you, and of course I wasn't willing to do that. I only wanted what I thought was best for you both."

"Then why did you try so hard to keep us apart? How could you do that to us…to me?" Dyson demanded, the suppressed anger in his voice cracking just enough to show a hint of the pain Trick's betrayal had caused him. After all, Bo wasn't bound by the imprint; she could have found another love, but he would always have been incomplete without her. Besides, he had known and trusted Trick a lot longer than she had, had served him faithfully for more than a hundred years, and he couldn't help feeling that attempting to rob him of his mate was a pretty poor reward for his loyalty.

"I told you I had doubts about Bo at first," Trick reminded him. "I hoped you would take my warnings to heart and keep your distance, at least until we knew more about her, but when you ignored my advice, I brushed up on the legends surrounding shifters' mating habits, and what I learned… Frankly, it scared the hell out of me. If Bo had been in league with Aife all along, or if she'd joined her after the truth about what I did to her came out, I didn't want her to drag you down with her."

"And you thought I'd go along with her just like that?" Even though Dyson was glad to know Trick had only been looking out for him, albeit in a misguided way, he found that assumption rather insulting.

"You wouldn't have had a choice, would you?" Trick returned, looking at him with some surprise. "I got the impression that an imprint overrides everything else – previous allegiances, beliefs, morality – I even heard that some shifters have completely changed their personality to become what their mates wanted them to be."

"I don't know who told you that, but they exaggerated," was Dyson's blunt retort. "You should've asked me; imprinting is often misunderstood by people who aren't shifters themselves. The truth is that it isn't nearly as dramatic as non-shifters make it out to be. Yes, we mate for life, and once we find the person we're meant to be with we can't truly love anyone else, but it's not exactly love at first sight when we meet them. It's more like…recognition, I guess. We're instantly drawn to our mates, and we know they're the one – or we're supposed to, anyway," he corrected himself, ruefully recalling his own cluelessness when it came to Bo. Shaking off those pointless regrets, he continued.

"I've heard other shifters who imprinted when they were younger describe it as a powerful sensation, but it's not like we know what they want right off the bat, and we don't automatically become their perfect match. We have to work at building our relationships just like everybody else." He paused again before reluctantly admitting, "There have been instances of shifters losing themselves in the imprint, but thankfully it's very rare; when it does happen, it's usually because the shifter in question is either weak-willed or already had obsessive tendencies before they met their mate. Still, you know how it is – it's always the extreme cases that people talk about."

"So if Bo had been corrupted," Trick began slowly, "are you saying it wouldn't have affected you?"

"Not the way you thought. It would've been agonizing, having to fight her…but it could be done." He'd heard a few stories in which a shifter and their mate had ended up opposing one another for various reasons, so he knew it was possible even if the psychological effects were devastating.

"I'm sorry, Dyson. I never meant to hurt you, or Bo. I only wanted to protect you – from each other, if I had to – but I see now that I've made a number of mistakes with both of you."

Dyson appreciated the apology, and yet… "I have my own share of blame in this too," he acknowledged. "I just hope I can find a way to make it up to Bo, if she's willing to let me try." As he contemplated the task ahead of him, he was sorely tempted to ask Trick for a drink regardless of whether the Dal was officially open or not, but he figured it would be better to approach her with a clear head (not that one drink, even of the strongest spirits in Trick's storeroom, would be anywhere near enough to muddle his thinking, but it was the principle of the thing). Besides, he'd already put off talking to her longer than he should have, time having slipped away from him as it so often did when he gave himself over fully to his wolf; any further delays would only make it harder.

He turned to go, but Trick called after him, "Wait! I don't think Bo's at home."

"Where else would she be?" Dyson inquired, looking back at him curiously.

Trick quickly filled him in on everything that had transpired while he roamed the forest; he was taken aback to learn that Bo had a sister but, since he hadn't met any succubi other than her (and, unfortunately for him, Aife), not as astonished as he would have been if he'd been more familiar with the obscure facts regarding their breed. As it was, his main concern was where Bo had gone to meet this sister of hers, though he was also outraged at hearing that she'd practically been run out of town because of the ridiculous suspicions directed at her, and glad Trick had finally come clean about his true relationship to her.

