Evangeline was pacing. We left not too long after 'pop' decided to blow our minds with a thought that seemed to not only scare me but also burn a fire in me. My wolf howled the moment the words left his lips, she howled at how true they were.

They were true.

It made so much sense now, so much of it. I suddenly wasn't as mad at Ethan as I was determined to push his ass as hard as I could. He had it in him, I knew he had it in him. I could feel it. I felt it. I felt it that first day we met and I've felt it since then.

We stopped at a stream to get some water before we headed back, and immediately after we got here Evangeline shifted and started to pace. I was letting my toes dip in and out of the water when finally I had to stop her incessant pacing. It was making my beast anxious and not helping the situation.

"Evangeline, I care a great deal for you, but I will glue your ass to the ground if you don't quit that."

She snapped her eyes to me and sighed. "Charlotte..."

"I know, they're right, I can't believe I didn't see it before. God, I feel so stupid."

She shook her head into her hands then rubbed them over her face before sitting in front of me. "Shit, it makes so much sense now."

I nodded. "It does. It makes a lot of damn sense."

She sighed and looked back at me. She almost laughed then shook her head again. "We need to talk to everyone; Billy, Andrea, Jake, Evan, Ryder, and–" she paused and looked at me.

I sighed and tugged at my hair. "You know we can't just tell Ethan this right? He's going to have to come to it on his own, if we tell him it may backfire. He's already on edge as it is about overstepping his position, if we tell him he's supposed to de-throne our current alpha right now then he may flip the hell out."

"So what do we do?"

I bit my lip a little. I didn't like what I was about to say but I felt like right now I didn't have a choice. I couldn't just tell Ethan, 'Oh hey babe, guess what I found out today? You're actually supposed to be the Alpha, isn't that great!' Ya no, that would totally be about as bad as Ben & Jerry's going out of business for Levi.

He had to come to it on his own, just like I did. Levi could have beat into my head over and over what I was, but it wouldn't have worked. It wouldn't have stuck and really set in unless I did it on my own.

Especially things like this. Things like this are the types of things that you have to come into yourself. My wolf was in agreement, although it pained her. She wanted her mate, but she also wanted our mate to do what was right. To do what was not only right by the pack but by him.

"We meet with everyone first. Let's get a plan. We need to keep working on Ethan. I think he's close, I really do. I think your grandparents are right, I think he just needs to keep digging. We can talk to Levi about it too."

"What are you going to do about you and Ethan Char? It's not good for you two to keep fighting the pull."

I sighed and shook my head. "I don't know. It's not that I don't want him, I do. I feel like something is holding me back, part of me wonders whether it is this. Whether my wolf is waiting for him to accept what he is. That and, he's done us wrong Evangeline, you know that. I just, I just can't give him my neck right now."

She nodded and let out a long sigh. "I get it. Ok, so we will go back home. I'll talk to Evan and Andrea, I have to see them anyways. You should try to talk to Ethan and see what happens. I mean Char, he slept under your window all night, I heard his whines as well as yours."

I nodded as my wolf let out a whine at the thought. "I know. I'll try." "Hey Evangeline?"

"Mmmm?" She murmured as she played with some blades of grass. Her eyes were deep in thought as her fingers mindlessly twirled the blade between them.

"I'm not try to be rude, but why didn't Pop and Lucy, I don't know–do something sooner?"

Evangeline shrugged as she shook her head. "You have to understand Char, it was bad for everyone including them. They lost their two pups, their only pups, a daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren. That and we lost almost half the pack, many of them their friends. It was everything they could do to wake up in the morning and keep going. I remember.

"Gran used to cry quietly in the pantry so we wouldn't hear her, and pop tried to keep busy with the search. I think he just didn't want to think about any of it, I don't blame him. It got better, but it's still hard. You saw gran's face when we asked her. I'm actually surprised pop told us, they never really do talk about it. It's just really hard still."

"Why didn't he take his position back as alpha? I mean could he have?"

Evangeline shrugged again. "I don't know. I mean, maybe? But he was just so devastated, everyone was. I know pack rules state that the beta naturally steps in if something happens to the alpha. I don't know. I just think he was too heart broken.

