J.

A Booker

Slaves of the Night

Sequel to Mark of the Moon. [In Progress]: Chapters #1-15
Chapter 1: Strenuous Relationships

So many people want after things they cannot have. Now most people would just long
after from a distance, gaze adoringly and think that their fantasy world will come true.
But others will go to extraordinary lengths to succeed in getting whatever they want, no
matter the consequences. But what happens when you have anything you ever really
wanted? And what someone else wants is to take that away from you?
-----

A frustrated scream erupted from my lips as I slammed the door behind me. My hand
clenched the door handle so tightly that the grip was becoming slick on the metal, I
gritted my teeth before letting it release.

Every day of every week. When would it be any different that Tristan Everdeen wouldnt
annoy me to no extent? He was probably in that office of his glaring at the door; mouth
fresh from yelling back at me as I stormed out. The hallway was silent with my sudden
interruption to it, I knew that a good amount of people heard me but this happened so
frequently that I doubted they bothered to look up from what they were doing anymore.
Our arguments were more often than a day that had a cloud in the sky, and always
ended in a tense atmosphere.

I walked down the hall, throwing a hand through my hair as I tried to stomp my
anguish out on the wood floors. The feeling of cold air conditioned surface against my
skin had the fleeting thought in the back of my head recognize I was barefoot. Barefoot
and clad in only shorts and a light tank top. The month of May had gotten so hot that it
was almost unbearable, most of the pack escaping the heat by dressing in as little as
possible; staying barely decent. A year ago I would have still thought this was nice
temperatures, but when your own body ran higher than healthy it was understandable
why you sweated buckets when outside.

Teeth still in gridlock, I swooped into the kitchen, stealing a package of Hostess snack
cakes from the cupboards, knowing that the coast was clear. In fact it was probably
lucky that Tristans mother wasnt in here baking up a storm because surely if she were I
would have either gone without this food or be overfed and talked through my
problems with her. Not that I didnt like the womanI loved her in fact. She was the best
mother figure I had had since my own mom passed away, and all she has done for me
was priceless, Id never be able to pay her back for it all. But at times when I wanted to
make a hole in the wall with my fist talking through my problems werent a good
technique for my personality.

Snatching my backpack from the counter where I had discarded it earlier, I stomped more
quietly up the stairs. Was it even possible to stomp quietly? Oh well, if I was too loud it
was everybody elses problem, not mine. With keen hearing I heard a small thud from
the downstairs; no doubt Tristan had thrown something at the floor. Its not like this had
been a particularly huge fight. But it hadnt been small either.

Fights between us ranged from mild discussions on our impending graduation to large
throw-the-random-lamp-to-the-floor-in-rage screaming matches about our views on
how the other should behave. Today could be described as moderately intolerable,
because it involved the fact that I had been sent another letter of acceptance from
another big college I had applied to early senior year. Even our positions on the subject
were fuzzy and confusing, I wasnt even totally sure whether I wanted to go or not. So
what was the fighting all about? Just our personalities in a clash for the win, and I
doubt either of us ever would.

I flung my bag to the bed in my roomwell technically it was Tristans but it had grown
to be more both of ours. Not that I really had my own room ever in this house, besides
the one I had stayed in when healing up from the surprise attack over the winter. I
winced at the thought, and locked the door behind me. The last thing I needed was
Tristan to come walking in and continuing the fight further. I just needed to calm down,
so I quickly stripped and went into the shower. Making the water as ice cold as possible, I
allowed my body to chill and release tension from the heat.

Afterwards it was like the fight had never happened; I calmly re-dressed in a near
identical outfit to the one before and stood undecided in the middle of the room. Only an
hour had passed, and I for one knew that Tristan simmered for much longer than I
usually did, and I didnt want to bring my blood pressure back up. The window was
cracked open bringing in a pleasant warm breeze that only made the cold crispness of
my hair even sweeter.

My backpack chose that moment to give out and flop back off the bed, which it had been
hanging precariously off the edge in the first place. All the papers from end of the year
assignments and textbooks splattered onto the floor and scattered everywhere. In the
midst of all the dull neutral colors blazed the crimson color of another envelope that I
dreaded every time it fell into my hands. Earlier in the day, I had found it lying on the
top shelf of my locker, resting neatly with my name on it. He always left them in my
locker, never anywhere else anymore; it was like his signature move. How he ever got
them there amazed me considering the number of wolves collectively went to my high
school, avoiding all of their senses and passing under the radar undetected.

I snatched that off the floor before I could forget it and without another thought
grabbed the lighter off the top of the dresser. Opening the window wide, I crawled out
onto the secluded rooftop, the window nestled nicely into a corner piece so that it
provided a backrest and concealed from most wandering eyes. Silently I closed the
window back behind me, and sat with the envelope clasped between my two hands.
It represented terror. It represented a crazed obsession. It represented struggle. All
summed up into a tiny rectangular envelope with my name elegantly printed onto the
front of it. Sporadically they always arrived to me, some months going without a single
one and others coming in weekly, it showed Ians behavior.

Chills went up my spine despite the heat, as I remembered the surprise attack Ian
Redwood had issued on the Mooncreak pack in an attempt to kidnap me to apart of his.
The reason must have made sense in his mind, I reminded him of his mate that had died,
but he was latching on to that need with me as the center of attention. I wasnt even
totally wolf. I had only been human not much more than five months ago; at nine
months I had been in a blissful peace of not knowing what really lurked behind the
curtain that covered the forest that surrounded the whole town.

My tank top had lifted slightly revealing the edge of a ragged scar that extended all the
way up my stomach and across four times. Time had not healed the wounds, and I was
left with permanent affliction to my skin after the failed attempt on Tristans life and my
kidnap. Winter seemed so long ago, yet so close.

With a hitched breath I quickly swept my finger underneath the flap of the envelope
opening the seal. Sliding the letter out, I slowly made out the beautifully scripted words
on the page. I had to give Ian the props for having very good handwriting, or just
knowing someone who did. It started like it always did, the simple two words that could
be listed on any letter properly addressed to me. But it was the way the words were
written, the emotion put into them that halted me right then and there.

Dear Samantha,

That was all I could take before I quickly in spite tore the whole thing up before my eyes,
letting it flutter down to the rooftop, stopping before it could slip off the side of the
whole thing. Gathering the tiny pile of white and red bits of paper, I grabbed the lighter
out of my back pocket.

Slowly I took each piece and held it to the flame of the cheap cigarette lighter, letting it
catch fire and burn orange before my eyes. Snubbing each flame out before it could burn
my fingers I watched the ashes and smoke raise daintily into the air. His words and
actions had already burned me enough. And I was burning him back in the only way
possible right now.

A sharp sting of something hitting my face woke me up, eyes snapping open in the
sudden surprise. It was dark out and crickets creaked from the woods, only the stars and
half lit moon lit my eyesight as I peered onto the roof. I had fallen asleep apparently,
that couldnt have been a good way of promoting self protection. The lighter had fallen
all the way to the gutter and showed dull color in the darkness.
Another projectile hit me, on the arm this time, leaving another stinging sensation.
Quickly I sat up listening carefully for whatever was out there, one time was normal,
twice was too good to be a coincidence, especially since there was no trees directly above
me to drop seeds down upon.

Sam someone hissed from the ground level up towards me. My ears pricked to the
voice immediately and I relaxed back into my sitting position against the wall. Tristan
was the only person that knew I came up here at all, thank goodness he never knew
what for, I hadnt told him about the letters again yet.

Another ping, this time it hit the window near my head followed by a louder call, Sam!
he growled, it sounded like he had been doing this for a little longer than from when he
had finally woke me up.

What? I finally sighed knowing he could hear me, and the assault of the tiny rocks
halted.

Just come down, he said; his voice so warm and welcoming in the darkness. Despite his
tone, I still relaxed at the sound of his voice. It was always one of comfort.

Why? Im fine up here, I stated, shifted on the rough surface of the roof, not bothering
to mention that my butt was long asleep and I was getting bit up by bugs. All in all I
hated it up here right now.

Just come down, he sighed in frustration.

Why are you even throwing rocks at me, why not be a normal person and open the
window from the inside instead of pelting my face with little projectiles? I growled, lying
down with my head near the edge of the roof resting on the rim of the gutter. Luckily it
was clean; my hair would not fare well to pieces of rotten leaves.

Because normal people dont get locked out of their own rooms so they cant get to
their windows to get to their crazy girlfriends, he growled back, and I sighed, turning
around so I could peer over and catch his eyes with mine. He was in simple kakis and a
nicely fitted shirt; both of which were different from what he had been wearing earlier,
plus his hair didnt look like it had been run through half a million times with his hand
from stress.

Yeah, right. If you couldnt get into your room then how did you manage to get clothes
and take a shower, Sherlock? I know you well enough to know you have learned how to
unlock your own door from the outside by now. I scoffed, eyes narrowing but a small
smile danced on my lips as I gazed down at him. It felt like Romeo and Juliet in a weird
twisted way, me looking down from my tower to him. But of course he ruined all of that
with his rude sarcasm.
Fine, you dont want to come down and figure out what I have planned thats good
with me! he said throwing his hands into the air and walking away.

I sighed, before getting up to climb back through the window and hurry downstairs to
ebb my never ending curiosity.
Chapter 2: Just Say Yes

Tristan insisted on complaining on every move I made the whole way down the stairs, his
grumbling the only sound that was loud enough to be heard from inside the house. All I
could do was take my own sweet time doing so just to irritate him more, and by the time
I got outside he had his arms crossed over his chest and the image of a cartoon dark
cloud over his head as he glowered at me.

What? I asked, pulling on my left sneaker, the right one already put on as I hopped
out the door.

He raised an eyebrow, Do you seriously need to ask?

No, probably not. But I figured since you are already sizzling I might as well kindle us a
fire, I smiled cheekily to his demise, but all he did was roll his eyes.

The air in the night was sweeter down on the ground level than up on the roof, my
senses were still tingling from being woken up so suddenly. My skin was glowing from
the right light of the waxing moon. I didnt even have to look to know how full it was,
the tension growing steadily in my body proved it enough. My wolf wanted possession of
control. But all I could o was clench my fists and step in front of Tristan, imitating his
irritated stance.

You got me here, what now? I said with a smirk, arms crossed over my chest. He eyed
me questioningly, before making up his mind and heaving a sigh. He sure sighed a lot. I
just grinned wider, glad to know that I could always get under his skin.

Come on, he turned heel and started off in the direction that lead to the familiar path
we had both walked down many times.

Are you even going to tell me where were going? I asked, striding along to keep up. Its
not like he walked very fast, but his natural stride always had me walking twice as fast
just to keep up never mind in an effort to surpass.

Nope, he replied calmly, popping the p in his refusal. I groaned but didnt pester any
further. He probably had reasons to keep whatever it was away from my curious mind
most likely one of those being that he loved to irritate me to no end, just like I did to him
and anyway I would find out wherever we were headed soon enough. The heat had
settled in the night causing my skin to quickly overheat.

A year ago I would have jumped for joy at the mere whisper of summer, but now I would
have done the same and more at the thought of winter. Cold, miserable, dangerous,
winter. It sounded like heaven to me. I didnt know how anyone else in the pack stood to
deal with the unnescarry body heat that we created, personal furnaces that provided
comfort to everyone besides ourselves. I almost found it more irritating than Tristan; the
two of them were neck and neck with each other on the scale, but hed win out every
time.

Speaking of, I glanced over at him walking along in silence down the path. He looked
completely fine with everything, his face even totally at ease despite our earlier
argument. Knowing him and his mind, it was probably already dismissed and put aside
for later. I smiled fondly, he could be as stubborn as a mule most of the time, but at least
he knew when to leave well-enough alone. His jaw bones created my favorite line of
symmetry that lead up to his silver eyes that reflected the night with an air of mischief.
All of it was shrouded by the blanket of his mass of black curly hair that glinted blue
with the shining of the moon.

Something mustve slipped, whether it be the sigh that could have possibly slipped from
my lips or a stumble in my step from being distracted but he caught me staring. It wasnt
until it was too late that I realized he had done so too, and I could feel my cheeks heat
up in embarrassment. What? he questioned, a small smirk gracing his lips. All I could
do was keep my eyes locked on his, taking in the perfection of his face for one more
moment while shaking my head before looking back ahead of us.

Youre so weird, he muttered in amusement, causing me to laugh.

It was true. I probably was, but what normal person would take this whole world that I
had been enveloped in seriously? I could either be weird or go crazy with the ludicrosity
of it and I much preferred the former.

My hand felt even warmer as he grasped it from swinging at my side, causing me to look
back up, but he wasnt doing the same anymore. It was a rare moment in the day when
he showed affection to meactually anyone besides his mother and possibly brother. So
all I could was let my heart flutter in a cascade of warmth and walk on acting like it
was nothing special before I ruined it all. We tended to do that a lot to our moments
between each other.

Crickets chirped in the woods around us and a cool breeze blew at our backs as the
leaves rustled softly along with it. I found it hard to believe that I had ever been nave
enough to fear the forest; it turned out to be so beautiful no matter the season or time
of day when one was left to wander its area. The smell was familiar, the feel familiar,
and the aura soothing. That could also be that part of me now was forever tied to the
woods was that that bound me to my wolf.

It wasnt until Tristan reached in front of us and brushed aside a stray branch that I
noticed where we were. The favorite and most eventful place I knew around here, in both
reality and in my dreams; the overhanging cliff over the lake. The moon shone across its
surface in crystal clarity, illuminating anything that couldnt be with my enhanced sight.
Picking out the oddity around us, I saw a picnic blanket complete with a basket full of
food and kindling fire. Shouldnt I have smelt the burning wood? Tristan sure knew how
to distract a girl.

My mouth fell open, What is this?

He looked at me, A picnic there was a duh tone at the end of his voice and I couldnt
even make myself roll my eyes to the statement.

Backing away towards the edge of the clearing again, he kept hold of my hand, What
are you doing? he asked.

Getting the heck out of here, because the world must surely be ending if Tristan
Everdeen has turned all hopeless romantic on me I stuttered out.

Now was definitely call for another eye roll on his part, Really? Im not hopeless but I
never said, nor has anyone ever said that Im not a tad bit of a romantic he cleared
his throat, You know in a manly kind of way,

A smile cracked its way through my shock but I still stood there dumbstruck, But you
and me and no ugh. I tried to say what I was thinking out loud, but it wasnt even
making sense in my head.

He tugged my arm towards the blanket, and I followed only because it was useless to try
and bolt, If you really want to leave you can but I guarantee that this doesnt happen
very often. He said, sitting down.

Wrinkling my nose, I tried to my make up my mind, but it was simple. I plopped down
beside him, Very often? More like never in the history of this earth. You are not even a
tad romantic in the slightest and now youre all suave with a surprise and all. Are you
sick?

He sighed, You do know that Ive been in relationships before this one, Ive learned a
trick of the trade before meeting you. And most relationships when they involve women,
involve a little romanticism once in awhile.

I scoffed, Yeah, I know about your exes, you dont need to bring that up I growled in
frustration, still trying to get over the simple hurdle of seeing a picnic basket.

Can we just eat and save all that talk for later, I kind of worked a little on all of this
and I dont like my work to go to waste? he insisted, opening the basket to reveal a
heated platter of my favorite dish in the whole wide world.

You have won my heart I murmured, as he took out the lasagna, extra cheese
layered on top to make my mouth salivate. He smirked and cut us both a piece, making
the impossible become possible by mixing a picnic with a normal sit-down-at-the-
dinner-table food flawlessly. He pulled out a pair of forks and we dug in, gazing out
onto the lake as we ate in happy silence. The blanket was huge, spreading over a good
portion of the clearing, but we sat close to each other as the plates were cleared off by
our scraping utensils.

Did you make this? I asked, once I was as full as my stomach would allow, and yet the
taste of it had me still wanting more.

Yes. He replied simply finishing his own off, looking me seriously in the eye. My jaw
dropped for the second time of the night, and if I were to be granted with many more
surprises Im sure I would have to go purchase new hinges for it.

Seriously..? I was just about to ask when he chuckled.

No. I didnt. Its really a stupid question to ask, I cant cook to save my life. My mouth
closed into a firm line as I laughed a little too. But I did manage to acquire us some
refreshments, he said, pulling out a pair of coca cola bottles, the original glass kind
that you could only find on a rare occasion. Grinning like a kid in a candy store I
graciously took mine, of course Tristan would know that Coke always tasted best from
glass containers.

So what spurred this on? I asked once we had packed up everything besides our drinks.
The fire was crackling softly as it disinigrated the wood slowly, providing a healthy
orange glow on us.

He just shrugged taking another swig, before leaning back on his elbows and gazing up
at the stars. I really had to wonder why he was shifting all of a sudden, but of course
that was part of the Tristan way, always showing up with the unexpected and blowing
your socks off in the process. There were times where that quality made me hate his guts
and other that made me ache with the fondness I felt for him. It seemed impossible that
he could go so unnoticed in the school, just skimming on the outside. How could people
not see the extraordinary person he was? It practically shone through him, providing an
aura that swept you up into it. I had been lost for words ever since I had made eye
contact with him that first day of school last year. Of course then I wasnt falling in love
with him, in fact I was in one of those hate his guts stages where I wanted to banish
him from ever showing himself in my life again. He had ruined it, he had brandished it,
and he had restored it. It was hard to tell if I gained or lost anything with coming into
knowing of the secret that had stayed hidden for so long in the woods.

Want to swim? he asked, breaking me from my train of thought. He looked toward me

expectantly, that usual natural sarcastic emotion that he always wore even when he
wasnt trying to be sarcastic. It just came with his cockiness and jerkitude.

I looked back to the lake, realizing how warm I felt at the moment again, I had managed
to push the heat away from my senses for a moment, but it would always come back.
Sure,

Not even bothering to peel out of our clothes, besides him taking off his shirt, we walked
towards the edge of the cliff face. It wasnt real far to the water from the edge, but it
was enough to be able to swan dive of off with elegance. Of course, neither of us could
do anything of the sort, it was only an example.

So instead of being as elegant and feminine as I would have liked to be, I just couldnt
resist taking a few steps back before propelling myself into the air to form the perfect
cannonball into the air. The splash immersed me into the chilled water, cancelling all the
sound around me and enveloping me in a bubble. It was the only reason I could stand
getting water in my ears, because I knew that it helped silence everything else out.
Moments later a second crash collided into the water, indicating Tristans presence in the
underwater realm. Opening my eyes, I could just barely make out the reflection of his
looking back at me.

It was hard not to wish every evening would work out like this.

And now youre cold? he asked as we made our way back up the small path to our fire
and blanket. I could only glare at him mutely as I shivered, my body made no more sense
to me than it did to him.

You should have better knowledge of all this, you were born this way, I grumbled,
wishing that my personal skin heater of mine would come back to me when I needed it. I
wasnt going to be happy either way, I could see that now. Great, I couldnt wait for a
lifetime worth of complaining at my bodies functions.

He raised his hands in the air with resignation, Dont be asking me, like we all have said
this hasnt happened

In hundreds of years, blah blah blah. I know that Sherlock, no need to remind me, I
grumbled finishing his sentence for him. Because I totally knew he was going to end it
with triple blahs.

He chuckled at my irritation and made no move to walk faster, If we get to the fire
quicker, you can become warm quicker he pointed out, and he couldnt have told me
anything that made move faster. Practically running, I sprinted down the path in the
dark, by sheer luck coming upon the camp and flinging myself onto the picnic blanket
near the fire.

Would you have moved that fast if I had said there was danger? he asked, laughing.

I peeked up my head from the comfort of the blanket, Of course not, I laugh in the face
of danger. Ha. I scoffed and hid once again.

There was shuffling and I heard the picnic basket be moved before Tristan sat down
beside me, draping a second blanket over me. I looked up again, Always prepared for
the unexpected, he said simply, tossing the basket to the side. His hair was sopping wet
because it had only been moments ago that we had pulled ourselves out of the water
from a good hours worth of splash fighting and attempts at dunking the other under. In
the end we had declared it a draw, because each of us had advantages over the other
and my body temperature had already dropped down to below what I was used to. All
that led to shivers were ran up and down my arms and legs along with the slight chatter
of my teeth.

Reaching over me, he grabbed a pre-cut piece of wood and added it to the fire, the sweet
smoke filling my nose as it was disturbed from it resting place. I was so glad that school
wasnt until Monday and that it was Friday, because I could bet that school a day after
this would be pure torture. Not that it was really much of school anymore, more likely
just work to get everything ready for graduation a week or so from now.

Sighing he laid down beside me, using one of his arms to rest beneath his head. I peeked
out from under the blanket now that I was started to lose the edge of the chill, glancing
up at him as he looked to the stars peacefully. Do you ever wonder why it has an effect
on us? I murmured.

Hmm..? he asked, turning his head to look at me.

The moon. It really doesnt seem like it would have anything to do with me changing
into a world, they really have nothing much h to do with each other besides the fact that
someone constructed a fairy tale that turned out to be true in the end, I explained,
exposing my face further and tucking the blanket around me.

He looked back to the sky, pondering over my question. The moon was half full; a
reminder to me that I should beware very soon, my time alone in my body wasnt going
to last much longer. I hated it when my wolf invaded my thoughts and actions, and the
way she achieved more power within me each time. While Im not totally sure on the
science of it all, I used to believe as a child that it was magic that changed us. When you
really think of it, what else could do something of this magnitude? Transform a whole
body and turn it into another shape flawlessly and back again? While its not likely that
thats what really happens, its the most probable reason I can think of at the moment.
He mused, more talking to himself than to me.

I thought for a few moments, scooting over closer to Tristan, and soaking in some of his
body warmth. His other arm slipped easily around me and holding me close, not even
hesitating in the motion like normal. Thats true. Im not really sure if I should discredit
anything from being true anymore; it would be disrespectful considering the
circumstances.
He lay still for a few moments as we both watched the still sky, waiting for magic to
appear before our eyes to prove us right, but everything stayed the same. The stars still
burned brightly in the atmosphere and the moon radiated the light from the sun,
nothing special. But it had to be out there somewhere.

Its been getting worse I sighed, closing my eyes against him.

What has? he asked.

The moon shifts, its like every time that I see the full moon I lose more of myself to it,
last time I couldnt even remember half of what I had done, I remember waking up on
the forest floor as a human, my hair rumpled and my clothes wrinkled. Luckily Tristan
had been there beside me, watching over me as I had ran in my wolf form, and he was
sleeping when I woke up, but I had been frantic not knowing where in the world I was.
Fear seized my chest that one day I would wake up and remember nothing, not a single
thing that could tie me back here. Not only was my wolf taking my body, but she was
taking my memory too.

He paused, Im sure its just something that youll work through everyone goes
through their first years worth of changes differently. Dont worry, Ill be here with you
either way, he squeezed the arm around me in to emphasize my security with him. His
voice was gruff as he tried convincing me that everything was alright and for the
moment I relaxed, believing every word of it like it was sacred.

Will you always be here though? I asked, What if you find something that is better for
you, a person that could fit you better than a misfit human turned rogue? I wouldnt
blame you at all, I said sadly, keeping it from my voice though. It was the truth too; he
would be so much better off as a Beta without a burden like me at his side. I even
remember back to when he had said hed much rather not have a mate at all than me; I
never heard anywhere that mates were forever. They could crumble at any second and I
was fully expecting my reality to wake me up soon.

Do you really believe that? he asked softly.

I was silent at his tone, it was accusatory like I was a moron for saying something like
that, but I knew I wasnt. I could just be another waitress at a restaurant two towns over
in another pack just as easily as the last girl was. It made me feel cheap and not worthy
of much of anything in that sense.

You shouldnt he sighed, taking his hand off me to run it through his hair in stress
before placing it back. Im not going to say this because its what you want to here,
because in reality thats what this was all leading up to. Now I wasnt really expecting
you to spew I-dont-deserve-you crap, but I bristled at what he was going to say,
almost positive it was going to be offensive in some way.
What would you say if I asked you to marry me? he asked. There was silence. And
more silence. And even more at that. I couldnt speak and my whole body was frozen in
shock, I could only bless that my jaw wasnt dropping again like it would have if I had
been standing up. Would you marry me, Sam?

There was no getting down on one knee, no declaration of love in the extravagance that
was usually written by poets; no, just Tristan laying here beside me under the skies, his
arm around me positioned so that I couldnt even see the look in his eyes as he said it. I
really didnt know what to say, my whole body was screaming yes but my mind was
taunting me as if it was a joke. It couldnt really be a joke, right? I mean Tristan wouldnt
joke about something as big as this. I mean come on; it contained feelings, a subject he
was touchy on. Just say yes my mind told me as I took a shaky breath.

