"Wake up, sunshine. You're late," Killian's chest rumbles from underneath me.

Underneath me?

I scream and throw myself off of him, sending myself crashing onto the floor.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I glare at him, rubbing my elbow that collided into the ground.

Killian's eyebrows furrow. "Well, I'm allergic to strawberries, I'm not very photogenic because cameras can't capture the perfect blueness of my eyes, my left thumb is slightly bigger than the right one, I have-"

"What. Are. You. Doing. In. My. Bed," I hiss, scrambling off the floor.

"Oh, that," Killian laughs. "I told you not to be late. It's 7:05."

"You couldn't have knocked?" I'm going to choke him out, Alpha or not.

Killian shrugs. "I could have, but I rather like this wake-up call much better. My hospitality is unmatched. Leave a nice note in the guestbook when you leave, will you?"

"Do you have a pool?" I ask suddenly.

Killian frowns at the abrupt, off-topic question. "Yes, but if you wanted to see me shirtless, you could always just ask."

"No, I'm just trying to figure out where I should drown you," I say thoughtfully.

Killian laughs. "My bathtub would be a good option. But my bedroom has a strict no-clothes policy."

"Pool it is."

"Stop flirting with me. We're already late. I'll see you downstairs," Killian grins. "And run a brush through your hair, would you? You're going to make me lose my appetite."

I lunge for him to throttle him, but he winks and disappears before I can.

I quickly put on a grey t-shirt dress and my black heeled boots and ignore Killian's request for me to brush my hair. My dark red curls were always out of control, even worse after I sleep on them. Unlike Gwen's hair, which is always pin-straight and perfect.

Perfect Gwendolyn.

Shaking off thoughts of my sister, I go downstairs, easily finding the kitchen, and I can sense before walking in that there are five other people besides Killian waiting. 3 boys, 2 girls, one man-child.

Since I'm not shy, I walk right in and immediately assess everyone sitting at the table, using my Sight to help me get to know them without actually have to get to know them. Cheating? Definitely. Efficient? Hell yes.

I already have seen one of them, Knox, from my brief time in Blood Lake last year, and he's just as muscular as ever, and I Know that his Gift is enhanced strength. More complicated, powerful Gifts are harder for my Knowing to gauge, but natural enhancements are much easier to See.

One of the she-wolves with dark blonde hair and brown eyes has an enhancement Gift, improved weapons-wielding, and she's also the Weapons Master. Her name is Jae. She's also mated to the Crimson Shadow Gamma, who isn't in attendance. Interesting.

None of the other wolves have an enhanced Gift, so there's much be more complicated or oddly specific.

One of the males is smaller than the others, still toned, but not overly muscular. He has sandy brown hair and hazel eyes, and I Know that he is much smarter than the rest of the wolves at the table. His name is Gabriel or Gabe, and my Sight can't decide which he goes by.

The other she-wolf, Layla, has tanned skin, blue eyes, and brown hair. She gives me a bright smile, showing brilliantly white teeth. When I look at her, I can see her holding a tray with two glasses of champagne, but I'm not sure why the Sight decides to show me that, not that I know why it ever shows me anything.

The last male is the most interesting one. Shadows seem to hide his face, but I can see dark blue eyes accompanying his jet-black hair. He looks just like Killian. They're brothers. This one is younger, only about seventeen, and named Kage.

"Should I even bother with introductions?" Killian asks, rolling his eyes when I finally sit down in a chair furthest from him, next to Layla and Kage.

"That won't be necessary," I grin, helping myself to some food.

Layla laughs and claps her hands. "I love Seers."

Her words surprise me, and I can See that she really does have positive feelings towards those with the Sight.

Knox, however, I can See that he is apprehensive towards me, though not hostile. Interesting. Maybe I should use that to freak him out.

"What number am I thinking of?" Layla asks me, squeezing her eyes shut.

I laugh. "You're thinking of three, but if I had said three, you would have told me: 'No, seven'."

Layla throws her head back and laughs, opening her eyes. "Okay, what fruit am I thinking of?"

Jae sighs. "Layla, no more carnival games with our Seer, please."

Layla pouts. "Boo, you're no fun."

I lean in towards Layla and cough, "Kiwi."

Layla conceals a giggle, slapping her hand over her mouth, and I Know that she plans on playing this game with me for a long time.

Killian's brother, Kage, hands me a napkin. "Um, your nose," He says, his voice soft.

I touch under my nose, and sure enough, it's bleeding. I must have strained my Sight too much trying to See all of the wolves initially.

"Thanks," I tell him, taking the napkin. If only his brother was this demure.

"You should have just let me do the introductions," Killian shakes his head in disappointment.

Jae snorts. "You're just mad the attention wasn't on you for half a second."

I like her.

Killian shrugs. "True. I don't want my sparkle taken away from me."

Kage rolls his eyes at that, and Layla laughs. "I'm going to start calling you Sparkles," She teases.

Killian smacks his fist on the table. "That's Alpha Sparkles to you."

