A/N: I've been gone from the internet society for a while (sick) and I don't have WiFi on Ella (my laptop) today so I haven't had the chance to answer comments. I thought you'd prefer an update so I saved the MB of my phone's WiFi to upload Ch. 42. I'll catch up on comments when I can so thank you for leaving them; I really appreciate the feedback!

Enjoy the new chapter ^_^

*****

The curtains softened the light that came from outside. I'd been awake for a while now, but I stood still, afraid that if I moved, I'd wake Riley. His shoulders were going up and down with each steady breath he took. I inhaled deeply the sweet aroma of his shampoo mixed with my mate's natural scent. Even in human form, I was able to enjoy the odour, branding it as my mate's.

His breathing pattern changed and he yawned.

"Good morning," I murmured, kissing the back of his head. He turned to me without breaking from my embrace, a huge smile on his face.

"Good morning," he greeted and pecked me on the lips.

I could get used to that.

"How did you sleep?" I asked him.

"Surprisingly well. I thought that with all that happened yesterday, I wouldn't be able to sleep a wink, but I guess having you here helped."

Warmth swelled in my chest, my heart dripping with pride.

"I'm glad to hear that." I let him go to caress his cheek. "Are you hungry yet?"

"Actually..." Riley pulled slightly away to get a better look at me. "You promised me to share a story of your own, remember? I'd rather listen to that than have breakfast."

I nodded, remembering how after he'd calmed down last night, he'd asked me about my own scars. It had been late at the time and both of us had been drained - physically and emotionally - so I'd given him my word to answer him in the morning.

"Not much to tell, really," I started, wrapping my arm around him again. "One of the times that Everett tried to connect with Alec and convinced Anastasiya - that is Alec's mother - to let him stay with us, Jasper Owens spoke in some not so flattering terms about my brother. At first, he was talking about how now that Everett had fallen out of grace, he would inherit his father as the Alpha. That wasn't that bad; it was annoying more than infuriating. But when he called Everett a traitor, I snapped."

I had to pause to collect my cool, to attempt to remove the anger and embarrassment from my tone. My voice was shaky when I continued:

"I was a teenager, hormones were rushing and he had just insulted my brother. I faced him and told him to shut up. He laughed and said 'Or what?', I pushed him, he pushed me harder, I pushed again and he found himself on the ground... A moment later, he was already in his wolf form. He jumped on me, clawing my face and leaving these beauties." I trailed a hand over the places on my face and neck where the scars were. "The fight didn't last very long. A little after I shifted, the adults intervened and put an end to it."

"Was Jasper punished?" My mate laid his head on my chest, a comforting, supportive gesture that took the brunt of my bad mood away.

"Both of us were," I replied, sparing him the details. "And justly so. He was the one to shift first, but I was the one to push him first; he'd called Everett a traitor, but I shouldn't have started a physical altercation."

"But he scarred you!" My mate's protest was loud. "Now you have to live with these for the rest of your life."

"And now they serves as a good reminder of why one should not to rush into things. Besides, at the time everyone thought they would heal. They should have healed, perhaps leaving a very, very faint mark; no one knows for sure why they didn't."

"I don't understand this." I looked down at him and he was frowning. "You said that werewolves heal better than humans."

"True, but marks left to someone in their human form by someone in a wolf form are less likely to heal properly; some think that is the reason for my scars. And some - the more superstitious ones - believe that a wound caused by someone experiencing strong negative emotions such as anger and hate won't heal until the one who strikes and the one who got struck are at peace with each other. If that is true, my marks will remain forever as Jasper and I will never reconcile."

He snuggled closer, silent for the next few minutes. He then moved back again, his eyes on my face.

"Why did he call Everett a traitor?" Riley asked.

"Oh, yeah, you still don't know that part of the story."

More drama...

When would the two of us get a break?

When would we find something pleasant to talk about for a change?

I cleared my throat and went on:

"Dayers and werewolves don't always get along and there's often a distrust between the species..."

"What does that have to do with Everett?" My mate interrupted.

"Alec's mother is a Dayer."

His jaw slacked, brown eyes blinking in surprise.

"Is that... Is that even possible? For a werewolf and a vampire to have a child, I mean."

"If the vampire is a Dayer, not a Nighter, then yes." I nodded. "Alec is the living proof of that."

"H-how does this work? Is he a hybrid? Do the genes of one species override the other? What... What happens?"

A small smile come to my lips at the speed he'd fired the questions with. I shook my head and tried to answer each of them:

"Alec is a hybrid. He carries genes and features from both species," I began to explain, "but with him, the vampire ones are more prominent. You can see that in his appearance. While we grow in mass, vampires are of a slim built. They are speedy and stealthy creatures, good with sneaking around unnoticed. He also can't shift into a wolf."

"And if he was half human, would he be able to shift?"

"It's possible. But almost certainly, even if a wolf-human hybrid doesn't shift, they'll be stronger and healthier than the average human."

"Wow." He barely uttered, dazed with the new information.

