Warning: There is some explicit language in this chapter.

She had been on the road for a while now. Almost halfway home. Home.

Her thoughts constantly flitted back and forth between what she had left behind and what lay ahead. It was ironic, how unravelled she was the last time she had driven up these roads. Now an odd sense of calm had come over her. She knew she had made the right decision.

Her body wound itself in knots when she thought about confronting Taine. She didn't know what she was going to say.

Although she and Taine had been distant (to say the least) in the last few days, she couldn't help but imagine seeing him again. It had been a while since she had felt that familiar longing in her heart for him. It reassured her. That the bond they shared still existed and that she would fight for it, even if it meant unearthing secrets and laying them out bare.

A reckless driver had just rushed passed her, risking the light that which had changed to amber a few seconds prior. Coming to a stop she shared an irritated look with the woman in the car two lanes over...

Her mind returned to Taine. Like it always did.

She had called the office and left a message for him.

She thought about surprising him but decided it would be better for both of them if he anticipated her when he got home. That way they both could prepare for the inevitable discussion that would follow the long, tight hug from him that her body craved. Part of her yearning was the full moon amplifying her emotions, as it did, but the difference was that rather than keeping her instincts in check, she had let them come to the forefront, knowing that this is what her heart needed, at least for right now.

She didn't think pulling into the gates of the pack would feel so joyful. Her eyes took in the familiar path, soaking up every detail she had taken for granted. The tree's had been slightly neglected in her absence. She made a mental note to sort that out as soon as she got back into her Luna duties.

She didn't think parking the car in the garage or turning the front door key in the lock would bring her unfathomable serenity. And most of all she didn't think coming back would prove to be more painful than leaving...

Camila stepped into the house, and the smile on her face faltered slightly when she noticed the lights were off and the space felt empty. His car was in the garage, so she had assumed he was home, but maybe he walked or had shifted. Maybe something came up and he had to stay in the office...She pondered this as she set down her bags and took off her shoes at the door.

It felt strange but in the best of ways. Opening the cupboards, hearing the squeak of them. Seeing that Taine hadn't maintained the pyramid mug arrangement she was so particular about.

She took the kettle to the sink. Filling it so she could boil some water. But what she saw in the sink made the blood in her veins turn into ice.

Her brain still processing what her eyes had just seen, she filled it, walked the kettle over to the stove and let it boil She didn't realise she had been clutching the handle of the kettle so tightly that it had bent. She returned to the sink, her brow furrowed.

Reaching for the glass she picked it up gingerly and held it so it was eye-level. Even though it must have been lying there for a while, she could smell its contents had been alcohol. The glass caught the light and made the bright pink lipstick stain on the rim come alive. It taunted her, brought out tendrils of dangerous emotion she had hidden in dark places.

Ivory didn't wear lipstick, let alone pink lipstick.

Her rational brain tried to convince her otherwise, give him the benefit of the doubt. But it was too late for that. Something in her had already snapped and the rage that began to bubble had now boiled and was clawing its way out of her.

Her breaths came out uneven and sharp.

She threw the glass on the floor thinking the sound of the shattering glass would be satisfying for more than just a mere moment. The gratification didn't last. She stormed up the stairs and straight to his bedroom. She ripped out the covers. She inspected the sheets for hair, a scent, anything. She checked the bathroom, laundry for clothes. Nothing. She hurried back down the stairs and inspected the living room for signs other than Taine. Nothing.

She caught sight of her reflection as she walked passed a mirror. Her hair looked windswept, nostrils flared and fangs extended. She looked paranoid and crazy.

She began to reign in her emotions. Maybe she had overreacted...Nothing made sense and the half-shift her anger had caused left lingering emotions amidst the confusion.

Camila let her self calm down for a moment. She took deep breaths, called to the voice-activated speaker to start her playlist, and waved her shirt collar against her skin to cool her. It had been a while since she felt her world surrounded by music and she let herself revel in it. She forced herself to hum, it always did the trick.

