Miranda sat as her desk numb to everything that was going on around her except for those tiny yellow flags that told her where to sign. Page after page of the carefully constructed document the legal team and Rory had come up for a recent deal, went by without her so much as reading a word. It could have been a document that would see her out of her CEO position or maybe selling the company's shares; not that Miranda cared if that was the case right now. It was hard to care about anything now that her world had been smashed into pieces and even the sanctuary of her office, of work, of being away from everything and everyone wasn't helping in the ways she had hoped for. There wasn't an escape from the hell she was in, and as someone laughed just outside her door and Miranda glanced away from the blur of typed paper, her eyes paused on the picture of her family she kept on her desk.

It would be easy to believe those smiling faces were all waiting for her at home as they had been for the three years that had passed since the photograph was taken. Braydon, would still look at her in that easy, relaxed loving way he did whenever the pair of them were together. There would be no blank, vacant look to his blue eyes - the hardness in his jaw would be non-existent and she'd never know what it felt like to have the distance that now existed between them take over their relationship. He refused to talk to her about anything now, and she literally ached with need to have him hold her again. If he was feeling the same way, he was better at hiding it than she was and after another argument over nothing, hiding at work was a better solution than sticking around like an unwanted nuisance.

A part of her knew it was because she had failed them all by trusting in Jason's technology and it had failed. The chip had stopped working near an old, abandoned airfield and there hope at finding May, Caleb and the others had died with the signal as it vanished off the radar. The Collectors weren't privileged enough to know more than what Josh, well Thomas, had willingly told them the second he found out about May's abduction. It had taken even him by surprise, and what part of him did care about May had him confessing everything he knew to try and help them get her back. Even a not as pleasant visit to his parents proved useless and all the time spent surveying them left the shifters back at the beginning with nothing to go on. The only upside was they put an end to those hunters, so no more would be taken, but the ones they needed were gone at the first sign of being found out.

Miranda looked at Chad, who had never quite looked his age even now as he seemed to skip that middle age stage to jump straight to someone much older. His good nature and sometimes immature behaviour seemed like it belonged to a different person - the not quite thirty year old in the picture was someone Miranda only used to know since the person who took his place was angry, bitter and so very angry with the world that it actually scared her. While he hadn't closed her off as Braydon had, she'd only seen him once in the last week. He chose to stay away from the house, running off on raids and who knows what else with the pack. They were all angry, all wanting revenge and to make the monsters responsible pay for what was being done to their kind.

Miranda's chest ached, so much so she had to put her hand to her mouth to stop herself from crying out. Hot, fresh tears streamed down her cheeks as she managed to take in a gasp of air, then two - the realisation she hadn't just had her daughter taken from her was so much more painful as in some ways, she had lost her family too. The worst part was, even if they were able to find and get May home - what would she be coming home to? What would May be like now if not that beautiful girl whose smile dominated the whole picture - even as she glared at Chad because he had just messed up her hair while the pair had wrestled like children over the last chocolate cupcake.

The knock on the door startled Miranda, and grabbing a tissue, she quickly wiped her eyes before calling out for the person to come in. She sat poised, and blank faced behind her desk - picking up her pen she quickly finished the last few signatures as thankfully, it was only Rory who was coming in.

"All done." She told him, gathering everything back into the folder it had come out of.

"I didn't come for those, but thanks for doing it so quickly." He shifted uncomfortably, taking the folder which he held against his chest tightly. "Security just called. There is a woman in the lobby and she wants to speak with you."

"Why?"

"We don't know. She just asked for you and is refusing to leave." Rory reached behind him and closed her door. "Considering everything, we can call the police. Security believe you have been receiving threats hence the increase in-"

"What's her name?" Miranda asked, cutting him off.

"She refused to give it. Should I call Braydon instead of the police then?" He offered. "What if this is a trap to get you too?"

Miranda foolishly wished it was, even if it was just so she might be able to see May again. "Would they try something so public?"

"Who knows. May was taken in the middle of the day and..." Rory paused, hating the look that Miranda got whenever anyone mentioned her daughter. "You're not thinking about going down there are you?"

Yes, she wanted to tell him but instead she shook her head. "No need."

