"Thank you," Ada murmured, taking the proffered Styrofoam cup of black coffee. The smell was repulsive, but she drank it anyway.

The officer took her seat across from Ada as her partner set up the recording. Ada was given the usual warnings of being recorded and that this was just a lead they were following, she wasn't under arrest. She let some of her nervousness bleed into her demeanour, but not too much. She needed to seem uncomfortable, but not overly anxious.

"Thank you for coming," she said, flipping through a folder propped open in her palm. "Can you tell us where you were on the night of October twelfth?"

Ada hummed, frowning at her coffee for a moment in thought. "Can I check my phone?" She fished it out of her pocket and scrolled through her messages with Sam the way she had rehearsed in her mind. "Oh, that's right. My girlfriend and our friend, Aidan, had to go out of town; I was taking care of his brother for a few days."

"And why were you doing that? What's wrong with him?"

Ada cringed slightly. "He's a recovering addict, can't be left alone for very long."

She and Noah had talked about this already, she wasn't throwing his secret around for her own means. They agreed this was the best way to go. It was honest, to an extent, and therefore easy to maintain.

"Why isn't he in a facility?" asked the man to her right, pen poised above a notepad covered in chicken scratch. "And why not get a nurse instead? Someone qualified?"

"Not everyone can afford to. Besides, Noah is pretty far in his recovery, but he's not perfect. It's a long story." Ada composed a mild, baffled frown. "Why are you asking?"

Dark blue eyes flicked from the folder to her own as she flipped through to the page she wanted. "We have a witness statement that puts someone matching your description inside the building as it was burning. And with your record?" She dropped a stack of pages divided by a rainbow of paper clips.

Who could have seen her? The building was in the middle of nowhere, and she had passed no cars on her way in or out. What w- ... oh, the security guard. Not the mercenary, but the one who discovered them on the second floor as they fought. The one who pulled the alarm.

Ada squinted at the stack of her past crimes; she may not have been charged with anything, but they certainly took note of everything she had admitted to when she went to Hillebrandt for help the first time. She was regretting it about then.

"What makes you think it was me? Nothing in that,"—she gestured to the stack—"has anything to do with arson. I may have been a bad kid, but not destructive. Also, how did you even find my record? What led you to me?"

The man cleared his throat—she would name them, but she had forgotten their names as soon as they told her; there were more important things on her mind. "You put on my snow tires last month and I compared the description to you."

Damn it. "Okay, so? Like I said, I didn't do arson before and I don't do anything now. If you have that,"—another gesture—"then you should know as much. Besides, I was babysitting that night, like I just said."

"The description matches you to a near T." She passed over the handwritten statement for Ada to read.

Ada kept her face neutral as she read it without lifting the page from the table, then fought down the urge to grin; he missed a key descriptor that would have made denying this nearly impossible: her rainbow. "Do you know how many white, blonde girls there are here? This could be anyone. Look, they even say they're not sure if the person they saw was female or not."

As Ada pushed the page back across the table with her knuckle, she felt secure once more. They were fishing, and they would not catch a thing. Unless they had something else they hadn't told her yet, there was nothing to be concerned about here. Ada sipped her coffee sludge as the woman stowed the page in the folder with a pinch in the corners of her eyes. Both assessed her for a moment.

"We're going to need the contact information of the person ... uh, Noah, so we can follow up on your alibi."

"Fine."

Ada declined the proffered page and pen and told them his first name and cell number instead. Her prints weren't on file and she wouldn't give them any to work with. She checked her watch. As she got to her feet, their guarded gazes followed.

"Unless there's something else, I have a meeting to attend."

"We have some more questions," he said, setting down his pen.

Ada cocked a brow. "Are you pressing charges?"

There was a long, tense pause before he finally said, "No."

"Then if you need me, you know how to reach me."

