We finished breakfast and not long after, Billy came over with a few file boxes of records for Ethan and I to go through. He also was a little giddy to 'have a turn with me tomorrow.'

The documents were spread out over the coffee table while 'Scream 2' played on the television. I had decided that I wanted to watch all the 'Scream' movies, which I found absurdly entertaining.

Ethan was not impressed, though. The whole time he was so frustrated with the main character. He would furrow his brows and his eyes would swirl slightly before he would turn to me and say something like, 'This isn't even scary. If that were you, that guy would be dead in like five seconds,' or 'Really? You had no idea he was standing right there!?'

I think I had more fun watching Ethan watch the movies than watching them myself.

The paperwork was dull lists of black and white ink on computer paper, patrol logs from three months prior to the attack. All the patrol logs. There were boxes of them, this was before everything was logged into a computer, so we were stuck swimming in a sea of paper that had not proved useful yet. I kept trying to find patterns or make connections that would be meaningful, but I found nothing but black-and-white letters and numbers on bright white computer paper.

I sat back and rubbed my forehead as my eyes started to grow tired of looking at the spreadsheets and spreadsheets of paper. My mind couldn't but wander, wander to that place. The place they were killed–the memory.

My beast stirred as we remembered Lucas talking to us along with Eli and Chris. It sent chills down my spine, chills that Ethan seemed to pick up on.

He looked at my with a brow raised in concern as he set his highlighter down. "Sunshine?"

I sighed and shook my head. "I just, what Levi said about the tree. I guess it's just–it's all crazy."

Ethan stilled and nodded. He scooted over to me on the floor while he reached for a pillow and put it in his lap, patting the space with a soft smile. I sighed and complied as he scooped my hair out of the way so he could play with it.

"I know, but it makes so much sense now. I've felt it brewing for a while."

"Really?"

Ethan sighed and looked at me with tired wary eyes as his lips twitched into a sad half-smile. "Yes, for a while, before you came I've felt uneasy. After you showed up it got better, and I thought that was it. I thought it was because you were close.

"But then when Levi talked about dad being unsettled, I don't know, it made sense. I've definitely felt it, I just didn't want to admit it to myself before. I knew before the tree, I knew it had to be done, but it was like what I saw solidified that for me."

I nodded as my brain began to swirl. "Do you think they would talk back?"

Ethan cocked his head, thinking for a quick moment before shrugging. "I don't know. Did you try before?"

I nodded. "Yes, with you," I breathed out. His hands stilled for a bit as his eyes looked down at me as pain mixed with guilt flooded them. "I tried to make you stop, I tried to hard. It was like I was there but not, just watching but not interacting."

He let out a tired breath and leaned down to kiss me. I grabbed his free hand and intertwined my fingers with his, kissing the back of his hand as he wrapped it around my waist while his other hand played with my hair.

"But they interacted with us," he thought out loud.

I nodded. "They did. Maybe we should try again? Try talking to them?"

Ethan let out a hot breath as his beast stirred again. "Baby right now touching that tree again is the last thing I want to do," he said tiredly. "That and, well we don't know what we're going to see. I mean we may not even see them, or maybe we do but it's like the treehouse and we can't do anything. Let's work with what we have and see if this turns anything up before we go back."

I wanted to push it further, press a tad harder but something inside me told me to wait. Be patient. I didn't blame him. When I thought of that damn tree I thought of their faces too, their necks slit open.

That tree was painful.

"Ok," I breathed out. We were quiet together mindlessly watching Scream. It was the second one where the students were talking about sequels and arguing over whether the sequels always sucked or not.

"Did you think any more about it? About what else Levi said?"

Ethan beast stirred. I could feel him pacing. Oh he felt it, but he didn't know; the frustration was eating at him as it was me.

"I don't know Char. I've thought about all of it, about everyone. I can't imagine any of them turning on us, but then again Thomas was one of my dad's best friends and turned on him."

"What do we do? If there's a mole, we can't keep leaking out so much."

He sighed and bit at the inside of his cheek. "You're right, I just don't know."

"Well, let's think about it and keep an eye on everyone."

