Blake

"Is getting time alone with me a ploy for wanting to slit my throat with a blade up your sleeve?" Henry asked as he settled himself in the chair situated on the other side of the desk from Blake.

"God, you people really think I'm capable of just about anything, don't you?"

"We've learned not to underestimate you. Especially this past week." Blake's throat tightened a fraction but before she could speak, Henry added, "My Mate thanked you but I didn't have the chance. Thank you for saving my daughter and Juliet and Phillip – and thank you for returning Chandra's body home. I know that none of those things must have been easy for you. Juliet told us what happened and how you set them free."

Blake picked at a loose thread on the chair's cushion. "You know...That's the thing. It was easy. The second I saw them, I knew what I was going to do. I didn't have to think about it."

"Did you know what they would do to you for letting them go?" Henry's gaze dropped and Blake followed the direction of his stare to her arm.

The word 'traitor' stood out like a flashing light in a dark room. Unmissable. The wound still stung and she'd been trying to avoid accidentally brushing her arm against things to keep from aggravating it further. She probably should have taken Red up on his offer to get it checked out at the clinic but Blake wanted it to scar. Wanted the reminder of what she'd done.

"I thought Malachi would kill me, actually. He was the reason I went back. I'm sure Red told you about the DNA results that came back about the skin cells we collected from beneath Caden's nails after we found his body?"

Henry nodded once, his hazel eyes grim. His lips pressed into a firm, hard line.

"Malachi killed Caden to send a message to me. He wanted me to remember what werewolves were capable of. He'd been getting reports that I was getting awfully chummy with all of you. With Red."

"Reports?" Blake hesitated a moment, casting a worried look towards the door. Henry's face cleared with understanding. "The office is warded. Ejo set them himself for my grandfather. If that door is shut, no one can hear a thing that happens inside of this office. Our conversation will stay between you and I."

Blake nodded and felt a weight lift from her shoulders. "Red and I have been investigating a theory that someone from your pack was working with the hunters. Killing those humans didn't just bring attention to yourselves – it sparked a partnership."

Henry leaned back in his chair, his pulse jumping in his throat. "Tell me, Blake."

She'd asked Malachi for that same information. If I'd trained you as well as I'd thought I had, you'd already know the answer to that, he'd said to her instead of answering. So she'd taken that answer and thought and stared at the walls and puzzled it out until she knew. Until every tidbit of knowledge she'd been gathering these months finally came together to form a clear image.

"The wolf was killing humans long before Daryl Morris knew about them. Malachi went to Denver a few times in the months leading up to the initial attack on Sanguis Ridge for various hunts. Looking back, I don't think he was there to investigate but rather to plan the entire initial assault on Sanguis Ridge with that wolf."

"Do you have proof that one of mine was deliberately working with Malachi?"

"Nothing concrete but it makes sense when you link it together. Red and I – we were looking into all of the wolves that have reason to hate humans and Malachi has plenty of reason to hate werewolves and other supernatural creatures. I think Malachi pitched it to the wolf. I think he went to put the wolf down but instead struck a deal when they crossed paths. They conspired to start a war and let the better species win, once and for all. To pit both of our people against each other and finish it on the battle field."

Henry's fingers tapped against the side of the desk, considering.

Blake continued, "Red and I were looking for a werewolf that was away from pack territory for each murder and no one fit the profile which made us think about a possible team. We also saw crime scene footage from one of the murders in Denver that supports this. We saw a follow a human into an alleyway after which a human entered. It was too dark to see any faces but when I got the M.E. report back about the skin beneath Caden's nails, it all clicked into place. It doesn't make sense that there would be human skin cells beneath Caden's nails if he were murdered by werewolves. The DNA sample in that case would have come back corrupted. So we know that he fought a human and when I inspected his wounds, I realized that I knew the exact blade that had cut him."

She gestured to the wound on her face. The long red and raised mark that would leave her scarred for life.

"Malachi was using blades to kill humans but he made it look like a werewolf did it. Only examination of the wounds would reveal if it were claws or a blade which the M.E. might have been able to determine that the bodied not been so brutally damaged and torn to shreds. The M.O. was so inconsistent. Sometimes it was blades, other times claws, and a few times it was even both which means they worked together to kill all those humans. Malachi wanted enough people to die so that it would catch the attention of other hunter groups as well."

