The next few days things didn't get any better. In fact, they only got worse as I was back in the dog house with Nancy again bringing our period of peace to an erupt end.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING AGGRAVATING JAKE AGAIN? DID THE TRIP TO THE FUCKIN HOSPITAL YOU STORMED OUT OF TEACH YOU ANYTHING? HE COULD OF KILLED YOU!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as if I hadn't thought of that.

"When I get my hands on Linnea and Jason, I swear I'm going to-"

"They had nothing to do with it other than protecting me so unless you're planning on hugging and telling them thank you, you'd best just leave them alone!"

"This isn't a joke, Crystal!"

"Do you see me laughing? Though I have to admit, watching you throw a fit in my bathrobe and Bugs Bunny slippers, I'm having a real hard time holding it back at the moment."

She glared at me with her beautiful golden brown eyes that was just visible from her damp mane. Who knew she could get any hotter and all it took was a shower.

Seemingly relenting for now she stormed off to sulk in the direction of my bedroom. Well good! Maybe Dobby could convince her of how ridiculous she's being.

If you guessed that she didn't stop with that, you'd be right. That was Monday night or Tuesday morning depending on your point of view and it's only progressed from there.

I really don't get how someone can claim to despise someone and yet turn right around and start acting just like them. One of life's great mysteries.

You see this a lot with children who start acting like their parents when they're older all the while saying how they really aren't anything alike. That reminds me, I should ask her about her parents. Nevermind That. As I was saying, she's taken a page right out of Ashley's manual by refusing to let me go anywhere without her being right there. It's literally making me want to rip my hair out! For the life of me, I can't understand how JoAnn can stand it.

Speaking of my sweet big sister, I might as well take everything I ever learned about her throughout my life and toss it out the damn window because, I swear, I don't even know who the hell she is anymore!

She's gone from a helpless prisoner to rather open minded about being there.

For some reason unbeknownst to me, she's becoming good friends with Kera. Ashley's mother of all people. Not really a person but I'll use it. She has been helping her "understand" everything and has even gotten Ashley to start talking to her again. Kara has even been teaching her what it means to be a Luna which has all but sealed any chance I have of talking some sense into her. JoAnn has always wanted to be important and looked up to and Kara is all but handing it to her on a silver platter. Why the hell did I ever tell her about werewolves to begin with? Jake must of hit me on the head at some point- well him or his damn wife! The Moon Goddess knows she has never been bashful about trying to tell me how to run my life. Now Kara is filling her head up that she has, not only a right, but also a duty to stick her nose into other peoples business. Ohh where did things get so messed up...

I leaned my head against the brick wall of The Wolfs Den taking in the cool breeze that caressed my body when I felt a warmth in my core form souring my moment. Well shit! That didn't take her long.

I closed my eyes enjoying the contrast of it and the breeze even if I was a bit disappointed I wasn't going to get to finish my smoke.

"Well I almost had time to finish my smoke before she realized I slipped out. Care to stall her?"

I asked Blake in a pleading tone, while giving him my best puppy dog eyes. It's a go-to for times like these but even it proved ineffective against him.

"No ma'am. Me and Nancy are on good terms, I'd just assume to keep it that way." He said without any emotion. Damn! Does anything effect him?

"You're no fun."

I tossed the cigarette on the ground and stepped on it just as the doors flew open marking her arrival.

"What are you doing out here?" She demanded at the doorway as if I was in some strange place she'd never expect.

"I told you if you came out here to let me know! If Jake or his brother showed up-"

"I'd have Blake to tell them that they can't be on the property without a valid Black Card." I finished her sentence. I actually love her determination to keep me safe but she needs to learn to lighten up a little. I'm not made of tissue.

"Werewolves don't have Black Cards, Crystal. They're only issued to humans."

"I know, that's the beauty of it. Off they'd go! I was just having a cigarette if you can't smell it. Calm down, I'm fine."