He nodded. "I say that we watch what we say to everyone that is not family. I trust Evan with my life and Levi and Lander. Evangeline is out of the question as our pop and gran. What happened almost killed them."

"Where are they now?"

"Home, they told me when things settle down to come over for dinner with you," he replied.

I licked my lips at the thought. Gran's brownies were damn good. "I just can't see the other's doing it. Ryder, Jake, and especially not Andrea and Billy."

Ethan shrugged. "I know. I have a feeling about Billy, though."

"What do you mean?" My heart picked up a little because the thought of one of my closest friends betraying me was something I didn't know if I could handle right now.

"I think he's the reason Thomas put the box in the treehouse."

"What?" My brows raised while Ethan let out a tired sigh.

"Billy has all Dad's journals, he's bringing them by tomorrow. He pushed for Thomas to take the rogues more seriously back then, and even went around Thomas to my dad which is a little ballsy. 

"I think Billy always suspected, he just never had any real proof, you know? That and after the attack, I remember after I came back and started to help with the investigation that Billy and pop were both hellbent on finding out. As was David, man that guy and Billy literally almost wore themselves to death looking and looking."

"What about Lander?"

"Lander came when he could but he mostly was trying to contain Levi and keep the pack together." My heart twisted a little at the thought, the thought of Levi's eyes before he snapped.

"Do you think Billy got close then?"

Ethan slightly dipped his head. "I think so. He probably did and didn't know it. If he found something, I am pretty confident that all this shit would not be happening right now."

"So Thomas got scared and stuck the box in the treehouse," I thought out loud.

Ethan nodded somberly. "Men like that will do anything to keep their seats, that's all he cares about."

"But what do we do? That just leaves Ryder and Jake and I honestly don't think that they are capable. I mean, my beast trusts them, she doesn't feel anything."

"Same. I don't know if that scares me more sunshine." He sighed then looked up at the television. "That's such bullshit, idiots," Ethan grumbled. I looked up at him with a raised brow as his tilted his chin to the television. They were on the part in the movie where the students were arguing about whether the sequel was worse than they original, which apparently did not sit well with Ethan. "There are plenty of good sequels, they obviously are idiots which is why it was probably easy for that dumb guy to kill them."

I laughed a little and shook my head. "Well, go on, let's hear it," I teased.

"The Godfather Part II, Toy Story II–total classic, oh and Harry Potter and that snake thing," he rambled off.

I laughed softly. "You mean the basilisk?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, well that was good too, better than the first one."

"It's called Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets you idiot," I laughed out. "But I agree it was good. The whole basilisk thing was so creepy, I remember getting legitimately afraid as a kid when I read the book."

Ethan grumbled while rolling his eyes and leaned back against the couch. "I always wanted to have a go with one. Eli and I would always talk about that, taking on other mythical creatures if we could. He was convinced that we would destroy a basilisk," he chuckled out. "Lucas was also convinced that the three of us could kill Cerebus. He kept going on all the time about how dumb, and I quote, 'That damn dog must be, probably a huge pain in the ass. Three heads means three stupid ass dogs.'"

"God he sounds like Levi," I breathed out.

"So do you sunshine," Ethan said softly. "Although I think your voice is much sexier than his."

I rolled my eyes and then looked back at him. "You two could have been twins you know?"

His lips twitched into a sad smile as he flickered his eyes to me. "I know. People used to get us confused all the time, sometimes we would do it on purpose just to be dicks." 

"One time we actually convinced Levi that we were the other, well, for like two minutes before he caught on then had us doing pushups with bricks on our backs."

I smiled and kissed his palm. "I'm glad we're talking about them, we should. They may have died but their not really dead."

He nodded as a sad smile started to tug at his lips. "Find anything useful?"

I shook my head. "If I have to look at another I think my eyes may fall out."

Ethan chuckled and nodded deeply. "We don't have much left, we can get the other boxes from Billy tomorrow."

"What do we do tomorrow? Ethan we're going to see them eventually."

His eyes swirled, anger seeping into them at the thought. "I know," he breathed out tensely. "I don't know. I have a better grip on him today. He doesn't feel like he's trying to rip my skin off from the inside out." He looked down at me and traced the edge of my jaw delicately with his forefinger. "Will you be ok?"

