"Got the list?"

"Yes."

"Got the USB cord?"

"Yup."

"Did you get the–"

"Ethan," I interjected as I pulled a pair of faded skinny jeans on, Levi Strauss' to be exact. There were worn holes over the knees and they were that perfect fit of broken in. "Babe, I got everything."

"Ok," he sighed out before he pulled on a gauzy long sleeve white pocket t-shirt, with a neck that scooped enough so I could see his collar bones, over his forest green shorts.

I tugged on a loose black t-shirt, courtesy of 'Le-Closet De' Evie,' and tucked it into my jeans before slipping into my favorite pair of Ked's.

Ethan walked to a shed we had run to, an area of the pack land that they kept well hidden. The trees were thick around the area, so thick it almost made me cloister phobic.

The shed was more like a dilapidated barn with a rusted tin roof. If I passed it before, I wouldn't have thought twice about the structure that apparently had a navy F-150 with mud still caked on the tires behind the door that Ethan slid open.

I sighed as a little guilt set in. Ethan eyed me as he picked up the saddlebags we had brought with our road trip supplies in them. "What's wrong."

I shrugged. "I just feel like there's much of this pack I still don't know still."

He sighed and kissed my forehead. "You will sunshine, it's not like you've lived here all your life."

I rolled with eyes and broke away from him before he could kiss me again with a sly smile. He tossed me a bag, which I proceeded to place in the front passenger seat when the air whipped past me as something zipped by.

"Ready for a road trip Char?" Elliot asked.

He had on his 'I Don't Sparkle' t-shirt that I had seen before in a picture on Derek's phone and some khaki shorts. "Are you?"

"Of course he is," Derek replied as he zipped past Ethan with two large totes in his hand. "Babe, can you grab the others?"

"Others?" Ethan asked incredulously. "We're just going to Anchorage you know?"

Derek rolled his eyes. "Would you like to drive three-ish hours without snacks?"

"Snacks?" I asked as my wolf and I perked up.

Derek nodded as he set the totes, which were actually insulated coolers, in the back seat. He rolled up his chambray shirt and flipped his Ray-Bans on top of his head.

"That's right little one. I also made cookies."

My stomach growled on cue while Ethan rolled his eyes. "Please Ethan, in like an hour you are going to be more than happy about it."

"We'll see sunshine," Ethan grumbled out. "Four bags? Really?"

"No cookies for you!" Derek replied in a mock voice that resembled 'The Soup Nazi' from 'Seinfeld.'

Elliot and I laughed as Elliot got the bags situated in the car. I jumped in the front while Elliot and Derek crawled in the back. Ethan slid in and turned the key, starting the truck, then shifted it into drive and crept forwards.

We drove down a little path, towards Tikanni, until the trees seemed to enclose around the truck. "Ethan?"

He smiled slyly and looked at me from the corner of his eyes. "Yes, sunshine."

"We're running out of road," I replied, trying to hid the anxiety in my voice as the road grew more and more narrow; like a trippy version of tunnel vision.

He looked at his phone that he had perched on a holder with the Google Maps GPS going on it before he rolled down the window and smelled outside. "Nope, we're good babe."

I raised my brows while both Derek and Elliot bit back laughs in the back seat. "What? What the hell?!"

"Charlotte just smell," Ethan calmly replied.

"Smell what?"

He sighed and shook his head with an amused smile tugging at his lips while he hit the button to roll down my window. Instantly I was hit with what smelled like burning sugar. It was like when someone was caramelizing sugar, or making candy.

"What–"

"Magic," Derek answered. "Always smells a little like sugar, but every witch has her own 'fingerprint' if you will. This is the handiwork of Ragna, you'll meet her when they come down here."

"Magic," I repeated to myself as the truck drove straight towards a line of trees. I was about to scoot back in my seat and brace myself for a crash when we drove right through them. It was like they were holograms; they were nothing but air. "Holy shit," I breathed out.

Ethan chuckled. "It's a trip the first time you drive down."

"How far does the road go?"

"This will wind through Tikanni and spit out on a country road. Tikanni has a similar 'barriers.' It's to keep any curious humans out."

"Have you ever had any? Has Levi?"

Ethan chewed on his lip while Derek started to unzip a tote. "I think I remember my dad mentioning it, but it was a long time ago. I think the last human to walk on Levi's land was you sunshine."

