Dawn mocked me with its indifference. I had hangovers that gave the same effect but without the heartache of revelation. Still, it was a relief to have made it this far. We had to be close to the end. Everything else would wait until afterward.

My clothes were a soggy mess and the sleeping bag was slightly damp. I took it off Kahina and set her in a ray of sunlight to warm up. Thankfully daytime only knocked vampires out. She must have survived the otherworld shades attack.

I patrolled the immediate area. Kahina stayed in sight while I tried to figure out who was in the parking lot. If elves were going to tend the park, I would need to pack and leave quickly. Worst case scenario there were empty houses in the neighborhood.

It was surprising to see a familiar truck in the parking lot. I'd seen it once outside Kahina's house, filled with empty beer bottles. Thomas. Muscles in my back tensed up at the thought of dealing with his bullshit again.

Thomas looked terribly ragged standing next to the backend. He barely passed for upright. Maybe he opted for sobriety since leaving my house. On the plus side, the sunlight seemed to be hurting him. His eyes were worn but looked straight in my direction. Had he followed me?

I ignored the glare and turned around to Kahina. If Thomas was here then our location wasn't a secret. Any wolf might be able to find us. If that female from earlier had decided upon revenge or any of Fifty Five's pack hadn't gotten the message, we were in danger.

To top it off there was a Seer chasing us. That unknown elf might be watching me right now. Candy hadn’t left any details recently.

Thomas didn't move from his support. The parking lot was absent other cars. That was worth a moment of thankfulness. Instead of focusing on Julianne's brother I went back to Kahina.

There wasn’t even a faint pulse. Kahina’s body didn't shimmer anymore which was either nothing or awful. Maybe she had finally died and last night was the end. The fear was unfounded after further thought. Keeper and Daniel had both agreed that vampires failing the transformation normally were ashes and bone.

She had to be alive, barely.

I thought back to that other plane where I'd held one of the attackers captive under my hand. He'd turned to ash when a raging fire poured across the sky and burned him up. The link between failure in that other realm and death in real life was painfully obvious.

Kahina's body must be under a pillar’s shadow in the other world. Maybe that was the key. When they went comatose somehow those shades kept out of the sun’s rays instead. Was it a weird metaphysical double layer of defense? What would happen if a vampire didn't have a shade protecting them at night? Were their souls harmed by sunlight?

I felt increasingly hungry. Undernourishment had been easier to ignore with the rush of hectic situations. Nervousness and worry had muted simple problems of the body, but nothing could stop it forever. Especially not after all the damage I sustained recently.

It was impossible to leave the area and get food. I'd never been able to reproduce the feat of calling animals for food since I got home. There had to be a way to protect Kahina and get something to eat. No sooner had the idea occurred to me than the name slipped out.

"Thomas," I said out loud.

Using him would be the best bet. He obviously knew I was here. Maybe he would be willing to help me out and bring me food. If not then at least we could start a conversation. Maybe the wolf would be civil when speaking of hunger. Worst case scenario the man might rant and storm off.

A few moments later I was at woods’ edge.

"Thomas!" I yelled out and disregarded attempts at stealth. His hearing was good enough to pick me out. It was unlikely the man came to elven woods for giggles when his entire pack owned land up north.

Thomas winced. Watching him nearly stagger over was reassuring. He had all the signs of a hangover from hell. How he drove anywhere was beyond me. I guess being a wolf didn't mean his metabolism could burn through a week long drinking binge.

"Really, Princess, keep it down," Thomas said. At least he wasn't calling me Killer anymore.

"Water. Drink lots." I suggested.

"Oh yeah? Hangover tips from a long time professional?"

I shrugged. There was no use denying it. There was a moment where he stared at me. Both of us were unsure what to say. My anger from last night had deflated. Thomas had never truly been the root of our problem anyway. Julianne's death was.

Thomas broke the silence and said, "You look like shit."

"You too." I didn’t feel like smiling or witty banter. Not today, not in this situation.

"At least my clothes are clean," He said.

The wolf’s comment was irrefutable. My apparel was a complete mess. Thomas almost had his stupid grin back. It was hesitant as if he didn't remember how to smile without being an asshole. He probably hadn't bantered with anyone since that night in the forest.

"Low blow. Sorry." He realized I wasn’t going to respond to that one.

"I had to leave in a hurry." I tentatively offered the topic up. Maybe Thomas would have information about today's aftermath.

"Yeah. We saw from the bar. Police blocked off the entire building and half the parking lot." Then he winced and paused for a second. "They were taking pictures and witness statements before Sector showed up and took over."