My beast stirred in the back of my mind. Her fury matched her mate's, there was no doubt about that, but she knew we had to wait. She didn't want to, hell, she wanted to rip my skin off and have Miranda's neck, but she knew better. We knew better. The need to protect our pack and do right by them was a strong pull that helped keep us tethered to sanity.

Nodding slightly, I looked back at him. "I won't be ok until their blood paints the ground red, but my beast has agreed to bide her time with me, as much as we both hate it.

"I just don't know how to even look at them normally anymore. That and we need to bite the damn bullet," I grumbled out while Ethan's chest rumbled with tiny vibrations rolling off of it.

He let out a hot breath. "Thomas' will be lucky if I don't kill him tomorrow."

"Ethan," I said with a low warning tone. "You have to put that out your mind. It's only going to make you angrier. We're going to have to be around them and act mildly normal."

"He's going to know something is up sunshine, he's a moron but not that dumb," Ethan said a little warily.

I mused for a bit. It was true, Thomas was a moron but he wasn't that much of a moron. We just needed to float the boat enough; it could hold some water, just not sink.

A thought crossed through my brain and it was risky, ballsy as hell, but if it worked then it could pay off. "I have an idea," I said a little cautiously.

He raised a brow and eyed me for a bit. "Go on..."

"You're not going to like it, but hear me out," I said while he brushed some of my hair aside.

"You're not helping your case," he said with a coy smile. "But go on, let's hear it."

Sighing, I bit my lip before looking back at him. "Ok, so we don't need him to fully believe the charade, we just need him to believe it enough to get his eyes off us, right?"

Ethan wiggled his head back and forth before nodding a bit. "True, but that's going to be hard to do considering everything sunshine."

"Yes, but what do we know about both of them? Miranda is vain as hell and probably just wants to fill some insecure void. She's evil, there's no doubt, but that bitch likes her pawns, and if she feels like you're one then it seems like she doesn't give a shit.

"And Thomas is no better. I mean think about it, considering everything he's done, he is not as worried as I would think he would be about getting caught. If I were in his shoes then I would have figured out a way to get rid of us already.

"The man is arrogant and is more concerned about sitting in his position while having his ego stroked so he can carry on whatever it is that he's doing with the damn rogues."

"What are you saying?"

"We play off of those, utilize them. Thomas wants to have his ego stroked and Miranda is no better. They want pawns." I sighed as Ethan's eyes churned. "So that's what we do. We put on that disguise. We kiss some ass, tone our wolves down around them, and we're going to have to submit enough times to them to make it work."

Ethan growled lowly before pinching the bridge of his nose. His veins were burning, and I knew he wouldn't be able to tone it completely down; but he didn't have to, he just had to do it enough to get their eyes off our asses so we could move about freely.

"Char..."

"Think about it. We don't have to completely bow down, we just have to bend enough so we can maneuver around them freely."

"And how do you think we do that? Char, half the pack feels a challenge coming and side with us. Thomas and Miranda both are not handling us around them well, do you not remember the council meeting? Miranda's hair would stand every time she was around you.

"That and they know how angry we feel about everything happening. I don't know if he's going to buy that considering how much I've been pushing him anyways as of recently."

I sighed and nodded as my mind tried to piece together solutions almost desperately. "Yes, but–but, I think for us we have an advantage. He knows we are pissed, well more like insanely furious, about everything that's happened, right?"

"Right," Ethan said with a nod.

"But he doesn't know that we know everything. He may feel a challenge coming, but does he know that we are working against him? They don't have to go hand in hand. He could feel a challenge naturally coming, just because you want to challenge him it doesn't mean that you're actively conspiring behind his back to do it."

He mused for a bit and nodded slightly. "That's true. Challenges have happened before where it's just a natural occurrence; tension that eventually leads to a fight that's just been brewing."

"Exactly," I said. "Right now we are pretty confident that he doesn't suspect us working against him. A challenge, he very well could, but I think doing damage control on that right now is doable."

"How? What do you want to back them a cake?"

"An 'I'm sorry' cake, ya, maybe?"

"What?!"

I looked up at him innocently as his hands stilled while he furiously stared down at me. I rubbed his arm where the hair was starting to raise from the fire of fury coursing through his veins now; he blinked hard before looking back at me.

