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Rain pattered on what was left of the cathedral's glass windows. The floorboards creaked under the wind coming from outside, while the silence throughout the main hall was thick enough to almost touch it in front of you. Silence that was almost disturbing to be enveloped in. Aleksander and I had dressed. I'd chosen a pair of black pyjama bottoms, while Aleksander had clambered back into the clothes he'd donned when he arrived back. Kane had dressed in his usual black and now sat on the front row of the pews, elbows at his knees, and fingers steepled. I sat beside him, knees apart and arms eased over the back of the pew. Aleksander stood with his back pressed to the wall. He looked almost anxious as he stood watching the scene before him unfold.

Sawyer had indeed returned with Aleksander, he was sat on a pew a few rows back. He looked bruised and battered compared to Aleksander. His long, sleak body eased back into the pew like nothing had happened though. Black and blue fur streaked in the shadows of the few candles we'd lit around the cathedral. His tail long and sleak hung over the pew, while he watched us with a cautious look. He was dressed all in black, spattered with blood. He was once our enemy and now was one of our greatest allies. He was an illusionist whose powerful abilities twisted the imagination and moulded the mind anyway he wanted. His powers used to make the pain feel so real, but still that was all an illusion, a trick of the mind. But that had changed. Sawyer was something of an enigma. You see, whoever was bound to me had gotten a massive boost of power that had resulted in us being a force that could fight off the beast council. Sawyer and Maximillian were the only ones who weren't bound to me, but it seemed that both had had some kind of boost. Maximillian's had been a boost of sheer strength, while Sawyer's was more frightening. His abilities were no longer mere illusions, but instead he could make his ideals real. Back when we were in LA and had lived in Basil's manor house, Sawyer had been bound and gagged, he'd been molested by a she-wolf whose own powers enabled her to block Sawyer's. She'd tormented him from the moment they met and as soon as Sawyer had the chance, he locked her in an iron maiden and skewered her without hesitation.

Problem was, the illusion never disappeared. The iron maiden, the blades that skewered her like a piece of meat at a barbeque. All real! It had been a subtle change that none of us had picked up on, until he confessed what he'd now be capable of. It was for that reason I sent Sawyer and Aleksander after a particular member of the council. The council member was literally nicknamed Death, because one touch from his hand would kill you in an instant. I'd have been able to take him on, but I needed a confirmed kill. Sawyer could confirm that kill. It was no surprise that the bruises and bloodied image that Sawyer had showed up with had confused me.

Sawyer stood and winced a little as he limped down the aisle to the front of the cathedral.

"I take it you managed to kill Death then?" Kane asked.

"Piece of cake," Sawyer murmured back.

"Then how come your so beaten up?" I added with a confused and concerned look.

"There was another council member there." Sawyer's words fell like a stone and stopped us all dead.

"Another member?"

"He's designated the council's puppeteer. He saw me slaughter Death, and before I could even react he took control of Aleksander and had him beat the living Hell out of me," Sawyer explained.

"How did you escape?" I asked.

"I bound Aleksander, and then sent the bastard flying through a window. It didn't kill him, but it enabled us to escape. Regardless of what happened, mission accomplished," he replied.

"Yeah, but this might mean trouble for our little rendezvous," I murmured as I glanced at Kane.

"What do you mean?" Aleksander asked.

"Sullivan's second-in-command told us of an envoy, an informant who travels between council members while they aren't together. But now that one of the other council member's knows what we've done, and is still alive, our informant might not show up anymore," I explained with a deep frown.

"Our bad?" Aleksander mumbled.

"Its not your fault, you did the best thing in the situation," I replied with a smile at the werecheetah.

"So what do we do now then? I mean, have we heard from Maximillian and Basil?" Kane asked as he looked up at the others.

Sawyer shook his head and Aleksander said, "No."

I smiled and said, "Basil and Maximillian can handle themselves."

"Regardless, what do we do now?" Sawyer asked.

"I still want to try and meet with the informant, push comes to shove, the informant doesn't show up," I explained with a deep frown.

"You sound unsure?"

I looked up at the blue tiger and admitted, "I am unsure. I could be walking into a trap, but its worth the risk if it means finding where Dreamweaver is keeping Snow." Kane stood up suddenly and stepped in front of me. "What?" I asked, looking up at the wolf in front of me.

"Nothing. You just make it sound like your planning on meeting Leon alone," he murmured under his breath.

"Hang on! Leon? As in the white lion alpha? That bastard who abandoned his people?!" Sawyer demanded in a deep growl. I nodded. "And did you ever consider telling us about him?" he snarled.

"It wasn't like that, Sawyer!" I snapped back. I raised my hands and took a deep breath. "Look, we're all frustrated and pissed off, but we need to keep our cool here."

"Fair enough," Sawyer growled back as he limped away from me again.

"You need to have someone look at those wounds, Sawyer," I said, trying to change the subject.

"I'm fine."

