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The children were back, but the raiders were gone, and it had left the camp with a strange atmosphere. On one hand, it was still bustling with life, but there was a tension hanging in the air. Even the children were walking around with worried faces and fingernails bitten to shreds. They were scared for their parents, and they were scared for themselves. The flockies had proved over and over again how vulnerable our camps became when the fighters were gone.

I was scared, too, although I would have never admitted it. My parents had gone, my aunt and uncles had gone, Nia had gone, and even Bryn had gone. It was only me and Liam who'd been left behind ... for obvious reasons. Someone had to stay and guard the camp, so we weren't completely useless, but that didn't make me feel any better.

I'd been given four raiders to defend the entire camp, and I'd wasted no time in sending them out to scout. Liam and I were sitting in camp chairs, waiting to relieve them. I wasn't sure how I'd ended up in command here, but I was sure I didn't like it. I was finding it hard to sit still.

It wasn't long before Aunt Cassie poked her head out of the med tent. She had stayed because she was human and too valuable to risk anyway - we didn't have many doctors left.

"You can come in, if you want," she said. "Rhodri's awake and talking."

She was taking pity on us. I was quick onto my feet, and I looked towards Liam with a massive grin on my face, expecting to see it mirrored. But he hadn't moved. He was just sat there, looking forlorn and bouncing his leg.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

Liam wouldn't even meet my eyes. His voice was hoarser than usual. "I don't think he wants me in there."

Huh?

"Come on," I said lightly. "Of course he does. You haven't even seen him since ... you know."

He looked up at me, misery written all over his face. "I went yesterday. He told me to get out."

"He did what?" I demanded. Liam just shrugged at me, his eyes already back on the ground, and I looked to my aunt instead, expecting her to deny it. But her lips were spread thin, and her face was taut.

"I'm sure he was just tired, Liam..." she offered.

Another shrug. I'd never seen him look so hurt before, and I got the sudden urge to punch Rhodri. It was gone as quickly as it appeared, but the anger remained. He hadn't told anyone else to 'get out.' Not even his parents, who'd been hovering over him like worried mother hens for two days straight.

I went into the tent. I had to blink to adjust to the gloom in there, but even so, I could see Rhodri. He was sat up in bed, with a heap of pillows to support him. He took one look at me and turned his head away completely, every muscle in his body tense, all of a sudden.

I didn't understand. The last time I'd been in here, he hadn't even known who I was. Where was this coming from? Maybe Liam wasn't the only target of this sudden, inexplicable anger.

"Have I done something wrong?" I asked quietly.

"Go away," Rhodri told me.

He'd said that a million times when we'd been growing up, and I'd never once obeyed him. I wasn't about to start now. His voice was rough, and his eyes were dark, but I plonked myself down in the chair next to him with all the lazy entitlement I could muster.

"No," I said.

That stumped him. He scowled, still without looking in my direction, and he started to pick at the scabs on his hands while he tried to think of another way to get me out of the tent. I lounged back in my chair, perfectly happy to wait.

If he was too tired for a conversation, he would have just said so. That was what Eira did. These days, she only had to breathe a certain way - that heaving, slow, exhausted sigh - and I'd shut my mouth.

Rhodri wasn't tired. He was alert and bright-eyed, and he looked properly awake for the first time now that he was being eased off the worst of the painkillers. He was getting better. Everyone said so. He wasn't okay yet, but he was definitely better.

"I don't want to talk to you," Rhodri muttered eventually. "I don't even want to look at you."

"Because..." I prompted, not very gently.

"Because I'm not sure if this is real."

He said it calmly. He said it without any of the raw emotion I would have expected to accompany a statement like that. He said it like it wasn't even a big deal, and perhaps it wasn't, as far as he was concerned. He'd been tortured, his body was damaged beyond repair, and he was living in constant, unimaginable pain. That was a lot for a seventeen-year-old to cope with. So it wasn't hard to believe that he had bigger problems at the moment.

"Shit, Rhodri," I said.

He shrugged. Again, like it didn't even matter.

"They were trying to get in my head. The whole time, they were trying. Maybe they succeeded," he said. "Because it doesn't really make sense that I got out, does it? How would I have got out? No one even knew I was there."

I didn't really know what to say to that. Nothing I could say was going to convince him, and why should it? If he didn't trust his own mind, how was he supposed to trust me? Instead of trying, I placed my hand over his and sent a stream of memories through the link.

It began outside the packhouse and ended with a car door closing. Most of the memories were hazy and blurred and choppy, because that morning had been one long panic, so I wasn't sure how much of it Rhodri would understand. His face crumpled into a frown as the seconds passed.

"Is that really what I look like?" he asked. "Shit..."

