"I'll take your head off, bitch!"

Spencer could hear Vince arguing with his father all the way down the road. He could hear the scuffling of their feet and the grappling of bodies as the youngest wolf was forced into a car, the door slammed behind him. The engine roared, tyres squealed, and within moments, the car had vanished from even his hearing.

"Spencer? Spence?"

Blinking in surprise as fingers were snapped right in front of his face, Spencer straightened up and looked around. Everyone was staring at him and his apparent absence from the room. Including, he was worried to find, August.

"Aug?"

"I heard the screaming," he said. "What's going on? What was Kaleb even doing here?"

Despite August's apparent interest in the wolves, his gaze darted between Spencer and Edeline far faster than Spencer would have liked. His eyes narrowed at the sight of her tucked in behind Spencer, his lips pursing as he took in her fingers tangled in the back of Spencer's shirt.

"Kaleb came to speak to me," Priya explained, moving away from the door. But instead of coming towards August, she went straight to William. "Vince must have followed him."

Reaching behind him, Spencer carefully eased Edeline's fingers from his shirt. Despite the brave front she had put up in front of Kaleb, and even in front of Vince, her grip on his shirt was a vice to be broken. Even as he focussed on Edeline, Spencer could see August's barely-restrained glare out of the corner of his gaze, and the way his teeth gnashed behind his lips. Spencer turned to Edeline and took hold of her shoulders. She looked as out of it as he felt. Or maybe she was too busy listening to everyone else's thoughts to hear her own. He guided her gently backwards until she could sit down on the stairs. The moment he let go of her, August grabbed his arm and wheeled him away.

"What are you doing here, Spencer?" he asked. "And with her? I asked you to stay away while you—"

"I was on the stairs," Spencer said quickly. "Listening to someone else's drama for a change. She came right past me. I wasn't exactly going to let her go alone."

"Spencer..."

Spencer put on his most serious, and hopefully trust-worthy smile.

"August, it's fine. I'm fine. Edeline and I are... getting there."

He appeared to accept the explanation, though Spencer was well-aware that he would probably be berated once they were alone. He knew August was trying to help him, to remove the temptation by keeping him away from Edeline, but not being tempted while he had no access to that particular drug would only help for so long. If Edeline was going to continue to be around them, he'd need to get used to being in her presence. And apparently, Edeline wanted him there.

August kept a hold of Spencer's arm, even as he turned to Priya and William.

"So, Kaleb wanted you?" he asked.

"I didn't tell him I was leaving the farm," Priya said. "He heard about what happened, he was worried."

"And Vincent?"

"The girl was explaining the danger the boy poses," William said, nodding in Edeline's direction. "He wasn't having any of it, but then kid bursts in saying he wants the girl's blood for himself."

William's gaze landed on Spencer and he smirked.

"Didn't seem too happy with you, either, did he?"

Spencer shook his head.

"I heard enough of what Vince wants," Spencer said quietly. "He wants to be better... more than anyone before him."

"Notorious," Edeline said quietly. Spencer jabbed a thumb in Edeline's direction and nodded.

"He thinks her blood will get him there," he said.

"It's not about food." Edeline pushed herself to standing and came to, once again, stand beside Spencer. "Vince doesn't care about feeding. He just wants to kill."

August looked murderous and resigned as he looked around the group of them.

"And where is the other wolf we've been housing?" he asked. "Surely he should be here, threatening to disembowel anyone who comes near you, Miss Arneson, whether or not that disembowelment involves his nephew."

Edeline blushed and shifted on her feet. Spencer's eyes narrowed as he watched her.

"We had an incident," Edeline said quietly. "He's uh... he's in my room listening to everything we're saying."

"Listening?" Priya asked. "How?"

Spencer's eyes widened as he realised what Edeline was hinting at. He was there only a moment before August, however, who glared at Edeline like he might be able to bore a hole through her with his eyes.

"You fed another person in this house your blood?" he demanded, his voice deathly and low.

"It was an emergency," Edeline whispered. "It was a few drops, he won't be under long."

"He will be craving it a lot longer," August said. "We do not need another round of withdrawals in this house!"

Edeline glanced at Spencer.

"Well, maybe one more," she said.

August shoved Spencer aside and stepped up to meet her.

"Excuse me?"

"Vince will come back unless we..."

"I do not need to be a mind-reader to know what you are suggesting, Miss Arneson. The answer is no."

"Just hear me out," Edeline said. "Spencer knows Vince, probably better than anyone except me."

"Excuse me?" Priya demanded.

Edeline leaned to the side to look past August.

"You knew the man he has pretended to be, the face he puts on for the world. Spencer has been inside his head. He knows his real thoughts."