"He wouldn't expect it. You know he wouldn't. Neither would she. After everything, we, are the ones to apologize? No, that will throw him off. He could think something is up, but if we are convincing enough, then I think we could do it."

"Baby, I love you but that's insane. Besides the fact that of convincing him, do you really think that you can do that? Look him in the eye and apologize?! I mean for Christ sake Charlotte, it's already pushing it for me to be in the same room with him."

"That's why you have to control it, Ethan. We have to control it and pin it down to a place that it will be safe. When the time is right we unleash it, but right now for both our sakes we have to." I smiled a little while he closed his eyes and leaned his head against the couch. "I know you can do it, I know you're capable. We just have to work hard and bite the silver bullet."

He let out a long sigh and shook his head. "I don't know sunshine..."

"Try and just think about it? Ok? Just consider it."

He let out a hot breath and eyed me for a while before nodding. "Alright, sunshine. I'm not making any promises, though."

"I know, but just think about it, sleep on it."

"Fine, fine," he sighed before looking back at me as a satisfied smiled crept on my lips. "I hate it when you look at me like that, well I love it, but I also hate it."

I furrowed my brows and cocked my head as he kissed the back of my hand again. "Why's that?"

"Because it makes me feel like if you were to ask me for my damn balls on a platter that I would probably do it."

A shit-eating grin tore at my lips while he rolled his eyes. "Does that mean we can skip paperwork now?"

Ethan chuckled and shook his head. "Yes, but I want to choose the movie we're watching."

"We're watching a movie?"

"Yup," he replied smugly.

"Which one?"

He smiled a little wider. "'Saw', I feel like I need some inspiration for later."

"You're a maniac," I replied back mildly sardonically.

"Yeah, but I'm your maniac."

I rolled my eyes. "Alright jigsaw, let's watch 'Saw.'

When I first saw the movie 'Saw,' I remember I almost threw up at how graphic and gory it was. Legitimately I think I may have left the movie theater to do so, but as Ethan and I re-watched it, I found some odd twisted pleasure in imagining that it was Thomas or Mirada rather than the people in the movie suffering.

Maybe we were maniacs.

Ethan eventually made a frozen pizza for us that we inhaled before we did paperwork until the next thing I knew he was carrying me to bed. I slept well that night, hard, but somehow I woke up before him.

Laying in bed watching his chest rise and fall as the darkness softened outside, I couldn't help but savor the moment. I felt like as of recently there were so many moments we forgot to savor, to enjoy and forget about the craziness that was our lives.

He looked so peaceful. I don't know if I had seen him look that peaceful or that relaxed before, but I couldn't bring myself to wake him just yet.

Carefully, I slid out of bed and threw out some clothes to work out in; shorts, a sports bra that was actually comfortable–courtesy of Derek, and a t-shirt with bear claw slashes on it which was a gift from Elliot over Christmas. I carried my tennis shoes down with me before I padded to the coffee pot and started to make some coffee, liquid gold in my opinion.

Soon the pot was gurgling while I made some toast, eggs, and bacon. It wasn't much, but it was enough to get us going this morning.

He walked down the stairs in a sleepy haze that made me smile a little; it felt like his veins were also just now waking up from their sleep, stretching out with a soft yawn to embrace the new day.

Arms slid around my waist from behind me before lips kissed my crown. I smiled as he pulled me back to him, sending tingles across my skin that felt like they were waking the bond up from its sleep. "What's this?"

"Breakfast, and coffee," I replied back as I turned around to face him; lifting onto my toes and kissing his lips that were still sleepy like the rest of him. "Did you sleep?"

He nodded. "More than the last night."

Relief washed over me and my beast. She was pleased to see that the demons that plagued his dreams seemed to be at bay.

We ate quickly and both downed about two cups of coffee each before we were out the door. Ethan wanted to run in our skin to meet up with pop and Billy and I happily agreed; we didn't run in our skin enough and I missed the feeling of the wind on my skin.

It was the dusk of the morning as we headed out. We left earlier than the other warriors training, Billy didn't want anyone to get wind that he was specifically training us. That kind of notion would imply something that could ruin everything.

