There was absolute silence.

I wasn't sure if my hearing had suddenly gone out, because there wasn't even the quiet wisp of someone breathing. That could have been contributed to the fact that everyone seemed to stop, myself included. Especially myself, considering I was in a very dangerous position.

Instead of looking at me like he wanted to rip me limb from limb, Roy was looking cautiously at Joshua. I didn't even want to see Joshua's expression, because whatever it was would cause me to lose it.

He either doesn't believe me, and I can kiss my life goodbye, or he does, and his expression is a mixture of murder and agony. Whichever it is, I can't stand to see it.

Roy's hands were cutting off circulation in my arms, considering how hard he was squeezing. There would be bruises for sure. My cheek still stung from Joshua's hit, but that was the least of my concerns.

"What?"

That was all Joshua said. There was no indication of what he was feeling. I hated others abilities to hide their emotions so easily. I didn't have to look up at least, I knew his expression would be stoic and uninformative, just like his tone.

"I don't know," Roy says. "She's gone insane."

I laugh bitterly. "You're right, I've gone completely insane. I mean, what other reason would I have to tell the truth? I'm in the hands of my sister's killer."

When I finally look up at Joshua, his eyes are focused intensely on Roy. They move over to me, and I cringe a little at the fire in them. It's the most emotion, other than pure sadness, he's shown since Erica's death, and it couldn't have been any more terrifying.

"You're lying," he says to me.

White-hot anger, so powerful and so sudden, courses through me, making my muscles go rigid and my face heat up. "Lying? You think I'm lying? You're either in denial or completely ignorant."

"I will not stand here and be insulted-"

"Well then sit the fuck down," I all but growl. I'm feeling brave, maybe too brave, but it's nothing compared to the fury blossoming inside me. "If you thought about it for even just a second, you would have seen what was so transparently obvious."

"It's time for you to go," Roy says, and I feel him starting to drag me away, but my newfound fury has turned into an incredible strength I didn't know I was capable of. I stay rooted in place.

"You know Roy wasn't even the true Beta. How convenient for him, right? Easy access to power. You didn't even question how your best friend was accused and thrown in prison, did you?"

"No, because there was hard evidence against him," he says.

"Given to you by who?"

He looks uneasily at me, because we both know who gave him that evidence: Roy himself.

"You were blinded by the idea that your best friend had betrayed you and Erica's death. You didn't see what even I could see. Roy played both you and Alan like a fiddle and not once did you see that. You know why I left? I knew the truth. I knew what he did, and I knew he had you so screwed up that you wouldn't believe a damn word I said. And the sad part is, I still don't think you'll believe me."

"Alpha, we need to take care of these intruders before we entertain this girl," Roy says. I flinch from his vice grip.

When I look at Joshua, I can't help but feel a dollop of victory somewhere amongst the rage. He's finally looking at Roy like he really sees him—past all the deceitful words and actions, he sees his true face, the face of a psychotic, power-hungry murderer.

But there's also apprehension. He doesn't want to believe me, yet he isn't going to take any chances. "Release her," Joshua demands.

"What? You can't let her go, she's practically spewing blasphemy-"

"Let. Her. Go." His tone is cold and commanding, the voice of an Alpha.

I feel the twitch in Roy's hand before it happened. The piercing of my skin, unmistakably by his protruding claws. I had a thought to move, but I wasn't quick enough. And then his hand went around my neck, digging the claws into my skin, four fingers on one side, his thumb on the other. The perfect position to rip my throat out.

He drew blood quickly, and I would have screamed had it not of been so difficult to do. I waited for him to finish it, to simply flick his wrist and end my life, but it never happened. There was only the steady pain of his nails in my skin.

***

I never said a word about what was happening.

I could see it, and Erica could see it too. Something wasn't right about the Beta's brother, Roy. He was getting too friendly to Joshua, completely brown-nosing. He would give my sister and I looks that we couldn't decipher. Alan didn't want him around, but somehow he would always turn up.

