"Levi?"

He snapped his eyes to me then marched over, wrapping his arms around me while his body shook with rage. I hugged him back and rubbed my hands on his tense back, trying to calm his rage that seemed to only slowly grow.

He looked up at Ethan and gave him a knowing nod. "I should have seen it."

"Levi, we couldn't have known," I rushed out.

"We can't change the past Levi," Ethan breathed out. "But we can get even."

Levi smirked a little and flickered his eyes to Lander, who was brooding like a cold storm as he leaned against the railing. Lander cracked a smile, almost sinister in nature before he looked at Ethan. "Oh, we're going to get more than even."

Evan growled in approval. "The only thing I have to add is that we make it slow brother."

Ethan nodded a little as Levi released me and pulled me to his side. "Let's see how much Barrett and Evie can get out tonight before we decide what to do with them. They're going to die, but I want what's in their brains first."

Evan let out a frustrated breath and then nodded. "What do you want me to do?"

"Get everyone together outside. Char and I are going to talk with Tate and Larissa then we'll meet and get a plan together."

Evan dipped his head then walked over and hugged his brother. "Mom and dad would be proud you know?"

Ethan nodded before Evan pulled away. He walked to me and kissed my cheek before walking out of the barn. Ethan flickered his eyes to me. "Ready?"

"Who do you want first?" I asked.

"Where are the vamps?" Ethan asked more to himself.

"Here!" Evie said as she zipped over. She gave me a soft look and pulled me into a tight hug, petting my hair and rubbing my back. "I'm so sorry about all of this."

"It's not your fault," I breathed out as I pulled away. "Thank you for all your help–"

She held up a hand as Barrett walked over with another blood-juice box in his hand. "Char, really, it's not a problem."

"Who do you want next?" Barrett asked before he took a sip from his straw.

Ethan looked at me, chewing on his bottom lip and shrugged. "What do you think?"

"Tate wanted a deal, I say we take the low-hanging fruit there then go to Larissa. She may take longer."

Ethan held out his hand to me. I took it and looked back to Levi who was staring with a dreamy bloodlust towards where Emmet and Lucy were celled. "Levi?"

Lander walked back in, his hair a little windblown from his run. He looked at us then at Levi as his eyes swirled with a familiar concern. "Brother, let's go talk with David and get our ducks in a row. Evan probably needs our help as well."

Levi slightly nodded then looked back at Ethan and I. "Get their asses, we'll see you in a bit."

Ethan dipped his head before we followed Barrett and Evie to Tate's cell. Evie turned around, sipping on her juice box and walking backward as we neared the cell. "So I was with him for a bit. Basically he was in on it, obviously. I have the transcription you can listen to, but he's been in on it from day one. He helped scout out new routes to bring rogues into yours and Levi's borders, he brought rogues over with this crazy ass magic that is driving Alex up the wall, and he's been carrying out the dirty work.

"Thomas thinks Tate works for him, but his boss is Emmett. He's been keep tabs on Charlotte and you Ethan. He's also been re-scouting the borders, looking a little more around Lusa this time."

"We also will make you copies of everything," Barrett added. "We can send them to whoever you like."

"So is this what you do for Alex?" I asked.

Evie nodded. "Ya, amongst other things. We're like detectives, really they bring us in for more complex investigations like this one when the evidence isn't working too well and they need information."

"Sounds fascinating," I thought out loud.

"Never a dull moment," Barrett added as we approached Tate's cell.

We didn't go inside. We just stood outside while the wolf turned his head slowly and looked at us with familiar hazel eyes that were almost haunting.

"Told our friends here that you want a deal Tate," Barrett said before he sucked on his juice box.

Tate let out a defeated breath, his eyes hard as he nodded stiffly to us. "I do."

"What do you want?" I asked.

"What was on the table before, I'll sing for you. I'll tell them what I know. Just send me the hell away from here."

Ethan mused for a bit, pulling me closer to him before he cocked his head at Tate. "And what do you know Tate?"

Tate rolled his eyes. "Vampy one and two jumped all in my brain, you should know."

"I want to hear it from your lips," Ethan snarled.