I offered him a wry smile, realising too late that he wouldn't see it. "Is that your biggest worry right now?"

Rhodri sighed heavily. "No. I guess not."

It was true that he was a mess. A lot of the cuts had scabbed over, but the bruises were just getting into their stride. Where his tattoo had been, there was a series of crusted, weeping sores where they had peeled the skin away. All his surgeries hadn't been able to disguise the hateful words they'd carved into his arms. I wondered when I was going to stop feeling guilty every time I looked at him.

I gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "It's over, okay? You didn't talk. They did all of ... this, and you kept your mouth shut, and that is the only reason I'm alive. It's the only reason Liam's alive. I won't forget that, Rhodri. Not ever."

He flinched at Liam's name, because he still didn't believe me. I could see that. He looked like he wanted to cry - with the first hints of a sniffle and tightness around his eyes. That scared me a little, because it had been years since I'd seen him cry. He wasn't the crying sort.

I needed to fix this. Sooner rather than later. Words weren't going to sway him, so I changed tactics by making a grab for his face. He tried to reach up and stop me, but there was so much nerve damage in his arms that it was a slow, clumsy effort. I was quicker, and my fingers caught his cheek, turning it towards me.

He closed his eyes, but not before he'd got an eyeful of my worried face.

"Whoops," I said. "Guess I'm dead now."

Rhodri swore at me - an impressive collection of words which only served to make me grin. If he was swearing, then he must have been feeling better. His eyes were still closed, though - he was too stubborn to give up so easily.

I let my hand fall, and then redeployed it. "If I was imaginary, would I do this?"

"Do what?"

"Open your eyes and you'll see."

"I'm not stupid," Rhodri said. "You're just flipping me off."

"Am I, though?"

"Yeah."

I shrugged carelessly. "Well, there's only one way to find out."

Rhodri growled at me. He sat there for a moment, torn and indecisive, and then he opened his eyes for an exclusive view of my middle finger.

"Knew it," he mumbled, but the damage was done.

I just shrugged again. Now that he was looking at me, it was much easier to see how miserable he was. It wasn't just the pain, I reckoned. It was waking up to find that his body didn't work properly anymore.

"That's better," I said, managing a tiny smile. "Can I go and get Liam now? He thinks you're angry at him or some shit."

"Nah, wait a minute," Rhodri said quickly, before I could move. "You can get him, but just ... wait, yeah?"

He sounded very serious, all of a sudden, and I sat up a little straighter. "What is it?"

Rhodri looked around us, as if to check we were alone. "You talked to Joel, right? Did he tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Um. I'm guessing not, then," he said, looking uncomfortable. "This ... I mean ... I don't know how to say it. And I don't know if it's true or not. He could have been lying. I don't even know how old he was..."

I'd frozen - physically, if not mentally. Joel was older than I was. I knew that much. The more I thought about it, the more I felt sick. I reckoned I already knew what Rhodri was going to say, and I didn't want to hear it.

"He told me, when we were in the cells, that you-"

"Joel's a liar," I cut in viciously. "And what he told you is bullshit."

"Okay," Rhodri said, slow and wary. He was eyeing me like a wounded animal, and I got the sense that he wasn't stupid enough to push the subject. "Okay, he was lying. I figured he might be."

I stood up. I wanted to get out of the tent, even if just for a moment.

"Is that it?" I asked him.

He nodded, biting back all the things he so clearly wanted to say. I hadn't convinced him. Suddenly, the idea of going back to Silver Lake was starting to appeal to me. I could avoid a repeat of this conversation for weeks.

I took my time fetching Liam, giving myself time to slow my racing heart and swallow the taste of bile in the back of my throat. I was a lot calmer by the time I ducked back through the entrance with Liam at my heels. I'd explained as best I could, but he was still wary of Rhodri. He stopped in the entrance and waited there, those big dark eyes tugging at my heartstrings, as usual.

I sat down heavily in the same chair as before, picking at my fingernails while the boys eyed each other. For once, I wasn't worried that they were going to start fighting - Rhodri couldn't even stand.

"Hey," Rhodri said. A stellar effort on his part. "You can come in, Kendrick. Goddess sake. I don't bite."

Liam didn't say 'hey' back. He didn't say anything at all. He stared at Rhodri for a moment longer, and then he crossed the tent and hugged him. It was safe to say that stunned both of us. My eyes widened in astonishment, and I had to blink at them a few times before I could believe it.

It was the fierce, I-thought-you-were-going-to-die kind of hug. Poor Rhodri was so surprised that he froze, hardly daring to move. I might have thought he was unhappy if it weren't for the look of pure amazement on his face. He knew as well as I did that this was the highest of compliments.