I tried not to shake at the idea of my home being invaded and focused. "Is Daniel there?"

"Who?" Thomas asked.

"Redhead, tanned, from the woods the night-" My words drifted off. Daniel had been there when Julianne died.

"Oh. Him." Thomas thought about it. Emotions flickered across his body in an incredible jumble. Anger, frustration, sadness, and lastly resignation. Finally, he responded.

"Yeah. I think so." The awkward silence was back again. I turned and looked back at Kahina to make sure everything was okay. She hadn't turned into a pile of ash during my absence.

"Thomas?"

"What's up?"

My grumbling stomach made noise, asking my question for me. I thought it was quiet, but to a wolf's ears it might have been drumroll.

"Oh. Need me to grab something?" He easily offered the very thing I had been hoping for.

"Can you?" I tried not to sound desperate.

"Yeah. Sure. You'll be here when I get back?"

"Yes." I had no idea where else to go until Shaggy or Daniel contacted me. Which brought me to a second question. "Do you have a phone?"

"Not on me. Pack doesn’t typically use them unless we're traveling." Thomas’ shoulders drooped and head seemed to sink down a bit. His words were tired but not as bad as Evan could get.

"Damn."

"I can deliver a message, though?" Thomas was being amazingly helpful. Maybe he was earnestly trying to repent for the last few days.

I considered having him tell Daniel something, or getting to my phone. Both ideas were horrible. Daniel would be surrounded by agents who he may not trust. Thomas was enough of a risk. Getting to my phone would require being able to step into the apartment, which was unlikely. Three dead human bodies would warrant a tightly locked crime scene.

"No," I said after a pause.

"Alright. I'll be back then." Thomas was wincing a little at the sunlight. Him driving probably wasn’t that safe, but my options were few.

"Thomas," I called after him. He turned around briefly. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it, Princess." With that, he slowly climbed into his truck and left.

I hunkered down in the woods again. There was little to no traffic through the entire park. A cop car pulled in but faced toward the road. After about ten minutes of worry on my part the cop left, lights flashing, after a speeding vehicle. It was easy enough to stay out of sight back where we were.

My hunger escalated as I waited for Thomas. Was he going to another district for food? Maybe someone would drop by the park and I could beg some grub that way. I probably looked homeless. Knowing my luck I would end up being maced instead. Forever must have passed before the familiar rear end of Thomas' pickup pulled into the small parking lot. Thomas got out of the passenger side and this time he wasn't alone. Stacy and Dopey were with him.

Panic nearly drove me to grab Kahina and run until I noticed Dopey carrying a bag of food. Even with the offering it was difficult to come out and meet them. Instincts told me it would be best to stay near Kahina, just in case.

"Uhhh..." The big guy started to call out but didn't know my name. Stacy whispered harshly to him. "Uhhh...Jay? You back there?"

"He's back there. I can hear him breathing." Thomas said. He sounded a little better. Maybe he had taken me up on the water advice.

"This is a retarded idea." Stacy wasn't even trying to muffle her words.

There was a moment of fidgety silence. I tried to eavesdrop from where I was sitting next to Kahina. No more words could be heard about their current line of conversation. Either they shut up or it was part of a pack's silent communications. Judging by the lack of footsteps or other noises I was betting on a pack thing.

"Fine." Stacy declared at last. There was a ruffle of a paper bag and stomping through the woods. She stepped on twigs, beat away branches, and cursed under her breath the entire time.

"Hey, stupid, we brought food." A bag was unceremoniously tossed in my lap as she burst through the last layer of plant life. I stared at Stacy. Thomas and Dopey were bringing up the rear slowly.

It took me a moment to realize I grabbed the bag of food and huddled even closer to Kahina. My body was placed between her and the wolves. Especially Stacy. Taking all three of them on in foreign territory would be extremely difficult and all of the silver I owned was elsewhere.

"Stacy." Dopey's voice was worried. He tried to step up in between me and the female wolf but faltered at the last second.

"What?" She glared at him. Thomas had a sad look on his face as his eyes flickered back and forth.

"Let’s take a walk." Dopey had a stubborn set to his jaw. It was the most determined action out of him so far. He was definitely not Alpha material. This was the kind of man who never made it past fifth on a pack hierarchy.

"Why should..." Her voice trailed off under his gaze and she turned back towards me as if an idea occurred to her. Eyes swept over my defensive posture and Kahina's limp body.