Yeah. Tristan Ill marry you, I finally spoke up, only loud enough for him to hear. The
way he tensed up I bet he couldnt believe what was happening either, that I had actually
said yes, but he relaxed instantly too and we were back to before as if nothing
happened.

A comfortable silence to the crackling fire and a pair of confused minds that had just
promised each other a hand in marriage. I would have laughed had it been someone
elses situation but all I did was smiled pleasantly and allow myself to be drifted off into
a blissful sleep.

I love you, Samantha Tristan murmured under his breath, so soft I barely heard it in
my dozed state. He probably thought I had been deep asleep and never would have
heard him, and I could have guaranteed that I would have jumped up and down and
rubbed it in his face that he had finally said it if I wasnt so tired. So I just let myself go
to sleep, peacefully happy and calm.
Chapter 3: No Kidding

It was raining like cats and dogsexcept that that couldnt really be accurate, no, more
like horses and carriages. Water poured from every surface it could get its greedy hands
on, soaking everything to the core and leaving a sopping mess of lawn grass and only to
be pelted further by sheets of it.

And I had plenty of time to observe the way it fell; the density of it, whatever term I
could think of to define it because practically all I was doing was leaning against the
wall in the corner watching it, wishing I knew more words to say about it to keep my
mind occupied. I was sitting on top of my desk, like everyone else in the class
participating in the game of Mum ball, or in other words, silent dodge ball. What a very
productive thing to give seniors to do on the third to last day of their high school
careers. Its not like there was much else left anyway; exams were over and teachers and
students alike were eager to taste summer again. It was hot and muggy outside just like
every other summer had been already, but it wouldnt really sink in until school let out
that we would finally be free.

Being in the corner, I was overlooked by most of the class as multitudes of them slowly
trickled out of the game as they were tagged out by the ball tossed precariously across
the room. It always went down like this, and I would end up being one of the final
contestants if not the winner.

But now as I was gazing out of the window; the easiest target in the whole room to get
out, a crash sounded from the other side as a kid lunged off his desk to snatch the ball
out of the air. His feeble attempt to catch it failed and he collided with the floor, causing
the whole room to burst out of the silence into laughter. It snapped me out of my reverie
and I took notice of who was left in the game.

Well Quinn had already gotten out awhile ago, quietly looking over some papers on her
desk not even bothering to look up when the commotion started. She would be one of
the few people I would be worried about having good aim at pegging me on the head
with the ball of bunched together duct tape. Unfortunately, Tristan, the other person I
was worried about was still sitting on top of his own desk with a devilish glint in his eye
as he was continually ignored too. He was looking straight at me, causing my cheeks to
involuntarily heat up under his gaze, no matter the reason behind it. A story was playing
out with the attitude he was radiating, he was planning on getting me out and there
was nothing I could do about it.

Screw the rain, I straightened up from my slouch and gave him a clear message through
my now narrowed eyes. Challenge accepted, it was so on. That message mustve hit
some other people too as collateral, and the ball was immediately thrown in my
direction now that my cover the corner was blown. Quickly I snatched it out of the air
from the clumsy toss, and didnt waste time before firing it directly in Tristans direction.
Just as easily he snatched it before it collided with his face and was ready to throw back.

Lets just say it didnt end well. And one of ended up falling off of our desk like the kid
earlier, except with more flailing and noise. And that person wasnt him.

I said I was sorry Tristan said from right behind me as we escaped from the
classroom, his voice was anything but sincere as he couldnt smother the laughter that
hadnt stopped since I had leaped for the ball and straight into a stack of graded papers
yet to be handed out, sending them everywhere.

Yeah, whatever, Im not that angry about it anyway. I lied with a growl, making my
way to the lunch room. My conniving boyfriend of mine was just determined to milk
every ounce of humor from this as he could.

Sure, I know you are angry. He dismissed me, but forced himself to stop laughing before
stepping in front of me and stopping me near one of the banks of lockers, But I really
am sorry,

I stared at his chest instead of his eyes, because looking into his eyes is what got us into
this mess. Im fine, no harm no foul.

He sighed, I have to leave school for the rest of the day, probably wont be here to pick
you up afterwards

This time I did look up, Who will then?

He smiled from getting my eye contact, That is a surprise that you will just have to wait
to find out, He moved closer to place a quick kiss on my forehead, Now please try to
stay out of trouble for this one afternoon, no more falling off desks? I growled in
response. Ill see you later today,

And with that he was gone, walking down the hall and out the door without even
notifying any of the teachers that he was doing so. Itd be so much more badass if he
didnt know a good amount of the teachers in charge around here personally and could
talk his way out of trouble. Sighing, I walked to the cafeteria alone, quickly rekindling
with my small group of friends that had gotten recently smaller. Wheres Rebecca? I
asked Kyle who was picking through his mountain of French fries on his tray. It was all
he ate at this school, so I knew he would be missing them when graduation came.

Over there, he said quietly, not looking up but gesturing across the room. I turned
around to see her looking equally miserable sitting at another table with a group full of
cheerleaders.
Break up again? I guessed, looking back at him. He just sighed in response and glanced
up at her for a moment before going back to before. This had to be the thirdmaybe
fourth time that they had broken it off. It mustve been another fight that someone was
looking at another person; their relationship was strange and extremely possessive. But
they would always be miserable whenever it came to terms and they would swore
themselves off from each other; I had been Kyles friend for a long time, even best friend
for a short period, so I knew that they were good for each other no matter how it
looked. It made me glad that we had broken up two years ago, as wonderful as it had
been to finally be in a relationship with him after all the crushing I had on him for so
long, it was all wrong for the both of us. I guess it always took experience to learn,
because after all if we didnt make mistakes we wouldnt be where we were now.

I didnt need to voice it to him that they should go make up, he knew that, and I could
guarantee that by graduation they would be back in each others good graces. So I
looked over to Quinn who had been uncharacteristically silent since Id sat down, to see
her head in a text book. Exams are over, youre in the clear, I laughed.

She looked up; setting down the pencil she had been taking notes with, Its not for
exams.

Well what is it for I tried to ask, but before I could even finish a crash came from a
table close behind us. Next thing we all knew plates were flying everywhere as a full-
fledged food fight broke out before our eyes. Now I had known that senior pranks had
always been crazy, but Id never really been in the midst of it and it was clear the
popular people of our grade were determined to make it even more dramatic than last
years graduates. They didnt fail to do so either, because by the time the food fight
ended the whole lunch room looked like the kitchen and thrown up over the whole place
and laughter, screeching, and a few stray cries were the only sounds anyone could here.

The rest of the day flew buy in a blur, maybe it was because I was having fun as I finally
got into the last prank of the day, something to do with the principals car. Not that I
had that big of a roll in it at all, but it made me stop thinking about how Tristan wasnt
there or the surprise he had in plan.

I was laughing along with some people I hardly knew as we walked towards the front
doors out into the parking lot. They said their goodbyes and headed quickly to their cars
to avoid getting too wet from the rain. It wasnt raining nearly as hard as it had been
earlier, but still enough to make cats avoid the outdoors. Glancing around the parking
lot from the safety of the doors I didnt see any cars that I recognized, or anything out of
place that I wouldve considered a surprise.

Maybe the surprise was that I wasnt going to be picked up. I bet Tristan would be
laughing so hard over that one, probably worth rolling on the floor over. Someone
slammed their locker shut and I glanced back to see a freshman walk angrily the other
was down the hallway. Looking back at the window I finally saw something. There was a
tall blonde guy leaning against a black sleek car out in the rain, his arms were crossed
over his chest and he was smiling in my direction.

Grinning from ear to ear and without a second thought I ran out the doors, splashing
through the puddles so excited I could burst. Rayne! I yelled, jumping into a hug from
him. He was laughing despite the rain, his chest rumbling with it.

A little more ecstatic of a reaction that I predicted but Ill take it, he chuckled,
squeezing me tighter in his hug. I hadnt seen him in three weeks ever since he had taken
another group of the pack to go search for any Redwood stragglers. The whole pack had
been put on high risk watch, and he had to head out the search, leaving Tristan in
charge the whole time he was gone. Now he might not have been the brother I was in
love with, but you wouldnt have been able to tell the difference with how glad I was to
see him safe, unharmed and back home. Its so wet out here, he finally said after an
appropriate amount of time, Can we please just get into the car?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely, I recoiled back, still grinning madly. He opened the car door for
me and I quickly got in so he could do so too, which he did and was smiling too while
doing it. Beads of rain dripped from his soaking hair, still a brilliant blonde that was out
of place among his family, but made him unique. How was the search? I asked eagerly.

Wow, you waste no time to get to the serious stuff do you? he smiled, turning the car
on. I guess it went alright, in the sense that we all stayed safe on the most part, we got
in touch with a few smaller packs and they havent seen anything since January. But we
found nothing either, Ians disappeared into the wind, maybe its the best.

Yeah I said, relaxing into the seat, I hadnt told Rayne about the continuing letters
either, I wanted too last month but he had left before I got the courage to do it. Now in
my slight bliss, I might as well turn it into concentrated will power before I lost it, But I
dont think so. Hes out there and he wants me more than anything.

He raised an eyebrow to me, Maybe hes let it go by now? I mean his pack was damaged
in the attack too, its quite possible hes realized defeat

I cut him off, No. I know. I looked awkwardly at my hands, I still get letters from him
saying so and much more; he is just waiting to strike,

He looked at me stonily, but probably already suspected I would keep something about
Ian to myself, I just wasnt the type of person to let everything out into the open, there
was too much risk in that. I hadnt even told Tristan Dont tell Tristan, I dont want
him out there, I said urgently, looking desperately at his older brother, who was already
nodding in agreement.

I know, hes not very patient I dont like lying to him, but its for the best, at least
right now. He sighed, putting the car in drive and pulling out of the parking lot.

There was silence between the two of us as we drove down the road, the car hummed
calmingly. I liked this car much better than the old pick up Rayne had used to drive, the
one that had rattled every step of the way anywhere and had no back seat so me, him
and Tristan had all had to cram into the front one. This one was their fathers that he
had never used, but when the pickup had finally died out, Rayne was forced to take this
one out of storage. Tristan wouldnt even go near the car, not saying anything besides
that he could drive himself in his own car. I knew it was because he missed his father so
much, just like I missed my mom.

I almost glanced at Rayne to see if he was mad at me or just indifferent, but got caught
on the jewelry box hidden underneath a piece of paper in the cup holder. Picking it up, I
instantly knew what it was, You didnt even tell me you had a girlfriend and now youre
getting married! I cried, holding the engagement box in outrage. Rayne glanced over
shocked and visibly embarrassed. Yeah, I was happy for him, he deserved a good girl by
his side, but the least he could do was tell someone that he was seeing someone!

Actually he started and reached for the box to take away from me, but I held it out
of his reach and popped open the lid to reveal a small silver ring with a row of tiny blue
diamonds encrusted around the band. Youre not supposed to be seeing this, he
stressed, reaching for it again as I drew in a breath over its beauty. He managed to
snatch it this time and tuck it in the pocket of his shirt before regaining control over the
car.

Why didnt you tell me? I asked sadly, letting my hands fall back to my lap.

He groaned, You really werent supposed to see that

Well you werent all that good at hiding it, now were you? I snapped.

Okay! Im not seeing anyone, stop acting like Ive let you down the ring was supposed
to be for you. He gave up, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

I paused before retaliating, much more confused now than before, You were going to
give me an engagement ring?

He smacked the heel of his palm to his forehead in frustration, For someone so smart,
you can be really dumb sometimes, Samantha. No. The ring is for you, from Tristan. You
are engaged to him, are you not?

Engaged? Waitwhen he had asked me the other night, he had meant it? I thought it
was just him trying to get me to stop worrying and give me a little solace in my
situation. But he had really asked me to marry me.? Oh god I murmured.
You said yes, didnt you? Rayne asked now slightly worried, as we turned down the
street towards the pack.

Yeah I think? I mean I didnt know it was an actual proposal, I just thought he was
trying to get me off his back about him maybe leaving me I moaned, leaning back into
the seat with my eyes shut tightly. This changed so much; he wasnt just my boyfriend or
even mate. No this was engaged, meaning that we would get married, therefore husband
and wife. That seemed so much more concrete than right now was.

You do want to marry him though? he asked, rephrasing his question.

The mere thought of marrying Tristan sent butterflies fluttering in my stomach

pleasantly despite how nervous my mind was. Yes, I said mutely, blinking away
realization.

Then you never saw this ring. Tristan will give it to you when hes ready Rayne said
with a smile, patting his chest pocket, But I did tell him that I was bad at hiding things,
so itd be stupid to ask me to pick it up. He muttered.

I laughed nervously, looking at the obvious bulge of the box in his shirt. Will Tristan be
at the house when we get there?

Yeah, he just wanted me to pick you up because he knew youd be happy to see me
again, Rayne said, finally back to normal from all the confusion that had been packed
into the last few minutes. And just in time to pull in right beside the Everdeens house,
where Im sure Mrs. Everdeen was cooking and Tristan was somewhere in his office
working like always. Taking a deep breath I put on a calm face and allowed myself to be
walked into the house, where I was greeted by exactly what I expected.

Raynes and Tristans mom showered Rayne with kisses so glad he was alright, I guess a
mother would never get over the fear of losing her son, not even when hed been his
position as Alpha for so long. Ushering him into the kitchen to overload him on a whole
buffet of home cooked food, I was left in the hallway staring down towards the office
door. Running a hand through my hair uneasily, I muttered under my breath how Rayne
really needed to learn how to keep secrets better or he might be the bane of my
existence.

The next thing I knew I was opening the door to the office and quietly slipping inside,
shutting the door quietly behind me. Tristan was reclined back in his chair, eyes closed
and feet propped up on the desk as he slept. Without his constant fierce expression I
could easily make out the dark lines underneath his eyes from lack of sleep; telling him
more about Ian would do no good for his wellbeing. Just like Mrs. Everdeen was always
worried about Rayne, I was worried about Tristan, he pushed himself too hard with
everything and it was slowly wearing him down. I had a flash of want in my heart to
have known him before his father had died, he had been a different person back then
apparently. I would like so much to just see him not worried and happy, I wanted that
for all of us were trapped in this situation with Redwood and Mooncreak.

Sitting down on the couch, I decided to forgo my plans on talking to him about things
and just let him sleep. Picking up a random book off a desk I attempted reading it, but
the sound of his even breathing was so soothing that I couldnt keep my eyes open,
because I was just as tired and worn out as he was.

In what seemed not a second later, someone was laying a blanket over me, and I woke
up at the extra layer on myself. My opening eyes met Tristans in the dark as he paused
realizing I hadnt stayed asleep while he tried to make me more comfortable. Sorry, he
murmured.

With a yawn, I tried sitting up, but he just rested a hand on my shoulder to keep me in
place, No, just go back to sleep, its late already

Shaking my head slowly I protested, I I need to talk to you first.

Im sure it can wait until tomorrow he said in the dark, his silver eyes glowing to me.
The drapes must have been drawn over the window because there wasnt even the dim
light of the moon shining in to help me out with my sight.

You were serious? I asked quickly.

He stayed silent for a moment, before sitting down on the couch near my feet, Serious
about what?

Marrying me I murmured.

He shifted, kind of surprised, Why wouldnt I be? he asked, confused.

I dont know, I sighed, taking the opportunity to sit up finally without him pushing me
back down again. The blanket fell down onto our laps from my shoulders and I yawned
again into the darkness, the only sound was the old clock ticking on one of the shelves.
Maybe you were just saying it to make me shut up, I tend to talk too much sometimes
you know.

All he did was scoff, and cross his arms over his chest. His eyes werent even glowing in
my direction, Samantha, you should know me well enough by now that I dont kid
about the serious things.

For some reason my full name irritated me enough for me to mutter randomly, Why is
everyone calling me Samantha lately?

He heard and laughed at my frustration, no matter what I could bet that if he was the
cause of it, my irritation would always bring him some sort of joy. And I guess it brought
me a little bit of happiness to make him happy; that was irritating in its own right.

Fine, Sam, you want something concrete to show you Im totally serious, here it is, he
shifted on the couch and reached for his back pocket pulling out something small and
black that I vaguely recognized as the jewelry box from the car. Then gallantly dropped
from the couch onto one knee in front of me, and as clear as I could make it out to be,
an overly dramatic show of romance flicked open the lid to reveal the ring. Will you
marry me?

His face was so out of character that I couldnt help it, I laughed out loud, Oh god, you
look like some actor from a cheesy chick flick

He winked up at me, You know it,

But this isnt really helping me take you seriously I pointed out, smothering a smirk
at his antics.

Fine, he sobered up and looked up at me; no sarcastic glint, no mischief lurking in the
depths of his eyes. Only the pure passion that I saw him put it anything that he would
fight to keep his, Sam, will you marry me?

My breath hitched, and I closed my eyes briefly, before looking back at him, Theres
never a doubt it my mind that I wouldnt want to marry you, so yes.

I watched silently as he carefully unclasped the tiny silver ring from its case and grasp
my hand gently before slipping it on my ring finger. His eyes were smiling and so was his
lips, I knew youd say yes, Im too irresistible to say no to, he teased, before slipping his
hand behind my neck to kiss me deeply.

After breaking apart I rolled my eyes, Why do I even put up with you?

Same reason why I put up with you; because one crazy girl decided to meddle with fate
and go into the woods in the middle of a fight. The rest of the story I think we already
know, dont we?

I smiled, Maybe, but I wouldnt mind hearing it again,

For the last two days before graduation I found myself happier than I had been in a long
time and people noticed it too. I was cleaning out my locker after school had ended for
the last time, it was the last day of school and everyone had bolted out the door the
moment the last bell had sounded. But Quinn and I had forgotten that we had actually
had valuable possessions in our lockers, so we were stuck with emptying out everything
we still wanted out of them. Most of what was in mine was old papers that were
meaningless now that exams were over: study guides, old tests and notes.

More than a few times I had caught Quinn staring at me instead of cleaning out her
locker, so I finally said something, What? Is there something wrong?

She shook her head, No its just you seem really happy, thats all.

To tell the truth I wanted to spill all about Tristan and me and share the excitement over
the being able to use the word engaged to define our relationship. But as always my
mouth was sealed because of everything and all I could come up with was a measly lie
about how it was because school was finally out.

Yeah, Im excited about that too, she grinned, throwing a whole stack of notebooks
straight into the trash bin. I sighed internally, wishing she could see through my lies a
little more often so that shed guess something close in relativity, anything, just enough
so that the answer to roll effortlessly off my tongue and I couldnt be held responsible
and Id finally have someone to talk to about everything.

But there was another reason to my happiness besides Tristan that I realized once I
found no more red envelopes. Ian wouldnt have a way to deliver letters to me anymore,
not without someone else being able to infiltrate it when it was happening and lead to
him being caught. That was a reason to jump up and down in glee in itself.

The locker portion was down to nothing, the shelf bare and only a few pencils scattered
around the bottom, so I started to peel off the photographs from the door. The first one
was of me and Quinn the year before right after Christmas in the Bahamas for the yearly
winter vacation. We had gotten her parents to give us spending cash and instead of
going shopping like we usually did due to Quinns wishes she suggested that we go
diving instead and we were both on the dock near the boat in our gear. She looked
confident and boldly smiling at the camera while I was staring down at the water
uneasily, but my arm was still wrapped around her waist as we were about to set off. It
hadnt been that bad in the end, the part that I had been worried about was the sharks
and we hadnt even seen one. I could still remember all the teasing lines she had used on
me afterwards even switching up a Finding Nemo quote on me People are friends, not
food.

Below that picture was one of the rare shots I had managed to get of Tristan when he
wasnt looking. It had been clumsy because he was walking in front of me down the hall
and people were bustling everywhere, but I had called out his name and he had turned
around at just the right moment that the shutter of the film camera went off, capturing
his face in the light perfectly. It had been the only good picture out of the whole roll of
film that I had gotten, but had managed to get me a good grade in the class.

I stared between the two of them, guilt sinking into the pit of my stomach as I realized
meeting Tristan had made me have to choose between the two of them. I had already
known this of course, but looking at the pictures settled it more. It didnt seem fair, like I
didnt deserve to be as happy as I was so life decided to throw my guilt filled heart into
the equation and leave me feeling like a hundred more pounds had been laid down onto
my shoulders.

I looked over at Quinn, who threw another pile out of her way as she dug herself out of
the tomb of old papers her locker had been made into. I was thinking too much into
things wasnt I? I deserved to be happy just like anyone else and if Tristan was what
made me happy, then so be it. I shouldve felt better after I told myself that, instead I
just felt worse.
Chapter 4: With Or Without You

I couldnt help but think that the dress I was wearing was ridiculous. It shrunk wrapped
to my body uncomfortably, and I fidgeted the whole time I was curling my hair. Getting
into the darn thing had been worse, I had even contemplated going in my underwear
instead of going through the hassle of wrangling the stupid thing on me. I mean no one
would actually see me right? I would be under a graduation robe; they wouldnt be able
to tell me if I was wearing sweat pants or a Vera Wang ten-thousand dollar gown. Just
deal with it
I would yell at myself as I bit my lip from shrieking from repeatedly burning my ear
with the curling ironits just one night. One night and you can go back to being an
unkempt slob.

That was the bargain I made with myself and I was going to see through it if it killed me.
At the rate it was going I might not live to see twenty, but I wasnt left much time to
dwell on it. Sneaking out of the Everdeen household hadnt been an easy task, but I had
managed it at six thirty in the morning. I fired up my car and booked it to my house,
which was growing more distant and unfamiliar by the day. My dad wouldnt wake up
until eight and I still had another half hour to finish up my hair curling and make him
breakfast. I assumedhopefullythat he had been too tired returning last night to notice
I wasnt in my own bedroom when he got home. But even if he did check in on me, a
good home-cooked eggs and bacon wouldnt keep him mad for long. Chewing and
ranting just didnt go together in his book.

I hissed as I released the last curl out of the iron, before yanking the plug out of the wall
so it could cool and piling the hair on top of my head to cascade down in a high
ponytail. There, everything was done; I could release the breath I was holding. While I
had allowed Quinn to pick out the dress months ago, I had gone against her wishes on
the shoes, opting for sensible flats instead of the heels slash lethal weapons proposed.
Standing up, I was thankful for sticking to my resolves because I didnt wobble on my
feet. The mirror showed me back myself, except improved, eyes enhanced with a little
mascara and lip gloss swept across normally pale pink lips. The dress was not going to
win me any favors with the sun, being as black as it was and long sleeves, but it did look
better in the mirror than when I had been attempting to force it on myself.

Shuffling aroused from the bedroom near mine, and I hurried out of the room and down
the stairs to make breakfast. The fridge and cupboards were stocked with only what I
had bought before coming here that morning, and I didnt need to take much time before
having whipped a successful batch of eggs, bacon and toast to please the eyes. When I
had gone to the grocery store I hadnt really known what my father liked to eat
anymore; being that he probably ate every night out at fancy restaurants with all his
lawyer buddies. Flustered, I had searched for the most simple and standard of meals to
make to stay on the safe side, my only risk was choosing fruit to complement the dish.
Cutting that up before I made my nails presentable, it went straight from the fridge to
the table.

The shower had stopped and I was left to shift and stir a little longer in the kitchen
uncomfortably as I waited. And during the time if anything was left to sit too long, like
the flowers in the vase or the silverware on the table, I had to meticulously rearrange
them to look not only proper, but perfect. The eggs and bacon were probably already
cold by the time he would be done getting dressed, and I pondered whether I had enough
time to just whip up a whole new batch instead of microwaving them. God, I swear the
man took more time to primp in the morning that Quinn did; it didnt take all that much
time to shave and brush your teeth did it?

Finally I just settled on sitting at the table, fingers thrumming on the table and eyes
peeled on the doorway. Through all that and he still managed to sneak up on me,
coming up behind me and laying his warm hands on my shoulders, Breakfast smells
good,

I jerked from out of his hold in shock, whipping around at him to stare wide-eyed. He
was smiling ear-to-ear as he made his way to his side of the table. Finally relaxing in his
presence, I smiled in my chair, You were gone so long that I forgot you were a jerk,

His face turned stern, Is that anyway to speak to your father? he said pointing his fork
at me. My grin widened, as I rested my hands on my intertwined hands trying to keep
my eyes from sparkling in happiness. What am I kidding? I am a jerk, he started
laughing, digging into the breakfast with no complaints.

Youre lucky that breakfast is hot, I had to microwave it twice because you took so long
in the bathroom, I said warningly.

