She had been so distraught when she ran up the porch stairs, slick with rain, and rushed through the house and to the back bedrooms that she hadn't taken in her surroundings. The only person she'd glimpsed was Kiernan, but she'd only given him a passing glance.

She took in the house while walking down the hallway with planks creaking underfoot and Kane's fingers tangled with hers. It was spacious and bright, with moonlight streaming through large windows with pine framing, revealing the silver patterning hidden in the brown wallpaper.

She frowned at the paintings they passed.

Landscapes in bright colours. A few artworks were exceptionally beautiful, but the dark shades and bright splatters of red were unsettling. They remind her of blood. They were all signed in the lower corners with a prettily handwritten G. She had a feeling Kiernan didn't paint these unless he had the soul of an artist that she'd missed.

The far end of the hallway led to a few closed doors that she assumed were more bedrooms and a bathroom. The other had pristine glass doors that gave a peek of a rain-slick deck.

Their destination was a wide pine-framed doorway where a woman's angry voice wafted above the sound of a television.

The smell of food filling the warm air and the polished wood gave everything a relaxed vibe that made her anxious. A part of her was waiting for the payment from that spell to make itself known. The last thing she could afford to do was feel comfortable.

But the tension she held slipped away when they crossed the doorway's threshold, stepping under the thick pine framing.

The living room had a wagon-wheel chandelier hanging from large beams of pine wood that travelled the expanse of the high ceiling, giving off a soft light that glinted against the glossy, orangish hardwood floors. Large windows with brown, drawn-back drapery flanked impressive oak cabinetry built around a large, mounted television. Through the glinting glass, she saw a glimpse of a foggy evening.

To her right was a good view of a lively kitchen through a large pass-through with a bright-coloured painting of a tree in autumn hanging beside its pine framing.

She could see a silver sink with a curved faucet facing the living room through the pass-through. Pine cabinetry and a tiled backsplash that matched the grey countertops. She didn't have a full view of the kitchen from her vantage point in the doorway, but she could hear clanks of pans. A heavenly smell of food cooking wafted through the room.

Hannah took in the man who had his back to the doorway. Axel, or Alexander, was leaning against the back of a leather sectional couch. She was unsure what to call him. She'd heard Kiernan and Reid refer to him by differing names. He was intimidating in his bulk alone. He and Lucas could give each other workout tips. And the fact that he was a vampire gave her a shiver from merely staring at his broad shoulders and biceps, pulling his black long-sleeve taut.

Presley was sitting on a grey carpet with his legs drawn underneath him and half-hidden by a grey armchair near a pine bookshelf.

He gave her wandering gaze a sheepish smile before ducking his head cutely, like he always did. His brown eyes held a slight glow that Hannah knew wasn't a threat, just a passing emotion he couldn't control. It rained earlier this afternoon, and his hair was damp. The buttons of his white shirt were askew from a hasty redress. He had been in wolf form, running in the dense forest during their long walk here.

Rowan had her legs pulled up under her on the sectional couch facing the television, playing some action movie. Her curly red hair was pulled into a loose ponytail swept across her shoulder. She fingered the cuff of her plaid shirt with white and black patterning while smiling widely, watching the chaos unfolding.

"Hey!" Rowan exclaimed cheerfully and smiled at Kane. "You're alive! They thought you were dead. Like dead, dead. They had to—"

"Don't," Kane said quickly. At Rowan's curious smile, he added tiredly, "I don't want to know."

Near the front door she'd come barreling through an hour ago, Kiernan was leaning his upper back against the wall beside a stereo system that looked to be used for draping jackets. The plum shirt Kiernan wore had its buttons unfastened at the collar lazily. He looked off. 

Then she realized he was wearing jeans, and for the first time, he didn't look like he was on his way to a board meeting.

It quickly became apparent why Kiernan was stoically hiding. He was out of view of the woman with her black hair pulled into a messy bun in the kitchen, who had come into view of the pass-through and was waving a wooden spoon around wildly. She was gorgeous, even while shouting in a language Hannah didn't understand, only that her accented tone was angry.

The woman shrieked something, and to Hannah's shock, Kiernan shouted back, making zero sense, but from the roughness of his voice, it was clear he was livid.

Hannah was fortunate that Kane's gaze was on the argument unfolding, not her, because she could feel heat rousing her cheeks. There was a slight accent that Kiernan's voice took to rise above the woman's returning screeches that tickled Hannah's ears pleasantly.

A wooden spoon flew through the serving window.

Rowan ducked with a gasp, and the projectile flew over the couch, hitting the coffee table and splattering sauce across the glossy oaken surface.

"Someone do something," Presley whispered fearfully.

Kiernan stared at the spoon, and the lack of reaction caused Hannah to bite her lip to suppress a giggle. The woman in the kitchen might be looking for more implements to toss because she was opening drawers with angry jerks and slamming them closed with a clatter of their contents.

"Just do it," Axel whispered pleadingly. "Crystal's pregnant."

"Not for much longer," Crystal yelled from the kitchen, sniffling. "I'll have the baby here, right on the floor. You can blame that pig-headed man."

Kiernan ignored the insult. "No." He gave Alexander a fixed glare that would have had Hannah cowering. "Give her an inch, Alexander, and she'll take a mile."

Despite his words, both vampires flinched when another object flew through the serving window. A salt shaker hit the sofa's edge and veered into the air, narrowly missing Axel's head before hitting a wooden cabinet near the doorway where Hannah stood gawking.

Axel had shifted, giving her a glimpse of his profile, and she didn't miss the dark look of ire he wore.

Kiernan scoffed.

The shouting in the kitchen persisted. Crystal wore a tight black long-sleeve shirt. Her pregnant, enormous belly made Hannah's back ache in empathy. Her fluffy pink track pants threw off her manicured nails and hoop earrings. They were probably all that fit her.

