Garrett had cleaned all the guns in his secret room. He'd made good use of the wet weather to take his time. It had been months since he'd cleaned them, and he'd forgotten how some of them went back together. Before his memory loss, he could have assembled them blindfolded, yet now, he could only manage it with major concentration.

Abigail hadn’t let it rest about Noelle and her foul language, and she had made a point to remind Garrett she was not (at all) pleased that it was he who had taught Noelle to curse so badly.

“Here’s your coffee.” Abigail put the cup on the table and walked to the window of the study. Her head pushed close to the glass as she watched the waterlogged garden. Her flowerbeds had-all but vanished under the torrential downpour that had fallen over them for two days straight.

“Abby, this rain might have done us a favor,” Garrett said as he stepped from his room wiping his hands on an old rag. “We have had a chance to get the ammo made without setting us back and losing us any time.”

“So, we can get these wolves and put them all on the ground and get our daughter back, is that what you’re trying to tell me?” Abigail asked as she turned her back to the window.

Garrett walked to his favorite chair and sat with his cup wrapped tightly around his fingers. He sipped and slurped and then looked up to Abigail. He felt slightly strange that she'd fallen into the life of a hunter’s wife. They'd been married for over twenty years and they'd always been by each other’s side.

Garrett had started to hunt for fun when he'd attended college, and as a real obscure ice-breaker, he'd asked Abigail if she wanted to tag along. It had shocked him at the time, but she'd been a natural —and it had been easy to see why Noelle had followed in their footsteps. Noelle had been the spitting image of Abigail when she was younger. No fear, and with “balls” bigger than half of the men that she'd trained and hunted with.

Garrett knew. If Abigail wanted Noelle to come home, it was a task that wouldn’t be easy. “You know Noelle’s a stubborn little lady,” Garrett said as he popped open the cap of his hip flask and poured a drop of whiskey into his coffee. “And she won’t come back if she has the chance to hang onto a love affair with that Declan guy. What a motherfucking bitch of a situation this is.”

“Yeah, I know, and I do wish you wouldn’t curse for the sake of it. Her mouth’s like a gutter, and she said she got it all from you,” Abigail commented. “You should’ve been more tactful.” Garrett sipped on his homemade Irish coffee and grinned.

“It’s not that easy, you should know that. You can’t say kill that wolf will you please,” he said, with a belly full of giggles. “It’s much easier to yell, ‘Kill that motherfucker now!’ Can you see the difference?” Abigail shook her head as she stepped further into the room.

“You’re too damned literal, do you know that?”

“I tell it as I see it, and you never complained before when we were at college,” he replied. “And, if I remember right, you used to curse yourself, on some occasions.” Garrett grinned as he watched Abigail’s face change as she tried to think when she’d cursed.

“When did I curse? I've always watched my tongue.”

Garret put his cup on his desk. He knew he could land himself with a slap in the minutes that followed. He faced Abigail. “I’ll give you an example,” he said. “Fuck me, fuck me harder. Garrett, FUCK ME!”

“Jesus Garrett, is that the only time you could think of, that I cursed?” she asked. “I thought you were going to give me a better example.” Abigail sauntered past Garrett, yet she'd not slapped him as he’d expected. He shrugged his shoulders as he watched her make her way to the study door. She turned and smiled back at him as he watched her over the rim of his cup.

“Garrett. If you get that smell of gun oil off your fingers, we could listen to me curse again,” Abigail muttered as Garrett spat his coffee back into his cup.

It had been a long time since they’d had sex. Almost eight months, to be exact. Garrett had a sense bashfulness wash over him. He felt like a born-again virgin —or a guy who’d been on death row for years and hadn’t touched a woman.

Abigail smiled. “So, I’m going upstairs, and I'll lay on the bed. If you want to join me, you are more than welcome.”

“I’ll finish up here, and then I’ll be up for a shower.”

“You know something Garrett,” Abigail said as she watched him shake his head in response to her question.

“No, what is it?”

“I’m going to swear a lot, most probably.”