Then he started becoming more aggressive, in the sense that he would almost never leave Joshua's side. He would try and fill in for Alan when he was gone for even a minute. And Joshua was blind to it all.

Erica didn't want to say anything. She had complete faith in her mate. He knew what was happening; surely nothing like this could go by unnoticed.

But the thing was that Roy was alarmingly charming. Even I almost fell for it once, when he had tried talking me out of my pants when I was sixteen. I never even told Erica that, but ever since then I got a bad vibe from him. Erica was just intuitive. We were the only ones who felt something was wrong.

It wasn't until Alan came to us. Something was fishy, he said. His brother had always been bigheaded and power hungry, but he never did much. He was planning something, he just didn't know what.

Erica took matters into her own hands.

She convinced Roy to a meeting.

And she never came back.

It was early morning the next day when Joshua shook me awake. Erica had been gone all night and she hadn't come home yet. I lied through my teeth when I shouldn't have. I should have told him what I knew, but I didn't want to cause trouble. I thought Erica was handling the situation.

But later that afternoon, they found her body in the woods, lacerated and beaten. My world shattered and shook, part of me died, but I still didn't utter a word. I couldn't have, watching Joshua fall apart just as I was.

Roy offered his condolences. It was a shame, he said. Unacceptable and tragic, but he never once looked sad about it.

Joshua went on a rampage to find answers. Days passed, and it seemed no one knew anything. No one but me. I still couldn't say anything, letting the heartbreak consume me. I couldn't face Joshua, knowing I hadn't tried to stop her from going to that meeting, or that I still remained silent about it. I was scared—scared Joshua wouldn't believe me, scared that Roy had the same plans for me, scared that he would destroy everything.

Then Roy came out and said it: he knew Alan had something to do with it. Said he had gotten word a rogue had entered the territory, but he didn't do anything about it. It was that rouge that had ended Erica's life. And it was Alan's fault.

I didn't want to get my brother in trouble, Roy said. I wanted to protect him, but I realize what his actions have done. I can't stay silent any longer. I'm sorry.

Thus, Alan was removed from power and thrown in jail without so much as hesitation from Joshua. Alan went peacefully, and to this day I never understood that. Did he know it was futile? Or was he planning something himself? I didn't know, and I still don't know to this day.

I couldn't take all the deceit and the lies and the guilt, so like a coward I ran. I ran to Dusk Valley, stayed undercover, and I occasionally drifted to other packs as well, but always found myself back in Creek Run, working in Papa J's Café. I never knew why, until I met Carter of course.

And now I'm here, face-to-face with my sister's killer. And I refuse to stay silent this time.

I want to say it was difficult to get Neil and Alan out. I want to go into detail about how I channeled my inner spy and had to duck behind things and do those really cool somersaults. And when I got there, I picked the lock.

Of course, all this did happen. In my mind, anyways. While Waylon simply stuck a key in each lock and let them out, I was roundhouse kicking all the nonexistent villains in the face.

No. All that happened was Waylon made me stand guard as he got them out.

Everyone had essentially disappeared, making this way too easy to be fun. It's a good thing my life wasn't a movie, because it would have been really boring at this point.

Anyways, Neil came strutting out like he had completely expected this to happen, and he threw an arm around my shoulders. I was still mid-spy fantasy, and if it hadn't been for the fact that my reaction time was a little slow at that point, I would have totally kicked him in the face.

"I knew you couldn't stay away from me doll face," he says, and I simply glare at him in response. He squeezes my shoulders before releasing me, and he rubs his wrists, just under the silver cuffs. Mine are hanging out in my pocket, all banged up and useless. "Care to remove these Captain Jailbreak?" he asks, referring to Waylon, who unlocks Alan's cell door.

"Excuse me, I'm Captain Jailbreak," I say indigently. "He's more like the lieutenant of the keys."