"How'd she take it?" he wondered, hoping for Trick's sake that her reaction had been positive. He knew how much pain and regret the older man still felt over the loss of his family, and even though he was still annoyed at his interference in matters he should have stayed out of, he didn't want to see him suffer any more.

"Better than I dared to hope for, all things considered. She wasn't pleased that I kept the truth from her for so long, but she accepted our connection readily enough. She even said she was glad I'm her grandfather." While he didn't get overly emotional about it, it was plain to see, especially for someone who'd known Trick as long as Dyson had, how much this meant to him.

"I'm happy for you," the shifter replied earnestly. After all the sacrifices Trick had made for the good of the fae, he deserved to find some happiness, to get back some part of what he had lost. Besides, if Bo could forgive his ill-advised efforts to protect her, it gave Dyson a sliver of hope that someday she might find a way to forgive him too.

"Thank you. Are you sure I can't offer you anything before you go?" Even his top shelf liquor felt like an inadequate apology for his meddling, especially since he now knew it had been unnecessary, but it was all he had available at the moment. Soon, however, he promised himself that he would find a better way of making amends.

Dyson opened his mouth to decline once more – tempting as it was to have his pick of Trick's finest stock, his need to see Bo again was stronger – but before he could say a word, the Dal's main entrance banged open and a team of Light enforcers stormed in, led by the Ash's head of security, Serena.

"What's the meaning of this?" Trick demanded angrily. "I've cooperated with every step of your investigation-"

"Relax, we're here for Dyson," Serena replied while another member of her team approached the wolf.

"You need to come with us," he said in an authoritative manner, only to quickly back off when Dyson snarled at him.

"No, he doesn't," Trick countered. "If he wishes to claim sanctuary here, you'll have to honor that."

"Nice try, but the right to sanctuary only applies to those accused of a crime," Serena retorted before turning to Dyson. "Our orders are to bring you in as a witness, and it will be best if you come quietly."

"Witness to what? I'm not aware of anything that should be of interest to the Light," he snapped.

"You were one of the last to see the unaligned succubus Bo Dennis before she left to rendezvous with her mother, weren't you?"

"I saw Bo before she confronted her mother to put an end to her acts of aggression against both the Light and the Dark, yes."

"Really?" Serena arched an eyebrow in a show of skepticism. "And you're certain she intended to fight her mother, are you – not join her?" Then she shrugged. "Oh well, it's not up to me to determine her guilt or innocence. We just need you to come with us to answer the council's questions…and I really hope you don't make me ask again." A thin tongue of flame licked at her fingertips as she spoke, indicating that she was prepared to use force if he refused.

"Fine," Dyson said shortly, making no effort to hide his exasperation. While he was happy to help clear Bo's name, it was absurd that it needed clearing in the first place, and he didn't appreciate having to waste his time on this asinine farce of an investigation when all he wanted was to go after her, to see with his own eyes that she was okay and apologize again for screwing everything up. Still, he knew picking a fight with Serena and her team wouldn't help anything, plus he figured he might as well just get whatever they wanted him for over with. After all, how long could it take to answer a few simple questions?

###

When they arrived at Light Fae headquarters, however, Serena's team didn't take him to the conference room where the Ash's council held their meetings or even an interrogation room; instead, they put him in a holding cell.

"What is this?" Dyson growled as one of them slid the barred door shut, then quickly stepped back out of reach. "You said they just wanted to ask me a few questions!"

"Yes, but with the Ash out of commission and several other members injured, what's left of the council is stretched thin. It may take them a while to get around to interviewing you," Serena said smoothly. "Besides, this will give you time to mull over what you're going to say when they do. My advice is to think about it very carefully."

"The old 'stick them in a box and let them sweat' technique, huh? If the council's hoping I'll give them something they can use to pin Aife's crimes on Bo, that'll never happen, so you might as well take me to them now."

"I'll take you upstairs when they call for you. What's your hurry anyway? You shifters don't age as long as you phase regularly, which you have plenty of room to do in here, so you literally have all the time in the world."

