Wet.

There was something wet on my belly.

Tingles.

It tingled like electric feather fingers as it spread over the gashes that had been left on my skin. Gashes from animals that my beast and I were ready to put down, and put down soon.

A rush.

I fluttered my eyes open in the room lit only by the light glowing from the television. My body tingled again, causing me to let out a pleased sigh. I sucked in a breath and looked down at my belly, my belly that Ethan was currently licking at.

He was slowly licking across my belly at the third gash that ran from my hip bone to just above my navel. His scruff tickled my skin as flames from his tongue erupted over me.

The pull licked its lips.

He flickered his eyes up to me. Desire. They were dancing with animalistic desire and lust that pulled hard at me. It made my body feel a heat and a need that was getting harder and harder to deny. A need that made me feel damp and dewy for him.

His beast seemed to like this he rumbled approvingly then licked his way back down the gash. The gash that ironically felt amazing. It was being bathed in tendrils of pleasure that made me want to clench my thighs to hide the dampness and scent of desire pouring from me.

But he was hungry.

He slowly kissed his way down to the top of my boxers, letting his fingers rub over my thighs before he kissed along the edge of the line. I sucked in a breath as he wrapped one arm around my thigh then nipped teasingly at my skin.

His other hand reached for the other end of my boxers and started to tug. It was agonizingly slow. Slow and torturous as it made my heart thump as the pull seemed to flip over and over in excitement.

"What are you doing?" I breathed out.

He looked up at me as he pulled the rest of my boxers down with a devious grin. "A surprise sunshine."

I sucked in a breath as he kissed his way back down, until he kissed me there. I felt the pull light up with the rest of my body as he continued to move his tongue slowly over me, memorizing every line of the area.

My body was humming in pleasure and I wasn't sure if there was any turning back now, I don't think my self-control or resolve was strong enough. He rumbled and sent vibrations over my body that only made me arch my back and let out a soft moan.

He looked to me again a little wickedly while he wetted two fingers in his mouth. I bit back a moan as the sight, the sight that was so damn erotic; it seemed to freeze my body as I watched him carefully. I couldn't pull my eyes away if I wanted to.

I felt his fingers enter me and start to reach at a place that was tight with need. He moved them until he found the area he was looking for, then moved them a little faster.

Waves of pleasure crashed into me. Waves that yanked me forward with his name on my tongue. Waves that woke me up to the reality that I was in.

I blinked my eyes open to a dark room lit by the glow of the television. My body was hot, flushed, and wanton. I let out a labored breath and looked around.

It had been a dream.

"Dammit," I hissed.

I could feel the wetness between my legs and immediately felt a wave of embarrassment pour over me. Ethan was breathing steadily behind me. I turned my head to look at him and he was already stirring from his sleep, I could feel his beast reach out to me to check and see if I was still there.

I wiped the sweat off my brow and leaned my head back. I needed air. I needed a cold shower. I needed to evade the situation.

I started to scoot off the bed. My belly ached as did the bruises. I winced sharply which seemed to stir Ethan even more. I paused for a moment and looked back at him; he was so peaceful in his sleep. I don't think I have seen him this laid-back yet, there's always a tension in his eyes.

I stepped on the floor and started to walk my way quietly to the bathroom, clenching my legs together to hide the evidence of a dream that the pull wanted me to make a reality. Hell, I would be lying if I said that I didn't want it too.

"Sunshine?" Ethan whispered through the quiet room.

I turned and gave him a small smile. "I just need to use the bathroom."

He nodded and leaned back on the headboard while I walked as quickly as I could into his little bathroom, shutting the door quickly after I stepped in. I turned the sink on and splashed water over my face then on the back of my neck, cooling my body that was still warm with desire.

My beast just chuckled in the back of my mind. She thought this was more than amusing. I groaned and looked into the mirror.

My cheek had an angry blue and purple bruise on it. I blinked hard and fought back demons from my past. Demons that had no place in my life now. No place at all.

I splashed some more water on my face and let out a long tense breath before I relieved myself. I quickly washed my hands then stepped back out into the bedroom. Ethan was sitting more upright with tired eyes.

"Are you alright?"

