Gabriel stood back and dropped the bullet into an empty ashtray. He took the dish of white powder from Tanya and sprinkled some into the hole. Sky had placed a stack of swabs and gauze onto the table next to Gabriel, and he covered the hole in the girl’s stomach.

“She’ll be fine by morning. It was a regular slug she got hit by,” Gabriel said. “She was lucky.”

The bearded guy had given Gabriel the impression he was happy. Yet without seeing his mouth, Gabriel couldn’t tell if he'd smiled or not. Two others waited, and Gabriel noticed one was the barmaid. He glanced at her, and he saw the look in her eyes that she was scared. She wanted him to help her first.

He put his fingers on the wound of the blonde and then the barmaid. “This one first, I can feel it’ll be worse if I don’t get it out now,” he said. The bikers lifted Jemma onto the table, and Gabriel poured whiskey over her wound. “This is gonna hurt like a motherfucker.”

“Gab, I had a kid that came out sideways. This bullet’s nothing compared to that feeling,” Jemma said, with a nervous laugh through gritted teeth.

“It’s pretty deep, I’m gonna need to dig,” he said.

“Hurry up and fucking do it before I burn up, will ya?”

Gabriel pushed his fingers at the side of the hole. He held the forceps between his fingers and drove them straight down into Jemma’s hip. He felt the forceps push past the bone. He spread his fingers and felt the tip of the forceps hit the metal of the bullet. He twisted his hand as blood oozed from the hole.

“Tanya, wash that blood away,” he yelled as Tanya tipped the whiskey bottle above the hole. Whiskey and blood washed over the table and dripped onto the floor. Gabriel sensed that all the bikers had their eyes fixed on him and what he was doing. He didn’t know who Jemma’s guy was, but he sensed she meant a lot to the gang.

Gabriel pushed the open forceps another inch. Jemma raised her head and screamed like a banshee. His fingers closed and then he eased the bullet from the hole. He dropped it into the ashtray. He turned it over as Tanya doused the wound in whiskey and sprinkled antibiotic powder into the hole. She covered the hole as Jemma’s head hit the table and she blacked out. Gabriel picked up the bullet. The pack members gasped as he washed it off with whiskey.

“Jemma, I think you're r—,” he started to say, before he noticed she was unconscious. Gabriel turned to the bearded guy. “I think fate has landed in Jemma’s hands, but it’ll be a while before it heals.”

“Why do you say that?” the bearded guy asked.

Gabriel grinned as the last girl was laid onto the table. He picked up the bottle and poured. “That bullet’s one of a kind,” he said. “Whoever made them, either ran out of silver —or just started using silver. It’s a mix of both. She’s had a diluted exposure to silver, so, if you keep it clean, she’ll be fine.”

“Well, you’ve got one to go, and you're done. We don’t know how to thank you,” the bearded guy added.

Gabriel dropped the last bullet into the ashtray and looked back at him. “You can thank me by remembering my name; it’s Gabriel. And when this war starts, I might have to call on your help,” he said.

“Wherever or whenever —you only have to ask for Shadow, and we’ll be there for you,” Shadow said.

“I didn’t take you for a shadowy type,” Gabriel said with a laugh.

“It’s a wolf thing, I lay there on the edge of darkness waiting to swallow anything I fall on,” Shadow explained.

Gabriel nodded. “I suppose it was either Shadow or Midnight, then?” he asked.

Shadow looked at Gabriel. “We had a Midnight, and she passed away,” Shadow explained.

“How did she get the name? Was it for the same reason?” Gabriel asked.

Shadow laughed. He put his hand on Gabriel's shoulder and leaned in close. Declan felt his beard tickle his neck. “She loved to fuck under a full moon at midnight!”

“Oh,” Gabriel said. “I would’ve loved to meet her.” Tanya dug her nails into Gabriel's back as he made the comment. “I mean, she was awesome, I bet.”

Now I know what reaction I’d get watching the stripper. Wolf with benefits, my ass.

“Where’s the rest of your pack?” Shadow asked.

Oh, fuck. How do I get out of this question?

Gabriel gulped and froze for a second or two. Tanya stepped forward and leaned on Gabriel's shoulder. “We’re part of the pack at the Towers. It’s a long story and not one to bore you with. We’ve decided on some time away from them. You know how pack tension gets sometimes,” Tanya explained. “We took the opportunity to do some recon for this war that’s coming, and you seem to have (by default), done half of the job for us.”

“I’ll tell you something, we’ve always managed to keep away from the hunters. That’s half the reason we go early. But these were waiting, and if they were only a scouting party, then all the packs in this area are in deep shit,” Shadow said. “If we don’t sort them once and for all, I reckon they could wipe the country clean.”

“I hear ya, and I’ll get the message back to my alpha at the Towers. I know he’s prepping, so we all have to stick together like brothers,” Gabriel said. “Now, let’s get some beers and have a good time.”