Tate gulped then slightly nodded. "Fine," he replied stiffly. "I helped scout out routes to bring rogues into our border and the Tikanni border. I helped Thomas plan out, with your grandfather, the best way to bring them in for the attack. I got some in, made sure no one saw."

"What about the witnesses that said that they saw them 'poof' in, how did that work?" I asked.

Tate shrugged. "I don't know. I got an order from this rogue they called 'The Snake,' they gave me coordinates to be at and I went there. They told me to wait and there would be people for me to escort."

Barrett hissed at him. "Lie to us and I promise that this will be as fun of a time as your friends down the hall had."

"I swear! Seriously! Get in my brain! See for yourself! They gave me coordinates, an exact location, and I was there! I had told them before some areas that would be good to bring in rogues, and that happened to be some of the places it happened, but I don't know how. I just did what I was told."

"Alright Tate," I replied, calm and collected while Ethan let his beast size Tate up. "Tell us about recently. We know you were watching us, we saw you the other night outside Evan's house. What have you been up to now for them?"

Tate let out a shaky breath and tried to rub some sweat off his chin by rubbing his chin against his shoulder. His eyes looked tired, bags hung under them while his skin was balmy and pale. Wolfsbane was making this a real pleasant time for him.

"They had me scouting a little again, nothing as serious as last time. I've been doing more dirty cleanup work. I cleaned up the rogue attack that she was in, made sure there was only blood left instead of body parts–"

"There were a lot of parts, you couldn't have done that by yourself that quickly," I added.

Tate let out a frustrated breath. "I'll give you names ok! They were other warriors loyal to Thomas, I'll tell you what you want to know, just get me the hell out of here!"

"Easy," Evie warned. "Just keep talking."

"Fine," he said sharply. "I kept tabs on you," he said while nodding to me. "And helped Thomas and Emmett do a few border tests with rogues. I scouted her out when she first came, led the rogues to her and relayed what I saw to Emmett. He wanted to know if you were legit."

"What else? What was your next assignment?" Ethan asked.

"I was supposed to wait for Emmett's orders. He wanted me to maybe stage another attack, but he kept telling me to hold off. He wanted me to start looking into routes to the north."

"The north?" Ethan asked.

Tate nodded. "They've been working with some of those packs."

"Is that where the rogues are?"

Tate shrugged. "I think so, but I don't know. They don't tell me that much, my job is just to make sure they can get in. What about my deal?"

Ethan snarled at him. "As long as you talk tomorrow, tell the damn truth, and drop all contacts with the rebels, then I'll have men bring you back here. I can't say where we'll ship you because I'll have to make some calls first."

"Fine," Tate bit back.

"Ok, one down," I breathed out.

Ethan nodded before giving Tate a long look before walking towards Larissa's cell. She's like a rabid animal; shaking in her seat, sweat dripping over pale skin that makes her look like a corpse, while her mouth is open as she pants hotly.

She flickered her eyes to us and snarled. I cocked a brow at her. "Didn't have fun, Larissa?"

She scoffed at me. "You're a disgusting excuse for a wolf," she panted out.

Ethan's blood lashed out at her like a bullwhip while he let out a livid growl that shook his torso violently.

"Tate accepted our offer Larissa, Ethan will challenge Thomas tomorrow. We technically don't need your testimony."

"And you're keeping me because?" she asked, her voice annoyed and labored.

"What? You don't like our time together?" Evie asked in a mock hurt, puckering her bottom lip while she sucked on her straw.

Larissa forced out a gargled snarl towards her. "I would like it if I wasn't tied down to this damn chair more," she bit out.

"We know you were working with Lucy," Barrett stated dryly. "We know that you were spying for Thomas and Emmett. We know that Lucy had you find Charlotte and Andrea in the forest that day.

"The thing is we know. You can choose to speak, take the deal, and move on with your miserable life."

"Or?" she asked, her voice is almost forced over her stressed breathing.

"Andrea has been wanting to spend some time with you, and I think that we may let her," I thought out loud, my eyes meeting hers.

Her's started to slightly widen as she realized that I was as serious as a damn heart attack. She hissed under her breath and ground her teeth before looking up at us. "Where would you send me?"

