A/N: I'm going on a vacation soon and won't be taking my laptop with me. That means that there won't be any updates between July 16 and July 23. However, I'll post a chapter before I leave on the 15th and it will be new content that wasn't available in You are the Answer.

What about you? Are you planning anything for the summer?

*****

His skin looked golden under the yellow light of the two lamps that he passed between as he walked through the door. His gaze, bored as ever, slowly ran over each person in the room. The thud that Riley's dropped knife produced when it fell to the floor was deafening in the silence with which we greeted my unexpected nephew.

"Be careful when you pick it up, Riley." Alec's lips barely twitched upwards. "We don't want any blood, do we?"

"You could've called." I leaned down to pick my mate's utensil for him. "Keri was..."

"Ah, yes. The beautiful and talented Keri."

I clenched my teeth at the vulgar tone my nephew spoke with. A shaking hand covered my balled one and I released the breath I was holding. I had to stay calm for Riley's sake.
Alec stepped further into the room, slowly, his pale eyes a silent challenge for me to lose my control, to lash out on him and fill my mate with horror.

"Beautiful, talented and smart," the half-Dayer went on before he stopped at the end of the table. "Such a shame she still doesn't have a..."

I sprung to my feet to cover his mouth, but my father caught me by the wrist and held me firmly, probably misinterpreting my movement as a desire to strike Alec. I looked down at dad's face. He nodded encouragingly towards my chair, but I didn't sit back down.

"... Boyfriend." Alec finished his sentence, this time not hiding a satisfied smirk - the evidence of just how much he'd enjoyed my reaction. "What's the matter Uncle Rhys? Did I say something inappropriate?"

He turned his back to me and walked to the small table where we'd put come extra cutlery and china. A moment later, one daffodil plate was in his grasp.

My teeth grit again with such force it was a miracle I didn't break them.

It was clear what Alec intended: he had the gall to join us for dinner.

"Rhys." Riley's inflection was pleading and when he took my hand and tugged me down, I sat back in the chair by his side.

"Why are you back, Alec?" I didn't look at the boy as I spoke to him. Seeing his sneer would no doubt bring me back on my feet, wanting to throw him out of my home. "If you are here to cause more trouble..."

"Trouble?" I picked up on the clank of a plate and then the chair next to Carter's being pulled back. "I heard you were all here and came to have a nice family dinner."

I chanced a glance towards our undesired guest. He seemed pleased at the reactions he was getting: fear from Riley and Carter, anger from Kennedy and I, and worry from everyone else.

"Good." Kennedy spoke, meeting Alec's gaze head on. "'Cause if you try anything, I'm going to drive a spike through your heart."

"How old fashioned of you." Alec replied, his amusement only growing at the threat.

"Where have you been?" Everett's hesitation of whether he truly wanted to know the answer was clear in his voice.

Alec's smirk vanished and was replaced with annoyance as soon as he heard his father speak.

"On a trip." He took a packet of cigarettes from the pocket of his leather jacket.

"There is no smoking in my house," mom stated coolly.

"See?" Alec asked me as he made a show of putting the smokes back into his pocket. "I can be good."

I was almost a hundred percent sure he did as mother told him because it was the last thing we expected him to. After all, he liked to study people's reaction to his behavior.

Everett cleared his throat while his son scooped some salad onto his plate.

"Does your trip have anything to do with..."

For a moment I thought my eldest brother would try to find a way to question Alec whether he'd gone after another Nighter without Riley finding out what the conversation was really about. Instead he asked:

"Did you meet anyone we know?"

Ace Darrell.

That was who Everett was inquiring about.

Riley tilted his head down and to the right, his eyes avoiding my nephew, but his ear angled towards him.

Had my mate guessed who we were talking about?

Was he as anxious as my family at the possibility that yes, Alec may had had something to do with Ace showing up in Woodville?

"Are you sure you want us to talk in front of Riley?" My nephew asked his father instead of giving us an answer before he turned to Lisa, his voice dripping with honeyed poison: "Mommy, would you pass me the mashed potatoes, please? I heard they were grandma's specialty."

"Alec..." Everett and I growled at the same time.

My sister-in-law did her best to smile and appease us while handing the bowl to Alec.

"Thank you, mommy."

Lisa shivered when their fingers touched. With a smile of his own, one that some would consider friendly if they didn't know the boy well enough to realize it was fake, Alec slowly filled his plate with the potatoes. Once done, he handed the bowl back to Lisa. She pulled on it, but the boy didn't let go, forcing his stepmom to meet his gaze.

"You look good enough to bite," he murmured to her seductively.

Three chairs crashed onto the floor as Everett, Kennedy and I jumped up. Kennedy's fingers wound around Alec's throat in an instant. I pried my baby brother away, pushing him back and out of harm's way in case my nephew decided to retaliate. My own fingers dug into the neck of the blond boy's shirt, my rage a palpable aura smashing against the pure joy that emanated from my nephew's whole being.

"You are scaring your guest," he noted with a gleeful smile.

I dropped his clothing as if it were on fire and swiveled to face my mate, my hands raised at the level of my shoulders as if I surrendered. I took one slow step towards Riley, suffocating at the anticipation of him crying out in terror after he'd seen the brutal side of me, one that showed only when I was protecting those I cared for, but one that existed nevertheless.

"Riley, are you okay, son?"

My mate turned towards my dad's soothing voice.
"I'm alright." He shook as if he was about to faint.

"Riley!" I screamed, running towards him and held him by the shoulders. His head dropped down and I grabbed his chin to lift his pale face towards me.

"Water!" I shouted, but mom was already passing a glass of the clear liquid to my mate.

