For all his worry that he had brought shame and disgrace to himself and Argo forever, Sammy couldn't help but do just that. The drive had sapped him of his final reserves of energy, and as soon as he and Donnie found themselves inside a small camping trailer parked under the shade of a gorgeous oak tree, they both collapsed onto the bed together and didn't regain consciousness until twilight had cast an orange hue in the sky. Thankfully, Sammy woke up to find his sense of smell had returned, his nose tickling with smoking meat, pine wood and the birds who nested in them, hemp, traces of tobacco, the lemon and vinegar that had been used to scrub his lodgings clean before his arrival, and at least a dozen individuals' scents. And… he took a whiff… definitely a potent concentration of his own scent.

"Yeah, y'stink," Donnie mumbled, still half asleep. He lay on his side with his back to Sammy.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna shower." He hauled himself out of bed and crossed the camper to retrieve a fresh set of clothing from his suitcase.

He had gotten as far as stripping off his shirt when there was a knock at the door. Curiously, he opened it, to find Rhea standing outside waiting. "Hello, Phoenix," she said, walking in uninvited, just as any true Alpha would.

"H-hello Rhea," he said, stepping back to let her in. He quickly picked his old shirt off the floor and slipped it back on. His head was naturally in a bowed position thanks to the trailer's low roof.

The front of the camper contained the kitchenette/living area, with two built-in booths facing each other and a fold-down table between them. Rhea slid the table in and sat down on one side, indicating that Sammy join her on the other side. He did so, keeping his arms tight against his body as if that could somehow contain his body odor.

"Seems like we have a bit of a problem," she said.

"Yes ma'am?" Sammy asked, forcing himself to look up at her. "Er, if you want a private conversaion, I should warn you, Donnie's in the bedroom."

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter if your brother overhears us or not, I'm sure you'll talk to him about our conversation anyway."

Oh, no. That probably meant this was serious. "If I overstepped my bounds, then I'm sor-"

She held her hand up to silence him, and he felt his heart flutter. But the words she said were not the excoriation he was expecting. "You don't understand. I'm the one at fault here, not you."

"What?"

Rhea folded her legs and looked right at him. "When Reilly's father left me, I didn't take it well. I started to smother my daughter, and you know how... fiercely independent she can be."

Sammy nodded, unsure why she was telling him all this, but he was a captive audience and he didn't dare ask why, though he did bite his tongue to keep from adding emphasis to the word "fierce."

"Then I met Theo, and Madison came soon after. And unlike her big sister, she [i]reveled[/i] in all the attention I could give her. I'm afraid I spoiled her, and now when she wants something, she won't take no for an answer. Last summer she asked us for a smartphone, but we told her no. It's not like we're technophobic, you understand. She spends enough time on the computer as it is, and those things are expensive. Did you pay for all of it?"

It took Sammy a moment to realize he needed to respond. He coughed to buy time to find his voice and then said, meekly, "Yes ma'am. It was on sale, tho..."

He trailed off when he saw her lips purse. "It's not that I don't appreciate how much you love my daughter. You've been a good influence on her, but she shouldn't have gone behind mine and her father's backs on this. We had a [i]talk[/i] with her. She's going to sell the phone to Jack, who's been needing a new one anyway, and give the money back to you."

Sammy wanted to raise his hands to object, but they remained firmly glued to his lap. All he could do was nod. "Yes ma'am," he said.

Rhea offered him a smile. "You're not in any trouble, if that's what you're worried about. But from now on, give me a call the next time Madison asks you to buy her something, okay? I don't want her taking advantage of you."

"Oh, she doesn't take advantage of me," Sammy objected, just as much to protect Madison as his own meager scrap of pride.

"Really? What would you call asking someone to spend over two hundred dollars on a phone?"

Sammy opened his mouth, but he had no answer. A realization began to dawn in the back of his mind, but he quickly pushed it back down over the horizon. "She's just a kid," was all he could come back with.

"Yes, but children are supposed to be in the process of growing up. Especially an alpha's child, who may one day be expected to lead others." She stood up. "My sister-in-law and I keep in constant touch. Keep being a [i]good[/i] influence on Madison, Phoenix."

He suddenly had the urge to gulp. "Yes ma'am."

The Alpha tilted her head and offered him a crooked smile. "‘Rhea' will do. ‘Aunt Rhea' would be better. Dinner's in twenty. I'll see you there."

***

"So, that Theo guy's sure got a punchable face, right?"

"What?" Sammy asked, glancing around to make sure no one in the California pack was within earshot before looking down with disbelief.

Donnie shrugged. "Well, I mean, no judgment against his character, I'm sure he's a nice guy and all, but there's something about his soft, pudgy face that just begs you to push your fist into it just to see what would happen."

Once Liam had stopped laughing, Sammy just snorted. "You're such a freak."

"Says the man who turned me into a werewolf."

"Oh, please. You were a freak before I made you a monster."

"Hey man," Liam chimed in, "he's my uncle, and I think Donnie's got a point."

They followed their noses to the smell of roasting meat and stewing vegetables from the pack's garden, inventing a new sport along the way--synchronized stomach rumbling.