I nodded. "It all sore but it's not that bad." God my injuries were not the only thing that was sore. I groaned in the back of my mine and snapped at the damn pull.

"Come here," he said gently as he patted the place in front of him. I padded over to him then let him help me carefully back into my place in front of him. He sighed and kissed my shoulder while the television murmured int he background.

"Did they find anything?"

I needed to talk about it. We needed to talk about it. The alpha council was coming soon and if we had rogues coming in and out of the border, it was insanely unsafe for so many alphas to be in one place.

Ethan rumbled a bit. "Nothing."

"Not even blood?" I replied quickly. "Ethan I bit into his neck, there's no way that there's no blood."

"I know, I know." He let out a hot breath against my shoulder then leaned back against the headboard. "They were at it for hours. I finally told them to stop until we could figure out what to do. I don't think we're going to find anything there, as much as it pisses me off to say it."

"Someone knows something. There has to be a trail," I pressed.

"I agree. I don't know, I don't know where to even start here. That and now Thomas is on our ass. We can't risk him finding out about this."

"Why not?" I almost growled out.

"Did you not see him back there? Do you think that I don't see the way he was looking at you or me? We don't need that, not right now."

"And why not Ethan? He's the alpha, his job is to protect the pack and he's not doing that, you know he's not doing that." I let out a stressed breath as he tensed. I knew the subject was touchy, but I had to push.

"Sunshine," he replied tiredly as he rubbed my shoulder. "Do you even understand what you're saying to me? Do you understand how dangerous this kind of talk is? The repercussions any of this could cause?"

"What are you more afraid of, the repercussions or yourself?" I turned so I could look at him. His beast was pacing now, he seemed to be fighting with him. His beast knew, oh that wolf damn well knew. "I understand exactly what I am saying to you. I understand it very well because it does scare me too, but we can't run or hide from it. There is something going on here Ethan, there is something sour about all this. Do you not think it's suspicious that Thomas has done nothing at all about this?"

"Char," he breathed out as his eyes widened a bit. I saw it in his eyes, the fear. The fear of himself and what that means. But I also saw understanding, he couldn't hide it from me. "We have no proof of that, we can't just go around spewing that our alpha has deliberately let rogues into the territory. That is dangerous. That will get you killed."

"Isn't sitting by and doing nothing make a person just as guilt as the one who committed the crime?" He gave me a long look as his beast stirred some more. I looked into his blue-green eyes and I could see it on his face. I could see the dread that the truth was stirring in his belly. "You feel it too don't you?"

He let out a hot breath and squeezed his eyes for a moment before opening them. "You're telling me that you want us to do something that may very well rip this pack up?"

"No, well, like you said we have no proof. I am telling you that there is proof out there, I know there is. I think we're close and that's probably why Thomas is freaking out. Do you know how pissed Levi is going to be when he hears about this? Do you think Thomas would risk pissing Levi off if he didn't think it was necessary?" I sighed and shook my head. "The proof is there and we will find it, I'm asking you to do the right thing with it. With all this bullshit, we need to do the right thing. Baby you can't keep letting that fear and pain eat you up."

Ethan's eyes swirled as my beast reached out to him. It wasn't that we were angry with him, but the pain he still had made us sad for him. He was coming along though, he did push back at Thomas today which was step up, he just needed to keep pushing. I needed to keep pushing.

"I was never supposed to be that wolf, Charlotte," he replied a little stressfully. Stress laced with the pain and memories of the past. A mantra from the past that he had beat into his brain over and over and over again.

I took his face in my hands and kissed him chastely. My fingers started to push some of the hair of his face as I pulled away. "Are you sure about that?"

He let out a long breath and shook his head before he leaned against the headboard. I curled up back into him and let him hold me while he fought an internal battle with his beast. I reached out to him to try and calm him down but it didn't seem to do him any good, he would probably be up all night about it.

Good.

He needed to start letting the truth in and listen to his beast. I wouldn't push him anymore tonight, I would let the idea marinade in his brain. Sometimes the best way to push someone isn't by being forceful, sometimes all it takes is a little seed, an idea, to be planted in their brain.

"You burned like it today," I yawned out as I felt sleep calling me again.