Turning to her computer, she made a few clicks and logged in so she would to be able to see the front reception security camera. It was a feature that she'd never thought she would use, and as the live feed popped up, Miranda's stomach sunk at the sight of the woman in the lobby yet without saying a word she was out of her office and in the elevator with Rory yelling at her to stop practically the whole way until she shut the door in his face. A part of her knew she shouldn't have done that, that he was also probably calling Braydon or Chad, or any of the pack as well as the security that would be waiting for her when she stepped out, thinking that she was on a suicide mission. Her high heels clicked against the marble floor as she made her way down the corridor and right on cue, one of the few shifter guards they had employed blocked her path.

"I believe there is someone wanting to see me?" Miranda asked coldly.

"Back up to your office. There is something, not right, about her Mrs Winters." He answered politely, ignoring the look she was giving him too.

"I know her, it's fine." She snapped, moving around him only to then have the guard grab her arm.

"It's not safe and-"

"I'll be the judge of that. Now let me go before you find yourself unemployed with no reference."

The look of shock on his face made her feel a tiny bit guilty, but Miranda couldn't bring herself to care much than that and he did let go of her arm. Charging onwards, Miranda walked through the security barrier, and around the reception desk - the sound of her approach instantly gaining the attention of everyone that had gathered to see the commotion.

"Mrs King, come this way please." Miranda practically ordered, reaching over the counter to grab a visitor pass which she handed to Carolina before making her way back to the elevator.

Neither woman spoke, the silence only made more awkward by the soft classical tune that played while they made the journey up to Miranda's floor. A few curious glances followed them as they walked to her office, and since Rory was nowhere to be seen, Miranda figured he was probably chasing after her downstairs. Closing the door as Carolina came in, Miranda motioned for her to sit in one of the chairs in front of her desk and took her place opposite. It was obvious the other woman was nervous, and in the years that had passed since they'd last been in each others company, the turn around was rather ironic to Miranda.

It wasn't just her family that had changed in the photograph of her desk, but she had too. Dark circles refused to budge from under her eyes now; the rosey glow on her cheeks had vanished and a rather gaunt, sick look had taken over. There was nothing relaxed, or content about her anymore either, no glow to her skin or a certain sparkle in her eyes. When she looked at Carolina now, she was almost envious of how good she was looking and a tiny memory of when she had visited her in the hospital all those years ago came back to her, but that female was nowhere to be seen now.

The agony Miranda was in almost suffocating to Carolina as she fidgeted with her hands in her lap, not willing to look at the shell of the woman she had come to know, respect and even like. The silence was only adding to her own anxiety and so she decided to make the first since she had come to MIranda after all. Now she had left the safety of home, she regretted her choice to come in person. A phone call would have worked just the same.

"Why are you here?" Miranda asked before Carolina could think of what to say. There was uneasy edge to Miranda's tone, a subtle sign that the cold, hard appearance was simply just a bandaid keeping her in one piece.

"As a mother, I can't imagine what you are going through." Carolina slowly started, unable to look directly at Miranda. "I wouldn't wish it on anyone."

"You came all this way to give me your, sympathy?" She snapped.

"No. I came to help you get May back, the others too."

Miranda tensed. "What?"

"I know where they are." Finally Carolina forced herself to look up at Miranda, wishing she hadn't as the shock gave way to pure rage. "I received a message-"

"You." Miranda stood abruptly. "You know where my daughter is?"

"It's why I came. Please just try and listen." Carolina begged. "If I went to your house, I doubt anyone would give me the time of day, let alone let me explain."

"Explain, what do you have to explain? You know where May is, tell me!" Miranda wrapped her arms around her stomach, the void she felt inside threatening to take over as a loud sob escaped her. "I thought, I thought, that you were a friend. What did you do? Why would you-"

"I didn't do anything. I promise. I wouldn't ever-"

"Where is she?" Her voice was barely a whisper.

"It's not really all that far from the canadian pack's territory. It's underground, near a mountain range, but before I tell you anything else, well, I need your help too."

"My help?" She repeated.

"You have to make them leave Ollie alone!" Carolina blurted.

"Ollie, what's Ollie?"

"Oliver. He's, well, he called me couple of days ago. Told me about the place he was stuck in, how sorry he was. He just needs some help, a second chance. He wants to make things right."

The door opened then and Rory burst in with two of the shifter security guards. He looked between the women, clearly trying to work out what was going on. "Miranda, are you okay?"

Miranda couldn't answer him, her brain struggling to process what Carolina had just told her. She knew where May was. Oliver was there too, though why would he be sorry - how did he call her and why does he need a second chance?

"Miranda?" Rory glared at Carolina as he walked around to her side. "Do you want us to get rid of her?"

