I gripped the iron bars on the locked gate that led to my home like it was a beacon in the dark. My heart hammered in my chest so hard, I thought it might burst. This was the only home I had known since I was little. It was my safe haven, so why standing out here now did I feel like going inside would be my doom?

Rook shuffled impatiently behind me and I inhaled deeply to collect enough nerve to go inside.

Rook had argued with me every step of the way about coming here, but it had to be done. We needed help against a werewolf hoard that great in number and no one was more capable than my father and brother.

It would have been so much better to come here alone, but Rook refused to let me out of his sight, especially after what had happened with Keller. It was frustrating, but also endearing that he would put himself in such danger just to ensure my safety.

Finally, against my better judgement I pushed the gates open and started up the long path that led to my home. Rook gripped my arm, stopping me before we even stepped one foot inside.

"Someone's coming." He growled.

"This entire area is monitored and booby trapped. They knew we were here before we even approached the gate." I told him and continued up the path.

This place was a fortress, no one or nothing other than Hunters had ever been inside, except for now. I looked back at Rook as he cautiously scanned the area.

"Evelyn! Is that you?" I startled as a very distant cousin that I had not seen in years slowly approached us.

"Hugh? What are you doing here?" I asked as he stopped in front of me.

"Your father rounded up every Hunter or Huntress he could find when you went missing. We have been searching for you for months!"

Hugh reached out to me, but I carefully avoided his touch. I wasn't sure how Rook would react and I was trying to keep his true identity concealed as long as possible from the other Hunters.

"How many Hunters are here?" I knew my voice shook when I asked, but I hoped Hugh would think it was from exhaustion.

"Over a dozen." He answered with a proud smile.

My stomach clenched at the news. I was bringing my mate, my lycan mate into a home with over a dozen Hunters. This was certainly not what I was expecting. I had been scared enough to bring him here with just my father and Roary, but this situation just went from bad to the worst possible scenario.

I wanted to take Rook's hand and hightail it out of here as fast as possible, but it was too late, we were already inside.

"Who's this?" Hugh's attention finally landed on the towering man behind me.

"A good friend." I answer bleakly and walked past Hugh towards my home.

"Eve!" I heard my name just before I was railroaded by the mass of my brother.

He grabbed me around the waist, lifting me from my feet as he squeezed the life out of me. I smiled and hugged him back. I had missed him dearly, but our reunion was cut short by a low warning growl from Rook.

I loudly cleared my throat, trying to mask Rook's growl. Thankfully, Roary didn't seem to notice him as his attention was solely on me.

I pushed my way out of my brother's death grip and stepped away from him and back towards Rook.

"Rook, this is my brother, Roary. Roary, this is Rook, he helped me get here unscathed."

I emphasized the word brother, so that Rook would hopefully calm down, he did, but not by much. I could tell instantly that something was off with him ever since my brother showed up.

"You helped my sister escape the lycans? That's quite a feat for a human."

My brother extended his hand and Rook eyed it like it was a viper. I knew Roary was feeling him out and I only hoped and prayed and Rook played along.

"Maybe I will tell you all about it someday." Rook said arrogantly and took Roary's hand.

I watched Roary squeeze Rook's hand until his knuckles turned white, but Rook never wavered. Roary's eyebrows shot up in surprise and I gripped that bridge of my nose to ward off an oncoming headache. Roary was trying to intimidate Rook with his Hunter strength and Rook wasn't having any of it.

"Where's Pop?" I asked pulling Rook's hand away from Roary.

Roary continued to stare quizzically at Rook as he answered.

"Inside." He said shortly.

I motioned for both of them to follow me as we went inside. I kept glancing nervously back at Rook and Roary who were walking side by side behind me. I was going to have a panic attack at any second by the way the two of them were acting. They kept glancing at each other with distrust and hate in their eyes. I was waiting for them to fall to fighting at any second.

I passed by several Hunters on my way to see Pops, some of them I knew, some of them I did not. The only thing that was keeping me relatively calm was the fact that they had no way of knowing what Rook was unless he revealed himself to them.

I finally reached the main living room, threw open the doors and walked inside.

"Eve!"

My father jumped up from the couch and rushed towards me. He threw his beefy arms around me and squeezed. I got lost for a moment in the comfort and warmth of my father's embrace. I closed my eyes and tried to forget for a moment what circumstances brought me here in the first place.

Finally my father pulled away and pushed me at arms length. He looked me over from head to toe, his eyes stopping when they landed on the healing cuts along my forearm.

"Werewolf." I said with a small smile.

"I assume it is dead, since you are standing before me." My father asked.

"Ripped his head clean off." I smiled and left out the fact that Rook had severed its head and not me.

"That's my girl." He said and pulled me towards the couch.

I sat down and glanced back towards Rook who stood protectively in the doorway.

"Everyone out! I want to speak to my daughter alone." Pops yelled and all of the Hunters except my brother walked out.

"That means you too." Roary jabbed at Rook.

"I'm not leaving her." Rook said angrily.

"Who exactly are you?" My father interrupted the display of dominance between Rook and my brother.

"This is Rook, Pops. He helped me get back here. We've become somewhat attached to each other after everything I've been through. He sees himself as sort of my protector." I answered with a shrug.

I gulped as Pops walked up to Rook. Pops was big, but Rook was bigger. They stared at each other, neither one backing down.

"Something is off about you." My father said scrutinizing him.

"He's strong too, I tried to force him to his knees with one of my death grips and he never wavered." Roary spoke up and my heart fell to the pit of my stomach.

This was going south quick!

"Stop being so suspicious and come sit and talk to me. I've been gone for a long time and we have much to discuss." I say in a desperate attempt to get my family's attention away from Rook.

My father slowly placed his hand upon the pistol strapped to his hip and Rook growled at him.

"He's a damn lycan!" Pops yelled and pulled out his gun and aimed it at Rook. Roary jumped up from his seat drawing his weapon just as fast.

"And you are a murderer, the both of you. I will never forget the stench that was all over my brother when I found his body."

My jaw dropped to the floor at Rook's words, but my mind didn't even have time to absorb what he just said before he shifted into his lycan form.

My father released a string of curses and Roary actually froze in shock. I was sure neither one of them had ever seen anything like Rook before. I jumped up from the couch and rushed towards Rook as the room erupted in chaos and bullets.