The pack found itself back at Celestino's house. The night had been long and eventful but there wasn't anything resembling hope from the group. They sat watching the clock, not speaking. Of course, they weren't afraid of being discovered or felt they had been wrong in revealing themselves to the natives, that wasn't it. But they had, in the course of a few minutes, played every card they had, and now it was up to politicians to make the right decision. Needless to say, no one in the room felt very confident that they were going to get any help from these people.

"That really was a dumb move, Nic," William said at last, not being able to stop himself.

"What did I do? I thought it was the right thing to do. And besides, did you see the look on that guy's face?! It was hilarious," Nicolas laughed in response.

Charles replied quietly, "It was our decision to reveal ourselves; it was not your right to reveal someone else. He had no choice in the matter."

"Oh, for the love of God, you guys sound just like Ansuya. And so, what? You know that room needed some hard truth. Bunch of circular talking, mealy mouthed politicians all of them. They needed a good slap in the face!"

"It was not for you to decide for someone else, Nicolas," Charles said and fell silent.

Nicolas looked back at the group, he saw the same response mirrored in everyone's eyes, but especially Ansuya, her deep eyes returned nothing back to him, her look was cold and as unfeeling as death, and Nicolas, maybe for the first time, felt like he really had screwed up.

A loud knock sounded through the house, causing Katherine and William to jump in their seats.

Celestino was heard in the kitchen move quickly to the back door and unlock it, "Thom? Thom what are you doing here?"

A deep male voice answered, "Are they still here, Celestino?"

"Yes, yes, they're all in the front room, come in, come in." Celestino was heard closing and locking the door.

Two men came into the living room and they all looked up surprised to see that Thom was the councilman that Nicolas had pointed out during the tribal council. Nicolas had the decency to look ashamed and not really able to look the man in the eye.

"You all have to leave, now" Thom said flatly.

Ansuya stood up, "Are you throwing us off your reservation?"

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Thom looked grim and shook his head, "Me personally, as we are cousins, I would welcome you with open arms. But that guy right there," he pointed a cold accusing finger at Nicolas, "really fucked up. Do you have any idea what you've done? They'll be coming for me now, if they aren't already."

"What do you mean, 'coming for you'?" Kathrine asked.

The younger tribal councilman ran his hand through his hair, "I guess I can't blame you, how could you have known." He took a deep breath and looked at Aceso, who was laying on the floor next to the fireplace. He looked up at Ansuya and took in the whole room, "There is a rot going through the tribes, especially here. I have tried to keep the traditions of our people alive and, for my troubles, I have been pushed to the very edge of relevance in the council. The council is not what people think it is. I have been working very hard to find and root out where the corruption in our council goes and from what I can find there are some very strong financial ties to some outside interests, namely from California, and House Dukart."

Ansuya looked up sharply hearing that name, "How do you know that, and how do you know about House Dukart?"

Thom smiled sadly, "I have not been asleep my whole life, unlike some of my colleagues and friends. I know about the vampires and they have a firm grip on the council with their, 'monetary donations.' They don't care about our people. All my people seem to care about is staying on the good side of the people with money. And the vampires, oddly enough, have been the ones pumping the most money into their wallets for the last twenty or thirty years. None of that has gone to our people, it's all gone to their bank accounts, and their homes. And the second you said anything about Shape shifters, or…" He stopped speaking and looked at Ansuya. With some difficulty he continued as if pushing past a lump in his throat. "Skin Walkers… They only saw dollar signs and their accounts getting bigger. You all have prices on your heads, and now, thanks to you, I have one on my head too."

"We can't leave," Ansuya said quietly. "We came here for a reason. Our people need to join together and fight the vampires. They already destroyed our home. They'll be coming here next. I don't care how much money they've given you; they want us eradicated off the face of the earth."

"Don't you think I know that!" Thom raised his voice in a flash of anger before he was able to calm himself down. He continued in a much quieter tone, "I have been fighting for every inch of progress I've made. I've exhausted almost all of my political and monetary capitol to halt or slow every inch the vampires have encroached into our people and society. I know they have to be stopped, but I'm not safe and neither are you."

"If you are a werewolf," Amanda said suddenly, "Then you must know where and who other werewolves and Shape shifters are. Maybe you could help us?"

"And endanger others of my people?" Thom shook his head sadly. "If you had come to me first instead of going to Clifford, maybe this could have been avoided, but now? I would not endanger my people for you. And right now, we are in danger, which is why you have to leave."

"So, that's it then?" Nicolas scoffed as he glared at the councilman, "at the first sign of trouble you just want to tuck you tail between your legs and run? Maybe you want to get back into the good graces of your vampire overlords and turn us all in? Well go ahead, I've killed a few vampires in my time, I can kill a few more, bring em' on!"

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