I couldn't bring myself to look at their bodies any longer than I'd already been. Not even a peek. Both Wilfred, the twelve-year-old girl (who I'd come to find out was named Brianna), and a man in his mid-twenties, were laid out on long silver tables, with a white sheet covering all of their body except their faces.

Their skin had been cleaned until it was washed of the blood, dirt, and whatever else had been rotting it dry. I was sure the sight was worse than what I was seeing now, when they'd first been hauled in here.

"One of these upcoming days," Vincent said, "we'll hold a funeral ceremony for all of them."

"That sounds reasonable enough." Mariah and Dimitri's mother, Antoinette, said as she pulled the sheets above each corpse's head to cover their faces back up.

We were all gathered in a circle around the tables. Well, I had been in the circle too, until I moved away. I had backed into the shadows, and stood behind all of them, using their bodies as a shield to block my view of the corpses. Antoinette hadn't ridiculed me for it. She understood.

When I'd first been introduced to her and her mate, Drew, I was caught off guard.

Drew was soft-spoken. Antoinette was out there. Like two complete polar opposites. She was almost the complete opposite of her children too. Mariah and Dimitri had gained most of her looks though, even if Antoinette almost looked like a clear copy of Regina Hall.

Her hair was the same short-length as Mariah's, but it wasn't dyed, just black. I could see why they told her she looked like Regina Hall now. Her cheekbones were just as plump, her skin tone was the same as hers, among other features that were quite similar to the actress.

Meanwhile, Drew was squeaky clean bald. The kind of bald that was shiny enough to show me my reflection, as if I were looking in a mirror.

"Won't you be gone for the whole day, Friday?" Mariah chimed in.

"We'll do it before I leave. Tomorrow. Thursday works," Vincent answered.

Gone? Was there something I missed? Vincent hadn't mentioned anything to me about leaving for a whole day. What was Friday anyways, November thirteenth? Maybe something special was happening or something important was going on.

"Shall I notify the family members?" Drew rolled up the cuffs of his plaid dress shirt.

"As soon as possible, please," Vincent said. "Their presence is much needed and appreciated."

"Do you need help dad?" Mariah turned her head towards her father.

He shook his head and waved her off. "You're free to go for the day, Mariah."

Mariah nodded and headed for the exit. "Okay, bye mom and dad."

"Later, dad. Mom." Dimitri nodded towards his parents, before exiting behind Mariah.

"Thank you, Drew. And Antoinette. I'll be in touch with you both," Vincent said. He gestured for me to follow him with a tilt of his head to the side. He didn't need to tell me twice. I was out the door before he could even make a move.

"Where to now?" I asked once we were all in the dark hallway, walking towards the exit of the building.

When we walked outside, the wind greeted us. The sky was just as cloudy as it had been when Dimitri and I first entered. The sun was clashing against the clouds, trying its best to break through. Small spots of sunlight beamed over us at full capacity; certain areas we walked.

Vincent looked down at me. "Back home. But first, I need to make a stop."

"Can I come with you?" I looked back at Dimitri and Mariah. "Is that okay with you two?"

"I've got no problem with it." Mariah shrugged.

"Guess we'll all tag along," Dimitri said, unbothered.

"Okay then. Let's make this quick." Vincent approved.

As we continued on through town, the houses, and buildings, and small stores, struck me with amazement. I couldn't help but gape at everything we passed. There were stop signs at some corners, just like there'd have been in Havford, allowing civilians to cross.

I'd never seen many cars driving up and down the roads. But I guess the stop signs were needed, for when cars did drive on the roads. It probably wasn't as often but it happened. Cars were needed to travel far distances outside of their territory too.

I hadn't seen anyone shift here either. They all shifted in the forest, when they were going on runs. Was this how all pack territories looked? Were some even more modernized than this? Gosh, I was so curious. I wanted to learn as much as I could while I was still here.

"I'd like for you to come with me, Dimitri. Could you wait outside with her, Mariah?" I'd just noticed Vincent had stopped walking, and was standing in front of a small building. It looked like a hardware shop. "Give me ten minutes tops."

"Yes," Mariah and Dimitri said at once.

When he and Dimitri disappeared inside the building, Mariah leaned against the brick structure with her arms folded against her chest.

