A/N: Thank you so much for those lovely reviews again! Huge thanks to everyone for reading! Also thanks to lily moonlight for all the help! Special thanks to Hannah554, afrozenheart412, DREdwards, SMacked Hard and lily moonlight!

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Far after midnight, rain was still pouring down at the small village. The steadily increasing wind caused the air to be even icier than it would have usually been. Lindsay wasn’t paying attention to the unwelcoming weather though. In silence, she was walking along the small roads between the wooden houses, empty due to the rain and storm that was building up.

She didn’t care that her clothes were once again completely wet, clinging to her petite form like a second skin. Her hair was no longer bond together but now was falling down on her shoulders in wet, messy curls. Her boots were covered in mud, the dirt of the wet ground already soaking the hem of her skirt. Nothing of that was catching her attention though. Too much she was busy with all those thoughts that were spinning in her mind, combined with the aftereffects of what she and her friends had experienced before.

Mac had been hurt by the beast. Stella was still sitting at his side in the practice, watching him to not miss the moment the man she loved would wake up again. All of them knew they had to wait and see how he would turn out to feel in the next couple of hours. So much she wanted to believe in everything she had told her friend to reassure her. But even though Lindsay also owned a big medical knowledge, she couldn’t tell for sure how Mac would be. How he could cope from the loss of blood he had suffered. She was convinced that she would believe in him though. He had to be fine.

Lindsay wasn’t sure on how long she had been walking along all those small, now muddy roads. The storm was still increasing, and despite her wish to ignore it, she started to shiver. Releasing a sigh that was coming from deep inside her, she stopped right in front of one of those old, dark buildings. Looking up its facade, her eyes found the all too familiar sign she had been looking at so many times before. She had just arrived at the hotel.

Shaking her head at herself, Lindsay instinctively stared at the one window of the room where she knew Danny was possibly sitting in. She didn’t know whether her instinct had led her to this particular building or if it had just been the most logical one to go to if she had continued following that path away from the practice. Deep inside, she knew the answer. The hotel wasn’t far away from the practice, but her home, the market or most other places would have been easier to arrive than this particular place. Something had led her to this place; something that was now telling her to enter this building and head upstairs to one certain room.

But still she hesitated. She had sent Danny home from the practice with the wish to sleep, so she had done with Sid and Don as well. Only Stella had wanted to stay, which Lindsay of course hadn’t tried to even think about sending her away. No one had declared when all of the sudden she had told people what to do, making sure everyone got some rest so the next day they could set up a plan for what to do next. Due to the soft light of a candle, she could tell Danny was in his room. She couldn’t know if he was asleep though, and she didn’t want to wake him up.

Anyways all of the sudden she felt herself walking over to the entrance door. Whatever had led her to the hotel was now leading her right to him. Lindsay wanted to see Danny. She needed to see him. She didn’t even know why, and what she wanted to do the moment she would be standing in his room. Did she want to talk to him? Did she just want to see him? Did she want him to hold her again, like he had the night before?

She wasn’t sure. Slowly she entered the building, grateful to leave the cold storm and heavy rain behind. Immediately her wet boots and clothes left large puddles of water on the thick carpet that covered the old, dark wooden floor, causing the red colour to darken along her trail to the stairs. Ignoring the squealing of every stair at every step, she headed upstairs. Barely with paying attention, she headed over to the door she knew was her target. She was shivering heavily now, even in the much warmer house where she could still hear the wind howling through tiny holes and slashes in the wood, she was freezing.

Stopping in front of the door of the room that Danny was staying at for his visit in town, she stared at the little metallic number that was attached to it. Still Lindsay didn’t know if she should get into this room that late at night. But even if she had known that this idea hadn’t been a good one, she couldn’t turn back around again. Raising her hand, she knocked a few times. From inside the room she could hear the heavy footsteps approaching the door. A moment later she heard the metallic sound of the key being turned around in the lock before the door was pushed open.