"It's why they travel so much. I know they love us and honestly, I think they only come back to check on us. Being back here I think is just really hard for them."

I sighed and nodded. I understood. I couldn't imagine losing children and grandchildren like that. The thought made my wolf whine in my mind, she was already protective enough up pups as it is.

"We should get back."

Evangeline nodded and stood up slowly. "Alright, let's go." 

We quickly ran back after our talk and made good time to get home. My wolf was anxious, she wanted to see our mate, as did I. I would be lying if I said I didn't miss him. The pull was getting stronger and I felt like I was tired just thinking about him. It was taking a toll on me.

I did want Ethan. I wanted him more than I think I ever wanted another person, but I also wanted him to be what he should be. What he knows he needs to be. I wanted him to apologize and make things right. I just couldn't give him my neck until then.

Halfway back I met Evan though. He was running with Jake, Ryder, and a few other hunters. He trotted up to us with a wolf smile then licked Evangeline's face obnoxiously.

I chuckled as he bumped his head playfully against mine. My wolf liked Evan, our younger brother. She felt protective over him, over the wolf who seemed to always make everyone around him smile.

"Little sisters, what are you two up to?"

"Going home," Evangeline answered.

Evan groaned. "Well prepare for our cranky ass brother. Apparently, he stayed up all night outside someone's window. Not that I am mad Char, won't lie, it was funny as hell when I saw him trotting up this morning and realized what he did."

I felt my wolf want to whine but I pushed it back. Last night was so painful. We hadn't even told Evan yet. I looked over at Evangeline who nudged me a little.

"I'll talk to him when he get's back," she whispered over our link where Evan could not hear.

I let out a sigh and nodded to her. Evan nudged me again then looked back at the other wolves that were waiting for him. "We're going hunting Char if you want to go? We could use an extra person. I think we found a good spot with some fat and lazy ass deer."

My wolf rumbled approvingly. The thought of fresh meat made her mouth water. It had been too long since I let her hunt, way too long. Considering everything, it would be a good outlet for our stress.

"Sounds good, count me in."

Evan yipped a little then bumped me again before trotting back to the group. Evangeline gave me a mild disapproving stare. I know she probably hoped that I would go talk to Ethan right away, but I needed to let out all this tension in my bones first.

"I need this Evangeline, I'll talk to him after."

She sighed and nodded before trotting off towards her cabin. I looked back at the group and trotted over to them, bumping into Ryder and Jake playfully. Ryder licked my ear obnoxiously which made me growl a little. He just let out a wolfy laugh with Jake who was more than amused.

"Well, how's it going Charlie?"

"Good Maverick, you miss me?"

He laughed and shook his head. "I think I like her way better than you Ev."

"Me too," Jake added as he bumped into me again. "She's not as easy to put into the dirt as you are Ev."

Evan growled a little lowly which made us all snicker with laughter. He just picked up the pace and started running forward into the forest. I huffed and shook my head before I pushed a bit harder to catch up to him.

I nudged him as I caught up to him. He looked tired like had been up all night too. I felt my beast stir, he wasn't as carefree as he was back with the group.

"How were my grandparents?"

I looked at him apologetically as we continued running. "Evangeline will talk about it to you when you get back, I promise."

"And Ethan? Whose going to talk to him?" I sighed as Evan let out an annoyed growl. "Not telling him is not helping Char."

"I know. I will when we get back. I just needed to get my mind cleared first."

He sighed and nodded. "Fair enough, just don't keep him in the dark for much longer. He's pretty beat up about all the rogue stuff, Char. Why did he sleep under your window?"

My wolf whined a little. "We went to the tree last night, Evangeline, Andrea, and I. He felt my pain, felt it when I got home."

"What did you see?"

I sighed. "Evangeline can give you the details, but I saw the treehouse Ev. I saw him in it."

He was quiet for a minute as we jumped over some rocks and back onto a barely used trail. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I'm sorry anyone had to see that. He doesn't know, does he?"

I shook my head. "There's more, I just–" I let out a sigh over the link and turned into a curve with Evan. "I just saw some things that really shook me up. I don't even know how to tell him. I just need to think it out."

"Ok little sister." He nudged me more gently. "Come on, let's go kill some things."