"Sure. We’ll be back, I’ve got things to set straight." Stacy was speaking out loud for my benefit. Dopey ushered her out to the parking lot. Thomas watched them go looking tired.

Now that the immediate threat was gone it might be safe to eat. I dug into the bag finding cheap hamburgers from a drive through. They were gone in a matter of bites.

"Who’s Dopey?" I finally asked after my gluttonous chow down.

"Corey? He's new to the pack."

My grunt must have been disbelief enough.

"Stacy's got him miles away in the friend zone that there's no winning. We've tried to tell him that she doesn't wag that way, but he's clueless." Thomas continued. There was that half smile on his face again.

"Wasn't she and Julianne..." Damn it. Just saying her name out loud made Thomas flinch. He recovered and plopped down next to another tree.

"Yeah, they were."

"He knows right? Don't you guys share thoughts?" I was torn. There were a number of issues that were more important than this. It was also these sorts of situations that brought the rest of the world back into focus. Like the world wasn't made up of people trying to murder Kahina and me.

"Not really, Princess. You'd have to be thinking about something really hard for other pack members to pick up on it. Corey has been looking for a no, and Stacy hasn't stopped grieving long enough to think it." Thomas paused for a moment with his eyes closed. "And it's lame, but she needs a friend right now."

"Ah." I said. Sitting with Thomas was easier than the other two, he reminded me of Julianne despite being completely different.

Stacy must be suffering. When Julianne died it was sudden. In a break up there's a comfort in knowing they're alive, and more importantly, that in the future things might work out better for both people. Death was an unfair way to end relationships. I was faced with losing Kahina, but at least she would be alive. Hopefully.

Stacy would never get that kind of comfort. She would never watch Julianne go on with her life, and laugh, smile, joke. Thomas wouldn’t either.

My thoughts spiraled inward while Thomas sat there. I halfheartedly looked through the bag a few dozen times trying to figure out if food was hiding in a pocket dimension.

Stacy and Dopey, or Corey I guess, wandered back in our direction. This time, my posture was relaxed. Stacy still set me off, but it was survivable since I was no longer starving.

They collapsed next to Thomas with Stacy in the middle. If there was any discomfort in their proximity it wasn't obvious. Wolves were a lot more touchy than the other races. A picture of vampires hugging was rare. Elves embraced but in a friend-enemy way. There were a number of opportunities for stabbing each other in the back.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

No one said anything. Which was typical. My presence made it hard for others to speak normally. In fact, the only people to talk to me like a human were Kahina and Daniel. Julianne had, before.

"Why are you all here?" I finally asked. There was a moment of silence as arms twitched, looks were shared and heads nodded. Thomas spoke up first.

"I think I told you this before, but the worst thing about being in a pack is the memories. The minute a thought gets stuck in your head it's, it’s impossible to escape.” Thomas put out a hand in a gesture. His eyes stared down at it sadly and the other two pack members took on a hint of sorrow. “Normally, it's songs. Corey had a commercial jingle his head for two weeks. Drove the pack crazy."

"Heh." Corey chuckled weakly, trying to shake off the brief bout of melancholy.

"It's been rough for all of us. Pops blames you and it's all he thinks about. Over. And over. And over." Thomas spoke the words slowly.

I was silent. The whole situation had been plaguing me since she died. Charles wasn't the only person who had been dwelling on past mistakes. He had held her through death, though, and I only caused the events that caused a great woman to pass.

"Anyway, what you said was right. We should be honoring Julianne's memory better than this. She treated the fang-cu..." Stacy paused for a moment and managed to look embarrassed. "The vampire like a sister."

"Kahina." I said the black woman's name.

"Yeah." Dopey nodded. He hadn’t even been there and acted like he knew what was going on. I couldn't think of him as anything besides Dopey. It was like the nickname was plastered across his face.

"So we figured maybe you could use a little help, Princess." Thomas said. Stacy looked miffed, but didn't argue.

I thought about their offer before speaking. "No. You might die from this." Having anyone on my side would be great, but also dangerous.

"That's what I told them." Dopey said.

"We owe him." Thomas tried to insist.

"No, we don't. And if we did the food has to count for something." Dopey was heated about the issue. It was amusing watching his face try to look angry, even for a moment.

"We owe it to Julianne." Stacy and Thomas said at the same time. It was a freaky display of pack synchronization. Their words shut the third wolf’s mouth. He turned and looked off into the distance.

