For the most part Sarah and Keith had been supporting Aislinn being in the pack because Cullen so obviously wanted her there. He was the alpha and if he wanted this non-lycan outsider then whether they thought it was a good idea or not Keith and Sarah backed him. He so rarely asked the pack to just do something because he said so. Besides, she seemed to make him happy and they were his friends.Sarah and Keith had heard the edited version of Aislinn's story from Cullen during the elders' meeting. But hearing the detailed version from her own lips was much more compelling. They found themselves feeling for her and actually wanting to help.Brinah's eyes were wide and she looked as though she may cry. Aislinn tried to gloss over some things but Brinah seemed to have an innate sense of when she was skipping ahead and forced the extra information out. The only thing she was able to keep from her grandmother was the fact that Rafe had done something to 'change' her. She just couldn't bring

Mack knew it must be serious when Celia stopped herself from trying to get rid of him. He nodded and followed her out. He picked up on Ranaild's scent as they went and it only took him a minute to recognize Aislinn's as well. Everyone in the pack had caught the new girl's smell. She was weird. Hard to place. The rumors about her being 'not quite human' had everyone looking to get a wiff.Twice Ranaild almost saw them. Celia's heart was racing. She stood behind the newsstand and hid, waiting for him to keep going before continuing to follow him. "I can't believe it. He really is following her. That piece of coach.""What the hell is going on here Celia?" Mack asked with a growing fear of what she was going to say.Celia looked around the corner and seeing that Ranaild was moving again and watching Aislinn she pulled Mack along behind her and headed after them."I don't really know. Ranaild is following Aislinn. I don't know where Aislinn is going but it's all too weird," she said hurri

Brinah sat thinking. "That will allow me to make a compound that will counteract the one he's using. But that won't stop him. It will only make it harder for him." She thought some more. Cullen could see her mind working over what she had been told earlier. "If he's making weres then he has to have recreated something ancient. When I was still with the Circle that kind of alchemy wasn't practiced any longer. I know that in ancient times, when Rome threatened the Celts, the Circle created a compound that when mixed with animal blood and ingested over a period of time would give the person who drank it the characteristics of the animal that the blood came from. It was a lengthy and painful process. When it was completed the person was able to change into that animal. Hence all of you. It was done by a small group within our number that thought we should fight back. Seeing as we weren't fighters and Rome was so powerful they theorized that the only way for us to protect ourselves was to

There was a sound in the hallway and Aislinn looked up to see a disheveled, abused woman barely walking, being led by the arm down the hall. When Ranaild saw her he had to be held back in the entry way. Rafe knelt down next to Aislinn and spoke softly to her. "Look how weak they are. So attached to one another that they'll sacrifice their entire lives just to be together. They'll have nowhere to go now. And every time they look at each other they will know that he betrayed his pack to save her. They'll spend their lives running away, feeling guilt rack them, and all because lycans have a terribly misplaced idea of loyalty and love." Rafe stood up and sneered at them. "Pitiful."Elise was shoved into Ranaild's arms and they stood there holding each other. Elise's sobs could be heard all the way down the hall. The few lycans present could feel the pain that had been caused in them by what Rafe had done. Jenna appeared in the doorway. She was watching the couple and toying with a ring on

Brinah was torn between telling her that it was ignorant to go charging off to attack a place over the possibility that they may have taken one person captive and asking why they hadn't left yet. She opted for not causing any additional trouble. "So do you have the things I asked for? I'll need a kitchen. And there are a few other things that occur to me might be helpful. I'll get you a list of ingredients for those as well." She was wringing her hands and shifting her weight form foot to foot.Sarah rolled her eyes and took off out the door to handle other duties and left Keith to finish with Brinah.The Arnauk were drastically out of practice. It had been a couple decades since they had been on war footing. When Cullen had spoken to the elders after the failed mating everyone had left the meeting believing that Cullen would get it all under control. He always did. When the call for fighters to mobilize went out it took everyone off guard. Cullen was pissed and impatient. At one poin