"There's a shower upstairs if you want to clean up," I suggested. Sawyer considered me for a moment and then nodded. He turned and headed for the bathroom without another word. The hall fell silent again. Aleksander walked from his space at the wall and sat down on the pews on the other side of Kane. "We'll meet with Leon, or whoever shows up, and go from there," I explained, without really speaking to anyone in particular.

"And what if it is a trap?" Aleksander asked.

"Then I'll deal with it."

"Sounds like a kamikaze mission to me, Eben," Kane replied with a frown.

"You have any other plans?" I replied. Kane considered that for a moment and then shook his head. "Good, someone needs to stay back here with Sawyer. He's in no fit state to tackle anyone right now, let alone a possible run in with the council."

"He's resourceful in a crisis, but you have a point. He needs rest until his wounds heal. I beat the shit out of him," Aleksander chuckled under his breath, he glanced at Kane and said, "You'd have loved it if it had been you."

Kane frowned at Aleksander and then replied, "Probably, but it wasn't, and its not in your nature to beat up a comrade. Joke all you want, I can see the remorse in your eyes whenever you glance at him. At his bruises and cuts."

Aleksander opened his mouth to respond and then stopped, he looked down and murmured, "I'm not proud of what happened."

"There is one good thing out of that confrontation though, now we know about another member of the beast council. The puppeteer, was it?" I asked, looking at Aleksander. He nodded.

"Sounds like he can pretty much do what the name suggests, he binds his enemies and uses them to fight his confrontations?" Kane asked.

Aleksander nodded again and added, "His power uses nearly invisible threads that paralysis the body and allow him to wield it like a true puppet."

I ran my hands through my head fur and murmured, "The council has probably been in contact with Sullivan's club by now and seen the damage we did. Leon probably won't show up at the rendezvous."

"And in that event, another member of the council might show up. Jasper perhaps? Or maybe they will send Leon to capture or kill us?" Kane suggested.

"So basically, this is a suicide mission." I sighed and stood up, pacing in front of the other two.

"If it means finding Snow, then what's the problem?" Kane replied, "Think about it. Sooner or later we'll have to confront them. I'd rather do it head-on now, than keep running and have them pick us off one at a time. We might get lucky and find Snow quicker than we thought." I nodded and started walking for the bathroom. "Where are you going?" Kane called after me with a confused expression. I never spoke. I just walked off without another word. I'd upset Sawyer and right now I needed him healing and on our side. I was also a little bit concerned about him. He'd taken a proper beating. He was a God-like illusionist who very rarely had someone strong enough to beat him up. The she-wolf had rendered him as normal as a wereanimal could be, and it had made him feel inferior. And now another council member who could reduce him to a normal wereanimal if needed. It had to have hurt his pride.

I walked up the creaking staircase to the upper levels, I turned onto the first floor where the bathroom was. The stairs continued up to the attic. I heard water rushing as I pushed open the bathroom door and stepped in. The blood whirled round the drain as the blue tiger sat huddled under the rushing water of the shower. His clothes blood spattered and ripped lay bundled on the bathroom floor. I watched him as he looked up at me, the confident, maniac that had joined our cause was now sat huddled in the shower, tears streamed his facial fur as he looked up at me with those sorrowful yellow eyes. Those eyes that had been an eerie thing to look upon, was now something that I could not watch. I wanted to wipe away those tears and make his sadness disappear. Hell, I didn't even realise Sawyer was capable of sadness until that second. I stepped inside the bathroom and closed the door behind me with a quiet creak. I slipped out of the clothes I'd donned and padded naked across the bathroom floor. I stepped into the shower underneath the hot water and shuddered from that first rush of warmth along my shoulders and head fur. I sat down beside him, beside his huddled form and swung an arm over his shoulder, I drew him into the circle of my arms and used my other hand to cradle and caress the facial fur that was damp from more than just hot water. I cradled him and listened as his ragged sobs turned into full blown cries of anguish.

It must have been a seriously fucked up situation if the boogeyman on our squad was sobbing his heart out in the shower.

"Sawyer?" I said his name with a cautious tone.

He never answered, but his cries slowed and soon he was reduced to just silent sobs.

I looked down at him as he slowly sat upright and eased his back against the tiles. I lowered my arm and instead rested my hand on my knee.

"Can I ask you something?" Sawyer asked in a deep voice.

"Anything."

"Hold my hand?" he asked, he glanced at me and then looked away, as if he was almost ashamed.

I never spoke, I just slid my hand into his and squeezed. He returned the squeeze and once again I almost shuddered at how normal he was being.

"Have you decided what to do next?" he asked, as water doused us both in a warm stream.

"The rendezvous idea will go ahead, and we'll fight whatever shows up."

"That it?"

I nodded.

"Sounds like suicide."

"Everyone keeps saying that, but its like Kane said, sooner or later we'll have to face them, might as well be head-on with our dignities intact."