Oh I know, I took long because I wanted to see how long it would take before you came
up to get me in aggravation. Seems like I lost against the good smells from the kitchen,
but the next time, I swear, Ill be victorious, he said, through a mouthful of eggs. It
seems his eating skillsalong with many other men I knewhadnt improved with time.
Where were all those polite table manners that I learned as a child? Certainly not with
the teacher and parent. But other things had gone through his absence without being
frozen in time. His dark hair was weathered and streaked with gray, distinguishing his
age and reminding me that he had so much on his metaphorical plate to deal with. I
wondered if many people heard his laughter anymore, because the smile lines around his
eyes and mouth werent as prominent as they had been last time I saw them; as if his
smile and laugh were especially reserved for me. I hoped that wasnt so, if it were, Id
demand him to quit his job right now and come home. Nothing was worth him being
unhappy with life, I could get a job and help pay for everything if thats what it took.
Looking up from his plate, his amber eyes twinkled in unsaid laughter, and sharp pangs
shot through my head. One of my favorite similarities between me and my dad was
gone; our eyes were no longer the same unique blend of red and brown. Instead now
mine were a light hazel, leaving me out in the cold, separated even more from my last
family member. He must have sensed the sudden change in mood in me, because he
sobered up, Honey, its alright to be nervous, its graduationeveryones nervous! Just
think about how satisfying it will be to walk down those stairs for the last time with
your diploma in hand and all your hard work worth something tangible. I swear, its one
of the best feelings.

Im sure it is dad, I managed to murmur, looking down at his plate, all the food half
eaten.

The next thing I knew he was brushing a stray curl out of my face from across the table,
You look beautiful, Sammie. Im so proud of you, and I wish I could be here more to say
it as many times as you deserve.

My lips quirked back up in a slight smile, I wish you were here more too Realizing
how late it was already, I jerked away from the table, But you need to eat your
breakfast, we have to be at the school at nine,

He quickly finished, and I swept his dishes away to be put in the dishwashersecretly
loving the swish that my dress made around my calvesbut not speaking a word of it.
Dad was dressed up too, in a simple suit and tie; though nothing could be called simple
in his wardrobe. The clients his firm occasionally reeled in required him to have a suit
with some taste and class, and a haughty price tag. Whatever my dress cost, I was sure
his attire doubled.

Instead of hounding me with questions of my whereabouts while he was gone he just

offered me his arm as we walked to the car, making me grin in his extravagant acting
skills. We mustnt be late then, shall we,

I regretted coming; with a heated, furious passion. With as hot as it had been last year,
you would have thought I would have remembered how horrible graduations were in the
summer. Of course then I had been in the stands, where your backs were too the sun and
you werent center-staged on a giant black carpet that covered the former football field.
It attracted heat like no other and had half of the student body sweating in no time,
myself included.

Dear god I muttered when the principal continued on pointlessly with whatever rant
he was on now. Something about us starting the rest of our lives or another, not that it
mattered, we were all too uncomfortable to pay attention to the supposed greatest day
of our high school careers.
Sneaking sly glances at Tristan was pretty easy, considering he was sitting directly next
to me. His eyes were glazed over as he stared blankly toward the podium, probably deep
in thought over something. Of course, he wasnt sweating, which seemed impossible since
he was a werewolf, aka meaning hed be sweating in normal temperatures. Darn him
and his well acclimated body.

My other side was Quinn, who had snuck in an mp3 player of some sortone that
desperately wanted to steal an ear bud toanything to keep the principals voice from
haunting my thoughts. She was hiding it well though; the only indication was the
tapping of her foot softly on the ground and the fact that I could hear the lyrics from
where I sat. Otherwise it was well concealed under her dark hair, swept inconspicuously
over her ears heavily.

To keep myself otherwise occupied, I scanned the crowd of people. There was all my
friends parents; pardon Quinns, I couldnt picture her regal mother and father being
anywhere near a gathering like this. My dad looked about as excited as a sack of
potatoes as he glared at his program, probably not able to read it with the sun shining
down exactly right on it. The crowd barely outnumbered the number of students
graduating, which wasnt saying it wasnt an impressive amount of people; we had a
large class.

Heaving a sigh, I slumped a little more, glancing back at Quinn again, who was looking
back at me. Bored out of our minds, couldnt explain this. She muttered something about
the principal that I couldnt quite make out but getting the gist of it I smirked knowingly.
How could such a boring man, keep up such a lengthy speech? The world may never
know.

Well, you didnt have to go to last years graduation. The stands are even more torture
than these seats. I said as an under-thought. As sad as it was, it was true; last year
graduation had been delayed a few weeks due a violent storm that knocked a few dozen
trees over amongst the town. Including one landing directly into the football field, which
was the only place big enough to house all the graduates and their families. So it had
been pushed back until all rubble was removed, and by the then it was already the
middle of June, making it hotter than now.

She was silent for moment before emitting out a, I was sick, she tried innocence,
looking up bashfully up at me but all I could think of was liar ruefully.

Yeah right, you just didnt want to sit through this. I came for your brother! I said
exasperated, forgetting that I was supposed to be whispering and escalating my voice a
little. Quinn grinned wider, seizing some opening I mustve given her.

Thats just because you had a thing for him last year, she said teasingly, glancing up
into the stands to the general direction of her brother. My face flashed with brief
embarrassment, recalling the period of time where I had been head-over heels crushing
on Nick Malone. But who hadnt been? He was the jock, the academic scholar (maybe),
and had a pretty decent sense of humor; and it didnt help that he wasnt all that bad
looking.

I did not, we were I started to defend myself, when a hand clasped on my hands that
were on my lap, seizing my voice.

Tristan leaned over me to speak directly to the two of us, his facial expression grim; god
knows he had better things to do than sit here bored like the rest of us and he surely
didnt want to do that with two girls bickering beside him. But still, he could back off a
little couldnt he? You two need to be quiet, I want to just get this over with, he
muttered toward the two of us, his hand squeezing both of mine intentionally while
glaring at Quinn.

I mentally rolled my eyes, but relaxed back into my chair with a huff breaking his hold
off my hands by taking them off my lap. I could feel the tension rolling off of Quinn in
waves, she did not like Tristan; at all. Not being able to really blame her, I just let things
be for now. Luckily the tension didnt have to last long because the principalGrant? Or
was it Graham? I didnt knowstarted announcing names and Tristan was near the top
of the list.

He left me with Quinn, who was finally eager for something in this whole affair, leaning
forward in her chair and waiting for the alphabet letter before her last name to start
being called so she could get in line. We all were excited; this is what we had been
waiting for, the end. Big hurrah! Grand finale! Whatever other names you could give it; it
was a newand long awaitedchapter of our lives.

She left before me, and I was left with the final portion of the class. There was a long
line of students who had already received their diplomas and were standing and waiting
for the rest of us to hurry up. Tristan looked bored again, his hands behind his back
probably wringing his diploma into a little paper tube. I caught his bright eyes, reflective
in the sunlight and received an encouraging wink as the Ws were starting to go. I took a
deep breath and stepped onto the platform, ready and waiting for anything to come my
way.

Guess what? I had been right about Kyle and Rebecca, when I walked to them after
graduation they were sidled up to one another while talking to Quinn and Nick. I
managed to sneak in behind them, smiling a bit at the predictability of my friends
romantic lives. My own romantic life sneaked up behind me and poked both of my sides
playfully, but enough to make me wince.

Such a jerk, I muttered almost inaudibly, knowing hed still be able to hear me, before
speaking to everyone, So are we ready to go eat?
A small but cheerful chorus of yess answered me and we all headed out to our separate
cars, Quinn begrudgingly tagging with us instead of her brother. From the looks that
Tristan kept shooting her way, made me sure that the feelings were mutual between
them. I sighed when he refused to unlock the door for us all, just being a stubborn prick.
But eventually we were on the road, the car so awkwardly silent that I couldnt bear it
anymore.

So you happy were graduated? I asked Tristan, he was driving but allowed himself
to take his eyes off the road to look at me. My heart stuttered in fear, forcing myself to
recognize that he was an excellent driver and wouldnt crash, but I still was nervous
about it.

Sure, I guess, he shrugged; looking very well put together in his dress shirt, tie and
black pants. The blue of his tie popped the silver in his eyes and made it hard to look
away, but I did for the sake of my best friend in the back seat.

What about you?

She gave the same reaction as Tristan had and I groaned inwardly before slumping
slightly in my seat, staring out the window to focus on anything but the atmosphere in
the small car cabin. The air conditioning from the vents chilled the thin veil of sweat that
I had had on my skin from the heat, just enough to make it comfortable. All the sitting
hadnt done me good, my bones and muscles ached to be moving, running, something.
Beforea term I had come to describe everything that hadnt been Tristan wroughtI
couldve sat in a desk and listened to lectures for hours, but now my body was restless
and amused by anything that involved some sort of activity. Especially since I could
count down the days I had before the full moon on one hand; the same hand that was
fidgeting on the side of the seat.

Isnt that way quicker? I asked, when Tristan took a different route to the restaurant
we were heading to, I hardly remembered the name, but had been there enough times to
remember the route by heart.

I know what Im doing, he said, his voice tight. I saw his jaw clench from the corner of
my eye, as he flexed his fingers over the wheel. First I had just trying to make
conversation but now he was mad because I corrected him? This seemed a little
outrageous, even for Tristans temper. My eyes narrowed a little as I tried to isolate what
the real problem was that was making him angry. I hadnt done much today that would
result in anyone being mad at me, besides sneaking out of his house in the morning, but
that hadnt been much of sneaking because Id told him the night before that Id had to
leave. Of course, he wouldnt let me drive home so late, a lame excuse of his, and made
me stay until morning. Then there was the graduationwhich granted couldve made
anyone irritated after so long of itbut we had all suffered, why was he overreacting
when the rest of us were fine?
He caught my eye again with his, and now I was sure something was off. It almost
looked like he didnt want to be mad, but was anyway. Whats wrong? I mouthed to
him, the softest of noise coming from my voice.

Shaking his head, he continued driving, and Im sure my eyes sparked with a little
infuriation. Im leaving, he said silently, and my expression changed to confused.

Leaving the whatcar? Huffing out an irritated growl I probably would have lashed out
with words at him right about this moment if there hadnt been a spectator from the
back seat. My face flushed with a dull embarrassment as I realized it mightve looked
like we were parents trying to keep details away from the children.

I stayed silent until we got to the restaurant, glad that Quinn was quick to peal out of
the back seat and head in, so I could turn and glare at Tristan without persecution. He
attempted to reach for the door handle but I snatched the sleeve of his shirt. Leaving
where? I demanded.

He sighed, running a hand through his messy black hair, sticking it up a little further
than it was already; now that I looked at it, it looked like he had been doing that often
recently. Town, Im leaving town, on a hunt and search.

My jaw clenched, a hunt and search was what Rayne had just gotten back from; for Ian.
Now I could trust Tristans older brother with my life, but apparently not my secrets
because something mustve sparked the fire in him to make him want to take action in
this whole fiasco. Finding out about the letters wouldve done just that. But keeping on
the safe side I didnt mention them in case he was just on one of his instinct knee-jerk
reactions to everything. Why? Theres no need, Rayne just got back from one.

Yeah, but he only went in one direction, plus it wasnt his idea. Most of the members of
the first search party were pretty fired up about not finding anything and constructed
another, and since they cant go without some sort of higher up instructions I have to go
with them.

You have to? Dont you guys have like aa Delta for those kind of things? I asked,
trying to remember all the correct terms in pack hierarchy. Setting Tristan loose would
be one of the worst things that could happen right now, he would kill someone or end
up getting killer. Before it had just been protecting me, but now Ian had attacked him
personally during the fight over the winter, doubling the price held over Redwoods
Alphas neck.

He made a noise half caught between a scoff and chuckle, his lips quirked slightly
upwards, I wish, his head was tilted back, getting a good view of the roof.

Well get to work on that I muttered, before swallowing my fears. If he really wanted
to do this, there wasnt much I could do to stop him, because hed just push me aside in
the process. I could just see him saying the words, its for the bigger state of things and
list all the reasons I needed to be protected. But I really dont see a problem with you
going, Im just upset you didnt tell me earlier, I was such a bad liar, but he bought it
with an arched eyebrow.

I found out myself just this morning, were leaving tomorrow. But Im not worried about
myself, its leaving you here that worries me, especially since there are certain things
coming up really soon, I blinked at his words for a moment before remembering what I
had been worried about only moments before.

Ill be fine, its the sixth full moon, Im used to it by now, but I couldnt keep my voice
from shaking a little. All I could do was clench my fists at my sides and force myself to
believe that I could leash in my inner beast. She didnt control me, thats not how it goes,
despite what she wants.

He looked at me blankly, betraying nothing underneath the silver glass pools of his eyes;
I could see myself in them, putting up a front that was so visible to me. Itd have to be
painfully obvious to him too. But all he did was take my hand in his, taking his eyes
away from mine long enough to see his thumb brush against the engagement band Id
forgotten to take off my finger.

I moved to take it off, but he clenched my hand further, No, keep it on. No one will
notice anyway, just me.

I smiled, leaning in to place a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth, I know, everything
will be fine, I know how to take care of whatever gets thrown my way, I murmured, not
just talking about the ring.

We walked into the diner, and sat next to the rest of the group, Tristans arm casually
draped across my shoulders as we ordered and went on like we were normal teenagers.
My body was going through all the motions at least; smiling at the jokes, joining in on
the conversation appropriately, but my heart wasnt in it. My mind neither, both were
somewhere else as I couldnt get my thoughts away from Tristan going out into the dark
looking for a lethal animal. Every blink that passed before my eyes was clouded
momentarily by the visions of Ian, his smiling and deceiving face.

My mouth urged me on to try and convince Tristan to let me come along, but I bit my
tongue. Hunting down Ian would just be playing into his hands, because somehow hed
get under Tristans skin, no matter how hard hed protect me, and have me. The day we
had gone under Redwood territory he had said how much I reminded him of his mate,
that I should have been his from the start. At least if I stayed here, Id be on my own turf
and be able to draw him in instead of playing his games.

I was brought back to reality harshly. It had taken longer than I thought it would
because I knew that a rock on my finger would catch someones attention at leastand
Id forgotten to keep my sleeve tugged over my hand, but the moment I saw Quinns eyes
widen in my peripheral vision, the gig was up.

Before I knew it I was being dragged into the bathroom, by a very furious girl a foot
shorter than me, but with a strength to nearly crack my wrist. She locked the door, and
the flash of fear ran through me, this was it; she was finally going to kill me or
something, wasnt she? Or something worse; she had a wicked mind that I didnt dare
underestimate that could surely create something to get my secrets out of me.

Are you pregnant? she demanded, her eyes clouded with anger. My jaw dropped in
utter shock and I was left looking like a fish out of water for a few minutes.

What? I yelled, what in the worldme pregnant? Naturally I reared back at the
estimation, but had to reason with myself that it wasnt nearly as bad as some of the
true things she could come up with about me, No! What in the world would make you
think that?

She whipped my left hand up into view, glaring pointedly at the ring. This. Why in the
world is this on your hand?

I relaxed a little, the ring wasnt a big enough deal for her to slit my throat for, but I
shifted uncomfortably, trying to find the words to explain my engagement. Obviously
most of the details about my relationship with Tristan had to be kept in the dark, which
didnt leave much to tell, Oh that.

I wanted to face palm myself, playing coy wouldnt get me anywhere either. Yes that.
She growled waiting a proper answer.

Well what could I really say? The truth, was possible. I blinked, glancing in the
mirror as if myself would give me some help.

Well. She mimicked in a high pitch voice, my fingers flexed in irritation. For one, I did
not sound like that. For two, it wasnt like I was the only one keeping secrets okay
maybe I was. But I didnt really know that.

Finally I pulled my hand from her grasp, wanting to regain blood flow to my fingers. My
thumb brushed up against the cold silver of the ring, I forgot to take it off more like
Id been forced to wear it to make someone happy. I guess, secretly, I loved the feeling of
it on my hand, and the meaning it had with it, but it was a nuisance for a secret identity.

I heaved as exasperated sigh, Tristan proposed Im getting married.

Putting on a smile and hoping shed be happy about it was a hopeless dream. Instead all
I was welcomed with was her backside flashing out of the bathroom, and as I reached
the door as it was closing, I witnessed her pulling Nick out of his seat and dragging him
out the door, leaving money on the table. Tristan was looking back at me, only slightly
surprised, and I looked back at him wanting to express I told you so in more than words.

Tristan and Quinn. Quinn and Tristan. Really the only two things on my mind that
seemed real, and neither was letting go of the awful feeling it had attached to it. Tristan
was leaving and Quinn was stubbornly not answering any of my calls or texts. The next
morning was sunny, but not sunny enough to make Tristan getting up from the bed
when he thought I was asleep and getting into the shower for the last time any easier. I
stared out the window as the seven am morning breeze warmed the room, as I clutched
to my pillow.

The water from the bathroom was running, sending a steam through the cracks beneath
the door. How stupid could I have been, to say he could go and just leave me here to
fend for myself? As much as I hated to admit it, the thought of the full moon without
him was unbearable; I hadnt had that since my second change. With him here,
everything was at ease, but without It seemed impossible to remain in control with my
own bodies functions. My jaw clenched and unclenched, I seemed so weak, I couldnt even
fend for myself, against myself. What did my wolf have on me that I couldnt fight?
Words, and enticements were what she had, and she knew how to use them well. She
didnt talk to me anymore, almost as if she was saving up all her pent up energy for the
change, so shed have some sort of upper hand.

Rolling onto my back I arched so I could stretch my muscles, muttering how stupid I was
the whole time.

I was tense the whole time we all sat down for breakfast, and when Tristan kept me
close during a last minute pack meeting; one that he insisted I be part of even though
normally non-pack members werent allowed. That dispute had never settled, whether I
should be considered truly part of the pack or not, my condition was traipsing on foreign
ground and it made everyone nervous. So basically I was a rogue who had joined forces
with a pack, though as long as I had Rayne and Tristan, I felt as much a part of
everything as I needed to be.

I was coiled through all of that, and it only got worse when we finally got the point of
goodbye. The morning I had wanted to drag agonizingly slow with me and taking the
leash and pulled me forward against my will and all I had left were a few minutes
before Id be left alone. Tristan was tossing a few bags into the back of his car, as I sat on
the porch watching banefully. His best friend Wes was watching me carefully, leaning
against the car as Tristan did most of the work; he was in the portion of the pack that
was still uneasy with me, even though he got looks from the Everdeens every time he
acted strange.

A few more guys I didnt recognize were scattered among the front lawns of the main
pack house, waiting until it was actually time to leave. Im not quite sure how these
things went, but I was sure I probably didnt want to find out. I just sat back and
watched all of the goodbyes, my legs crossed underneath me and my cell phone pressed
against my thigh, waiting for a call that Im sure would never happen.

The seat beside me creaked as Tristan sat, trying to get into my view as I sat slightly
dazed, Are you sure youll be alright? he asked.

Letting out a deep breath, I nodded, looking at him with a small smile, Of course, do
you expect anything less?

Not at all, he chuckled darkly, placing his lips on my forehead in a surge of warmth.
The sudden connection of skin brought my face up allowing our lips to brush. The brush
had no time to escalate before he pulled away with a sigh, Ill be back in a few weeks, if
all goes well all of this will be over, for good. One look in his eyes this time and I knew
that Rayne had spilled the beans. God, he really was bad at keeping secrets.

I didnt say anything but instead watched again as he walked away. As everyone
disappeared from the yard and in five minutes time all that was left was the imprint of
the tires as they had rolled away. Remembering what had happened when me and
Tristan had had the big fight before my second change, the total irregularity of our
bodys emotions and activity level, I could feel the comfortable feeling I had when he was
around stretch like a rubber band the further he drove away. This was going to be a long
couple weeks, but I had patience right?

My patience lasted all of one day more in Quinns case, at least before I got fed up with
texting a full message box and leaving empty voice mails. I was being forced to stay at
the Everdeen household while Tristan was gonewhich was alright since my father had
already headed back to the city, leaving an empty house to mebut also meant I was
Raynes charge. So instead of being able to grab my keys from the counter, I had to wait
while Rayne got enough time away to be able to drive me to Quinns. All the
independence I had worked up over the years seemed to disappeared in the matter of
weeks from when I had started seeing Tristan, and now it was like being a little child
again, waiting for my parents to finally pay attention to me.

Rayne was more solemn today, and we all knew why, because tonight was the full
moon. It was risky going over to the Malones on this day, but I was sick of just sitting,
waiting, doing nothing while the world ran circles around me. This was one thing that I
could change by doing something, so therefore I was going to do it. But Raynes attitude
didnt stop him from being himself, cracking jokes periodically and commenting on
everything under the sun, which kept me smiling and away from being jittery.

Ill be back out as soon as I can, it shouldnt take long, I told Rayne when we
finally got down the incredibly long driveway leading up to Quinns house. It couldnt
totally be categorized as a house, more like a mansion, but she didnt like it being
referred to like that. She liked all the clothes that she could get but overall didnt like
the concept of being rich, because where as my dad was away all the time because we
needed money, her parents were gone because they had money.

I stood nervously at the front door, deciding to forgo the doorbell and just walk in, as
far as I knew the only people here were Quinn and Nick, and they didnt care if I came in
unannounced. In fact just like had predicted I saw Nick walking from the kitchen and he
didnt look surprised to see me at all. Shes in her room, he mumbled through a
mouthful of chocolate cake. I smirked at his face, and raced up the stairs.

Her room was perched near the top of the stairs, her door cracked open. From what I
could see, which was little, her room look like a bomb hit it. And then decided to
regurgitate a closet full of clothing. Cautiously, in case something might jump out of the
shadows, I pushed the door open further. I almost hadnt recognized Quinn amongst the
whole mess, a pillow covering her face as she lay in the middle of the floor. She
apparently didnt notice I was there yet, so I looked around the room in full. I guess, it
didnt look that bad, I mean the place wasnt completely covered in clothes, there were a
few bare spots. I rubbed the back of the my neck, seeing the open dangling chair that I
always perched from when in her room, the wide picture windows that opened out into
the field known as her back yard. I hadnt been here very often since that last fall party
we had hosted, the one where Tristan had pushed me into the pool and I had brought
him in with me. Back then, I hated his guts; well, I probably still hated his guts now, but I
loved every other part of him.

What happened in here? I finally spoke up, and the pillow flung off my best friends
face in shock.

She scrambled up in her panic, kicking some loose object underneath her bed in the
process, Who let you in? she asked instead of answering.

Nick I said softly, in truth he had directed me here, which was good enough.

She heaved an exasperated sigh, Nick! she yelled, receiving a muffled reply from
downstairs, no doubt her brother getting into even more food in the kitchen, he was
practically starved up there at college even though he had the money to get a buffet for
every meal if he wanted it.

Then without acknowledging me further, she started neatly folding clothes and placing
them in a large suitcase lying on her bed. It was so obvious she was ignoring me that I
felt my hands ball into fists before I resolved them to relax and just collapsed into the
floating chair. Quinn

It took her awhile and I was afraid I was just going to be sitting in a room with only the
sound of her busy hands for company, but when she did finally respond she did so in a
sharp voice, How long had you guys been engaged?
I week, only a week, I insisted though it felt like both a shorter and longer period of
time since I had first heard the proposal from Tristans lips and had the ring slid
smoothly onto my finger for the first time.

I could feel her eyes on me, but I just looked out the window. The room was open to the
summer breeze but I was still uncomfortable with the heat, though to anyone else it
would have been pleasant. I wouldve told you wouldnt I? she asked sadly.

Yeah, you probably would have. I said, getting irritated with reasons she wouldnt
understand, but I could at least try to make her see couldnt I? But things are different
for me right now; I cant be expected to explain everything anymore,

The conversation was getting more awkward than I would have expected, so I searched
for something else to sidetrack with, What exactly are you doing? I asked.

She looked down at her suitcase like shed forgotten about it, Oh umm Im packing
for college.

My face scrunched in confusion, Dont you think thats a bit premature? I laughed,
thinking it was a joke but she wasnt joining in so I stopped pretty quickly. I rocked back
in the chair, enjoying the free feeling momentarily, Care to elaborate why you are
packing so early?

Care to elaborate why you arent telling me whats going on with you? she retorted
from inside the bathroom, pushing all of what was on the counter into a bag. I could
feel my irritation growing, but I kept it under wraps, it wasnt either of our faults that
we didnt see eye to eye anymore.

Its not like you tell me everything. I replied saucily against my will, arms crossing over
my chest.

I could see the scene of her throwing her hands up in the air theatrically though it didnt
really happen, Fine, Im leaving for college early, tonight in fact! she announced.

A sense of pride welled in me at first, she was going to college! There had been a time
where she hated the idea of extra years of schooling and avoided the conversation like
the plague. Those had been the times where I was the one who was always pushing for
the picture perfect grades and GPA to make scholars proud. But it also came as a shock
that left me groping for the right words, luckily they came quicker than Id thought See,
when would have told me this? When you already there? You were just going to up and
drive away without anyone knowing, leaving everyone wandering where you had
disappeared to.