"Why? If he wanted a war, why would he care if other communities knew when he could just call them in?"

Blake's answering smile was grim. "Because Malachi is, first and foremost, a self-preserving prick. He wanted someone else to take charge so he could fall back if necessary and come out the hero. Malachi's whole goal was to lead hunters into a broad-scale war which means he would have had to survive the attack to do it.

"So Daryl took the lead and Malachi made sure that he got himself out. Just like your wolf did. It's someone who wants the war but also wants to be the hero. Someone who wasn't on pack territory during the attack because they were intending to come back and rally those of you that were left. It's why we were given the order to take out the strongest of you but not all of you. The wolf wanted to make sure they had a pack to come home to and take command of."

"You know who it is." Not a question from the Alpha. Just a hard, flat statement.

"I know who it is."

"But you don't want anyone else to know? Not even Red?"

Blake shook her head. "Only you. The person at the very top of the hierarchy."

Henry raised a brow. "Why?"

"Red is a piss-poor liar. Everything he's thinking is written all over his face. If I told him, he could unwittingly let it slip that we know who the traitor is. You're the Alpha. It's your call what to do with the information – but if I could make a suggestion, it would be to keep some things to yourself and not tell anyone the plan once you know it."

"Things like what?"

Blake hesitated, biting her lip but knowing she had to tell him everything. "Don't rip my throat out, 'kay? One of the things Malachi wanted to know when he sent me in here were primary targets and important relationships. We already knew that Lucy was pregnant during the initial attack but I told him how far along she is which means they know that she's near-term and due in few weeks." A feral snarl ripped from Henry's throat at that and the Alpha's eyes began to darken. "I also told him that if they wanted to make sure that the Alpha was taken care of, all they'd need to do was kill her. Malachi will be gunning for Lucy and your healers and—"

"And?" Henry pressed. Blake didn't think it was possible for him to get any angrier. Already, there was popping of tendons and cracking of bone as his fingers began to reshape into claws.

God, she was a terrible person. "And the kids. That was part of the reason why we lost in that initial attack. We went for the threats not the weakness. But if you exploit the weakness, then the threats topple too. Malachi will try to do that this time."

Henry's teeth began to lengthen in his mouth and for a moment Blake wondered if he were seriously considering ripping out her throat. If he was, she wouldn't blame him. She had royally screwed this up for everyone involved – humans and werewolves.

At least she was consistent.

Blake said, "That's why, if I were you, I'd get as many non-fighting pack members as you can to a safe location – but do it quietly. You won't be able to get them away from pack territory without tipping the wolf off so it needs to be somewhere secure. Like the prison. It's small, easily defensible, and I never told Malachi about it because I still don't where it is. I was delirious when I went in and it was the middle of the night when Red let me out. The hunters will have no idea where it is unless someone in your pack tells them."

Some of the white began to show in the Alpha's eyes again. A bit of clarity returning as she broke through that hard animalistic shell. "What else?"

"There's a few suitcases in the truck packed with weapons. Guns, mostly, with lots of ammunition. The hunters won't anticipate anyone using that kind of weaponry unless your werewolf friend lets it slip. I never told Malachi that I was working with your warriors to train them in munitions and hand-to-hand combat. They're expecting you to go full wolf so using the guns would surprise them. We can use the guns to direct the hunters and keep them headed in the direction we want them to go in."

"And what direction is that?"

"Right into your claws. Doesn't matter where really. Just a spot with a good vantage point for your wolves to attack and for the guns to mow them down if necessary. What's important though is that we make sure that the hunters know exactly where to come looking for the Luna."

"Who you just told me should be far away from this fight."

Blake nodded. "She will be – but they won't know that. We lure the hunters in. They'll figure out we're using guns pretty quickly and will know that we need to keep in touch during the fight. We'll use the radios and pretend that one was lost. Then, we'll start sending chatter over the line telling them where the Luna is located so they go looking. So Malachi goes looking."

Some lust for vengeance filled Henry's face now. A vein in his forehead twitched. "You think that's where he'll go."