"So, Everett and Anastasiya fell in love and that was viewed as treason by some because they are a werewolf and a Dayer?" He then asked.

"Yes and no."

When he raised an eyebrow, I clarified:

"Yes, some viewed it as a betrayal and no, they weren't in love. Well, Everett was, but not Anastasiya. Her father craves power and he already has plenty of purebred Dayer children and grandchildren so he thought it might come in handy for one of his daughters to have a mongrel child from a promising young werewolf. I know, it sound strange..."

"Strange?" Riley looked utterly disgusted. "More like twisted!"

"... And we don't have all the details but the old man must've found some profit in ordering Anastasiya to seduce my brother. We can't see another reason behind that other than some twisted - as you put it - genetic experiment."

"Is that why Alec is so cold and bitter and... likes to hurt people?"

"It could be," I agreed. "It could be because he was unwanted or it could be because it's in his blood. As I said, the Dayer genes in him are stronger than ours and his family... They are not good people, Riley. They are not warm and loving. I doubt he's experienced much affection from a Dayer other than Viktoriya."

"Viktoriya? Who is she?"

"She's the only creature Alec cares about other than himself."

I chuckled. Alec caring and hating other people knowing he cared brought a certain satisfaction to me. I wasn't proud that I found his discomfort at showing emotion so amusing, but I couldn't help myself; with all the trouble he'd given us through the years, having something annoy him - but not harm him - made me all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

"It must be terribly confusing for him to feel that way... To actually feel something other than boredom or annoyance, or on a good day - a slight curiosity."

"Is she his mate?" Riley asked.

I decided that this was not the time to explain that Dayers didn't recognize mates as that would turn our conversation in another direction - why not? What was so special about shifters that they were the only species able to do that? - so I went with a simple "No", then added:

"His cousin. Another of his grandfather's breeding experiments, if that was the purpose of those two."

"So she's also half-werewolf?"

"Half-human," I corrected. "Her father is a Gifted and a Sentinel. I think his Gift has to do with physical strength and agility, but I'm not sure."

"If he's a Sentinel, why would he be with a Dayer? Isn't that a conflict of interest?"

"Depends on the Sentinel and the Dayer, I suppose, but he was with Ekaterina for the same reason Everett was with Anastasiya: vampires can be dangerously alluring even if you know what they are."

"But why..."

A knock came from the door and we turned our heads towards it. I didn't need to ask who it was.

"Yes, mom?"

"Your dad and I are going to town, do you need anything?" Her question came through the closed door.

"Do you mind her coming in?" I whispered and Riley shook his head, pulling the sheet up to cover his torso.

"You can come in, mom," I said, raising my voice a notch.

Mom walked inside, smiling at the picture before her: me and my mate cuddled.

"So, do you need anything?" She repeated her question.

"Which town is that?" Riley asked and mom furrowed her eyebrows, confused; she wouldn't go far just to get some groceries. Then her face cleared as she realize what she'd said and why Riley, who didn't live in our community, had misunderstood her.

"Oh, I mean Woodbury. With the way we've isolated ourselves, it's as if we are in a whole different town." She waived a hand. "Any requests?"

"Tart cherry juice," I replied, wanting to provide my mate with his favourite.

"Well, that goes without saying." Mom giggled. "Anything else?"

I turned to Riley and he shook his head again.

"No, we got everything we need," I replied, squeezing my mate's hand underneath the covers; what more could I need when I had him with me?

"Okay then." Mom swirled around to leave. "Carter is at Mel's and Kennedy is staying here because he wants to make you breakfast. I think he also wants to hang out with Riley," she added before closing the door.

"You seem to have a beneficial influence on my youngest sibling," I noted. "He's prepared to cook without it being his turn."

He didn't comment on that, instead asking:

"How did you know it was your mom outside the door?"

"Werewolves have heightened senses, remember? Her footsteps sound different from those of other family members. Mom's are the lightest, although Kennedy can be pretty quiet when he decides to; dad is the loudest, but his footfalls are much softer than Carter's."

"And mine?"

"Yours are balanced: not obnoxiously loud, not unnervingly quiet, usually soft and a bit hesitant."

Just like you, I added in my head and pecked him on the nose.

"Now... Are you ready to see what Kennedy can come up with? And I don't mean just breakfast; mom's probably right about him wanting to spend time with you."

"I like hanging with him; he's fun. I have no idea on what level his cooking skills are though," he admitted.

"One way to find out." I winked and pulled the sheets off him, prompting him to follow me as I got up.

*****

A/N: Okay, so my writing routine went flying out the window thanks to my almost week-long Hell-how-can-my-head-still-hurt-after-all-those-meds phase. I'm slowly catching up this week with one update on Wattpad and a few on my blog. I have a certain amount of content I've planned to post this month and I'm dead-set on posting all of it before October ends; if you are following me here and on my blog, expect A LOT of notifications about uploads in the next eight days.

But let's get back to Rhys and Riley, shall we?

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Do you remember from You are the Answer what Kennedy and Riley talked about?

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