"There's a lot of stuff here that looks just like the stuff we have in Havford," I mumbled, to no one in particular.

Mariah's chest bubbled with laughter. "We're not that different from your town."

"I know. But it's still amazing! Like who would've thought there'd be stores in here? All kinds of businesses? It's a literal town that functions just like human society!" I slapped my cheeks with both hands, gasping.

"Well technically, we do live in a human society. But under our own rules."

"That's true. Hey, how does an economy work in werewolf societies? Income. All of that jazz. You know, if you guys don't venture into human towns as much." I remembered Vincent having a debit card in his wallet. It was the only way I was able to buy all of that stuff from the store, the day he was injured, with a fever. However, I'd never questioned it.

Mariah hummed and kicked off the building, her face contorting, as if she were thinking up a response. "Trade markets, free markets, hunting, black markets. Concerning currency, our system is a little different from yours. We depend on a lot of these markets and trades between packs to provide for us. That's one of the reasons why having close allies is important too."

"Is that so? Why does Vincent have a debit card then?"

"Well as you know, most wolves hardly ever venture into human towns unless it's absolutely necessary, just like you said. He keeps a debit card on him for times like those."

"Wow"—I breathed in—"where are these markets located?"

"Most markets can be found in areas where there are larger packs. The larger packs almost function like cities. They're busier. More populated," she said, smirking, "you probably wouldn't even be able to tell they're wolves at first glance."

"Wow," I said again, star-struck. "I'm in awe. . . I wonder if I've ever come across anyone who was a werewolf before and had no idea. Maybe even an alpha."

"I'm sure you have. Some of us are everywhere . . . even living among humans . . . blending in as if we're the same species." I shuddered. Mariah's words were ominous.

"That's—" I was cut off by another voice.

"You've gotten quite comfortable already, Mariah. I'm disappointed in you as one of our high-ranking officials." We heard the voice before we could see him coming.

"You've been disappointed in us since Vincent took the throne. What makes this time any different?" There was a hint of bore in Mariah's tone. She must have already known who it was. I didn't recognize his scent. But I recognized his face. As soon as he turned the corner. My eyes flew wide. He was the guy who spoke out at Vincent's crowning ceremony.

"Because it looks like we're just taking in strays left and right. Is that what we wolves of Calamitous do now?" the guy said.

"Cool it, Hudson." Mariah growled.

"I am cool." Hudson scoffed. "I just wonder if she's really innocent or if our alpha has a soft spot for her, since they're both—"

"For the love of the Moon Goddess, you've been nothing but a nuisance lately," she spat.

Hudson snarled, ignoring her comment. "Where is he? I know he's around somewhere. I can smell him."

"Walk away, Hudson." Mariah's tone lowered into a warning. "If you know what's best for you." She was in his space now, her eyes glowing a color I'd never seen them glow before. Was her wolf going to come out? No, she wouldn't have shifted in the middle of town. Especially not to start a brawl like this. But I couldn't tell due to how close they were.

"Are you threatening me, Mariah?" Hudson puffed up his chest and bared his canines at her, his eyes flashing gold too. Their noses were almost touching. I could hear him growling under his breath.

Should I have jumped in between them? No. What the hell was I thinking? I wouldn't have been able to stop this. I couldn't even control my wolf yet. I would have probably been ripped to shreds easily.

"Stand down!" Vincent's voice boomed over us. Mariah threw a glance back over her shoulder as I did. Vincent and Dimitri were walking out of the building. She stepped away from Hudson, making a tch noise under her breath. Hudson's eyes were back to normal but he hadn't relaxed.

Vincent walked forward; his hands folded behind his back. "Hudson, if you have something to say about me, you say it to me. Leave Genesis, Mariah, and any of my other officials out of it."

Hudson glanced down at the floor, then back up at Vincent with a scowl on his face, taking a step closer. "I doubt you as our alpha," he said, straight-forward.

"Is that all?" Vincent's face was as stone cold flat as his voice. It was the same false image he put up during the ceremony, when Hudson first spoke to him.

"And I think you're just trying to cover up your failures, starting with her."

"I said for you to leave Genesis out of this," Vincent said, all-too calm.

"I'm not the only one who thinks it, you know. . ."

