“I would get myself killed?” He turned to face me more and his expression got even more severe. “What the hell were you involved with, Alice? And what happened to Ezra?”

“Yeah, what is the deal with him?” Milo asked unhelpfully.

“It’s all very complicated.” I shook my head, afraid that if I told Jack what had happened he would… I don’t know. Yell at me a lot and then try to beat up Peter and Ezra.

“I know you were with lycan. That’s who had Peter.” Jack bit his lip, looking down at me. “I should’ve gone over as soon as you told me but…” If he had gone there, everything would’ve turned out much worse, and I think he kinda knew that.

“Lycan?” Milo sat up sharply, almost knocking Bobby off the chair. “You mean werewolves?”

“Not exactly,” I sighed. “Not at all, really. They’re just vampires that live in the woods. They were after Peter, but Ezra made an exchange with them, and we came home. End of story. Most of the trip was spent just looking for Peter.”

“What was the exchange?” Milo asked, but by Jack’s expression, he’d just figured it out.

“Peter let them do that?” Jack whispered.

“He didn’t have a choice. Ezra… did what he had to do,” I explained as best I could.

“What are you talking about? What happened?” Milo demanded.

“Nothing. Never mind,” I said. Jack stared at me intently, his blue eyes full of too much anguish. “Nothing happened to me. Okay? I barely even left the hotel room. Nobody tried to hurt me. I never got in any fights. Everything was fine. Honest.”

Jack wasn’t completely convinced, but he wrapped his arm around me, so I would curl up to him. Milo was perplexed, but he dropped the subject.

Milo had never been out of the area, either, so he pressed for more information about traveling. I told him what little I had seen and how terrified I had been on the plane.

Once Bobby started falling asleep, Milo decided it was time to excuse himself and head up to bed. He scooped Bobby up in his arms, carrying him upstairs to their room, and I gaped after him. We had to have a very long talk about all of this as soon as I had the chance.

I would’ve loved some time to catch up with Jack, but I felt drained from the trip. Being away from home had been much harder than I had thought. Jack wanted to go to bed with me, and even with my exhaustion, I would’ve been happy to oblige.

Except I knew the only reason he insisted so hard was because Peter slept across from me, and I refused to let his paranoia control our relationship. He had to get used to Peter being around, and I needed to get some rest before trying to be alone with Jack.

Jack walked me up to his room, kissing me on the forehead before going back down to the den to sleep. I curled up in his unmade bed, falling asleep in his mass of blankets almost immediately. It felt so good to be home.

When I woke up, I felt an instant relief being in my own bed. After a long trip away, nothing felt better than that. Well, almost nothing.

I stretched, working the stiffness from my limbs. My reunion with Jack had been anticlimactic. I allowed myself to get distracted by my brother’s new boyfriend and Jack’s worry over Finland. I’d have to have a very long talk with Milo about this Bobby fellow, but I had more pressing needs in mind.

Along with that familiar thirst burning just below the surface, I had a desperate ache for Jack. A bit of jet lag and stress made it too bittersweet for me to greet him the way he deserved, and I had to rectify that immediately.

When I walked out into the hall, I could smell Bobby. That sweet, delightful scent of hot blood coursing through his veins. His heart pounded quickly, like a frightened rabbit.

I tensed up, thinking he was in some kind of danger, but I realized he was just excited. This was confirmed by a happy moan from him, and a throaty laugh from Milo. My stomach tightened with nausea and anxiety as I thought about what Milo was doing in the room next to mine.

It was completely unforgivable that he would have a sex life before I did. The “talk” was becoming more imminent, but I did not want to walk in on whatever they were doing right now to administer it.

Peter’s bedroom door opened, making me jump. I’d brought him home, but it was still a shock to see someone in his room. It had been shut off for so long, like a shrine for a dead loved one, even though it was the exact opposite of that.

“Oh. Hey,” Peter said, nodding at me.

“Hey,” I replied. We stood across from each other, staring awkwardly, so I assumed I should make conversation. “Did you sleep okay? I bet its nice being back in your own bed.”

“Yeah. It is.” Peter nodded again and shifted uncomfortably.

“You’re up!” Jack announced too loudly from the bottom of the stairs and raced up to us. He was happy to see me, but the arm he threw around my shoulder was too tight to be anything but for show. “I thought you were going to sleep all day!”

“Sorry. I guess I had sleep to catch up on,” I smiled at him. His grip around my shoulders was borderline painful.

“I’m just gonna… go,” Peter said. He turned and walked down the stairs, ignoring the look on Jack’s face.

Once Peter was out of sight, I wriggled out of Jack’s arms. It felt weird to pull away from him, but I wasn’t a big fan of his jealousy. Jack realized what he was doing, and his expression changed to one of a little boy that got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked apologetically at me.

“Sorry,” Jack shrugged. “I’m just getting used to this. You’ve had all this time to readjust to Peter but the last time I saw him…” He shivered and looked away from me. I’m not sure what he was thinking about it exactly, but it was either Peter kissing me or trying to kill him.

“It’s okay.” I put my hand on his chest. His muscles felt warm and strong, and his heart beat gently. I leaned in towards him, preparing to give him the kiss I had been wanting to give him for ages, but a fresh scent completely diverted my attention.

Just down the hall, Milo had apparently drawn blood from Bobby, and the scent of his blood was so strong and intoxicating, my mouth instantly began to water. My stomach didn’t exactly growl, but it was suddenly ravenous. Bobby’s heart rate quickened even more, and I could associate the sound with the smell, making it irresistible. My body flushed with heat, and all I could think/hear/feel was his blood, and how badly I needed it.