Cora was staring straight at the blonde boy sitting next to Harmony.

Her brother.

Harvey James could have passed as Harmony's twin, with the exact same curly, honey-blonde hair and bright blue eyes. A sharp, clean jaw with angular eyebrows that seemed to be carefully taking in Cora.

He stood up, taking a tentative step forward. "You- we're mates?"

"Oh no," Cora purred, "We're promised, arguably better but essentially the same. I'm not a wolf darling, so why would I use their terminology?"

Harvey turned to Harmony, "She's- she's not a wolf?"

Harmony paused, "I can't tell, but it would seem not."

As if wanting to prove her point, the blues in her eyes began to swell, like crashing waves against the tide. And her voice, I had seen her set up to use her voice before, the slitting of her irises and a devilish tongue. "I'm a siren," Cora smiled, "Deep ocean dweller, word manipulator, water singer. Surely you must have heard of us,"

Harvey sat back down, cut from a trance. "And I thought my little sister being mated to a werewolf was a lot to process."

I watched Cora's face fall slightly.

"It seems that a mating gene lies in the James family, not a distant werewolf pairing like we thought." Vance added, trying to ease the awkwardness in the room. "Rare of course, but it would give some explanation to the situation."

I grabbed onto Cora and Ti's hand and pulled them down to sit on the empty three seater. I cleared my throat, pulling all the stuff out of the leather bag, placing it beside me, and then I handed the bag over to Myra.

"Sorry," I said sheepishly, "I needed a bag."

Myra raised an eyebrow, "I didn't even know I had this."

Harmony, however, raised her brow. "I don't know when you had the moment to take that dress Cassandra, but don't even think about giving it back, that dress looks amazing on you. Besides, the colour washed me out anyways."

I gave her a look of thanks. "Well, this is Coraline and Tatiana, my two closest friends." Inquisitive eyes watched us carefully. Except for Alexander of course, who had leaned back in his chair, one leg up and a Carlton dry in hand.

"And what are you?" Farren accused, watching Tatiana. "You're doing a very good job at cloaking your scents."

"Apologies for taking the precautions to ensure that we weren't caught along the way." Ti bit back, before slowly letting go of the cloak she had cast over the three of us. "Just fae, nothing special."

"Wolf, Siren, Fae." Alexander tutted, "What a trio you must've been."

"We're irreplaceable." Cora boasted, "Who knows what they'll do now that we're gone."

I rolled my eyes, "Replace us with useless copycats, Goddess knows they've already done it with me."

Ti snorted. "Absolutely, I thought we were going to miss that mission all together Truster was taking so long to get ready, not to mention he refused my magic and decided to just run, in human form."

The three of us let out a laugh, a vivid image of Truster forming in my head. No one else laughed, almost sitting awkwardly. Suddenly, I felt embarrassed. Of course they wouldn't laugh, they didn't even know what we were saying.

I cleared my throat. "So, Harvey, how long are you staying here for?"

His head snapped forwards, as if he hadn't been expecting anyone to talk to him. "I usually stay about a week, but most of the time I have something else that I need to run off and do afterwards." Once again, he moved to watch Cora. "Who knows, maybe I'll be staying a little longer this time."

"And what about you two, where will you be going after this withdrawal finishes." Farren asked suspiciously. "Heading home?"

Perhaps it wasn't that Farren hated me when we first met, it was just that she hated new people.

Cora and Ti looked awkwardly at each other.

"Alexander has placed the offer for us to stay here afterwards if we wish. I know that's an offer that I'll almost definitely be taking up, even if it's just for a few months." Ti admitted,

Cora stretched her arms forward. "Home would be nice, but first, one would have to know where exactly home is."

That seemed to pique everyone's attention.

Ti leaned over and whispered, "How much have you told them?"

I gulped, "My name?"

I shook my head and took a breath. "That's how the organisation does it. Takes you when you're young and raise you there. In fact, basically everyone is on the medication. They never tell you where they find you, or where you were from. I can only assume that most of us were orphans or abandoned."

"It's a relief, really." Cora shrugged. "They gave us a life, which is more than we had beforehand."

I paused. I remembered I had once thought that too. The organisation had granted us this new life when we had been abandoned beforehand. But now that my mind was clear, it was one of those things that had come up in my mind.

They weren't granting us a future, they were stealing it.

Who would I have been had I not been the Nightstalker? How would I have met Alexander had I not been the Nightstalker?

"Who knows how we would have ended up, probably dead or worse!" Ti laughed. "I mean sure we were little, but you've got to start them off young!"

Myra looked taken aback, "How old were you?"

