Werewolves rarely got hangovers. They had to drink stupid amounts of liquor to achieve the dry mouth, stomach aching, and head pounding consequences. Raff groaned as he rolled over in his bed. He'd consumed a very, very stupid amount of liquor the previous night, as indicated by the numerous bottles strewn about the floor and on his bed.

He sat up slowly, urging the room to stop spinning. Like a man twice his age, he twisted his body so that his feet touched the floor, and he put his hands on the edge of the bed to push himself up. It was a decision he immediately regretted. Something cold and wet covered his sheets, and from the rancid stench, he knew he'd vomited in  his sleep.

"Dude Bourbon street during Mardi Gras smells better than it does in here."

Light flooded the room, making Raff wince, the blue of his eyes glowing as his wolf flashed his irritation. "Damn it Lincoln, that was unnecessary."

Rising to his feet, he trudged over to the liquor cabinet. Already the effects were fading as his rapid healing took over, and he didn't want a moment of lucidity.

"Ah nope. Not today my friend," Lincoln growled, blocking his path. "We're supposed to go into Camden to meet with the Guardians."

"You can go into Camden to meet with them."

"Does that mean you're ready to concede leadership to me? Let's just go ahead and make it official." His Beta pushed him, his eyes glimmering amber as he gathered his full height.

    With his head rapidly clearing, Raff snarled and let his hands shift partially. "Alright pup, even hammered into next Tuesday, I could still defend my title as Alpha. Don't take this somewhere you're not prepared to go. You know what happens to the losers."

    Instead of responding verbally, Lincoln shoved him again. Raff took a step back, giving the man another chance to change his mind. But when he spied the russet fur sprouting on Lincoln's arms, his wolf took charge.

    Together they tumbled across the room, a tangle of snapping teeth and paws. Blood stained his tongue, the coppery taste invigorating and fueling his rage. The wolves broke apart and crouched low, circling one another warily. With the eyes of a soldier, he saw that Lincoln wasn't putting full weight on his front left paw, and the fur on his left haunch was a deeper red. He assessed himself for injuries, and besides a slight tenderness on his right shoulder, he was in perfect condition. Lincoln wouldn't last another round.

    His wolf preened and readied himself for victory, but the man inside snapped awake. Wresting control from the beast, he resumed his human form. In most challenges for power, this would be an automatic elimination, but Raff knew his friend. And this wasn't about taking on the roll of Alpha.

    "You got it figured out yet?" Lincoln asked, now in human form as well. Blood trickled from his butt cheek to his ankle, and he his arm hung limply at his side.

    "Every time I sleep, I see her falling into the ocean. It plays on repeat. This-" he gestured towards the bottles littering his room, "is the only way I sleep anymore."

    "I've been so mad at you for letting her wreck you like that. You met her twice and didn't even fuck her. But then I remembered that just because I don't understand your feelings, doesn't mean they aren't real."

    "Thanks Dr. Phil," Raff said, trying to infuse some levity into the room. Lincoln didn't crack a smile.

    "But just because I can't change those feelings, it doesn't mean I can't help you get back on your feet. You need to start being our leader again. It's been almost seven months. You need to channel that energy somewhere. And right now that's against the Starless pack and whatever shit they're stirring up right now."

    Snagging a pair of jeans from the floor, he sniffed them and gagged. "What time is the meeting?"

    "Sonja has a load of fresh laundry ready to deliver. She was just waiting until she could come into this room without losing her head."

    "How'd she manage to get the clothes to wash in the first place."

    Lincoln shrugged, his sandy hair flopping into his face. "I usually grab an item or two every time I come in here. Go shower. She'll get a crew in here to clean up this place."

    "Smart idea. I'll make sure it's a long shower. I can already hear her cursing, saying I'm more pig than wolf."

    "She wouldn't be wrong. Be ready to leave by five." Lincoln sashayed out of the room, calling for Sonja, the nymph they employed for housework. From this distance, he could hear her berating his Beta for his lack of clothing.

    The hot sting of water rushed over him before he heard the response, but he imagined whatever Lincoln said, it was full of arrogance or sexual innuendo. Resting his forehead against the tiled wall of his luxury walk in shower, he didn't move for several minutes, letting the water sluice over his skin and clear away months of neglect.

If Lincoln hadn't stepped in when he did... Raff shuddered. Werewolves who'd become lost in despair had a way of retreating into their wolves forever, becoming feral. As far as he knew, there wasn't a wolf who'd been brought back from that. He'd been close. Too close.