"I'm sure you're not," Vincent replied in agreement.

"Everyone knows Bennett would've been alpha if you hadn't shown up. And he would've been the better option. I don't think you're fit to take Amaury's place. How could you, an outsider from another pack, show up here and disrupt the balance of everything?"

"Hudson." Dimitri growled and stepped forward but Vincent's hand went out, holding him back. He inhaled sharply, but he didn't show it. Instead, he rolled his neck around, allowing Hudson to throw blow after blow at him. Until they got lower and lower.

"Let him finish," Vincent said. "Is there anything else you'd like to get off your chest?"

"This isn't your home, Vincent. You've never belonged here. You're a stray who Amaruq, Lady Teresa, and Amaury felt sorry for. If you knew any better, you'd strip yourself of the title, and give it to someone more deserving. A true member of this pack.

"I don't care if you have alpha blood in you. And I damn sure don't care where the hell you came from or if your father was an alpha Amaruq was close to. Bennett should've become alpha of Calamitous. But I guess because you've got a damn sob story and some alpha roots. . .

"You deserve it more. It's unfair. You'll only lead us to ruin just like your mother, Mariana. Who knows? You just might abandon us when times get hard. And you'll lead us to die just as your pack did. If your own mother didn't even want you, what makes you think any of us do?"

I winced as Hudson finished his rant. That wasn't even a low blow towards me and it still hurt me. He'd sounded like he'd been holding all of that in for a while now.

Hudson moved up until he was in Vincent's face.

Something snapped. I thought it was Hudson because everything happened so fast. But I'd realized a ball of Hudson's shirt was in Vincent's fist. Vincent used his strength to throw Hudson up against the wall, pinning him by the throat.

"Keep my mother's name out of your mouth," Vincent whispered. It was low and chilling.

"Vincent!" Mariah called his name.

"Oh? But didn't Lady Teresa raise you? I thought she was your mother," Hudson retorted.

"I know what you're doing." Vincent growled, narrowing his eyes.

I'd felt sweat clogging my pores as my eyes widened at the scene before me. Bystanders had begun forming a small crowd around us. But they kept their distance. Vincent's teeth were gritted together, baring at him. His face was hardened as if his temper was about to explode.

"Vincent, stop this. This isn't a good look for you. He's provoking you," Mariah whispered in his ear. Her and Dimitri had run to them as soon as Hudson's back hit the wall. But that did nothing.

"An alpha using violence against his people?" Hudson let out a hard laugh like this was what he wanted all-along. "You can't handle the truth, Alpha Vincent." His tone was patronizing.

I could tell Vincent's wolf was urging him to let him out. And it was pretty damn persistent about it. This had been the most out of control I'd ever seen Vincent with himself. We were nothing but background noises to him.

"That's enough. The same way I didn't ask to be here, is probably the same way, he didn't ask to be here. But we're here. So, fuck off already." I snarled at Hudson. His eyes went as wide as saucers before they narrowed, obviously displeased with what I said.

I joined Vincent at the hip. I laid my hand on top of his arm—the one that'd been holding Hudson—where his veins throbbed. His skin was hot. Boiling hot.

"Vincent," I whispered, breathless, "look at me."

He didn't listen.

"Vincent," I said, this time sterner, "look at me."

His ears twitched. He'd heard me. But he didn't look.

"This isn't you," I whispered. I wasn't sure what I was doing next.

But for some reason, my hands knew exactly where to go, and how to manage in this situation. I followed my instinct and slid my hand up his arm, caressing the skin under his jawline. I took a step closer to him, gripping his jaw as gently as I could. Then, I turned to look at his face.

"Where's the calm and collective Vincent? The one who knew when to and when not to act on his threats. You're letting him drag the anger of you. Whatever happened to not letting your wolf control you, huh? I thought we were supposed to be in control.

"Don't tell me you've been preaching all of that, and now, you've suddenly forgotten your own advice. What would Amaury think? Someone once told me, there'll be people who don't like you no matter what you do. This here is a prime example of that.

"You can't win them all, Vincent. You care about these people. Don't let one asshole get under your skin and stoop to his level. Because then, you'll really look like an asshole. Is that what you want? To give these people a reason to doubt you? You're not a big bad wolf."