I breathed out a laugh and shook my head in disbelief. I stuck my arm out the window and let my fingers flow straight through the trees that were nothing but air. "This is insane."

"I think Levi has a mock waterfall on his land, that one is crazy."

"How so?"

"Well, it looks like you're going to drive off the waterfall. Scary as hell the first time you have to drive through it."

"Has anyone ever thought just to keep walking?"

Ethan shook his head. "I doubt it. I mean, who the hell will drive off a waterfall? The trees are the best defense, though, most people don't get this far back. I think some of the trees actually materialize though."

"What?" I breathed out while Ethan nodded his head.

"They do. Magic knows magic Char," Derek answered. "It knows if you're a human or a not. So the holograms are like a last resort to ward off humans. Around the pack line, well the trees are really the best. They materialize for humans, so if a human were to touch them then it would feel like a real tree."

"Hold on, but how did I make it to pack land then?" I asked as Ethan turned the truck left, through more thick trees that swayed in the wind.

"Magic fades over time. Levi was due to get spots of the pack updated. The campsite that you were first at actually touches his pack land, although we haven't seen anyone there in ages."

"Until you Char," Elliot said with a wink.

"Anyways, Levi actually had you keep driving that night so you would turn into pack land. It was an area he knew needed mending, thus an area you could drive into. A lot of the trees were gone, a few were there, but it really just looked like a campsite when in reality it was a more or less worn road just like this one into the pack."

"Hold on, he gave me directions to his pack? Why? He wanted to kill me?"

Ethan growled lowly while my wolf's turned her ears forward. She crept up and sat closely by, watching Derek while confusion swirled in my brain.

Derek smiled gently before he tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear. "He always wanted to protect you, Char, even if he didn't want to admit it to himself. I think he saw you, a human in pretty bad shape, and thought you'd be safer on his land. Levi obviously didn't anticipate any of this."

"But the rogues–"

"Your very good bad luck I guess. Wouldn't be here if they hadn't torn your damn leg up. Cookie?"

I felt Ethan reach out to the bond and nudge it gently while I soaked in Derek's words. He was right. If those rogues had not torn into my leg that night, then I have no idea what would have happened to me.

I was more or less sure that I wouldn't be taking a chocolate chip cookie from Derek, who winked at me before Elliot kissed his cheek. Derek looked over at Ethan with a knowing smile. "Cookie Ethan?"

Ethan looked at my cookie then groaned. "Yes, dammit," he grumbled. I chuckled and bit into my cookie while Derek handed Ethan one with a satisfied grin on his lips.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes," I sighed out. "I didn't know, it's– I guess I was just wondering what would have happened if none of that happened?"

"You mean if you hadn't run into those rogues?"

"If I hadn't stumbled upon Levi."

"Come here sunshine," Ethan murmured out before he bit into his cookie.

I scooted over the bench seat to where his arm was waiting to wrap around me.

"You were always supposed to be mine baby, we would have eventually found each other."

I leaned against his shoulder as he kissed my hair. We continued the drive to Tikanni with light conversation and heavy bellies by the time we got there. Ethan was suddenly a huge supporter of the multiple totes once we ran out of cookies, because Derek had packed more in the next one.

Levi was waiting for us near a shed. Liam was pushing the door open to the cinderblock structure, groaning in annoyance while he completed his task. Ethan rolled down the window and stuck his head out. "Morning uncle."

"Ethan," Levi greeted, dipping his head. "Charlie girl."

"Hi Liam!" I called out. Liam gave me a tired smile before he looked back at Levi who was eyeing him amusingly.

Ethan flickered his eyes to Liam then back to Levi. Levi shrugged. "Liam got his pretty ass handed to him by your sister yesterday."

Ethan let out a sharp laugh while I rumbled in approval. "Dammit, I wish I could have seen that."

"Don't worry, Lander filmed the whole damn thing. I'll get him to send it," Levi chuckled out. "Didn't even lick his wounds after, she was so damn pissed at him."

"Why?" I asked as my brows rose.

"Who freaking knows with those two. I swear Lander is getting full use out of being 'The Love Doctor' with them."

Ethan shrugged then kissed my cheek. "Well, not everyone can be as perfect as us Char."

"Ok," I replied sardonically before giving him an unamused brow while Levi rolled his eyes.

"Probably about time for me to beat your ass, Ethan," he thought out loud while Liam waved us over to the trailer.