"No. It's okay, just, give us some privacy please. Let everyone go early, I don't want anyone out there hearing any of this." She told him. "You go home too."

"I'm not leaving you here alone."

"I'm okay." Miranda assured him as best she could.

"Braydon is on his way, I'll wait for-"

"He's coming?" Carolina asked, clearly terrified.

"Go home Rory." Miranda sighed, getting her phone out from her bag. There were already four missed calls from Braydon, so she sent him a text that Rory had over reacted and not to come. Not that she thought it would help.

It took a few minutes to get Rory to leave, and the guards reluctantly left too so while it was just the pair of them, Miranda sat down and looking at Carolina, there was only one thing she could do. "Tell me everything."

So Carolina did. She told her everything from the begining, to how Oliver refused to talk to her after she offered to formally adopt him as Chad had been. It was the final blow for Carolina, and that is what had her moving to the city and leaving the shifter world completely. Letting them all think it was because she was following their order was easier than the truth, when in reality she was willing to do what she could to find others to run with. It was years before she heard from Oliver again, and it was just after she had her second child that he turned up at the hospital to see her.

"He was still such an angry boy, I felt like I had failed him. I should never have let him push me away. Oliver was never like the other pups, he was different. Special. He said he met someone that had been looking for me, nearly found me too until he had stepped in." She sighed, rubbing her forehead wearily. "He told me that that things were changing in the shifter world and he had come to give me one chance to join them, but then he decided it was better I stay dead."

"Why?" Miranda asked softly.

"I mated with a human. I had human pups. He was disappointed I would disgrace my father in such a way." Carolina paused, glancing at Miranda who only had a look of pity on her face now. "He wasn't horrible about it though. Promised he'd do what he could to always protect me and said if I was ever in any trouble to call him. That's when he gave me this."

She went into her purse and pulled out a worn business card, handing it to Miranda. Looking it over, there wasn't anything special or unique about it. Some of the font had faded and a corner had been torn off, yet there was something about the name of the company that Miranda felt like she should know.

"He became a private investigator?" She asked, reading the title under Oliver's name.

"Kind of. The man who had been looking for me ended up recruiting him. Ollie said he only joined to find out what he could about the whole thing. He was a human who knew about shifters."

"What? How?" Miranda gasped.

"Ollie never went into it with me and I didn't see or hear from him again until recently. I wasn't completely honest about those pups that I sent your way. He called me about a week before I found them, asking me to do what I could to help them how I used to. I'm sorry I lied, but I just, I didn't know what else to do." Carolina got up and went to the table in the corner to pour herself some water. "He sounded so upset, kept mumbling about being trapped. I asked him what I could do, offered to go get him even. He just hung up and nothing until now when he calls me and tells me about what's going on, the truth about the hunters and that it needs to stop. He's a good person, I know he is. He just, he's had a hard life. If we can get him out of there, I'll take responsibility of him, help him do the right thing!"

Miranda swallowed, trying to digest everything Carolina had just said. "He's a grown man Carolina, not the boy you rescued years ago. If he is involved in all of this, I can't imagine anyone letting him getting away with it."

She didn't want him too either. If this, Oliver, was behind it all - Miranda wanted him to suffer the same fate as every other monster.

"You will make sure that the Alpha Bianca and even Braydon, the pack, all of them, make them swear no harm will come to Oliver otherwise I will not tell you where they are and what we need to do to end all of it." Carolina boldly demanded. "No matter what you do to me, I won't say a word and I'll just work it out on my own!"

Miranda didn't move from her position behind the desk. Her back stayed straight, her mouth drawn into a tight, thin line as empty blue eyes locked onto Carolina's darker ones. Every possible outcome raced through her mind, and she knew that whatever the she-wolf could tell them, was everything they needed to get May, Caleb and the other trapped shifters home. So she got up, moving slowly she stalked towards the corner Carolina now found herself in and something deep inside both women became unleashed. Miranda stopped in front of Carolina, both woman sizing the other up like two dominant wolves meeting their match and with a brutality that Miranda didn't know she had, her hand was like a vice around Carolina's neck as she shoved her back against the wall.

"You will tell us what you know, all of it. You dare to gamble with my daughter's life? Keep her from me, and you will know what it is like to have your pups taken from you." She threatened. "I am not the human you first met Carolina Corbetti, and you are not the shifter you once were. Do not test me now because you will lose, again, and this time even I won't save you. Understand?"