Even sitting down and caught off-guard, he managed to get an arm around Liam, more instinct than anything else. He'd never even done that much for me - he usually just stood there and tolerated me on the few occasions I pushed my luck and hugged him.

This was the first definitive proof I'd ever got that they didn't hate each other. It wasn't long before I felt a smile tugging at my lips. I had to bite it back before the boys saw it and realised how cute they were being and stopped out of sheer bullheadedness.

"Are you alright?" Liam asked, as he finally pulled away. His voice was hoarse.

"No, not really," Rhodri said lightly. "No offence, but your brother's a piece of work."

Liam didn't smile. His gaze flicked downwards, perhaps towards his own scars, and he nodded slowly. "Yeah. He is. I'm sorry, Rhodri."

"Shit, don't be. It ain't your fault."

His reply was a shrug. I knew Liam would find a way to blame himself anyway, like I had. Rhodri must have known that, too, because he used his good arm to reach out and thump him gently.

"Oi," he said. "I mean that. You're not responsible for every screwed up thing he does."

Liam nodded slightly. Still not convinced, but hopefully not drowning in guilt, either.

They were still being cute, and at some point I'd stopped fighting my smile. Rhodri saw it in a heartbeat and scowled at me, the spell broken. "Don't look so bloody smug, Eva."

"Yeah, Eva," Liam drawled. He came to stand behind my chair, his hands on my shoulders. I let my head rest against him, grinning all the while, because I'd been starting to feel left out.

"I'm not smug," I said dismissively. It was a lie. I was incredibly smug. They'd just spoken to each other, without any prompting, and they'd hugged, so I was pretty sure this day couldn't get any better. "I'm just happy. Let me enjoy this before ... you know."

Rhodri frowned at me. No one had told him, evidently. "Before what?"

"Once the raiders get back, Nia's taking us to Silver Lake."

"Oh," he said quietly.

The silence dragged for a long, long time.

***

I let my head rest against the car window, feeling every reverberation in my skull and knowing full well that I'd get a headache if I didn't sit up soon. A few spots of rain snaked their way down the grubby glass.

Across the backseat, Liam had closed his eyes. I knew he wasn't asleep. These were our last few moments of freedom - neither of us were willing to waste them. Every so often, he cracked his eyes open long enough to work out where we were ... and how much time we had left. He seemed to get more tense with every passing mile.

I knew we had to go back. Obviously, we had to. But that didn't make it any easier. I'd had to say goodbye to Rhodri and my parents for the second time, and there had been a lot of sniffling on my end.

The raiders had done their job. There had been a lot of bloody faces and dead eyes in the camp at lunchtime. Bryn had been cradling a broken wrist, and he'd hardly even glanced at me as he went past. I'd never seen him so pale. His first proper raid - and it hadn't been an easy one, by the look of it. They had been missing two raiders.

Everyone had been carrying bags full of stolen food. Not valuables - but food. It looked like the contents of kitchen cupboards. Money was no use to us when the flockies wouldn't let us spend it, so here we were. Dying for tins of baked beans.

It was quiet in the car. Nia wasn't the most confident driver. She was fine on empty roads - but she started to panic whenever another car appeared. We were keeping our mouths shut to let her concentrate.

"You don't need to be up my ass," she muttered. I could see her eyes reflected in the rear-view mirror, and I knew she was talking to the car behind us. "Bloody hell. I'm doing the speed-limit. Please just overtake me if you want to be a jackass."

I smiled to myself and said nothing. I didn't think the raiders would find her so intimidating if they had to watch her freak out every time she reached a roundabout.

Nia kept one eye on the car behind and a foot on the brakes as she slowed, ready to turn left. This was the Silver Lake turning, and I found myself wishing she'd missed it. The entrance was littered with signs ordering you to keep out. Nia almost clipped one of them - a big, rusty sign saying Private Property, Keep Out and Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted. As she swerved away, its Welsh counterpart on the other side of the road knocked our wingmirror back with a horrible clunking sound.

"Whoops," Nia said. She didn't sound very sorry, and I could see her reflection smirking as she opened her window and wrestled the mirror back into position. The sign was now face-down in the mud.

The sounds of our tailgater revving chased us all the way to the first bend in the road, where Nia pulled over and put the handbrake on. She cursed as she fiddled with the various buttons, trying to work out how to put her hazard lights on. She gave up within ten seconds and turned in her seat to peer at us.

"Will you be okay from here?" she asked. "There's a camera up ahead, so I can't really ... you know."

Silence in the car. I'd been hoping Liam would answer, and Liam had been hoping I would answer, and the longer we sat there, avoiding each other's eyes, the harder it became to break the silence.

"All three of us are going to get caught if we stay here," Nia said, not ungently. "If you don't want to go back, that's cool with me, but I'm going to need a decision. Like ... now."