Ethan shifted the car in reverse and smiled deviously back to Levi. "Probably about time for me to have your damn neck again uncle."

Levi raised his brows as his wolf stood up and shook his fur out. I rolled my eyes while my wolf shook her head. Males.

Derek shook his head as Ethan backed up the truck so we could hitch it to the trailer. "I brought wine, Char."

"God I love you," I sighed out.

Ethan eyed me for a moment in mock hurt. I smiled sweetly, leaning up to kiss him while my hand snatched what was left of his cookie from his.

"Charlotte!" It was down my throat before he could protest. He growled lowly to me and narrowed his eyes. "You'll pay for that later baby."

"Why? You're the one that likes being spanked."

I held a straight face for a total of two seconds before I busted out laughing with the vampires. Derek and Elliot were almost doubled over in the back seat laughing as I almost choked on the cookie as laughter ripped through my belly.

Ethan let out a hot breath and hissed a string of curses out. Liam gave him the thumbs up; he shifted the car into drive and cautiously pulled forwards while Levi eyed us curiously. "You alright there?"

"I don't know. I think Ethan's about ready to bend over," Elliot laughed out.

Levi chuckled while Ethan growled lowly at the red-headed vampire. He leaned over and winked at me with a crooked smile. "Just make sure to leave a palm print Charlie girl."

Liam bit back a laugh while Ethan held Levi's gaze for a pregnant moment as vamps and I continued our laugh fest. I was laughing so hard it started to almost hurt my damn stomach; my beast laughed as well, she was rolling on the ground laughing hard at the sight of her flustered male.

"How are Aaron and Amber?" Ethan asked, trying to smoothly change the conversation.

Levi nodded. "Good, both still real shook up which is to be expected."

"I'll send you the paperwork when I get back, but I talked to that alpha on the east coast where they have a cousin. Says he can take them anytime. I was going to have Evan book plane tickets tonight for them."

"Just let me know and we can have probably Blake drive them." Levi sighed and shook his head. "Now, you two be careful. If anything happens, you call me immediately."

Ethan dipped his head. "I let Ajax and Deryl know that we were going to be down that way too."

"Good, they're both good alphas. You can call them if something happens," Levi replied. He took a step back and slipped his hands into his pockets. "Just don't forget my damn coffee, may want to get your ass some cream too while you're there Ethan."

"Oh my God," I laughed out while Ethan rolled up the window without waving to Levi, who was laughing hard with Liam next to him.

Ethan pulled me back to him and nipped at my ear as we drove through another forest filled road. "You're so paying for that later baby," he whispered lowly against my skin.

I tried to suppress a shiver and shrugged. "What? One spanking for every time you get a little flustered white hot?"

Derek and Elliot laughed, their faces were fading from the bright red it had been while Ethan grumbled out a string of curses. My beast and I agreed, seeing his cheeks red with embarrassment mixed with flustered anger was totally worth it.

The drive went a bit faster once we got onto the main road. Derek and Elliot played road trip games with us. I liked the categories game the most, mostly because while Ethan was distracted trying to think of an answer I could sneak bites out of whatever he was eating, mostly to piss him off which was incredibly entertaining.

"So we're meeting with Bernard first?" I asked. I had my feet propped up on Ethan's lap while he chewed on a fruit roll up.

Derek nodded. His head was in Elliot's lap while Elliot slept with his mouth wide open in the backseat; his red hair was sticking out in random directions from him rolling his head against the headrest.

"We'll go to the meet location first. It's a restaurant slash bar type place that mostly humans frequent. I could imagine it's so Bernard feels a little safer. Idiot."

"At least for us that's good, he'd have to be an idiot to try and pull any shit with humans around," Ethan added. He pulled teasingly at one of my toes, causing me to slightly squeal. He raised his brows with a satisfied smug, before he pulled at another toe.

"Ethan..."

"What sunshine? Going to make me pull over so you can spank me?"

"Maybe later," I replied, narrowing my eyes musingly at him.

"Leo will meet with us first then duck out before Bernard gets there. He wants to meet you two and give you a run down on Bernard," Derek said.

"Sounds good," Ethan replied. He pinched my big toe, a smile with a wicked intention that made me shiver in anticipation trying to fight its way over my skin. We made the rest of the drive without any spankings, to say the least.