Her face was turning a light shade of red in anger, Like yours was much better. I
planned on telling you at our dinner the other day, but you getting married kind of
overshadowed whatever I would have said. You and Tristan are not meant for each
other, its a disaster waiting to happen. Cant you see it? Her voice trailed off, but not
before what was said and done.

My lips peeled back from my teeth in a slight snarl, my protective instinct over Tristan
kicking in. She knew nothing, and I wanted to pull her up by her collar and make that
clear only inches from her throat. My reaction to her words scared me, and even though I
could stop from taking action I couldnt stop from saying what was on my mind,
everything was too jumbled for that. You know nothing, so dont you dare try and to
say that we arent good for each other. I already know that, but there are things deeper
than being able to get along a hundred percent of the time.

I was now standing in front of her, my presence towering, and I could guarantee that
with the power of my wolf backing me up shining in my eyes anyone else would have
been scared at least a little. But she just shook her head and whispered hotly back,
Maybe I would get it if you let me in on some things. Instead Im on the back burner for
everything, so dont you criticize me on what I see before my eyes. So you should
probably tell me whats going on, or Im going to see it the same.

My shoulder was pushed so I fell out of her way, and she left the door, leaving me behind
in her room that still looked trashed. I took deep breaths to calm myself down before
heading down after her, stopping to grasp the hand rail at the top of the stairs. She was
hugging her older brother as he said something smart to her, a laugh produced to cut
through the tension. I relaxed at how she could interact with her family with such ease in
which I couldnt; she couldnt possibly know the bond I had with Tristan so there was no
point in being mad as I was.

I silently made my way down the stairs to sit at the bottom as she said goodbye before
Nick left and she looked awkwardly back at me. It seemed we both had calmed down
fairly quickly, but someone would have to speak up before anything worse happened.
Quinn, I really want to tell you, I really and truly do. But I can't, it's just not something
I'm capable of. I haven't told anybody, so you aren't just an exception that I'm ignoring;
it's something I have to keep to myself. Do you understand?"

It was the closest I was ever going to get to admitting something and I hoped she
understood. Her shoes squeaked as she shifted uncomfortably. There werent many
gigantic fights between us, and I could tell this would go down in the record books if not
the finality worth severing a relationship over. "I can understand... but you can tell me
anything. It wouldn't change how I thought of you at all. Do you understand that?" she
said, looking up at me, her eyes worried.

I blinked and realized that tears had welled up in my eyes, something I couldnt
remember having done in a long time. "Yes, I do. Just trust me on this; you don't even
want to know,"
We hugged, her squeezing me tightly. I had not only lost Tristan, but now I was losing
Quinn. Who would I have left after this? The next few weeks looming ahead of me
seemed like an eternity. After all the farewells I was forced to see her drive away,
another person that I loved leave my life. Hopefully not for forever.
Chapter 5: Servant To My Wolf

Do you want to come inside, Im sure weve got some chocolate somewhere? Nick
offered after the last fleeting glimpses of Quinns taillights disappeared from even my
visibility. No doubt there would be chocolate in the houseit was Nicks sole source of
survival and stocked in surplus at all timesbut as tempting at that sounded, I could
sense my time running thin. The sun was falling down the west side of its ride rapidly,
and I doubted I had an hour before darkness started to settle on the land, never less
being able to make out the outline of the full moon in the fading light.

Clenching my fists to keep from panicking I smiled tiredly, I think Im going to head
home, Ive got a ride here waiting for me anyway, I could practically feel Rayne staring
at me from the car only a little bit down the driveway. I felt awful having left in there for
the past half hour at least, and made a pact with myself that I wouldnt hassle him for
so many favors anytime soon.

Are you sure? Nick asked, the casual sway of his brown hair curling just above one of
his eyes, the eyes that I used to swoon over in my bedroom during my whole junior year
of high school. Now he was still good looking, but there was no comparison to the
feeling I got just getting a glance into Tristans eyes. I nodded and received a sigh from
my best friends older brother, getting a look over as he glanced back to Raynes car and
back to me. Can I at least meet whoever is driving you home, I dont want to send you
home if youre not in safe hands,

I smirked a little at the cute over-protectiveness, but came to Raynes rescue, Believe
me, I can trust this guy with my life, hes cool,

Nicks resolved hardened in his eyes, I still want to meet him,

I sighed, muttering under my breath, He did drive me here, but lead him over to the
black car that was sitting idle. The window rolled down on cue, and Raynes carefree
smile shone out at both of us, even though I could see the tension that was well hidden
in his features.

Hey man, he said reaching a hand out the window to Nick, who took the offer slightly
surprised, Nice to meet you, Im just Sams soon to be brother in law,

It was obvious that Quinn had filled in her brother about the details that had been
spilled at the diner, but that didnt stop him from looking a little uncomfortable at the
words. I just shrugged it off though; hed be acting the same way if it was his own sister
engaged right out of high school.
There was the awkward man handshake, and a sort of small talk between the two guys
but I zoned out as I gazed out at the forest behind the house. My breathing was steady
as a light rustle ran through the leaves with an evening breeze causing fresh scents to
stir up from the ground to be reincarnated with the air. I could hear the woods go from a
quiet chatter to eerily silent as the sun crept, inch by inch, down into its residing place
until the next morning. Before I knew about Tristan I would have thought something was
out in the woods, that there was some sort of beast that scared all the animals away,
running for their lives. But now as bone-chilling as it felt, I knew that they werent
running from something else, they were running from me.

It had gotten so quiet that I could hear the pulse of my heartbeat as my own blood
sloshed through my veins, picking up pace as my jaw clenched. It rushed like a waterfall
until the view of the trees vibrated along with it, pulsing and thriving with itself, begging
to be free.

Sam! someone shouted, dragging me out of my reverie, but I hardly heard them, I was
still transfixed. A harsh tug pulled down on my arm and the pain snapped me out of it
all, with a sharp hiss between my teeth. Rayne stood beside me, out of the car and
clutching onto my arm, while Nick was on my other side, his eyes looking panicked.

Is she having a seizure or something? he asked towards Rayne, who looked just as
worried except with more determination. I could feel my own head cock to the side in
confusion, until the own movement had my head swimming and I could feel the cool
swoosh as my legs swept out from under me. Another person cried out, most likely Nick,
because it surely wasnt me, my mouth was clamped shut; I couldnt say anything even if
I wanted to.

My whole body was shaking, like shivering combined with being shook like a ragdoll, a
newer symptom that I only remembered much from the last months change. But having
already seen what I probably looked like I just shut my eyes so I didnt have to view my
own nails digging into my palms hard enough to draw blood.

No, she just hasnt been feeling well since her fight with Quinn, Rayne lied smoothly,
the undetected Alpha voice edging in to his speech, hasnt been eating properly and all
that, Im not surprised she is feeling faint.

Now Nick was certainly not a pack member, and even though I could tell his decision was
still swaying he was buying it for now, Want to take her inside, Im sure we have
something for her?

No, I think rest will do her well right now. Ill make sure she calls you when shes
alright again, Rayne affirmed and the next thing I knew, I was being compacted into the
passengers side and belted in limply. A hand brushed my arm gently, a touch surely
meant to comfort me, but I couldnt do anything because the only movement my body
wanted to do was snarl at the attacker and fight back. Survival mode, Tristan had called
it, when the wolf wanted to be free and was pulling all the strings it could think of to
get itself that way.

Keep your eyes closed, keep them closed I willed myself as I heard muffled goodbyes
through the closed doors, my senses falling in and out of abnormal clarity. I didnt want
to open them for the sake of seeing myself, but also the probable look Nick would be
giving me, like I was a freak of nature thrashing around in the car. God, if I hadnt been
so focused about keeping control of my body I would have been thoroughly
embarrassed.

The hum of the car increased and I knew we were driving away, and the trembling in my
nerves stilled for a while, giving me an opening to crack open my eyes again. Rayne had
a lead foot and a fierce expression as we sped back down the deserted back roads of our
town. With his jaw clenched, he kept his steely eyes peeled on the road for anything that
might get in his way. If he hadnt been there I wouldve been a goner. Thank you, I
croaked softly, ignoring the burning in my muscles as I tried to straighten up in my chair.

I shouldnt have been so stupid to bring you here, he growled, his voice dropping a
register and sounding so shockingly like Tristan that I would have believed it was him
had I not been looking head on at Rayne. I promised Tristan I wouldnt put you in
danger, and look the first day here I go again. His hand slammed into the steering
wheel, nearly denting the thing.

I wanted to tell him that it was all my fault, and that I was sorry to have dragged him
into this. But like the pull you get in your stomach when you know youre going to
throw up, the way pain sliced up my back told me I was losing control. Already the last
glimpses of red in the sky were fading, the sun had set and now I was totally under a
different power of my other self. I wasnt going to make it back to the pack house. Stop
the car! I screamed, and with my sudden outburst Rayne did, slamming the brakes and
causing my seat belt to start to tear at my skin. But I didnt give it enough time to cut off
my breath, because it was already undone and the door open as the car completed its
stop.

I was running, trying to get as far away from the road as I could, into the woods at
night. I couldnt stop the growing familiar sensations as they rippled through my body
until I was unrecognizable as a person anymore and fell to the ground to run on four as
the painful transformation completed itself. Everything about a full moon was painful,
the giving of my body, the relinquish of my control, and even the surrender of my soul as
a hole was punctured into it, leaking animalistic tendencies into my psyche.

And all I could do was sit back and watch it all happen.

There was no clear cut sign as to when I realized I was out of control of my own body,
but I knew that I always spaced out now whether I wanted to or not. Its like I was being
so forced out of my head that I had been trapped on the outside, floating around like a
ghost. But instead of being with my wolf every step of the way, this was different. One
moment I had blinked my eyes as a beast and the next I opened them as a girl.

A laughter had recently been teased out of my mouth, the tingling sensation left over
from it leaving a smile on my lips. There was music everywhere and a crowd of people
were clustered around us, and I was in the center of it all.

A name was being called over and over again, but I hardly realized it was to me until
someone tugged on my arm. A girl I didnt know who was giggling at my surprise,
Clara, Ive been calling you like forever, here, she thrust a drink into my hands, that I
knew well enough to recall just by its aroma, beer. For some reason I felt so relaxed as
this girl kept calling me a name that wasnt mine and referring to other people that I
had no recollection of. But my body reacted, appropriately smiling at the correct times
and piping in with sentences that probably held inside jokes that I knew nothing about.

I swear, that hottie over there has been staring at you all night, the girlwho I found
out was named Veronicapointed over to a place near the keg. My body was shorter
than I remembered, having to stand on my tippy toes to see around other peoples
heads, but sure enough there was a tall dark haired guy leaning against the table,
giving glances our way every thirty seconds. Itd help to get over Greg, he was a low life
anyway. I doubt Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome over there would refuse to help you out
with that problem, she giggled, her hand clumsily trying to cover up her smile, but she
was buzzed and slightly tipsy.

I dont think so, Im fine here, I responded, the guy wasnt Tristan, so therefore I wasnt
the least bit interested. In fact I couldnt come up with an answer to why I was even here
at all, when I shouldve been close to my other body to wait for a chance to reclaim it.
Instead of pondering the thought more, I just took another swig of my drink. Maybe I
was just highly confused, but Im pretty sure my name wasnt Clara. And I wasnt friends
with anyone named Veronica.

Veronica sighed, and tugged on my hand, pulling me along to the outdoor dance floor
that everyone was dancing in. More appropriately I should call it grinding, because
what I considered dancing was far from whatever anyone else was attempting. But I
recognized the song, and allowed myself to be tugged along until we had been pushed
back into the middle of the pulsing crowd.

Trying my hardest to just breathe and enjoy myself, I closed my eyes, letting the beat of
the music match my heart as people jostled all around me. Slowly, all thoughts faded of
the fact that tonight was a full moon, or that I was a monster, or that I wasnt even who
I thought I was; I just let the music take me away and swayed.

Still staring, Veronica said in my ear, her words slurred before a squeak came out of her
mouth, which I assumed was her dropping her drink. Ice scattered everywhere on the
dancefloor and I leaned down quickly to help her gather up the pieces before they made
the cement more soaked than her drink had done. Sighing I squeezed my way out of the
personal bubble I had created for myself in the middle of all the dancing, forgoing the
peaceful atmosphere. Another girl joined Veronica in helping her off the dancefloor, and
judging by the position in the sky, the moon had moved enough for a half hour since I
had been pulled out there.

I felt eyes staring at the back of my neck, and twirling around I was greeted by the long
distanced gaze of Veronica's Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome. One blink and the breath was
knocked out of me, as I had the sensation of running on all fours, a feral snarl ripping
from my throat with a raw passion of the hunt. Another blink and I was back in the body
of the girl I didn't know, back from the split second of reuniting with my inner beast. The
headache was instant after that and I became more confused, this was the weirdest
thing that had happened in my whole life built by fantasy and werewolves. The guy still
looked at me, a small smirk gracing his lips as he moved his gaze away cooly.

I had to get out of here, I noted as my body already took action, stumbling away from
the party altogether. I just needed to get out of here... The throbbing in my head was
only comparable to the change I experienced before the arc of the full moon over the
east horizon.

Like all parties that were held around the tree infested area that we lived in, the house
that hosted it was surrounded by forest. I beelined my way towards that first, afraid I
was going to be put through the change again and go wolf in front of everybody. The
moon was high above me as I thought again how messed up this all was. As soon as I
was sheltered by the low hanging branches, I breathed easier, looking back to see no one
was after me. Whoever Clara was she seemed popular by all the greetings and jostlings
she got on the dance floor and offers for drinks, so everybody must have been severely
buzzed to not notice she was gone. Or I was gone. Whoever it was.

My hands held onto the bark of a tree for support, feeling the loud music through
vibrations; right before another wave hit me. I was back in the wolf body, thrust from
flesh to fur and the ground matched the beat of the music as my feet pounded away
while running. I was running from something, yet running toward something greater. I
could hear growling and it only took a moment before I realized it was me; I had been
wild before during nights like these, but nothing like I was thinking right now. My mind
was full of lust for blood and a thrill of a kill, something big enough that it'd be a
challenge for my powerful jaws to yield to the ground. But despite however strong my
wolf thought she was the powerful lunges whatever was behind her diminished her
confidence to nothing. Get away and get the kill.

A shuddering breath ached in my lungs as I was leaning against the tree more so than
when I had left the human, Clara. But I could still hear the growls as they approached
closer. Fear closed in on my veins as I scrambled to straighten up, but the ridiculous heels
I was placed in held no purchase on the forest floor besides stabbing themselves into the
soft dirt. There was only seconds for my scream to catch to the air before the piercing
hazel eyes of a killer lunged for my throat.

This time when I came to, it was like the whole world had collapsed inward on me. My
scream that had shattered my own ears only seconds earlier was nothing more than a
raspy cough as I tried to get up, but strong arms tightened around me as I met silver
eyes.

Rayne.

Blinking, I realized I was still in the woods, but I was moving without walking. Rayne
must've been carrying me, but not running because the sky barely bounced by as he
carried my extra weight. I was myself again; tall, lean and a brunette again. Samantha,
not Clara. Daylight streamed through my hair in front of my eyes, and I brushed it aside
as I let my heart calm down.

"Where's Clara?" I asked urgently, remembering the last moments before the murderous
wolf leaped for her. I could still feel the brush as the teeth in the jaw brushed the soft
flesh above the top of the spine, sending shivers through my body. I was suddenly happy
that the only mark on my neck was Tristan's claiming bite; never to heal but faded with
time.

"Clara...? There is no Clara, Sam," Rayne said, his voice tired, as he suppressed a low
yawn from escaping. I blinked, no Clara...? But she had been so real, so there...

It must've been a dream, that was the only explanation for it. I had had many dreams
that had so vivid that I had remained stuck on them for weeks, but this one took the
cake. Not even myself and it still felt more real than right now, safe and sound. Rayne
shifted his hold on me, and I became increasingly aware that his arms weren't as full of
strength as they usually were; that was until I reminded myself that it was day. He had
been keeping watch over me all night as I had run rampid and disobeyed everything I
had told him and myself. Made his job harder. And now I was relaxing in his arms as he
made the trek back to the house, still surviving on no sleep.

"Set me down," I demanded, shifting so it'd be easier to do so, but Rayne tightened his
arms to prevent that.

"You can't," he said shakily, his eyes kept well away from mine as I glared at him.

"Why not? You've cared for me this whole time, you need the rest," I growled.

"No... you can't walk." he said dryly, before taking a gulp, "at all."
I blinked again, confused. Of course I could walk... "And why not?"

He was silent, the only sound was his soft footfall in the underbrush as I started to
recognize scents from the pack. We were close, and I was about to protest because of
that very reason when he finally spoke up, "Last night, you left the territory and I
couldn't stop you..."

Now he was making no sense, and I was getting frustrated with it, releasing my breath
with a low growl. But he spoke again, "You were heading towards a neighborhood near
the edge of the woods, and I couldn't stop you with an Alpha command because we
weren't in territory and you're not officially apart of the pack. So I did my last resort,
and I lunged for your leg." His hand brushed against my left leg, which I hadn't felt until
now as I looked down at it. A long gash of a bite mark ran down the calve, the print
throbbed the longer I looked at it so I just averted my gaze from it. "You can't walk, I
have to take you to the pack doctor to get you fixed up." he sounded so ashamed, and
my anger got worse.

"Rayne, look at me." I said sternly, but he didn't dare. Swiftly I used my hand that wasn't
pressed against his chest and grasped his chin firmly so I could look him in the eye.
"Whatever happened, it's not your fault. At all. I know you wouldn't hurt me unless it
was a dire circumstance, I..." I stuttered out, the memories of the dream vivid and harsh,
"I know what was going through my head at the time, just barely, but I know. I wasn't
going to do anything good, my thoughts were locking in on a kill," my voice fell quiet
near the end until it was just a whisper.

The girl Clara, I had been out to kill her. For no reason at all, just for the sake to take
down something with a pulse and warm flesh. The thought had my stomach turning in
on itself, but it was empty, so all I could do was choke as I heaved. Rayne quickly
lowered me to the ground, his hand brushing away my hair as he looked down on me
worriedly.

I had been right, my wolf was getting stronger. It wasn't settling for control anymore, it
wanted dominance. It wanted death to rest on it's tongue.

It wanted to kill.
Chapter 6: Only When I'm Breathing

Some would say I was living out a fairy tale; so many girls strived for what I had. I was
living well off in a gigantic house with extravagant accommodations, with a pack of
werewolves, and most of them weren't harsh on the eyes either. But right now I could've
disagreed greatly, because despite all that I was hurting.

The television was on but I wasn't watching it. I was perched on the couch, with my legs
swung above me and my head hanging upside down letting my hair tumble to the floor.
Nothing made time go slower than being able to hear every single tick of the grandfather
clock down the hall, or the fact that whatever show I was attempting to engage in,
everything seemed to be moving at half pace. But I wasn't in pain because of boredom,
even though having something to do would have helped.

It was my heart that was aching.

Roughly, a week had passed since the full moon, and since then I had been sentenced to
house arrest because of my injured leg. It wasn't that bad really; Rayne had only bit me
hard enough to stall me from the frenzy I had been in. If his intentions would have been
to harm me, I wouldn't be able to walk right now. This was merely a scratch. A scratch
that would scar after it would be totally healed, but a scratch no less. Earlier today I
had tried to demonstrate how I could walk, run, dance, or whatever perfectly fine, but
Rayne would hear none of it. He hardly would look me in the eye, and during the brief
seconds that I would see his eyes they would be filled with regret.

I had stopped trying to convince him that it wasn't his fault, but I swear it was times like
these that I saw how truly a like Tristan and his older brother were; both determined to
be stubborn to their last dying breath. But at breakfast I had almost tackled Rayne to
prove that I was one-hundred percent fine, when his phone had gone off in his office.
Instantly my fight died out of me as I heard the ringing, before I was tight on Rayne's
heels as he went to answer it.

It didn't take a genius to know that it was most likely Tristan calling with some news,
what with most of the male shifters in the pack gone with him it left very few calls of
other importance filing in. Rayne quickly picked up the phone and answered, "One
moment,"

Then quickly he commenced booting me out of the office. "What, I have every right to
talk to him!" I yelled in outrage, trying to fight my way back into the room now that he
had taken me by surprise enough to push me out into the hallway.
The look he used on me was nothing short of an adult regarding a little kid, "This isn't
something you need to be in on,"

I snarled as the door shut, cracking my fist against the wood. Back at square one, I was
being treated like some kid who didn't know what in the world I was getting myself into.
"You can't do this!" I screamed kicking the door again, but it was no use, I was locked out.

All that had lead to me being where I was now, nurturing a slightly bruised knuckle and
wanting to whimper at the throb in my heart that was caused by knowing I had come so
close to being able to hear Tristan's voice. They say there are some pains you wouldn't
wish on your worst enemy, and it was true. But at this point I wished for assurance that
Tristan was feeling like I was so he'd come to realize how stupid he was for leaving and
high tail it back home.

They all thought I was some ignorant kid that didn't know left from right in this new
world. All their complicated explanations about the physics of a wolf and the society of
our packs were dumbed down so I'd get it. What they failed to realize was I was not a
kid anymore, I was eighteen, and far from stupid. If it weren't for last fall I could be
planning to go be a doctor somewhere and preparing my acceptance into pre-med. Or
saying yes to the offer I got for Graphic Arts in another great college. Yes, maybe I wasn't
as well-rounded in the werewolf community as either of them, but my guess is they
didn't get the culture shock that I did.

It's like when the teacher's had mistaken my schedule in freshman year and placed me
into junior level math classes. At first I had been startled at all the equations that
included others that had been skipped because it's what I should have been learning. But
like everything else I took it in stride, catching on to everything before they even had
time to switch my classes back to normal. In the end I had stayed in the upper classes,
only needing to take the final exams of the two previous year courses to get the credits.
So what made me being changed into a wolf so much different than that? I got the basic
mechanics of being a human down, and it only took me a little while to add in the wolf
parts too.

I am no ignorant child.

There was an outburst from the office and I lazily twisted myself right-side-up again,
desperately wanting to pound on the door to let me in again. But sadly that'd get me
nowhere besides deeper into Rayne's childlike syndrome of me. On the other hand
though, I couldn't stand it being so close and yet so far so I pushed myself up from the
couch and headed to the front door. Pulling on my sneakers I left without notification,
what did they care anyway?

The outdoors felt better than I had hoped, the sun hidden behind a thick layer of clouds
making the air cooler and almost bearable. My muscles rejoiced at the ability to stretch
out and be used under some form of exercise. Despite my best efforts to hide it, there was
still the slightest of limps in my injured leg, making me wince every time it hit the
ground with a less graceful crunch than my fully operating one.

Gritting my teeth I walked on, further into the pack area instead of the wild, I needed a
distraction not more time to think. It was a fairly large pack by most standards, almost
a hundred people living back here where no one noticed them. You had to admit it was
impressive to say the least, sure most of them had jobs somewhere in town but to be
able to skirt around forming relationships with humans was not an easy feat. Over half
of the men had left with Tristan and that left the normally bustling foundation of the
pack grounds calmer. A group of little kids raced past me as I reached the first of the
houses back here; a boy and a girl trying to chase another boy. I was too busy watching
them flit off into the trees to notice that there was another tag-along lagging behind
them, "Wait!"

I turned around to see a familiar looking girl with dark auburn hair, her thin elegant
frame gasping for breath as she finally stopped near where I had ceased walking. "Those
kids are going to be the death of me," Alex said with a puff, blowing a few strands of her
hair out of her eyes.

"Why bother chasing them?" I asked her, remembering how she had been so fierce and
determined during the raid Redwood has placed on us over the winter. She had been the
one to help me go out to save Tristan, her going to help her older sister. Now she was a
ton more relaxed, her silver eyes warm even.

She shrugged with a sigh, "Halden-the little girl-has asthma and I'm supposed to keep
her from running around while her mom's at work. But mix her and those two boys, and
there's bound to be trouble,"

I felt like asking, you've already had your first shift, why can't you be able to catch a
bunch of five year olds? But I kept my mouth shut; I was still a rocky subject among
most of the pack and didn't want to be causing unneeded problems. "You need some
help?"

She subtly looked me up and down, lingering on the gauze that wrapped tightly in a
bandage around my leg. "I'm good, I wouldn't want to cause the Beta's mate any
trouble-"

Her sentence wasn't finished most likely because of the cold look my eyes had taken on
that probably looked more intimidating than meant. It's just no one really knew how
truly sick I was of being treated special, like they needed to tiptoe on eggshells around
me. But instead of taking out my yelling on Alex, it was worth a try to go at a different
angle.

