"So, why the hell were there rogues on my property and how the hell did the patrols not catch them? Eight rogues?!" Levi's voice boomed in Derek's room. After we ate, one by one, everyone came in to see Derek and ended up joining us, much to Elliot's annoyance.

David ranked his hands through this hair and shook his head. "I don't know Levi. I asked everyone that was on patrol. We should have been able to smell that many from the pack house, but no one smelled anything, not a trace! It was like they weren't even here."

"Really?" Levi asked sardonically. "Because this place reeked of rogues the minute we stepped out of the car."

"Levi I grilled the patrol leaders myself, they wouldn't lie to us, and they wouldn't endanger the pack that way."

"So you're saying that eight rogues and a damned human snuck onto our property and into my home and held Derek captive for three days!? Unnoticed?!" Levi was fuming. His anger made my wolf whimper a bit, but she didn't blame him. She was angry too; this shouldn't have happened at all.

"Brother," Lander said with his hands up in surrender. "We're going to look into it. I already placed calls to the alphas around us to see what they know. We'll get to the bottom of this, you're right, there is no reason this should have happened."

"Think you could tell us what happened to you?" Blake gently asked Derek.

Elliot hissed a little but Derek just swatted his chest. He sighed and sipped at his blood bag again then looked at our group. "I was making myself lunch when two guys showed up. They said they were looking for a girl and described Charlotte. I immediately knew something was wrong, but before I could do anything they attacked. I would have been fine but first, there were eight of them and second, they had silver–"

Elliot interrupted with a low rumble. I looked over at Derek curiously then at Levi. "So it's true? Silver is vampire kryptonite?"

"I forget that she was a human," David added with a small smile. He nodded to me then went to a sack laying in the corner. He pulled out something with a cloth and walked over to me. He kneeled then opened the cloth in front of me and revealed a little silver chain in it. "Touch it."

I eyed him wearyingly. I looked at Levi who nodded then back at the silver. My beast did not like it. Alarms were going off in her mind, but still, I was curious. I touched the chain with the tip of my for finger and immediately pulled it back.

It burned like a bitch. "Holy shit!" My finger burned and stung as the pain zinged through my body.

David covered it up and stood up slowly then walked over to the bag and dropped it in. He sat down and looked over at me with a half-smile. "Silver is kryptonite for all supernaturals."

"What kind did they use?" Lander asked.

Derek sighed and looked over at us with eyes that still held the pain from the past three days. "Water. They had it dissolved in water and threw it on me. Before I could do anything they pounced and poured more on me. Before I knew what was happening they had me locked in the cellar without any blood. I hadn't fed in a few days and was already running low, I was planning on feeding that evening. Usually, I can go longer than three days without it, but since I was already starting to get thirsty I was at a disadvantage."

"Did you hear anything? See anything that could be helpful?" Blake gently asked again. He was a good second beta, he learned well from Lander how to carefully use his words.

Derek shook his head. "Not really. After they tossed me down there they forgot about me. Other than hearing them walk around the house, I did see them until today. They really didn't say much. They all smelled like rouges and I was too out of it to notice anything. Charlotte's ex-kept asking questions, I guess he didn't know what they were at all."

Levi chuckled and sat down next to Lander. "Nope, but that boy learned real quick." The room laughed at his reply.

Derek shrugged again and looked back at Blake. "I'm sorry I can't be more helpful."

"Don't get worked up over it Derek," Levi said as he scratched his head. "Alright, David up security. I want this place tight the next few weeks. I want to know if so much as a squirrel crosses the border without permission."

"You got it boss," David quickly replied.

"Lander start calling our neighbors. There is no way in hell eight rogues got all the way up here undetected."

"Agreed, someone knows something," Lander added.

"What about what that one said about Charlie?" Levi snapped his eyes to David's inquisitive ones.

"What was that?"

"Remember, Elliot was telling us how the rogues heard 'rumors' of her. They apparently kept talking about her like she was a damn fairy tale."

"She kinda is," Elliot added.

I gave Elliot a long look and he shrugged while Claire pulled me tight against her. Levi was angry at David's question; he was going from zero to pissed again.

Lander sighed and gave his brother a knowing look. "Brother, we knew that there was a great chance that this could happen. We should move you both back to the pack house."

"It's going to be winter soon in a few weeks. No one will be traveling much across the borders, especially rogues. It's too harsh for them." Levi sighed and tugged at his hair a bit. "Bowie send out scouts tonight and our spies. Have them troll the usual spots."