We eventually started to make it back to the city, to the skyline surrounded by proud mountains with snow still on the caps. Ethan cursed under his breath a few times when we hit some traffic, which only made me roll my eyes.

"Is this it Derek?"

Derek sat up out of Elliot's lap and looked out the window while Elliot softly snored in the background. "Yup, I'm actually hungry so this should be good." He looked back at Elliot and smiled deviously. A snarl tore through his lips, startling Elliot who whipped his head around to look for danger.

He looked over at Derek, who was biting back an innocent smile. "We're here babe." Elliot growled lowly to him and rubbed his eyes. Derek shrugged at us. "He's always cranky right after he wakes up."

Elliot looked back up in the rear view mirror with annoyance laced in his eyes. Ethan smiled sympathetically. "It's alright Elliot, we'll get them back later."

"Hey!" Derek whined out while Elliot grinned deviously.

Ethan parked the truck in the back of the restaurant called the 'Glacier Brewhouse.' He tugged at his hair a bit then reached for his wallet laying on the dash. "Ready sunshine?"

I nodded. I slid out of my seat through his door, letting him nuzzle for my hair for a brief moment before he kissed me.

Elliot and Derek piled out; Elliot stretched up high towards the sky while Derek looked around the lot. "Well, hopefully, this place is good. I am ravenous."

"We ate like a hundred cookies," Elliot teased.

"But I want some meat babe," Derek replied.

Elliot breathed out a laugh as he followed Ethan and I. "I bet you do."

Derek clenched his jaw slightly; Elliot walked up next to Ethan, who high-fived him. I rolled my eyes and tried to pull away from him, right now my wolf and I were on team Derek and Charlotte.

He pulled me back to him with a firm grip on my waist. "We're not at the pack any more sunshine, please just stay close to me."

I sighed and nodded to him. "Fine, but this isn't over."

He pinched my waist with a sly smile. "Obviously."

"Leo has a table already," Derek called over his shoulder. He pulled the door open for us, letting the cool filtered air rush over my skin.

It was so odd being back in the real world, in a restaurant after everything. The last restaurant I had been to was that little run down diner when I first came to Alaska.

I smiled to myself at the memory of Shirley and her kindness. Ethan kissed my hair before pulling the second set of doors open for us to reveal a dining room with a lodge like feel.

It looked similar to one of our cabins; wood beams went across the ceiling, a gray stone fireplace was the focal point in center of the room, while a long bar with a few sleepy customers nursing a beer was in the front of the room. They drank their beers quietly while they watched re-runs of a football game on one of the many ESPN channels.

It smelled like them, like humans.

It was so odd. They smelled so much like flesh, so much less animalistic than us, so much more delicate. I was watching the few tables in the room; where people were eating and mostly glued to their phones.

I remembered those days. The days of trying to live through your Instagram so you could avoid your life. My lips turned in a soft smile, I was more than glad that those days were behind me.

"Ah, over here," Elliot said, taking Derek's hand in his and leading him towards a table in the very back corner, away from other listening ears, where a man with dark hair, almost black, and bright green eyes. Green like the color of an emerald that seemed to glow a little as he eyed Ethan and I.

His dark thick brows raised as he smiled at us, showing us the faint crows feet around his eyes and deep set dimples.

He wasn't as tall as Derek, but he was fit; almost like a gladiator that was carved out of stone from years of fighting his way to the top.

He stood up and wiped his hands on his dark jeans before he hugged Derek and Elliot. Derek stepped aside while Leo brushed some crumbs off of his gray button down that he had tucked into his jeans.

"Geez Leo, we literally cannot take you anywhere," Derek said sardonically.

"He's been in a mood all day L," Elliot groaned.

Leo chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Well, that's your mate to handle Elliot."

"Leo, this is Charlotte and Ethan–" Derek started to say.

"Please Derek, of course it is. Who the hell else would you be traveling with?" he interjected almost like a scolding parent.

Ethan and I bit back laughs as Leo stepped towards us. "It's good to finally meet you, although I wish it was under better circumstances," he said while shaking Ethan's hand.

"Likewise," Ethan breathed back.

"And I've heard plenty about Charlotte Thorne," he said with a knowing smile.

"I could say the same as well for you," I replied with a kind smile.

"Well come on, before I have to eat all this damn calamari by myself," he chuckled out.