"Anyway. We can't do a lot without getting my gramps involved. That, and this whole mess seems to be taking place in Malcolm's territory." Thomas explained further without the females pack synchronized echo.

Malcolm hadn't crossed my thoughts him since the bar. He'd made it pretty clear that my actions were being watched. None of the wolves we'd killed had been in his pack. Hopefully, that'd kept us on the right side of friendly.

"Have you heard from Malcolm?" I asked.

"Not a word since his people encouraged-" Thomas did air quotations "-me to dry up."

"Do you have his number?" My mind leapt from one idea to another. There had to be ways through this all, a method for getting in touch with the house, with Shaggy, getting Kahina to safety. Three wolves would help, if they were allowed to do so.

"No, Corey does." Stacy said while pointing at the goofy lug.

"No!" Dopey protested.

"Give it over." Thomas crossed his arms and stared over Stacy's head at the bigger wolf.

"No." He said stubbornly.

"Corey." Stacy was quiet about it, almost wounded.

The tone was dirty to use on a man hopelessly pining after a woman. Moments passed while he struggled against her request. Corey wore the same look men wore who came into the bar hoping for dates. They sat there trying to figure out which drink to buy a pretty girl.

Men everywhere, including myself, seemed incapable of answering relationship questions correctly. The problem wasn't with my gender. Women wanted one thing but needed something else entirely. The two items rarely coincided. Not that I had a ton of experience dating. Just lots of time watching the dance. Kahina had been my only real partner for a long time.

I became lost on her lifeless face, hoping for any movement. Momentarily desperate for a breath of air or shimmer of energy about her body. My life would be complete if she woke up and smiled for me once more.

I came to with Corey tapping my head with his cell. He was trying to frown sternly and failing.

"Hit call." He grumped and sat back down. Despite the feigned anger, he was still pressed up against Stacy's side.

Clearly no one trusted me to figure out a phonebook. Or they all had secrets on their phones. It almost felt like the device would crack under the pressure of my finger. That'd probably give the wolves something new to complain about.

Malcolm picked up quickly. "Corey!" Once again, using someone else's phone was causing mistaken identities. "How's it hanging?" His tone was friendly.

"It's Jay." I corrected him while trying not to sound upset.

"What, Corey's not hurt is he?" Malcolm's concern was for a pack member first. Not that Corey and Malcolm were in the same pack to my knowledge.

"He's fine. I'm borrowing the phone."

The Alpha grunted then moved on. "What's up?"

"Heard anything about Fifty Five’s movements?" I asked. The three wolves nearby perked up in unison but didn’t say anything.

"A few flights being booked, and their Alpha called me with a formal apology a few hours ago. Is that your doing?" Malcolm was wary but friendly enough.

"Sort of." I responded.

Stacy snickered and muttered something I missed.

"Well, her informal message was a lot nastier." Malcolm said.

"Oh?" I dreaded thinking about yet another group being pissed at me. My actions deserved it but now wasn’t the time. Especially not if it put Kahina in danger.

I looked down for a moment at the woman. Her hair was a mess. For the tenth time today I tried to straighten it out.

"Seems pissed. Probably because her little girl rolled into the pack clinic for treatment. Said she fell down stairs." He sighed through the phone. "Can't tell you how much paperwork that was. On top of that she claimed sanctuary."

The Pack Queen stays. Interesting. Dangerous. Vengeance. Knows too much.

"What's that?" I wasn't familiar with wolves sanctuary practices.

"Means she'll be sticking around until her mother has calmed down. Which is unlikely knowing Fifty Fives. Failure is frowned upon, even if they cancel out of a contract. Their Queen Bitch doesn't play well with the others."

I sighed with relief. Finally some positive news.

"That's the best thing I've heard all week." I said.

"Figured you'd like it. Bad news follows good, though, so here's the official response from yours truly." He cleared his throat and tried to sound official. The man’s voice never seemed completely serious.

I held my breath and listened. Malcolm was friendly sounding when talking to other people, but something about his subtle demeanor was also scary. Like the friendly outside person was a cover over the powerhouse an Alpha could be.

"You listening?" The words sounded odd directed at me. It was almost the same tone I'd used on that female wolf back in my apartment. It made me close my eyes and take a deep breath.

"Yes."

"Stop shitting on my yard. And if Corey is listening, he better know that his new family pals need to keep a low profile. Otherwise, I'll have to deal with Charles." That made sense. Anything that the northern pack did down here would warrant some communication to Thomas’ grandfather. And he was probably still in a bad place.

"Alright."