"Somewhere very far away," Ethan replied. "On the condition that you are watched closely and drop all contacts with the rebels, with this pack, and anyone who would potentially be a pain in my ass."

Larissa blinked hard before looking back to us. "Fine."

I blinked my eyes hard as my eyes swelled in relief. Ethan let out a hot breath and nodded. "Let's go," he breathed out.

We left the cells. The cells smelled of blood, sweat, and betrayal. It reeked of pain and anger, our anger. Anger that would soon be fed, the beast had to be fed.

The night air was warm with cool tones to it. It brushed off my skin and seemed to carry some of the anger along with it. I opened my eyes to see a figure zip to me; he crushed me into his chest before I could even respond.

"I was so worried about you little one," Derek breathed out while Elliot hugged Ethan quickly.

I let out a shaky breath against his chest and nodded. "I missed you. I worried top, I'm glad you're here."

Elliot kissed my cheek then pulled me into a tight hug. "We brought food."

"I am hungry," I said on the edge of a breathy laugh.

"And I brought you a change of clothes for tomorrow," Derek added. "And your tent, you and Ethan need to sleep at some point."

"You're amazing, you know that?"

Derek winked. "Obviously."

Elliot rolled his eyes as Evan walked up with a plastic bowl full of lasagna, the smell itself making my stomach rumble. "Everyone's ready."

"Do you want to get something to eat first?" Ethan asked.

"I'll get it," Evan said before winking at me.

Ethan nodded then pulled me with him towards the group, the group of people who would help us take our pack back.

Ryder walked up to Ethan and hugged him quickly. He was tight, constricted with anger as well; Ryder's father Nick had died in the attack fighting next to Chris. His son deserved blood as much as everyone else here; everyone was torn up by that day.

Ethan pulled me down next to him in front of the campfire as Evan brought us both bowls of lasagna. He took a seat on Ethan's left, while I took his right; Barrett zipped over and handed Ethan a beer with a tired smile. "Thought you could use this, they have a cooler of it next to the food."

Ethan let out a breathy laugh and nodded. "You definitely thought right."

Lyanna sat next to Evan while Levi sat with Lander, Remi, and David next to me. Billy smiled at us with Jake on his right; Jake, he was really like Billy's shadow.

Andrea was talking quietly with Jaxon, and to be honest, she didn't look like she wanted to kill him. I could have sworn I saw lips almost twitch into a smile when he pushed some hair out of her face; Caden watched them before rolling his eyes and shaking his head at me, causing me to laugh a little as I ate the pasta from heaven.

"Where are Aaron and Amber?" Ethan asked.

"On their way," Billy answered as he picked around in his bowl. "Martin has them."

"What do you think Ethan?" Ryder asked as he sat down next to Jake while Derek and the other Vampires piled in next to Lander.

"Tomorrow, we do this tomorrow. We end this tomorrow. We have what we need, we do this at first light," he said while growls and rumbles of approval filled the air with the smoke from the campfire. "Billy after I want you to take Aaron and Amber to their home after. Let them pack quickly and get what they need to travel. Bring them somewhere safe, put them in my cabin if you have to. I won't be able to transfer them anywhere until we make a few calls anyways."

Billy nodded. "I can do that."

"We can stick them on Tikanni land?" David offered, looking to Levi for consent. "Mangata may be too hot for them."

Levi nodded. "Do it. Take them to pack then to our line, we'll keep them safe until we can get them transferred."

"Warriors?" Ethan asked before taking a sip of his beer.

"Ready," Jake answered. "They are all coming in tonight, trickling in so we don't raise too much suspicion."

"Good," Ethan breathed out. "I want some on Thomas. I don't want him to tuck his tail and run or have time to pull something on us. If he so much as coughs I want to know."

"We've got Drew and Murphy on it," Billy said. "He's not taking a shit unless we know."

"I don't want to know," Evan grumbled out.

"So you don't want me to link you next time I take a shit?" Ryder teased.

Levi snarled at Ryder while a few others laughed to themselves. "Damn males."