I yipped and sat back a little further so my beast could have this moment, this time, to release her stress. She needed to run, to push, to kill, and taste the blood of some deer in her mouth.

We ran hard down a trail that I hadn't been on before. My wolf kept playing with Ryder and Jake's while Evan led the group. She liked the young males who were like brothers to us; she liked tripping them, nipping at their feet, and pushing them into bushes when they weren't paying attention.

The other hunters on the trip were nice too, there was one named 'Martin' that was mates with the pack doctor, Samantha. He was a sandy blonde wolf with Hazel eyes that stood almost as tall as Ryder and Evan.

He was kind, though. He looked like a tough ass wolf. Apparently he had been stabbed with silver before, and still had a nasty scar to prove it. He didn't mind, though, that's how he said he met Samantha. He said he would take a hundred knifes every day if it meant that he would get to be with his Samantha.

I hadn't met her yet, but I liked Martin and I assumed that she had to be just as nice. According to him, her mother who was the old Pack doctor, and died in the attack. My wolf whined for him but he shrugged it off. He said Sam studied hard in school so she could fill her mother's shoes; sounds like she was a damn good doctor too.

I could smell them before we even got there. The vampires. My eyes flickered with excitement when I saw Elliot and Derek sitting in some trees as their eyes hungrily stared down into a small field.

"Derek," I whispered. His eyes flickered to me before a warm smile tugged at his lips.

He jumped out of the tree with Elliot behind him and jogged up to me. My wolf ran to him and nuzzled his side before licking his palm. He just chuckled softly and scratched the fur around my ears which made me purr a little in contentment.

Elliot walked up behind Derek then leaned over and kissed my cheek with a wink. "Fancy seeing you all out here?" he breathed out so quietly it was almost inaudible.

"Char? What are they doing?" Evan asked. I forgot that they didn't have a link and couldn't link with the vamps.

"Probably hunting, hold on let me ask. Tell everyone to calm down, though, they won't hurt us."

Evan nodded and turned to the group while licked Derek's cheek playfully. "Hunting?"

"Yes ,little one, Elliot and I thought we would start our happy hour early today."

I chuckled and shook my head. "Us too, we are out for some deer that Evan thinks is down in that field."

Elliot nodded. "There's a good herd of them, maybe around thirty or so? Fat ones too. We haven't been here long, we had only watched them in that tree like maybe five minutes before we smelled you coming."

I nodded then turned to Evan who cocked his head at me. Derek reached his hand out for Evan like it was an olive branch. Evan sniffed at a little curiously then nudged it with his wet nose before licking it. Derek chuckled and ran his fingers across Evan's head and scratched behind his ears which I am pretty sure made Evan his best friend for life.

"Ev, they are hunting those deer we are. Elliot said there are around thirty, plenty for all of us."

Evan purred into Derek's scratches then blinked his eyes back into reality. I huffed at him while he looked at me innocently. "What? It feels amazing." He looked back at the group of wolves who were watching us curiously before flickering his eyes back to me. "Why don't we just let them drain them? They can kill what they want but we keep the meat. We can let them drain ours, not too much, though. We don't want to take dried out meat to take back."

"That's a good idea, let me ask."

I pulled Elliot into the link with Derek and I, which made his eyes widen in surprise. I was getting much better at this link stuff. It really was like using a walkie-talkie.

"Evan wants to know if you guys want to drain them? You can kill what you want, obviously, but you can drain ours and let us keep the meat."

Elliot looked at Derek with an amused grin and nodded. "Sounds good to us Char."

"Perfect, just don't drain them too dry, but I am sure you know that."

Derek smiled a little deviously before his fangs started to poke out of his mouth. "You ruin all my fun."

I rolled my eyes and looked back to Evan with a nod. He turned to the group and gestured them towards us with his head. They all stood still for a while before Ryder stepped forward.

He walked over to Elliot and smelled him carefully then rubbed his head against the red-headed vampire. Soon Jake, Martin, and the two other warriors with us were doing the same.

Derek and Elliot loved it, they also loved watching Evan. He would show his teeth to the other males who would try and steal Derek's attention from him; he was too deep in contentment of the ear scratching and had no wish for Derek to cease.