"Can do," Bowie replied with a nod.

"I want you to also do a sweep around the permitter, take Remi and see if you guys can find a trace of them. There is no way in hell that they crossed our border without a trace."

"I agree," Bowie added. Remi was beaming with pride and excitement for his new assignment. I smiled and winked at him. "We'll go sunup tomorrow. Should take us a few days."

"Sounds good. Why don't you leave his bear hide here? I can cure it with Charlie's while you're away." Bowie nodded at Levi's offer before looking at Remi who seemed to be chewing on something.

"There was no trace at all? Like none?"

Lander looked a Remi and shook his head. "Just around here but it's like it fades off about twenty yards away from the cabin."

"Witches?" Remi mused.

Levi looked at Remi as recognition seemed to click in his brain. "Lander call up those damn bats." Lander groaned a bit but nodded begrudgingly.

"Witches?" I asked.

"They stay pretty hidden," Blake said. "They usually mind their own business and stay out of the affairs of most supernaturals. There are some covens that have alliances with them. We offer protection to a few, crazy ass bats, in exchange for things like protection spells on the border. They also help us hide the land from humans."

"How?" I eyed Blake a little suspiciously. There was no way you could just make a chunk of land disappear.

"On a map, this place looks like it's in the middle of a natural reserve. They create a lot of deterrents so humans won't venture far into our territory like a condemned bridge that suddenly appears if a human gets too close or a constantly flooded road. They cloak us from things like satellite imagery, GPS, and all that shit. Usually, though, we don't have a problem with wandering humans."

"So how did Marcus see it? He's just a human?"

"Well, the magic is to deter humans, but if you were a human and walked far enough onto the territory, you would eventually run into the pack house of one of us."

"We need to keep a tighter leash on her," David said while nodding his head towards me. "Sorry Charlotte, but at least for the next week or so, you don't need to be venturing too far. We don't you're scent to scatter further on the territory or to other places."

I sighed and nodded. My wolf wasn't pleased but we understood. We had to bite the bullet and stay safe.

"All right I think that's good for tonight. I want everyone back here but Bowie and Remi at noon for an update," Levi said while standing into a stretch. "Come on girl, there's a pint of Ben and Jerry's in the freezer."

I smiled and waved to Derek who was drinking a blood bag and climbing into bed. I couldn't help but jump at the chance to have some of that 'Chocolate Therapy.' Especially since Levi offered.

We were sitting on the porch after everyone left eating the ice cream in the warm summer sun. It was midday and would be dusk soon. The air was crisp and our grass was stained red like we painted it.

"You ok?"

I looked over at him and shrugged as I swallowed down the chocolatey goodness. "What do you mean?"

Levi breathed out a laugh and scooped out a large chunk of ice cream. "Well girl, we were attacked by rogues today, Derek was held hostage and almost killed, and oh ya, you also kill your husband today. I don't know, seems like a lot for one person to handle."

"You're an ass sometimes, you know?"

Levi chuckled as he swallowed down his ice cream and nodded. "Yup."

I sighed and used my spoon to dig out a piece with plenty of chocolate chunks. "I don't know what to say. While the rogues put my beast and I on edge, Marcus seems to only elate us. I know killing is wrong, but I don't think I had ever done anything that ever felt more justified."

"Girl, what you did was right. That boy deserved to die over and over and over again for what he did to you." Levi dug his spoon around in the carton and mused a bit. "I actually think you could have done a lot worse than what you did."

"I feel like I closed this awful book that was my life and burned it. I don't know. I felt that way after I killed my bear and I guess this is kinda like the cherry on top. I don't feel like I did before this trip. I don't know, I mean, I am still me but I feel like I changed."

"Cause you did girl," Levi said very matter of factly. "You're stubborn brain finally decided to accept and embrace what you are, you're not a weak human with a shitty husband anymore."

"I know. It's crazy to think he's gone. I'm a little sad that I didn't let you have a turn with him."

"Me too girl, believe me when I saw him my beast wanted his neck. He's lucky that I have a good handle on my wolf's hide, that and we knew it was your kill." He chuckled a bit as he ate the bite on his spoon and quickly swallowed it down. "Although, I don't know if I have ever seen anything more insane than the sight of you taunting him with your version of 'story time' or the look on Elliot and Derek's faces while you did it."

"I was feeling a little crazy, a lot actually."

"It was justified, girl. There was no one in that room tonight that judges you for what you did. I think most of them are pissed they didn't get to watch the whole thing."