"That doesn't mean I want to spend it in a cage," Dyson retorted. "I do have other things I'd rather be doing."

"Like running off to meet up with your outlaw girlfriend?"

When he didn't answer, Serena dismissed the rest of her team before coming closer, evidently less worried about Dyson grabbing her through the bars than her subordinate had been. "I do have one question I'd like to ask now. It's not part of the official interrogation, it's personal."

She paused for a moment, but when he said nothing to indicate whether he was likely to answer her question or not, she pressed on. "What the hell happened to you, Dyson? You used to be an upstanding citizen – did your job well, followed the rules – but ever since that succubus showed up, you've been…different. That incident with the djieiene… There was a time when you wouldn't have hesitated to do whatever it took to eliminate such a dangerous underfae, but that day you kept asking me to stall, to give you time to save her. I know that wasn't the first or only time you bent the rules for her, got involved in cases you weren't assigned to. Just because it wasn't a big enough problem for the Ash to step in doesn't mean we weren't aware of what you were doing. What I want to know is why you did it. What is it about that woman that makes you want to take these risks for her?" With a scoff, she asked, "Is she really that good in bed?"

Dyson frowned at her. "Just because you're asexual doesn't mean you have to look down on Bo for being a succubus. For your information, there's a lot more to her than that. She's opened my eyes to things I didn't see before, or maybe didn't want to see…made me realize the system might not be as perfect as we're told it is."

Serena gave him a doubtful look, but all she said was, "I wouldn't mention these new convictions of yours to the council if I were you." She took another step forward, a hint of concern softening her expression. "Be careful, Dyson," she advised him in a quieter, more serious tone, her eyes darting toward the entrance to the holding area as if to check that they were still alone. "I don't know if anything you say can help the unaligned succubus, so just make sure you don't land yourself in the same hot water she's in. I'll come get you when they're ready for you."

With those parting words, she walked away, ignoring the loud noise behind her as Dyson slammed his open palm against the bars in frustration.

###

Hundreds of miles away, Carlisle had just finished X-raying Bella's broken leg, and the somber look on his face let her know instantly that it wasn't good news. That wasn't a huge surprise to her, since today was supposed to have been her first day back at school, but those plans had been derailed when she woke up with such a severe ache in her leg that Charlie had immediately agreed with Edward's suggestion of taking her to Carlisle instead. Still, she couldn't stop herself from cringing in anticipation of his answer as she tentatively asked, "How bad is it?"

"I'm afraid the degradation is worsening," Carlisle sighed. He held up the most recent X-ray alongside the previous one, and sure enough, it was plain even to her untrained eye that instead of knitting back together, the two ends of her fractured bone appeared to be crumbling, the gap between them wider today than it had been before.

Setting the X-ray images aside, the doctor moved on to his next point of concern, which was at the root of all her troubles. "It's only a symptom of a much larger problem, though. How is the hunger?"

"Not too bad," she replied in a small, somewhat evasive voice, earning a frown from the blond vampire.

"Don't try to be stoic, Bella. As your doctor, it's important for me to know how you're feeling."

"Eating food helps sometimes; at least if my stomach's full, I can tell myself I shouldn't be hungry. Other times…" She shrugged, unsure how to explain the gnawing empty feeling that didn't seem to be connected to any particular organ. Changing the subject, she said, "I think Charlie's starting to notice something's wrong; he keeps asking if I'm okay, and he was really worried when he saw how much this stupid leg's bothering me. Isn't there anything you can do?"

"I can give you an injection of vitamin B12," he suggested after thinking it over for a moment. "It's known to help humans keep their energy up, and there's some evidence that it may offer similar benefits for fae. Of course, as with the sedatives they gave you in the hospital, you'll require a larger dose to achieve the same effect."

A larger dose naturally meant a bigger syringe, and Bella's eyes widened in dismay when she saw the size of the needle Carlisle wanted to stick her with. Once he administered the shot, however, she discovered that it did make her feel better – though it did nothing to satisfy the unidentified craving no ordinary food could fulfill, it lessened the fatigue that had slowly but steadily crept over her. Within minutes she was sitting up straighter, her head felt clearer, and even the ache in her leg seemed more bearable.

