I stared at the living room that looked so familiar yet so alien. It had been so long since I had been in Antonio's house. It felt like I should know it but at the same time it was different. There were some kid's toys neatly tucked away, it let me know he had a toddler at least. It wasn't surprising, he and his female, Lucia, had said they wanted to wait, but not too long, before trying for kids.

I did question where she was but with the challenge I wondered if Antonio had convinced her to stay with her parents, just so she was safe. It made sense but all of that, even Antonio muttering in the bathtub about being too warm, was pushed to the side for one singular thing.

I had spent so long doing dark, being a wild, convinced that what Vera had done had changed me on such and intrinsic level. And in a way it had. I wasn't the same male. I didn't have that blind faith in people anymore. I was far more reserved, I knew I could be abrasive, and Mene I hated talking and thinking.

But I had watched Julieta stand there, railing about how unfair it had been that Vera had done that. She had looked like an angry kitten, hissing and spitting but I was stuck on it. She was upset, pissed off, furious. Not because of what Vera did to her, but because what Vera did to me.

Life had been cruel to Julieta in a way I never wanted to see again. She told me she wasn't that naive female anymore, the one who believed in fairness or justice but in that moment. The moment when she railed against Vera, against what had been done to me, I saw who she used to be.

It was an almost sobering thing to think about because if she still had that tiny bit left, that small corner of herself that she thought had been beaten out of her, I wondered if there was still a bit of the me that I had been before everything. What was worse was that she used it on me, of all people. Not for the injustice that she went through, not for Vera's actions against her brother. No. She looked at me and that tiny bit of herself, that railed against injustice and unfairness, that she said was gone, came to life for me.

It made me think, and as much as I didn't like it, that if she could still retain a bit of that despite everything. Could I? I wasn't entirely sure and I was doing my best to think back on every interaction I could remember I had since Vera poisoned me and I had lost my entire life. I was trying to see if there was anything of the male I had been, left inside of me. It was difficult because it was all painted through the lense of who I currently was. It felt impossible to think about what I had been like when I looked back and all I saw was someone stupid, someone who got taken advantage of, who was too stupid to see the writing on the wall.

"Alpha Antonio is out of it." Julieta came back out of the bathroom, a small frown on her face. It caused the smallest crease between her eyebrows. "Can't really talk. I think he might have drank more of it than I did. I didn't get like that." She glanced at me and then her gaze skittered away.

I fought the urge to smirk at the slightly flustered look she threw at me. She was... cute in a way. It was hard to explain it properly but she was. "Two cups?" I tilted my head as I watched her and she seemed to actually ponder that.

"Might be." She gave a small shrug and glanced towards the door. I wondered if I would have to move around the island towards her in case she decided to try and kill Vera again. "How are you so calm?" It came out of her disgruntled and she scowled, her brown eyes flicking towards me.

I had gotten a lot of time to deal with it. I was pissed, yes. The bond was agitating me with how excited it seemed to be now that we were close to Vera, but I had worked out a lot of that shit. "Long time." I simply had time to not get worked up into a blind rage over what happened. Did that mean I wasn't pissed? No. I simply understood that going into a blind rage against Blake or Vera wouldn't do anything.

"Angry but..." I shrugged. It was no use working at the anger, holding onto it. If I was in a rage over it I would miss cues, miss sublties, I would miss basic things. I had to be calm so I could take in my environment, watch it, study it for small tells, inconsistencies.

Besides, I knew Vera and Blake were looking at a very long trip to the Void. I would deal with them and then I would go home. I missed my family, I missed Fortis. Being back in Provocatio, it didn't inspire nostalgia or longing. It just made me miss Fortis that much more. It made me think about where I fit into all of it, why I felt like I was being left behind.

Perhaps it wasn't them leaving me behind, maybe I had just... stopped walking with them. Like I had stalled in moving forward. I couldn't keep hiding, couldn't keep expecting them to stay where I was at. I needed to get my ass in gear and catch up to them. The thought was distasteful. I didn't like being a human, I liked being a bundle of nebulous thoughts and conciousness inside my wolf. I preferred it but it wasn't working anymore.

"Are the hunters coming?" Luiz's voice came from the bathroom, sounding a bit agitated and I flicked my gaze back to Julieta.

"Yes. They said they were coming soon." She sounded just a touch exasperated but she was trying to hide it. Her arms crossed over her chest and she scuffed her foot on the floor before glancing at me and then immediately looking away. "I wonder where Lucia is." It came out almost randomly and I raised an eyebrow.

"Safer away." I shrugged again, leaning back against the counter. My best guess was that it was safer for her and their pup or pups to not be on Provocatio during the challenge. Antonio would have thought of that and I knew Lucia would have argued but cleary she gave in if she wasn't here.

"Makes sense but I bet Lucia hated that." She huffed out an amused breath and I found my own mouth twitching upwards slightly at the corners. Lucia definitely would have hated being packed off because it was safer. "I mean..." Julieta trailed off and then looked at me, her brown eyes twinkling slightly. "Was it safer for her or safer because she would have beat Vera's ass like a marching drum if she was here?"

That had me actually giving a bark of laughter. She had me there. That made more sense, Antonio sending Lucia away to prevent her from interfering in the challenge. I could hear Julieta chuckling and I liked that. I paused slightly at the realization. I liked hearing her laugh, she needed to be able to laugh. I felt a touch disquiet, my stomach churning at that but didn't have a chance to explore the whys as someone pounded on the door.

My wolf snarled and snapped in my head, his hackles raised, teeth bared. I ignored him as I pushed off the counter and headed for the door. The pounding continued and I yanked open the door, staring down at the pack member who had been banging on it.