Neil rolls his eyes, and holds out his wrists to Waylon, who looks down at them unsurely. Neil shakes both wrists impatiently, and Waylon glances at him a second longer before slipping the keys into his pocket. "Maybe later."

Neil is baffled, and I hold back a laugh. I can't blame Waylon, really. I mean, Neil isn't exactly someone you trust right off the bat, especially considering he just pulled him out of a prison cell. I don't even fully trust him, but he seems to know a little something about whatever soap opera shit is going down here.

"Come on!" Neil whines. "You're going to need more man-power than just you and Captain Jailbreak here."

I was going to retort, claiming that I have the strength of a dozen bodybuilders now, but then I remember I've been a werewolf for only a few days and prior to that I had the strength of cooked noodles.

Waylon considers this, then sighing, takes the keys out of his pocket. Smugly, Neil holds out his wrists again, but Waylon turns his back on him and removes Alan's instead.

"I'm getting the feeling you don't trust me," Neil says, and then turns to me. "I think he doesn't trust me."

I shrug. "I don't really blame him. But hey, at least he let you out."

He grumbles something under his breath, "And I thought you were the trusting one," and Waylon sticks Alan's cuffs somewhere out of sight, although it doesn't matter much, because the stinging smell of silver is still clear as day. Alan rubs his wrists, and both Waylon and I eye him carefully, just in case.

"Well? Where to?" Alan asks.

"And why was this so easy?" Neil adds.

Waylon looks to me for the briefest second, and I tilt my head slightly in question. He doesn't keep eye contact long enough to see. "Some wolves crossed pack lines a little bit ago."

"And they needed everyone for that?" Neil asks skeptically.

It isn't until Neil says that that I actually stop and think about it. Waylon told me before, but I was too focused on getting out that I hadn't paid it much attention. Now that I was, the issue was blatantly obvious. People had crossed lines, only a day after I talked to Cayton, and they need more than enough people to control the situation-

The color drained from my face.

"Please tell me it's not what I'm thinking."

Waylon looks at me again, pursing his lips slightly.

"Oh shit, lover boy got in, didn't he? Nice," Neil chimes in, and I swear I harness the power of Death himself to send a glare in his direction. He holds his hands up towards me.

"I reckon both of those chuckle heads came, didn't they?" Alan asks. "The Alpha and Beta."

"As far as I know," Waylon says apprehensively.

"But-but that can't be right. Cayton may be kind of irrational sometimes, but he isn't stupid-"

"Well, it was the Beta that came in first, a little before the Alpha. I'd say he was chasing him."

I rub my face with both hands. "He's after Bethany. Probably didn't think. He's an idiot!" I sigh. "I swear to god if someone doesn't tell me why this whole mate thing makes you guys so-so-stupid-"

"Well, doll face, it has a lot to do with evolution and survival of the fittest, and a little to do with 'the birds and the bees'," Neil says, throwing an arm around my shoulders, which I quickly hit away. "Which is why I'm happy to die alone if I need to."

I ignore Neil, consider having Waylon throw him back in his cell, and come up with a quick plan. It's probably not going to work. It's probably going to end bloody. And it may or may not be the smartest way to handle it, but it's all I've got.

"We need to get to Bethany first," I say, and although Wolfette whines inside my head, adamant on finding Cayton first, I know nothing is going to stop Carter from getting to Bethany, and if we have her, at least we can draw him away from Joshua and stop him for doing anything else reckless.

"If we're gonna do that, I do believe we might have to fight our way through," Neil says, grinning, and once again holding out his wrists. "I happen to be a world class wrestler."

"Yea, maybe in the showers," I say.

He flips me off, and Waylon shakes his head. "I think we need to focus on getting out without drawing attention to ourselves, while we still have the chance. I think the Beta is already on the 'get Bethany' part."

"Yea, well, he'll be on the 'getting someone killed' part if he does."

"We're going to be on the 'getting someone killed' part if we do."

"Better him than them," I say, pointing to Neil.

"OK, am I the punching bag of this group? I resign," he whines.