Lathering soap onto his skin, the citrusy smell of Bergamot mingling with pine and rose beating away stale sweat and alcohol. But no matter how hard he scrubbed, he couldn't wash away the memory of her turquoise eyes. Slowly, the scent of vanilla and honey, roses and seasalt overwhelmed the the clean fragrance of his body wash.     

Panting, he cut the water off and rushed out of the shower. His second in command was right. The infatuation he'd developed with Meribella was absurd, and while the loss of any life was painful to him, hers should have had no more impact on him than if he'd heard of a stranger's passing. Instead, her death had gutted him. Reminding him how powerless he really was. 

Using the towel to dry off, his thoughts heated as he replaced the fabric with her hands.The memory of her tongue swiping across his neck became a fantasy of it lapping at the remaining water droplets on his skin, dipping into the indentations between his ab muscles, and swirling around his belly button.

    "Gods man," he snapped at himself, tossing the towel aside and pulling on a pair of jeans with a wince. Even dead the girl had the power to give him a hard on.

    "Mr. Wellington," Sonja hollered. "You are a pig. A pig."

    He stepped out of the bathroom wearing only his jeans and eyed the tiny Fae woman and her army. Hair the color of moss was pulled back in a tight bun, and her uniform was pristine. Most nymphs were known for being wild and mischievous. Not Sonja. She reminded him of the cliched librarian: prim and proper with no room for breaking rules.

    But she was still female, and he was a fine specimen of male. Her eyes of earth traveled upwards, tracing the fantasy Meribella's path backwards, until she stopped on his lips. But the heat in her stare quickly faded, and she opened her mouth to berate him; however, he held up a hand in defense.

    "I'm putting on a shirt. See?" He held up the navy top and pulled it over his head. "All better."

    She managed to hide her disappointment, but the other two nymphs pouted openly. "You need to stay gone for quite some time. In fact, you're going to have to stay in a guest room while we disinfect this pit. It may take days, and I don't want my girls distracted by your lack of dress."

    "Ah, Sonja babe. You shouldn't have come to work for a bunch of werewolves if you had a problem seeing naked men," Lincoln said, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, watching the trio with a lusty grin.

    "Come on Linc, before they put itching powder in the bedsheets."

    A chorus of giggles followed him out of the room. For the first time in months, he took note of the faces he passed. The shadows of concern that his men tried to hide when greeting him. How loyal were these men that they hadn't tried to overthrow him while he was spiraling? Word must have spread that the Alpha was leaving the estate without being drunk or in his wolf form. By the time he reached the first floor, a large group stood with fists over their hearts.

    How he wanted to stop there and thank them, but that wasn't what they wanted. They wanted their leader back, and as he gave each of them a clipped nod, he promised himself the would have him.

            ********************************

    "Calum, long time no see," Raff greeted the man before him. Dressed in the Guardian standard of black on black, his muscles straining against the tight shirt, Calum Knight was an intimidating sight. Hell, Raff knew even without the Talents the Children boasted, a fight between the two of them would be close. Not for the first time, he was thankful he could call this man a friend.

    "Raff. Glad to see you're here. We'd heard some disturbing rumors, but I'm glad to see it was just that. Rumors."

    The Alpha cast a side glance at his Beta, who for his part managed to appear nonplussed. Had things really gotten so bad that word had spread to other supernatural groups? "You know our alliance is important to us, but I have to admit I'm surprised by your visit."

    An attractive blonde woman hanging at Calum's side spoke up, "This was really just a convenient stop on our way to Mississippi. We've learned that a woman we're investigating worked as a singer at one of your local pubs a few months back, and she's got a pretty close connection to Morgan LeFay."

    "And just who is this pretty thing?" Lincoln asked, leaving no doubt as to his interest in the Guardian.

He either hadn't picked up on what was obvious to Raff the moment he'd entered the room, or he didn't care. With Lincoln, it could easily be either one of those things. Calum tensed, his dark eyes flashing with irritation, but the edges of the woman's lips turned up softly. Raff groaned as his Beta perked up at what he perceived to be returned interest. Couldn't the man see that wasn't a smile?

"Camille," she said, holding out her hand. Like a young pup in heat for the first time, he grasped her hand eagerly. Only his victory was short lived as purple lightning flashed around their joined palms and he dropped to the floor with a howl. "Would you like to ask your question again?"

