I knew it. I knew that all of this happiness wouldn't last. I knew that something was bound o happen to spoil it all, to crush it again, to crush me again. I only hoped that I would have more time to enjoy life while I have the chance, but no. How cruel was it to taunt me like that and then snatch the happiness right from my hands with one simple phrase: "We've got a problem".

Once again we were all seated in the kitchen. Well, some of us seated, and some standing. Only this time Nick sat right next to me, gently squeezing my hand in a gesture of silent support.

"What's going on?" He asked in his stern warrior voice, that I heard for the first time. And might I add - it was hot. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't going to do anything about it, I'm still heavily pregnant, and we've only met a couple of days ago, and well, sex was still a sketchy subject to me, and yes, I had a stalker after me, so there were obviously more pressing matters than that. But still, I can't argue with the fact that Nick in his warrior mode was hot.

"We've got another letter." said doc Evans with his brows furrowed.

"Show me." was all Nick said, and it sounded like a command. No, it was a command. And no one argued. Doc Evans silently passed the yellow envelope to Nick, who accepted it with one hand, the other one still holding mine. Then he looked at me, squeezed it again and let go to open the envelope. The pictures that fell out of it had my breath rush out of my lungs. It was me alright, but that was not the most disturbing part. The fact that in the pictures was me in the swing in our back yard was. That meant that he was here. And everyone missed him. How was it possible? We were in a pack of wolfs, who's noses were so powerful they could smell a fly, and they missed a stalker taking pictures of me in our back yard...

A low growl escaped Nick's mouth and my eyes darted in his direction. Now that was scary.

"When were the pictures taken?" he asked calmly, but I saw that he was on the verge of... something. I couldn't put my finger to it, but he was barely keeping it together.

Lena was the one who spoke.

"I think it was before your arrival, two or three days prior."

"How come no one smelled him?" he asked again.

"That is the question we all would like to know an answer to." said Nathan. "Andrew, any ideas?"

Andrew was looking even more grimly, than doc Evans.

"Non, Alpha. I can't explain it. We had warriors surrounding the house since the day we found out Emily was a healer. And they are good, there's no way anyone could walk pass them unnoticed. It is a mystery to me. Unless we have a rat amongst out own, which I doubt, there has to be some explanation."

"Maybe they are masking their scents?" Suggested Jonathan.

"Maybe they are. If so, we need to double the guards." said Nathan.

"I don't like it. I don't like it at all." doc Evans said quietly.

"Your not alone in this one." Jonathan replied.

"Doc, any news from the university?" asked Nathan.

"Yeah, nothing solid, unfortunately." replied doc Evans. "Their chief of staff said that there was a guy, who claimed to be Emily's brother. He told them some soppy story about a family fallout, flashed a couple of pictures, and even though they are not supposed to, they gave him the clinic's address. The weird thing is, no one can remember how he looked like."

"That's odd..." said a confused Shirley.

"Indeed." Nathan agreed. "Do you have any ideas of why they don't remember?"

"I have a theory, but it's unlikely. And if my suggestions are correct, that we are in more trouble than I previously thought." replied a very serious looking doc.

"Potions." stated Nick. Everyone turned their eyes on him. Everyone except doc Evans looked slightly shocked. I guess Nic's way of thinking matched his.

"Exactly." doc Evans confirmed.

"But that means that another healer is involved! How come we had non of those mere weeks ago, and now we have two?!" Asked an somewhat outraged Shirley.

It all looked pretty sketchy to me. No, don't get me wrong, I did believe that another healer existed somewhere out there, it would be completely foolish of me to think I were unique, but it was suspicious. And I think I might have a thought brewing in my brain, but I was a bit scared of firstly - voicing it out, and secondly - of the possibility of me being right.

"Uhm..." I started with a shaky voice. "Doc, you said earlier that this heeling thing runs in the genes?"

He squinted his eyes at me, but nodded. Everyone turned my way and I felt a bit overwhelmed by the attention. I guess Nick sensed that, because his hand again held mine, his thumb running soothing circles on the back of it.

"Can..." I coughed a bit gathering some courage. "Could my mother be a healer then?"

"That's a very strong possibility, dear." Doc answered me with a gentle voice. "Why are you asking?"

"Well..." I continued shakily, "Maybe it's my mother that is helping them?.."

His brows furrowed even more than before.