I chuckled while my wolf relished at the thought. She was proud of me, proud of us. We closed that book and set a massive fire to it then watched it burn. It needed to be done, and I was proud that I had her to do it with me.

"So what will you do?"

"What do you mean?" I said while digging for the chunks of chocolate.

"I mean he's gotta have an estate? A will? You're his wife, you'll inherit all of it."

I felt disgusted at the notion. I didn't want anything that man touched. "I don't want it. I really don't care."

"Why not? It's a lot of money, you could do some good for yourself with it."

"How?" I said while pulling the spoon out of my mouth. "I don't want his money. I mean, what would I even buy? I don't need anything. Everything I need is right here."

Levi smiled with satisfaction at my answer and nodded as he scooped out more ice cream. "You could always donate it to charity?"

I sighed and let the thought marinate while I dug in for another bite. "I could. But that also means I would have to show up and claim everything. I don't want to be Charlotte Williamson ever again. She died a long time ago and is not coming back."

"You know, Derek's got a good attorney friend that could help you. He's a vampire and handles all our pack legal stuff and does my personal stuff as well as Derek's."

"Like what?"

"Well, he helps us dance around the law so the pack can have its own money, and so I can. Derek and I have been around for a while and no bank would be keen on signing up a hundred-something-year-old werewolf for a savings account.

"He does fake I.D.'S and birth certificates for us too, and basically, helps us to stay under the radar. I could call him for ya if you like?"

I nodded. "I just want to move on from that life. I don't care how he does it. I don't want any of Marcus' money, I would prefer if everyone thought I was dead so I don't even have to deal with it. Giving it to charity is a good idea, so if could figure out how to finagle that, it would sit a little better with me."

We ate at the ice cream some more in a comfortable silence while a few gammas continued to tidy up the lawn. I started to dig around for the chocolate chunks. Levi groaned and shot me a long look. "Are you going to eat all the chunks out of this girl?"

I scooped out a big piece and shoved in my mouth. "Mhmm." He groaned and I chuckled as I swallowed down the chocolatey goodness. "So what do we do about these rogues. They heard rumors about me, Levi..."

"I know," he sighed out. "We're doing all we can girl. You're going to have to stay on a tight leash for a while. I know it sucks, but it just has to be until things settle down.

"Don't go running more than fifty yards past the permitter of here and we're going to make sure there's someone always with you."

I groaned. "A babysitter, really?"

"Calm down it will only be for a week or so." He scooped out the last bite and ate it, much to my displeasure, then set his spoon in the empty carton. "I'm honestly not worried about this winter. Rumor will spread of what happened here and no idiot in their right mind will think of coming near here or you unless they have a death wish."

"But?" I knew there was something else. His eyes were swirling like a storm as he gazed out over his lawn.

"Well first, the fact that there wasn't a trace is an issue. I am just hoping that I have to beat some of our patrol's asses for being lazy, rather than it being a real problem."

"And?" There was more. I knew there was more, my wolf knew there was more. We could feel it radiating off his bones.

"Springtime will come sooner than you know. Wolves will have all winter to brew over this, over the rumors if they really have spread as much as we think. That's enough time for a dumbass male with a mile high ego to think that he can trot on up here and take you."

"Well, obviously that didn't work well today."

"True," Levi agreed. "But you never know about next time, and believe me, there will be one. I can feel it. We don't know if they will have silver or if there will be more of them. We are lucky there were only eight and that they were all sorry excuses for werewolves."

I sighed and tossed my spoon into the cup. "So what do we do?"

"We need to think about spring and what you want to do. It's your decision girl. You can stay here, although considering how Liam is behaving I know there will be problems. I would rather send him away but I can't groom his as an alpha away from the pack." He sighed and scratched at his scruff a bit with tired eyes that watched the gammas fill black trash bags up with what was left over from the rogues. "You don't have to make a decision now. We'll cross that bridge when it comes, but Lander is right. Right now in the winter, we'll have an advantage because of how harsh the weather is, but in the spring you'd be safer in a pack."

I felt my wolf rumble in agreement and deep down I knew he was right. I just wasn't sure yet. I was more torn up about leaving him and Derek more than anything else. "If I chose to leave, I wouldn't go too far, would I?"

"No," Levi quickly replied. "You'll probably be close by. Either one of our neighbors or a pack that's at the most three or four hours away. My beast would be livid if you went further and if you go any further, then you'd be too far for me to check on your tiny ass when I needed to."