“Lindsay,” Danny said. He didn’t ask. He said it. She was confused by the lack of surprise in his expression. The fact he was still dressed, in dry clothes now, revealed he had possibly really not been in bed yet.

“I’m sorry,” she replied, for the first time noticing how rough and tired her voice was sounding now. “I shouldn’t have shown up here that late. I didn’t mean to disturb. My apologize for that. Maybe I should just...come back another time.”

But like she had hoped, Danny shook his head. Stepping aside, he signalled Lindsay to enter the room, which she did. Slowly she made her way into the middle of the bedroom before she turned around to Danny again. He was looking back at Lindsay, with an expression she couldn’t interpret. And all of the sudden, she knew her decision to come had been right.

For moments, they stood in front of each other, wordless, just looking at each other. Even though emotions were still threatening to overwhelm her, Lindsay noticed herself calming down with every second she spent in Danny’s room. Being around him had an effect on her she couldn’t quite describe. Her instinct had led her to him, with the hope that world out there was a little further away with all its complications.

“You’re shivering,” Danny said into the silence. “You’re wet. How long have you been out there?”

“I’m not sure,” Lindsay answered, trying to make her shivering stop, but without any success. Not being exposed to the steady rain, her wetness was cooling her body off more and more, with the result she was horribly freezing now.

Danny didn’t hesitate. Quickly he made his way over to his bed, grabbing one of the soft, white blankets that was neatly covering the bed. Stepping over to her, he wrapped the blanket around her small form tightly. Gently, he closed his arms around her, pulling her close against his chest. Instinctively, she rested her head against his shoulder, allowing him to hold her. Immediately a comforting warmth started to spread inside her; a warmth she wasn’t used to, she never had experienced before with any person. A warmth that reminded her of the previous night, of the sensation that his kiss had caused and which was still so present in her mind.

And all of the sudden, the wall behind which she had tried to hide all those overwhelming emotions, seemed to break. Before she noticed it herself, her body started to shake, soft sobs escaping her lips when tears were running down her cheeks. Instantly, Danny’s grip around her tightened, causing the warming and comforting effect to increase. So much she had tried to not cry, to not show anything of what she had been feeling, not only during this night but for days and weeks now.

For many long moments, they stood like that, in the middle of the barely illuminated room while outside the wind was howling like an angry animal, threatening to come in but being blocked by the strong walls that were keeping the safe. Roughly, the rain was hitting against the window, in broad streams running down it. For those moments, the world indeed seemed to be miles away. All that was important were those two people, giving each other the nearness they needed.

Her tears had dried, her sobbing had stopped when Lindsay freed herself from Danny’s embrace again. Still he kept on holding her at her shoulders, preventing her from stepping away from him again. She could feel him gazing down at her, but she didn’t dare to look up. Showing her feelings open to someone else but Stella was a new experience to her and she was scared of the way he would react to her.

“I’m sorry for crying,” she almost whispered, feeling her cheeks flush.

“You have no reason to apologize,” he replied softly. Removing one hand from her shoulders, he brought his fingers under her chin and lifted her head up until her eyes met his. In them she found a warmth that surprised her. He wasn’t offended by her previous tears, instead, he seemed to care more than anything. “I want to admit that I’m grateful you have come to me, especially after everything that has been happening.”

Lindsay nodded, frowning lightly at the thoughts of the previous hours and days. “Stella is possibly still sitting next to Mac, wanting him to finally wake up,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry we...followed you. I told her it wasn’t her fault what happened. But still we shouldn’t have followed you, just like you shouldn’t have headed out all by your own. I knew this monster is dangerous; the most dangerous creature I ever heard of. I wish we would have been able to shoot it. I wish it would just finally disappear and stop.”

“I know, and I understand you,” Danny answered. “I also understand why you have followed us. Possibly I would have done the same, which is the reason why I wanted you to stay here.” Gently he squeezed her shoulders, still looking her right into the eyes. “We will find a way to catch this monster. We have to. We managed to injure it, maybe this will give us the needed chance.”