"It will be if we say that's where I am watching over the Luna. He'll be pissed and want me dead. Add that to the thrill of killing the Luna and the Alpha's unborn child...He knows what that would do to you. That kind of loss would eliminate your chance at success. You would be too blindsided by grief to do much else than lay down and die. Hell, from the way everyone describes this bond, you'd probably want him to kill you."

Henry didn't refute it. Just clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. His hazel eyes were very nearly black again.

"When Malachi goes looking for Lucy, he'll find me. And I won't kill him but I'll make him hurt and then I'll leave him somewhere for you to finish up later."

"You are a bloodthirsty and cunning little thing, Blake." Yet that was a feral glint to his eye that said he liked it.

"We all have our talents. Mine is bloodshed, irritating people, and screwing things up until the people I care about most hate me."

"Why do I get the feeling we're not talking strategy anymore – but about Red?"

Blake huffed a laugh and though she'd been trying not to think of him, Red's face came to mind. She hadn't been able to get him out of her head since he'd appeared before her like a god in the flesh. The only dream she'd ever wanted for herself that existed outside of hunting. The only home she'd ever been offered that she wanted desperately.

Red. Only Red.

But – "He has a right to hate me, now until the end of forever."

"Maybe. Though I know that he still loves you in spite of everything."

"Because of this stupid bond."

"Because of you," Henry said forcefully. "Hell...I didn't think one stupid human could worm herself so deep into the fabric of my pack in such a short span of time but – shit Blake. We all care about you. Before you and Phillip arrived, we were planning a trip to Idaho. Juliet was able to piece together enough landmarks for us to learn where your community is. We were coming for Phillip – and for you. You saved my daughter. You ensured that Annalise made it home. Like it or not, Blake, you're a member of this pack."

She blinked at him as those words settled in her soul. It didn't feel real to have a werewolf tell her that she was a member of a wolfpack. If someone had told her a decade ago that she'd find her home amongst werewolves, she would have called them crazy. She would never have thought that it would feel right.

It made it hard for Blake to meet Henry's gaze. His eyes were steady and clear and mature. Blake thought she liked it better when he stared at her as if he wanted to kill her.

"Technically," she said with a rough clear of her throat. "Juliet brought her home."

Henry made a dark sound low in his throat. "Just take the fucking compliment."

She chuckled and he did the same. For the first time, she felt a true hint of camaraderie with the Alpha. The hint of merriment vanished quickly, though, as she remembered why they were in that office. What they were plotting for.

"Tell me who it is, Blake. Tell me who is responsible for all of this."

Blake did.

*~*

Red was waiting for her when Blake left Henry's office. The door to Red's study was ajar and she found him sitting in one of the armchairs. Not doing any work or speaking with anyone. Just sitting in the chair and staring at his hands, his face lost in thought.

It gave Blake a moment to study him like she had in that last moment before she'd walked out of her room and left him behind. He seemed different – more severe in the eyes and the grim set to his jaw. A tense set to his shoulders and neck.

She hadn't realized how relaxed Red had become around her until that moment. Now he reminded her of those early days in the prison cell when neither of them had truly known how to interact with one another. That awkwardness had dissipated over time as they'd grown more and more comfortable with each other. A comfort that had only increased once she'd returned. Comfort that had turned into trust; fondness that had turned into love.

For that was the emotion in her heart when Blake stared at Red. Incomprehensible, really. But unmistakable. Blake couldn't describe it but she knew it to be true. It was a fluttering to her heart each time she felt him near. The way her breath caught in her throat at the way his eyes sparkled each and every time he looked at her. How joy spread through her veins like a wildfire at the sound of his laugh.

Or how the first time she'd seen him in his wolf skin, she had looked at him and known him. A soul-deep knowing that she'd never had with anyone else. Blake had stared into the faces of many werewolves before him and had only felt fury and fear...But not with Red. Even then, she had looked at him and felt only as if she like she was looking at a friend. Someone she could trust, not just with her life, but with herself. Her heart and soul and everything in between.

And then she'd left him and ruined it all.

Blake didn't know the path forward from here but she knew that she needed to enter this room and speak with him.

"Hey," she said.

Red looked up at the sound of her voice though she was sure he must have heard her entry with that preternatural hearing of his.  Perhaps he had been giving her a moment - or maybe he'd just been truly too lost in his thoughts to have noticed her arrival.