"I’m dead serious, Jay. I do not want to deal with that man, and if he finds out that his people are tied up in more of Miss Rhodes’ shit he will personally tear us all new assholes. Twice." Malcolm sounded sure of that. It made sense, one of Kahina's subordinates had actually fired the gun that was responsible for Julianne's death.

I leaned my forehead closer to Kahina and sat there for a moment. It was hard to tell if all these problems were my fault or hers. Would removing one of us from the equation help at all? The Order of Merlin was after me. These vampires were after her.

"We clear?" The alpha said.

"Yes." I gave the due amount of lip service.

"Good. Now sit tight, I've got to get Agent Crumfield on the line."

"What?" Hold music cut off my confused question. I did need to speak to Daniel but hadn’t expected to be connected straight to him. Next, hopefully, I could talk to Candy and figure out what was going on. Shaggy also needed to be updated on our current status. Maybe if wolves were pulling out we could pull back to the compound. It would certainly be less opposition.

The phone clicked again.

"Jay?" I heard Daniel's panicked voice.

"Hey."

"Where is she?" He asked.

"Right next to me." I was looking right at her as we spoke on the phone. Kahina hadn’t shown one sign of life.

"Not Rhodes, Shaggy!" Daniel started with another name but managed to correct himself.

"She's still out." I said.

"Well, something went fucking wrong, man. She's hurt. I swear to god Jay if you're responsible for this-" The agent started rambling.

"What's going on?" Malcolm interrupted.

"I got a distress signal." The tremor in Daniel's voice betrayed just how disturbed he was. If Shaggy really was his fiancée then it was understandable.

"Why'd you get the distress message?" Malcolm asked.

"Mind your own business, Smith.” All traces of Daniel's calm surfer lifts were buried under a harsh edge. “In fact, disconnect."

"This is my territory, and if one of your agents..." Malcolm started up with the standard Alpha dominance whine. Instincts were understandable but not helpful.

"Do you have a location?" I cut them both off. It was a dangerous thing to get between a Sector Agent and pack Alpha. Suffering their anger was minor enough in exchange for Daniel’s focus. After all Shaggy had done to keep Kahina and I safe it was only fair to return the favor.

"Yeah. Yeah, man, I do." The agent responded.

"Where?" I said.

"9th and Svelte, maybe twenty minutes from your apartment." Daniel’s location was near my home but in an opposite direction from this park. It would take me hours to walk that far.

"I'll get her." I promised. Malcolm’s huffing could be heard on the line between our words. The Alpha must be desperately trying to calm down after being rudely told to get off the line.

"Thanks. Listen, call me as soon as you can. She won't be near the distress site, but something of hers should be. Use it, find her, and keep her safe." Daniel said.

"Can you help with Kahina, so I can go after Ann?" I asked. Mounting a rescue for Shaggy and keeping Kahina safe were contrary objectives.

"I can't go out there, man. It has to be you. I've already stretched the rules. Anything more and entire operations are compromised." Daniel sounded beyond flustered. Why he cared about an operation over his fiancée was beyond me. Isn't love stronger than honor?

Yet I was willing to fulfill my deal with Candy just to help keep Kahina alive. For me, my word meant more than love. Part of me wanted to keep Kahina out of things, especially since the bulk of these attacks were designed to pressure me into action. My presence risked her life.

"It's helped us a lot." I said.

"No, man. All this is for you. Now you owe me one, keep my girl alive while I try to keep this clusterfuck of a crime scene under control. Hopefully, this nightmare will be over soon." The phone beeped in my ear abruptly.

"I'll get her." I said. The clear description of my demolished abode made me wince. Somehow I would have to juggle Kahina and try to find Shaggy.

"I think he dropped." Malcolm said. He was probably right. Knowing Daniel he'd be charging out there no matter what regulations said. I didn't know the regulations for saving an undercover operative, but Daniel probably didn't care.

"Thanks, Malcolm." I said. The alpha had genuinely helped out on this one, or at least reassured me that a few problems were solved.

"No problem." He sounded amused and irritated at the same time. "Oh, and if Corey and the others are listening, tell them orders still stand. Keep it out of my backyard."

This time, the phone was kind enough to beep in my ear, signaling Malcolm's disconnect. I was left with a lot of good news and bad news. Fifty Five was gone, Thomas and his trio wanted to help but shouldn’t. Shaggy was in trouble. As if my day wasn't already off to a fantastic start.

"Can I get a ride at least?" I asked.

All three wolves argued on the way to Thomas’ truck.