Liam looked at me, asking the question with tired, wary eyes. He knew as well as I did that we were in a whole heap of trouble at Silver Lake. We'd left without permission, disobeyed Mason's direct orders and skipped two days of work. There would be consequences. And that wasn't my only reason to be scared.

"When you were raiding earlier," I began hesitantly, "did you see the main entrance?"

"Briefly."

"How many bodies?" I asked her.

"Just three," Nia said. She turned away from me, sighing to herself. "Two were ... you know ... decaying. The third wasn't, and I think it was Finn Sullivan. It wasn't easy to tell."

I nodded slowly. Joel was still alive, then. Chances were, he'd already opened his mouth. And if that was the case, we would be walking into a death trap. Seth claimed there wasn't a warrant for our arrest, but I wasn't entirely sure how much I trusted him anymore. Hell, he might have gone running to Mason the second he got back.

Nia seemed to be thinking about something else entirely. "How long until your probation is over, kids?"

"Two weeks," I groaned. We were only halfway. How was that possible? A month didn't sound like a very long time until you were counting every second. I was convinced that time went slower when you were miserable.

Nia wrinkled up her nose. "Shit. And you can't ... like ... speed that up? Like, you could be extra well-behaved or flash your boobs at someone important or bribe a pack official or ... I dunno. Something."

Both of us stared at her.

"This may surprise you, Nia," I said slowly, "but I'm actually quite picky about who gets to see my boobs."

Behind her, Liam was fighting a losing battle with a grin - and it was an incredibly smug grin. I rolled my eyes and tried to convince myself that it didn't make my heart skip a beat. The way he was looking at me right now ... well, it was not incredibly platonic.

"Suit yourself," Nia muttered, entirely oblivious. "I guess I'll see you in two weeks. Or in five minutes if this goes horribly wrong."

It was more likely to be five minutes.

***

They had mowed the massive lawn behind the packhouse. The grass was short-cropped and littered with the clippings, which stuck to my shoes every time I took a step. Near the lake, a group of children were collecting the mowed grass to build 'houses.' Their sneezes and laughter and shouts carried on the wind.

It was the first time I'd seen them play outside here, and I felt an immediate wave of nostalgia for Haven. We'd never had lawn clippings, of course, but we'd used stick and bracken to much the same ends and fought enthusiastic mock-wars over them. Children were children, no matter where they lived.

If I squinted into the sun, I could see the group of fighters training together. Liam would be amongst them. He'd stayed down here to draw attention while I snuck upstairs and changed into clothes that didn't smell of rogues. Unlike him, I'd left the pack in just my fur. Now, I was back in those horrible skinny jeans and a thin, flimsy t-shirt which did nothing to take away the sting of the wind.

I was making a beeline towards those fighters. The chaos of the morning's raid must have died down, because they were playing a game of rugby, by the look of it. Seth was manning the first-aid station. He looked up as I approached, his eyebrows flying upwards in astonishment.

"Eva," he said. "I was starting to think you weren't coming back. How is he?"

I just shrugged at him. I didn't have to ask who he meant, and I appreciated the discretion. "Better. He might even walk again, if he's very lucky. You didn't get in trouble for it, did you?"

"Me?" Seth asked incredulously. "No. It's you who's in trouble. And if I were you, I'd go and find Mason before he finds you."

"Uh oh," I mumbled.

"Yeah. I'm supposed to mind-link the second I lay eyes on you."

So much for just turning up to work and pretending like nothing had happened. That had been my plan - my only plan, if I was being honest. I made a disgusted noise under my breath

"You'd better do it, then," I sighed. "I don't want him angry at you, too."

Seth managed a half-hearted smile. "I'll wait a minute or two. Give you a head start."

I stared at him. I shouldn't have been surprised, I supposed. He'd proved over and over again how amazing he was, but there was something about this pack that smothered all my trust before it could see the light of day. "Thank you, Seth. You're too good to me."

"Yes, I am," he agreed dryly, already turning back to his work.

I headed straight towards the knot of fighters where I would find Liam, not intending to waste any time. But I hadn't been paying enough attention to my surroundings, apparently - I'd barely made it five metres before I heard running footsteps behind me, and then a burly fighter skidded into my path. He had a friend not far behind him, cutting off my retreat.

"Eva Morgan?" he asked me, panting for breath.

Oh dear.

"Who?" I tried, but it wasn't very convincing, even by my standards.

That proved to be a very unwise thing to say. The fighter stood up a little straighter, his mouth twisting into a scowl and one of his hands drifting to the handcuffs hanging from his belt. "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me."