Cora snorted, "Cas and I were around 6, Ti around 3 or 4. Basically the only things on our records were the age of admittance. Got the mark of loyalty around 10," She pointed to the tattoo on her collarbone, identical in placement to mine yet done in a striking white ink. "Training at 11. It's all very planned out."

Harvey's mouth was open wide. "That's cruel."

Ti shrugged, "It's life. Besides, they let Cora out swimming and Cas and I in the forest before we were old enough for training, and they were there every moment of the way when Cas shifted for the first time."

I stood up, "I think I'm ready for bed. And you too should be situated for the morning, since I already know you'll sleep in."

Cora and Ti stood up immediately too, feeling the urgency in my tone. Maybe for a moment they had forgotten about withdrawal, but I hadn't. They were fine now, but if they overslept for even a minute, they would end up just as bad as I was with no restraints.

I didn't say goodnight, though I heard Ti offer a round of thanks to everyone in the room. I shut the door firmly behind us and walked out, heading through the kitchen and towards the back stairs that would take us into the underground.

"Cora, wait!" Harvey called out, jogging around the wall corner.

Cora stopped immediately, turning to face him. She had taken off her heels ages ago, yet, even with the two of them wearing no shoes, Cora was about an inch taller than him.

Harvey awkwardly spared a glance to Ti and I before facing Cora. "Where are you going? I'm afraid I don't really understand."

Cora slid a hand to rest on the side of Harvey's face. "Just withdrawal from some medication. Now that I'm here, it's necessary that I no longer take them."

"So when will I see you again?"

She tilted her head lovingly, "A week. That's how long it will take. During which you mustn't visit me, I won't be in my usual composed and beautiful self. Afterwards, I would hope that we can spend some time together? Perhaps sort some things out."

Harvey nodded, swallowing a gulp as he did so. "Sure, I'd like that."

Cora bent down slightly and pressed a kiss to his cheek, waving her fingers in goodbye before turning back around to walk down the stairs Ti and I had already started descending.

I opened the door, leading us into the hallway. The security had been disabled for me, so once I pressed my palm against the wall before starting to move.

"He's sweet isn't he?" I stated, "Your promised."

Cora's eyes went dreamy, "He's easy on the eye that's for sure. Very sweet, very... docile. I'm not sure how he'll deal with me in the future, but we'll make quite the pair I'm sure."

"And what of your mate, Cas? I would have thought you would sit with him." Ti mentioned.

I pushed through the next door. "Alexander and I will be over in two months."

Cora snorted, "And why is that?"

"Because after two months, I'm due back at base." I said, scrunching my nose.

A look of confusion came over their face.

"So?" Cora stated, "Look at us, we ditched a mission and are going through the processes of never having to even think about it again and you're saying, after nearly a month of injections, that you're planning to go back at the end of the mission?"

I nodded. "I know, it sounds crazy, but I have my obligation to the mission, as well as the fact that the leaders still have my personal items."

Ti sighed. "Really? You're planning to return because of your stubbornness and pride? After everything?"

"Well, yes-"

"Cassandra you will not be doing that! Under any circumstances. Period." Cora confirmed angrily, "Besides, what personal items do they have that can't be replaced, clothes? A favourite set of earrings?-"

"My glass flower?" I snapped back. "My choices will be my choices, perhaps I may come back straight away. But you can't blame me. Goddess, I'll be confirmed to a life of Lunaship and everything that comes with it. But it doesn't matter, I still have two more months to finalise my plans and feelings. I would prefer not to take about it right now. Besides, we have bigger things to worry about."

I finally made my way down the steps that lead to the cells. "Ti, you can go in this one. Cora, there's a cell further down with a broken water pipe, hopefully that works more in your favour."

I opened up the cell and gestured Ti to follow.

She gulped. "It's feeling a lot more real now."

I started dragging on the chains. "I'll be tying your arms and legs, to keep you from breaking anything."

"I don't even remember anything from when we went through that mini-withdrawal." Ti breathed, starting to pale. "What's it like?"

I clamped the first chain around her wrist. "I don't like to think about it. It's painful, and it feels like you're on the bridge of insanity. It's only afterwards, when there's no more block on your mind from the injection, do the memories start to return. I thought that everything was fine once the week was over. But then the nightmares started, and I find myself questioning everything I do, everything I say. How would I have acted if I were still under injection? Still under the poison? Flashes of the faces of all the people I killed, and the things I stole. This injection, it makes us think we're good, that what we're doing is acceptable. But it's not, and the entire organisation is corrupt. You only realise that when you're sober." I snapped the last chain into place. "Now, you'll have maybe a two hour break on day three, because that's how long the last withdrawal lasted, so your body will give you that opportunity. I'll bring some food and water down in that time, but other than that, it's non stop. And trust me, it's better to be on your own."