Garrett gave a wide smile. “I will try and make sure you do!”

Abigail paused in the doorway and pulled her floral-patterned housecoat and bared her leg. Garrett licked his lips as he feasted his eyes on her slender form. “You’re sexy!” Abigail said, and she vanished around the corner of the study wall.

Garret wiped his hands and pushed the switch inside the bookshelf. The door swung closed, and he walked toward the study door. His fingers reached for the switch. Garrett turned his head as the phone started to ring. His mind went to Abigail who’d be laid on the bed; or the call. Which would be more important.

“Fuck it,” he mumbled. His fingers pushed the switch. “The call can’t be that important. I’m on a well-overdue date.”

* * *

“Two days and sixteen hours,” Maria said as she showed Declan her finger that had cleared up, altogether. “That was how long it took, and I've been taking the supplements three times a day with a double dose.”

“Have you had any side effects?” Noelle asked, curiously.

“None at all, or maybe I feel as if I have more energy. Apart from that nothing,” she replied. “Where’s that silver? I really want to try again.”

“What happens if it doesn’t work?” Noelle asked, becoming concerned.

“I’ll be pissed. Those supplements aren’t cheap, you know,” Maria said with a smirk. “So, where’s the bag?”

Declan leaned forward on his (now) non-squeaky chair and reached into the bottom drawer of his desk. He pulled the strap of the black bag and placed it in front of Noelle. “Do you want to do the honors?” he asked. “Tip it on the desk again, and we’ll see how well we’ve done.”

Noelle pulled at the zipper of the bag. She could hear the silver as it fell over itself inside the bag. She grabbed hold of the bottom and tipped the contents onto the desk. Declan leaned back as a silver ring rolled toward his side of the desk. He might be immune, but it would be foolhardy to take it for granted. Maria stepped away from the desk as Noelle picked up the bundle of silver chains, she relished the fact she could pick up the silver without being affected. She grinned at Declan and Maria in a, I’m better than you sort of way.

“Put it down, I’m going to do it again,” Maria said as Noelle placed the silver back onto the desk. Maria looked through the chains and trinkets. She spotted the one she touched last time. “That one. Pull it out. I want to keep it the same.”

Noelle pulled the silver chain that had a small heart hung on it. Her mind flashed back to her fourteenth birthday when her mom and dad had bought it as part of her gift. The other part of her gift had been her first rifle. Her dad had it custom made to fit her tiny frame. She placed the chain onto the desk as Maria swallowed a deep breath. Her finger touched her heart as she waited for the smoke —or the pain, to start.

One Mississippi, two Mississippi… ten Mississippi.

Maria pulled her finger away and shook her hand. “FUCK!”

“It hurts?” Noelle asked.

“Cold water, where’s the faucet. We did it in your apartment, come on, let's go!” Maria walked to the office door and blew on the tip of her finger while she twisted the door handle and made a dash for the large staircase.

Declan and Noelle followed, and Maria already had her finger under running water as they arrived. She'd placed her watch on the counter and stared at the second hand as it moved around the black and gold face.

“How does it feel now?” Declan asked.

“I don’t think it hurts as much, but I think it will be the healing time that will be different —if it works,” she replied. “As I said, I’d prefer pain over death, any damn day.”

“Have you ever burned yourself?” Declan asked Maria.

She nodded. “Yeah, I burned myself in the kitchen on a hot skillet once,” she replied.

“After you had been turned and not as a human?”

Maria nodded again. “Yeah. It was in Dustin's camp. The skillet was on the fire, and I reached to push a log onto the fire. My arm touched.”

“How long before that healed?” Declan asked.

Maria curled her lip as she tried to remember back to that time. “A few hours maximum, maybe three,” she replied. “Why do you ask?”

“We should’ve burned you before doing this test, we’d have had a good benchmark then,” Declan explained. “We now have between three hours and… two days and sixteen hours. Anywhere in-between is a success, I think.”

“If it’s in the lower region, it is a resounding success, but if it’s two days and over, I don’t think it’s any benefit to take the supplements, really.”