“These are on the house. I think the owner would insist,” Shadow pressed.

Gabriel looked around the bar. “Who is the owner, anyway?” he asked.

“You just saved her life. It’s Jemma.”

“We’re gonna sit down. Get Sky to bring our beers over,” Gabriel said.

“Not a problem.”

Gabriel and Tanya walked back to their table. Gabriel looked at Tanya. The noise of the bar faded into the background as he turned his back. “I know it’s gonna cause some shit, but I’m gonna have to speak to Declan. There's too much information not to share,” he said.

“Gab, you know Declan, and he isn’t gonna take lightly to you walking into the Towers, not after you wanting to kill him,” she said, as Gabriel chuckled. “What’s so funny?”

“I wasn’t planning on killing him. I was really pissed he'd shown me up. It all backfired on me, and now look at me,” he explained.

“It’s that damn ego of yours. You split the pack, and you’ve lost your best friend. Is there no stopping you from putting your foot in it?” Tanya asked.

“You know, I think that —if by some miracle I end up as a wolf again, then this venture as a human will have humbled me. I've learned I’m not the be all and end all. I’m not alpha material, and I have to accept that,” Gabriel said, in honesty.

“Gab, now you understand your weaknesses I think you can do nothing but become stronger. You must be doing something right, half the pack has stuck by you,” Tanya explained. “And you’ve just saved three lives, and how many humans would do that?”

Gabriel felt a tear in his eye. Damn, she hit my soft spot. He sat straight as Sky plonked a large tray of beers onto the table. “Courtesy of the house,” he said.

“Let me know when Jemma’s awake. I want to speak to her,” Gabriel said.

Sky lifted the empty tray and placed it under his arm. “Funny you should say that, she came around long enough to say the same thing.”

* * *

Declan pulled the last few petals off the third plant. He dropped them into a Ziploc and placed them inside the black canvas bag he'd slung over his shoulder. He slipped it off and handed it to Noelle.

“My turn to drive, you said?”

Noelle nodded as she strapped herself into the passenger seat. Declan started the engine and drove back from the foothills to the cow fields. He felt the gush of fresh air in his face and his eyes streamed with the wind that blew hard into their faces. The large house appeared on the horizon, and he saw that the lights had started to light the garden. He pulled the buggy into the garage, and they stepped inside it.

“Hey, you two. Who said you could take my buggy out for a spin,” Garrett asked with a furious tone.

“Will you relax Dad, everything’s cool,” Noelle replied.

“Young girl, why do you keep calling me ‘Dad?’ I don’t know you… but he seems familiar,” Garrett said as he pointed his finger at Declan.

“That’s Declan, Dad. You know him from Clifton Towers,” Noelle explained.

“I know that place. It’s in town, with all those apartments,” he said. “What you got there? Is that the lock from the gate, how did you open that?”

“Dad, the code is my birthday. You must remember that?” Noelle asked.

Garret huffed and looked out of the garage. The sun had started to set, and the darkness started to draw in. He sighed as he turned to Noelle and Declan. “Can I help you two, are you lost?” he said as he walked back into the house.

“Screwed, totally fucking screwed, the both of them,” Noelle remarked.

“If this tea works like it’s supposed to, you could have your parents back by the morning. Then we might have our hands full.”

Noelle led Declan to the kitchen. Her mom wandered around the dining area. “We have guests,” she muttered as she turned to the sound of Noelle. “There you are, I thought you’d gone out. Are you staying for dinner?” she asked.

“Mom, go and sit with dad and we’ll make you a nice cup of tea,” Noelle said.

Abigail looked at Declan. “I know you, you are —you are —don’t tell me, what’s his name, crap. I forgot your name sonny,” Abigail said.

“Declan.”

“Declan who, sonny?”

“My name, I’m Declan,” Declan said.

“Yes, you are. But I don’t like that Declan character. He’s bad,” Abigail said as she walked to the living room. “Tea you say. That will be nice.”

“I fucking hope this works. They might hate you and go back to being hunters, but Jesus, seeing them like this is painful,” Noelle said as tears welled up in her eyes.

“I’ve got faith in Judy. If it hadn’t been for her and her grandmothers, I’d still be lost,” Declan replied.

Noelle put the bag onto the kitchen counter and pulled out the plastic bags from the black bag. She spread them out on the marble counter. She held up the plants and roots. “How do we get oil from these?”

“I think the easiest way is in a blender, and then squeeze the pulp,” Declan said. Noelle ducked under the kitchen counter and stood with a blender in her hands.

“Will this do?” she asked. She opened the top and pushed the plug into the socket. Declan nodded as he pulled on the rubber gloves and pulled the plants from the plastic and forced them into the glass pot of the blender.