Walking to the door she picked up her things and pulled them up the stairs.

"You're fine. It's okay." She whispered to herself as she reached the top.

Her phone slipped from her hands and clacked to the floor.

"Shit. Shit shit."

As she bent down to retrieve it, something caught her eye. Taine's office door was cracked open. She hadn't looked there. Her heart pulled her in two directions. She wanted to leave it alone, just go unpack and confront Taine later. But the other part, the greater part needed answers even if it came at a cost.

She entered the room and locked the door behind her, knowing it didn't make a difference. Fingers trembling she held the power button of his computer until the monitor sung itself to life. She swore under her breath when she realised that it was password protected. What did she expect? This was Alpha Taine she was dealing with.

She tried his birthday, knew him well enough to not even attempt hers. She was clueless. It had locked her out after her fifth attempt.

She used the back of her hand to wipe the sweat from her brow. She gently shuffled through the papers on his desk, trying to keep things similar to how she found them. The knob to his drawers practically begged for her to open them. So she did.

She dug through them, not giving much care to remaining inconspicuous. Still nothing. She dredged up old bank statements and 'to do' lists but still, the man didn't leave much of a paper trail.

At the bottom of the drawer, stuck to a piece of paper she found an old photograph. She brought it closer, inspecting it. The corners of the photograph were moth-eaten, browning and very blurred but she could still make out Taine and another boy of a similar age. Even from a young age, Taine had a stoic expression on his face. The other boy was beaming. It looked forced, but nonetheless he wore a toothy smile. She flipped it over and read the words scrawled on the back. 'A very smiley Taine and Nathan.' She found herself smiling at the words.

Taine had never talked much about his younger years but from what he had said, his family had travelled a fair amount and while he knew and met many children, he didn't have any forever friends. Nathan must have left a lasting impact on him, Taine wouldn't keep a photo of just anyone.

Even though Camila's early life had been horrific, she remembered still feeling sad for him. She at least had a family...well found one, created one for her self. But Taine seemed to have no one. At least no one he talked about or kept in touch with. Camila cared a lot, maybe too much about other people and she knew they cared for her. But Taine...He didn't seem to care much for anyone. He cared for the pack of course...but she was the only one who asked about how his day was, knew he liked chilli but hated pepper, the only person he shared his life with. And it wasn't like he had a choice when it came to her.

She couldn't figure out why... Uunsuprisely Ivory didn't say much on the matter and she had known Taine for years.

Placing the photo back in its place she closed the drawer and rested her forehead against the table. She needed a nap.

She got up from the chair and re-arranged the desk to look as untouched as possible. When she turned back to shut the door something glinted in the sunlight and caught her gaze.

Stepping closer to the object she picked it up and felt the weight of it in her hands. It was small and gold and female, but to her, it had taken on the form of a demon. The stuff of her worst nightmares.

Flipping over the dainty watch she ran her thumb over the etched initials in the back. "To Mel, with love."

Letting a ferocious growl rip through her body she slammed the watch on the table, face down, cracking the glass in the process.

She flew down the hallway and down the stairs, grabbing her suitcases to take with her. She grabbed her keys and slammed the door behind her.

She never even made it to her room.

--

"I'm surprised you're still here Taine."

He ignored Ivory's comment until he had finished typing the email. She was sitting across from him also working.

"Meaning?"

"Well, it's just that I thought you would want to get home early today."

He half-closed his laptop and glanced at the clock. "It's 5:00 o clock on a Tuesday."

She looked at him incredulously, "Did you not get the message? I told Vanessa to tell you...You were on a call and I did give her very clear instructions."

Taine had gone back to typing. "Tell me what, Ivory?"

"Camila is coming home today."

He paused.

"What time?"

"Well, she should have gotten here maybe an hour ago."

Taine kept working but could only manage to continue for a minute longer. Getting up from his chair he nodded goodbye to Ivory as he walked out the door.