Ethan rolled his eyes before he swallowed down a bite of lasagna and looked back at Billy. "Get them all here. We go together in the morning. Have them meet us at the Line." Billy nodded back to Ethan who flickered his gaze to Ryder. "Get all the trackers and spread the word to the pack. Start with the ones that are loyal, and tell them to keep a tight lip. Finish with the ones that are not, I know you understand that we need to make sure he doesn't have time to retaliate."

"Roger that," Ryder breathed out before standing up. "Better get to work then, it's going to be a long ass night."

"Make sure you do get some sleep Ryder," I added.

He gave me a tired smile and nodded. "I'll try Ghostrider."

"What are you bringing evidence-wise?" Lander asked.

"Well, obviously the ones locked up in there," Ethan said while pointing his beer bottle to the barn.

"Even Emmett and Lucy?" Ladner added. "The pack will want their blood."

"I won't keep that from them, they deserve to know," Ethan replied as he stabbed at some pasta. "We take them. They'll talk, I have a feeling about it. As for what to do with them, we lock them in the cells and let Barrett and Evie finish up with them after.

"We bring the letters, the journal with the nickname, and if we find anything else in that box, we'll take that too. Andrea can you go through that?"

Andrea nodded. "Of course. Jaxon helped me organize everything else. It's all ready to go Ethan."

Jaxon gave Ethan a firm nod before he scooted a little closer to Andrea, placing a hand to rest on the behind her; not touching her yet still protective in nature.

"Thank you," Ethan replied back. "Keep the witnesses in their skin. We'll chain them up and drag them with us if we have to, well, that is except Jake."

Jake rolled his eyes as he took a sip of his beer. "Thanks, Ethan."

Ethan took a bite of his pasta and nodded with a sly smile to Jake before looking over at Levi. "I won't do it without you."

"I know," Levi breathed out. "We'll meet you in the valley. David has our men ready, we'll march from the line. Evangeline and Liam are coming, she wants blood Ethan."

"As she should," he replied. I took another big bite of pasta, swallowing it down and letting it try to soothe my body that was beaten up by betrayal and demons of anger. Ethan set his empty bowl down and pulled me closer to him, kissing my hair before looking up at Jaxon. "Jaxon what are your plans?"

"To watch this one's ass of course," he replied with a coy smile as he nodded to Andrea, who gave him a long unamused look. He shrugged innocently and looked back at Ethan. "I'm not bringing many, I can if there's a need."

Ethan nodded then looked over at the vampires. "Keep working on Emmett and Lucy and let us know if you need anything," Ethan said to the vampires.

Barrett raised a bottle to him and gave him a cheeky smile. "It's a party then."

"Ethan!" Martin called out as he trotted in. "We have the Browning kids."

Ethan nodded then stood up. "Any questions?" Everyone shook their head quietly. Ethan let out a tired sigh then looked over at me. "Ready?"

"Let's go," I replied while standing up, picking our empty bowls up and tossing them in the fire.

Amber and Aaron were waiting for us near some boulders close to the barn. Aaron flickered his eyes to us and gave us a respectful not.

Amber had been crying. She was wiping her red puffy eyes right now, glaring at us; but the glare was full of defeat. She knew she was a corner and we were the only ones who would let her out.

"Aaron," Ethan greeted.

"Ethan," he replied with a respectful no. "Charlotte," he said, flicking his eyes to me that were grateful and starting to fill with relief.

"Why don't we sit down?" I gestured to some of the boulders.

Ethan sat down and pulled me next to him while Amber and Aaron sat across from us. I looked up at Amber and gave her a tiny smile. This wolf had been through a lot, I had no idea what it was but if was anything like what her brother had endured than it was hell. They deserved to get out and start over, start a new and build something for themselves.

"Amber do you know why you're here?" I asked gently. She sniffled and shook her head. "Amber what we are about to talk to you about is confidential. If you link your father or mother, the deal is off."

"What deal? What is she talking about?" she rushed out.

Aaron pulled her to his side and whispered something in her ear before looking back to me. "She won't, will you Amb?"

She let out a shaky breath through her tears and shook her head. "I won't."