"Like what?" He was stroking my hair again as I started to let the rise and fall of his chest carry me to sleep.

"Like fire, white hot fire," I replied before sleep tugged me into its arms.

I slept well that night. I didn't dream, and I was more than glad. I didn't know if I could handle another dream of Ethan. Damn the pull.

It was getting stronger, pulling harder, and draining me more every day. It was dangerous. I didn't know how much longer I could resist him, but something told me to hold out a bit longer. Just a bit more longer. My beast wasn't happy about it but she felt right about it, and I knew I needed to listen to her.

When I woke up Ethan wasn't in bed with me. It made my beast whine a little as the smell of him invaded our nose. I sighed and got up as quickly as I could then dug through his dresser and pulled out some clothes; sweatpants and a t-shirt that smelled just like him. A beautiful torture.

Evan was chatting with Evangeline quietly downstairs. They both snapped their wide eyes to me when they saw me turn and start walking down the last set of stairs. Evan winced at the sight as I walked down. "I'm so sorry, little sister."

I shook my head. "There was nothing you could do, it's not your fault." I kissed his cheek then hugged Evangeline who nuzzled my cheek before looking around the kitchen and living room. "Where's Ethan?"

"Went for a run," Evan answered as he leaned against the counter. "He uh, well, whatever you said to him the other night has him worked up. That and the rogues."

"The other night?"

"You've been out for a day Char. Slept through yesterday and the night. Sam may or may not have given you a sedative though, you started to have these horrible nightmares that freaked all of us, including Ethan, out," Evangeline said calmly.

"What kinds?" My voice held grave dread as the butterflies started to flutter.

"You um," she sighed then looked back at me apologetically, "You sounded like you were dreaming about your ex-husband–"

I sucked in a sharp breath. I didn't remember it. It must have been the drugs but I knew that if it was, it was probably a horrible memory that I saw. I shook my head while Evan gave my shoulder a light squeeze.

"That and, well, you were dreaming, I think, about what you saw at the tree," Evangeline said with wide serious eyes.

"Shit," I hissed.

She let out a hot breath and nodded. "You kept yelling for Ethan to stop, you sounded like you were in so much pain. You kept saying things like 'Evangeline is here' over and over–I think at one point you murmured about 'gashes' something like 'you shouldn't do that to yourself."

"It really shook him up Char," Evan whispered. "He hasn't left you at all. He went on a run once yesterday and then I told him to go this morning. He was just–" Evan paused sighed a little, "your nightmares just really screwed with him."

"Does he know?"

They shook their heads. "He asked us and we told him he needed to talk to you. It's a conversation for you to have with him, not us."

I nodded. As Evangeline looked over at Evan then back at me. "We need you to come with us."

"Where? Why?" I asked as my wolf perked up.

"Billy's. They have breakfast for you and Billy wants to talk to you, well, to all of us," Evan answered.

I nodded then walked next to Evangeline towards the door. We started to walk towards Billy's and I my heart started to flutter nervously. I had no idea what Billy wanted, but considering everything, it had to be serious.

"What did you say to him?" Evan whispered to me.

"What he needs to hear."

"And did he?" His eyes flickered to mine with hints of concern mixed with hope.

I nodded. "I think he's starting to." Evan's eyes widened slightly before a satisfied smile tugged a at his lips.

We could smell the bacon as we walked down the path to her cabin. My belly rumbled which made Evangeline chuckle to herself. I was damn hungry, I don't think I even had dinner last night.

Ryder walked out the door and waved to us as we started to walk up the steps. He looked at my face and winced. "God, I am so sorry Char."

"It's ok Ryder, it's not your fault," I replied honestly.

Billy was flipped bacon on a griddle while Andrea pulled out two pans of biscuits. My stomach rumbled some more. The hole in it was starting to feel more and more empty.

Andrea flickered her eyes to me and immediately left her task. She walked over to me with eyes full of worry and rage as she drank in my sight. "I will have blood for this," she muttered to herself.

I reached out to her and let her nuzzle my cheek; it calmed her wolf who was starting to raise her hackles. She pulled back and kissed my forehead then nodded to Evan.

