"I-I think I found something," I say, finger running over the withered page as I read over the passage again. My heart is pounding, and immediately think this is too good to be true. We have been looking for a way to reignite the mating bond between Henry and Rosalie for weeks. All of us have been trying, not daring to voice the doubting thoughts in our head. But we kept looking anyway, and it looks like it has finally paid off.

"Really?" Rosalie scoots over to me, peering down at the passage I'm staring at.

"There's a ritual that has to be done on the next full moon when you will have your greatest connection to your wolf. It says it has a higher chance of working if it's a heat moon, too."

"That's tonight," Noah says from across from us.

"I know."

Rosalie takes the book from me, eyes skimming over the page quickly. "I don't know if we are going to be able to get some of this stuff in time" Her hopeful look falls. "There is too much to do in so little time."

"We can do it," I tell her. Noah nods his head, reaching over to rest his hand on her knee. "We'll split the list of stuff between us, and we can all meet up before nightfall."

Rosalie still doesn't look confident, but she gives a small nod of her head. "Okay."

"Good." Taking the book, I run down the list of stuff. "Rosalie you get the first four, I'll get the middle four, and Noah, you get the last four."

They both nod.

"Meet at Taylor's tent? He'll need to know about this anyway."

"Yeah," Rosalie stands up, dusting off the back of her shorts. "I'll get Henry too, force him out of bed."

"Alright then."

We all stand there for a few seconds before Noah lets out a small laugh. "Okay, let's go already."

And we're off.

*****

The rest of the day passes too quickly for my liking. Elias is cranky since he is teething. He doesn't want to be put down, and since Rowan is off on a fishing trip with a few others, I have him all on my own.

The baby starts crying again, and looking down, I see him gumming at his fingers. I know he is hungry, but I still need to find one last item for the ritual tonight. Finding a rose is harder than I thought. None of the gardens have one, but one of the gardeners told me there may be some wild ones growing near the orchard. At least there were some last year, but he doesn't know if there are any in bloom at the moment.

Readjusting Elias in the sling, I start walking towards the orchard. The sun is getting close to setting. Time is running out, and I need to find those roses.

We have been working on this for weeks, trying to find a ritual that will reignite a mating bond between Henry and Rosalie, but maintaining the severance of the bond between Rowan and them. Who knows if this will even work, but it's worth a shot.

Rosalie has been more like her old self the past few weeks. She still gets that far away look in her eyes sometimes, but it doesn't happen nearly as often as before. It gives me hope that she is really healing.

Elias' whines start to pick up, his face scrunching up in pleasure.

"Hush, love," I whisper, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. He isn't placated, instead, only getting more frustrated. Knowing that he will just work himself up into an all out fit, I stop for a moment. It takes a lot of adjusting and maneuvering, but I manage to get my shirt pulled away enough for him to latch. After readjusting the sling to make sure that he is covered and comfortable I start to walk again. "Just a little longer, love, then we can go home, and you get to spend the night with your grandparents."

He mumbles something, blinking up at me with those big blue eyes of his. While the teething does make him cranky, it settles something inside me that he is able to be soothed by something only I can provide. I know that he won't be nursing forever, but I don't even want to think of when he will be weaned. Nursing him is something that I love, something that can calm both of us when we are stressed out.

"Now, where are those roses?" I mumble, eyes sweeping over the forest floor. The trees here are sparing, getting denser the closer you get to the hills the border the village. The grasses are tall, though, reaching my waist. It tickles my bare legs and makes me feel like I am in one of those everlasting dreams, the ones where you can't run fast enough, and you are not moving, no hope against whatever monster is closing in behind you.

The thought has my skin prickling, a feeling of foreboding washing over me. I hate going anywhere on my own. There are too many dangers out in the world. But I didn't really have a choice this time.

Just when I am contemplating turning around to look somewhere up, the grass starts to this out. It is only a few more yards until the grass is no taller than my shins.

And finally, I see the rose bushes that the gardener told me about. There are only four bushes, two pink, one white, and the other red. The ritual didn't specify a color, so I just hurry over to the white bush, the one that has the most blooms.

Elias is practically asleep by the time I have snipped a few of the roses, gently wrapped them in some cloth, and put them in my bag. He is still periodically nursing, though, so I don't bother to unlatch him. He'll just get worked up again, and I'll have a tired and cranky baby on my hands.

"Alright, let's get back home," I murmur, eyeing the sky. The sun is really close to setting, maybe only a half an hour left until it starts its colorful descent. "Daddy is probably waiting for us."

Knowing Rowan, he probably has dinner already done and will be waiting anxiously for us to get home.

Damn, I love that man.

The smile on my face falls when I hear a very familiar sound coming from in front of me. I don't even pause to think as I head towards the noise, instinct taking over.

The crying gets louder as I get further away from the rosebush and closer to the start of the border hill. With one hand on Elias, I pull out the dagger that was sheathed at my hip. This could be a trap. Most likely is.

But I can't leave a crying baby out here, in case this isn't a trap at all.

Slowly, I creep closer, ducking behind a nearby tree.

After checking to make sure that no one is monitoring me, I peek around the tree. There is a basket hooked to a tree branch, and a woman slouched against the tree. She is twitching, and the blood on her arm tells me that she is wounded somehow.

It is suspiciously quiet out here, the only sounds being the sounds of the baby. Elias stirs, being woken by the cries. He has always been a sympathetic crier.

Soothing him, I press soft kisses onto his head, praying that he will stay quiet.

My heart is pounding as I force myself out from behind the tree. The human doesn't see me as I creep closer, groans of pain coming from her as she twitches. Taking that as encouragement, I quickly close the distance between us, stopping a few feet in front of her.

She stills, her body letting out involuntary twitches.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Slowly, the woman looks up, and all I notice at first is how young she is. She has to be younger than Gwen, probably around sixteen.

Her eyes are bloodshot, making the green in them stand out. Smudges of dirt are on her face, curly hair pulled away from her face with a weathered bandana.

"They're coming," she says, voice raspy. "They're coming for you, wolves."

"Who is coming?"

She shakes her head, drawing in a gurgling breath. The baby lets out a screeching cry. "My baby," she whimpers, tears falling as she looks up at me. "Please, take him."

Bending down, I take a closer look at her arm. The blood is gathered near her wrist, where a see a distinct bite mark.

"Oh no."

She hisses as she pulls her arm against her chest. "They're coming."

"Who?" I ask more desperately this time.

A quiet scream, one that is far away rings through the air. We both still, and the girl looks up at me again. "They're here."

*****

Does this scene seem familiar?