"Do you need to lie down?" She asked.

"No, I..." Riley paused to gulp down everything that was in his glass. His voice was a little bit clearer when he spoke again: "I don't know what got over me."

"I know," I whispered, my thumb gliding over his jaw. "I'm so sorry to have frightened you. I..."

"You are quite easily overwhelmed, Riley." The cause of this drama stated, his tone back to being bored. The inflection was almost enough to make me jump at him once more. But Riley was here. I wouldn't risk upsetting him again, especially not when he was already so shaken.

"Are you sure he's the right choice, Rhys?" My nephew went on.

Kennedy sprung towards him, swinging his fist at the other boy's face and missing. Alec had leapt from his seat and one blink of an eye later, he was positioned six feet away, his body perfectly relaxed.

"And that is why you are the fun one in the family, Uncle Kennedy," Alec stated and straightened the color of his shirt. "Temper and speed; I like the combination."

"That is enough." Mom's voice held an authority even an Alpha would envy. "Out."

Several knocks on our front door interrupted the quarrel.

"Enter!" Alec summoned as if he was the master of the house.

"You." The newcomer growled at my nephew.

"We were going to call you and Keri about Alec being back, Anthony," I began before the two of them started a fight. We've had more than enough tension in this house tonight. "We didn't get the chance yet."

"Never mind that little mite," my friend's words surprised me. "We got bigger problems than him. Keri is gathering the Council."

"What's wrong?" I let go of Riley and stood up.

This couldn't be about the same issue Keri had stopped by earlier; summoning the Council at this time and without a notice meant serious trouble.

Anthony looked at my mate, unsure he should talk before him, but nevertheless spoke:

"You'll hear it in the news anyway. There's been another murder."

Not tonight.

Of all the nights, not tonight.

I had dreamt of Riley meeting my parents for what seemed like an eternity; I'd told him that everything would go well even though I myself had been nervous beyond belief, enlisting all the things that could go wrong and taking precautions. I'd told Keri I'd be turning my phone off as I didn't want to be interrupted; I'd double checked who was on guard tonight, ordering them to make sure Riley didn't see them in their wolf forms; I'd warned everyone from the pack that my human mate would be here and that they should mind their speech if they happened to see us; I'd commanded them not to speak about this so that Alec wouldn't find out about the dinner if he got back in town, but the boy had somehow gotten a wind of it nevertheless and came to sprout bile and doubt.

And now this.

Another murder.

Keri was summoning the Council and I had to go, but how could I leave my mate behind?

Riley had already been shaken due to the family's quarrel with Alec getting out of hand and Anthony managed to top it all up with the news of a fresh killing. Not that that was his fault; he was just the messenger.

"Riley," I kneeled besides his chair. His breathing was back to normal, but his complexion was still a sickening pale yellow.

"I know." He nodded, giving me permission before I'd even asked for it. "You have to go; I understand."

I planted my lips on his, breathing in his scent, cringing as it was tainted by all the negative emotions he was going through.

"Just be careful... Be safe," he muttered, his voice trembling like before.

"I will; we'll just talk," I promised and I meant to keep my word; the trail would be fresh, but I was certain Keri would go with Anthony to track the killer, leaving me here to keep an eye on our pack; after all, her brother excelled in hunting.

"Please, wait for me here; I don't want you to be alone tonight. I'll be back as soon as I can." I kissed his forehead and got up. "Take care of him for me."

Mom, dad and Kennedy nodded; they would've done that even if I hadn't asked them to. Carter was hectically typing on his phone, jumping up as it rang in his hands.

"Mel?" He sounded as if he was about to cry as he shot up and darted out of the room. "Are you okay? Did you hear..." He was too far for us to make out the rest.

I planted one more kiss on my mate's lips, not wanting to part with him. From the corner of my eye, I saw Everett doing the same to Lisa.

"Come on," I nodded for my older brother and Anthony to follow me out. "You as well," I added to Alec; I didn't want to leave my family to deal with him.

"Go away," Anthony ordered as soon as we stepped out of my home with hatred that could only be directed to the half.

"You are not going to invite me to your furry gathering?" The boy I was ashamed to call my nephew sneered. "Might be for the best; I never liked the smell of wet dogs." He kept walking, extending his hand, palm up, to feel the drizzle. Alec had always been in the habit of making fun of our wolf forms. It wasn't out of spite because he couldn't shift; he just enjoyed getting a rise out of people. Anthony was amongst his favorite targets and the boy smirked, seeing how the older guy was barely containing himself.

"Does your baby sister still forbid you to hit me unless I strike first?" He kept teasing, knowing Keri was her brother's weak spot.

"Enough!" I ordered and Anthony - being the diligent soldier he was - did his hardest to obey, clamping his mouth shut before he replied to the jesting. "And we are taking Alec with us; he can wait in another room with someone to watch over him."

I didn't want to leave the boy alone. My brother had it hard as it was; I didn't need him to worry that his son would go after a supernatural killer just for the fun of it.

"My sister won't approve," Anthony contradicted with all the respect he could muster in his irritated state. "We can't spare a babysitter for the little bat..."

"I'll talk to her," I insisted, climbing the steps of Keri's porch; the meeting was small enough to be held at her house instead of the pub.

"Before we go in," Anthony said and I paused with my hand over the handle. "There's something different about this murder. They left a message."

"A message to whom?" I asked, twisting to look at him with my eyebrows furrowed.

"Us."

*****

A/N: Are there still fans of Alec out there, even after this chapter?

Do you want his POV? How about some info about his book?

What do you think of the murderer's message?

What could it be?

Please support this chapter with a VOTE if you enjoyed it and have a great time wattpadding!