Lakota Josy tells us during breakfast what Tychon overheard, and each of us is staring at Argos as if he has grown a second head, but all Josy does is laugh her ass off. It isn't until after Josy explains what transpired prior to the comment that we all realize that it had been heard out of context, and I am glad Jazzy offered to explain it to Tychon. By the sound of it, he thinks it is as hilarious as the rest of us, and it is good to see them smiling at one another. The moment I see the expression change on Jazzy's face, I know where the conversation is heading, and through the mind-link I tell everyone to leave the dining room the moment they are done; she doesn't need an audience for this. I know it still hurts her to talk about it; I know because after getting confronted with Jace again, it left me in a bad place for a few hours. Luckily Lance was there for me, and I hope that Tychon can calm her down enough after she has told him her story. Colton is gesturing for Argos to get into my office, and the silent conversation between them tells me this is a serious matter; Colton normally relays anything that happened during the night shift. I sit down in Lance's lap as I keep my eyes on Argos. "Alpha, last night you told me to cover Jazzy's shift, and at first I wasn't too happy with it. However, looking back I think it was a good thing she wasn't on patrol," Argos says, and I am not surprised to hear he wasn't too happy with the night shift, but he didn't complain about it. I ask him to tell us what happened, and once he is finished I have to agree with him; it is a good thing I pulled Jazzy from the night shift. That she stayed here in the Pack-house, and now more than ever I feel that Jazzy and Tychon need to work out their differences; it will make things a hell of a lot easier. My Dad walks out of the office, only to return within seconds, and I don't see Jazzy following him in. "They weren't there, and if Sela saw things correctly, we don't have to expect them down any time soon," he says with a smile on his face, and I hope that it is true, because that would resolve a few problems in one blow. Dad tells me to call Council-member Armas, just so we know what options we have and what might be the best way to handle this situation. I am glad Argos was smart enough to say that she was away on Pack business and he had refused to say where she had gone; he told them to come back tomorrow at eleven.He set up the meeting at the diner, knowing we will have that damn place secured by the time they show up, and he offers to stay at the motel with Kobal. I grab the offer with both hands, because they will be able to take down anyone that comes near the place but isn't supposed to be there, and they are more than able to keep a low profile. Jazzy doesn't show her face until dinner, and I hide my face in Lance's chest when I hear Tychon's response to Denali, but the look on his face tells me they have marked one another. "Did I miss something? You are suddenly so relaxed," he asks through the mind-link, and I decide to tell him it is not my story to tell. My remark has a direct effect on her appetite; she pushes her plate to the side and I see different emotions run across her face. She knows that something is up, and I think she has come to the same conclusion I did: he found a loophole. I think back on the words Dad used, and as long as anyone kept asking questions, he wouldn't be able to answer. Only two things come to mind in regard to a loophole, and one of them isn't technically a loophole. If the King breaks an Alpha order, it breaks every order that person ever received, and then he would have been able to tell his story about that day without breaking a sweat."Dad, is there any way we can find out if he ever faced the King?" I ask. "I can only think of two ways that he could get around the order, and the King is one of them," I explain. Dad walks out of the room after I am done, and I know he is going to call Council-member Armas. Tychon holds on to Jazzy as we walk to my office, and I see Dad shaking his head, indicating that her first Mate found another loophole. The door has barely fallen into its lock or Jazzy turns towards me, "Okay, let's have it. How did he get around an Alpha order?" she asks, and I see quite a few faces filled with surprise. "There were only two things I could think of, and one of them has already been ruled out; the King didn't overrule Dad's order. Which only leaves us with him writing it down; he wasn't allowed to mention what happened, and writing about it is a totally different thing. It is the only explanation I can come up with," I answer Jazzy. Jazzy turns around to walk into Tychon's open arms, and even though their eyes are closed I know they are having a conversation about it. "Who showed up?" Tychon asks, and I turn towards Argos to tell them the whole story, to inform them that it is worse than they might have thought. "I was just heading back towards the gate when I smelled unfamiliar scents. Caesar forced a shift to stalk over there, and in hindsight I am glad he did. There were two males and a female near the border, and I heard them talking about the best way to subdue you; one of the males was supposed to hide until you showed up. Once you would be talking to the other two, he would sneak up on you to inject you with Wolfsbane. They wanted to take you back to your former Pack, but the male that was supposed to inject you wanted to mark you first. Caesar snuck away from them and gave me back control; I didn't know what to do, but Caesar did. He told me to make some noises to alert them to my presence and ask them what they were doing so close to our border. Caesar guided me every step of the way; he knew how to make it seem as if we hadn't overheard them or that I knew the truth about what happened that day. We placed them in the motel; I told them I would find you and tell you about their visit. They seemed surprised to find such a cooperating young Wolf," as one of them stated." Argos rolls his eyes in Jazzy's direction; they hate it as much as I do when someone mistakes us for a Wolf. Don't get me wrong, I love my Mate's Wolf, and so does Lotus. However, we are Lycans, and we hate it when someone doesn't recognize our strength. It is not something you can ignore if you know how to tell the difference between a Wolf and a Lycan. A Lycan isn't just stronger than a Wolf; a Lycan's senses are better, and compared to a Wolf, a Lycan is also bigger. I know that Jazzy's Mother is a Lycan and that both her Brothers are Wolves, just like Jazzy's Father. No one ever suspected Jazzy to be a Lycan, but when she shifted for the first time, her family had been upset. Mainly her oldest Brother and her Father; according to him, his first born had to have been a Lycan and not a female. Jazzy was reminded of their contempt every single day; her Father and her Brother never physically abused her, but it hurt her nonetheless. Jazzy The only reason Dusk isn't out is because of Tychon; he keeps talking to me through our mind-link, and it calms us both down enough for me to stay in control. I wonder who came to find me or how they were able to find me. Crystal Blood Pack was established years ago, but no one ever came for me, and I thought they never came looking for me after all these years. Guess I was wrong about that, but that still leaves the question: why now? I can't think of any reason for my family to come looking for me; my Father never showed any interest in me, and my Mother just took care of the basics. My Brothers were the only ones to ever show me any love, but that changed the day I shifted into Dusk. From one second to the next, I lost the only family I had ever had, and all because I was a Lycan instead of my oldest Brother. I never asked to be a Lycan; I never asked to be born female, and yet both of those things were held against me by my family. I joined the Warriors of our Pack the day after I shifted, and I avoided home as much as I could. I always took the night patrol; it meant I didn't have to interact with my Brothers, and I never saw much of them after that day. My parents were a different story all together; Dad was always waiting for me to come home. He would always say that becoming a Warrior wasn't in my future, that I needed to find a chosen Mate as my fated Mate wouldn't want a Lycan like me, and with my first Mate he had been correct. He would always tell me I was worthless, but my time with my Pack has shown me he was mistaken, and I can't wait to rub his face in it. "Alpha, who will be at the diner when I meet with them?" I ask; I can't even say the word family. They stopped being my family a long time ago, and I replaced it with Josy; she is all the family I needed. Now my family will expand with Tychon as my Mate and his Sister as my Sister-in-law and Keir as her Mate. "Fuck," I mutter out loud as I realize that that will make me Lakota's Aunt, and Dusk and I start laughing our asses off.