Ada's heart raced as she strode out of the interview room, clutching the near full cup, and made her way for the front doors. She felt as though all eyes were on her, and that she was seconds away from being shouted at to stop, from being arrested. But she wasn't, and she blinked away the sting of brilliant sunlight and got into her car. As she pulled out, she used voice commands to call Sam and put it on speaker.

"How was it?" she asked after only one ring.

"Overall, pretty good. They don't have much, but they have more than I was expecting—witness statement."

"Shit."

"Yeah, but it's not the end of the world. Without supplementary evidence, a witness statement is garbage. And they won't get more evidence from that place. They would have it by now."

"Still, I don't like it. Are you on your way home?"

"Yeah, be home in ten."

Ada could hear the relief in her voice as they said goodbye.

Her grip was tight on the wheel the whole way home, residual tension lingering in her body. This was fine, though. They didn't know about the dead man, it seemed. She wasn't overly surprised by that fact. Considering the things he was guarding, she doubted he was on any sort of official records for the facility. She also imagined it was in the guard's best interest to not mention the mercenary in his witness statement. Simon was a much bigger threat than the police. At least he'd have a hope of survival in prison.

Aidan's car was outside when Ada pulled up. She checked the clock on the dash; she was about fifteen minutes late. Oh well. She hurried inside and was greeted immediately by the soothing scent of coffee and bacon. Sam was gathering empty plates from the coffee table and paused to grin at Ada. Sam met her halfway, stack balanced on one palm, and gave her a quick kiss.

"I'll get yours, one second."

She returned as Ada settled into a seat while exchanging pleasantries. Her stomach rumbled at the prospect of food and quality coffee. Sam pulled over the computer chair to give her room as she ate.

"So, I guess we're ready?" said Cain, assessing the room. They all nodded for him to go on, and he took a long, deep breath. He didn't speak right away, instead cradling his coffee in both hands and crossing his long legs. "I am almost glad Antoine isn't here for this. I truly wasn't sure how I was going to tell him. See, it's a bit of a story. Where to begin ...

"Well, first of all, I have a daughter."

They all gaped at him.

"I'm sorry?" said Aidan, twisting to the side to blink at Cain. "You what?"

Cain nodded slowly, gazing into his cup. "This isn't the news, at least not for me. Lily is my best kept secret. She was three when her mother passed. We were living in a crappy studio apartment while we saved up for a better place. I was at work, and Lily was at preschool the day that Marcus came to bring me back to the pack. I came home to find Miranda dead, and Marcus panicking.

"I sent Marcus away, but promised to return at least long enough to talk. Then I called 911. Miranda's death was listed as an unexplained cardiac event. I was investigated briefly, but that came to an end when my alibi was confirmed. I couldn't have been involved. I buried my wife."

He paused, and Ada finally took a breath, unaware she had been holding it. Her fork hovered halfway to her mouth with a bit of egg dangling precariously. She ate it for something to do.

"What happened to Lily?" Sam asked in a hushed voice. She hugged her knees to her chest, long sleeves dangling far past her fingertips.

Cain met her gaze with a mournful half-smile. "I had to make a tough decision. Lily was frail, she always had been. She showed no signs of her werewolf heritage. She needed regular doctor's appointments and a menage of medication, things I couldn't provide her if I returned to the pack. And if I didn't return, it was safety she required, something I couldn't guarantee. I knew a couple in town who had tried their whole marriage for children but never found success. They adored Lily, and babysat for us a couple of times when work got in the way. I went to them. Without hesitation, they took her in."

Noah's eyes widened, and Aidan sat up straighter, saying, "You can't be serious."

Cain nodded slowly. "They had steady jobs, a house, and endless love to give her. This was more than I could say for me. My love would not be enough to keep her safe or healthy. Besides, I truly thought she hadn't inherited our bloodline. She smelled completely human, ran a normal temperature.