"I'm kidding. But if we get Bethany, that stops Carter from being on the 'getting someone killed' part."

"What about the 'get the hell out of dodge' part?"

"Is talking in 'parts' some new trendy thing among you kids these days?" Alan asks.

"I'm going after Bethany," I finally say. "You can help me, or you can lead Thing One and Thing Dumb out. I'm like a shadow. I'll get in and get out with Bethany and all will be right in the world."

"What kind of shitty fantasy movie have you been living in?" Neil asks. "And I'm Thing One, right?"

"Are you coming or not?" I sigh in annoyance.

They all share looks. I cross my arms impatiently, getting uneasy the longer we stand around talking. The sooner I get to Bethany, the better.

Alan is the first to speak. "Well, I have a bone to pick with my brother. I'm staying." I nod, then switch between looking at Neil and Waylon.

"I feel like the only way I'm getting these damn cuffs off is if I agree with whatever Lieutenant here says," Neil says, and then all eyes are on Waylon. He looks at all of us, and I look at him, silently begging him to stick with me on this one. Because, frankly, I can't do it alone.

"Fine," he relents, and I let out a content breath. "But, we do it my way. I know the land's layout and I know where everyone is."

I nod, mock-saluting him. "I respectfully turn over my title as Captain to you."

"Great. Now let me out of these damn cuffs."

*

The only flaw in our plan was that I was completely left out of it.

We were all in werewolf form—god, I'll never get used to that. It had taken me forever to figure out how to shift, but I technically still don't know how. They tried explaining it to me, but I couldn't do it, so I got frustrated, and then I got even more frustrated, to the point where I was so angry I just shifted.

Anyways, Waylon and Alan and Neil are all from the same pack, so they already have an 'established mind-link' or whatever, so they're communicating easily, while I'm trying to figure out what to do through some form of werewolf sign language. I thought they meant go left when really they meant go right; walk carefully and slowly when they actually meant take off; and I ran into a tree trying to decipher whatever Waylon's wolfy eyes were saying.

Currently, we're all stalking through the woods, en route to Joshua's house. Waylon said it was a good distance away, and so far it's been fifteen minutes, with us alternating between running and creeping slowly. There have been a few times we've ran into groups of people, all running around like crazy and trying to find the intruders.

They didn't pay much attention to us. The guys had the scent of Midnight Fire wolves, and they all practically crushed me between them when someone came by to drown out my scent so no one really gave us a second look. I was hoping they wouldn't catch a whiff of the silver cuffs, still in my pants pocket, which I have held in my mouth so I can wear when I shift back.

I see Waylon's blond wolf sharing a look with Alan's dark copper wolf, and Alan nods. I still haven't really let go of the frustration from my incompetence with shifting, and the fact that I have no idea what's going on only frustrates me more.

I focus on matching my movements to theirs, but my mind is off trying to break down that brick wall between Cayton and I with a jackhammer. If that idiot is running around somewhere in Midnight Fire territory, the least he could give me is a courtesy call, maybe a little "Hey, I'm not dead, just making sure you aren't either."

Once again I'm quickly surrounded, somewhere between dark and light fur, staring at a fluffy tail. I want to comment on the fluffiness of Neil's tail, but I can't so I settle for playing out the conversation in my head as a form of entertainment.

Then we're moving on again.

I huff, looking down at my paws as they pad over the leaves and sticks and dirt, thinking about maybe getting a manicure-pedicure-whatever, and when I look up I see it. And by it, I mean a large, dark wolf making a beeline for the same direction we're headed.

My new super sense of smell kicks in, and I catch the same pleasant scent that comes along with Bethany that marks someone as a Dusk Valley wolf. And without thinking, I take off after the running wolf.

I hear a yap behind me, from Waylon probably, but I need to get to that wolf fast. He's faster than me, but I come in from an angle and make sure we're going to meet at the same spot. And we do, in a flurry of kicked-up leaves, fur and angry growls.

Gotcha.