Noelle walked over to the sink. She sighed as she looked at Maria’s finger. “Did you realize that you don’t have your finger under the water?” she asked. Maria turned her head to look. She had moved her hand as she'd turned to talk to Declan.

“It doesn’t hurt now, it throbs, so that’s a good sign and it’s been… um,” she replied, looking at her watch, “eighteen minutes.”

“Good,” said Declan.

“I’ll finish with the water. I want to speak to Dustin and run over the plan for when we face the hunters. If I see any changes in my finger, I'll come and let you know,” she said as she stood and grabbed ahold of her watch.

Declan looked at Maria. “What time is it?”

“Nine. Why?”

“I almost forgot, we have a pack meeting at ten thirty. I'm going to inform the pack about Noelle and the possibility of her being my alpha mate at some point.”

“I’m not sure what reaction you’re going to get this time. It might be better because Noelle did give everyone a list of places where the hunters visit,” she replied. “A few have been hunting and had no clashes, so that’s a good thing.”

“Go and see Dustin and then we’ll see you in the basement just before ten thirty.”

Maria nodded and walked to the apartment door without much notice of her burned finger. Declan could see already that the supplements would help, even if they didn’t prevent death.

Declan rubbed his eyes. Noelle could see he looked tired. He had an enormous amount on his plate to deal with, and it had started to take its toll. Noelle could see he needed to hunt and make a kill. He would reenergize himself as the warm, salty blood slipped down his throat and filled his body with nutrients. The type of nutrients that only a living animal could give.

“Have a rest for an hour,” Noelle said. “Let’s go and have a lay down on the bed.”

Declan kicked off his boots and entered the bedroom. He crawled onto his bed and closed his eyes. Noelle watched him as his eyelids fluttered and his hands and feet twitched like a dog when he dreamed. She could see Declan had fallen asleep and it was apparent he was dreaming of his inner wolf running around in the forest. Noelle set the alarm and rested her head on her plumped-up pillow. She closed her eyes and thought of her upcoming training session with the pack. That was, if the rain ever stopped.

Declan was woken by the beep on the phone. He lifted himself and reached over Noelle to grab it. Twenty minutes and they had to be in the basement for the pack meeting. Noelle stirred and rolled over to throw her arm over Declan. He pushed her back and shook her to wake her.

“Pack meeting fifteen minutes,” he whispered, gently.

He got out of the bed, walked to the bathroom, swilled cold water over his face, and then ran wet fingers through his hair. He took a capful of mouthwash and swilled it around in his mouth. Noelle stumbled into the bathroom and Declan could see she had fallen into a deep sleep. Her eyes had reddened, and her hair had ruffled as if she'd been dragged through a bush. She swilled her face and looked at herself in the mirror.

Alpha mate material? Do you really think so? Oh boy!

The pack stood and waited in the basement as Declan and Noelle arrived. They were not late, and the pack would’ve frowned on that. In fact, it was the pack that arrived early, out of respect.

Declan stepped onto the stage as Noelle started to walk to the side. He grabbed ahold of her arm and pulled her onto the stage next to him. He raised his hand and silence fell over the pack. “I think you all know why I've called this meeting. Or half the reason, anyway,” Declan began. “First up is the war that’s coming. Noelle's parents are back on our case, and they’ll be leading the hunters toward us.”

The pack booed, and Noelle recoiled in shock. She stood close to Declan who put his arm around her and pulled her closer to his side.

“This brings with it —a few, slight problems. One of which is, that Noelle's parents are not to be harmed in any way, shape, or form,” Declan yelled to more boos from some of the pack. “Does anyone have a problem?”

“Why is she so fucking special?” a female voice yelled from the darkness at the back of the crowd.

Declan stood up straight and tried to see who had called. “Why? Because I say so! This leads me to my second point.” He paused as the crowd silenced themselves. “Once this is over, and I know, some have concerns about me not having a mate. I've looked at all my options, and I return to one, and only one. There’s a strong possibility my choice will be Noelle.”