I wrapped my arms around her neck being careful not to touch the bandage and pulled her closer to me taking in her scent before kissing her tenderly.

"I know you think I'm overreacting but I'm already going to kill that son of a bitch for what he did to you. If he hurt you again I'd have to do it slowly, it could drag on for days, weeks even. I really don't want to be around him for that long."

"You always say the sweetest things. Where did you learn to be such a smooth talker?" I said smiling catching Blake watching us uncomfortably out of the corner of my eye. Poor guy.

"It's a gift. It doesn't hurt that I'm pissed off that Linnea didn't show up tonight. She hasn't even returned my calls and I had to get Jason to come in. I'm still not happy about him returning. Now I have to deal with him when he should be off."

"I know. I don't like him being back either." I confessed. "But after what happened with Ashley-"

"I can't believe I fell for that!" She said tensing up before pulling away.

"Will you stop?" I grabbed her arm pulling her back towards me. She grudgingly complied.

"I worry about you too."

"Don't worry. You're not going to have to patch me up again."

"I'll patch you up as many times as you need. Even if the sight of blood makes me wanna pass out. Still... if we can limit it..."

She raised her brow to me.

"I know there's really nothing I could do if someone tries to hurt you again but Jason can. That takes priority over any jealousy I feel. I showed him your mark so I think he got the message that you're mine!" I pulled her closer to me again for another kiss.

"That can be easily fixed you know..." she had a dark smile on her face and a hint of malice in her eye.

"... all it would take...

She pulled my shirt away just enough to expose her mark and lightly biting down on it. The sensation sending my nerves into overdrive and making my body temperature skyrocket. There is no way someone should have this much control over another's body.

"Af-af-after... my... uhhh" I couldn't even think straight let alone form a simple sentence.

"Are we closed yet? I really need a drink and find out how the ballgame went." Blake asked as if he was about to get into serious trouble if he saw anymore.

It was enough to get my brain to come down from the clouds and Nancy to pull away with a big smile on her face.

"Just about." She told him without losing the smile

"It's okay, Blake. She knows I wanna wait." I said eyeing her. Nancy rolled hers "I'm waiting. But I won't wait a second longer than I have to. She said heading to the door.

"In the meantime..." she stopped and looked back at me "Get your ass back inside!" She added in a firm voice making my temperature rise again.

About an hour later Nancy was kicking people out. Being the middle of the week it was usually fairly slow but tonight we had a steady stream of customers that kept us busy. I thanked the full moon that would soon arrive and Nancy confirmed it plopping down on the couch with a couple shot glasses and a bottle of Tennessee Fire.

"Care to join me? I think I have some human approved straight orange juice." She said mocking.

I stole her glass and downed the liquid getting another smile from her. "Nope." I said popping the "P"as I leaned over towards her stopping just short of our lips touching. "I'm going to sweep and mop. The place is a mess or did you miss that too?" I said returning it.

"I'm outta here. I guess I'll see you two tomorrow then."

Jason's voice came uneasily from the doorway making me feel very vainglorious. I know I shouldn't feel this way... on second thought, I have every right to feel this way. I got perfection for my mate!

"See ya! And thanks again for helping tonight. Linnea is dealing with things."

I told him without moving an inch away from Nancy. Yeah eat your heart out, Jason. She's mine.

"Yeah, thanks." Nancy said nonchalantly as I straddled her. I knew she was picking up on what I was feeling making it even better.

"You smell just like the Tennessee Fire..." I said kissing the good side of her neck just above her bandage, finishing it with a lick of my tongue before pulling away.

"...You taste like it too." Completely ignoring Jason.

"Sure thing. It was no problem." Jason said sounding like a little boy who was told he couldn't have something he really wanted by his mother before leaving.

"I knew you weren't the angel you'd have me believe. You are a cold demon." I heard her voice say inside my head.

"Baby... I haven't a clue as to what you mean." I answered in hers turning away quickly to hide the grin on my face.