I felt my beast smile inwardly. He was a damned sap at times, even if he didn't want to admit it. Levi took one last scan over the lawn then stood up with the empty carton in his hand.

We walked back in the house and started to unpack from the trip. He moved all the meat from the coolers to the freezer in our cellar while I started our laundry. After I was finished with that, I checked on Derek, who was curled up with Elliot and watching 'Aladdin.' I couldn't help myself but to curl up with them and watch my favorite childhood movie. Afterward we all decided we were in the mood for Disney, so Elliot put on 'Lady and The Tramp' for us.

Levi walked in eventually and just rolled his eyes at the sight. He was busy with my and Remi's bear hides that apparently took quite a process to turn into blankets.

We eventually napped, which my wolf needed. We slept through the afternoon before Levi shook me awake. I hissed at him and tried to hide under the covers but he just dumped a glass of water on my head then muttered a string of curses while marching out of the door.

I didn't care, though. I was still drowsy from sleep that was pulling me back into its embrace. When I did decide to crawl out of bed an hour or so later, Levi was in a deep conversation with someone on his cell phone.

"No, that would work," he said while leaning against the counter. He looked over at me as I walked out of Derek's room and waved me over. "She's right here, I'll let you talk to her."

I took the phone from his hand and pressed it to my ear as I walked around to the barstools. "Hello?" I asked while climbing onto a stool and leaning against the counter in front of me.

"Hello? Is this Charlotte?" a velvet voice asked.

"Yes, this is she."

"Well it's nice to meet you, sort of," he said then chuckled. "My name is Riley O'Sullivan. I am the attorney for the pack and Levi as well as Derek and the coven he belongs to. Levi tells me you killed your husband today? Congratulations!"

"I, uh–"

"Oh don't worry dear, Levi told me about what a scoundrel he was. I applaud you dear." He paused and I eyed Levi curiously. "Now, legally speaking, you're technically not dead. You're husband didn't even file a missing person's, so that gives us more flexibility.

"Levi said that they were going to dump the body and make it look like an animal attack?"

"Yes," I answered slowly. "That's right."

"Good. It will be about a month, I would guess, before someone finds it. Honestly, I doubt the police will think anything other than that. The case will probably close in two months or so."

I sighed and nodded as I looked at my fingers drumming lightly over the counter. "So, what do I do?"

"Well dear, what do you want? We can do a lot of things, it just depends on what your goals are."

"To be honest," I sighed. "I don't give a damn about his money, any of it, but the idea of making sure it all went to charity is something I think I would like.

"But I also would like to somehow erase Charlotte Williamson and start a new."

"What's do you want to go by?" he asked as the sound of papers shuffled in the background.

I bit my lip and looked at Levi before he turned to the fridge and started to pull out a few frozen pizzas. Riley was scribbling in the background and muttering something to someone else. I knew exactly what I wanted, but I felt my heart flutter nervously upon thinking about it.

"Well, technically Levi adopted me. Well not legally, so–"

"Oh that's a wonderful idea! We could definitely do that. What's your middle name?"

"Renee." Levi snapped around and looked at me with a knowing smile. I shrugged and he just chuckled then started digging around in the cabinet where he keeps the good red wine or the stuff that Derek has to sneak out like a diamond thief.

"So Charlotte Rene Thorne?"

I nodded and my wolf growled in my mind in agreement. "Yes, that's perfect."

"Alright, when is your birthday?"

"February fourteenth."

"And you're twenty-four, right?"

"Yes, I'll be twenty-five in February."

"What an age," he added. He sounded like he was writing down some other things while Levi wrote my birthday and my new full name down on a sticky note then stuck it to the fridge. I rolled my eyes; he shrugged with a coy smirk then went back to making the pizzas.

"Alright, I am going to have my people get on this quickly. I think what we will do, and interject if you disagree, is first we will kill you."

I felt my wolf stir as my wide eyes met Levi's. "Um, what?"

"Oh sorry, what I mean is we will issue you a death certificate. We'll do something like a car accident or whatever. I have a few friends that work in the morgues up there, they can easily take a Jane Doe and ensure that someone identifies it as you. While that is going on, I will have my people come up with a new identification for you. What we will do is have Levi then adopt the new identification we come up with. We can then drop the last name, and pick up his then make sure you get all the documents you need like passports, birth certificate, etcetera. What was your maiden name?"