Billy turned and looked at me. His face dropped when he looked at me. He looked so pained, like he had a cancer of internal guilt eating him up. He sighed and walked over to me with a pained expression in his eyes. He hugged me for a long moment then kissed my crown. "I should have done something sooner Charlie, I'm sorry."

"Billy it's not your fault," I replied softly as he walked me over to a chair.

I sat down as Ryder handed me a cup of coffee with a wink. Jake walked over to me and gave me a gentle side hug while Evangeline and Andrea started to set the table. He sat down on my left and started to nurse a cup of coffee. His eyes were red and he seemed exhausted, but still there was a look of determination still burning in his eyes. "We're going to find them, Charlotte, I promise we will find them."

"I know," I answered then gave him a reassuring smile.

"So Billy," I said as Andrea started to close the door and all the blinds in the house. My brows raised and met Evangeline's concerned eyes. "What's going on? What is all this?"

He let out a tired breath and nodded. "Get yourself some food. I need to get a few things then we will talk alright?"

I nodded warily. Ryder touched my shoulder gently with tired eyes. "Want me to get you a plate?"

"That would be great, thank you," I breathed out.

"I already got it, Ryder," Evan said as he set a plate down in front of me then one next to me. He slid in the seat next to me then let his eyes wander all over the visible injuries. He rumbled a little before giving me a reassuring smile. "Sorry Char, I just don't like seeing my little sister like this."

I nudged his shoulder. "I know, but it will be ok. We'll figure this out."

"Yes, we will," Andrea answered as she sat down.

Soon Evangeline and Ryder joined us as we all started to pick at our food. I couldn't help but to look at the empty seat at the head of the table, at Billy's seat, and feel anxious butterflies at what he had to saw or show us.

I tried to eat as much as I could but my nerves were eating me up. Evan made me eat another biscuit and another helping of breakfast potatoes and Evangeline insisted that I drink an extra glass or orange juice.

Steps broke my attention from my plate as Billy walked in with a cardboard box, the kind you see in offices holding old files that people never really get around to shredding. He set it down next to him then sat down in his chair. Andrea got up and quickly got him a cup coffee, kissing his cheek as she handed it to him.

She squeezed her dad's hand as she sat back down and nodded to him. Billy looked up at me and smiled a little. The Master of Arms looked like he had been beating himself up all night about whatever this is.

"There are things I need to tell you, I need to tell someone," he started as he let his thumb rub the handle of his coffee cup. "Let me show you everything first before we talk, ok?"

"Ok," I replied with a nod.

He reached into the box and pulled out brown folder with some papers snug in it. There were two sets, clipped together by a binder clip that he started to fiddle with. "As Master of Arms, I am in charge of our patrols. Our patrols are all warriors, I run the warriors, so anything that goes on goes to me first.

"A month before the attack something strange happened, something I thought was impossible." He looked up at me and nodded a little. "We had a rogue sighting. It came from a gamma that was just taking a morning run. Said he didn't smell it until he was almost on top of it. He found some patrols and brought them back, but there was nothing there, not even a scent."

I felt my mouth drop. I wasn't sure if I should be horrified or satisfied at this knowledge. There was evidence. There was a past president.

"What?!" Evangeline gasped out.

Billy sighed and nodded. He pulled out the two files and passed them to us for us to each inspect. "We looked and looked but we couldn't find anything, drove Chris up the damn wall. Thomas had us question the gamma again, and he was a little shifty on his story. I wrote a report up, like I do for all things like this. I gave it to Thomas since he was the beta then, my boss, and after asked if he wanted to get a team on it. He said no. There was no evidence and the gamma wasn't helpful. I was stupid enough to go along with it."

Ryder was flipping through the files furiously. His fingers stopped on something before he snapped his eyes up to Billy. "There were two?"

Billy sighed and nodded. "A week before the attack there was another. There were two omegas, new mates, in the woods. I guess they were in the moment when the female heard something. The male ended up looking and saw two rogues. Both of them, like the last, found a patrolling wolf and brought them to the area but the rogue was gone. I brought it to Thomas who, like the last time, went with me to question the omegas. Both of them were also shifty. We searched the area but there was nothing there, nothing at all.