Just after three in the morning I was half way done with mopping when my phone rang. I grabbed it off the bar accepting it without looking. While, it wasn't the ringtone for JoAnn, only she would call me this late. A habit she only very recently picked up.

"Crystal, are you still here in Lakeside? Is Nancy with ya? I really need your help!"

Asked the voice on the other end frantically in between trying to catch her breath. It wasn't JoAnn, but Linnea.

"I told Greg after he got home yesterday. He wouldn't believe me so I shifted in front of him. He totally freaked out and took off! I thought he just needed a little time to process it so against my better judgement I let him have some time alone and I didn't think he could go far anyways on foot. That was yesterday! He's missed several doses of his medication and he can't do that! They don't even work as long as they should anymore and then there's a whole list of things from abruptly stop taking it. By now he's got to be...I know something bad has happened! I've been running all over Lakeside since then trying to find him but I still can't pick up his scent or our bond anywhere. I was thinking of trying to check Post Falls and State Line, even The Valley too but I'm so tired and it'll take too long for me to cover all of it myself. Nancy better at picking up scents than me and she knows Greg's. If she could -"

It was a miracle I could even understand her she was talking so fast while breathing hard. I knew I'd probably be in even worse shape if it was Nancy in this situation.

"Of course she will. Don't worry, we'll find him. I said trying to sound reassuring so Linnea wouldn't pick up on my concerns. I wasn't sure how well Nancy could help look for him in human form but hopefully it was enough.

"I'll tell her and while she's looking I'll try asking around if someone has seen him. Don't give up!"

I hung up just as Nancy came out looking confused.

"What did you just volunteer me for? If that was Linnea, I didn't answer because I'm done messing with her. She can come here to talk with me during regular business hours and maybe I'll listen to her excuse if I feel like it."

"Greg's missing and we need to find him. I'll explain on the way"

——-

We picked Linnea up at her house and in many ways aside from a hole in her neck she didn't look all that much better than Nancy did after her fight with Ashley.

Linnea was dressed simply in a pair of sweatpants, T-shirt and a pair of flip-flops. Her normal face usually covered in makeup was only adorned with dirt and scratches. She wasn't even wearing a bra. Her skin was muted like it had an inch of dried sweat covering it. A far contrast to her normal appearance. She must've ran herself to her limit.

"I'll need to use your car, Linnea. I'll start with the hospitals and the police station. They sometimes give people rides from hospitals and clinics to their home if the person has no other way."

"Han är inte här, Crystal! Vill du kolla själv? (He's not here, Crystal! Do you want to check for yourself?)

I wasn't sure what she said but judging by her tone, my guess was that it wasn't good.

She took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her now short red hair that reminded me of Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to snap but I can't help blaming myself for this. I knew he might take it badly that's why I hadn't told him sooner."

"It's alright. I know he's not here but maybe they drove him to a hotel room or something. It's worth checking into anyways if the hospitals don't pan out."

She nodded while handing me her keys from her purse. "Yes, you're right. I'm just not thinking clearly at the moment."

"I'll head-"

"You're going with, Crystal! You can barely stand let alone run any more. You need to rest and she needs someone with her because I'm not about to let her go all over the place alone and especially at this hour."

Nancy stated.

"I can't just sit around and do nothing-"

"Your neck isn't fully healed and you could open your-"

"This isn't a negotiation!" Nancy said in a commanding tone no longer trying to soften it silencing both me and Linnea.

"I can't exactly cover this large of area in human form and I can't drive around with my head out the drivers side window either. I'll call you when I find him!"

Nancy wasn't leaving any room for discussion. She heals far faster than humans so all I could do was hope for the best and try focusing on Linnea who wasn't happy about coming with me.

"We can cover far more ground faster with the both of us. It's not going to take the both of us to ask ask around, especially at this hour. Greg's probably confused and lost control of his muscles and I'm stuck sitting in this car being useless. I bet if it was you that was missing she wouldn't just be sitting here. If she's so worried about you being out alone, why can't you just call around? Then you'd be all safe n' sound."

