| Explanations

* * *

“Nate, is that you?” Nate heard Darrell's casual shout at the sound of the closing front door.

The question didn’t get an answer, because Nate's mind was on what he’d just done. He dropped his keys into the hand-carved wooden bowl on the table just inside the Midtown two-bedroom flat he shared with Elliott. Strolling into the well-decorated living room, he nodded to his roommate and their guest, two of his pack members. The balcony door opened and Danny, the fourth and final member, walked in with a look that said he knew things that no one else did. But the truth was, Danny recently became as suspicious as ever since Katherine.

As Nate stepped further into the room, he noticed all three werewolves staring at him, their nostrils flaring at his impossible-to-ignore stench.

Oh well, there went his plan to lie about where he'd been.

From where Elliott sat on their couch, he demanded, “Why do you smell like murder?”

Nate exhaled deeply and walked behind the sleek bar to reach for his favorite scotch which was just one drink among the many high-end liquor bottles stored below. He raked strong fingers through his dark hair, popped the top off the bottle with his other hand, and ignored the cork cap rolling toward the end of the bar where it hovered. Very aware his pack mates were waiting for an answer, he poured a hefty amount into a sleek, clear rocks-glass. “What can I say? The world is shy one disgusting human being as of tonight.”

Darrell scratched his beard and exchanged looks with Elliott. Then they both turned to look at Danny who stood above them, close to the glass balcony door across the room. Nate almost scoffed as he glanced at them. He knew those looks. Nate watched as Danny’s expression turned grave when he caught Darrell and Elliot staring.

Elliott, the wolf closest to Nate, shot up off the couch and approached him. “What did you do?”

Blue eyes stayed locked on amber liquid as Nate brought the glass to his lips. “Nothing you wouldn’t have.”

“Let me be the judge of that.” Elliott grabbed the bottle from the counter. “Hand me a glass.”

Nate reached for one, dropping it onto the counter with a thud. Images of the beautiful lady he'd saved sobbing on the ground with that monster on top of her flashed before him. He grimaced and took another sip to make it go away. “I stopped a rape,” he finally replied and took another deep gulp from his glass.

“Oh, well, you’re right. I would’ve done that, but…” Elliott trailed off, not wanting to be the one to introduce the obvious, the thing they were all worried about.

Being discovered for what they were.

Darrell shuffled his long limbs on the ottoman and said to Elliott, “Pour me one, too.”

Nate looked to Danny who was still standing by the door and silent as ever. They were all dressed in suits as all four of them had been at the club tonight. They had agreed to meet back here for a last nightcap if they didn’t find anyone interesting with whom to spend a few hours. That they were all here was a little annoying, for several reasons, and one of them was the fact that they were so damn lonely it wasn't funny. After the world went to shit, the idea of finding a mate was out of the question as almost eighty-five percent of the supernatural population was already wiped out.

Nate still held hope for them all though. If they could survive, maybe their mates did too.

Circling the bar, Nate walked to the center of the room. There was a kitchen off to the side hidden by the large white screen they’d installed for design. After they'd moved in, they'd installed suspended lighting all over the house too. As werewolves, they liked the house warm and lighted up. The bathroom and kitchen sinks were refitted with high-end faucets and drains, as were the two showers and bathtubs. Stone tile replaced carpets. The only thing that was wanted was a fireplace, which Elliott too often reminded Nate he wished they had. But what could be done? They couldn’t install a chimney in a tenth-floor flat in a twenty-four-floor high-rise Downtown no matter how much money they had. They had to live like humans and under the radar of humanity at all costs or lose their heads.

The four of them - naturally nocturnal creatures they were - ran an architectural firm by day and a buzzing nightclub by night. Together they ran a very successful corporation, which employed no one but them. They only did daily or one-time contracts with humans and that were it. It helped them to keep the business small and under the radar. They couldn't risk the contractors, plumbers, electricians, waiters, or cleaners spreading rumors or asking questions.

"So?" The deep smooth voice of Darrell dragged Nate out of his musing and back into the present. Darrell was leaning forward with a gleam in his green eyes. “Go on.”

“Don’t get too excited, Darrell,” Nate frowned. “I did what I had to do. Nothing more.”

Darell must be bored because he didn't give up. “Come on. Give me some details, Nate. It’s not every day we get to take someone out.”

Danny growled, causing all heads to turn, “Darrell, if we let you, you’d kill a man for cutting you off in traffic. Put your leash back on.”

Elliott scoffed and turned his attention back to Nate. “So, what happened?”

“There was a woman. She was walking by herself. Didn’t see the guy coming. If I hadn’t been there, she would have been… hurt.” Nate downed his glass, thinking if I’d have just looked up a few moments earlier...

Elliott opened his mouth to speak but Danny interrupted with authority, “What I don’t understand is why you had to kill him.”

All eyes locked on Nate for an answer. It was the question of the century, wasn’t it? He’d been asking himself that ever since he’d shredded the guy’s arteries.

Elliott ventured, “You’ve stopped people from doing shitty things before…”

“…We all have,” Darrell overlapped.

Danny finished, “But we don’t murder them.”

Nate's eyes flashed around the room and his fist closed, breaking the glass in his hands. “You think I don’t know that? That I have to be told like some cub?” Blood dripped onto the stone by his feet. He knew what he did was impulsive, but if they kept talking to him like that, the world was going to end one more time because he was about to lose control, and the guy he'd killed was going to be the least of their problems.