I nodded. "We made a deal with your brother. Listen I don't know what's been going on in your life, but I can tell you that we will send you away. We can send you far to another pack, a good pack with money to start over. Hell, you don't have to go to a pack, you can go wherever you want, but we'll help. We can get you out of here. Ethan and I talked about it, the pack has more than enough reserve cash stocked up, we can send you with enough to keep you settled for a year depending on where you go."

"It's a good deal Amb," Aaron whispered to her while he rubbed her back. "We can do what we always wanted, we can leave. Just you and me, ok?"

Amber let out a choked sob and nodded. "Fine. What do you want?"

"Tomorrow I'm challenging your father Amber. You know the rules, I'm not doing it without a good reason," Ethan said while she watched him, eyes big and full of a mix of fear fighting with relief. "I know about ten yeas ago, Charlotte and I both do. We know your father was part of it, as was your mother. We have evidence to prove it. I know he killed them, I know she helped. I know they were working for my grandparents who also planned it.

"I know you know in some way. This may sound crazy, it all does, but Charlotte and I went to the 'Oathing Tree.' We touched it and it showed us that whole day. We saw you, we saw you call your mother 'luna' before she was one."

Aaron's mouth dropped. He looked over at his sister in horror as she started to cry harder; hysterically she buried her face in her hand, her body shaking while Aaron sat frozen next to her.

He looked back at me, pained and breaking; he didn't really know. He didn't know at all before. "Are you shitting me?"

Ethan shook his head. "No."

He looked back at Amber and turned her to look at him. "Do the right thing Amb. Dammit Amber, why didn't you tell me!? Why didn't you let me help you!?"

"Because I wasn't supposed to! I didn't want to get you involved!" she cried out.

Aaron clenched his eyes shut and hugged her to him. "It's alright, it's ok. We'll be ok. Just tell them, do what they want. We can leave, we can leave this hell behind. We can go somewhere, to the beach? You've always wanted to go to the beach. You won't have to worry bout mom pimping you out or dad laying into my ass. It will just be me and you Amb."

"But they're our parents," she sobbed out.

"They're no parents of mine," he replied back, his eyes turning serious and dark with pain.

I felt my heart twist. Ethan pulled me to him and kissed my hair. We had misjudged them. We had misjudged them so badly.

Amber looked up at me with weepy eyes and nodded. "Ok," she breathed out. "What do you want me to do?"

"Tell the truth, you and Aaron tell the truth tomorrow when we ask you," Ethan replied back, firm but with a careful gentleness in his tone.

She sniffled and wiped her nose. "I didn't know a whole lot back then. I knew something was going on but they always denied anything or told me it was nothing. Before mom sat me down, it was like a week before I think? But mom sat me down and told me that one day that week I was going to have to take Aaron to our shelter, that I would have to hide with him.

"I asked her why and all mom said it was because they had to do what they had to do. She made me start calling her luna when it was just us after that day. I would get a spanking if I didn't."

She sighed while I felt my heart almost stop in shock. Ethan let out an angry breath next to me while I nodded to her gently to continue.

"Mom came back and was covered in blood, their blood. I could smell it. I couldn't forget if I wanted to. I asked her what she did, I was crying. The pack was in so much pain, it hurt so much," she sobbed out. "Mom said they did what was necessary. I remember she just sat there while Aaron crawled in my lap. He was so scared, crying with me the whole time because everything hurt. It hurt so much when they died, I remember the feeling over the pack bond. It was like someone was stabbing my soul.

"Mom told me that she was a luna now and that I was more valuable. That I should be grateful. I hated her. I realized what they did and I hated them, but she was my mother. I didn't really have a choice but to listen to her."

"What else Amber?" Ethan asked. He was gentle with her. Her sobs were quiet but you could see her heart breaking, her soul breaking before us.

"I knew about the rogue attacks. They didn't tell me directly, but mom didn't deny it when I asked. She just told me that one day I would be a luna to and I would understand.

"She had Larissa working with her too, her and Lucy. Lucy would come over and show mom how to make this tea, she did that ten years ago. I remember when I was little they had me drink it. It was awful. I had these horrible headaches and threw up all the time–"

"They had you drink the tea?!" I rushed out, horrified, to say the least. "They tested it on you?" She slightly nodded while I cover my mouth. "Did you know why they were using it?"