"Of course, I gave her to them with a catch. I provided a list of symptoms, if you will, and told them that should she ever present any of these, that I would need to see her. They didn't understand, but they agreed nonetheless. I thought that was the end of it, a couple of years ago. I came to terms with the fact that I would never see my little girl again. She should have turned already, if she was destined to.

"I was wrong. Two weeks ago, Abigail called me. Lily was showing signs of lycanthropy—not that she knew, of course, just what to look for. I haven't been to visit her yet, but we likely don't have long until she turns for the first time. That is, of course, if she truly is showing symptoms."

They all gaped in silence. If Ada was at a loss for words, she could only imagine what the others were experiencing. Ada understood the implications only so far, they all knew exactly what she was going through, what was to come. Ada could only imagine.

"I had no idea," Aidan murmured at last.

Cain gave a mirthless grin. "No one did, and I had hoped to keep it that way. Her safety and happiness are my only priorities."

"How old is she now?" asked Noah softly.

"She is sixteen."

None of them seemed to know what to say next, they just stared. What could they even say to that? The last thing she expected of Cain was a secret daughter. Ada would have been less surprised if he had told them he murdered for fun.

"So ... what do we do?" Sam set her feet on the floor and leaned on her knees. Her wide eyes assessed each of them in turn.

Cain hummed. "That's why I wanted to speak with you first. I am undecided as to whether it would be best for me to visit her, or for one of you. I don't know if she has any memory of me or not, for one thing."

Aidan scrubbed a palm over his chin and sighed. "I don't know."

"If it was me," Ada said slowly, considering the matter before she continued. "I would much prefer to talk about this with a girl. Nothing against you guys, I'm just saying, it sounds crazy and you three are a bit intimidating."

They glanced at each other, and Aidan shrugged. "You might be right."

"I could talk with her first," Sam offered. "Ease her into it, try to explain things as best I can before ... well, before what, actually? What's the long-term plan?"

Cain shifted uncomfortably. "If she is one of us, we will have to see her regularly until we can be sure she is in control and understands the implications. Otherwise, it's up to her what happens next. I won't force her to leave her family." He stumbled over the final word.

Ada's heart ached for him. She didn't know what it was like to give up a child, and she may never know, but she did know he wasn't showing them even a fraction of the turmoil he was in. She couldn't imagine losing one's wife and daughter. She couldn't fathom returning to the people that did this to him, to them. Cain's patience with his family was even more astounding knowing what she now knew.

"So, is that the plan, then? I meet with Lily and explain the changes, should she be experiencing them?"

"If you're all right with that." Aidan's mask was in place. "How do we find her? Do you know where they live?"

Cain told them about Lily's adoptive parents and where to find them in as much detail as he could. They were of course open to this, it was a possibility that had existed from the very beginning. If Lily was turning into a werewolf, then Cain's removal from her life would be no more. She needed to know the truth. The things she could do were great and dangerous, and a partial explanation would leave too much to chance. She deserved to know the full truth, including that of her parentage.

The silence stretched onward, none of them seemed to know what to say. Eventually, Noah asked about Ada's interview with the police, and she told them in excruciating detail what they discussed and what she learned. She was confident that they were safe, despite her being a suspect. They had nothing to work with, not really. Just some suspicions and a vague witness statement, which were unreliable at best. They hadn't even mentioned the second fire in Saguenay, which made her think they hadn't connected them as Hillebrandt had thought.

Noah and Aidan weren't as confident as she was, but they hadn't dealt with the police as much as she had. She had a decent understanding of what was needed for a conviction, and they didn't have it. Like she had said to them earlier, if they had nothing of value, she wouldn't be home just then; she'd be in a cell awaiting trial. The site was nothing more than charred rubble that turned up nothing of use when it happened, and would turn up nothing of use now. All that was left was to wait out their suspicion until the case went cold. Well, that would be no problem. She had no desire to continue her ways, and no more need to do so. Her siblings were silent, Simon hadn't contacted her, and she could only imagine they had accepted the outcome. Ada was out of the business, for good this time.