I had finished saying all of that in one breath. I could barely keep it together with my heart throwing punches at my chest, and my head spinning like crazy. Vincent's eyes finally found mine. The gold swirling in his pupils slowly fell back into the amber brown hues I was used to.

I hadn't realized I was still caressing the side of his jaw with my thumb. But I'd felt his jaw shift under my touch, almost leaning in, as if he wanted me to touch him more. It could've been my imagination though. He slowly let go of Hudson, who was now red in the face.

Hudson looked like he was going to open his mouth or lunge, but another hand pressed him back into the wall. "Like Genesis said, that's enough, Hudson. Walk away or Vincent will be forced to punish you for disturbing the peace in town."

"Tch." Hudson made a noise and rubbed the skin around his neck that Vincent had let go of. He shot me a glare that could've sliced through me. But he obeyed Bennett's orders. We all watched him storm past the few bystanders that were in the way.

"You're all just going to let him go?" I asked, baffled.

"We are," Vincent said. "He can say whatever he wants, unfortunately."

"And he's free to leave whenever he wants, unfortunately. He just chooses to stay and be a menace because he can." Bennett laid a hand on Vincent's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said, sighing. "I just need to go cool down."

"It was a good thing I was in the area. Someone notified me just in time before things got out of control here," Bennett said, chuckling to lighten the mood.

"That is true." Vincent turned to me, rolling his shoulders back. "Thank you, Genesis."

"Oh, uh, it's okay. I just . . . wanted to help. And I don't really like violence." I rubbed the side of my arms, looking away from him. His intense stare was too much to handle right now.

"I could've done something I'd regret." He sighed again.

"It's a good thing you didn't though," Dimitri chimed in.

I shrugged. "Exactly. And hey, if you couldn't hit him, I was going to."

"You would've hit him for me?" Vincent asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"He was talking too much." I huffed, crossing my arms. "And he kept indirectly shitting on me too. Hell yeah, I would've hit him."

A ghost of a smile sat on Vincent's face. He covered up his laugh with a cough. He was too late though. I heard it. I was sure we all did.

Mariah cut in too, saying, "You should've let me take care of it like I was going to do."

"We would've ended up in the same predicament," Dimitri said, rolling his eyes.

"Shush. I was talking to your alpha." She flicked her brother on the nose.

His jaw clenched as he wiggled his nose. "Fucking hate when you do that," was what it sounded like he said under his breath.

"We should probably get out of here. There are eyes watching all of us," I interrupted their bickering. Vincent placed his hand on my shoulder. Immediately, my eyes flicked back up at him. Then, down at his hand. My skin grew warm automatically. I shivered.

"It's fine. People are going to look no matter what. We've caused quite the scene." Vincent took a deep breath. "Go on without me. All of you."

"Okay." They all nodded at once. Everyone but me.

I watched Dimitri, Bennett, and Mariah begin walking away, while I lingered behind. Vincent turned his back to me, but I circled around him, and held my hands out.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

He looked down at me, confused. "Not far."

"Will you be back before the sun goes down?"

"I may. Why? You sound worried," he said, jokingly.

"I am," I said before I could stop myself.

We both froze.

I'd tried to take it back, but I couldn't fix what I'd just said. If anything, I'd made it worse.

"I mean, not worried in that sense, but I've kind of gotten used to your company. So, I was just curious. And, um, well, wondering if I should keep an eye out for you or not, if you weren't going to be back any time soon. That makes sense, right? Yeah, it does. I think. That's all though," I ended all of that with a nonchalant shrug. Or that's what it was supposed to be.

The little voice inside my head was begging for me to shut up. The nervous bug eating at my stomach was right behind it. Vincent's heavy stare hadn't left my face. His nose flared indicating he'd breathed in. His fingers curled into his palms at his side. I focused my eyes on his movements, so I could erase the embarrassment pooling in my chest.

"You can keep an eye out. I'll be back soon," he said, "so, stop your rambling. Save your worry. And go catch up with Dimitri, before you get left behind, or caught up in any more trouble."

The ghost of a smile was back on his face. Then, he'd tucked his hands into his pockets, and walked away. My nose crinkled. So did my eyes. Before I knew it, a faint smile was taking over my face. I didn't know where it had come from. All I knew was, it was there.