"Shit man," Lincoln snapped, easing back to his feet. If anyone else had pulled a stunt like that, a fight would've erupted. But the bonds between the Guardians and the Orion pack ran deep, and quite frankly, the man deserved every ounce of pain for being a dick.

"So, back to the matter at hand," Raff said, trying to keep the trace of humor out of his voice. From the look on Lincoln's face, he hadn't succeeded, but something else mingled with his second in command's irritation. Relief, maybe? Relief that Raff was able to laugh again?

"Serafina is in Morgan LeFay's inner circle. We think there's a connection between the places she sang at. The last two locations were cover ups for moving Children to facilities for experimentation," Calum explained. "In December, we managed to shut down one of their biggest rings, but an organization like theirs doesn't stop after one loss. We're pretty sure they're planning something big. And soon."

Raff nodded. "The Starless pack has been more active than usual lately, and we both know Mac is in LeFay's pocket. I'll check with Joe. He owns the pub you're talking about. I can't imagine him working with that kind of scum, but we'll get to the bottom of this."

Camille dug into the back pocket of her snug black pants and pulled out a card. "Call us as soon as you know anything. We can get back pretty quickly if we have to."

"Will do. Do you need anything for your journey? I know your funds are pretty limitless, but you can use our private jet if you need to. Might be less conspicuous if you're trying to keep your head down."

    The Guardian couple shook their heads and laughed. Camille grasped Callum's hand in hers and said, "I think we're covered. We'll talk soon."

    The purple light from early swelled around them, nearly blinding Raff's sensitive eyes. It pulsed and flickered, like a camera flash, forcing him to turn away. When he looked back, they were gone.

    "Well shit, don't that beat everything."

    "Calum found himself a doozy of a woman. Never thought he'd end up with someone after Adrienne."

    The two men walked out of the boathouse they'd used for the meeting. The hamlet of Camden was beginning to sparkle as the late spring sun faded. The charm of the seaside village had been lost to him long ago, but as the breeze carried the salty scent of ocean spray to his nose, he found a new appreciation for the town.

"You could have something like that."

Raff's slowly brightening mood turned dark, his face becoming a thundercloud as he turned to look at his Beta. "Weren't you the one who told me not to start something with Meribella?"

"Yes. Meribella was a human, but the Fae women are safe. Why can't you love one of them?"

The logic was sound, but feelings weren't logical. " I'm not going to go looking for it. Not anytime soon.  But, I'm not opposed to it." As he spoke, he heard the hollow ring of lies in his words. Losing Meghan had hurt because he felt responsible for her death, and the added loss of his son only intensified the pain. The agony losing Meribella had caused didn't make any sense.A stranger shouldn't make him feel cleaved in half, as though his soul had drowned with her.

"You wanna stop and talk to Joe? We're right here, and I hear they've got a new singer. Maybe she runs in the same circle as this Serafina chick."

Raff agreed and they stepped across the street to the ramshackle building that housed Joe's Pub. Already, raucous laughter and shouts carried into the night as tourists and locals downed the best beverages and fried foods in the area. His own stomach growled at the thought, and he wondered when he'd last consumed something that wasn't liquid; however, it was the strong, clear soprano slipping through the noise that had his feet moving faster.

"Raff? Dude, wait up!" But he ignored Lincoln, and broke out into a sprint. 

    "So when you hold my hand,

do you wanna hold my heart?

When you say you want me,

is it all of me or just one part?"

He grasped the door handle and yanked it open, freezing as the full volume of her song struck him. As her fingers flew over the keys and her voice caressed each note, the crowd grew quiet. Black hair, longer than he remembered fell into her face. She was lost in the melody, swaying as she reached the crescendo.

She came to the end of the song, lifting her chin and opening her eyes to survey her captive audience. On edge, he waited for those dazzling ocean orbs to settle on him. At first they darted past, but he knew the moment she realized he wasn't just a stranger in the crowd. Tensing, she stood up from the bench and bowed before darting towards the stage stairs.

Raff was scared she was going to run, but she walked purposefully towards him. No fear. No confusion. And he waited for the anger to set in, but all he could focus on the was the pounding in his chest. Lincoln stumbled into his back, elbowing him out of the way to see what had stopped him.

"The fuck? Is that who I think it is."

Twin turquoise beacons burned just for him. "Gods, I hope so."