Priya shuffled back, but August rounded on her and William.

"Go away," he said. "William, you look awful, go wrap yourself up or something. Get Miss Shah to help you."

"But..."

"Now!"

Priya reluctantly accepted William's offer of his hand, and he led her up the stairs, leaving Spencer standing in the lobby with August and Edeline. Shoving his hands into his pockets, Spencer rocked back and forth on his heels, staring at the floor. He felt like a child pulled into the principal's office for pulling on a girl's braids.

Without a word, August turned and marched into the kitchen. Edeline nudged Spencer into following. Once they were inside, August closed the door behind them. Spencer didn't think he'd ever seen the kitchen door closed before. He took a seat on one of the tall breakfast bar stools. Edeline came to stand beside him, whereas August took the space on the opposite side of the counter.

"I don't think I like what you're insinuating, Miss Arneson," August said.

"Vince is a problem to all of us."

"I disagree. He is the wolves' problem."

Edeline shook her head.

"How long do you think he will stay at the farm under the guidance of the pack?" she asked. "He will come back here, and he will come when he's at his strongest, in wolf form."

"Do you really think him so stupid?"

"No," Edeline said slowly. "I think him so desperate. He will take his first opportunity once he is in wolf form. Killing will be all he can think about. He's already thinking about it."

"We should wait until after the moon."

"You said it," Edeline replied. "Vince is not stupid. If we wait, he will come in the daytime. He will pen you in by the sun."

"Then we leave."

"August, I don't think you understand..."

"I understand perfectly, Miss Arneson."

"He risks all of us," she argued. "And what happens if humans see all this?"

August didn't look convinced, but he turned away from them, pacing. Spencer gazed between the two of them, eyes narrowed.

"Wait for what?" he asked. "What are you two talking about?"

Edeline slipped onto the stood beside Spencer. She took his hand in both of her own, pulling it into her lap. When she looked at him, it was with something akin to pity. Spencer didn't like it.

"Vince will go feral," she said. "It's already happening."

"Yes," Spencer replied. "I get that part, but..."

"We need to stop him before he gets that far. Before he risks all of us being discovered with a trail of bodies."

Spencer glanced at August, still turned away from them.

"Right?"

"Spencer..." Edeline murmured. "I think you should do it."

He wanted to lean back and digest the information being given to him, but as he did so, he remembered he was on a stool, and sat up straight again. Staring at Edeline, he shook his head.

"I'm not even the best fighter," he said. "And why just me? Why don't we mob him?"

"Maybe it'll come to that," Edeline said quietly. "But with my blood..."

Spencer jumped out of his seat, wrenching his hand from her grasp.

"No!"

"Spencer, please, hear me out."

August turned back to him, meeting his gaze. It was sad and resigned, but fierce in its intensity. For a moment, Spencer thought August would argue, he'd been trying so hard to keep Spencer on this path, but he said nothing.

"I can't. I can't take it again, I'll never want to stop. Have someone else do it."

"No one else understands how to use my gift," she said. "They'd be so wired, they can't think straight. They'd never be able to focus on what they need to do."

"I can't focus on it!" Spencer said. "You've seen me on it. You know what it does to me. I'd kill you."

"You say you're not the best fighter, but when you've had my blood, you're... You're a perfect killer."

"That isn't a reason, Edie," Spencer snapped. "You want me to take your blood and go kill Vince? It's insane."

"It's not."

"I'm barely hanging on, here. I'd want more. I already want more. I don't think I can do this again."

"I trust you."

"WHY?" Spencer cried. He had to admit, all of this was easier when he knew what people were thinking as well as what they were saying.

August rounded the breakfast bar in a fraction of a second. He took hold of Spencer's arms and turned him to face him. The sadness had left his expression, and all that was left was determination.

"We'll leave," he said. "Just me and you."

August clung to him, drawing him nearer. Spencer shook his head.

"What about the others?" he asked. "I can't ask you to—"

"You're not asking. I'm telling," August said. "The moment this is done, you and I will leave. No more temptation, no more of this crap. I'll take you to see the world, Spence. Me and you."

"August, I..."

He couldn't find the words he wanted. He wanted to tell August he loved him, but that didn't seem right. He wanted to say no, but he already wanted her blood again, knowing how amazing it would feel. One more time, right? Wasn't that the mantra of every junky?

A small hand came down on his shoulder, squeezing gently.

Spencer nodded.

"The moment this is done?" he asked.

August cupped his face in his hands and leaned forwards, placing a hard, determined kiss on the corner of his lips.

"You and me," August said. "Once this is done, we're gone."