A dozen adults and just as many children all hoarded around the open cookout area, some fetching food, others holding places on benches for other family members. Sammy had to pause and collect himself. Argo was a much smaller pack than that, and while he was familiar with all his packmates now, his first few months living in a new family had been almost overwhelming. This was a much bigger pack, and the only one he knew here was Madison--who was sulking about, staying close to her father's side. (And, now that Donnie mentioned it, Theo's face [i]did[/i] have a certain "doughy" quality to it. Damn you, Donnie.)

"Help yourselves, boys!" Rhea called out from somewhere in the midst of the chaos, which promptly settled down and parted like the Red Sea between them and the matron.

Turned out they weren't roasting just one deer, but two. A wine glaze of some kind added a beckoning fragrance to the meat. Whoever was grilling had also thrown on some hamburger patties, mostly for the kids, but adults were grabbing some too. When it came to food, Sammy cast aside all shyness, helping himself to some choice cuts of tender cervine flesh stacked on top of the vegetables. Donnie followed his example, to smaller proportions, while Liam just had a couple burgers.

Rhea, Theo, and Madison sat on a blanket in the center of the crowd. Sammy kept Liam in his peripheral to see what he would do, but rather than sit himself with his family, he went off to the edge of the crowd with some boys his age that he apparently knew well.

He sensed the waft of someone's scent before he felt the slap down on his shoulder. Phoenix turned, then tilted his head downwards into the beaming smile of a man with sandy-blonde hair and a tie-dyed shirt. "Hey, I'm Dave, pack Beta. Come, sit with me." His tone was casual, friendly, but it also contained the assurance of someone who was used to being obeyed. Sammy spared a glance to Donnie, shrugged, and followed Dave over to one of the empty benches.

The three sat down and Dave patiently waited for Sammy to say his grace silently before speaking again. "We may not have a New Orleans cook in our pack, but I think we get by," he said as Sammy bit down into an assault of smokey, gamey delight. Well, delightful for him. The deer probably hadn't been too happy.

Werewolves were not much for dinnertime conversation, and the murmur of conversation quickly died down once everyone had filled their plates. Sammy was finally starting to feel better about his day, and life in general, when he just happened to glance up in time to see something that slapped backhanded the familiarity center in his brain. His first response was denial, to argue with his mind that it had played a trick on him. He cast his eyes back to the figure walking across the far end of the yard, arm hooked around a man's.

There was no denying it. Sammy's fork dropped. "Oh [i]shit[/i]," he whispered, causing Dave and Donnie to both look at him, though he ignored it to repeat "Oh shit oh shit oh [i]shiiiiiit![/i]"

"What's the matter?" Dave asked.

Sammy started to fold into himself for a record-breaking hunch. "What's my [i]ex[/i] doing here?"

"What? [i]Clara[/i]? Here?" Donnie asked.

"Clara?" Dave frowned. "We don't have a Clara around here."

"Maybe it's just someone who looks like her?" Donnie suggested.

Sammy unfurled to look over Dave's shoulder, just to be absolutely certain. Pale skin, muddy-blonde hair, and he couldn't be sure from this distance but she looked like she was biting her lower lip just as Clara used to. And then she looked up towards him and cast her eyes back down as soon as she saw he was looking at her, and he knew.

"That's her. That's definitely her."

Dave turned around. "Who? The blonde with Ed?"

"Ed," Sammy said with concentrated disgust. She had replaced him with an [i]Ed[/i]?

Dave turned back around, worry creasing his youthful face. "She told us her name was Diana. Said nothing about Argo. And now you're saying she lied to us?"

"I thought it was impossible to lie to werewolves?" Donnie asked.

Sammy snorted. "Urban myth. Besides, there's such a thing as lies of omission."

"Is there a problem, boys?" Rhea said as she materialized behind them so quickly that Sammy jumped up in his seat.

Dave folded his hands and rested them on the table. "Phoenix says that Diana is his ex-girlfriend from Argo."

"Clara?" Rhea asked, casting her gaze the woman's way.

Sammy looked up at her. "How do you..." he started to ask, but realized the futility of the question. Why humiliate himself further with the exact details? The fact he had been taken for a chump and unceremoniously dumped was probably common knowledge here. "Nevermind."

There was a smolder in Rhea's expression. "If I had known, Sammy, I never would have let her into California."

"That's probably why she didn't tell you," he said. "Au- Aunt Rhea, I don't want you kicking her out on account a' me. She's had it tough. I'm not gonna lie and say I bear her no ill will for the way she used me, but I..."

He sighed and looked back her way, trying to figure out a way to articulate a complex and paradoxical bundle of emotions. "It ain't worth kicking her out of her home here."

Playing the "Aunt"-card had the desired effect of mollifying her somewhat. "Well, regardless, she still wasn't honest with us when she came asking for admittance," Rhea declared.

"That's true," Sammy admitted.

"I will have a talk with her this evening, and I won't make any decision without hearing her out, I promise. In the meantime... Dave, I want you to take the boys out for a night on the town. You know the place. Help Sammy forget his girl problems for a bit."

"You got it, boss," Dave said, giving his alpha a mock salute.