In any case, the green of his eyes darkened as his gaze roved over her. It lingered on her cheek and arm, noting the way she leaned against the doorframe and tried not to put too much pressure on her sore ribs. When he seemed satisfied that she was alright, he relaxed slightly, a low breath slicing past his lips.

"Hi. Everything okay between you and Henry? He wasn't too mad at you?"

Blake thought about Henry and how he'd ripped a chunk out of his desk with his bare hands after she'd told him who she theorized was behind all this. Not mad at her but at the revelation she'd brought. The Alpha hadn't wanted to believe it. Hell, she hadn't wanted to either. Blake was fairly certain that Henry was going to spend the rest of the night questioning everything that he knew.

"No," Blake said to him as she crossed the threshold and shut the door. "He wasn't mad at me. Well, I think everyone is mad at me but not enough to lock me up in the slammer. At the very least, Henry doesn't seem to think that killing me will do much good so he's consented to let me fight with you all. I guess he doesn't think that I can do much more damage than what I've already done."

"You saved lives, Blake.  Annalise and Juliet and Phillip all have you to thank.  And without the warning you brought, we all could have been dead."

Blake cringed, her every fibre shying away from that thought.  Red dead.  Those green eyes glassy and lifeless, a bullet hole through his head...

She shoved the image away of what could have come to pass and only said, "It's my fault your lives were in danger to begin with. The only reason any of them were kidnapped and tortured was because of me. You know it and I know it so there's no point tiptoeing around the issue."

Red didn't appear to have an answer for that. He just asked, "Are you sure you don't need to go to the clinic?"

"I'm good."

Better to get this conversation out of the way before Dwayne or Amanda insisted on pumping her full of painkillers for the throbbing in her head. She was sure it was due just as much to her mild concussion as it was to pure exhaustion. Blake he hadn't slept since Chandra's death – and that was going on about twenty hours.

While she'd been strategizing with the group, it had been an effort to keep her eyes open. Now, standing in front of Red, she found herself more awake than she'd before. The energy pulsing through her veins was as electric as a bolt of lightning.

It was an effort to keep her hands from shaking so Blake leaned against the closed door and wound her fingers together behind her back so Red couldn't see them trembling. If he had any indication about the racing of her heart, he didn't let on.

Red only watched her like he had something to say but didn't quite know where to start. The silence stretched between them, long and taut and fragile.

Blake exhaled shakily. There was no point in delaying the inevitable. "Just say it, Red."

"You left me."

He'd spoken to her with many tones before. Mistrust, curiosity, terror, surprise, affection, and then finally love. But this was the first time he'd ever sounded well and truly angry. Perhaps even worse than anger. Hurt. She'd wounded him terribly when she'd left.

Blake swallowed the lump in her throat. "I know I did and I'm sorry—"

"You don't get to be sorry," he snapped. Red lurched to his feet and faced her head-on though he didn't make a move towards her, leaving the few feet that separated them untouched. "Because I went out of my goddamned mind, Blake, when I woke up and you were gone."

"It wasn't how I wanted to leave things between us. I didn't want to do that to you."

"You left and all I had was that stupid note. Like that was supposed to make everything okay. I thought that we had something real but you left without saying anything to me."

"It was real." That scared her more than anything else.

"Then why didn't you talk to me before you went?"

Red released a shuddering breath and pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand and clenched the desk with the other, the skin of his knuckles pulling white. It looked like he was trying very hard not to yell, to keep his anger under control.

"Just...tell me this," he murmured, sounding all at once resigned. His eyes bored into hers, twin pools of green and shadows. "Did you know that you were going to leave before or after we were together that last night? When did you know that you were planning to go?"

She couldn't lie to him. Not anymore. "Before."

A choked little sound went through his lips and he pushed his hands through his dark hair. Red stood and walked to the window, staring out of it and firmly away from her face as if debating whether or not to jump through. To get away from her.

Blake thumped her head against the door. "That day...I knew I was leaving the second that I came out of that vision. When I felt ill, when I needed that time alone, it wasn't because I'd relived those memories or because I finally knew the lies Malachi had spun for years. He was the one I saw in that memory, by the way. He'd always told me that the wolf that killed my parents was still alive but that was a lie. Malachi killed the wolves and brought me into this life anyway because of some stupid comments that I made as a kid about wanting revenge. He pinned it on Victor out of convenience. Just a random wolf with a vendetta against humans.