"Alright," Evan sighed as he pulled reluctantly away from Derek.

"The vamps are going to hunt with us, they can kill what they want. Let them drain out what you kill, it will make it easier for us. Remember to keep it clean, I don't want the cooks to have to turn this all into hamburger meat, Jake," Evan said a little pointedly as his friend who just cocked his head innocently.

"Ok, let's go," Derek whispered.

Evan walked next to me and nudged him as I let my beast take more control. The male nudged us forward again, he wanted us to lead with him. My female swelled at the gift he was giving us then started to walk with Evan while the rest of the group fanned out behind us.

Elliot was right. The deer were fat. Fat and lazy as they ate and grazed in the soft summer sun, completely unaware of what was around them. My beast quietly let out a rumble of approval and licked her lips, she needed the taste of blood in her mouth to wash away the taste of pain that we had experienced over the last few days.

Evan nudged me before making eyes at the other hunters scattered out at the edge of the field. My beast licked her lips and started to crawl froward in the tall grass. She was locked on and loaded. Her goal was to herd them back to the men so we wouldn't have to chase them through the forest, although we did love a good chase.

She quietly crept alongside them, which was almost excruciating, she wanted to pounce on them so badly it made her fangs hurt. Soon we were behind them, looked at Evan and the other hunters from across the field who all nodded to us, giving us the signal to go.

So we did.

We flew out of our hiding spot and ran diagonally for them. The group of does sprang up and quickly threw off the lazy expressions on their faces for another, a look of utter horror. They all looked at me running; my chest rumbled a little loudly, stirring them from the spot they all seemed frozen in.

They ran. They ran towards the men exactly like how my we anticipated which made my beast growl in approval. Half of them tried to turn around, but my beast was quick; we got in front of them and herded them back before they even knew what was happening.

It was then that I sprung. I sprung and clawed and ripped and bit into the neck of a fat doe. The adrenaline in itself seemed to breathe life back into me that I so desperately needed. My beast loved it, she ripped the spine out of the doe before looking for her next kill–she would leave the first for the vampires to drain.

We ran towards another one, younger, that was almost lucky enough to escape the chaos. I met Ryder's eyes. He ran around her and herded her back to me in time for me to ram into her.

She fell down hard and skidded slightly while my beast bit hard into her neck. We shook our head violently and ground our jaws until we were satisfied that the doe was dead.

Ryder yipped at us. We yipped back then trotted over to him and licked his cheek with our bloody snout; a sign of 'thank you' for helping us. We looked around again, there was one more that Evan was chasing.

We ran hard towards her. My beast started to arch around her, hoping that we could cut her off and run her back to Evan. The doe saw me and tried to switch directions, but she was too slow. She was too slow and scared; her fear made her sloppy.

My beast ran in front of her and pushed her back to Evan who ran towards with a hungry growl before jumping on her back. She fell hard to the ground as he tore into her neck, ripping it out cleanly before they stopped skidding across the ground.

My beast yipped at Evan who looked back at us with a bloody grin that made us rumble in approval. We felt better. Much better.

Evan and I looked around, there were no more deer in that damn field. It looked like an army had come through here and brutally murdered all of them; well more like a hunting party of hungry wolves.

Derek and Elliot were busy draining as many of the deer as they could. I trotted over to Derek who had his fangs deep in the neck of one that he had killed. The pupils of his eyes seemed to widen, almost taking over his iris. He let out a growl of pleasure from his mouth before he released the doe and let out a relieved breath.

He ruffled my hair then pulled off his shirt and handed it to me. I pushed forward and quickly shifted back, slipping quickly into his shirt before I could be seen. "Nice work little one."

"Same to you, I think we can have some deer meat tonight," I added hopefully.

Elliot chuckled as he licked some of the blood off of his fingers. "I think venison steaks would be good. We haven't done those in a while."

"Can I come?" Evan injected with a little bit of pleading in his voice.

Derek chuckled and nodded. "You're always welcome at our house, Evan."

"Hear that little sister?" he teased before his kissed my cheek while I rolled my eyes.

"So want to skin them here?" I asked as Ryder and Jake came walking out of the woods with some shorts on.