"Williamson." I was oddly happy to be rid of it. It was in my past, a part of me that I didn't hate, but I didn't want it. It wasn't me anymore. I was a Thorne now, through and through.

"Alright, but what about my husband?"

"Well, first we'll let the good police up there do their job and declare him dead. After that, it may be tricky, but we should be able to do as you requested. Do you have a charity in mind?"

I shook my head. "No, nothing in particular. Maybe something like a women's shelter?"

"Perfect, we can certainly do that. Anything else? Any other husbands we need to dispose of?"

I laughed and shook my head. "No, but I will let you know if something comes up."

"Don't worry my dear. I'll mail your new documents to the pack house. Let's try and touch base in about two months? I should have all of your identification shenanigans moving along close to completion by then, and hopefully, the police will have found that bastard's body and have started the investigation. "

I nodded and smiled as Levi slipped the pizzas on the stacked over racks. "Sounds great, thank you."

"Anytime darling, I do hope we get to meet in person soon."

"As do I," I quickly added.

He chuckled then shuffled some more papers. "Goodbye, dear Charlotte. You don't worry about a thing and let me work my magic."

"Bye Riley and thank you so much."

I clicked the phone off and slid it to Levi as he slid me a glass of wine. "Cheers," he said while clinking his glass with mine. I sipped at the red wine that seemed to help wash away the events of the day while Levi shot me a shit-eating grin. "Charlotte Renee Thorne, huh?"

I felt a flush rush over my cheeks and bit my lip as Levi just rolled his eyes at me. "We can call him back if it's not ok. I just assumed, but I mean if not it totally fine, we can call Riley back. I don't think–"

"Would you shut the hell up?" he grumbled while wrapping me into a tight hug. I let out a heavy sigh of relief and returned the hug as he kissed my hair. "You're my pup girly, of course it's fine."

He pulled away then walked back to the oven and checked on the pizzas. The cheese was starting to melt on top and the crust was starting to turn from frozen to gooey. My belly rumbled at the sight of our future meal.

He took his glass of wine and took another sip before smiling a little knowingly to me. "Besides, I suggested it to Riley before he spoke to you, but I wanted it to be your decision."

I felt my heart swell. My beast rumbled in approval. It was our decision, but for my beast and I, it was an easy one to make. "So I guess you're stuck with me now?"

He rolled his eyes and took a long sip of his wine. "For life girly."

Derek walked out of his room, a little slowly, with Elliot walking after him and eyeing him like a mother bear. He saw the wine opened and gave Levi a perplexed look with a raised brow. "That's a damn good bottle, what's the occasion?"

Levi pointed at the sticky note he stuck on the fridge while he sipped the red liquid from his glass. Derek snapped his eyes over to it then looked back at me with a contagious smile. I couldn't help but giggle as happiness poured into my body.

Derek zipped over to me and pulled me into his chest while Elliot patted Levi's shoulder then pulled out some extra wine glasses. Derek pulled away and sighed before taking a glass from Elliot and clinking it with mine. "Well, this may be worth having to deal with all those rogues for three days."

Levi's rumbles vibrated through the kitchen and straight to me. I felt my wolf grow lowley at the sound of the word 'rogues'. She wanted their necks for what they did to our Derek.

"Oh calm down you two. I am fine, geez! Let's drink!"

Levi rolled his eyes and topped off his glass then mine. Derek wrapped his arm around me and pulled me into his side for a side hug as he raised his own glass. "To Charlotte Renee Thorne."

"To Charlie!" Everyone said as we clinked our glasses together.

"See," Derek said to Levi after he took a drink of his wine. "Aren't you glad I didn't let you kill her that day?"

Levi groaned and rolled his eyes at the vampire whose spirits seemed to make a full recovery. I smiled. It was good to see him start to sound more like himself after the horrible past few days he had. "Are you ever going to let that go?"

"No," Derek said while shaking his head with a breathy laugh into his glass. Levi waved him off right as the pizza buzzers started to go off. He turned quickly and slipped on some red flowery oven mitts before sliding the trays out of the oven.

Derek sighed as I sipped my red wine. He looked over at me knowingly as a ghost smile started to tug at his lips. "I had a feeling this day would come, you know?"

I turned to him curiously as I took another sip. "Really?"

"Mhmm," he murmured into his glass.

"Any other days you see coming that I should know about?"

He looked at me with eyes full of life. He sighed and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear and gave me a warm knowing smile. A smile that I saw far too often on him. "Many."