"I pushed it to Chris, even though Thomas suggested we drop it since he thought it was nothing. Chris was furious. He had been worked up over the past month. I had no idea why, I would ask him and he would always blame it on work or the normal stuff. Chris looked and looked but we ended up dropping it a couple days before the attack."

Ryder handed me the files. I put them between Evan and I and frantically flipped through them until I saw the written account from the omegas and the gammas. My heart beat a little faster as my eyes met his. "Oh my God."

"I have never forgiven myself for not doing more." Billy shook his head while Andrea rubbed his arm.

"Dad, you had no idea," she said softly.

"Doesn't matter, I should have kept going." He sighed and looked back to me. "After the attack, I think I almost drove myself crazy looking into it, but every trail and lead went cold. I kept going though. I kept going when Thomas suggested we move on and work on the pack, in a way he was right. We needed to piece everyone together, we were so weak and so vulnerable for another attack.

"I kept all of Chris' journals. I went into his office before Thomas cleaned it out and made sure I got them all. I've been through them a hundred times, but there was only one page that has every stuck out." He reached in the box and pulled out a worn leather journal. There was a coffee stain on the corner of the pages that looked almost as thin as leaves, they were old and worn. He flipped through a few pages then handed the open book to me.

I scanned my eyes over both pages; there were random scribblings that didn't make sense, but there was one that made me so sick that I wanted to vomit. The name 'Thomas' was written out in red and circled three times in a continuous circle, like he had done it when he was angry. Was this what I saw him writing in the memory?

My heart was pounding as my eyes met Billy's. "You think he had something to do with it?"

Evan took the journal from my hands and paled when his eyes found the name. His chest rumbled angrily before he handed the book to Jake whose reaction mirrored Evan's; when Evangeline saw it her face turned into one of cold fury. I felt her veins hum so loud that it almost startled me.

"I don't know. There's no evidence, but I will say this; There are things going on that should not be here, things that are not right in the balance of things. These rogues that you've seen, they are all connected, even to the past attack I know it in my gut to be true I just don't have any proof," he ended with a growl. Andrea rubbed his arm again and murmured something to him that made him nodded his head and let out a long hot breath. "The imbalance hasn't felt so strong since you came here. It's like a blanket that covers this land."

"What do you mean?" I cocked my head and looked at Andrea then back to Billy who gave me a half-smile.

"I think we all know what it is that you and I are thinking Charlotte. I know you've known now for a while, Evangeline too. I know he knows too, he's just still fighting with himself on it."

I sighed and nodded as understanding and the truth settled in. The truth that both burdened and unburdened me. Evan looked at me then too Billy worriedly. "What are you talking about?"

"Tell me Evan, you're a pure blooded alpha wolf, all three of you are, yet your veins don't burn like one. Your veins didn't start burning until Charlie here showed up and lit the fire. Your brother is strong Evan, I know you remember. I know you remember how he used to be, he was just as strong as Eli, there was no denying that. So tell me then, why don't your veins hum like her's? Even now I can feel it off of her, it's so much like Levi that I think it shook Thomas up real good when she met him."

I stilled as Evangeline and Evan looked at each other a little knowingly. "We never really tried to I guess? I don't know," Evangeline grumbled out.

"I know Levi beat you girl until you learned how to beat him back, didn't he?" Billy asked with a knowing smile. I nodded gently at him. "Levi made you pull something out of yourself that you didn't know you had, he wasn't trying to beat you down–he was trying to beat your ass forward. Towards who you are until you realized it yourself and embraced it. I heard about that bear hunt, I knew exactly what happened after David told me."

I gulped and looked at Evangeline who looked at me carefully before she looked at Billy. "What are you saying, Billy?"

"Your veins don't hum because they haven't been given a reason too. You're all tough kids, there's no denying that, but after the attack Thomas and Miranda didn't push you guys like your dad and mom did. They let the sadness eat you up, it still eats Ethan up. I don't blame you, what happened to you all is something that no one should have to endure.

"But they let it consume you, then when you all started to learn to stand again they put a ceiling on you. They made sure your blood stayed dormant and in line where they wanted it. If you want to know why I think they had something to do with it, that right there is why.