"Please, I'm really sick of being cooped up in the house all the time?" I pleaded, not
needing much acting skills to look desperate.
She smirked but relented, "Fine. But I better not get any heat from the higher ups about
this," she warned, pointing a finger in my direction. I just eagerly nodded and fell into
stride beside her as we headed off after the little kids. It wasn't that hard to know which
direction they headed, their little peals of laughter echoed off the trees to pinpoint their
location with ease.

"Why is it whenever I run into you, you're always sick or injured of some sort?" Alex asked
bluntly when we had gotten close enough to the kids to witness a whisk of blonde hair
trailing behind them.

I cracked a grin, "That I don't know, really. I'll have to work on that for next time."

She let a small smile come from her lips, seeming a little apprehensive about me but I
just brushed it off, at least I was getting to do something. There wasn't much time to say
anything anyway because no sooner had she opened her mouth to speak was there a
shriek from up ahead. Quickly she sped up to catch up to the trio of rambunctious little
kids, me not far behind as I heard the shriek escalate into hiccupped crying.

Coming around the corner of a tree bend the first thing we saw was a little boy with dark
brown hair looking at the ground in front of him with a scared expression, another boy
with his arms crossed glaring at the same spot. On the ground was the blonde girl
sitting, her hands behind her like she had fallen backwards. Tears were streaming down
her face as she tried to get the sound of actual despair out but kept on getting caught
with gasping breaths. Alex bee-lined it in her direction pulling something small out of
her pocket as she kneeled in front of the girl.

While she was doing whatever I looked fords the two boys, the dark haired one looking
up at me, still frightened. "I didn't meaned to scare her," he said with a quivering voice.

"What happened here?" I asked with a soft voice, kneeling down to his eye level. His eyes
were welling up with tears as he looked behind me towards Alex and the girl before
resting back on myself. Before he could answer the other boy grumbled.

"Haldens just being a cry baby. She not really hurt," he said as he huffed. His blonde hair
and blue eyes made me think he was the little girl's brother at the very least.

"Honey, I need you to breath this in so the hiccups will stop," Alex soother Halden,
holding out a breathalyzer towards her. She and I knew that she wasn't suffering from
hiccups; more so asthma attack.

The brunette boy finally said something, pulling my attention to him. "I just wanted to
have fun. I was just going to surprised her by jumping from behind the tree,"

I wasn't much use around children, never really had been able to totally see from their
level. But the scared expression on his face had a little tugging appear on my heart,
making me reach out to touch his arm in a poor attempt at trying to comfort him. He
seemed to disregard that though and accepted it anyway, surprising me. I had been half
expecting him to look at me like I was crazy, but instead he just took a step forward to
rest his head on my shoulder as he finally started crying. My other arm wrapped around
him awkwardly as I tried looking back towards Alex for some sort of help here. But she
had just finally gotten Halden to take a breath in of the breathalyzer. "Crybaby," her
brother muttered again from his spot, with his arms crossed defiantly in front of his tiny
chest, this time looking at the boy in my arms also.

"Is she gonna be alright?" the crying boy muffled through my shirt.

"Yeah, she's... she's fine," I said slowly, anything to get him to stop crying.

"Feel better?" Alex asked Halden, who nodded her head slowly, the last of her tears
fading out as she sniffled. With her answer positive, Alex pocketed the breathalyzer,
before hefting Halden up on her hip as she stood up.

"Are you alright, Brandon." she said looking back at the three of us. The boy in my arms
finally pulled away, allowing me to quickly stand up to avoid being a shoulder to cry on
if he started up again. That probably made me sound cruel, but I truly wasn't used to
children. Maybe I really shouldn't have asked to shadow Alex today...

"Yeah, I is sorry, Halden," he said to her as she peered down from the safety of Alex's
hold. With another sniffle she barely lifted her heard from Alex's shoulder to nod.

"That is alright," she said quietly.

That had to have been one of the cutest exchanges I had ever seen between two people in
my whole life. It made my heart thud n my chest at how adorable these kids were, even
if there had been a lot of crying involved.

Alex smiled softly before turning two the other little boy; "I think you should really
apologize about the name calling, Kyle."

Immediately he shook his head adamantly, "No, they really are crybabies, it ain't name
calling if it is true."

"What would you do if someone scared you?" she asked him.

"I'm not scared of anything, Alex, I'm a big boy," Kyle said as if it was obvious. I covered
my mouth with my hand so he wouldn't see my amused smile when he supposed to be
being reprimanded. I could definitely imagine Tristan acting the exact same way when he
was five, what with the stubborn attitude.
Alex sighed, "Just say sorry to your sister and Brandon,"

He scowled for a moment before dramatically sighing, which made me bite my lip to
keep back the snickering. "I'm sorry," he didn't even look at either of the two other
children but Alex begrudgingly accepted it anyway.

"Now that that's settled, we are going to get you to Chelsea to make sure you won't have
any after affects from your hiccups," she said bouncing Halden a little to make her
giggle.

"Will she give me a lollipop?" she asked, the last traces of her crying disappearing with
her hopeful eyes,

"Maybe if you're good," she teased with a relieved smile, before looking up towards me.

"You still up to tagging along with us cool kids?" she asked with a little bit more of her
teasing tone, probably because she had noticed my apprehensiveness towards the boys.
Heck, a blind man could see that I was a little uncomfortable, but thank goodness I was
stubborn because I just straightened my back and nodded like it was the most obvious
question in the world.

"Well come along then, the crazy train is heading out of here!" she chirped waving for
Kyle and Brandon to follow her as we went back from where we had come from.

Brandon had stopped sniffling along with Halden after seeing she was okay, and now he
fell in step beside me with Kyle walking between me and Alex. I don't know whether or
not offering a hug to the kid was worth adoration, but he still followed along with me
anyway. I hardly remember being a little kid, all but some stray memories of me and my
parents and the park, but I knew I never really had any older kids to really look up to,
until high school when I finally met Quinn's older brother. But let's face it; he's not the
best of influences. I for one knew that I was probably tipping along to his side of the
scale of influentials, and didn't really take liking to the fact that this little boy was
following me around...

Shaking my head I sighed, I was thinking way too much into this. All he was doing was
walking beside me, how much influence could he get from me by walking, maybe a
girlish stride if he paid too much attention? But that was the maximum of rubbing off
that could come from this.

We found Chelsea at what was supposedly to be her house. I had always noted it
strange that the best doctor in the whole oak was a sixteen year old girl who was still in
high school. But it was hard to doubt her skill once she started working on someone.
Within five minutes she was examining Halden's lungs to make sure that she could
breathe properly now that she had had a hit of her medicine. Many times she had been
there to help take care of all the injuries I had sustained over the winter and Rayne's bite
mark on my leg which she had looked at me disapprovingly over when we had come in. I
didn't need to hear it out loud, because her thoughts were always crystal clear across
her face. I shouldn't be walking around when my leg still needed healing, but I wished
she'd hear without me speaking to her directly, that I really didn't give a crap.

"Looks good, seems to be only a minor attack." she noted after taking the stethoscope
away from Halden's chest, "but I think you guys should take it easy for a little while so
your hiccups don't come back again." With a delicate poke to the arm Halden giggled, her
long blonde hair bobbing with the movement.

I had sat through and watched all of this, from the running children, fight, to this and
all throughout everything I couldn't get rid of the thoughts and sadness that missing
Tristan brought out in me. But for some reason the peal of this little girl's laughter
brought it out more, like a shock to the chest, that made me think of a little girl that
would sound just like that.

But of course she'd have dark hair just like her father; and a defiant glint in her eyes like
both of us.

Thinking about me and Tristan having a kid was a little foreign, I mean I had never really
pictured having kids before. And for some reason my fianc didn't really seem like the
guy who would particularly me enamored by the idea of being a father. But the fact was
that he was my fianc, which meant we'd get married, and what was realistically after
that. Children. It's like a big piece of unknown space would be created if the idea of
having kids was extracted from the future plans.

I frowned, I guess I could have kids, they were cute and all, and I'm sure that any child
replicated with Tristan's features would be one of the most adorable things alive; but
was that really enough to base having them on?

My internal debate was interrupted when I realized that Chelsea's lips were moving, her
face expectant for an answer.

"Wait, what?" I asked dumbly, coming back to reality.

She smirked, "I asked how you were doing with Tristan gone?" she asked. The kids had
disappeared down the hall towards a play room where Chelsea's little sister apparently
played in. That left me, her, and Alex left in the room.

"Oh, I guess it's alright...?" I managed out, even though it hurt to bring up the distance
factor between me and him.

Her face softened, "I'm sorry that he had to go, I might not be mated to someone but I've
heard gossip about the bond between the two mates causing distress."
"Yeah, I guess," I said, running a hand through my hair. Distress was the understatement
of the year; I wanted to crawl up the walls with pure anxiety. I had no way of knowing
what he was doing and if it was putting him in dangers way just to prove his manliness.
In the end that's what it really was, because there was no need to go after Ian, if we
waited long enough he'd come to us. But Tristan wanted a personal chance to tear his
throat out because of what he had done to me, and I didn't blame him, but couldn't we
just handle this without risking so much?

"What's it like exactly?" Alex piped in from her seat on the couch, her long legs tucked
under her neatly.

"What's what like?" I asked.

"Having a mate; I mean I've heard about it from my parents, but they're so deeply in love
it's creepy. At least with you and Tristan, it seems real, I mean you guys fight all the
time, and yet you I stick by each other."

"Oh...uh," I paused, trying to the think of the right words, "I guess it's frustrating. But my
opinion is hardly reliable, I still think of this mostly as a normal relationship, the whole
'mating' concept confuses me."

"Well, normal sounds pretty nice about now," she muttered, glancing out window and
leaving me wondering what she was getting on to about. The silence lasted a bit longer
before the two girls got into a conversation I knew nothing about. With another sigh I
knew I was back to where I started today, sitting around doing nothing and letting my
muscles grow weary.

It didn't help that all they really and truly wanted to do was wrap around Tristan and
never let him go. Stupid man he was for leaving like this. And stupid Rayne for laying me
up like this so I would have to be treated with care around my injured leg.

I snorted in my head thinking that with some proper training he probably wouldn't have
been able to close his jaws around my leg when I had been running, at least not without
difficulty. Being able to fight back could've probably prevents a number of scars on my
body that I had, especially the ones that Ian had branded me with.

Suddenly it hit me. Why had I not though of this before? It seemed so obvious now.

Quickly I said goodbye to the two girls and took off back towards the main cabin in
search of Rayne. If I really wanted people to stop seeing me as the equivalent of a child
who had fallen back in the dirt, I needed to prove that I was willing to fight back.
Anyone would see someone who didn't know how to crack a punch as weak.

My mouth was set in a determined smirk the more I thought about it, and by the time I
made it back I was fully prepared to not take no for an answer. There was no hesitation
when I burst into his office, now that the doors were unlocked to see him look up
suddenly from his desk, a momentary look of weariness crossing his face when he saw
the way mine was so hopeful.

"I want you to train me."

Chapter 7: Anyone But You

I couldn't sleep well that night, and I wish I could say it was because the excitement of
learning to fight. No, I woke at three in the morning in a cold sweat and my heartbeat
going frantic. My breath hitched with a half sob that had me wishing Tristan was there
to cling to. But I was alone in an cold bed with the blankets scattered everywhere.

There was no reason for Ian to haunt my dreams, I was safe from him--he was off
hiding somewhere far away. But when everyone else was so on edge about him that I
knew he was a man of his word when he had said he wouldn't stop until I was his. In the
nightmare's he had his hands clasped gently around my neck from behind my back,
fingers searing a rough imprint of them deep into my skin. His lips had been millimeters
away from my ear whispering warm breaths of something I couldn't comprehend. All I
knew was that he was out there, and he hadn't forgotten about me.

So I lay there in the bed, turned onto my side and trying to concentrate on the night sky,
the moon slowly waning and dimming the light drifting in through the curtains. Tristan
was one hard-headed fool if he thought going on a wild goose chase was a better way
to protect the pack rather than actually protecting us here against an attack. Now was
a perfect time if any vengeful pack wanted to take its aggression out on us; half the
fighters were gone! A small part of me that was determined to be unafraid actually
wanted Ian to come back so I could end this all myself. Instead everyone else insisted on
doing my dirty work because I was too innocent. I'm sure innocent people had strong
instincts to sink their teeth into other people's throats and proceed in tearing them out.

With a growl I turned back around roughly beating my pillow a bit to make myself more
comfortable but nothing was working. Eventually after enough tossing and turning to
give a washing machine a run for its money I decided the attempts on going back to
sleep were useless. Swinging my feet over the edge I sat up and straightened my tank
top because it had nearly wound itself all the way around my torso. My bare feet
padded across the floor as I quietly left into the hallway, the house seemed totally
induced in deep slumber.

Television sounded like a useless waste of time; I had nearly memorized the TV schedule
after a week of only being in front of the stupid contraption. Like that would give me
any answers to the questions that were berating my thoughts. Was I just a mutant that
had murderous tendencies because I was created wrong? What if it wasn't the wolf in
me, but me in particular?

As I passed the living room, I looked further down to where the office was. No light
escaped the closed door so I could only imagine that Rayne was asleep like everyone
else. Just as long as he wasn't slumped over his desk I could probably spend the
remainder of the night in there. My hand closed around the cool metal of the handle and
twisted, the door swinging lightly inward without a single creak. It was dark, but the
illumination from the window helped me confirm that it was empty. Silently I released a
held breath, thankful that he was up in bed, because if he was still down here I wouldn't
get another chance to sneak into the office.

Books lined all the walls in cases that were nearly ceiling high, making the medium sized
room more of a cozy smaller room. I had no idea how they were organized, so I just
gazed at all the titles searching for something in nature of werewolves. Surprisingly
there were a lot of books that I knew were based on lore instead of truth in the Everdeen
collection. I just snatched random books and settled into the chair in front of the desk,
flicking the lamp on while splaying the books out, cracking open the first.

And thus began my nights of no sleep.

"What do you mean you aren't going to train me?" I asked the next morning, a yawn
caught in my throat, making my anger seem softened. Rayne held up a finger for me to
be quiet as he was on the phone. I knew he was talking to Tristan again, and if I strained
my ears hard enough I could hear the faint timber of his voice through the phone pressed
tightly to Rayne's ear. Neither of them sounded particularly happy with whatever they
were talking about but I wasn't getting an inkling on the topic.

I ground my teeth together stayed quiet in hopes that I might be able to hear something
on Tristan's whereabouts. After a week and a half of him being gone it could be
reasonable that he'd covered a lot of ground and the connection between the two of us
was thinning out.

But before I could find anything out Rayne hung up and finally turned back towards me.
"What were you saying?" he asked, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck.

Now I stood from my chair, leaning my hands on his desk that he stood behind, "I asked,
what do you mean you aren't going to to train me? You said you would yesterday"

"Correction. I said you could be trained, not that I would train you."

"So then who is going to train me, I meant it when I said I wanted to learn how to fight. I
can't stand being a helpless victim any longer--" I started to argue, but he held a hand
up in front of me to stop me.

"I know. I know. That's why I asked the best fighter we have to come back from the hunt
to come and train you." He relented, sitting down and reclining in his desk chair with a
sigh. "I just got off the phone with Tristan and he said that the person I sent for
yesterday should be here in a about an hour,"

For a brief moment I got excited that Tristan would be coming back because from what
I'd heard he was a great fighter when it came down to it, even though I'd barely seen it
put into action. But there had to be someone better according to Rayne's tone of voice.
"Who is it?" I said slowly.

He cracked a grin, "I'm afraid you won't like my answer, so I'll leave that for you to find
out when he gets here."

My eyes narrowed but Rayne had been tense lately and fighting wouldn't get me far with
him. So that left me to address my impatient side and attempt to keep myself occupied
for a whole hour or so. As business-like as he could be Rayne studied a pile of papers
collected on his desk, a pen poised to make notes on the margins. So I wandered around
the office like I hadn't been there only five hours previous taking notes of my own and
searching for answers. I slid a book off of the shelf like I hadn't already been halfway
through scouring through its pages and glanced at it as if it was brand new to me. He
didn't even give a glance in my direction as I plopped down in the chair facing the
window and propped my legs up in the sill, casually opening to a not-so-random page.

I wanted to know the history of werewolves, how they came to be and what made them
so.
According to the lore I found thus far the two biggest leads I had was people who went
mad from spending too much time under the full moon and turning into feral monsters,
or a disease that swept through the population in the early fourteenth century. And since
I remember Chelsea mentioning at one point that the latter was part of the were
heritage I narrowed it down from there. Not to say that the other myths didn't have
valid points in all their fantasy. I did in fact only shift under a full moon and it was
because of an animal instinct. My senses were heightened and I was able to lift heavier
objects and run faster. So all that was true, but I had yet to find silver frightening.

It is a terrible process to go through a bunch of fairy tales and try to pick the truth out
of them, but a night full of sleeplessness provided an empty canvas to work with.

The book I had picked up was a bunch of tales involving werewolves and none of them
seemed too pleasant. There was lots of murder and kidnapping of innocent humans
(mostly women by vicious male werewolves) but there were a few that went into the act
of females luring men to their deaths with seduction. Realistically it was absurd, but on
a deeper level the thrill of a kill appealed to that small not so human part of me that
remained when my wolf went into its month long slumber.

Aggravated with those thoughts, I snapped the book shut, decidingly done with its
contents. One could only take so much gore before wanting to get up and forget about
it. Turning the chair around I realized Rayne had snuck out on me and the office was
empty once more. There was the faint hum of a car engine coming closer and my heart
spiked a bit. It could very well have been another hour I had spent in here reading
information, so that meant that the car could be bringing my fighting teacher. With a
smile, I placed the book back onto the shelf and hurried out of the office.
There were a few pack members eating lunch in the kitchen, supplied by a very generous
Mrs. Everdeen, since she was practically the pack mom. Food was constantly being
shuffled through that poor kitchen and I could only imagine in would last another few
years before needing yet another update. The front door opened, and I barely paused to
give Tristan's mom a wave before hurrying after Rayne out the door.

There was in fact one of the jeeps I recognized leaving with Tristan's group, coming back
down the unpaved path to the pack house. A thrill passed through me; ever since last
nights nightmares I had been eager to learn how to properly clock Ian in the mouth,
instead of hurting my hand more than his face. If there was one thing that I hated to
happen, it was him to come after Tristan and if he caught my mate off guard I wanted
to be able to protect instead of watch helplessly. When Ian had nearly killed Tristan in
the raid my reaction had been on pure instinct, but I couldn't rely on instinct when I
needed to have more power than an adrenaline rush. I needed control.

The jeep came to a stop near the porch, its tires screeching in protest at the sudden jolt.
Two guys got out of the backseat, I couldn't remember their names, but I knew they were
some of the younger ones, probably no older than eighteen. Then around from the
driver's seat came Wes, a terrible scowl placed on his face.

My eyebrow scrunched in confusion, I could bet my well supplied collection of t-shirts,

that neither of the younger ones could be considered the 'best fighter' the pack had. So
that left only... "You've got to be kidding me," I snarled, Rayne had been correct when he
said I wasn't going to like who they sent back for me.

"Oh, I'm not happy about it either, sweetheart," Wes, drawled sarcastically walking up to
Rayne to pass a handshake. "Tristan sends his regards, and that there is no real leads as
of yet."

"He told me as much over the phone," Rayne said with a roll of the eyes. "But whatever.
Do you want to catch some sleep or eat before you start with Sam?"

Wes gave me another glacial glance, before sighing, "No, I might as well get started as
soon as possible, I've got a lot of ground to cover with a newbie."

The Everdeen brother's had managed to pick out practically the worst person to train
me, maybe in the whole pack. I swear the guy hated me with every breath he breathed,
looked down on me like some disgusting insect he stepped on and made a mess on his
shoe. It could very possibly just be the fact that I was a human, and perhaps he hated
humans in general, but there was a vibe that was particularly directed towards me.

"Very well, have at it, just don't cause too much damage or Tristan will have your head,"
Rayne said nonchalantly before waving towards me and walking back inside. I gawked in
my head, what an alpha he was, giving this man free opportunity to rip me to shreds.
Great.

Wes just gave a signal with his hand and walked off expecting me to follow him, which I
did with grinding teeth. Probably dragging me off to some secluded area of the woods
where not even supersonified werewolf hearing could pick up my screams. I would have
to make sure to put any skills I obtained to use on Tristan if I managed to live through
this.

We stopped not far offthank goodnessand I was nearly thrown off balance when all
of a sudden Wes lunged at me.

What the I screeched, but pivoted so his grasp didnt fully catch my arm. But
unfortunately after that brief burst of speed, he managed to lock his well muscled arm
around my throat, holding me tightly in a choke hold. My eyes widened briefly in fear
over how close this was to my dreams of Ian the night before, and my pulse spiked, but I
tried to force myself to calm down. No matter how human-hating Wes was, there
wasnt any way he was as crazy as Ian or Tristan would have never kept him around.
Let go, you jerk, I growled, trying to pry him away with my hands but he was more
solid than he appeared.

He chuckled humorlessly, Im testing your abilities, Sam. Sadly I dont have much to
work on if you cant even manage to dodge that one.

I twisted my head enough to sink my teeth into his forearm, causing him to release me
enough to allow me loose. I couldnt taste blood, so I knew I didnt bite him awfully hard
but I hated being contained by people I couldnt trust. Not the most conventional
method, but it works, I spat, trying to get rid of the taste in my mouth.

Perhaps, Wes said with a sigh, But biting people isnt going to get you out of
everything.

Oh, and you have a move that will get me out of absolutely everything? I asked
sarcastically, cocking a hand at my hip.