Well, shit. I should have known I couldn't just walk into this pack. Someone had already told on me. I let my eyes wander across the field in my frustration and noticed one face turned towards us. Of course. Of course it had been Lin. She hated my guts.

I let my eyes wander a little further, and it was then that I saw Mason, who'd clearly come from the pack house. He wasn't hurrying across the grass, but it wasn't hard to see that he'd sent these runners ahead to make sure I didn't go anywhere. He'd seen me vanish into thin air one time too many, it seemed.

I took a cautious step away from the fighter. "Yeah, I'm actually quite busy, so..."

"Do what you're told, girl," his partner said.

I took another step, just because I didn't like his tone. He came after me, snatching hold of my arm and twist it. The other dude was closing in behind me. My wrist felt like it was about to give, so I didn't dare wriggle.

"Oi," I said. "Not cool. I haven't done anything. Can you just chill?"

He twisted a fraction further, and now it was my elbow screaming at me. He was going to break something if he wasn't careful. I growled at him through clenched teeth, even as his companion fumbled with the set of shiny handcuffs.

"I warned you, didn't I?" he retorted. "Stop resisting."

"I'm not," I snapped. I knew better than that. Once the fighters started getting physical, they tended to escalate things very quickly and usually with detrimental consequences for whoever had run afoul of them.

Today, they'd done their job effectively. I was stuck there, panting through the pain from my arm, while Mason closed the distance. There'd be no running away. No chance to give him the slip a second time. He stopped a metre away and regarded me with cold, satisfied eyes.

"Take your hands off her," Mason said quietly. The grip on my arm vanished in a heartbeat, and the man responsible took a hurried step back, showing the Alpha his palms as if to placate him. "Good. Now get lost."

The two of them turned tail and scarpered. They didn't need to be told twice. It didn't matter that they didn't know what they'd done wrong - their obedience was ingrained, immediate and unthinking. Like all flockies. I shoved my hands into my pockets with no small amount of relief and tried to ignore the remnants of the throbbing.

Once they were gone, Mason rounded on me properly. His eyes were dark, his wolf was crushing mine, and the look on his face told me that he was incredibly pissed off.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady under the wave of dominance that seemed to steal the air from my lungs.

He cocked an eyebrow. "Where is he?"

Um. I could tell him. But I wasn't sure I wanted to. Mason seemed so angry, and I wasn't convinced that Liam was going to take it lying down, after what had happened the last time they'd come face to face. Maybe if I could buy some time, Mason would calm down...

I gave him a bemused look - far from my best effort, but it was difficult to be convincing while he was breathing down my neck. "Where's who?"

Mason's lip curled. "Don't play games with me, sweetheart. You'll lose."

My mouth felt dry, but I swallowed all the same, feeling a lump stick in my throat. "I wasn't-"

"Where is he?" he asked again.

I looked around myself helplessly and then shrugged at him. "I don't know. On patrol, maybe?"

"On patrol," Mason repeated slowly. "Really? I guess we'll see."

A pressure was building up around my skull. It started off slow and measured, so that I wasn't sure if I was imagining things. And then, like a dam breaking, that slight pressure became a tsunami. My ears popped, and black spots swam before my eyes. It felt like someone was trying to squeeze my brain.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. I couldn't think. But I could definitely still feel - the grass against my bare arms, every muscle in my body seizing all at once, and most of all, the relentless, unbearable pain.

Mason wasn't even trying to get inside my head. There were no battering rams, no attempts to slip under my walls while I was distracted. This was just his idea of a punishment, as far as I could tell. But it didn't matter why he was doing it - if I did give in to the pressure, like I desperately wanted to, and let my walls shatter, then he would see the contents of my mind. And he would know.

The pressure in my head was unbearable by that point. Mason was tightening his grip with every second that passed, and it was starting to feel like my eyes would pop out of their sockets if he didn't stop soon.

It was possible to pinpoint the moment Liam realised what was happening. And his mental wrath was a firestorm to match Mason's. It was like a bomb going off. I didn't feel the blast, but I did feel the aftershocks lapping against my walls. Mason had eased his grip enough to let me draw in a sharp, ragged breath as his attention wavered for the first time.

And then the pressure vanished altogether. Liam had arrived and shoved Mason away from me with enough force to make him stumble, which would have been enough to break anyone's concentration.

I wheezed into the grass. The world seemed to be spinning around, and everything was blurry, and my muscles didn't work. I spat blood and saliva onto the ground. I'd bitten my tongue at some point. But all that seemed to be overshadowed by the fact that Liam, who was majorly pissed off, was facing up to his brother, who was also majorly pissed off, and there was a chance they were going to kill each other right here and now.

The area around us had gone eerily quiet. Not everyone had seen me writhing on the ground, and not everyone had seen Liam shove their Alpha, but enough people had. They whispered to their friends or nudged them, and it wasn't long before our audience was a few dozen strong.