"Thanks, Carlisle," she said with a grateful smile. "That really helped."

"It's only a temporary solution," he cautioned. "You still need to feed."

Her face fell at the reminder, but before she could voice her reservations about adopting a fae diet again, Edward opened the door to Carlisle's study, then stepped aside to let Esme enter the room ahead of him (the rest of the Cullens were currently in school, dutifully keeping up appearances). As soon as he stepped inside after her, it was obvious from his air of barely contained excitement that something significant had happened.

"I think we're close to solving that problem."

Bella looked from his face, which she found even more breathtaking than usual when it was all lit up like this rather than shadowed by his typical brooding demeanor, to the phone in his hand, and her insides clenched tightly, though this time the sensation had nothing to do with hunger.

"Bo called, didn't she?" she asked softly. She couldn't think of anything else that would make him leave the room to take a call right before Carlisle X-rayed her leg – Edward, of course, was deeply concerned about her inability to heal, and had been hovering anxiously at her side until his phone rang – or that would elicit such a strong reaction from her usually subdued boyfriend. "Did she get the DNA sample already? She should have, after everything you went through to get it to her."

A hint of irritation colored her tone on those last words, because even though she understood his eagerness to get answers, slipping across the Canadian border to mail a package seemed like overkill to her. The fact that this errand had taken him away from her for most of the night only added to her annoyance.

"She did," Edward confirmed, "and had it tested against hers yesterday. They matched. Bo Dennis is your sister, Bella. She's on her way here as we speak."

"Isn't that wonderful?" Esme asked as Bella sat back in her chair, stunned. "We should invite her to stay with us – she's coming an awfully long way, and I'm sure she'll want to stay awhile. Our house would be more comfortable for an extended visit, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Bella mumbled. "We don't even have a guestroom…and I don't know how it'd work, having a fae under the same roof as Charlie. Another fae, I mean," she amended upon realizing she had excluded herself from that statement.

Esme then looked to Carlisle for his approval, which he gave at once. "Of course, dear. Would you like me to help you begin preparing for our guest's arrival now, or would you rather wait until Alice and Rosalie get home?"

"I'd better wait for the girls; Alice will never forgive me if I arrange anything without her," Esme replied with a slight laugh. Her surrogate daughter might not be quite as enthusiastic as she would if their preparations involved buying new clothes, but purchasing or repurposing and setting up furniture was the next best thing. She did, however, give Carlisle instructions on which spare room to start clearing out while she went to retrieve a few things from a storage facility in Seattle, leaving Edward alone with Bella, who hadn't moved since his announcement, her eyes fixed unseeingly on some spot on the floor just beyond the footstool that supported her injured leg.

He gently scooped her up, then sat down in the armchair she had occupied and placed her on his lap, taking special care as he repositioned her leg on the stool. This drew her inwardly directed focus out of her own head, and she happily nestled into his embrace. They hadn't had as much time together as she would've liked while he worked on unraveling the mystery of her background, and when they were together, he had unfortunately maintained his resolve to be extra careful with her while she was hurt; it seemed like he'd barely touched her since she got out of the hospital, and when he did, it was like he was handling some priceless artifact made of the very finest china. Just now, for instance, she noticed that he had positioned her with her back against his chest, which would make it very hard for her to twist around and try to kiss him, but she decided to take what she could get.

"You're not happy," he observed once they were comfortably settled.

"I'm too overwhelmed to be happy. Being so close to finding out what I am, getting confirmation that I really do have a sister… Either of those things would be a lot to deal with on their own, but at the same time… I feel like I've been hit by a sledgehammer on a pendulum, and every time I start to pick myself up, it swings back and whacks me again."

"That's a very imaginative metaphor."

She hesitated for a minute before quietly admitting, "I'm scared, Edward. Now that we're just days away from getting answers…I'm afraid I won't like the answers we get. I wish you'd just asked Bo what we are when you talked to her a few minutes ago; I'd still want to meet her, but at least I wouldn't have to wait till she gets here to find out how much of a monster I'm turning into. Or is that not something you can ask over the phone?"