Both women sensed Braydon the second the elevator sounded. Miranda released Carolina, who instantly held her throat where Miranda's hand had been, coughing as she fought to get her breath back while Miranda moved to the doorway to see her furious husband approaching. Chad was close behind him, and the second the pair of them caught Carolina's scent, the growls sent a shiver up Miranda's spine and had the she-wolf hiding in the office terrified.

"What is she doing here?" Braydon asked instantly, reaching for Miranda he pulled her close. "Are you okay? When Rory called, I..."

'You what?' Miranda wondered, as the words went unsaid. Now wasn't the time or place to work out their issues, especially with Carolina there. Even so Miranda held onto the moment and Braydon, with slight desperation as ached to close the distance that had formed between them.

"I'm okay." She assured him. "She's here to help us. Braydon, she knows where May is, Caleb too!"

Braydon instantly went inside the office and seeing Carolina, eyed her with suspicion. "You know where they are?"

"Oliver, he's there too. He called me." She quickly told him. Braydon's mind raced to work out who she was talking about, quickly putting putting a face to the name. "I'm here to help, I had no part in any of this. I promise!"

Miranda stood to one side, arms crossed and staring at the floor as Braydon and Carolina talked. Chad stayed by Miranda, his temper close to the surface as the she-wolf briefly recapped some of what had been shared with Miranda already.

"Without his help, you'd never have found them! You owe him your daughter's life!" Carolina boldly finished as she tried to bargain for Oliver's freedom once this was over.

"So because he found a concious, we have to forgive him for gods know what against our people?" Chad growled, moving towards Carolina and instantly Miranda reached out to hold his arm. She couldn't stop him of course, but her touch was enough to keep him in place. "He doesn't deserve our mercy."

"Neither did I." Carolina admitted, glancing at Miranda which had Braydon moving to block her from view. "But you found it in yourselves to do that."

"No. She did." Chad reminded her, pointing at Miranda. "How do we know this isn't a trap?"

"You don't, you'll just have to trust me. He sent me these too." She took out a small tablet and opening it up, handed it to Braydon. "It's a map of the complex, including an emergency exit we can use to get in. He's listed a guard roster too. Everything we need to plan our attack is there."

"You keep saying we." Braydon pointed out.

"I want to help."

"You're not. You don't even shift anymore." Chad snapped cruelly at her.

"We'll work it out later. We need to tell the others." Braydon decided. "Come on, let's not waste any more time."

Chad reluctantly followed Carolina out of the office and Miranda didn't move as Braydon went by her. She could cause another argument, demand to go with them as she had previously, but she was too emotionally and physically drained. If remaining hidden in her office got them May back faster, she'd do it; she would do anything.

"Are you coming?" Braydon asked hesitantly in the doorway, not sure what to do to fix what ever this was between them. If he could bring back May, maybe that would help?

"No, it's fine. I've got things to do here and just, ah, call me later. If you remember this time, so I know what's going on." She sighed, moving to sit back in her chair.

"I thought you'd want to?" He didn't hide his disappointment in her response.

"You want me there?"

"Why do you sound so surprised? Of course I do." Braydon frowned.

"Really? Why am I surprised? You've barely said two words to me since May's been gone. You and Chad avoid the house like it's full of the plague. If I do turn up to pack things, you leave me with Selena and the pups at the back, while everyone else is going out of their way to steer clear of me. I think I understand why you'd blame me for her being taken, but-"

"I blame you? You think that?" Braydon moved to stand in front of her chair, kneeling down so he had to look up at her. "No, I don't blame you at all."

Miranda broke then, falling forward to wrap her arms around his neck as he held onto her while she cried into his shoulder. "Then why? I just, I don't understand what has changed between us Braydon. We are better together, we're a team. You and me, remember and you've just been pushing me away!"

"I blame myself. How could you still want to be with me when I let this happen? I promised to keep you both safe, and I didn't. I thought you were mad, and wanted the space. When we found out May was gone, you just, I've never seen you so angry!"

"Not at you, you, you idiot!" Miranda huffed, pulling away enough to kiss him. "It's not your fault, it's those horrible people."

"Chad was with her before she left, he should have gone with her too." Braydon mumbled.

"I did say that, didn't I?" Miranda cringed, remembering. "I said sorry, I thought he believed me. I didn't mean any of it. You don't blame him too do you?"

"Maybe, to start with. He blames himself enough. The pack aren't against you either Miranda, they just don't know what to do. They do the same with all of us that have had our pups taken." He told her softly, and everything began to fall back into place as the weeks of uncertainty became clearer. "I'm sorry I only made it worse for you. That wasn't my intention. I love you."