"Tell Vanessa she is fired."

-

As he neared the house and heard the blaring pop through the walls he knew Mila was home. He stepped into the house and felt a pinprick of irritation when he felt the hot air hit him in the face. She had interfered with the thermostat...she really was home.

He turned off the music and was puzzled when he couldn't even hear her. He closed his eyes and honed in his hyper-sensitive hearing. She didn't seem to be in the house.

Once he saw her suitcases at the top of the stairs and the shattered glass on the floor, it didn't take him long to realise what had happened.

This was the last thing he wanted to happen. The last call he wanted to make, but he swallowed his pride, dignity, ego, animosity and whatever else was left of him.

"Hey, Mila?"

He had called with the house phone.

"No. It's Taine."

Mason sounded confused, and rightly so, "Oh...Hi Taine."

"Have you been in touch with Mila?"

"Straight to the point as always Taine. I haven't heard from her since she texted saying she reached home, but that was a few hours ago....why is everything ok?"

Calling was painful enough but admitting that he had no idea where she was...That was far worse. "She..I..I just don't know where she went."

Mason's gut reaction was to downplay, to say maybe she had gone shopping or on a run. Mila tended to roam like that, especially when she had a lot on her mind...it wasn't out of character. But he knew the fact that Taine was calling him, the fact that he detected a worry in his voice, that this was serious.

"Hold on I'll check with my dad, he's just in the other room."

Taine could hear the conversation going on in the background and it didn't do much for his hope. "Hey Pa, have you heard from Mila?"

"No...Why?"

There was muffled dialogue before the phone seemed to have been snapped away from mason.

"Is Mila, okay? What happened? Why can't you find her? Did she get into an accident? God, I told her to be more careful on the roads. Do you need us to drive up?"

"No Liz. It's fine. I think she went for a drive. I think I know where she went." Lying came far too easy for him, but it didn't mean he didn't feel damn guilty.

"Taine. You better find her, I'm expecting you to call me in an hour."

"Yes, Luna Hart."

Mason pried the phone back from his mother, "Do you want me to check with Libby?"

"I'll let you know."

"Taine, how could you have fucked things up already, it's been less than a day."

He hung up.

He felt like he was drowning in the deep pile of shit he was in. He paced through the living room, trying to figure out where she had gone. He tried calling her for the twelfth time. He was desperate.

-

Taine ignored the look of surprise on Ivory's face when he showed up at her door, unannounced. "What's wrong Alpha?" She asked, "Is everything ok?"

He pushed past her and walked into her living room. He poured himself some bourbon from the glass bottle she had on her side table. He knew Ivory didn't drink and that household accessory was purely for his benefit.

"Call Camila."

Ivory looked at him in confusion, but nevertheless pulled our phone and dialled Camila's number.

There was no answer.

"Taine I-"

"Try again."

She watched concerned as he downed his second glass.

"Ivory try again. Please."

Mating councillor extended beyond her Beta duties but she could see distress in his eyes.

This time Camila answered. "Hello?" It was obvious she had been crying.

As soon as he heard her voice he stilled. "Ask her where she is?"

Ivory looked at Taine as if to say, you expect me to get anywhere if I lead with that?

"H-Hi Luna..."

"Hi."

"Uh, did you go shopping?"

"What? No. Cut the crap Ivory, I know Taine is there." Camila was seething now.

Ivory put the phone on speaker (not that she needed to) and held it out to Taine. He shook his head pushing it back to her. Keep her talking he mouthed.

If he could keep her on the phone, he could try to figure out where she was.

Ivory looked beyond uncomfortable but she tried to keep her voice casual. "So then where are you?"

Camila let out a heartbreaking sob and even through the phone it stabbed through Taine's heart like a knife. "I-I can't do this Ivory. I can't hurt like this anymore."

"Mila, just come home." He pleaded, confirming to her that she was there.

There was a pause, a moment where Taine and Ivory waited with bated breath.