He blinked up at me, he was older, silver in his hair, but I was having a hard time placing him. Then again I didn't think I remembered anyone from Provocatio at this point. "Listen we, at Provocatio, have proud traditions. You and Luiz, a former pack member, interfered with those traditions." He started to get a bit more worked up and I stepped back and promptly slammed the door in his face.

I didn't care to hear his spiel about interfereing with the challenge. I knew all about that. I had been a damned ranked member of Provocatio but it was clear they didn't remember me at all. Not that they would have any reason too, it wasn't like I was that young male anymore. I had bulked out, became harder, harsher. Gained a fair few scars. That and it seemed fair they didn't remember me considering I didn't remember most of them either.

I could hear Julieta trying to stifle her laughter and I turned my head, watching as she actually pressed her fingers to her mouth as if it would keep the laughs and chuckles inside her. I was finding I really liked her laughing. I liked that I gave her a moment of amusement amid all this shit. Which I promptly shoved down because we were too busy for me to sort that out.

The pounding resumed and her gaze flicked to me, her eyes dancing in amusement.  I rolled my eyes, huffing slightly as if exasperated and she smiled. I turned back to the door and opened it again. The male was red in the face and there was another younger one beside him.

The young male pointed at me, "Listen here you piece of shit-"

I slammed the door again and at that Julieta did laugh out loud but was still trying to stifle it. "That's rude, Ezekiel." The slight chastisement would have held more weight if amusement and giggles weren't threaded through every word.

"Bothersome." I glanced over my shoulder at her as they banging started again.

"Still." She was pinching her lips together and I gestured to the door as if saying she could deal with it. She rolled her eyes, the tops of her cheeks flushed as she came over. "Fine you overgrown caveman. I'll talk to them." The teasing was clear and my wolf gave an amused huff at that as I took a step back from the door.

She opened the door and I stared out at the males on the deck, my eyes narrowing as I crossed my arms over my chest. They would be respectful of Julieta or they would be dealing with me. I could see them glaring right back at me but it just amused me more than anything.

"Listen, there are traditions-"

"Hey, so we know there are traditions." Julieta cut him off. "However there are extenuating circumstances at the moment that caused us to interfere. We would have preferred if we arrived before the challenge but we didn't sadly."

The younger male glanced at me and I narrowed my eyes further. "Look, I understand there might have been whatever you think there was but our traditions are important. You need to get off the territory and the challenge has to continue." I wondered, for a brief moment, if I had been that single minded when I had lived in Provocatio. He was just sprouting off the same talking points without looking anywhere else. It was like he had blinders on.

"If you still feel that way in about an hour then by all means we will leave but right now we need to make sure Antonio is okay and eveything else sorted." Julieta was trying to be reasonable, I could see it, but I didn't think reasonable would work right now. "Please, just an hour. That's all we ask for." She adjusted her grip on the door, as if getting ready to close it.

A hand came up and smacked against the door, making her jump and stiffen. "We aren't fucking asking." The words came out right before I swung the door open and, with a flat palm, hit the male's sternum. He gave choked sound as he stumbled back against the rest of the males, gasping for air.

I moved around Julieta as she gaped and blinked rapidly, from my action or the male's I wasn't sure. I supposed it didn't really matter, I was pissed off anyway. There was absolutely no reason for him to do that in response to Julieta. It was a cowardly technique, trying to intimidate her. Especially when I was standing right there.

I let out a snarl as I stepped out onto the deck, my dominance surging outwards. I watched as most of the males scurried backwards, away from me. "No." I grit the word out, baring my teeth. They would leave us alone until I decided they could be informed of what was going on. That or the hunters decided.

"Listen-" The first male, the older one, sputtered.

I stared at him, my dominance pushing outwards against him to the point I could see him sweat as the others retreated. I stepped closer and the young male managed to catch his breath. "No. Wait." I growled the words out and narrowed my eyes, shoving outwards with my dominance so they would think twice about pushing again.

"Hey numbnuts. Calm that shit down." At the snarked out words thst came with a rolling wave of the scent of roses, I looked over and spotted a clearly marked hunter witch with a very uncomfortable looking female hunter beside her. I pulled back my dominance and the relief was almost palpable on the hunter's face. "Thanks. Now move your fucking asses!" The witch bellowed it out and started marching towards the deck.

Clearly the hunters were taking this seriously if they arrived that quick. I watched as she cut a straight line towards the house and could see a bright yellow medical bag bouncing on the female hunter's hip. It was different than the other medical bags I had seen the hunters carry but if they specialized in poisons then that made sense.

"Why are the hunters here?"

"What's going on?"

"Seriously, this is weird."

"Luiz shows up and now hunters?"

The words rippled through the males and I stepped back towards the house and nodded at the witch and the hunter as they made it to the deck. I glanced at Julieta and gave her a small nod. As if she understood, she nodded in return and stepped out of the doorway, gesturing for the two females to come in.

"He's in here." As Julieta led them inside I turned and crossed my arms over my chest, narrowing my eyes once again at the crowd.

With the hunters here to prove what happened. I just knew we were closer to shit seriously hitting the fan. I didn't know where Vera and Blake were at the moment but I knew vipers didn't stop trying to bite when their heads were off.

Vera was a viper, through and through, and I knew I needed to watch for those fucking teeth. Even if the hunters took her I would have to watch. I knew how she operated, I knew how it fucking worked with her. She would try to strike out, would try to gain some sort of upper hand. I just had to watch for it and then strike back.

My wolf rumbled his agreement. This ended now, once and for all.