"I love you too." She clung to him like that alone could solve all their problems, but of course it couldn't and filled with a new sense of resolve with the first real way to to end this, Miranda managed to smile for him. "Now let's go get our daughter back."

________________

It was nearly twenty years ago that Carolina's life had changed forever. She'd had gone to work, much like she had every other day since taking up a teaching position at the adult education centre. She didn't remember thinking that day would be any different; there wasn't a strange feeling she woke up with or a dream that had warned her of what was to come. Yet, even now she remembered every second of the morning with crystal clear clarity. The line at the coffee shop had been particularly longer than usual as she was running late due to missing the first bus. When she did get on one, she'd sat beside an old lady who had been more than willing to talk to anyone about her newest grandchild and for the short trip into the city, Carolina had happily smiled with her, ohing and ahing over the small, hairless pink bundle of joy.

Then there was the face that still haunted her in her dreams on rare occasions. Tanned skin, long blonde hair and an unkempt beard; he looked positively strange staring at her through the window on the classroom door. Despite his appearance, she was drawn to him and even her wolf interested in a way she never had been in any male before. That was when she had that flicker of hope that maybe, just maybe, this wild looking man might be hers. It was days later she had bumped into that human girl who carried the scent that intrigued and called to her - the same human girl whose stench was all over him which had nearly sent her running from the classroom when she realised what that could mean. Of course she'd found out more about Braydon then and naively thought it would be easy to lure her mate to a place he belonged with her.

Watching the pair of them now, whatever their early tensions had been at the office were erased and the same old pang of jealousy hit her hard, like a punch in the stomach. She was happy now, the thought of her own children and their father made her feel warm inside, but even so, seeing them together was opening old wounds. Never had she been able to truly understand why the human won and the lingering question of why wasn't it her at his side, bothered Carolina still.

"I don't like you or trust you, and I haven't forgotten the past either, so whatever is going through your head right now, better not involve anything to do with them." Bianca growled, startling Carolina who hadn't even noticed her approach. "These humans have my son too and-"

"I know. Did he show you?" She asked, glancing back at Braydon who kept his arm around Miranda's waist so she was stuck at his side.

"Show me what?"

"The pictures?" Bianca shook her head. "As proof, Ollie sent me a few pics of those being held there."

Her eyes widened slightly, and swallowing nervously Bianca kept her voice low. "Show me."

"They're not exactly-"

"Show. Me." She ordered.

A vindictive streak that only seemed to come out around Braydon and Miranda enjoyed watching Bianca see the pictures of her boy, strapped down on the hospital bed. He was bruised and unconscious in the images which only let Bianca's mind wander down a dark and dangerous path. They all had their own less than perfect and rather deadly past, but Carolina's attempt at ending Miranda and Braydon's relationship was nothing compared to what followed Bianca.

"So, can you shift. At all?" Bianca asked rather nonchalantly as she handed the device back to Carolina. She knew exactly what the other she-wolf had done, so was quick to serve her own low blow back.

"No. It's been months since I last tried though."

"If you are coming with us, I need wolves." She shrugged, leaving it at that. "If I get my son back, I am aware you have done a huge favour not just for me, but for the pack. Really, for all shifters. Miranda told me your request, and I will honour it."

Carolina didn't hide her surprise. "Thank you."

"Thank her. That human has saved your life, again. Though, if we find out you are at all involved or behind this, or if we do walk into trap, I don't think it will be me, or any shifter you will need to be watching out for."

"Understood." Carolina nodded, glancing to where Miranda now sat with the family she had sent here. "You won't have any trouble from me. I just want Ollie back."

"We're going to try." Bianca promised, leaving her be.

Being around the pack was unsettling. She had never been in one, not that she remembered anyway and most looked at her with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion. Chad kept his eyes on her, not helping Carolina's anxiety at all and as the pack leaders, the alpha's and the replacements began to work out their next move something changed inside the she-wolf. It was foreign and slightly unnerving; similar to the fluttery kick of a child inside the womb before it strengthened into something much more uncomfortable that left sweat running down her back, and her hands clenched into tight fists. Miranda's surprisingly concerned gaze only sent a rush of anger through her and then, for the first time in years Carolina felt something else. It started like an itch, a crawling sensation over her scalp that had goosebumps breaking out all over her body and then that void in her mind was filled as the first weak sign of her wolf came back to her.