Ethan and I walked over to the table and sat down in the dark stained wooden seats. Derek sat on Leo's right and Elliot on his left, next to me.

Leo passed us some small plates while Derek stole a piece of calamari off his plate.

Ethan unraveled his silverware then started to fork some food for the both of us. "So tell us about this pain in the ass warlock that won't travel up to my pack?"

    Leo grumbled before he took a sip of his beer, the glass sweating slightly on the outside. "He's such a little weasel. It's been like, over a thousand years and he's still pissed off about his sister."

"Can I get you all something to drink?" a perky blonde with a tight white t-shirt and cut off shorts asked.

She smacked her gum and smiled at the three new men at the table. Ethan moved his arm around my chair, playing with the ends of my hair while she flickered his eyes to him. I had to bite back a growl because in the human world, growing at people was not something that was the norm, to say the least.

"I'll have a water," Elliot said, causing her to scribble on her pad furiously.

"Me too," Derek added.

"Sunshine?" Ethan asked.

"Water," I said to her.

She popped a bubble with her gum, causing Leo to slightly grimace, then looked at Ethan. "And you?"

"Whatever he's having," he replied, nodding his chin towards Leo's beer.

She eyed the beer then tapped her pin on her pad. "Can I see your I.D.? Sorry, 'restaurant policy,'" she replied with mock air quotations.

Derek rolled his eyes while I frustratedly shoved a calamari in my mouth. Ethan pulled out his wallet and an Alaskan Drivers License that looked pretty close to real–hell, for all I knew it was.

She looked at it, then back at him, then at the license, then back at him a few times over. Ethan sighed. "I'm twenty-six if you're still trying to figure out the math there."

"Oh," she giggled out. "Here ya go, I'll be right out with those drinks."

Ethan slipped his license into his wallet as Derek chuckled as he bit into a piece of calamari. Leo rolled his eyes. "I swear, chewing gum has to be one of the worst inventions. It makes them all look like damn cows sitting there smacking on their wad of grass."

I laughed as Ethan put his hand back around my chair so his fingers could continue twirling bits of my hair that hung freely down my back.

"The calamari isn't bad L," Elliot said between bites.

Leo shook his head. "Close your damn mouth and chew."

I bit back a laugh and looked over at Leo. "So, besides the fact that Bernard obviously loathes you, what else?"

"Well," Leo sighed out. He took a sip of beer then look back up at Ethan and I. "So he's part of a very old coven. Caleb is their leader, he's been around for a long time. Not as long as I have, but his blood is pretty pure."

"Pure?"

"The purer the blood the stronger the witch. You have to be born a witch, magic like that can't be transferred like it can with our kind."

"So what do you think he knows?" Ethan asked.

"About the vanishing? That's blood magic, I would be willing to put my life on it."

I felt a shiver crawl up my spine; neither my beast or I liked the sound of 'blood magic.' Ethan's wolf flicked his ears forward, he cocked his head and eyed the vampire. The sound of 'blood magic' had us both on edge.

"What about the rocks?"

Leo shrugged and looked up at Ethan then shook his head before he flickered his eyes to the waitress coming back with a tray of drinks. She passed our waters out then handed Ethan his beer; I couldn't help but notice how even though her eyes told me she was intrigued by us her body said differently. When she handed him his beer, it was like her body tried to curl away from him–I doubted she even knew she was doing it.

Predators.

It made sense. Humans were on the bottom of the food chain, even subconsciously they knew when a predator was around.

"Do you know what you want to eat?" I hissed under my breath and flipped my menu open.

"Sunshine–"

"It's fine, just come back to me last," I said with a polite smile.

"Actually babe, do you want to split a pizza?"

"Split?"

"Do you want to split a pizza and we can get an appetizer?"

I smiled and nodded before Ethan kissed my cheek. He handed our menu's to the waitress the blushed slightly, yet took the menus as quickly as she could.

"We'll have the Brewer's Pizza and some crab legs."

"Ok," she said, her brows furrowing at our odd combination of crab and pizza.

She went around the table, taking orders and menus, then finally left us with Leo who looked like he didn't even want to sink his fangs into her neck. "That damn gum."

"Leo," Derek scolded playfully.

Leo sighed then looked back at us. "Anyways, I think he's most valuable because he knows people on the black magic market, if you will. He's always been known to have an ear and hand in that type of thing, Caleb hates it, but he's never actually done anything wrong, so there's only so much we can do.