"When I learned all that, I knew that I had to go back to Beare Lake. I had to confront him because if he'd been lying to me, then he was lying to others and I had to try to get my brother out. Yet I also knew that if confronted Malachi, there was a good chance that I would never make it back here. That he'd kill me to maintain order over the community because that's who he is.

"I always thought that he was strong, a good hunter, that he'd brought us together for a reason. Now I know that he's a psychopath and he's brainwashed all of us to mindlessly hate the Shadow World like a deranged cult. To not review the cases and see supernatural beings as people but...monsters that have no reason to be alive.

"So I knew that if I went back and disturbed that peace and that order, he'd find a way to subdue or eliminate me. And I told myself that it was something I could live with, Red," Blake said and at his name, he turned from the window to regard her again. "But then I thought about leaving you. Of never seeing you again. I hadn't realized until that moment how much you meant to me. I didn't know if it was this bond or something else entirely but the thought of leaving you and never coming back – it was almost enough to convince me to stay."

Red released a shuddering breath. "You should have told me. I could have helped you. Come with you."

Blake shook her head. "All that would have done is gotten you killed. Or it would have opened the door for the hunters, my people, to be targeted by the wolves in this pack that hate them. I had to go back alone because there was a part of me that wanted to save them – the hunters. People like my brother and I who were lied to for years, decades even. I was worried that if I told you where I was going, the rest of the pack would find out too. And if they did...I was concerned about what would happen if they decided to go to Beare Lake and obliterate those hunters. My friends, my family—I didn't know what to do, Red."

"If you knew all that then why bother Mating with me that night, Blake?" Red hissed and raw agony pulsed across his face.  She'd cut him deep.  Had perhaps underestimated the true extent of this bond when she'd left.  Hadn't realized that it would break him so utterly.  "Was it just part of the deception? To keep me occupied and looking the other way? To distract me so that I would trust you and not think that you might slip out in the night?"

A few tears leaked out of her eyes at the shame and emotions burning within her. That Red, the person who had always seen the best in her, had thought the worst of what she could be capable of. Especially since it was so far from the truth.

"I wanted to see," Blake replied and then fell silent because it was the thing she'd quietly hoped for without ever realizing how badly she wanted it. Something she'd never dared speak aloud.

"See what?" Red quirked a brow at her and she had the feeling that her response was so unexpected that he'd forgotten to hold onto his anger.

"If the bond was real." Blake met his gaze, upper lip quivering and his eyes widened a fraction.  He straightened as she added, "I wanted to know if it was possible for a human to feel it because I've heard you and everyone else talk about this bond like it's a living thing. A bridge between souls and I wanted something that might help me find my way back to you."

Red's throat bobbed. His voice was soft as he asked, "And do you feel it?"

"No." The word was half a sob. Blake wiped at her eyes and laughed without humour. "I feel the same way about you that I did before we...Mated." The word didn't feel quite right coming out of her mouth, a bit awkward. "I guess I'll never know what it's like, Red. To feel as you do. Connected to someone else so completely. Like you're an extension of each other. Two halves of a whole. I won't ever have that."

"I'm sorry." He sounded like he meant it. The anger had vanished entirely from his face, replaced by something else. Something softer, more fond. Red took a careful step forward, leaving a few paces still between them.

"Now you're the one apologizing?" she said and brushed another tear from her cheek. Blake sighed. "I was hoping that having that bond would make me stop feeling guilty."

Red cocked his head. "What do you feel guilty about?"

Blake hesitated but knew she had to say it. The final truth she'd been holding back for weeks now. Perhaps months. Maybe even since that night he'd first let her go, standing on the edge of a road with a backpack slung over her shoulder. Facing down a wolf and not seeing a predator, but a man.

"Loving you and feeling like I've betrayed humanity. Wanting to be here in Sanguis Ridge and knowing that if I stayed I'd be letting people down in Beare Lake. And...grappling with the knowledge that our people are going to war with each other and I could have done more to stop it. My heart can't seem to decide where it belongs."

She stared at her feet. "I know what's right. I know that I'll fight against Malachi and the other hunters when they come but I wish – I wish that I didn't have to make that decision."