Mason was smiling, but I could see the tension on his face and the annoyance simmering in those dark eyes. He shouldn't have let it go unchallenged. Not with so many pack members watching. But for some reason ... that was exactly what he was doing.

"Nice of you to join us, little brother," he said coldly. "Eva was just telling me how you were on patrol."

He hadn't been trying to punish me, after all. I had just been collateral - the bait in his trap for Liam. I could only thank the Goddess no one was close enough to hear us. Seth was nearest, and I could see the horrified expression on his face from a dozen paces away.

Liam didn't answer him. He was standing there, tense and wary, probably still expecting a retaliation for what he'd done. It didn't come. Mason seemed to content to watch and wait. I was still worried, and I wanted to get up, but my body wasn't being very cooperative.

"Are you alright, Eva?" Liam murmured.

I could only shake my head. Liam knelt beside me without taking his eyes off Mason. He helped me sit up. I didn't get very far before I had to double over and retch onto the grass. All that came up was a thin yellow liquid that burned the inside of my mouth.

Once I was done, Liam helped me stand. I didn't think Mason had done any permanent damage to my mind. My arms and legs worked. Yes, okay, I was shaking like a leaf, but that was probably just the adrenaline.

"Feeling better?" Mason asked me. "That's good. You had me worried for a minute there."

I spat on the ground. I'd wanted to get the taste of vomit out of my mouth, but it was not an accident that it landed so close to Mason's shoes. He might have cared more if Liam hadn't been staring him down beside me.

"What the hell do you want?" Liam snapped, acknowledging him at long last.

"I'm so glad you asked," he said, and then nodded towards the pack house. "Walk."

***

Liam seemed to know where we were supposed to be going, even if I didn't. We went into the packhouse and then turned down a corridor which I'd never been in before. Probably because the entrance was littered with Authorised Personnel Only signs. We ended up in a medium-sized room which seemed to be an office of some kind. There was a monitor on the desk, file-cabinets lining the walls and a map of Silver Lake territory pinned to the wall.

The entire way over, I'd put up with Mason walking behind us. I'd put up with the prickling sensation at the scruff of my neck and the tension knotting all of my muscles. Once we were in that little room, he walked past us to seat himself in the chair behind the desk.

It was the only chair in the office. The other side of the desk was bare - so we were left to stand there awkwardly. And maybe that was the idea. Mason had found his glasses, and he was now rifling through a sheaf of papers, occasionally picking one out and setting it aside.

"Close the door," he said without looking up.

He didn't realise he was sharing a room with two rogues. Neither of us moved a muscle. He'd been last through the door - he should have bloody well closed it himself. It was obvious that this was some kind of petty power-play, and I for one wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

It was only a few seconds before Mason realised no one was jumping to obey him. He looked up then, fixing his stare on Liam. Slowly, pointedly, he raised an eyebrow, and there was an expression on his face that I didn't like one bit. It was a subtle threat, but an effective one.

"Three," Mason said calmly. "Two-"

Liam went to close the door. I was left staring after him, well aware that I had missed something in that exchange. Mason was pushing old buttons and realising that they still worked, even after all these years.

Nearly a full minute passed before Mason finished what he was doing. He pushed the pile of paper across the desk towards us, and even upside-down, I recognised our application to join the pack sitting on top. It felt a lot like we were about to be interrogated, but Mason was in no rush. He leaned back in his chair and eyed his younger brother with a level of lazy contemplation that most people could only dream of.

"You still can't control it, can you?" he asked.

Liam's forehead creased, and Mason smiled at him. He reached up and tapped his temple with a finger by way of explanation.

"No," Liam said quietly.

"I could teach you," he said, and it sounded like a genuine offer. "I can tell that you're strong. You would have had me then, if you'd had the slightest clue what you were doing."

"I don't want to learn," Liam replied. "You use it to hurt people."

"I use it for a lot of things, Liam. Things that you can only guess at," Mason said. He stared for a moment longer, and then shrugged, like it had never mattered. "But suit yourself. We're not here to talk about tapping."

Liam snorted. "Then what are we here to talk about? Because I've got nothing to say to you."

"Really? Nothing?" he drawled. "How about a 'thank you, Mason?' You've deserted the pack twice now, and I haven't strung you up."

"So we're just here to give you an ego-boost?" Liam asked, one eyebrow raised.

"While I would appreciate a little gratitude ... no, that's not why you're here," Mason said. "I want to know where you've been for the last seven years."