They both went still.

Cora opened her mouth, "I can't even remember, Does it hurt?"

I grimaced, "Like a bitch."

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As I walked out, leaving Cora and Ti chained in the basement, I headed straight back up to the bedroom, feeling only moments away from collapsing.

I pushed the door open and sighed. First, I kicked off the heels, sending them flying into the wall of the room. Then I bent back my arm, struggling to find the beginning of the zipper to take off the dress. I let out a huff of annoyance as my fingers continued to slip over the zip.

"Need a hand?"

I swivelled around.

Of course, of course right at this moment he was in the room. "I thought you were downstairs?"

Alexander shrugged, "We got tired."

As if he didn't actually care what I wanted or not, he stood up, stretching his entire body as he did so. I watched him walk over, finally taking proper notice in the black ink stretching over his side. To my knowledge, it was the only tattoo he had, covering up the entirety of the left side of his rib. For some reason, my mind never noticed it when he was shirtless, but now, as I stared, I couldn't take my eyes off it.

Alexander pushed me ever so lightly, turning my body around so my back faced his front. Carefully, he let his knuckle drag from my hairline all the way down my spine until he reached the beginning of the dress's back. Then, without any struggle, he zipped the dress undone, the sides of material falling backwards.

Suddenly, I was very glad that this dress had straps.

Alexander placed his hands on my hips, causing my whole body to lean into his touch, my back connecting with his chest.

"Well, you certainly managed to do a better job than me," I squirmed, feeling as if I needed to say something.

Alexander placed a featherlight kiss just behind my ear, causing a traitorous breath to escape my lips. Then, he moved his head upwards to my ear.

"I do know how to take off a women's clothing." His thumbs began to move, up and down over the fabric. "Any time you need help, I'd be more than happy to oblige."

I leaned my head back. "Oh I'm sure you would."

Another kiss behind my ear, then one on my jawline, another further down. As if he was drawing himself a road down my neck. Alexander didn't stop, continuing his torment until he reached just near my collarbone.

He placed his lips down, right where he would mark me, and started to suck lightly, tightening his grip on my hips as I started to move.

"Alexander," I hissed, my body turning too putty.

Suddenly, he pulled away. "I know you like sleeping in my shirts, there's one in the bathroom for when you're ready."

I swung around, "Really? You're just going to-to stop?"

Alexander only turned his head, "Unless you want to continue?"

My brows turned downwards. "No, but that's not the point, what on earth do you think you're doing, starting things you have no intention to finish-"

"Trust me, I would have gladly continued, but my common sense kicked in, so I pulled away."

I lifted my arms in exasperation, "Would you turn around and look at me? I don't want to have a conversation with your back!"

Alexander tilted his head downwards, as if looking at the floor. "No,"

I bit my cheek, "Fine. Whatever."

Alexander sighed, "Are you going to go get changed or no, because I really need a shower."

I scoffed, "No, my pyjamas are in the wardrobe, not the bathroom, so you can go and do whatever you need to do."

I stormed off, slamming the closet door behind me. I let out a groan, Why the hell was I so worked up? I still had around another week, week and a half before I was supposed to go back into heat. Yes, my mate was extremely attractive, yes I wanted to pin him against the wall, but that didn't mean anything.

I huffed, dragging off my dress and fishing around through the drawers. Yes Alexander's shirt was preferable to a tank top and shorts, but I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction.

As I left, I ripped off my pillows and threw them onto the floor, along with grabbing the top blanket. I lay down on the ground, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling of the wood beneath me as I shut my eyes.

I heard the shower turn off and soon enough, the door of the bathroom opening.

Alexander sighed. "Cassandra, please, come up onto the bed."

I ignored him as I heard Alexander's frame meeting the bed.

"If you want to have sex-"

"I don't, I don't want to have sex." I interrupted him quickly. "I'm mad at you, and I'm sleeping on the floor. So shut up."

"You're being petty, come on, I'll even let you put up a pillow wall," He tried to compromise.

I snorted, "How old am I, eight?"

"Says the one sleeping on the floor!"

"I've slept on the floor plenty of times in my life and if you don't keep your mouth closed I'll walk out and find another room."

Alexander said nothing after that, switching off the lamp rolling over in the sheets. I suddenly felt sick. I shouldn't speak to him like that, not when I was the one in a bitchy mood. I rearranged my position, curling my legs into my chest.

I'd deal with it in the morning.

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