"He can be a little skittish, so try not to intimidate him too much. I swear it took like two hours of Derek and Sylvia coaxing him before he agreed to come up here."

"How's Sylvie?" Elliot asked as a plate of steamy crabs legs was placed in the center of our table.

My stomach on cue, causing Ethan to laugh lightly. Leo chuckled as well into his beer before looking back to Elliot. "Good, misses you two."

"Is she coming to the meeting?" I asked.

Leo shook his head. "I need her at home base. I think Alex is bringing Helen though."

Leo briefed us on coven information as well as ways to probe Bernard when he decided to grace us with his presence. He was an interesting man that reminded me more of Derek's father even though he looked like he could have just been his older brother.

He was elegant, to say the least, but also had a few quirks to him. He hated the word 'moist' which Derek loved to use to purposefully irritate him, and he also only liked the red and green gummy bears; a preference that he and I bonded over as I informed him about my M&M preferences.

Eventually, the waitress cleared out plates, leaving us with full bellies. Leo stood and brushed some crumbs off his shirt before he set his napkin in his seat. "I should go, he'll be here soon. I'll come back after you're finished, Derek will link me. Just link me if anything happens, which honestly wouldn't be a bad thing, I've been looking for a reason to kill that prick for years."

"Noted," Ethan replied. He shook Leo's hand then sat back down next to me. Leo walked out of the restaurant, passing our waitress who subconsciously moved away from him as he passed her.

"Can I get you anything else?"

"Coffee," I replied. "And we're expecting someone else to come."

"Ok, no worries," she replied with a smile that was definitely forced.

"Coffee as well," Ethan added.

"Me too," Elliot chimed.

"Me three," Derek said as he draped his arm across Elliot's seat.

Ethan sat back in his seat, swirling the last sips of his beer in his class when I felt him pop into my mind with a few others.

"Derek?"

"Right here Ethan?"

"Elliot?"

Yup?"

"Babe?"

"I'm right here," I said before I nudged his side playfully.

"Leo?"

"Here," Leo added. "I'm at a coffee shop down the way. God, there's so many food smackers here. I feel like I'm seeing it everywhere now."

Derek rolled his eyes while I bit back a laugh. The waitress came back with our coffees and a tray of cream and sugar to accompany them.

I was mixing mine when Derek stiffened. "He's here."

Ethan scooted my chair a little closer to him as his wolf stood up as the very faint smell of sugar brushed over my nose. I looked over to see a man that looked almost like Nicolas Cage's shorter twin.

Still tall and lanky, he had black hair that had almost a blue reflection in the night. His skin was olive, stretching down his long face without wrinkles and over his eyes; one eye blue and the other green.

He looked immediately to Ethan and I, eying us up and down before flickering his gaze to Derek and Elliot.

Derek nodded to him. "Bernard, it's good to see you."

"Hmmm," he hummed.

I raised my brows into my coffee. He sat down in what was Leo's seat, scooting away from Derek until he realized that Elliot was on the other side.

"Bernard this is–"

"Ethan Everette and Charlotte Thorne, I know Derek. I didn't fly all the way from Boston to bloody Anchorage without knowing exactly who these two were."

"Are," I corrected.

He flickered his eyes to me, his eyes that seemed to almost sparkly as if something was flickering behind them. "Excuse me?"

"You said 'were' like Ethan and I were past tense. Curious, unless you care to indulge?"

He ran his tongue over his teeth while Ethan moved his hand across my shoulder, his thumb trailing the skin that showed out of the wide neck color mindlessly.

Derek eyed me then looked back to Bernard. "Bernard, you know why you're here. Why don't you answer our questions and you can go back to Boston probably on the next flight out."

Bernard looked at Derek, holding his gaze before he tapped his forefinger twice on the table. Elliot hissed under his breath to him, causing Bernard's eyes to widen and the hair on his arms to slightly raise.

"Tap your damn forefinger again like that and you won't have one," Elliot said, his voice cold like the breath of winter as it left his lips.

Ethan bit back a growl and eyed Bernard, his beast craving to snarl at the witch sitting at the head of the table. A place he shouldn't be.

"What do you know about the vanishing?" Ethan asked point blank. Bernard eyed him for a moment, holding his gaze until Ethan's wolf snapped out at him, causing Bernard to flinch. "I wouldn't test him right now witch. There's a parking lot that's empty outside, and I wouldn't mind dragging your ass out there if I have to."