I shifted my weight from foot to foot, uncomfortable with the tone of the conversation. Mason was refusing to be riled, and he was wielding his calmness like a weapon. This was a game to him. It wasn't a game to Liam, whose heart was thundering along at breakneck speed. Across the link, I could feel that his emotions were a turmoil of fear and anger, and I was worried which would win out if Mason kept this up.

"That's an easy one," I cut in. "New Dawn. It's the pack we transferred from. I can show you where it says in the application, if you like."

So innocent. So pleasant. I didn't want to leave Liam to face him alone, but I was acutely aware that Mason didn't seem to like me, so this was the best strategy. Malicious compliance with a side-helping of passive aggressive - the flockie weapon of choice.

Mason didn't even bother to glance at me. I was just an irritating distraction from the staring contest he was having with Liam.

"So all this time, you've been at New Dawn. Alive. Safe. And I only find out when you rejoin my pack under a fake name? What kind of bullshit is that, Liam?"

Liam just shrugged at him. His eyes were on the ground now, and his voice was very quiet. "I wanted to come back, and Jace wanted rid of me. It just sort of ... happened."

"You wanted to come back," Mason repeated coolly. "Because you missed - what? The lake air?"

"I missed home."

"But not your family."

It was a sharp, accusatory comment, and Liam flinched beside me. I reached over and squeezed his fingers as gently as I could. He squeezed back, throwing me a quick glance which looked more like a plea for help than anything else.

"He didn't say that," I said firmly. "Don't pick a fight for the sake of it."

"He ran away and let me think he was dead. He can't have been that torn up," Mason retorted. He fixed those dark eyes on Liam and tightened his jaw. "I know we had our disagreements, but I still can't understand what I did to make you this angry. I mean ... shit. What am I missing here?"

The silence stretched for a long time. I could almost see Liam wrestling with it as the seconds passed. He shifted his weight from foot to foot and swallowed and took shallow, too-fast breaths. Mason waited with folded arms.

"Spit it out," he said. "We haven't got all day."

Liam looked like he was about to throw up, but somehow, he managed to say, "Mase, you were abusive. For years."

Mason burst out laughing. It was not the reaction I'd been expecting - not even close - and I stood there, gaping at him while he tried to regain control of himself. Beside me, Liam was standing with stiff shoulders and downcast eyes. He didn't look the least bit surprised.

"Sorry, I- What?" Mason managed to say eventually. Every time he was close to catching his breath, another fit of laughter would interrupt him. "You think I abused you? Where's this coming from?"

Liam didn't even try to answer. He'd already given up. I could see it in the way his eyes had stuck to the ground. He looked like he was regretting opening his mouth. I reached out with the link, hoping to put some warmth into his mind, but he'd already shut it off. His walls were up, unsurprisingly, and there were no exceptions. Not even for me.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I snapped at Mason.

"Don't involve yourself in this, sweetheart. You don't know what you're talking about. And neither does Liam, apparently..." Mason regarded him with a wonky, bemused expression. It was beginning to dawn on me that he genuinely didn't understand what he'd done wrong. "Adrian was abusive. I'll give you that. But he didn't get near you very often, did he?"

"Often enough," Liam said quietly.

"No. Don't play the victim. I kept him away from you. And this is the thanks I get?" he demanded. "You're making it out like I was horrible to you. I mean, shit, Liam. I know I wasn't perfect, but I was always doing my best."

I regarded him with raised eyebrows and an expression of utter derision. Liam's reaction was much the same.

"You always do this," he told Mason. "You turn it around to try and make me feel guilty. It's messed up, and I'm not falling for it again."

"I'm allowed to defend myself when you come in here making bullshit accusations," Mason retorted. "I only hurt you when you did something wrong. If I'd just done it for fun, that would be abuse."

"Most people don't beat their kids," I said quietly. "Even when they've done something wrong."

Mason's lip curled. "Your parents certainly didn't. I can tell because you're an entitled, disrespectful little bitch."

Except that he didn't say bitch. He said something else, and it was enough to make Liam snarl at him and take a step forwards. I put my body in the way and my hand on his chest. He didn't fight me. Mason hadn't even bothered to get up. He was lounging in his chair and smirking, like it was all very funny.

"Look," he sighed. "Kids need discipline. They need to learn respect. Dad took the belt to me most days, and I turned out fine."

Did you?

Liam's frustration was bleeding into his voice, making it rough and shaky. " That's bullshit, and you know it. It was never about learning or discipline or respect. It was about control."

Mason was actually trying to convince us that what he'd done was somehow okay and justified, and I was getting the impression that he sincerely believed that. I was beginning to worry about the implications for Lilah and their daughter. She'd never said anything to me, but ... then again, why would she? I'd only known her for a few weeks, and it wasn't an easy thing to tell someone.

