Truce and Lies

Grant: employed again

I put the headphones on like my father gestured as Gayle did the same. I couldn't bear to glance down at the farmhouse, too heartbroken about what I was leaving behind.

"What the hell!" Gayle shouted. "You said Conor was the reasonable one. I see no reason we shouldn't wipe that damn pack off the map. He turned Tish!"

"What happened to him?" my father asked me.

"Stefa told him to come back here," I explained. "He's angry at her for dumping him here. Angry that she doesn't want to involve him in a clan war."

Conor had no idea how terrifying he had looked. His muscles had rippled as he held Tish, who should been able to get loose. He had shifted so quickly, I hadn't had any time to stop Gayle from shooting him, not that the bullets seemed to stop him. His eyes had still been orange when I had walked away, worried that I was leaving Tish to a fate much worse than being dissected by hunters. She had looked broken, and I couldn't help but feel that it was my fault. Aidan and I had made it seem like our pack was totally passive, but Conor had changed that viewpoint forever. The hunters would be on their guard now.

Conor hadn't seemed fazed by the gunshots, but I hoped that it wasn't just a front. He had just been tried to protect the pack, protect me.

"Will she be all right?" Gayle asked me.

"Tish? She should be. Conor has no reason to hurt her," I replied. "You shouldn't have threatened us. You should have just called me back."

"Yeah, well you shouldn't have told your father you don't want to be cured," Gayle told me. "Because then he called me and got involved. You haven't been a vampire longer than a couple months, how is it that you've dismantled your old worldview so completely? Is it that werewolf?"

I flinched when she said this. "You're not talking about curing werewolves," I said instead.

"Because they can live normal lives for most of the month," my father pointed out. "If Conor hadn't... In all the time I have known Conor, he has never done anything that has led me to believe he's dangerous."

I barked out a too loud laugh, my father and Gayle winced. "Conor might be the most dangerous of that pack," I said.

The flight was short back to Kalispell and then we transferred to a small plane. My father had a cooler of blood on the flight and I drained half the supply, worried that they would shoot me at the least bit provocation.

My father sat down across from me. "Is this too close?" he questioned.

"No, you're fine," I told him.

"Why didn't Aidan come?" he asked.

I shuddered, turning my head to watch our small plane prepare for take off. Once we started to taxi, I returned to the painful conversation at hand.

"Conor worried that you would hurt if I for some reason wouldn't cooperate," I said. "He's not wrong, Dad. I wish..." There was a lump in my throat that I had to swallow to keep speaking. "I wish he could have come. I'm calmer around Aidan. I don't think I'm an old enough vampire to be of much use to you."

My father looked uncomfortable in his seat; the first time I realized that I may have prematurely agreed to this.

"What? What did you do?" I questioned.

"Gayle got involved; it's out of my hands," he told me. "And she has been talking with your mother. We're headed to D.C."

"You're turning me into a lab rat?" I questioned skeptically.

"Not for long," my father promised. "Stefa is still a real threat. But your mother is a powerful woman who wants to test your limits. Gayle gave her a week."

"A week is a long time to kill me," I remarked. "Not that I'm in much position to have a choice."

The plane came off the ground and my stomach lurched. I had wanted to stay. I wanted to believe that my father wouldn't have forced my hand. No tears came to my eyes, though I wasn't certain I could cry as a vampire. My chest felt like I was dying all over again.

"Sasha isn't going to kill you," my father observed. "She has given her word to give you back in one piece."

I didn't respond. Who knew when I would get back to the pack? I had hoped vainly that my father and the hunters would want nothing to do with me, but I suppose I had shown too much use. I should have been more careful.

"And I'm sorry it ended like this," my father continued. "I didn't want to rip you away, but..."

I groaned. "No excuses, Dad. You did want me to come with you, you just hoped that you wouldn't have to force me and then have to feel bad about it. I would have stayed if I thought that the Chicago trip had been remotely successful."

"But it was," Gayle cut in the first time. "You proved that you could handle field work with supervision. All our previous concern that you couldn't handle the change has proven false. I get it; you ran because you thought we'd kill you."

She tossed me a badge from her seat.

"Welcome back," she said.