"Just leave me alone Taine. I don't want to see you."

"Mila, please." It was all he could say, he had no bargaining power.

"Don't 'Mila please,' me. Go choke on your own tail."

He pinched the bridge of his nose. " Just tell me where you are and I'll come get you...Ivory can come..."

The dial tone sounded and Taine felt helpless.

"Fuck," Taine whispered under his breath.

Ivory looked at Taine in disbelief. She had only said goodbye to Taine half an hour ago, what could have transpired in such a short space of time?

Taine sat down sat across from her on the couch.

"She left before I came home." He said, answering her mental questions.

"Alpha Taine." She said softly. He didn't register her voice.

"Taine! Listen to me." His head snapped to hers. It pained her to do it, the timbre of her voice shook as she forced herself to speak loud enough to get his attention.

"You need to do better Taine."She said, now gently. Testing his reaction.

"You don't think I don't know that," he said through gritted teeth. "But at least I didn't run away."

She winced slightly at the tone of his voice but remained impassive. She had known him long and she knew him well. She was very well equipped to deal with anything he threw at her, but this was different. It meant more than pack politics or paperwork.

"Permission to speak freely, Alpha?"

Taine nodded, rolling his eyes at her constant formality.

"Camila isn't an idiot." She said flatly.

"Excuse me?"

"She's been asking questions for months and you haven't given her any answers. She might be the one that keeps running, but you haven't given her much of a choice. "

"I didn't know she was so hurt by it, I.."

"Taine surely even you aren't that obtuse." He wasn't angry, just surprised at the way Ivory was speaking to him. She had never been meek or timid, but she had also never been this brutally honest.

"Just because she never outright accused you of anything it doesn't mean the problem didn't exist.

"I know you better than anyone, right?"

He nodded in agreement.

"So I understand why you have to keep certain things secret... but secrets are not worth this. No secret is worth losing your mate over."

"I just don't want her to hate me. I've seen the hate in her eyes towards me before and it killed me."

"Taine that excuse isn't good enough anymore."

She grabbed the glass from out of his hand and placed it next to her. "Taine you aren't your father and Camila is not your mother."

She placed a hand on his shoulder. She was usually stiff and awkward with affection. So she reserved this special gesture of friendship for when nobody else was around including Camila.

Taine looked at her arm and smirked. He knew how uncomfortable being the comforter made her.

He placed his head in his hands. He had no idea what to do next. Just when the hopelessness threatened to consume him Ivory broke the silence.

"Taine I know where she is."

His head snapped to meet her gaze. He waited for her to continue. "I heard train tracks, in the background. And I know she wasn't driving because I heard a TV."

"There's a motel, about forty minutes away, near city train lines. I think that's where she is."

And just like that, he left. Swept through the house like a tornado that vanished as quickly as it came.

~

The door flew open. The sound of splitting wood rang through her ears.

She jumped in fright and barely had time to register the intrusion before her back hit the floor. A moment ago she had been standing, pointing the remote at the T.V and now she was pinned to the ground, her eyes meeting those of a wolf.

His panting told her that he had been running and his dirty paws told her it had been through the woods.

He looked her up and down and expected to see fear in her eyes, even sadness.

But she looked empty, cold.

"I swear, if you don't get off me right now..."

He moved away from her, watching her closely as she got up, dusted herself and sat on the edge of the bed. Her arms were crossed and her face stared blankly at the Tv screen. The blue light illuminated her and cast shadows on her face.

He never took his eyes off her and she never looked at him. Minutes passed. Taine knew that she'd speak eventually, that she'd react or scream or make a snide remark. She had opened her mouth a few times itching to speak but would clamp her jaw shut and would grind her teeth, refusing budge.

Maybe it was a test, a test to see if he could break the silence first. A test to see if he would finally be the one to have the first word.

He yelped and her eyes immediately landed on him. Her jaw remained clenched. and her eyes souless.