"Fine," he huffed out. "I don't know exactly how it works. I know it's blood magic–dark magic. People have been trying to figure out for years how to get something like that to work, it's a lot harder than you think.

"I've heard that they figured out how to create portals so they can hop around in this realm. I'm not sure how. It would take a lot of time, I don't know for sure, but I would say that's your best bet there."

"This realm?"

"You people say on the other side of the moon, we say realms–I have no idea in hell what they say," he replied dryly, eying Derek before he looked back at me. "No one's been able to do it, jump realms that is. It's an impossible wall to climb. We're not meant to, it's so completely and totally unnatural."

"But this realm?"

"Is different," he replied. "You wouldn't be jumping realms, just traveling within your own. If it wasn't made with blood magic, I would be all for it."

"Blood magic?"

Bernard gave me a grim half-smile. "Everything in life has a price, magic included."

I mused for a moment before I took a sip of my coffee. "So what else have you heard?" I asked, my voice softer with him–perhaps it was time for me to play the good cop.

I gave him a soft smile, which seemed to calm him. He let out a hot breath as the waitress came back. "Something for you?"

"No," he replied, not taking his eyes off of me.

"Ok..." she replied, her voice trailing off before she turned on her heel and left.

"There's talk that someone is getting a big payout, or will get a big payout."

"Payout in what?" I replied.

"Blood," he replied matter of factly. "It's the most valuable currency to us."

"Why? I thought you just said you were against blood magic?"

"I am but there are many that are not. Powerful blood equals powerful spells. Some of them are not entirely that bad in my opinion, but some are. The dark ones always require some sort of a blood payment. There's also plenty that skirt those lines as well.

"There's a balance of things a way things flow in this world. Magic like that, dark magic like that, interferes with the precious little realm that we plebeians get to occupy." He flickered his eyes up to me, swirling almost with a haunting warning. "Like I said, there's a price to everything."

"And?" I pressed, more firm but still gentle.

"It doesn't take much to start a fire, does it? A little spark," he said while snapping his fingers, causing a little flame to light up over his thumb. "Is all it takes. But a flame like this can lead to a raging fire."

"So you're saying you've heard of a fire?" Elliot asked.

"No, the flame," he breathed out before he waved his hands and put out the flame. He looked back up at Ethan and I, rubbing his thumb over his forefinger while he thought for a moment on his words. "What you're dealing with, well, let's just say it wouldn't take too much to set things back to that shit show that was the pre-treaty days.

"From what I've heard, some witches are getting in now on a side before all hell breaks loose."

"But why help them? Why not try to stop things and preserve the peace?" I asked.

He gave me a tired half-smile. "Better to be at the hand of the devil than in his path. That plus the likelihood of a big payday is a good motivator."

"Why do they feel it's likely?" Ethan asked. Bernard rubbed his chin, holding Ethan's gaze again; his lips formed into a thin line while his forefinger slightly trembled.

I narrowed my eyes. My beast and I were done with this witch's games. I reached forward and laid a few of my fingers over his forefinger that was resting on the table. "My mate asked you a question and we expect you to answer it," I replied, my voice polite and calm but my nails extended slightly into claws.

Bernard looked down; he tried to slide his hand away but I just bent my fingers and stopped him with the threat of breaking skin. He looked back to me and furrowed his brows. "Fine."

I let his hands go free then let mine return to normal. "You have to understand, from our perspective, things are a little easier to see. Relations have been calm but there's always that underlying tension between the two species. All the need is one little spark to light the fire again, so what did they do?"

"Go after where the fire would easily start..." I thought out loud, my voice trailing off when the realization kicked in.

Bernard nodded solemnly to me. Derek sucked in a breath then looked over at Bernard. "So where does that leave you, Bernard?"

"Some of us are on the side of the treaty, a lot actually. Some of us are indifferent, they see it as a petty spat."

"And you?" I asked.

His eyes swirled as he looked back at me again. "If you're asking for my loyalty wolf–"

"We're not asking for anything," Ethan interjected. "We're just asking if we need to plan to hang your hide on our fence or not."

Bernard snapped his gaze to Ethan; his fingers twitched as he sat back in his seat, almost like he was trying to scoot away from Ethan's gaze.

"You won't. I'd much like to keep my hide."