"Emily, dear, that is a possibility, but why would she be helping them? Firstly, the Mayor is a kin to the man who killed more healers than the great plague, and secondly, why would your mother not only expose herself to a werewolf with his history, but also help him? I find that confusing and unlikely." He spoke with a slight disbelief.

"Yes, I understand your line of thought. But... Well, I don't know how to explain it..." I took a deep breath, just to gather my thoughts a bit to try explaining my logics better. "My mother and father, both of them spoke very fondly of the Mayor. And she did choose his side, when I told her what they did to me. And my father as well, they both chose his side. Hell, everyone in that freaking town chose that freaking family over me! They didn't even do a DNA test, nor taken a rape kit, anything!" My whole body started to shake in... Goddess, for the first time when I touched that subject, I was full not with despair, but with rage?

About time... My sarcastic inner I stated. Yeah, about time. Nick hugged me from the side and squeezed my shoulder tightly, but looking at him I figured, that it wasn't just for me, it was to keep him sane as well. After all I was his mate and someone had hurt me badly. I looked deep into his eyes and saw the need for retaliation. That wasn't wise, it was dangerous. I didn't want Nick to be in any kind of danger, especially not in the kind that my baggage could bring upon him. It was my baggage. It was my fault that all these people were involved. I couldn't let anyone get hurt because of me!

So I took another deep breath trying to calm myself down along with Nick, and placed my hand on his, that was still on my shoulder. I caressed his skin gently, trying to soothe the beast in him. I hope it worked, because his gaze took on some other emotion, which I couldn't recognise, so I pushed this thought aside for now and wen't back to explaining my weird logic. I hope I were wrong. Truly. Because that kind of betrayal coming from my own flesh and blood would be devastating.

"Maybe my mother doesn't know that he is connected to that tragedy? And knowing my parents... Well, they are arrogant, maybe they figured out that the Mayor is a werewolf and figured that exposing themselves to a werewolf would make them something... I don't know, elite? Like the only healers left or something..."

For a few minutes there was only silence, everybody was deep in their own thoughts, mulling around my crazy, paranoidal theory... But I actually thought, that it was a viable thought. I knew my parents. They were not bad people, or so I thought. I didn't have a bad childhood, just a slightly cold one. And everything my parents did was to prove to the town folks, that they were worth the respect. My mother ran several charitable non-profits, helping the poor, the orphans, old people, sick people. Sometimes I thought she cared more about them than about me, but I never voiced my thoughts, because her work was respectable.

And my father helped her a lot, In his free time he helped the local police office to ensure the safety of the town, crashing teen's parties, keeping watch on the liquor stores, keeping an eye open after hours so that none of the younger people would be found in an unpleasant situation. He also lead the town's meeting, regularly speaking about keeping the morals intact and all that stuff. Probably that was why they turned away from me so easily, because I was a spot on their reputation... Harsh, but that was the truth.

"Ok, let's suppose you're right." Spoke Jonathan. "Unfortunately we don't have any way to check it out right now."

"Andrew, how's our man doing in there? Did he manage to find out some more information for us?" Nathan asked.

"Nothing that could be useful. The rogues are still camping in the nearby woods, but he didn't go into town that often, too dangerous."

"We need a human spy..." doc Evans voiced his thoughts out loud.

"You have an idea, doc?" Nathan spoke with a hint of interest.

"I might..." the corner of doc's mouth turned up slightly, a mischievous glint in his eyes definitely showed that he indeed had a plan. I hoped for a good one.

"What if... A university Emily went to would receive a guest lecturer?"

"Oh.. that's good!" Jonathan exclaimed! "Does your university have any humans informed of werewolf existence?"

"Oh, but we don't need them to know what they are looking for, we need them to find out, who the Mayor hold contact with the most, and to do that, they don't need to know all this supernatural stuff."

"You sneaky old bastard..." Jonathan muttered under his breath.

"I heard you!" doc feigned an offended look and pressed his hand to his heart. "Here I am, bringing the best ideas to the table, and you go and disrespect me..."

"You're such a drama queen for an old grumpy man..." Jonathan face-palmed himself, a small smile appeared on my lips watching the two buddies in their antiques.

"Enough you two!" Nathan said in a stern Alpha voice, but I could see that it was not serious, he was enjoying this light banter the same as me.

"Doc, it's time to call the university!" he said officially. "Let's send out a spy!"