Evan shook his head. "Let's just get them cut down enough to transport. We have those bags back there we can pack some meat in, although we are going to probably have to just toss the legs over our backs."

I shrugged. "Little raw meat never hurt anyone."

"That's right kiddo," a male voice answered.

I recognized his hazel eyes and sandy blonde curly hair. Martin. He smiled and looked over at the field then back to Evan. "We made a good haul Ev."

"Ya, let's get them cut up and in a freezer." I nodded with Martin as we marched off towards our kills.

We were surprisingly able to put a lot of the meat into the saddlebags that the other hunters had brought. They were nice wolves, very polite. They both offered over and over again to cut up my deer I for me. While my beast was pleased with their kind gesture, we knew we didn't need help. Levi taught us very good and well how to skin our own kill.

We couldn't fit all the meat in the bags, so we ended up cutting the deer right at their hips after we had sliced them open and pulled all the innards out. It was easier to carry that way, all we had to do was through the legs over our backs.

I let Derek set one on me. I could feel it dripping still into my fur and it just made my beast shiver with delight. Evan finished cutting up another. He had cut it right at its shoulders. He had cut the breast meat out and stored that away and pulled the brains out of the animal

He walked over to me and eyed me a little. "Think you can manage one more?"

My beast huffed an annoyed breath at him. He just chuckled and set the top of it on us before shifting back so the vampires could load him up as well. My beast was satisfied, but still, there was an itch and dull pain from the previous days.

We needed to work things out with Ethan, it was too much pain for one person to carry.

We all ran back carefully to the pack house. Elliot and Derek stayed behind, they were going to go 'hunting' some more before they headed back for dinner. It didn't matter to me, I knew Derek was going to make some mean steaks later.

I licked my lips in anticipation. I would never get enough of Derek's cooking.

Once we got back to the pack house, Evan quickly shifted then led us over to a small shed. There were knives, hooks, and various instruments that would have made it look like a torture chamber if it didn't have the days recent kills spread around it.

"Do you want the top or bottom?" Evan asked.

"Bottom," I replied. The meat was better.

Evan snickered. "Always knew you were a bottom girl."

My beast let out a low growl as he took the top half of the deer off of our shoulders. We licked his hand one more time before trotting off back to our cabin, we could skin it up for Derek in the backyard and hose some of the blood off.

I could feel him watching me when I started to walk down the small trail to my cabin. I snapped my head up as the pull fluttered. His blue-green eyes were swirling as they looked into mine.

He started to hum.

I could feel the energy of his veins as I stepped closer, it gave me hope. I sighed though, he still needed to make this rouge situation right. My female didn't like that our male let Thomas walk all over him, all over us. Neither did I. 

I turned down the path to my cabin as a devious thought crossed my mind. It was a little evil, but then again, Ethan did need to be pushed. I took a deep breath when I knew my back was facing him and shifted to my skin.

I caught the legs of the deer before they slid off and tossed them over my shoulders right as a low rumble shook through the forest. My skin shivered, but I kept walking. I kept walking as his veins kept humming and smiled. Point for me.

After hosing off and tossing the legs onto a little table in the backyard, I decided to shower quickly before I came for them. I couldn't feel Ethan anymore, I assumed that he was running his 'stress' off or taking another long cold shower.

The shower was warm but all I could think about was Ethan. The more I thought about him the more the pull burned with desire and made me ache in places that I didn't know could ache that way. I sighed into the hot water that was pouring over my hair.

I wasn't sure how to fix it. I could push him, yes, but wasn't sure if that was also going to push him farther away from me. He just couldn't let Thomas dismiss the rogues, dismiss me and let his asinine children defame me in front of the pack. I knew he knew the right thing to do, and I don't blame him for feeling the fear. The thought itself did scare me. My wolf rumbled. It was a large thing to swallow, but she was confident in us and our male.

I dried off and pulled on a clean set of underwear and a long old t-shirt before I started to head back outside for the deer. I had not gotten two steps out the hall when it hit me and hit me hard. It caught me off guard and knocked the air right out of my lungs.

A fist.

I fell back on my ass and looked up to see a man, a rogue, standing in my kitchen with a smug grin on his face. I stood quickly as my chest vibrated. My beast snapped out, she was livid.