Gasps filled the basement at Declan's words. They knew he had a thing going on with her… but to choose her was purely unheard of. “She’s a fucking human, that isn’t on, man, ” a young, male voice yelled.

“Why?”

“Because she is human,” the voice boomed in reply.

“I can’t see who’s making these comments, yet your reasoning’s pretty lame, don’t you think?” Declan asked. “Noelle's ancestors started this human werewolf, love thing, so why should it be any different now? And if anything, it has been Noelle who has chosen to be with me, with us. She has chosen the pack over her own family.”

“Bullshit, you’re just saying that!”

The girl from reception stood forward and climbed onto the stage. She faced the crowd. “Hi everyone, my name’s Suzy. Many of you don’t know me, but I work at the reception desk, sometimes. I want to vouch for Noelle. I heard her on the phone to her mom,” Suzy said in a timid voice that was loud enough for all to hear. “What Declan has said is true, Noelle has chosen to be with Declan —and the pack.”

“He put you up to this,” the voice yelled.

Suzy started to become irate that she'd been challenged. “I have the balls to show my face and speak, you can only shout from the shadows.” The voice never replied, and silence fell at the back of the pack.

“If the rain stops, we are back in the forest, tomorrow. And as you all know, the area surrounding the rocks is the place chosen for the fight to take place. Nowhere else, we have to get the hunters into the open and exposed. We have a backup who will bring up the rear, and the person in charge of this is Gabriel.”

The voice at the back boomed again as a few others cheered. “You must be fucking joking us, Gabriel’s a dickless fraud.”

Declan stood at the front of the stage. He inhaled and puffed his chest out hard. “It’s true, we had our falling out, which you all saw. That isn’t to say he’s not the best person to take care of that position. He has a gang of bikers following under his command. Don’t forget, he was my beta.”

Declan waited for a response. He heard mutters. Some were positive, and some were negative. But as he had said, Gabriel was probably the best person to have, even if he was human in form. What the pack hadn’t understood, was that Gabriel was all wolf, at heart.

“Are there any more questions?” Declan asked.

Noelle stepped away from Declan. “Yeah! I have a question. Why me?”

Declan looked deep into Noelle's eyes and sighed. “You complete me. You’ve seen both sides, and you understand what I want to achieve.”

“Okay,” Noelle said as she stepped back alongside Declan.

“Anything else before we finish?”

Maria called from the side of the stage “Yes, I have something to add,” she said as she faced the pack. “I have found something that can help us with the effects of silver.” She rubbed her finger with her thumb.

“You have a cure?” a girl asked.

“No, there’s no cure. Not now that Edmund’s dead. Mine only helps minor wounds heal quicker. It still hurts like a bitch, but a wound will heal. Many of you saw how Cassidy suffered, but now we can heal quicker. As I said, a deadly shot is exactly that —a deadly shot.”

“How do you know it works, and what is it?” the girl yelled again as other members of the pack muttered.

“I've tried it on myself. I had a silver burn. It took nearly three days to heal. The second time…” Maria started to say as she looked at her watch, “has taken three hours, but this was a small burn.”

“How long for a big wound to heal?” the member of the pack asked.

“Your guess is as good as mine. I just want us all to take these supplements in a double dose, for now. We will order them and provide them free of charge. I can get them here tomorrow. So, when we are back from the forest, I'll hand them out.”

“Do we have to take them?” another man’s voice yelled.

“If you want to go weeks with a hole in you that burns like hell, no you don’t. If you want to heal with no infection spreading, then yes, you do.”

“Okay, that’s all I wanted to hear.”

“Is there anything else?” Declan asked, waiting.

A voice from the back of the pack yelled that Declan knew was Dustin. “What happens if we lose the battle?”

Declan raised his clenched fist in the air and screamed. “NO DEFEAT, NO DISHONOR!”

The pack cheered and said the words again, but this time, in unison, “NO DEFEAT, NO DISHONOR!”

“All war is a symptom of man’s failure as a thinking animal.”