My beast was surprisingly happy about running in our skin. She didn't mind sitting back while I weaved through the trees and lost myself in the bliss of the run. Ethan kept trying to trip me on the way there, jerk.

We ended up racing each other, flying across the valley and through the trees neck and neck. Billy was shaking his head when he saw us while pop rolled his eyes. According to them it was a true tie, but Ethan and I were not buying it; we agreed to rematch later.

"Well, Billy, which one do you want?" Pop asked as he eyed Ethan then eyed me, letting his beast come forward to test mine. I pushed back at him, I wasn't in the mood for games, which just made him chuckle to himself.

Billy eyed up both before letting his eyes settle on me. "Come on Charlie, I think you and I need to spend more quality tome together." I bit back a rumble then kissed Ethan's cheek before trotting after Billy who started to jog away from us.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I caught up with him.

"I got a few other spots I like. I was going to let Ethan have the ring with pop and take you to one of them today. Sound good girl?"

I nodded. "Sounds good," I replied with an excited smile. The trails and spots that Billy liked were always my favorite. Mostly because they were so beautiful and peaceful; there was an odd kind of peace in the challenge of them.

Billy had me stay in my skin for the run, he said I needed to make sure I was working both of my forms; both parts of my soul. Apparently, wolves were bad about just working the fur and not the skin, leaving one form more vulnerable than the other.

The path was a challenge, to say the least. I tripped on loose rocks, got smacked by a couple branches like they were angry wet rags hitting my skin, and almost lost my balance a few times around the sharp curves.

I still had a lot of work to do.

We eventually came to a creek, a larger creek than the one I usually ran to. Over it was a big called tree. The trunk was wide; wide enough to serve as a bridge, but the roundness of it would make it a bridge you had to watch your ass on.

Billy slowed a little and waved his hand to me as he stepped on the log. "You ever seen 'Dirty Dancing' girl?"

I let out a breathy laugh as I tried to catch my breath while I walked towards him. "Of course. 'No one puts Baby in the corner.'"

Billy chuckled heartily and nodded. "Get on up here," he said as I walked closer to the log. He held a hand out to me and helped me onto the tree before he turned and walked towards the middle of it. "Well like the movie, same concept here. Except we're not dancing girl. Come on out here," he said as he waved me forward.

I looked down then back up at him. It wasn't high up, but there was a steady current of water below it. "You know, might wanna take your shoes off. Rubber isn't real good on trees," he said as he eyed my feet.

Nodding quickly I carefully pulled my shoes off then tossed them to the ground away from the tree before walking towards him. It wasn't bad barefoot, but if I wasn't careful then I would definitely be in the water. God Levi would probably love this.

"So did you come up with this on your own?" I asked as I neared him.

"No, my late bond mate did." I felt my heart twist as something flashed in his eyes that I hadn't seen before, sadness. "She was a hell of a warrior and loved that damn movie. Came out here one day and told me that she had a 'new idea' for training our warriors; helping them to be more balanced. It was one thing they all struggled with, people forget how important it is." 

I nodded a little as I stopped a few feet in front of him, shifting my feet around to better grip the tree. I couldn't help but eye him as I looked up at him. Seeing Billy like this, I just didn't feel it, I couldn't imagine that he was a mole. "So she had you spar on here?"

He nodded a little wickedly. "Yup. Right here on this damn tree. My ass has been in that water more times than I can count." He stepped forward and looked down at my feet then me. "She's right. Balance is one thing that people forget about. It doesn't mean just standing on your feet, but having control of them; being the master of yourself. Balance can be a shield as well; if you have a strong grasp on it then it can help you to fend off potential threats."

"Ok," I sighed out. "So what do I do?"

"Well, we're going to start slow so you get a feel, ok?" I looked down at the water warily, then at the tree that now seemed a little more narrow, and nodded. Billy laughed to himself while he shook his head at me. "Don't worry girl, when I'm done with you this right here will be your favorite thing we do."

"Alright," I sighed out.

Before I knew what was happening though, I was flying off the tree and into the water. The coldness of it shocked me as I swam up and gasped for air while anger flooded my body. I wiped the water out of my face to see Billy laughing his ass off above me. "I thought you said we were going slow?!"

