A/n: I published the first chapter and was almost finished with this one when I discovered, much to my own chagrin, I've been spelling Levee wrong this whole time . Also the French is from Google translate so if it isn't right or if a native speaker would have worded it differently please let me know and I will do my best to edit accordingly.

A/N 2: I have edited this chapter to back it up in my overall timeline to serve better in my overall plot.

~*~

Charles watched as Jordan settled in for the flight. He didn't know her story but the more he looked at her the more exhausted she looked. He figured she was haunted by nightmares of her attack, as a lot of the involuntarily changed are. He had heard horrible tales from those denied the choice of if they wanted to become a werewolf and thus he was a strict believer in upholding the law that none should be changed against their will.

"Why don't you get some sleep?" Anna said after she jerked herself awake for the third time.

"J'ai peur… J'ai peur de dormir." She said half asleep (I am afraid to sleep)

"Pourquoi?" (Why?) Charles asked.

"Oh crap, I was speaking French wasn't I?" she said more awake.

Anna nodded.

"French is my first language and when I'm very sleepy sometimes I have to be reminded to speak English."

"I speak fluent French, but Anna doesn't." Charles paused briefly "That isn't just you, when my father and brother are really angry or overtired they start cutting their English with Welsh I speak both so it doesn't bother me but it aggravates Mercedes, you'll meet her later, she is Adam's mate." He set the autopilot and turned to speak with her.

"Why are you afraid to sleep?"

"Sometimes I have terrible nightmares... night terrors really… in them I relive the attack in vivid detail and it was bad." She replied. "I also relive the moment I found out my sister had died. I honestly can't tell you which one is worse."

"Try to rest we have time." He told her then turned back to the controls.

Jordan went back to resting and when Charles looked again she was asleep. He said a small prayer asking God and the spirits to allow her to have a peaceful sleep and one or the other decided to grant his prayer as she slept peacefully the whole flight.

~*~

Jordan sighed as she exited the plane. She didn't know what to expect when she arrived in Washington. She had only spoken to Adam Hauptman over the telephone so she really wasn't sure what he looked like but when a Slavic looking man with the aura of an extremely dominant werewolf approached her she quickly realized that had to be Adam.

"Welcome to the Tri-Cities. I am the alpha, Adam Hauptman." He said as she noticed a woman beside him that she figured was either Hispanic or part Native American she really couldn't tell but she figured it really didn't matter either way.

"Thank you" she replied.

Anna greeted the woman as if they had known each other for a while. She then came to the conclusion this had to be Mercedes, which was further confirmed when Anna called her Mercy.

After a few minutes of socializing Charles and Anna declared that they had to refuel and leave if they expected to be home to attend a performance by a girl by the name of SeoHyun. Mercy would later clarify that SeoHyun was the name of their adopted teenage daughter. Apparently her talent show was coming up and they promised they would be there.

Adam introduced her to his mate Mercedes "Mercy" Thompson-Hauptman. He didn't explain why she smelled of burnt oil, WD-40 and other substances found in a mechanic's garage and he didn't really have to as Jordan concluded she was a mechanic and mentally flied it as intriguing that his mate was a mechanic but not earth shattering.

"Bran seemed extremely concerned about you. You wouldn't happen to know why, would you?"

Jordan looked away and Adam seemed to realize that she did in fact know, and it was serious.

"I was involuntarily changed along with my baby sister..." She sighed.

"Let's get you incorporated into the pack and then we can sit down with Warren, Darryl and his mate, Aurielle and discuss this." Adam said.

~*~

The joining ceremony was uneventful and as those that came dispersed Jordan noticed 3 people gathering with Adam an Mercy. She figured these were Darryl, Aurielle and Warren.

They sat around the kitchen island and Mercy made hot chocolate to pass around before sitting down herself

"Tell us about your change and the events that followed that would have Bran so concerned about you." Adam instructed calmly. He was extremely concerned but he kept it under wraps until he knew if his concerns were warranted.

Jordan took a deep, steadying breath and began her story.

"It all started late at night. I took my baby sister, Jaquelin, to the midnight premiere of 'A Quiet Place' for her eighteenth birthday. She loved thrillers and I just knew she'd love this one. The movie didn't disappoint. We left the theater and were walking to my car when the attack happened. It was only by some miracle we both survived." Jordan paused to take a sip of cocoa.

Mercy had spicy cocoa to offer and she was one of the few takers for that kind. It had sounded good and the heat of both spice and temperature kept her grounded in reality when a panic attack tried to set in. She expected that she had them way too frequently for her own tastes and one of her professors had given her some tools to break them when she realized she was falling into one. She was beginning to think she might also have a mild case of PTSD herself but she would need a second opinion as she wasn't willing to self diagnose as she knew that could lead to disaster.

They all noticed that she spoke of her sister in the past tense, but no one pointed it out as they all figured they knew what it meant.

"My memory of the next few days is sketchy at best. When things began to clear up and the Psychology major in me began to notice what was going on with my sister I ran to Matthew, our alpha in New Orleans, and begged him to do something because…" she paused her composure faltering. "… because she was showing symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and she needed help,"

Adam knew PTSD was bad but he didn't say anything he just let her continue speaking. "but Matthew didn't listen. His second Adrian, he heard my fear and tried to help but it wasn't enough. She started to become a danger to herself she slashed her wrists, took pills and of course none of that worked. I told Matthew that as well but my pleas still fell on deaf ears." She wiped her eyes with a trembling hand. "I'll never forget the day I got the call… I was just getting off work at the café when the police called me… they needed me to positively identify…. Identity her remains after… after she jumped off a levee to her death."