She slightly nodded again. "After that week, that day mom talked to me. She made some and had me bring it to luna Margaret. I didn't want to, I told mom it made me really sick, but she–well I brought it to her. "

"Oh my God," I breathed out.

"Lucy came over and brought mom some more leaves the other day. They never liked you, mom always wanted me to–well to upset you and Ethan," she said as a blush of shame covered her cheeks. "Uncle Tate was always working with my dad–"

"Uncle?" I asked with a raised brow.

 She shrugged. "He made me call him 'uncle Tate. He liked it when I called him that in–" she paused as the tears started to pool out her eyes while Aaron just stared at her with a wide mouth.

"I think that that's enough, don't you Ethan?" I said.

Ethan nodded, his eyes filled with just as much shock as mine. I walked over carefully to them, kneeling and putting a hand on her leg with a soft smile. "Are you hungry? There's plenty of food."

She sniffled and nodded a little. I gave Aaron's shoulder a light squeeze before nodding to him. I pulled gently at Evie through my link, before I knew it she had zipped over and was looking at the blonde wolf with big sad eyes.

"Evie, I think these two need some pasta. Do you mind?"

She shook her head and walked over to Amber, extending her a hand with a kind smile. "Come on, I think there's beer and wine too."

Amber let out a tiny sob then nodded. Aaron helped her up while Evie took her hand. "Sis, I'll be right there, I need to talk to them. Stay close to Evie, ok?"

"Ok," she murmured back while Evie put an arm around her back and walked her towards the camp fire where the food was laid out.

"If anyone gives her any lip, you have my permission to silence them."

"Can do," Evie replied as she wrapped a comforting arm around Amber's shoulder and led her away.

"Mom's been trying to push her on bordering alphas for years, I didn't know that she was–" he paused as his voice broke.

Ethan got up and walked over towards him, squeezing his shoulder gently while Aaron tried to grapple with it all. "Listen, tomorrow after we'll have men take you to your house. Go get your passports and get a bag. You'll stay at Tikanni, it will be too hot here for you two. Do you have any idea where you'd like to go?"

Aaron nodded. "We have a cousin over in Main. He lives on a pack that has some land on the Ocean, I think she would like that. There's a college nearby. I've always wanted to go, I think it would be good for her too. I talked to him already, he said that no one would have to know who we are. We could change our names if we wanted to."

"Do you want to?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"Ok, well if you do I have a good attorney," I added. "He can fix you two up."

"Give Evan the pack information. He and I will call after the challenge and make arrangements for you. We can wire you some money when you get there and we'll send you with cash on the way."

Aaron nodded before wiping his face. "Thank you," he breathed out. "She's a good girl, she just needs to get out of here, we both do."

I sighed then walked to Aaron and pulled him into a hug. He stilled at first, but soon he was hugging me back. "It will work out Aaron." I pulled back and stepped close to Ethan before giving him a little nod. "Go eat, no one will bother you two."

He dipped his head before walking over to where Evie was sitting with Amber who was picking mindlessly at her food. Ethan let out a long breath before looking at me.

"Come on," I said while pulling him towards a few tents that were set up out of the way.

"Char–"

"Ethan you need to try to sleep, we both do, I answered back.

He sighed and let me pull him into the tent, the navy blue tent that still smelled a little like the forest from my bear hunt.

Ethan laid back and rubbed his face. "I can't believe they would do that to their daughter."

"I know," I said while zipping the tent up. "I feel almost sick, it's disgusting. I'm beginning to wonder if they even have souls."

I turned and crawled over to Ethan who was laying on his side. I laid across from him, propping my head up with my arm while he scooted closer to me; intertwining our legs while he let out a tired sigh.

I shrugged. "I just feel so guilty, I hate that they've had to go through so much."

"I know," he added.

I chewed on my bottom lip before looking at him. "How much cash are we allowed to send?"

"Why, what are you thinking?"

"Well, Aaron said he wants to go to college, Amber too. What if we set up a fund for them? They can go to a new pack, start school, be free to do what they want and at least they won't have to worry about money."

Ethan pushed some hair out of my face and kissed me quickly before nodding. "I think that's an excellent idea sunshine."