He shrugged. "Who's saying that wasn't going slow? Come on girl, it's either sink or swim."

I let out a low annoyed growl as I swam back to the shore. Wringing my ponytail out as I took a big step back onto the log to meet Billy, who was giving me a shit-eating smile.

My beast came forward a hair. She was more annoyed with the male than anything. Billy eyed me a little then waved me forward.

My feet were more aware of the tree this time and my mind was more aware of my body. I squared up as best I could then readied myself for Billy.

He smiled a bit then took a quick step forward and tried to strike my ribs; I blocked him, but my feet lost their balance as I stepped backward. My arms waved, desperately trying to center me, as I caught my balance and found the center of the log.

Billy nodded to me approvingly. "Good," he said before trying again to strike me. I wobbled a hair, but successfully blocked another hit. "You got to know your own body well girl. Know where every hair on your skin it, where every drop of sweat is dripping, and where gravity is wanting to pull you."

He side-stepped me and kicked at my legs then hit my belly; before I knew what was happening, I was back in the damn water.

"Shit!" I said as I gasped for air while Billy chuckled at me from above.

"Come on girl, you're getting better," he called down to me. I swam back again and shook off some of the water before climbing back onto the log. Billy nodded to me in approval as I neared him. "Balance isn't just about fighting and knowing yourself girl, you're going to be responsible for the balance of this pack soon."

I squared up again and readied myself as he walked towards me gracefully, I never really realized how graceful Billy actually was. A deep breath came out of my mouth as my wolf crept closer, causing my veins to hum a little more. I could feel it, the energy running through my veins from my fingers to my toes, throughout my body.

Billy eyed me and nodded again. "You have to know this pack like you know your body girl," he said as he moved to strike me. I sucked a breath and blocked then stepped forward and struck him hard in the ribs before blocking another block and nailing him in the chest.

I stepped back and readied myself as he nodded amusingly. "Good girl, you're learning. You're going to be a mother of this pack, you know what that means? Means you have to know how the health is like you know yourself. Ingrain yourself in it, and learn girl."

I nodded. I already felt protect over the pack, like they were my responsibility, but he was right. I needed to learn more; learn this pack like it was an extension of myself.

"You learned all this out here on this log?" I teased as he tried to strike me again. He kicked at me and I hopped up, avoiding his leg before blocking another blow from hitting my chest.

He smiled slightly and walked back on the log to the center. "She was a very wise woman," he said as I walked back towards him.

"She sounds like someone I would have liked," I breathed out before lunging towards him. I felt a little bolder, as did my beast as we got the hang of this a little more. My foot kicked out to his knee as my fist distracted him.

The next thing I knew, Billy was the one in the water. My wolf yipped as the male surface and wiped the droplets off his face. "Not bad girl, not bad."

"This is actually kind of fun." My wolf agreed. I kind of felt like I was in some weird version of 'Dirty Dancing' of my own. That and my beast and I loved learning, especially from people like Billy.

Billy nodded as he hopped back on the tree. "It is, even when you get tossed in." He shook his hair out and looked back at me. "I'm going to have you start to train with the females today, it would be good for you and them. They need to start seeing you for what you are, and you need to start bonding with them."

My wolf swelled slightly at the idea, at the idea of spending time with her pack, with her females. It wasn't that we didn't love being around our male and our family, but we yearned to bond with those of our own gender.

He cocked his head at and smiled at me. "You're going to do good girl, you just have to work harder and believe in yourself. I'll start having you and Ethan work together soon, you two need to know each other like you're an extension of each other. One body and unit.

"I've seen plenty of alpha couples that had issues, that fought against each other instead of complimenting each other. It's a balance girl, you gotta work hard to care for it and make it strong. Got it?"

I nodded. "Got it."

"Alright then," he breathed out before charging towards me. It caught me off guard which was stupid, because the next thing I knew I was in the water again.

Billy laughed and I couldn't help but laugh with him; it was a little funny.

My beast stirred a little at his words at the notion of it all. Our pack was in such an imbalance and my beast and I couldn't help but feel an ever-growing need to resolve it. We had to fix it and make it right. 

We needed balance.