"Your blood, your wolves are stronger than theirs. Hell, the other day I pushed Ethan so hard that it felt like I was fighting Chris again." Billy sighed and gave the two Everett kids a small smile. "Sometimes it takes an alpha wolf to wake another one up. Alpha wolves are not normally threatened or challenged by lesser wolves. I may be a strong wolf, but I know that the Thorne blood running in her veins is a hell of a lot stronger than mine. This girl right here," he said while nodding he head to me. "She pushes all three of you. She pushes the hell out of Ethan and half the time I don't think either of them realize what they're doing.

"Your blood is starting to wake up and all three of you are starting to come to terms with who you are, I've seen it over these last few weeks. Everyone can see it. Thomas and Miranda can see it and it makes them nervous. It's why Thomas is behaving the way he does around the rogues. It's why it takes everything Miranda has not to cower when Charlie here walks past her, she's a lesser female and she knows it. She's even starting to get that way around you, Evangeline."

"Holy shit," Evan whispered out. He let his face fall in his hands. His veins hummed a little as he rubbed his face then ran his fingers hotly through his hair. "How did we not see it?"

"Sometimes it's hard when you're in the middle of something," Billy said gently.

"It should be Ethan," Jake murmured what we all knew to be true. "People are already thinking it whether he wants to believe it or not. The pack feels it, they feel the tension. It should be Ethan, it should have always been Ethan."

I let out a long sigh and nodded. Evangeline sipped her coffee then looked at Billy. "What do we do? Why is Ethan not here?"

Billy looked at me then back to Evangeline. "Because your brother is still not ready to hear this. He's fighting with himself, anyone can see that. This isn't something that you can tell him and think he will accept, Ethan needs to come to it on his own. I won't show him these things until he's ready to do something about it, and right now he needs to focus on himself and work on pulling his head out of his ass."

"He's right," I added. Eyes snapped to me as I thought of his face, his pain, from the previous night. "I talked to him about it last night. He knows. I know he knows what's right. He's just scared. It's not a simple thing, all of this is dangerous talk. I think he's more scared of himself and waking something up he thought would always stay dead."

Evan clenched his fists a little. "They took us in and treated us as their own." His voice was laced with disgust as his brain started to churn.

I touched his arm, calming him a little while Evangeline stared deeply into her coffee cup. "We don't have concrete proof. You know that we cannot go about any of this without it. Ethan's right, it's not right to go on accusations, we need proof. I wouldn't want it for Ethan or Levi, it's not fair for me to think the same about anyone else, no matter how much I want to rip their eyes out of their sockets."

A sly smile tugged at Evan's lips. Jake nodded approvingly while Andrea chuckled a little. "She's right," Billy said. "Chris would have been the same way, we need something more to bring to the pack. We can't just go on rumors and our feelings, those are shot down too easily."

"So, how do we do it? How do we get what we need?" Evangeline asked with a tired sigh.

"Well, first we are going to talk with Levi. He needs to know. I know he will feel the same way. I already sent the vamps ahead of us–"

"What?! You had them tell him?"

Billy smiled a little innocently. "I know it should have been your place, but I don't want to spend that meeting trying to keep Levi from killing Thomas, which may very hell happen anyways."

I let out a long breath and nodded. "Ok, that's fair." It was fair. Levi would probably burn the pack down on his way too. "Do we know how he took it?"

"Derek said that there were lots of profanities and that Lander and David both have new bruises and black eyes," Billy answered.

I cringed a little. "So when are we going?"

"We can leave at dusk," Billy answered. "We'll go in small groups, I don't want us being tracked. Ryder is going to make sure the other trackers are thrown off and I am going to make sure Ethan's ass is so sore that he won't be able to leave his damn house." My wolf rumbled a little she didn't like the male talking about our mate that way. We liked Billy but the threat made the hair raise on her back. Billy just shook his head with a chuckle. "Easy girl, it's for your benefit. He isn't ready to hear this. We'll tell him when the time is right. I'll have the vamps cover for you along with Andrea and Evangeline. They'll stay back and keep watch."

I let out a long sigh and nodded. "Think you can make the run?" Andrea asked with a concerned brow.

My body ached but the blood in my veins was pumping furiously now. "Absolutely."

"Go rest girl, nurse those wounds. We'll come find when it's time."