Sawyer laughed and then coughed, blood spattered from his mouth and whirled down the drain.

I watched him with a concerned look. Aleksander's beating must have truly fucked up his organs.

"I'll heal in no time. A good night's sleep and I'll be up and about again. Promise."

"I don't need you to rush your healing, Sawyer. I need you able-bodied and prepped for a fight. That means healing as good as possible. If that takes a day or two, then we deal with it."

Sawyer smiled, his tears had stopped. That was good at least.

I grinned back at him and replied, "What's got you so God damned amused?"

"You've grown into such an alpha, its unbelievable how submissive you were when Donovan was alpha."

"You think so?" I considered what he'd said and realised he was right. I followed whatever order Donovan dished out. He was our alpha. It was to be expected. "I'm not the lone wolf you are, Sawyer."

"Lone wolf? You still think I'm a loner, considering what I've been doing the last couple of months?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh? You consider yourself a true-blue member of our group then?" I asked.

He considered me for a brief moment and then nodded.

I smiled at that simple movement and added, "Good to know."

"So you three want me to stay back here and heal up while you meet with the council?" he asked.

"I'm considering having Kane stay behind and look out for you. Me and Aleksander can handle anything the council can dish out."

"You truly believe that?" Sawyer asked.

I watched Sawyer for a moment, those eerily beautiful yellow eyes and shook my head.

Sawyer smiled sadly and added, "The beast council is something else compared to what we are. The fact we killed two, possibly three of their latest members is an amazing feat."

"But was it all for nothing?" I asked.

Sawyer shrugged, "Like you said, we deal with it. No matter what the council dishes out, we'll deal and take out anyone standing between us and your tiger."

I grinned and repeated, "My tiger?"

"All of us are here for our own reasons, but getting Snow back is our initial objective."

"What do you mean by our own reasons?"

"Think about it. Your here to get back Snow, but what about the others? Maximillian is an easy one, because he wants Jasper's head for what he did to Nirvana and his unborn child," he explained. Nirvana had been Maximillian's beloved and the mother of their child. She'd been in her last couple of weeks when Jasper had incinerated her without hesitation. I frowned at the memories of what happened at Basil's manor house. Sawyer continued, "Kane's an alpha werewolf, whose sworn duties to his alpha went unfulfilled. He's also after revenge against the council as a whole, as well as Jasper. Aleksander's here because he wants to protect his people and help you out. Basil is here for the same reason too, it would seem."

"And you?" I asked.

"Me?"

I nodded and looked at him with an expectant smile.

He considered me for a moment and then asked, "Are you certain you want to know?"

"Yeah."

"Do you remember what I said to you when I first joined your cause?" he asked.

"Remind me?" I replied.

Sawyer grinned and added, "I'm hurt that you forgot. I said that your power fascinated me and I wanted to see how it would grow. But over the months I've spent watching you grow, I feel more grounded, more settled than I've ever been before. You considered me an ally, a dangerous maniac, but still you thought of me as a friend from the get go, while everyone else took time to welcome me with such open arms. You accepted my offer because you needed help, but you also accepted me as a friend, a comrade. I do want to see what you power is capable of in the upcoming fights, but there's something else about you."

"Something else about me? What do you mean?" I asked.

He looked down at me from a moment, and then leaned in close. He brushed his lips against mine and for a moment the world seemed to stop dead.

I tasted his lips on mine, closing my eyes as I went. Was this some kind of illusion? No. Sawyer wouldn't do that to me.

He broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against mine as he looked down at me. "That something else that fascinates me about you, is the affection you have for me."

I never spoke, I looked into those startling yellow eyes, along the tone and muscle of his jawline, the definition of his throat, the tone on his pectorals. The sleak blue and black fur. It was all attractive to me.

"And for whatever reason, that affection has awakened an affection inside myself for you. I know you've probably heard this before, but if I can help it, I'll make sure no one will harm you."

I looked into those deep eyes and felt that promise like a bond tightening around us both.

There was a rush of heat, far more intense than the shower water could ever harness. The beast inside me, Adelheid had awakened at Sawyer's words, and it seemed she wanted him, she wanted his beast, she wanted his power. I gasped under my breath as her thoughts spilled across my mind. Our King, our wolf alpha lost and gone. The bond abandoned and in need of replacement. Bind the feline, bind the madman. Bind insanity to our souls. Her words floated through me, caressed down my body and seared across to Sawyer. He shuddered in response as he gazed down at me with a distant, almost drunken, heavy-lidded look.

"E-Eben?" he stammered. He stopped and swallowed, before speaking the words I somehow dreaded, and also looked forward to hearing. "Is your beast binding itself to me?" he whispered. I looked into his eyes and nodded. His face remained neutral, and then a smile melted across his maw. He leaned in close, whispered, "Good." Then he closed the gap and kissed me again, the kiss deepened and the flame between us ignited and flourished like a raw, naked bonfire.