Unfortunately no, and more unfortunately Im going to have to teach you basics
everybody here learned when they were around ten. He sighed, looking up into the sky
with a scowl, This is going to be one long day,
Chapter 8: Because I Said So
God, you must be from the deepest pit of hel... I growled out between pants as I
rested the palms of my hands on my knees. Before I could finish my sentence Wes
snapped his fingers like I was some kind of dog.
Less talking and more running, I dont have time for your idle comments, he said
evenly, before turning his head to the side to crack his neck. We had just run three miles
in the sweltering heat and he had hardly broken a freaking sweat. I swear sometimes I
felt like the only miserable one in this place.
Im not running another minutethis is ridiculous. Theres no point in you forcing
me to run five miles every morning before the crack of dawn when your point could
easily be achieved in one.
It was such a good thing I had found a Monster in the fridge before strapping on
running shoes this morning or Id be a sleeping heap on the side of the trail. When Rayne
had snidely remarked to me that training wasnt going to be easy, I didnt think it would
be because he gave me a guy who lives to torture me as my trainer. Okay that was
probably a bit extreme, Wes would rather I didnt exist entirely rather than be tortured,
but since he couldnt eradicate me, making me run five miles at five in the morning would
have to suffice.
My breath hadnt even caught up to me when Wes started running again, clearly
expecting me to follow. With a deep guttural groan I forced my legs to move one step at
a time until I had built up a fast enough rhythm to keep up with him at a safe distance.
There were reasons why I had never been on the track team, and me hating running was
definitely one of them. My feet pounded on the dirt ungracefully while the guy in front of
me moved without sound. If I had to list all the things that were downright disgustingly
awful about Wes theyd go on forever. But theyd include the fact that he thought he
was better than anyone else and even worse, could prove that he actually was.
Our days for the past week had started exactly like this, with almost identical
thoughts as what was running thru my head. Yesterday had been at least bearable
because Alex had decided to tag along with us on our morning routine and pestering him
nonstop with questions.
Whats it like to be on a search team? Has there been any headway on the
investigation, any stragglers from the Redwood pack? What about any rival packs, did
there have to be disputes?
Now, I had asked all the same questions, but had gotten the cold you are so
undeserving shoulder but luckily Mr. Im Perfect forgot that with my heightened hearing I
could hear all the answers he had supplied for Alex. Maybe it was the way her auburn
swooshed from its high pony tail as she trotted on ahead of me right next to Wes stride
for stride, or her undying curiosity for the thrill of a fight, but somehow she got
underneath his skin in a good way. And here I was thinking he was an emotionless sadist
but at one point I could have sworn I saw a genuine smile come from his lips. Then
again, maybe he was only like that around me. In any case, being the annoying pest
that I enjoyed being, I goaded him about his emotions.
So whats up with you and Alex? I asked panting from a few steps behind him on
the trail. The burn in my legs wasnt going away so I tried to breathe in more air to
oxidize my blood but it only made me sound like I was wheezing myself to death.
Another reason why I wasnt a seasoned track runner. It was so much simpler to run in
wolf form, why even bother when I only had two legs to use.
He gave me a sideways glance of annoyance but I persisted, pushing myself so I was
trotting on right next to him. The man must run marathons in his free time because he
hadnt broken a sweat or tossed a single hair out of place that wasnt already so from
bed head. What in the world do you mean? he asked in a bored tone, like a parent
getting tired of their idiotic child.
You were like showing human characteristics towards her. Thats got to mean
something since you are practically made of steel. He makes Tristan look like a lovesick
puppy.
I could practically hear his eyes roll in his head, Whatever.
That isnt an answer. Does someone have a little crush on someone else? I gushed
overdramatically, reaching my hand over to push him on the shoulder. My movement
only managed to make him falter a step and since I knew that I hadnt been able to faze
him with any physical movements before it meant my words had something do with it.
Jackpot. You do, dont you!
The look on his face was almost disgust, Shes a kid.
It was my turn to roll my eyes, Is not--shes sixteen--which is only four years
younger than yourself.
He was quiet for a few moments before finally speaking, Just keep running.
There really wasnt anymore conversation between the two of us until we had
finished our run (and I collapsed for a good half hour) until we had moved back to
hand-to-hand combat. Id like to think I was getting pretty good at it because I could
actually punch him in the side once and awhile but his love for criticizing me deflated my
ego.
If you think youre so good, come at me. He goaded, getting into a low defensive
position, hands outstretched and eyes alert.
I swallowed my apprehension and bent lower to get better agility, my head trying to
wrap around the best way to take him down. He was pretty used to me trying fake-outs
so my best bet would be to just go for my initial direction, a fake-fake-out. If I managed
to lunge at the exact moment, there was a good chance he would lean towards the one
side to block me and his balance would be shifted enough that my momentum from the
other side would take him to the ground. My decision making must have been too slow
in my head, because when I tried it, he easily blocked me. I ran smack into his chest and
before I could do anything about it his vice-like arms had wrapped around me and used
my own movement against me to make me go straight to the ground in a body slam.
Have I told you I hate you lately? I groaned as I rolled over to my side to relieve
some of the pain that shot up the muscles in my back. I really had to work on not
tensing up right before I got slammed into something.
More like, have you told me that Im right lately? And no, you havent, but you can
commence doing so now. He didnt even offer me a hand up as he stood there with that
stupid smug smirk. Maybe every stupid male in this pack was a jerk of some degree. If so,
I think I should consider relocating to somewhere more people friendly. Slowly I got to
my feet by myself, dragging my knees on the ground as I worked to pull my legs up. This
was going to hurt tonight.
You havent been right about anything yet, so I dont see why I should lie. I spat,
fixing my pony tail yet again.
He raised an eyebrow in amusement, Oh yeah? Ive been right that you arent met
here because you really arent. Just a human trying to fit into some fairytale romance, is
it everything you wanted? My fingers clenched at my sides, nails dragging against my
palms. You think you can just up and waltz in here like you belong and expect
everybodys cooperation with an intruder. Tristan must have lost his mind to let someone
like you worm your way into his house. Some Beta he is to invite the enemy right in thru
the front door with open arms; it disgusts me.
I had been fine with controlling my temper thus far in this god-awful week, but that
could be because Wes hadnt even touched the subject of Tristan. What kind of low-life
ground his best friends name into the dirt when their back was turned? With a vengeful
snarl I lunged for him, arms already outstretched to grab a hold of his neck.
My fingers actually seized the base of his neck and I allowed my nails to dig deep
into his skin as my momentum took us both to the ground. It was such sweet victory to
see that smug smile slip off his lips for a moment and to have his eyes widen a fraction
of an inch. But it didnt last for long because the moment I landed on top of him he
turned the tables and flipped us over so harshly my head jarred as it cracked onto the
ground. His one hand wrapped around my neck to press it further into the dirt and
probably to keep me from snapping at him with the only body part still free; my arms
and legs trapped underneath his weight.
His eyes were such a steely silver it made me swallow my obscenities as he leaned in
closer, You cant let your anger get control of your actions, because it will be your
biggest liability. Any opponent can rile up the other and eventually it will get you killed.
There is a reason that Tristan isnt the best fighter in this pack and its because of the
exact reason that youre pinned to the ground right now; dont let people get under your
skin.
His face was a mere few inches away from mine boring holes into my eyes as if
daring for me to argue against his warning. Instead my jaw clenched and ground my
teeth together both because I didnt want him to slam my head back into the ground
again and I could hardly breathe with the hold he had on my neck.
With a quick growl he pulled himself off of me and up onto his feet. I heard his steps
walk back towards the pack house but I didnt get up myself. Why hadnt I just stayed
inside and done nothing today?

Later that evening I was lounged in Raynes office reading yet another book on
werewolf lore; an ice pack pressed against the back of my head. It was a freaking miracle
I didnt have a concussion from Wess treatment. I thought the blockhead was supposed
to teach me how to fight, not throw me around like a rag doll for his own amusement.
A yawn escaped my lips as I reread the same sentence for the umpteenth time.
Countless nights with no sleep were finally catching up to me, especially since it was
coupled with hours of training each day and the stress of not having heard from Tristan
in two weeks. As I took a sip of the coffee I was becoming more and more accustomed to
I used my free hand to flip the page of the book I had just started. It focused on folklore
in the area that both Mooncreak and Redwood had been created on, but I had only
gotten through the boring intro which was mostly tales on other myths such as faeries
and vampires. All the fair skin and feeding on peoples souls was starting to get to me.
With a frustrated sigh I set the book open faced down on the desk and stared up at
the ceiling. While the rest of the house was sleeping soundly I was the only one basked in
lamplight, even though it was only eleven. I needed something to work after this long
hard week that was looking like it was going nowhere. I needed Tristans voice.
The Gods answered my plea because not moments after I had closed my eyes the
phone was ringing. I jolted in the chair, staring blankly at the phone for a few rings.
Realizing that it might very well awaken the rest of the house I quickly answered.
Hello?
There was a couple seconds of silence before I heard the sweetest sound all week,
Sam? Tristan sounded very confused at me answering Raynes phone but I didnt care.
My feet fell off the place they were propped up on the desk as I sat on the edge of
my seat, Dear god, you dont know how much I needed you to call.
What? Why? Did something happen? the sudden alertness in his voice made me
even more elated that he was on the other end.
No, nothing like that. It its just nice to hear your voice,
Dont get me worked up like that Samantha, you have no idea what Ive been
through this past couple weeks and the last thing I needed to hear was you freaking
out. Tristan, like everyone else I had come into contact sounded annoyed and genuinely
tired of my presence. And I had only been talking to him for twenty seconds. I could
already feel my back molars being ground down. Couldnt I get some kind of break?
Yeah? Well I dont know what the hell youve been doing because you refuse to talk
to me. Neither you or your stupid brother will give me the time of day. Im not trying to
sound like the nagging girlfriend or anything, but you cant just propose to someone
and randomly disappear for weeks on end with no contact whatsoever. Dont give me
shit for caring.
He sighed tiredly and I could practically hear him running a hand through his hair,
Why are you even in Raynes office? I needed to talk to him.
Hes asleep like everyone else in this house besides me, because I cant. But you
know what? You can call him in the morning. As for me, you can talk to me when you
come home after realizing that your macho parade chasing after Ian is idiotic. Bye.
Quickly before I could change my mind, I hung up the receiver. I couldnt take this
anymore; I needed to scream my lungs out before I imploded. The world was against me
and not in a teen angst sort of way.
Grabbing my book to have something clutch to I left the office and next the house.
The woods were thick with moisture from a recently passed storm, but the sky was clear
enough to make out stars. All I had wanted was one person who didnt look down on
me as a burden anymore, and Tristan couldnt help with anything. He was off on his
own jealousy issues and leaving me here to go insane. He should be the one helping me
train; doing anything with me. How was I supposed to trust the man with my heart
when I couldnt even trust him not let his need to get back at Ian come between us?
As I travelled further from the house I dragged my nails along random trees,
needing to feel something physical besides the internal fury. I just needed to get far
enough from the pack house that if I screamed no one would wake up because of it. The
last thing I needed was somebody to think something bad was going down and then feel
like I was a child throwing a tantrum. Normal adults needed to release pent up energy
just as much as kids did, but I had a feeling no one was going to see eye-to-eye with
me.
The book I was reading was pocket sized so I stuffed it into my sweatshirt pocket so I
could use the hand to grasp at my engagement ring that was hanging around my neck.
With all the physical fighting going on I hadnt wanted it to get chipped or lost so I
attached it to a long chain around my neck so that it could slip below the neckline of my
clothing. Tugging it so it pulled against the back of my neck I let out the start of a
strangled sob which quickly turned into a full-out scream of frustration.
Screw all of them. They could run around like chickens with their heads cut off for
all I care.
I slumped against a tree with my head resting on my knees, breathing heavily. God, I
was so done. I couldnt defend myself worth a lick, couldnt locate what in the world
was wrong with me, and couldnt convince anybody to see my opinions.
My ears perked up at the sound of another set of footsteps that made me lift my
head to see over the bridge of my crossed arms. I swear if it was Rayne coming to lecture
me about the dangers of being out in the woods at night, Id bite his head off. But before
I could turn my head around to snarl in his direction there was the slightest of pinpricks
on the side of my neck and the brush of an unfamiliar hand.
And everything went black.
Chapter 9: Out Of Nowhere
The first thing I noticed when I came to was a pungent sweetness to the air around
me. That and my hands were bound behind my back as I lay on top of them. I wouldnt
have been able to know that they were behind me except that my shoulders were turned
backwards; besides that my arms were so numb I wouldnt have been able to tell the
difference between myself and a double amputee.
I opened my eyes--kind of afraid of what Id see when I did--but it was pitch black.
It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the confines I was in and slowly the
edges of a small box formed around me. Oh dear god, am I in a freaking coffin? No, no
thereI couldnt be dead. I was breathing, my heartbeat was beating frantically;
therefore I had to be alive. Plus, unlike a coffin there was a low rumbling that shook the
whole box softly. But what did that sound like? It was extremely familiar, but
Before I needed to deduce that the whole place jolted and my body left the ground
for a second. When I came back down the side of my head smacked into a metal rod.
Car--Im most definitely in a trunk. And my face was probably lying on a tire iron. There
was hardly enough room for me to twist around so I was back on my back again instead
of my side, so I stopped squirming and tried to take deep breaths. Okay, so the last thing
I remember was thinking that Wes or Rayne had come to find me in the woods
obviously it hadnt been either of them because I highly doubt either of them would want
to tie me up and throw me in a trunk. Never-mind, Wes probably would have wanted to,
but I dont think he wouldve acted on it. My heartbeat started pounding in my ears
when I came to the last resort.
Ian.
But I didnt recognize his scent in the woods, so that meant that it couldnt have
been him, right? My mind wasnt cooperating with my panicking and helped me
remember that no one else had been able to catch his scent, so he couldve very well
masked it. I have to get out of here, now! I started wiggling around again, attempting to
untie my hands but they were tied together with a zip tie that was digging gashes in my
skin every time I tried wrenching it off. The small trunk was even getting smaller with Ian
driving the car; there was no way I could go back to him. I wanted to cry. I wanted to
scream. But who would hear me over the roar of a car on a road? It was useless.
There was a rag tied around my neck but it was pretty loose so I think it had to have
been tied around my face but fell off. Tucking my chin in, I felt the moisture coming off of
the rag and immediately the sweet scent became more prominent. So it had to be some
sort of drug, maybe chloroform? What in the world do I know? Why am I worried about
what drug they used, when Im kidnapped?
How long was I gone? Had anybody even noticed? I had disappeared in the middle
of the night without anyone knowing I was even up besides Tristan who was not only at
least three states away but had thought I just went to bed angry. I should have just gone
to bed angry; at least there I wouldnt be hitting my cheek bone on metal every time the
car hit a pothole.
My mind was going crazy, but the longer the car drove on the more quiet my
thoughts became. We had hit a soft stretch of asphalt and the humming of the car was
becoming monotonous to make me tired. But just as I was slipping into sleep, the car
stopped moving. And I was wide awake once again.
What do I do? What am I supposed to do? As cheesy as it seemed, I thought back to
all the movies I had seen where someone had been kidnapped. A door slammed from the
cabin of the car and I had known I had no time to decide between methods, so I
pretended to be back asleep. There were heavy footsteps going around the car and the
jingling of keys before a door opened near the trunk. Whoever it was mustve stepped
gone into wherever the door led because their steps were muted, but it didnt take them
long to come back. The trunk opened with a click and cool air hit my heated body, the
sensation was such a relief that I almost sighed, but managed to refrain myself. I hadnt
even realized how hot the trunk had gotten since I had woken up until new air was
ventilated through. Mustve been all my heavy panicked breathing.
Two hands grabbed onto my sides and hauled me out of the trunk. I made their
effort harder by allowing my body to sag and have the dead weight make me heavier,
but they still picked me up with ease. Since they were evidently strong enough to hold
me to their chest with one arm and used the other to shut the trunk, which meant they
were either inhuman or very strong. I expected them to be rough and handle me like a
sack of mulch, but they cradled me bridle style through the doorway.
Another door shut, the movement of his body suggesting he pushed it with his foot
and he walked me across the room before placing me down on a soft surface. A bed. If
possible, my heart kicked it up another notch at what possible things a kidnapper would
want to have me on a bed for. I heard him walk back towards the door and the distinct
click of a metal latch. Then he walked back towards me, but passed the bed and there
was another shut of a door.
There were no more footsteps, so I waited thirty seconds before cracking open an
eye. I was in a motel room; the outdated furniture and comforter on the bed were
enough proof for that. My head was turned towards where the guy had disappeared and
there was light coming from underneath the door, and soon enough the sound of a
shower running softly enveloped the room.
I shot up off the bed, standing right beside it looking for a way out. First things first,
these stupid restraints had to come off of my hands. Sidling up to one of to the headrest
of the bed, I looped my arms around a post. Once the zip-tie was tight against the
wood, I suddenly let my body weight collapse to bring enough force against the plastic
to have it snap in half. One would think Id been kidnapped before with my extensive
knowledge of getting out of restraints But besides the bed posts, it seemed that was
the only thing in the room that would help me somehow. The windows were useless
because I knew that they wouldnt open, and Im pretty sure the sound of glass breaking
would alert whoever it was in the bathroom that I wasnt asleep like they thought. The
door wouldve been fine if he hadnt had locked the door with a freaking padlock that I
bet he had the key with him.
Crap. There was no way I was letting him do whatever he wanted to me without a
fight, so I looked around the room again, this time for some sort of weapon to use
against him. The lamps were bolted to the nightstands and that was basically all there
was. So here I was in only a tank top and shorts, locked in a room with the man who
kidnapped me and possibly wants to do something worse. Plus my mind was running a
blank on every single thing that Wes said about hand to hand combat, so I was pretty
screwed. It was even worse that the shower turned off, making my head snap in the
direction of the door.
Silently I crept over to the side of the bed furthest away from the bathroom and
crouched below the level of the bed so he couldnt see me when he walked out. I counted
the seconds in my head until the door swung open and steam poured out.
Its a very tiny room Samantha, so theres no point in hiding he sighed, and I
couldnt help that I felt relieved that his voice wasnt Ians. He wasnt Ian. But he still
was a guy who had the nerve to snatch me from the woods and drag me to only god
knows where.
His footsteps werent nearly as quiet as I had been, the thick clunk of boots against
the wood all too clear to my ears. How in the world did he sneak up on me sounding like
that? He shouldve cracked every twig in a twenty-five foot radius. I waited until his
footstep lead him to right in front of where I was crouching before I launched myself at
him with a battle cry. He was taller than I had anticipated and I caught him right in the
stomach, knocking the air out of him and slamming into the wall. His animalistic growl
proved to me furthermore he was one of us. Quickly I cracked the palm of my upwards
against his jaw to his neck snap back into the mirror on the wall. Just as soon as I heard
the sickening sound of cracking glass on skin his hand shot up to seize my wrist and
wrench my arm behind me with a painful twist. God, it felt like he was tearing the
tendons in my shoulder from their socket, but I refused to cry out in agony; instead only
a whimper escaped my lips.
I brought the heel of my foot down onto the top of his, but couldnt use enough
force to have it hurt through his thick boots. At least they were good for something. He
used his other arm to wrap around my neck and squeeze until I saw spots in my vision.
His hold on me allowed him to throw me back in the direction of the bed, but I didnt
make it all the way on top of it and bounced back to the ground with a hiss.
There was just no luck for me in fighting. But then again, I have been trying to take
down full grown men that have trained their whole lives. I slid myself until I was sitting
up with my back against the wall, arms and legs ready to attack anything that comes
within a foot of touching me. What the hell? Mr. Kidnapper growled, feeling the back
of his head, most likely checking for shattered glass.
He was scrawnier than I wouldve thought, not skinny but built with a lean, muscled
body tone. Kind of like Tristan except stretched a couple inches taller. His mop of hair
was dark from the shower but probably would dry to some shade of brown, and of
course he had silver eyes that looked like they wanted to smite me where I sat.
Really, what the hell? You must be an invalid to think you can kidnap me and not
have me fight back somehow, I yelled back at him, involuntarily shrinking into the wall
further when he took a step forwards.
He noticed my reaction and instead of advancing further towards me, he resumed
his previous spot and swore under his breath. Then he started pacing back between the
edge of the bed and the door, seemingly muttering to himself. Dear god, hes insane. He
most definitely seemed pissed, but dammit he mustve been the worst kidnapper ever to
think Id go willingly. Oh, you want to tie me up and drag me to a hotel in the middle of
nowhere? Sure, why the heck not! That seems realistic.
 While he was pacing like a madman, I examined the damage to my wrists. Those
things mustve been real tight because there was a ring of cuts around each hand from
where I had tried to tear it off. And I had thought the indentations from leaving a hair tie
on my wrist too long had been bad. The rest of me looked okay, no blood gushing out
from a gash or anything. So how about we end this party now and you can let me go, I
reasoned, getting tired of his constant footsteps.
He looked at me with nothing but a sarcastic sneer. I shrugged, Hey, a girl has to
try. At least tell me why you decided to snatch me up
How about no. he replied curtly, keeping up with his tempo. If I didnt know better,
I could say he was nervous about something. Did I make him that nervous? You wouldnt
think so since he was apparently quite capable of handling me when I decided to
organize an escape. So it couldnt be me, was there a second person?
Fine. But it seems only fair that you know my name, that you tell me yours, I
pleaded. I just needed to know who I was dealing with; a name would give me that kind
of leverage. Something to make him a human and not a creature wanting to tear me
apart. He didnt speak for a few minutes; the only sound was the heavy tread of his
boots. I glanced at the clock to see that it was night time, but the day after he took me
from the woods. Was anybody looking for me yet? Did they notify Tristan that I was
gone?
My names Jay, he finally sighed, halting with his pacing. Jay. That was an awfully
tame name for a crazy kidnapper. I wouldve guessed something rough n tough like
Charles or Roger. Great, now Im going insane too.
You know, Jay, Ive got a very protective mate that tends to not like when people
kidnap me, especially people that will do me harm, I was awful at sounding
threatening, but hopefully the mention of a mate would get him scared. Especially my
mate.
Were hours away from your pack, and I happen to know Tristan isnt in town
anyway; hes in the opposite direction from Mooncreak that we are. Plus, Im not the one
hes going to be after,
There was a loud knock on the door, and both of our heads shot over in the
direction of it. What the hell did he mean by saying Tristan wouldnt be out after him? I
mean, unless Jay was working for someone else
The door opened and I swear my life flashed before my eyes. My muscles seized up
and chills went up my spine with enough force to make me want to curl up in the fetal
position. I shouldnt have been surprised that Ian was behind this; in fact I knew it all
along. I also shouldnt be so scared by his presence, he was just a man. A man that filled
my nightmares and had me quaking in fearbut still just a man. Ian looked the same as
he had when I last saw him: tall, commanding, and cocky. He knew how I felt about him
and relished in the fact he was going against my wishes. Well, I wouldnt let him have
me.
Its been such a long time, Samantha. Ian smiled and turned towards Jay, You did
a good job, and I trust that you went undetected. Jay just nodded and stepped back.
I glared up at him, Tristan is going to tear you limb from limb when he finds out
what youve done, Ian.
Thats if he can even find me, God, I hated how he was so sure of himself. Why
couldnt he just loose his faade for once and realize that not everything was going to
go his way. He had a mate, and I was someone elses; it doesnt matter what happened
to his to make him want me. It was bad enough that I had to play puppet to my wolf
self, but there wasnt a way I was going to bow down and accept him.
Oh, hell find you. And when he does Im going to let him kill you once and for all,
Im done trying to see if you have a decent side, because you just dont know when to
give up. Wasnt getting run out of the area after your failed attack bad enough? I
sneered, probably laying it on too thick towards someone who had my life in their
hands.
He kneeled before me, merely a few feet away from me being able to kick him in his
sorry face. His brown hair was still cut in its clean cut, yet somehow shaggy way, eyes
not giving way to the madness that lay within.
Believe me darling, your knight in shining armor wont know where to even start
looking for you.
I bared my teeth in a silent snarl, We are mates, you know. Theres a connection
that lets us know where the other is and hell find me through that. Im not the only
reason he wants to tear your throat out anyway, so dont go thinking hell lose any fire
by losing interest in me with distance.
Now Ians smile grew wider as he leaned in closer, eyes making me freeze from
launching out towards him. I could see in my peripheral vision Jay turn away from us
and look towards the window. Youre not going to be bound much longer, theres a way
to sever the connection between you two.

Chapter 10: You're Mine Now
He had to be lying. Bluffing. Anything. There was just no way that Ian had the
power in him to break the bond between me and Tristan. But if I was so sure of being
able to call his bluff, why was I practically shaking in fear? Now, it could be because he
was only mere inches from having his face close up on mine, but it could also be because
somewhere, deep down, I knew that he was telling the truth. It was just the glint in his
eyes that made me gulp down my anxiety; he knew he had me trapped and loved
watching me squirm.
Yeah right, I tried to scoff sarcastically, but it came out raspy. My throat was
suddenly so dry and I could feel my pulse point throb through the mark that Tristan had
given me, a warning sign. Right now, that was the only thing tying me and him no
matter what happened. I was almost positive that he could sense my utter distress
through the link, but had no way to prove it. He could be going on his merry way
through the woods, hunting for the man that was coincidentally right in front of me--
knowing nothing.
Ian cocked his head to the side, silver irises boring into my eyes. I refused to back
down, if this ended up being a ploy I didnt want to be the one to cave. He has no control
over me. I repeated my mantra over and over, hoping that it would be true. You think
Im lying? Well, well see if you still think so when Im done with you.
Next thing I knew he hauled me up from my sitting position so I was pinned
standing against the wall. A course of adrenaline kicked through me again and the
courage helped me lash out at him, attempting a backhand to his face. But he saw the
movement before it could come into contact with his face and snatched my hand from
midair by the wrist before slamming it against the wall along with my other arm. With
my arms being immobilized, I hardly noticed him using his lower body weight to press
my legs back too, leaving me totally helpless.
I barely caught a glance of his face again--his eyes morphed into an animalistic
black filled with hunger and canines extended enough to harmbefore he dove in for my
neck. There was a second of hesitation on his part, his warm breath basking on my neck
that sent shivers of fear down my spine. He isnt going to do what I think he is going to
do I felt his teeth sink into the skin on the opposite side that Tristans mark was, the
sudden jolt causing me to let out a scream. Whatever physical pain Wes or Jay had
caused me in the past twenty-four hours was nothing in comparison to the
psychological torture that was flashing through my mind. Even my wolf was writhing in
pain; this wasnt supposed to happen, she-wolves werent meant to have two mates
marking them. I couldnt believe it was even me when my scream turned bloodcurdling,
my mind was already far away as I watched the strings that held me and Tristan
together be snipped in half. Flashes of pictures came to my mind of Tristan suddenly
dropping to the ground as he cried out in the same agony I was going through. If there
had been no notice of anything being wrong with me, he now knew that everything was
terribly destroyed. As much pain as I was in, I hated seeing him suffering so. I wanted to
shut my eyes towards everything but it had to be part of the transition; to watch my
other half slowly dissolve from my subconscious.
 With one action Ian was replacing himself as my mate and erasing Tristans
presence from my very soul. He was tearing it apart, piece by bloody piece, as he
deepened the bite with an inhuman growl emanating from deep within his chest. I could
now understand why Jay had turned away when Ian had stalked towards me; this had
to look horrible from any aspect. It wasnt beautiful or by instinct, like a claiming that
was supposed to happen between two people meant for one another. It wasnt even
natural.
While it felt like an hour of torture, it had probably only lasted a few seconds before
Ian released me to crumble back on the ground. Tears were streaming down my face as I
cried at the loss of Tristan. I had lost the connection to the man I was in love with and
his image was replaced by the demon who filled my every nightmare. There was no
longer the tightly strained connection that had me going mad. Instead, it was an
incredibly short leash because I was tied to the person in front of me.
I was Ians mate now.
I couldnt help it, I sobbed as I curled up on the floor. Begging everything to just go
away and leave me to mourn my loss. But Ian stood over me, his haunting figure gazing
down upon me with a smirk on his face, my blood still on his lips made evident by the
way that it caught the light of the lamp. Both sides of my neck were burning as if
simultaneously making ashes of my previous connection and searing the brand of the
new one.
Now you see what you get when you dont believe in me, darling. Ian chuckled,
before turning around towards Jay, who I suppose had returned to facing the two of us
but I didnt know for sure. I just buried my head in my arms. Now there was no chance
that Tristan would be able to find me, he was cut off just like me except there was
nothing to replace it. I cant even imagine, after all these months of being intertwined
with anothers soul, to all of a sudden have my mind all to myself. It made me want to
cry harder to grieve over Tristans pain, but I knew that I couldnt cry so much in front of
Ian. He may own my body now, but there was no way I was going to let him think he
could worm his way into my very being.
You bastard, I choked out, interfering with Ians whispers with his henchman. He
turned around, looking amused at my outburst. When I get my hands on you Im going
to tear you limb from limb. Screw any rescue team; you are going to have to worry every
single moment of the rest of your life if Im going to be the one to rip your throat out,
Ian simply took a step back in my direction, Are you done with your rant now?
I snarled in response as I sat back up against the wall, begging the wolf within that
just this one time shed come out without the moon so I could kill him.
Im getting quite tired of your idle threats; even that voice of yours is beginning to
grate on my nerves. So you will not speak until I say you can. I felt the echo of his order
inside my head, the words flashing with a flicker of pain.
But when I opened my mouth curse him out for even thinking he could control me,
nothing came out. In fact my mouth snapped back shut when it realized I was going to
talk. What the hell did he do to me? I screeched inside of my head, the irritation coming
out in the form of a rumble deep in my chest.
Ian grinned at the instant of shock in my eyes, Oh this is great. Tristan seriously
never put to use his ability to order you around theres a reason he isnt ever going to
be in charge, he would never get anything done with people running amuck of their own
free will. Your Alpha is of the same incompetence, I swear if we were all one pack again,
things would be different.
Waitwhat? My mind was running rampant with a million questions. Tristan had
had the ability to command me to do anything he wanted through my mark? I had
always been so stubborn, why didnt he just command me to listen to him? And since
when had the Mooncreak and Redwood packs been one single clan? But as many
questions I had, I couldnt voice any of them thanks to Ian. My chest growled more
forcefully as I sneered at him.
We should get a move on before someone catches our scent here, Ian said to the
room in general, We have a long way to go if we want to leave a disconnected trail.