This woman was about to pop.

Hannah wondered if there was a hospital nearby. Maybe Kiernan would reveal that he knew midwifery. She wouldn't be surprised. He kept doing things that threw her into headache-inducing loops.

Crystal growled, "Alexander!"

Hannah didn't blame Axel for flinching. Presley had already hidden himself entirely behind the armchair and wasn't risking even a peek from his refuge. Crystal was terrifying.

At Alexander's pleading look, Kiernan shook his head. Then, his dark eyes flickered towards Hannah, making her tremble under the weight of his intense regard before they slid to Kane, and she could breathe again.

Kiernan tipped his chin slightly. "Rainer...your father's outside." He looked pained. "If you'd be so kind as to explain to him that we are allies and not enemies, he's fought me three times."

"He beat you every time, huh?" Kane chuckled, and the genuineness of the sound raised a fond smile on Hannah's lips.

"Indeed," Kiernan replied coolly. He didn't seem bothered that he was beaten. "I'd rather not have my hand broken again. Twice was enough, and having my nose moved back into place by Alexander once was plenty."

"Fuck..." Kane winced. "I'll talk to him."

Kiernan inhaled. "Thank you."

Kane didn't have a chance to reply because wailing sobs erupted from the kitchen.

Axel implored, "Please. Just make the cat sleep in her room." His brown eyes held the deep misery of a man who'd had a wooden spoon or two thrown at his head in the last hour.

"No," Kiernan responded coldly, his gaze dark, though he would have appeared more intimidating if he weren't hiding in a corner.

Kane whispered, "What the fuck is happening?"

Stoically, Kiernan stated, "I cannot and will not make him do anything he doesn't wish to do. If he wants to sleep with her, he would sleep with her, Alexander."

Axel whispered harshly, "It's just a cat."

"It's just a woman."

Rowan gasped dramatically. Kiernan glared at her sharply. She shrugged, sliding further into the couch's cushioning with a grin.

An ache settled in Hannah's heart. Reid should be here, making everything more chaotic. She'd punch him for putting them through that hell and then hug him to ensure he was real.

But it's not her that Reid needs to see right now.

Alexander laid his palms together, pleading. "Please, man."

"No."

"Kiernan..."

"No."

The pepper shaker flew through the pass, hitting the coffee table.

Rowan laughed. "Give her the cat!"

"Before we all die," Presley whimpered from behind the armchair.

Kiernan seemed to contemplate this pensively, and then he began speaking gibberish in that accent again, with less anger. Hannah couldn't understand a word except for 'Alexander.'

There was a pause in the sobbing. "Yes, take my husband." When Crystal wasn't growling, her accented voice was sweetly soft. "He steals all the space with his disgustingly cold feet, and he thinks I'd let him take my blood when he cannot do it without getting it all over the sheets. He's a big toddler."

"Honey," Axel placated dulcetly.

"No!" Crystal replied angrily. "You're a burden on the sanctity of my relaxation. It's not good for the baby. Suck on Kiernan. He's interested."

The startled looks that Kiernan and Axel shared were nearly comical.

Rowan sputtered, nearly falling off the couch, giggling, and Presley burst into laughter behind the armchair. Hannah covered her smiling mouth with her fingers, and when she glanced at Kane, he looked pained.

Axel groaned. "It's not like that, honey."

"It is! You're always sucking on each other!"

Axel roared, "Stop saying it like that!" He was back to being intimidating. His enraged tone was par with Lucas's bellowing voice when the man was incensed. "There's no..." He rubbed his face with his palms. "Shit."

Kiernan cupped his neck with a palm and stared wistfully at the small window near the door. Was he thinking of fleeing? She wouldn't blame him, except there was nowhere to go except trees and more trees.

Crystal laughed sharply. "No. Alexander." There was a clang, and the wafting smell of food that travelled into the living room had Hannah's mouth watering. "I remember when you were drunk, and you told me that he..." She dropped her voice to a deep octave. "Tasted better."

Axel shoved his fist in his mouth, muffling his enraged shout.

They all stared at Kiernan, waiting for his reaction. He held his neck as if for comfort, or he could be contemplating suffocating himself. There was a slight flush to his cheeks, but otherwise, he looked utterly reserved amidst the chaos.

"Alexander prefers my blood," Kiernan explained casually. "I thought he'd grow out of it, but here we are, twenty years later."

Presley peeked out from behind the armchair and caught Kane's gaze, something passing between them with scrunched noses.

Rowan was ecstatic. Her green eyes were wide, and she wore a beaming smile. Hannah was sure that if the woman had a pen and paper, she'd be jotting down notes for her next story.

"Kiernan," Axel snarled.

"Do you see?!" Crystal shouted from the kitchen. "He's a big toddler who wants his daddy!"

Rowan shoved a pillow from the couch against her face, laughing breathlessly.

Hannah had been on edge for the last few days, and this ridiculous conversation was burning her eyes with tears of relief. She thought Kane might feel something similar because he hadn't pulled her away or cursed at anyone. He was watching with a bewildered expression on his handsome face. She was momentarily taken with how much she loved him. He'd taken her heart in such a short amount of time, and she gave it to him happily.

When Hannah looked back, Axel had covered his face with his palms, probably trying to calm himself from climbing through the serving hatch to get to his wife, who was cackling evilly.

Kiernan was watching the television, taking in the action scene playing with crashing vehicles being set ablaze. He looked to be trying his best impression of a mannequin, breath held and dark eyes lifeless. But that might just be him. He didn't exactly exude life.

"Come on," Kane whispered near her ear. The gruffness of his voice made her shiver. "Time to get my ass kicked."