"I don't know why you're getting so upset about this, Liam," Mason said. He'd paused to think it over, but not for long. "You acted out, and you deserved what you got. And if I ever went too far, it was because you pissed me off, not because-"

I swore at Mason then - a series of filthy words that he barely seemed to notice. It drowned out the rest of his sentence, buying a pause long enough for Liam to say, "I deserved to be told off. Grounded, maybe. I didn't deserve a lighter against my skin."

Mason's face had gone very still. His mouth was a thin line, and his eyes were narrowed as he regarded Liam. "I'm not having this argument with you."

Liam let out a long, drawn-out breath. He'd been struggling - I could see that - so maybe he was almost relieved. Mason was the sort of person who needed to 'win' every discussion he had, by any means necessary, and this was a rare escape hatch.

"Okay," Liam said tonelessly. "Can we go now?"

I started edging backwards, hoping to reach the door before Mason noticed, but he just snorted. "We're not done yet. Not even close."

The noise that escaped my lips was somewhere between a groan and a growl, and it earned me a sharp look from Mason before he deigned to explain.

"If you want to stay here, you'll have to make yourself useful. It just so happens that my Beta is an addict, and he's dumb as shit even when he's not high."

Liam had been right. Mason did want him for the Beta position. He was acting like he didn't really care either way, but I was starting to think he must. At least a little bit. We wouldn't be alive if he didn't have some lingering affection for his youngest brother. Liam had deserted his pack and played dead for seven years, and Mason had barely even told him off. Now he wanted to hand out a promotion.

"You want me to kill Felix?" Liam asked warily.

"No. Not now, anyway. As it stands, I reckon he'd win," Mason laughed. "We'll give it a year, I think. You're still young. What, eighteen? Nineteen? I'll train you myself. When you're ready, I'll add you to the pack register and you can challenge him."

We didn't have a year. There was no way he could do that, right? He couldn't just extend our probation when we'd done nothing wrong. Well ... nothing except lying on our application and deserting the pack.

Liam made a face. "Can't you just add me now and let me take my chances with Felix?"

I blinked at him in my astonishment. No, we couldn't afford to wait a year, but I also didn't think we should be pushing our luck right now. Liam seemed to have no such reservations.

"I don't want you challenging him now," Mason said, his scowl returning. "You'll have to prove yourself before I accept you as Beta. You were a kid when you left - and I'm not sure what kind of man has come back."

"Obviously, but it's not-"

Mason hadn't finished yet, and he cut across him roughly. "And if you've set your sights a little higher, Liam ... Well, I should warn you. I would quite enjoy making an example out of you."

So he suspected. I wasn't that surprised. Mason knew pack law a lot better than we did, and Liam was not exactly being subtle with this request. He was expecting a challenge, and that made me incredibly reluctant to oblige him.

"I'm not setting my sights on anyone. It's not about that. I'll wait if you want me to," Liam said, rubbing at the back of his neck. "It's just ... I shouldn't have to be on probation. This is my pack as much as yours."

Mason lounged back in his chair, making a show of thinking it over, but I could tell he was coming around.

"I'll expect you to be on your best behaviour..." he warned us. "You come when I call and you do what you're told."

Fine. Whatever. I'd much rather be bribed than threatened. He'd made it very clear that he was going to get what he wanted, one way or another. I nodded at him, trying to look solemn.

"Of course," Liam said. He sounded so innocent - it wasn't hard to see why Mason was falling for it. It seemed I wasn't the only one who was susceptible to those big dark eyes.

Mason stood and went to a cabinet under the window. He had to flick through most of his key ring before he managed to unlock it. Inside, there was a massive, official-looking roll of paper, and Mason brought it over to the desk.

He unrolled it to reveal a list of names that stretched back decades. Some of them had been struck, as people died or left the pack. It was clearly the pack register, and he was actually doing it, and it had actually worked, so my heart was in my throat as he picked up a pen.

With only a single, lingering glance at the pair of us, he wrote 'Liam Vaughan' at the bottom of the list. I didn't miss the surreptitious glance at the application to remind himself of my surname before 'Eva Morgan' was added in a column to the left, like I was just an afterthought. He drew a double bar to Liam's name to show that we were mated, and then he sighed and dated it.

I hardly dared to believe it. I hardly even dared to breathe. From the moment he'd picked up the pen until the moment he set the document aside, my heart had stopped beating. It was picking up again now, playing a racy tempo that seemed to speed up with every passing second as I began to consider the implications.

"Don't make me regret this," Mason said.

Liam and I exchanged a long, conspiratorial look which probably did nothing to reassure him. I saw his face twist into a frown, but we were already halfway to the door. We'd got what we wanted and then some. This time, he didn't try to stop us leaving. I was grinning long before the door closed behind us.

We could kill him now.