Red crossed the room, his tread light and coming to a halt just before her. Gently, he reached out and grasped her chin in his hand, not hard but firm enough that he could tilt her head up enough until their eyes met. Blake sniffled again at what she saw in his face.

The strength and the sorrow...and the love.

"You love me," Red said. It wasn't a question.

Blake answered him anyway. "I do. It's why I fought so hard to make it back here. For you. All of it for you."

"And you don't feel the bond."

"Not even a little bit. Maybe that's better," Blake mused. His next breath fanned across her face as he exhaled. "It means that all of this was my choice. Not fate or goddess or whatever telling me that this is where I belong. A conscious choice by me to be with you because I love you. Against all odds, all reason. The home that you offered me here, in this pack, with you, is the home that I want, Red. I love you."

Red's lips captured Blake's in a fierce, blazing kiss. Her back pressed against the door and there was nowhere for her to move but towards him. Red's hands braced on either side of her head in restraint but Blake didn't want restraint. She just wanted him.

Blake nipped at his bottom lip and Red made a sound of surprise but it had the effect she wanted. The tether he'd placed on himself snapped as one of his hands went to tangle in her hair. The other went to her hip and he made only to pull her as close to him as he could. Her own hands went to the back of his neck, holding him close.

It was fire, raging and wild and untameable, that pulsed through her veins. Burning away her shame and fear and replacing it with something wondrous and new.

This, Blake thought through the jumbled mess her mind had become. This is what I've been looking for. This feels like home.

Red tore his lips away, panting hard but he didn't remove himself from her hold. He tilted his forehead against hers and murmured, "I love you. I'm still annoyed with you – but I'm going to use that to my advantage."

Blake laughed and the sound was both surprise and pure joy. "I'm sure you'll find all sorts of creative ways to get back at me. I deserve it."

"You most definitely do." Red kissed her again, hard and fast. In a second, he released her and then pulled himself out of her embrace to step past her towards the closet in the corner of the room. There, he pulled out the item he'd been keeping hidden from her for months now – from the day of that attack.

Her katana.

Red picked it up and brought it back to her, holding the silver-coated blade with a sort of reverence. "I think this belongs to you."

Gingerly, Blake took the weapon from his hands. "Is that...I had that the day I almost killed Deacon."

"You did."

She ran her fingers across the scabbard and up over the hilt of the blade. "I swiped it off the flatbed of some hunter's truck the day we came here. It's one of the nicest weapons I've ever handled.  You had it this whole time in your office?"

"I'm not an idiot," Red told her with a snort. His eyes gleamed. "When you came back with Henry and Toby, I hid that damn thing in my room in case you went snooping and found it while we were working together. After you left, I brought it back in."

Blake raised a brow. "Why?"

Red caressed her cheek. "Because it reminds me of you. There was a moment during the attack that I saw you in the woods when you were squaring off against Victor and Deacon. I was running back and watched you cut Victor's flank with it. It was recovered from the woods and during those days where we had you locked up in the prison, I had it in here with me."

"I didn't know you were there that day." Slowly, Blake pulled the blade loose from its scabbard. The blade was pristine and sharp, just as it had been that day, though someone had cleaned the blood from it.  "You said the others had to show you how I fought."

"They did.  I only saw a fraction of it but it was enough for me to know even then that you were a force to reckon with. I need you to know that I'm proud, Blake, to have you as my Mate. To have you here fighting with us."

Blake stared it a moment and then slid it back into the scabbard. "Sometimes this still feels impossible to me but...I'm proud, too. To have you in my life and as my...Mate."

Red laughed at the look on her face and she glowered at him. She doubted that she'd ever get used to saying Mate instead of boyfriend or partner. It just seemed so unnatural. But then again, nothing about her relationship with Red felt unnatural. If anything, it had always felt easy. Even with the weight of two warring species and murders and death hanging over them, what they had at its simplest form was ease and understanding.

She cut his laugh off by a kiss as she reached up to pull his lips back down to hers and she grinned against his mouth. "Say it again," Blake whispered.

From the way his eyes sparked, she knew that he understood. "I love you."

The words were practically a challenge.

"I love you, Red," Blake replied and this time when he kissed her, they didn't break apart for a good long while.