Hours later I was back in the same car I had been kidnapped in, but this time I was
fortunate enough to be allowed in the back seat instead of the trunk. Not that it was
much of an improvement because I was sitting right alongside Jay with Ian driving. There
were no more restraints on my hands and the rag filled with the sleep chemical was
removed, leaving me totally unbound. Well, except for the complete control Ian had over
me with his words.
I tried not to seem scared in any waytried to be confident that I was going to be
finebut I couldnt help the way my body was shaking. For the first time since I had been
changed into a werewolf, my blood was running coldin fear. No matter how much I
clenched my jaw to make me look defiant there was little I could do without words and
with my face red from crying. In other words; I was a mess. But to try and avoid facing
the situation I was in, I kept my eyes looking out the window. It was ten thirty at night
and we were speeding down the highway. Where we were going I had no idea except
that it wasnt going to be anywhere good. Luckily I managed to glance at the clock on
the dashboard and recognized the date enough to know that they had only held me
captive for about twenty two hours. Isnt there a show about the first forty-eight hours
of a kidnapping being the most crucial? Hopefully someone would be able to pick up the
unfamiliar scent and track it even with our travelling being by car. They just had to be
able to.
Cars passed us and we passed others. All of them were on their way to places,
thinking briefly as they passed that beyond our windows we were just as normal as they
were. I dont think Id ever be able to look at a passing car the same way again, that is if
I ever get out of this. Growing sick of watching normality, I decided to bite the bullet and
glance around the cab of the car. Jay was so tense beside me that I swear if I so much as
shifted in my seat hed jump, but his eyes were watching out the window for now. He
wasnt as cold and calculating as Ian seemed to be, for the driver was calm as he drove
with one hand on the wheel. The other arm was leaning on the window, tapping against
the glass occasionally. His eyes looked up and caught mine through the rear-view mirror
and I had to restrain myself from pulling back my lips in a hiss.
As his silver eyes gazed over me appreciatively, I had to wonder what the hell the
guy saw in me to make him go through so much trouble to make me his. I wasnt
exotically beautiful, nor did I have a personality that men fell head over heels for. I was
hardly half a year into being a werewolf, but that meant nothing to him since he had
been following way before I became one. My only conclusion was that he had jumped off
the deep end into insanity. I remember vaguely him talking about how I reminded him of
his mate, that she was so alike me, but that made no sense since mating with humans
was forbidden. Even his back-story was torture for me as I sat in the backseat with an
invisible lock on my lips.
But as much as I was enjoying our little car trip, my bladder was starting to catch
up on the day without being able to relieve myself. I didnt want to make a sudden noise
because they would freak out over me trying to escape and do something rash. My only
option was sitting next to me, looking out the window towards the oncoming cars on
the other side of the median. Slowly, so I didnt startle anybody, I reached my hand out
to nudge him on the shoulder. As I suspected, Jay jolted in his seat and turned to me
with dark eyes that bore suspicion. I tapped on my lips with a finger, hoping hed get
that I wanted to speak out loud. Its not like I would be able to gesture that I had to go
to the bathroom; I was never good at charades. His eyes narrowed but he spoke up for
me, Ian, she has something to say.
Ian looked back at me again, contemplated for a few moments, You may speak,
Samantha.
I need to go to the bathroom, I ground out, half because I hated even speaking to
the man and half because my voice was scratchy with only a few hours of ill use. I also
needed a bottle of water because my mouth was drying out, but I figured I wouldnt push
my luck.
We really dont have the time for you to do that, Im trying to keep a schedule, Ian
sighed, clearly annoyed. Oh sorry, next time Ill make sure my bladder is more respectful
towards your plans on kidnapping me. I wanted to snap at him for being an asshole, but
I gulped back the insult and put forth a more polite method.
I really dont think you want me to pee all over the seats of this car. If Im correct,
we still have quite a while to go before we get to your destination and Im sure you dont
want to be sitting in the stench of urine the whole way, What? I said the more polite
way, not totally submissive.
Its not that whatever, fine. Ian relented, pulling off at the nearest exit. I
breathed sigh of relief when there was a gas station only about a minute from the exit
ramp. The bright lights of the overhead lamps above the place illuminated inside the car,
changing the atmosphere. Even though Ian would always send a jolt of fear through my
veins, the light cast away the shadows that made him look even more devilish. He
turned around in the seat once we were in front of a pump, Jay, fill it up.
Jay nodded and got out to do as Ian said, leaving only me and him in the car. I
stared deep into his eyes, not allowing him to see anything through my impassive
facade. Youre going to be a good girl and not talk. My lips sealed shut again to my
frustration, but his ordering wasnt done, And dont even try to escape. His words were
magnified in my head to the point of hurting my sensitive ear. I wanted to fight him
tooth and nail, but at the moment I really had to go pee, so I just nodded.
Quickly I scrambled out of the car, stumbling as my feet met the pavement. It felt
surreal to just be walking away from my kidnappers, but really I knew that I wasnt
going anywhere, my traitorous body wouldnt allow it. Just before I reached the door I
glanced back at the car to find Ian grinning back like a Cheshire cat. With a disgusted
grimace I went into the gas station.
Really it was like any old station, short shelves full of cheap food and radio music
playing quietly over the fractured speakers. I saw the sign of the bathroom and bee lined
in the direction. Once I was done with my business, I just stood in front of the mirror
looking at myself with the cold water running. I looked terrible; my face was pale except
for flushed cheeks, my hair was going every which way, and there was the start of a
bruise making its appearance on my jaw line. The worst was looking at the twin marks
on either side of my neck. One was made to grow into love and the other ravaged with
hate. While Tristans mark was faded into a mere scar, Ians was red and angry almost
as if my body rejected the claiming. I could only wish, but I knew because of the
commands that I was under Ians thumb.
I splashed the sink water onto my face to try and wake myself up from my
nightmare but I looked back up to the same face, only now wet. At least the water had
felt good. I was pathetic. I was away from the men holding me captive, but still couldnt
do a thing about escaping. The window in the bathroom was so inviting, but I couldnt
even budge a step towards it because my body knew it was escape.
My eyes started to well up again as I grew frustrated with my situation. I would be
here for a minute, then gone the next, and no one from Mooncreak would even know I
had been. Or would they?
I thought back to the power of scent and wondered if my body would allow me to
touch as many things as possible in here. I reached for the wall and was glad when my
legs moved to follow; joy of the simple measure towards freedom fueling my task. Pretty
soon I was rubbing up against the wall, trying to get as much of my scent into the room.
It didnt matter that only god knows what happened on the cold tile walls or when they
had last been cleaned. My only stopping point was rolling around on the floor because
that was going a little too far.
Pounding on the door halted my task, and my head whipped towards the door.
Samantha, hurry up, we have to go. It wasnt Ian, but Jay on the other side, and even
though he was as much of a threat to me as his Alpha I visibly relaxed. Knowing I only
had moments I grabbed a piece of paper towel from the dispenser and snatched at the
broken pen I found near the sink.
Ian had been about to correct me in the car when I had said it was going to be a
long car ride, so that could only have meant that we were close. I wrote on the towel
against the wall, scribbling out Im not far from here.
Another pounding came on the door as I folded up the note and wrote as cleanly as
I could Tristan on the front. I threw the pen back on the ground and crumpled the note
in my clenched hand before walking out of the bathroom. Jay looked disgruntled and a
little worried; he probably thought I would get him chewed out by his boss but I just
shrugged passed. My stomach rumbled as I saw the food section and I grabbed at a
granola bar before looking back at Jay pointedly.
He was about to say no, I could see it on his lips, but then he looked through the
glass window walls of the gas station out in the direction of the car and merely nodded.
He took the bar from me and grabbed my wrist before tugging me up to the counter to
pay for it. I stood obediently by his side, scanning the counter for one of the boxes for
donations to random foundations. One for childrens cancer was next to us and even
though I felt bad for using the clear box, I silently slipped the note through the slot.
I didnt get to see whether it was facing so that somebody would be able to see the
name or not because Jay was already leaving. How I wished it would be placed correctly,
but I knew I was getting my hopes up. At least I did something; if only to make me feel
like I wasnt surrendering.
Chapter 11: Utter Chaos
Alexs Point of View

Its barely dawn, where do you think youre going? my mom asked, as I failed to
sneak past her room without waking her up. I looked back quickly, deciding that the
truth was the safest option.
Im going for a run with Wes and Sam, I said quickly and then took the stairs two
at a time to get out of her line of questioning. As it was I was already late, having slept
through my alarm and I cant imagine that Wes would wait for me to begin Sams
training. Stumbling out the doorway, I struggled to slip on my running shoes over my
sock covered feet. I was going to have to run double time to catch up with them if they
had already started their routine.
I sprinted down the path towards the Pack House, glad that I only chose a black
sports bra and running shorts today instead of something heavier because the air was
hot even without the sun making its full appearance. Nobody else was walking down the
dirt road so early in the morning; why in the world was I? To tell the truth, I didnt really
have a clue as to why I loved going out to train with Wes and Sam, I just did. Sam had
become a fast friend since Tristan left and sometimes reminded me of my older sister,
Charlene, who had gone off to live with her mate in a pack down in Texas a couple
months ago. The two girls were both stubborn to no end and had a relationship with
their mates that wasnt all rainbows and sunshineit was real. Real as in you could see
they obviously loved one another, but didnt act like everything was perfect in the world
because of that. It seems like everyone here tried so hard to make it seem like nothing
was wrong. Things were very wrong and I refused to not acknowledge that fact.
As I neared the pack house the hair on the back of my neck prickled with alertness. I
stopped far enough from the front steps that no one would be able to see me from the
front windows and just listened. The woods were silent as I looked my head at the area
around me. Something was off but I just couldnt put my finger on what it was. A breeze
drifted in and my heightened sense of smell caught the faint whiff of an unfamiliar
scent; it wasnt a smell that naturally had me on edge but my wolf was growling in
agitation.
Suddenly the front door opened and Wes stepped out onto the porch. It took a
moment for him to notice me standing there, but when he did he gave me a brief nod of
good morning before noticing my unease. Alex, whats wrong?
I shifted from foot to foot unsteadily, eyes still scanning the woods as my jaw
clenched. NothingI mean IIm not sure
The scent was gone now and wasnt returning--it had only been a small tidbit
caught in the breezeso I shook it off. Wheres Sam?
Wes didnt roll his eyes like I expected him to when I mentioned Sam; it wasnt a
secret that he was easily annoyed with the Betas choice of mate. Instead he tilted his
head slightly to the side, analyzing my skittishness with the calculation of a warrior. He
knew something was wrong. Im not sure, shes usually late, he said slowly before
glancing to the still open door behind him.
 Ill go get her, I suggested as I hurried up the porch and through the door, brushing
aside Wes while I was doing so. The warmth of his bare arm against mine had shivers
running through me but I ignored it like I had done so many other times. Wes was not
someone I should be crushing after; he was not only four years older than me but also
could be so emotionless that sometimes I wondered if he had a soul to have feelings
with. He was built and trained to be nothing but a fighter and I wasnt going to be the
one to hinder him from doing so.
I made my way up to the second floor, but couldnt really remember which room
Sam had said hers was. Choosing by whim I pushed a slightly cracked open door and
was immediately enveloped with the scent of her and Tristan. Yep, this was her room.
Hey Sam, Wes is ready to leave and
I trailed off when I didnt see her in the immediate vicinity of the bedroom. The bed
was well made as if it hadnt been slept in except for both pillows being on one side.
Slowly I walked deeper into the room towards the bathroom door, while simultaneously
scanning the rest of the room for signs of someone being in it. Already my heart rate
hitched at what Id find with the bathroom, there was no shower running or sink
running. Please dont let my uneasiness prove to be true I knocked on the bathroom
door but got no response so I tried the handle. Nobody. Sam wasnt here.
Wes! I yelled but when I spun towards the bedroom door he was already standing
there scanning the room with dark and carefully guarded eyes. His hands were clenched
at his sides as he silently came up to speed with what I had found out.
He turned to me, Alex, Im going to ask you one more time and I want the truth.
What did you see outside before I came out?
I swallowed nervously, I didnt see anythingbut there was a scent, someone not
from the pack.
As soon as I said that I knew that the Mooncreaks situation had just gone from bad
to worse.


It was only a couple hours later and the pack house was swarming with people.
Every important male from the pack besides the ones still out on the raid had
congregated to unleash their worries onto Rayne. I had wormed my way into the pack
meeting and was sitting on one of the window sills as I silently listened on to the
outrage. How did an enemy get through the patrol? If they could sneak through and
snatch someone, what did that mean for the rest of the pack? Where was the Beta when
he needed to be protecting the rest of the pack members? It disgusted me that none of
the questions were about the person who had been abducted; it was just a bunch of
rambling from pigheaded men worried about themselves. I could see that the Alpha
wasnt happy about their questions either but since he had to be protective of the greater
good he took all the panicking in stride even though his jaw was tightly clenched.
I wanted to start searching for clues, to be out in the woods actually searching for
Sam but not even a search party had been organized yet. Technically Sam wasnt even a
member because she was an illegal creation and automatically considered a rogue, but
the fact that everyone could ignore that she was in fact another werewolf made me
want smack these men into action. My nails dug into the sill I was on as my irritation
grew along with the volume of the yelling until the Alpha finally snapped.
Everyone be quiet! Rayne snarled, the order ringing through all of our minds.
Immediately the room went silent as all of us fell trap to submission; it seemed only I
was happy about it though. The rest of the pack is fine; we have extra border control
making their rounds right now. But I am positive that the threat isnt directed at the pack
as a whole, but towards one of our members.
Some lips curled in a silent snarl at calling Sam a member but Rayne fixed them
with steely glares, I dont care if you are pissed off about having a rogue amongst us
but she is the mate to your Beta and that should automatically gain your respect
whether you like it or not. We are all pretty sure that this is another act of violence from
Redwood and after what happened last winter I think we all have a bone to pick with
their Alpha.
One of the younger and more nave men had the gall to speak through the order,
But that rogue is what caused the attack in the first place, he spat, I say Redwood
finally has what they came from and we should let them have her if it means the safety
of the rest of the pack.
Rayne was deathly quiet for a moment and as I ground my back teeth I saw the
older man have a flicker of regret in his eyes. I ordered you to be silent, Ronsen.
Now the first time Rayne had told people to be silent, it was expected to be followed
out of respect towards the Alpha, but when he repeated it to Ronsen I could hear the
difference. The second time was an Order, the kind that forced you to bend to his will
with your mind connection. Ronsen wouldnt even be able to open his mouth until Rayne
gave the say so. Even though those kinds of orders were rare and could be viewed as too
controlling, Ronsen deserved it.
As I was saying, all of us here lost something during the winter attack and most
definitely want to get revenge for it. So if you wont help because you are a dedicated
pack member and would defend one of our own, do it because you want to get even,
Rayne knew that most people wouldnt agree to helping Sam out even if he guilted them
into it, so it was a smart move to bring in the revenge angle, Now we need to form
search parties to recover the trail that weve been letting erode away while weve been
bickering in here
He started to arrange parties of men to go in different directions and I kept on
waiting for my name to come in somewhere that I didnt even notice that Wes had come
to stand beside me. I called Tristan as soon as we found out; hes bringing the whole
party back as fast as he can.
I looked up into Wess straight face, his eyes even holding a steely reserve, Thats
good. Hes the best source of tracking we have on her.
He cleared his throat, You need to stay here to make sure he knows whats going
on, he wasnt given many details because well we dont know much right now.
What? I asked, turning around so I was fully facing him, There is no way Im
going to sit around here waiting for him to come down the path in a blaze of fury. Im
more than qualified to be on a search party!
Wes sighed, You are too
Dont you dare, I growled, stabbing him in the chest with my pointer finger. His
eyes flickered in surprise at my minor assault, Dont you even try to say that Im too
young because that is bull crap and you know it. I can keep pace with you during every
run, can hold my own during hand combat, and my wolf is more than capable of
defending myself. Age has nothing to do with this, I have experience.
We already have enough men going out there anyway, he ground out through
clenched teeth.
I smiled wryly, taking another step closer to him so that our chests were almost
touching. My head only came a bit above his shoulder but I wasnt backing down because
he could play the role of a rough and tough guy. Yeah, but none of them know the
scent that were looking for. Only I do.


We were running through the forest in groups of six; all of us in wolf form. I had to
admit that it was nice to go running with other wolves, there had been tight restrictions
on freelance exploring of the land after the winter raid. Even before that I couldnt
remember going on a run with so many other pack members. There wasnt only my
group but at least four more patrolling the ten square miles of the Mooncreak lands,
which enveloped two human towns with the pack settlement nestled in between.
Have you picked up anything yet? Wes asked through the mind link, startling me
out of enjoying the feeling of ground being pounded beneath our paws. I forced myself
to stay concentrated on the task at hand; Sam needed us.
No. Theres nothing. I sighed after taking a good inhale of the air around us. After
winning the argument with Wes in the meeting he forced me to be in his group, which
unfortunately had Ronsen and one of his friends along with a few other men that I didnt
know personally. I really wish they would allow more females into pack decisions and
protection, but old ways really died hard and we were still trying to shake off the
precedents that were set from the Before.
There were frustrated growls from all around, though it was hard to tell who was
genuinely worried and who was just irritated. The trees whipped around us as we
pursued through the woods, following the grid pattern that was set out for us to go on.
It was supposedly standard procedure, but I doubt something like this had happened
before. Though a relatively new pack we were quite strong because we attracted wolves
that shared the same ideals as us. Easily a hundred strong, we were one of the bigger
packs in the region, only rivaled by Redwood, but everyone knew they had disappeared
off the map. It was strange to think that one wolf managed to sneak through us all and
capture the one person we were guarding. I wanted to beat myself for my stupidity, I
might not be one of the fighters that protected the pack but I considered myself a friend
with Sam and I failed her when she needed me most.
I could smell the dampness of rain coming our way and picked up my pace; I might
not be able to turn back time to right my wrongs but I just had to help find her.
Wordlessly I pushed myself the point of the formation our group had going and
pounded on. If any of them thought they would be able to track better, then they could
speak up about it.
As much as I opened up my senses to try to catch another hint of the scent I had
smelt earlier there wasnt a trace of it anywhere. I had no clue how someone could even
move without leaving an invisible trail behind them, its like they were a ghost. Hours
past and I grew more frantic with finding nothing. What if I had just imagined the scent?
What if no one had even been here at all? Maybe Sam stepped off of pack lands and
landed herself in enemy territory without knowing it
No. She couldnt walk far enough to get herself out of Mooncreak boundaries
without shifting and she couldnt do that without a full moon.
After hours of silence someone spoke up, Do you smell that?
We all paused in our run; the only sound was our heavy panting from going full
speed for so long. Distantly there was a small wisp of a scent that had my hackles rising
again. It had to be it. With newfound confidence in the mission I bolted towards the
smell. It didnt take long for Wes to overtake me because he was a bigger wolf with
greater speed but I managed to keep ahead of the other males. The smell grew stronger
in an opening in the trees, where a lonely book lay face down on the dirt.
I could instantly pick up the smell of Sam; it radiated from the book like it had been
wrapped in a piece of her favorite clothing. She had been here recently and so had the
person with the ghost scent. All six of us sprawled in the different directions from the
opening, trying to catch the trail left from whatever direction they went in.
Theres nothing.
They couldnt have disappeared, this is impossible.
Did they just fly away? The trail doesnt go in any direction
None of us could find anything. There has to be something I tried to sound
confident but my inner voice came out in more of a whine.
Maybe the she-bitch just ran away, its not like she was any good here, Ronsen
growled, his gray wolf not even trying to appear as if he was looking for anything. I
snarled in his direction, baring my teeth to provide extra incentive for him to shut up. His
wolf made an expression similar to a sneer, The women here just need to learn their
place
I had had just about enough of his insults and was ready to lunge at him when Wes
stepped in front of me, his large brown wolf dwarfing me at his side and making Ronsen
look more pathetic. Thats enough. I dont have time for your petty complaints; we need
to get this evidence back to the pack house.
What? We need to keep on searching her scent has to be somewhere! I cried out,
momentarily forgetting about Ronsen. Wes was going to give up? Just to get the stupid
book back to the house? We already knew what she smelled like, we needed to track
whoever kidnapped her and he was going to waste that precious time by returning the
book to the library.
Wess impassive eyes looked down upon me, daring me to disobey his order. Well I
had news for him, he wasnt my commanding leader, and I wasnt under his control. I let
out a growl and made the move to turn around to survey the area again when rain
started to fall. In moments it escalated from random droplets to a downpour.
We cant track anything when the rain has washed it away Wes said coldly
before picking the book up with his mouth and turning in the direction of the pack house,
the rest of the guys trailing behind. Ronsen stayed behind a moment to snarl in my
direction before running off with the rest of them. The only trail to finding Samantha
was gone; like she was never here.