I let out a hot breath then scooted closer to him, resting my head on his arm that cradled my head and rubbed at my scalp. "We should try to sleep."

"I couldn't if I wanted to baby," he murmured against my hair.

I nodded then leaned back so I could see him, see his eyes that were mixed with so many emotions; I felt like the bond was flooding.

"How are you feeling?"

"About Emmett and Lucy or about tomorrow?"

"Both," I replied softly.

Ethan shook his head then flickered his eyes to me while my fingers found his hair. "I had a dream last night, I had a dream about my dad last night." I raised my brows while his free hand started to play with the fingers on my free hand. "He was looking over the valley, standing in front of the pack house with a cup of coffee in his hand. It was the cup that we got him for Christmas. We had it made at one of those kiosks in the mall; you know, the ones where they take your picture and print it on things?"

I nodded with a sad smile to him. Ethan kissed my fingers then laid his head back down. "He was just drinking his coffee like it was a normal day for him. It was morning, the sun was just starting to rise. I walked up to him and I swear it felt so real Char. I could feel the dew on the grass under my toes and the breeze on my cheeks. I could feel him, he felt so real.

"He just looked over at me then looked back at the valley. He told me I should do it there, I should do it where he had done it with his father. He told me I was ready. He said he had been watching and that I had been ready for a long time."

Ethan paused and laughed softly to himself before looking back at me. "He told me to watch Thomas' feet because he, and I quote, 'has the balance of lanky ass adolescent male who doesn't know the difference between his dick and his legs yet.'"

I bit back a laugh while Ethan laughed softly to himself some more. "It felt so real," he said wistfully.

"Who's to say it wasn't? Levi said this happens, have you had any others?"

"Sort of," he sighed out. "I've felt the pull for a while now, you know that. It's been getting stronger, to the point where I feel like I can see his blood pulsing in his neck. There are days I feel like I can smell it on my hands."

"I can't believe we're doing it tomorrow, it just feels so surreal..."

"I know," he said before looking back at me.

"Do you feel ready?"

He nodded. "Do you?"

I kissed him then leaned back on his arm. "Yes, she wants their blood so bad that there are days I feel like I can actually taste it."

"I felt that way tonight..."

"Ethan," I sighed out while I pushed some hair out of his face. His eyes turned dark and sad, like they were swimming in a pool of tears made of blackness. "What do you want to do about them?"

He shook his head as his eyes looked back to our intertwined hands. "My grandfather swore he would have blood for what happened. I remember my grandmother would barely talk, only really what was necessary. Evan and I felt like it was all we could do to keep ourselves together.

"They sat me down before I turned eighteen, I had been thinking about moving into a house with Evan and Evangeline. It was cramped in their cabin and it reminded us of them.

"I had mentioned it to them before. Emmett told me he was proud of me, that he thought it was a good idea, he and Lucy had a hard time being in the pack anyways. According to them, they wanted to travel and get out of the place where their children were killed. Now I can't help but wonder what the hell they were actually doing?

"He even helped Eli and I build parts of our house. I want to rip those parts out, burn them. I want to cleanse him from our lives but–" his voice almost broke before he paused. "They're my grandparents. They're my blood. I don't–I don't know if I can baby. All I can think about is that they killed their own pups, their grandchildren–they almost had me and they almost took you from me."

He shook his head and looked back at me. "It's like it's so twisted in darkness that I don't know how to untwist it without dipping into the darkness myself."

"Ethan," I said before kissing him. I let my fingers rub slightly playfully at the hair on his face, causing his lips to twitch into a small smile. "You're not them, you know that right?"

"I know," he breathed out.

"We don't have to have the answer tonight. Let's just focus on tomorrow and get through that. After we can sort the rest of this mess out." He chewed on hip lip while his fingers continued to play with mine. He was quiet. He was stewing about something–we had more than enough to stew about. "Baby, what do you need? What can I do?"

"You," he murmured out before flickering his blue-green eyes to me. "I just need to be with you."

I leaned forwards and kissed him, letting myself fall into the spell it seemed to cast over me while we forgot about our problems and just focused on each other.