“What if this is not enough?” she wanted to know. “What if it keeps on hunting people? Possibly is already waiting for its next prey? What if it hides too good, like it did all the time? What if this injury made it even more aggressive, and what if it even comes into town one day? You saw it! It’s a wolf, bigger than a bear, it has claws and teeth like knives!”

“Still we will find a way,” Danny said, his voice full of determination. Lindsay knew he was aware of how difficult his wish would be to translated into action. He wasn’t willing to give up on finding the beast though. And she knew that this was the only option they had. They had to stop it. Now that they knew what they were dealing with, they had to finally stop it.

Barely she noticed how Danny’s hands moved away from her shoulders, sliding down her sides. He frowned at the damp fabric of his formerly dry blanket.

“You need to change into other clothes, your clothes are so wet, you will catch a cold if you don’t,” he told her.

“But I don’t want to go back home already,” Lindsay answered before she could censor herself. With her cheeks flushing at her own honesty, she added, “Only if you want me to be here of course.”

Carefully she gazed up at him again, to her relief finding Danny even smiling now. “Then you have to change into something I have here,” he replied simply like that. “I won’t let you stay in wet clothes.” Giving her a tiny wink, he added, “I promise I won’t peek when you get changed. I’ll be a Gentleman.”

Lindsay couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him. “Even thinking that way you shouldn’t do, Mr Messer,” she said in a playful warning voice. In a serious and much softer tone, she added, “Thank you. For allowing me to stay here. It’s...good to be around you.”

“It’s good to be around you as well,” he replied.

Once again Danny closed his arms around Lindsay in a tight embrace. Then he headed over to the small closet that included his clothes. Watching him, she smiled lightly. She was glad her instinct had led her to him; the perfect place to be.

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Gently Stella was running her thumb over the back of Mac’s hand, which she was holding for hours now. She was tired, barely able to keep her eyes open. But she had to. She had to stay at his side, to be there the moment he would open his eyes. She didn’t want to miss this moment, wanted to be there to support him.

Still Stella was filled with emotions she could rarely describe. It was a mix of shock and fear. Together with her exhaustion, this was getting her close to a point where she just wanted to faint. So much she had hoped they could have protected the men. Instead the beast had attacked Mac. And now she was sitting at his side, holding his hand, worried when he would finally wake up.

“I know we have been crazy with our plan,” she said then, not caring whether he could hear her or not. “But when I heard what you wanted to do, I couldn’t just sit still and wait.”

Stella looked at Mac’s face. His eyes were still closed, his injured chest lightly heaving and falling with every breath. So much she wanted to launch herself at him, holding him as tight as she could.

Groaning, she shook her head at herself. “I have been so stupid,” she sighed. “All the time I thought I don’t have to hurry with telling you what I’m feeling for you. And now? Now I wish I did that already. I...just want you to know how much you mean to me. You mean so much to me, I can barely describe it. I need you to wake up, you hear me? I need you to wake up finally so I can tell you about those feelings. So I can tell you what you mean to me. And how much I need you. Just wake up finally.” She paused, swallowing to get rid of the strong lump in her throat. “Just squeeze my hand at least. Please do it, Mac.” Once again shaking her head to fight back the rising tears, Stella looked away. Just for a moment.

And then she felt it. Spinning around to Mac again, Stella stared down at the hand she was holding. Lightly, just a bit, his fingers had closed around hers, squeezing her hand lightly. Tears were running down her cheeks now, but anyway a smile lit her face when she looked back up at his face.

“You’ll be alright, Mac,” she whispered, leading his hand to her lips to kiss it softly. “I know you will. We all know it. Because this village needs its chief. And we all know how much of a fighter you are. You’ll be alright.”

Slightly her smile widened while Stella continued watching Mac. She was convinced now; soon he would do more than squeezing her hand. Everything would be just fine.

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Preview: Danny, Lindsay, Sid and Flack meet to discuss what to do next.