"It's a fairly personal question, possibly even a dangerous one. Every fae species has specific powers and vulnerabilities as well as feeding requirements," Edward explained, "so telling someone what you are lets them know exactly what you can do and where you're weak – basically, it gives them everything they need to know how to defeat you or even kill you, which seemed like precisely the sort of inquiry that would scare off someone who is already as wary of me as your sister seems to be."

"Well, we can't have that," Bella said seriously. "I really do want to get to know her." Her interest was mostly personal, of course, though she couldn't help thinking that if what Bo revealed about the nature of their species wasn't too bad, if the manner of feeding was something she could live with, she also wanted to learn whatever she could about any powers that might be part of the package. So far she hadn't seen any signs of burgeoning supernatural abilities in herself even though she'd been watching for them, so she wasn't expecting anything spectacular, but she hoped to get something out of being fae…hopefully something that would make her feel a little less pathetic when she compared herself with Edward.

"I'm also kind of afraid of meeting her, though," she continued out loud, knowing he wouldn't understand or like it if she got off on the topic of how unworthy of him she felt. "What if we don't get along?"

"You will. I can't imagine anyone not loving you."

"Thank you, Edward." She turned her head in an effort to make eye contact, finally succeeding when he shifted a little so he could see her face as well. "You've been amazing all the way through this whole mess. I bet there are lots of guys our age who wouldn't have been mature enough to handle my breakdown over being adopted, never mind the fae stuff – if I would've been allowed to tell them, that is. You know, when we first met, I was so dazzled by how gorgeous you are-"

"Are you saying you only liked me for my looks?" Edward teased, affecting a wounded attitude.

"Of course not; I was also intrigued by that mysterious, aloof vibe you had going, and then when I found out what you are and how you and your family fight your nature because you don't want to hurt people, I really admired that. After everything that happened in Phoenix, though, I feel like I've learned to appreciate you in a whole new way. I've never had anyone be there for me the way you have," she confessed, lowering her gaze from his almost shyly. "I've always prided myself on being independent, being able to take care of things like I did when I lived with Renée…but it's nice to have someone you know you can lean on when you need them, you know?"

"I do." Like Bella, Edward had always been highly self-sufficient, especially from an emotional standpoint; being able to take care of one's own physical needs wasn't a great point of pride among his kind, since every vampire could do that. It was only since meeting her that he'd found that needing another person in his life wasn't such a bad thing, and it was good to know he could rely on her, that she had not and would not desert him even when she saw the parts of him he wasn't proud of.

"I'm glad I got to see what it's like, to have what we have."

She faced forward again, letting her head rest on his shoulder as she straightened her neck, and said nothing more, yet it seemed to him that there was an unspoken addendum to her statement – that she was glad to have experienced a love like the one they shared while she could, just in case she didn't have a great deal of time left. He didn't say anything about it; he'd never been much of an optimist, but this time he was determined to keep up a positive outlook that everything would work out, that Bella's fae nature (which hopefully included a long lifespan, if not outright immortality) would be something she could adjust to, because the alternative was simply unthinkable.

Still, he knew that cloud of uncertainty – not to mention the problem of Bella's deteriorating health and the hunger that couldn't be staved off with vitamin shots forever – would hang over them until Bo arrived, and silently hoped the mysterious woman traveled fast.

Uh-oh, looks like things are getting dicey for Dyson and Bella. The next chapter will include the long-awaited meeting between Bo and Bella, so things should be looking up for her soon, but it may take longer to get Dyson out of his predicament. (As a sidenote on the subject of wolves, I deliberately made imprinting less brainwash-y than it was in canon, partly to fit better with Lost Girl's take on wolves mating for life and because, frankly, the way it was presented in the books was just a little disturbing.)

For those who don't remember, Serena appeared in 1x07; curiously, we never saw her again in the show, but I decided to bring her back rather than create an OC to serve my purposes.

Lastly, I'm not sure how much overlap there is between readers of this story and my other Lost Girl crossover, but for anyone who's waiting for The Lost Kingdom to begin, I assure you I'm working on it. The first chapter should be up sometime in the first few days of July.