Jordan began to sob.

"I told him…" she sobbed "I told him she needed help… I told him she was going to kill herself… but the fucking bastard wouldn't listen!"

Aurielle embraced her as she fell appart, growling with rage and nobody that knew her liked to see her that angry. She wasn't alone in her rage, things should have never been allowed to progress to where they stood. She and her sister didn't get cared for as they should have, otherwise her sister would have gotten the help she needed and would still be alive. If Matthew had been doing his proper job Jaquelin would have never gotten within 5 miles of the levee.

Jordan calmed down and Adam cleared his throat.

"I know this is cold comfort to you now but we do things different here. You will stay in this house and have all the counseling you need to deal with the things you went through, with your sister's death and believe me… if I EVER hear of you going towards the river or any other body of water with the intention of following her to death we will stop you… we will intervene to get you all the help you need. The way Matthew failed your sister will NEVER happen here."

Jordan was stunned beyond words at the passion and honesty in Adam's words. He wouldn't have let Jaquelin die without fighting for her. It also made Jordan feel secure in the knowledge he would fight for her too.

"You don't know how much it means to me to hear that from you, Adam…" she said not lifting her head from Aurielle's shoulder "I scared the hell out of myself yesterday. I went for a drive and the next thing I realized I was standing on edge of the levee my sister jumped from." She said shakily wiping tears from her eyes them returning her head to the older wolf's shoulder. "My toes were over the edge and for a second… just a split second… I… I considered jumping and… and I panicked and ran…" she swallowed as Mercy handed her some tissues. "I ran to Adrian's house and stayed there until I had to go to work the next day. I was too frightened to be alone I feared I couldn't trust myself so I put myself in his care because I knew he wouldn't let me kill myself."

Aurielle ran her fingers through the little omega's hair as she rested on her shoulder. She made eye contact with her mate, silently asking him if he thought housing a possibly suicidal werewolf so close to the river was a good idea. The way Jordan spoke it seemed she didn't want to kill herself but there was a fear of it anyway.

Darryl nodded then turned to Adam to pose his mate's question. Usually Aurielle was not an unassertive woman by any means but she was too angry to trust her own voice at that moment and Darryl knew that.

"She'll be fine." Adam assured them. "She had an opportunity and didn't take it, I don't believe she wants to die."

"I'd also feel more comfortable with more people… more werewolves around me." Jordan sighed. "More eyes to catch me if I go into that place again. I think I have some PTSD myself but I'm not in a position to diagnose myself."

"I'll set you up with an appointment as soon as possible." Adam assured her.

Adam knew Aurielle's extreme reaction was because Jordan was an omega not that this wouldn't have enraged her anyway.

Jordan exuded herself to unpack and that left them to deal with Aurielle. She put the coffee mug down afraid if she held it any longer it would end up in pieces.

"Please tell me that incompetent bastard isn't alpha anymore." She said.

"He's dead." Adam said simply as he rinsed his and Jordan's cups out. "He turned a blind eye to a moonstruck rogue in his territory and his second reported it to Bran. Jordan and her baby sister were among the rogue's victims. If what Charles dug up is right there were maybe 4 survivors out of thirty something attacks he isn't positive on the exact number yet and once we hit double digit numbers being exact doesn't matter that is insane and entirely too many for him to sell the notion that he was ignorant of them to Charles, Bran or anyone with half a brain."

"Charles heard about everything she went through and I don't think he had a single problem killing that one." Mercy commented offhandedly.

"I wouldn't have" Adam and Darryl said simultaneously then looked at each other. While it was true none of them would have had a single problem killing Matthew the fact that Darryl and Adam admitted it at the same time had been shocking.

Adam looked at Warren who had been unusually quiet.

"Are you okay?"

"I just think he had better be glad it was Charles and not one of us… cause I would have made him suffer, boss and I'm sure y'all would have too."

Jordan finished unpacking. This transition wasn't going to be easy but if she got the job she had an interview for the coming Monday it might be a step towards making this feel like home.

She changed into some blue flannel pajama pants and an oversized white t-shirt that read "I run on caffeine and cuss words" in bold, black letters and fell backwards onto her bed. She heard someone walk up to the open door but didn't acknowledge them.

"You need anythin', darlin?" the Texas sat as thick as honey on this man's tongue and she realized it was Warren.

"I'm fine… I'm going to need a ride to a job interview Monday." She replied propping herself up on her elbows. "… no actually some reading material would be nice. I love mysteries and thrillers."

"No problem, you'll get there and I'll make sure you get something to keep you entertained." He sighed "I don't think I've ever seen Aurielle that angry."

"I have that effect on people." gave a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and it hurt Warren's heart to see. He wondered if she did indeed have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as well, Adam was setting up an appointment with a psychiatrist who, due to the fact that her father was a werewolf, knew more about them than most in her field did. He felt this meant she could be trusted with Jordan's secret as Jordan wasn't out to the public nor did she plan to ever come out to the public.

"Get you some rest, darlin."

"I will… do you know where a girl could find a Catholic church?"

"I'm not the right one to ask that question… I'm agnostic at best." Warren shrugged "I'll do some digging and let you know."

"Thank you."

He left and she curled up and tried to sleep.

To Be Continued…

A/N: I owe a big thank you and shout out to my co-worker Kayla for the phrase on Jordan's pajama shirt she threw it out there when I mentioned I was trying to come up with one and I loved it so… thanks Kayla.