He turned to Noelle. “Do you want to take over? I’ve never used one of these before,” he said, with a cute, cheeky grin. Noelle screwed on the top and hit the pulse button. The plants spun as the motor whirred. Declan stood and watched as the plants turned to mush, and the inside of the container went a weird, orange-yellow.

Declan smiled. “Judy said the oil was yellow, so that must be it. Get me a glass, and I’ll squeeze the life out of it.”

Noelle handed Declan a glass tumbler as he removed the lid and scooped the mush into his hands. Noelle grabbed a small saucepan, and half-filled it with water. She popped it on the stove and waited for the water to boil.

“How many leaves?” she asked.

Declan turned with a screwed-up face as he squeezed the oil from the mushy plants. “Ten of each,” he replied as he watched the glass fill with yellow oil and bits of mush that slipped through his fingers. “We’ll have to filter this. I don’t think they’ll drink it with all this crap floating around,” he said, with a laugh.

Noelle pulled the drawer open and rummaged through the kitchen utensils. She held up a small strainer and grinned. Declan dropped the dried mush back into the blender and grabbed a tablespoon. He stepped over to the stove and spooned two tablespoons of the liquid into the pan. He stirred the liquid as it simmered.

“Thirty minutes she said.” Declan dropped the spoon back into the glass.

“Watch it, and clean this mess up. I’m gonna go and have a look at my room,” Noelle said.

“It won’t be the same. Didn’t you say Edmund had wiped all traces of you?” Declan asked.

“There was something that Edmund didn’t know.” Declan frowned at her remark. “I had my room, but half of the time I didn’t sleep in that one. It was too pink, so I used another room. That Edmund wouldn’t know, and unless his team went through every room, I should still have things there. Namely, some silver.”

“That’s funny. I never saw you as a pink girl. More of a black and chrome —with a bit of red thrown in,” Declan added, with a loud laugh.

“You better believe it. Queen of the night. Hunter extreme, or I used to be; not anymore. I’m pro-wolf. ‘Go-Wolf! Go-Wolf!’” Noelle yelled with a raised fist.

Noelle left the kitchen, and Declan cleaned all the mess and stood with his eyes fixed on the bubbles as the pan simmered. His concentration was fixed, yet his mind went to what Noelle had just said…

Pro-wolf maybe, but how would the pack accept her, if they ever would? She'd said she couldn't be an alpha mate because she was human. But why couldn’t she? Who made the rules on who could, and who couldn’t be a mate? Declan sighed and stirred. Questions filled his head that he couldn’t answer. He needed guidance from some very wise heads. Two sprung into his mind, and it was the same two, like always. Dustin and Maria. They'd given good advice in the past, no matter what he'd asked. Dustin had led his pack for years and lived an open life without conforming. Maria had a similar approach to life and accepted what happened, whatever that might be. Declan decided he would have a deep conversation once he had a chance to get them both together.

Declan looked at his watch. It had been a little over twenty minutes that the tea had boiled for. He opened the cupboards and looked for a teapot. It crossed his mind —Judy hadn’t told him how much Noelle's parents needed to drink, or how quickly it would start to work. What Declan guessed, was that Noelle and he had to stay with her parents.

Noelle stomped into the kitchen with a smile on her face as she held a handful of silver necklaces and a palm full of silver rings. “You think this is enough?” she asked, as she waved them at Declan.

“That isn’t funny you know. You want me to go up in a puff of smoke?” he remarked. He looked at his watch and turned the stove off. “Put that stuff out of the way. The tea’s ready.”

Noelle held the strainer over the teapot as Declan poured the liquid from the saucepan into the filter. “I know I’m a coffee man, but this smells kinda nice,” he said.

“I was thinking the same, but unless you want to crap yourself and make a puddle in your pants, I wouldn’t touch it, if I were you,” Noelle replied. Noelle grabbed a tray, and two cups with the teapot sat in the center of the tray. “Do you want to carry it in,” Noelle asked. “No, only kidding, the tray has silver in it, as well.”

“You’re not funny,” said Declan.

Noelle walked into the living room where her mom and dad sat. “Tea’s up, and it smells good.” She put the tray on the table.

“Thank you,” Abigail replied. “Are you having a cup?”

Noelle smiled. “Our drinks are in the kitchen. We’ll leave you both to it.”

Noelle and Declan stood back as Abigail poured the tea. Garrett picked up his cup and saucer and sipped. “Abby, this tastes just wonderful. It has a really nice kick to it.” Noelle grimaced as she pictured her mom and dad in a few hours, heaving and spending time getting rid of the waste, later on.

“We are going to bed. We’ll see you in the morning,” Noelle said as she led Declan to the stairs. “Call us if you need anything. Oh, and make sure you have plenty of water.”

“Goodnight,” Garret said as he stared at Abigail. “Did you burp dear?”

Noel stared at Declan. “Move your ass, quickly. I think it’s started already.”

“Wanting to be someone else is just a waste of who you are.”