Knox looks at the clock. "Maryn is late."

"Maryn is always late," Jae points out.

"She has been late for 82% of pack meetings, 90% of circulus dinners, 42% of trainings," The nerdy one, Gabriel says confidently.

Jae sighs. Layla giggles. Killian looks mildly interested by those statistics.

"Is that really necessary?" Jae asks.

Gabriel blinks. "Well, you said that she's always late. Statistically untrue."

So, my Sight was correct. Gabriel has some kind of intelligence Gift. Unique, because most wolves get Gifts that make them stronger during battle, but the ones with mind Gifts are even more dangerous than those with physical ones.

"Thank you, Gabe," A girl says upon entering, sitting next to him. She has dark hair and nearly black eyes, but her skin is as white as snow. This is Maryn.

"You're late," Knox points out irately.

Maryn shrugs. "There was traffic."

Knox's eyes narrow. "We live in the middle of the woods. There's not a street around for miles."

"Twenty-two miles," Gabriel says, and Maryn glares at him. "Sorry, Mar," He shrugs. "We have to stick to the facts here."

"Don't argue, children," Killian says, waving his fork at them. "It's rude to fight in front of guests."

Maryn's focus turns on me. "Oh, right. The Seer you stole."

I laugh, but Killian frowns. "It was legal," He says defensively.

"Sorry," Maryn apologizes. "The Seer you legally stole."

I like her, too. I could already See that we were going to be friends, though that's not usually something you say to someone you just met.

"Why are you wearing gloves?" Maryn asks, cocking her head to the side.

"She probably doesn't want to get Killian's germs," Layla nods seriously.

I smile at that, but answer Maryn anyways. "My Sight can be... a lot," I say slowly. "Touching objects can get overwhelming. The gloves block out a lot of it."

I expect them to feel uncomfortable, scared of my abilities, but they only look curious.

"Speaking of," Killian clears his throat. "I need you to hold an object and tell me what you See."

I frown. "What object? Why do you need my Sight for it?"

Killian and Knox look at each other. Layla shifts uncomfortably in her chair. The shadows around Kage get darker.

"You didn't tell her why you brought her here?" Jae glares at him.

Besides the fact that he wants to piss me off? No, he didn't.

"It's an in-person kind of conversation," Killian sighs, and looks deeply into my eyes, his face suddenly lacking any amusement. "Okay, I brought you here because we've been having an... issue at Crimson Shadow for the last month."

"What kind of issue?" I ask, and my Sight does not seem keen on aiding my understanding.

"Five wolves have gone missing in the last month," Knox answers, his jaw clenching. "Disappeared without a trace."

Well. That's definitely an issue.

"Are their pack links still intact?" I question.

Killian nods. "I can sense their wolves still. Mindlinking won't work, but it seems like they're still alive."

"That's a good sign, right?" Layla asks hopefully.

Jae shakes her head. "We don't know what they're doing with the wolves they do take. They could be torturing them or..." Her voice trails off, leaving us to imagine the gory details for ourselves.

"What's the object?" I ask Killian.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a photograph, passing it down the table until it reaches me. Layla has tears in her eyes as she looks at it.

I look at the photo, still not taking my gloves off. "Is this one of the missing wolves?" I ask.

Killian nods. "His name is Jason. He went missing this morning."

This morning. So that's why Killian chose now to call in on his war spoils.

"Can you help?" Maryn asks anxiously, and I can See that her and Jason were close friends and often would spar against each other during training sessions.

I sigh, looking at the picture. "I can't promise I'll See anything," I warn. "My Sight chooses to work sometimes, other times not. I don't want you to get your hopes up."

"Whatever you can do will help," Killian says patiently. "They all know your limitations, none of us will be mad if you don't See anything."

Well, that would be a first. People always lose their shit when they ask me for help, and I can't.

I take a deep breath, putting the picture on the table. I take off my gloves and pick up the photo and stare at it.

Nobody says anything, and for a moment, it's dead silent.

And then all I see is blood.

No longer am I sitting at the table with Killian's circulus, I'm drowning in thick, red blood.

I choke, but don't pull myself out of the vision yet.

I swim deeper in the blood, though I can't breathe, just looking for something that will be useful for helping find the missing wolves.

When I can feel myself nearly passing out from the lack of oxygen, I yank myself out of the vision, sputtering as I open my eyes.

Even though when my vision started, I was sitting at the table, when I pull myself out, I'm laying on my side on the ground.

I groan, coughing up more blood, and my ears start ringing. Definitely pushed myself too far with that one.

"Are you okay?" Killian asks, offering his hand, which I ignore as I sit up.

"How long was I in the vision?" I ask Gabriel, who I know knows.

"Thirty-two minutes, fourteen seconds," He answers precisely.

Crap. That was way too long, way too dangerous.

"What did you see?" Knox asks curiously.

"Blood," I say quietly. "A whole sea of it."

"Shit," Layla whispers.

Shit indeed.