I drove to the police station not saying a word. It was probably best to just let her vent even if I wasn't sure if it was helping or making her more distraught.

As soon as I parked Linnea started getting out forcing me to grab her arm. She was going on so much that she had no idea where we were.

"You wait here. Moon goddess willing, they gave him a ride to a hotel and he just passed out drunk. I'll be in and out of here. If not, I'll file a missing persons report and give them my information. We don't want them asking for yours."

She looked around and even in the darkness I could see her brows scrunched up as she saw where we are.

"I don't care about that! If they can find him then they can have it. I'll deal with whatever comes of it!"

"How the hell is you getting deported back to Sweden going to help him? Greg will be in even worse shape all alone. You need to think! Now give me his details and stay here while I take care of it!

My voice came out louder and sharper than intended but it seemed to of done the trick of getting through to her.

"I know, you're right." She said handing a bag with his medication in it.

One good thing of it being so early there wasn't a line. The thing that took the longest was convincing Linnea to stay in the car. Is every werewolf so damn stubborn? Once that was done I was in and out in about twenty minutes. They didn't give anyone a ride matching his description yesterday, but they would be looking for him too and call me if they found him.

After about three hours of driving around I was running out of ideas and Linnea was even more worked up. I had figured she'd fallen asleep after running around so much. I'd see her head constantly lay against the passenger door only for her to jerk back up straight again mumble something in Swedish, only to repeat it a few minutes later. Every so often she'd think of a friend of his he might of gone to and call them only to be told they hadn't seen him either.

I hated to see her like this. It was a real eye-opener on how strong the mating bond was. Yes, I had a small glimpse of it since I met, Nancy but we've not known each other for that long. Looking at Linnea now, it was clear that Greg was her entire world. This became even more evident when she started actually talking. It was all one sided as I just listened mostly, only asking a question or two to sound interested in how wonderful Greg was. Truth be told, I was very interested.

There was a time when I thought needing someone like this was pathetic. We needed to have faith in ourselves first. It's what got me through the earlier part of my transition before 'passing" The difference between them is that often times with us humans it's one sided. One person needs the other, while the other doesn't give a shit. There's only one way those kinds of relationships can end and it wasn't pretty. When both truly needed each other, it's truly something special.

It made me wonder if mine and Nancy's bond would continue to grow. So far, all evidence points to it will. I eagerly wait for it.

"Two large 911's please." Turning to Linnea "How you want yours!"

"I don't want any."

"We'll take them blended" I told the lady at Dutch Bros. coffee. One thing about being in Spokane now as they stay open 24 hours here.

"What you'll have?"

"I'm fine."

"You can't be a true American without drinking lots of coffee especially with what's going on. In fact, I've heard on good authority that you can't be Swedish either. Seems we're not that different after all."

That got me an attempt at a smile at least.

"I've got no money on me and I'm not about to have you pay for it after everything you and Nancy are doing to help while putting up with my bitching on top of it. All the running around we've done and right after your shift, thanks. You could've just had done 911."

"Great minds think alike." Turning to the blonde haired teenager at the window "two large blended 911's please."

"Crystal..."

"You were willing to go all out for me and JoAnn and you didn't even know her so I'm just returning the favor. Try and be positive, we're going to find him. I promise."

She gave me a nod and as I was paying for the drinks my phone went off.

"Tell her I found him. We're in room 112 of Lake View Lodge in Harrison. He was jumped and robbed while out drinking. It's bad but nothing overly serious from what i can tell. What I am worried about is he's got a really bad fever and he's twitching constantly. He really needs his medication so the sooner you can get here, the better."

What was he doing there? It's just a small town with nothing there. I don't even think he could take a bus there.

"Linnea has them. We're on our way and will be there in about ninety minutes."