How the hell did a rogue even get in our house?! Without a trace?!

She was more livid that this rogue dare walk into her den. That he thought he could toss us around like a rag doll. This one was not getting away like the others, this one I was going to tear apart like my deer.

I charged towards him when something rammed my side and knocked me into the island hard. I hit the back of my head which made me yelp a little. Something grabbed my hair and yanked me up until I was barely standing on my toes and looking at the man who I had seen earlier.

His yellow eyes swirled with a satisfaction that made me want to puke. I realized in this moment, though, that this man was not as sick as the last ones. The last ones would have never been able to do this. Sure he smelt like a damn rogue, but this was still healthy enough to do some damage.

I let my beast surge forward; but she didn't make it far, soon a fist connected with my cheek and sent me flying back into our kitchen table. I let out a yelp then a blood thirsty growl that only made the men laugh.

"Ethan!"

My beast and looked up to see another walk out from Derek and Elliot's room. We snarled again then stood up, there may be four of them, but they would be four kills that we would enjoy.

I charged towards one and ducked his punch then landed one right into his chin. I went for another but was pulled harshly away by claws that sliced at my slides before something hit me hard in my gut. I felt back into the island as my beast pushed me forward to tear the head off of the assailant.

"Sunshine?!"

I couldn't answer him because I was too focused on the rogue in front of me. The four of them had circled me and looked at me like I was a piece of cake they were all going to get to share. I couldn't help be feel dread in my belly. It reminded me too much of the night I was bitten.

One charged at me and I ducked him. I landed a claw into his kidney from behind him, but not before one of his friends socked me in my shoulder then grabbed a fist full of my hair and socked me again in my mouth.

I turned and nailed him hard in the chin then kicked in his knee with my foot. I was fuming and my beast wanted more blood. He shot a fist to me but I blocked it then hit him in the eye before kicking him into my island. 

I was going to lunge at him when claws grabbed at my waist and turned me around. A fist was flying towards me but I blocked it quickly and jabbed the man in the gut. His claw on my waist sunk in a little further, but I sliced with my clawed hand at his face; hard and deep so it pierced through his cheek into his mouth. 

He didn't seem to care, though. The sick rogue was able to punch me hard in the stomach twice. I stumbled back but reached out with clawed hands and sank them into his chest before I let my fangs contract so I could rip into his throat. I tore and tore and tore so much that I didn't hear his screams or the man coming from behind me.

I was pulled away from him then sliced deep across my belly, falling backward into another man's arms. He yanked me around to look at him. His eyes were filled with hate as his nostrils flared when he took me in. "It's been nice playing with you Thorne," he snarled out before hitting me hard across the face.

I fell down as my head spun. All I could see was the room spinning and stars swirling when I tried to open my eyes. My wolf was frantic. She wanted me to get up, we could still feel the danger but right now the feeling of my brain vibrating hard in my skull was too much.

I heard foot steps before some stopped next to me then kicked me hard in the ribs, twice. I yelped out and clawed out towards them but all I got was air. Nothing but air.

"Ethan..." my voice trailed off as I felt my eyes start to drift. My head was tired and so damn dizzy.

I felt a cool liquid oozing from my skin as the smell of blood invaded my nose. My blood. I cringed a little and tried to pick myself up but my body screamed when I did.

There were more footsteps as my door slammed open. I felt my wolf snarl a little, we didn't know who it was and she was still close to the edge. "Oh my God, Charlotte!"

Ethan.

I felt hands try to pick me up that made me whimper as he turned me over. He was breathing hard. I could feel his beast that was close to the surface, close and in desperate need for vengeance.

He carefully cradled me and looked around then down back at me as my heavy eyelids fluttered a little. "Baby no, you need to stay awake," he ordered firmly. His chest vibrated some more. His shirt was getting soaked with my blood as he looked around. "Sunshine, I am going to try and sit you up slowly, ok?"

I nodded with a whimper. My head was still killing me and a sharp pain shot through my body as he picked me up and sat me gently upright on our island. He frantically pushed the hair out of my face then let out a sharp breath when he saw my eyes. "It was them, wasn't it? They were here weren't they?"

I nodded. "Yes, it was rogues."