I took longer to get back to the house, shifting back into human form when I was
close enough to see the rooftop. Thunder rolled and lightning struck but it hardly made
me flinch as I stood in the pouring rain. I really didnt know what to do. Was there
anything I could do? You couldnt track a trail that was washed away, but its not like it
made much of a difference because she disappeared into thin air anyway. Just yesterday
she was here swearing up a storm when going hand to hand with Wes; she wasnt
trained enough to fight off an attacker yet.
Lights flashed from up ahead as a car bounced down the soggy dirt path that went
to right in front of the pack house. Several more Jeeps followed the first, their headlights
making beacons in the afternoon thunderstorm. It had to be Tristan; I didnt know
anyone else who had such a caravan behind them. Quickly I ran to the front porch to get
under the overhang before the cars pulled up. Rain droplets ran down my face from my
soaking hair and the drenched shirt that I had borrowed to put over my sports bra clung
like a second skin. I really didnt want to be the first one to see the Beta when he got out
of the Jeep but I wouldnt be able to sneak in the house as wet as I was.
The cars screeched to a stop, mud flinging from the tires. I lifted my head and
clenched my jaw, trying to look more confident than I felt. If Tristan knew that I lost the
scent of his mate he would tear me apart. The drivers door slammed of the first Jeep
and immediately I wanted to run away, it didnt matter if he saw me or not. His eyes
were the darkest black I had ever seen and he walked deliberately up to the porch with
his hands clenched at his sides. The front door of the house opened beside me and I
couldnt be more relieved when Wes stepped out.
Where the hell is my mate? Tristan snarled, in a flash going from the base of the
stairs to right beside me his hand wrapped around Wess neck. I was so startled I
stumbled back a few steps; the Beta looked murderous and I could see the strength he
was putting into choking the life out of his best friend. Wes didnt even flinch at the
contact but he did manage out words.
It doesnt take a genius to figure out who took her
There was a loud crack as Tristan brought his hold on Wess neck back enough to
slam him back into the side of the house. I sent you here to keep an eye over her and it
only takes a week before you let her disappear, he yelled, the sudden crash of thunder
echoing his words.
There was a brief flash of defiance in Wess eyes before he broke out of Tristans hold
and tackled him down the stairs to the ground. With the rain pouring down and
lightning flashing I couldnt really make out who was punching who, all I knew is that
someone had to stop them before they killed one another.
Stop! I screamed, running the porch steps and trying to pry them apart. I had to
admit, it wasnt my best move trying to wedge myself in between two fully grown men
that were trying to beat each other to an inch of death. A flash of Tristans fist flashed
before me before I went crashing into the railing, the jarring crack to the side of my head
sending my vision swimming. The other men that had been piled into the cars were now
coming out and trying to pry the Beta off of Wes as he delivered hit after hit and
received just as many.
Gently someone grabbed a-hold of my arm, helped me back up and ushered me into
the house. Even through the door I could hear Tristans yelling and cursing as he tried to
fight off anyone who interfered. Its going to be alright, honey. Mrs. Everdeen assured
me before sitting me down at the kitchen table with an ice pack to put on my head.
Tears were spilling from my eyes and I couldnt stop them as I wished more than
anything that I could do something to stop all of this. Mrs. Everdeen gently comforted
me, her hand rubbing my back assuringly even as she heard her own son losing his
control outside. Im sorry I whispered.
Its not your fault, she said back pulling me into a warm hug.
Eventually they got Tristan subdued enough to be dragged inside and sat down at
the table right next to me and Wes placed right across from the both of us. They were
both shooting murderous daggers but at least they werent doing anything physical.
Both of them had pretty bruised up faces and bloodied lips, but all of the injuries,
including the one to my head were healing, even though it was slower than I wouldve
liked.
I had stopped crying before they came in and now just studied our Beta. While he
may look mad enough to tear down the house, his face was etched with worry that Im
sure was what was fueling his fury. His eyes were so black that Im not even sure it was
natural. It must be what grief looked like.
Rayne walked into the room, not even glancing at his brother as he took a seat. I
can imagine he felt as guilty as I that Sam was gone. While I may be able to glance at
Tristan when he wasnt looking, I dont think Id ever be able to look him in the eye when
he was like this. You have no idea where she is? Tristan asked, his voice raw from all
the yelling.
I think whoever took her masked their scents, he couldve injected her with a
masking agent. It explains why the trail disappeared into thin air, Wes said evenly, his
bruised fists lying out on the table. As much as I wanted to scold him for attacking back
at Tristan when he knew it would only lead to trouble, I couldnt help but worry about
how much his bloodied knuckles were hurting. I wanted to bandage them up for him, but
Mrs. Everdeen was working her way around the table attending to everyones injuries
and I didnt want to risk getting dizzy if I got up too soon.
Tristan closed put his elbows on the table and leaned his face into his hands. His
entire back was tense and the veins in his arms were protruding from all the stress. I
cant even imagine what the entire drive back here was like, especially when Im sure his
wolf wanted free to hunt down whoever stole Sam.
We do know that it isnt Ian, he wouldnt risk his own neck coming in here. Most
likely, he enlisted one of his well trusted trackers to grab her, since they know how to
prevent trails, Rayne said with a heavy sigh.
There was a few moments of silence as we all let the information sink in. How can
you track someone that has no scent? Because from what Im familiar with masking
agents is that it makes your personal smell neutral. Even if it wears off, they could be far
enough away by then that itd be hopeless to try and find where the new trail starts.
Suddenly Tristan jumped up from his seat, knocking the chair back and jostling the
table. I cant just sit around here doing nothing. She is out there suffering because I
couldnt keep her safe like I promised
We were all getting up to stop him as he stalked towards the front door when he
cried out. His steps halted and we watched him drop to his knees in pain, back arching.
Everybody ran to him to see what was wrong; despite the dizziness in the back of my
consciousness I was first there, grasping onto his arm so he didnt fall flat on his back.
His eyes were still black, but glazed over in torture as if he wasnt even here. He was with
Sam. And something was very wrong.
Chapter 12: Caged In
Alexs Point of View

It took a few hours to know what had happened. While Tristan was only on the floor
in pain for a matter of minutes, the moment he snapped out of it, his humanity
vanished. He was up from the ground in the flash and ran from the room back into the
rain.

He wasnt himself, so he let his wolf take over and the house was left in silence in his
wake. Once everybody recovered from the shock of it, Rayne and Wes were the first two
to step towards the door. But I cut in front of them, blocking the exit.

It was definitely intimidating to be glared down upon by two six foot two men that
had rage pooling into their eyes, but they would only make fools of themselves if they
went after Tristan.

Let him be. Its obvious something bad has happened and he needs to deal with it
before he can come back, I ordered softly, not wavering when my Alpha growled at me.

I dont care if he has to find a cure for world peace, he needs someone to reign him in
before he completely loses it, Rayne snarled, not one ounce of compassion left in him.
This day had been taxing on everyone, but probably most on our leader. He felt guilty
about all of this happening under his watch and needed to make it right. But now was
not the time or the place.

He needs to work it out himself. You will only make it worse.

Mrs. Everdeen started crying in the background, her soft sobs heard in the silence as
my gaze crackled between Tristans brother and best friend. Seconds passed in the
tension before Raynes eyes softened at the distress of his mother and he backed down.
Fine, but if he isnt back in a few hours, were going to find him and drag the answers
out.

I nodded, it was a perfectly acceptable request; the last thing we needed was two
missing members of the pack. Rayne walked away to envelope his mother in a hug and
softly directed her away from everybody, his soft words only audible to her. But Wes still
stood in front of me, glaring down at my much smaller frame.

I should have been scared of him; shouldve had my bones turn to jello as I withered
under his gaze--but instead I held my ground. Over a short period of time I had relayed
a amount of trust in him, and I hoped he could do the same and trust me when I said
that Tristan needed time.

 Are you sure he is alright? Wes asked, his voice low, but more vulnerable than I had
expected. He was sincerely worried about his friend, a trait that couldnt be faked and
proved that he had a heart to feel with. My arms itched to wrap around his waist and
hold on tight, absorbing his musky scent until I couldnt think coherently. But I just
nodded and reached for his hand instead.

Something bad has happened, but Im sure hell return fine, I whispered, cherishing
the feeling as Wess larger hand completely enclosed mine. With a light squeeze, I
released him and bid him to come back to the kitchen.

There was still a lot to go over.



A couple hours later, like I had predicted, Tristan came back in the front door. He was
soaked to the bone and his face void of any color, but he still managed to stumble into
the kitchen. Somehow since Mrs. Everdeen had had her mental breakdown I had taken
over the caretakers role and was instantly there for Tristan to place a towel around his
shoulders.

He didnt make a sound as I tussled his hair dry with another towel, or even when I
said that he should really change. His only response to anything was to stare blankly at
the table, whatever thoughts going through his head lost in a wave of grief. My heart
sunk in my chest as I came to the conclusion that Sam was probably dead; it was the
only ending that fit into this awful equation. If she wasnt then Tristan would be able to
sense her presence and there would still be a fire in his eyes to rescue her, but instead he
sat rigidly like a statue, waiting for the world to change.

Wes wasnt much help either. The moment our Beta walked in, he had fallen silent,
searching his face for any sign. I wanted to start crying again but I knew that there
needed to be someone with a strong resolve around here, so I sucked it up and continued
flitting around the kitchen in search of something warm to get the boys to swallow.

Once the tea was nice and hot I placed the steaming cups in front of each of them. No
one else knew that Tristan was back, so they were all still holed up in their rooms and
the house was left to silence. I allowed the two men beside me to fight their quiet war
within themselves until I couldnt stand it anymore.

Tristan? Please try and drink something, it would do no good for you to catch your
death with pneumonia...

No response.

With a deep sigh I reached over and tried to turn his face towards mine so he would
look me in the eye, but his hand came up in a flash the moment my skin touched his ice-
cold cheek. The grip he had on my wrist was a vice, but he finally turned to me, an ice
storm raging in his silver eyes.

Wes snarled from across the table, and Tristan finally resurfaced from the coma he
had sent himself into. Blinking a few times to regain his bearings, he realized how hard
he was bruising my skin and released me.

I cradled my wrist to my chest, but ignored the pain so I could focus on him. What
happened? I asked softly, careful not to startle him into hysterics. I had never seen him
in such a state, not even when our former Alpha had died. Back then I hadnt been close
to the pack family, but I had seen them all plenty of times, and none of them had been
in the catatonic state that Tristan was suffering through. He might not have shouted his
feelings from the rooftops and acted like a man doped up on happiness whenever Sam
was around, but there was no doubt that she was the most important person in his life.
He truly loved her.

Shes gone, he croaked, planting his face in his hands so he could glare down at the
table top.

What kind of gone? Wes asked. I could tell he was trying to be comforting, but the
warrior he had been trained to be wouldnt go away with something as trivial as grief;
his question was a gruff interrogation, determined to get answers.

The tie between us isnt there. Its like she isnt there anymore--like she was never
there at all.

I could feel the prickling of tears in my eyes. This was all my fault. If I had followed
the scent the moment I smelled it, we would have found her right away. She wouldnt
have fallen into the hands of a monster and paid the ultimate price for it. But now the
evil bastards that kidnapped her from right under our noses were in the wind, gone to
never be found. Fire lapped at my chest as I wrangled all the pent up fury that I had
towards the traitors that came here.

There was no way in hell I was just going to sit back and let this happen.

No.

The sharpness of my tone snapped both mens attention my way; Wess stony
resolved and Tristans anguish. I gave each of them pointed looks so they could see the
determination that was in my soul; I wasnt going to let this go.

There is still hope. Right now were all pretty sure it was Ian. Who else would have
the guts to traipse in here and steal her from us? He is a sneaky bastard with a lot of
tricks up his sleeve, so we cant give up hope on Sam yet. She wouldnt take this like an
invalid; she was a fighter just like each of us.

I took a deep breath, We are going to go after them. I dont care how long it takes
or however far it makes us travel, we are going to track him down and tear him limb
from limb for even daring to step back here again. He took someone special from us, and
there is no forgiveness for that.

I could see the same fire in each of their eyes. We werent totally human, that would
have made us normal. No, we were werewolves from birth and we couldnt consult our
humanity without also giving equal attention to our feral side. That side wanted a
revenge that only blood and gore could suffice, to see Ians head planted on a stake so
we could all have the chance to avenge our loved one. There were families that were tied
together through lineage, and then there were packs that were tied together based on a
common past that none of us could skip.

We werent going down without a fight.




Sams Point of View


I didnt recall falling asleep--I dont even know how I could being as tense as I was--
but the next thing I knew I was being lifted out of the car bridle style. My immediate and
natural reaction was to snuggle into Tristans chest before going back to sleep, but the
scent was off. The shirt my face was buried in was muskier than Tristans fresh-out-of-
the-woodsy-rain aroma.

Everything crashed back into me with the weight of a gale force wind. Tristan wasnt
holding me, nor was he hidden in my subconscious. He wasnt even my mate anymore.
No that was a lie; he was and always would be my mate in every sense of the word
besides the physical portion. Ian wouldnt be anyone to me besides my kidnapper and
the devil who marred my skin. Luckily, it wasnt Ian holding me, instead it was Jay, who
was cradling me a whole lot gentler than his Alpha would have.

Make sure she stays asleep, she doesnt need to see any part of the house besides her
room. Ian snarled under his breath, his voice somewhere close by. I must have been
drugged again because while I was awake in my head, I couldnt open my eyes. It
mustve still been night because wherever we walked in, the silence emanated from the
walls. My ears strained to hear the nearest sound, which was the sound of slow
breathing. The sounds of sleep.

There were other people here? Was Ians whole pack as deranged as him to openly let
him kidnap other a member of another pack and take control of them? They let him toy
with emotions with his commands and take whatever he wanted? I wanted to scream for
help, but the drug kept me under and sufficiently sedated. Only moments passed before
even my thoughts went blank again.



The next time I awoke I could open my eyes. It took awhile to adjust, but my superior
sight eventually caught hold of the darkness of the room. The softness at my fingertips
that radiated through my whole body suggested I was on a bed and facing the while
ceiling. My ears perked up to hear anything but there wasnt even a creak in the walls.

Pure silence.

It was unnerving because even places that were supposedly quiet had the tiniest
motions that suggested life, but the only thing I could hear in the room was the sound of
my blood pumping through my veins. A soundproof room. They had locked me away so I
would slowly go mad just listening to myself. Torture seemed to be their specialty.

Sitting up, I winced at the bruises on my skin from where I had been hit. They
throbbed but it wasnt anything that was unmanageable.

The room was small. The queen sized bed I sat on took up nearly have the area,
leaving the rest for the open tile floor. Two doors were on the wall opposite of the bed;
one a steel contraption that looked like it could hold a hurricane at bay, and the other a
plain white door like youd see in a neighborhood home. Beneath me on the bed was a
black comforter and two pillows to match, soft enough to be comfortable but my head
was repulsed by them because of where I was.

This had to be the pack house of Redwood. Vaguely the memories of me being carried
in flickered in my mind, and I remembered at least ten other people sleeping within the
walls. That meant ten members of the pack were there to make sure that I wouldnt go
anywhere--even if I managed to get out of this horror room.

My feet were bare as I set them on the cold tile floor. There wasnt even a rug to keep
the chill from seeping into my bones. It was the heat of summer and I had elevated body
temperatures, and I was still shivering. My stomach clenched when I realized I was in
different clothing than I had been when I was kidnapped. Someone had wrangled
leggings onto my lower half and a t-shirt onto my chest. Ian or Jay had touched my
bare skin while I was sleeping; had seen me in my underwear when I completely
incapacitated to do anything to stop it.

I wanted to puke.

Since the steel door didnt look like it would do anything for me, I went for the while
one instead. There was a small bathroom, with a shower, sink and toilet. Graciously I
lurched towards the toilet and emptied the contents of my stomach into the bowl. Tears
mixed leaked onto my face as I sobbed.

All I wanted was to go back home. It didnt even have to be the pack house anymore,
even my house would be sufficient. Somewhere, anywhere, that I wouldnt have to see
my captors ever again. My chest ached at the complete loss of everything that I had
worked hard to achieve--my father wouldnt even know where I was, Tristan had no
way of finding me, and all of my friends would just assume I left town. No one would
find me in the little basement room that I was locked away in.

Who would even care to search?
Chapter 13: Power & Control
There wasnt much to do in my little room.

Four walls, a bed, and a bathroom. No windows to let in any light, so I couldnt even
tell what time of day it was. After my incident in the bathroom I had retreated back to
the bed and curled up on top of the covers. I couldnt bare to pull them over me because
I had no idea where they had been. For all I knew this is where Ian took all his captors
to; the last room they ever saw.

My hair was a rats nest from all the activity I had been through in the past day, but I
couldnt be bothered to drag my fingers through it so it didnt form dreads. There was air
conditioning coming from somewhere, I knew because the room was cold, but I couldnt
see any vents to let in the air. It didnt matter, because either way my skin was covered in
goosebumps and my teeth were chattering. The leggings and t-shirt they had me in
provided no semblance of warmth but I wasnt going to get fully into the bed.

It might have been hours or minutes, but I had finally had enough. I was shaking as I
got back out of the bed, leaving an indentation where I had been balled up, and headed
back towards the bathroom. The shower had no curtain but I shut the door to have some
privacy. Luckily the dial on the shower was similar to the one I had at home so I knew
how to turn it on as hot as possible. There was no heat in the hair but the water was
scalding, during my skin red with the touch.

Thanking god, I stripped from my clothes. A small comfort came with the fact that I
was wearing the same underwear as before; I stacked my clothes neatly on the seat of
the toilet because it looked like all I had.

The shower felt like heaven--the sudden change in temperature caused some pain
but it was more pleasure. No shampoo or conditioner were on the shelves but I still wet
my hair down so that the warmth would totally envelope me. Not wanting to get out, I
just sat down on the floor of the shower, letting the water pelt down on me.

There must have been a hot water pump because the heat never went cold and pretty
soon I could feel my body temperature returning to normal. The longer I remained in the
bathroom the more my mind returned to me. Depressing state as I was in, I was enraged
that I had simply given up in the time I had been locked in the little room. I wasnt one to
give in--never. Did Tristan not complain about my stubbornness to a fault? Did I not
fight for him?--for us?

And I was sitting here letting myself be sorry.

I opened my eyes with a growl, lifting myself off the ground and snapping the water
off. There was one lonely towel sitting by the sink, just large enough to cover my body
and I used it to dry myself. My hair wouldnt be dry no matter how I tried to ruffle it so I
let it be and tugged back on the clothes that I had folded. Somehow they felt better on
my skin now that I had washed of the remnants of their eyes and touch.

No mirror hung on the wall so I couldnt see how I looked but Im sure it was hellish.
My neck still throbbed and my body ached but I clenched my teeth and braided my wet
hair down my back.

Samantha Williams didnt sit back and the world control her. She took the people
around her by the collar until they were down to her level and made them see and
concede to her point. It was time I resumed my place on my stubborn pedestal and
grabbed the situation by the balls, because I wasnt going to be Ians bitch.

First things first, I paced the room to make sure I had every aspect of it memorized.
There wasnt much to work with, but it helped keep my anger at bay. From the wall that
held the headboard of the bed and the wall with the doors, twenty medium strides lay.
Same was between the other two. The prison was a perfect square, with a six stride
bathroom attached.

The bed was roughly queen sized and extremely plush for a captives cell. There was
still the indentation from my body, but other than that it looked untouched. A singular
light hung from the ceiling, too tall to reach even by standing on top of the mattress. It
was the only thing keeping the whole place from delving into complete darkness, not
quite bright enough to replicate sunlight, but more like the way the sky looked when the
sun had already set for a few minutes.

My feet paced the cold tile floor; the chill no longer bothering my elevated
temperature. I tried hard to work a way out--some escape from the room with no
windows or vents. It had occurred to me to punch a hole through the plaster of the
walls, but it was only a thin layer of normal looking paint that covered steel alike to the
entrance door.

Running my hand along the perimeter, I tried feeling a weak spot, but everything was
solid. Several circulations left me agitated and a desperate feeling sunk into my
stomach.

The only thing left was the door.

It was large, taller than me by at least twelve inches and wide enough to permit two
grown men entrance at once. Or one man carrying an unconscious girl. I swallowed the
acid that churned in the back of my throat and reached around the whole of the
doorway. All the edges were sealed shut, overlapped on the axis end with bolts thicker
than my hand. Despite the rest of the room being cold, the steel was strangely warm--
giving hope that there was civilization on the other side.

 Moments of my hands stopping in the middle of the door in defeat, a lock slid out of
place from inside the contraption and I jolted back as it pushed towards me. No
thoughts went through my head as I immediately bolted towards the opening, but a arm
wrapped around my middle dragging me back. Screaming and wiggling to get out of
their grasp, I fought like a wildcat to be free, but it was no use because their strength
outweighed my own. I was only awarded a glimpse of an endless dark hallway beyond
the door before I was tossed back into the room and the door slammed shut.

The lurch in my momentum had me struggling to stay on my feet but I managed my
balance and spun around to face the person who opened the door in record time.

Jay stood there, only a small amount of surprise in his eyes, but mostly muted anger.
I didnt care how angry he was at me for trying to get out, they were all idiots.
Obviously the mechanics of kidnapping didnt click in their heads because they didnt
seem to realize that I wouldnt be following their every whim and stay sitting on the bed
waiting for them to come to me next.

Letting the inner beast in me take control of some reigns I lunged again, this time
prepared. I didnt make a habit of punching people in the face, so I wasnt really
prepared for the fire that burst through my fist when it came into contact with his
cheekbone. The snap of his face sideways was nowhere near the crackled snap of my
fingers as they failed.

Ignoring it I struck out with my other fist to catch him again but he was done playing
childish games with me. One hand of his hooked under my legs and the other capturing
my arm, using my own weight to thrown me down onto the bed only a few feet away. I
fell face first into the mattress and the weight of his knee pressed down into my back, a
deep rumbling vibrating his body.

Managing to turn my head a bit so I wasnt breathing in fluff from the comforter, I
cried out at the twinge in my spine. What the hell do you people want from me?

There was a pause in his growling and the pressure lessened on me, giving my lungs
room to expand with a gasp. Even the way his hand dug into my shoulder softened at
my plea. But he didnt answer right away.

Either kill me or let me go because Im not going to play your sick games, I yelled,
my voice hoarse from the prickling of tears in the back of my eyes.

If I let you go, will you not fight back anymore? he asked instead of answering, his
voice calm despite the altercation that had just happened. I had no idea how to pin
down Jay--on one hand he forcibly drugged me and threw me in the trunk of his car to
deliver me personally to his deranged Alpha, but on the other he seemed genuinely
reluctant to do anything more than what was required of him.

 Not seeing any way of being able to out-wrestle him and escape the room before he
caught me, I mutely nodded my head against the mattress.

Instantly his weight was off of me and I rolled over to alleviate the pain from my
back. My ribs felt dangerously close to being cracked but remained intact for the most
part. That, my broken hands, and labored breathing were all that I had accomplished
from my assault on him--it made me feel utterly helpless.

He stood over me beside the bed, his eyes unreadable. I might have said that I
wouldnt fight back but if he tried to attack me I wouldnt sit back and let it happen. No
amount of pain that racked my body would prevent me from saving myself, I would go
at it tooth and nail until the end.

But since he didnt look aggressive anymore I relaxed the tiniest bit. Once more , I
attempted my plea, Why?

I dont know, he replied monotonously.

My eyes widened in fury, You tied me up and dragged me down here without
knowing? Does your pack do this all the time just to get the jollies out of controlling
someone?!

No, he huffed, obviously irritated as he backed up away from me till he was against
the wall. One hand reached up to rake through his hair and my eyes trained to every
movement with rage. Im sure there is some reason as to why Ian wanted you--I just
have no part in knowing what it is. You are his project, not anyone elses.

Then why didnt he grow a pair and come for me himself? I seethed.

Jay cocked an eyebrow, Do you really think he would go as unnoticed as an
unknown pack member? I wasnt put into a position of power until we went off the grid;
no one even knows who I am besides the people in the Redwood pack house.

Gritting my teeth, I wrenched myself into a sitting position, blown away by the pain
that shot across my abdomen. All the fighting had agitated my old scar and it only
added to my discomfort. What I wouldnt give to shove a knife through Ians eye for
doing this to me.

So, what--are you his lap dog or something? Bounding off happily to do his
bidding?

His eyes flared but he didnt move away from his position. Its not like I have much
choice. Ian has as much control over me by being my Alpha as he does to you for being
your mate.

 I was up and in front of him before he could blink, despite the way my body
screamed. He was ridiculously tall and I had to stand on my tiptoes to get in his face but
I did so he could see the amplitude of my resistance. That bastard isnt and wont ever
be my mate.

Being so close to Jay brought a wave of his scent to my senses, a smell that I hadnt
previously been acclimated to. He radiated the deep smokiness of a campfire made of
burning pine; rich and not entirely unpleasant. Something had changed in him since we
had met, I could pick up the pheromones in his scent. He was being honest with what he
said, the sincerity stuck out like a sore thumb. And that was the only reason that fell
back from him and lost my temper.

He might have been Ians errand boy but he was doing it under an order that couldnt
be refused. I would feel bad for the guy if I wasnt in the same situation.

Jays eyes softened at my duress, I understand that. I know that you dont love him,
theres not much to love. But if you want to come out of here in one piece, my best
suggestion is to just go along with everything he has to say like its the truth. It will
hurt, but your survival instinct will demand that you do so.

I collapsed back on the bed, actually pulling a pillow over to clutch to my chest. The
bed didnt smell like anyone, so I was getting hope that I was the only one who suffered
on it. It made it not as bad to request comfort from it.

Not wanting to talk anymore, I shut back down. Survival. It made sense. If there was
no way of escape and my only chance at ever seeing anybody I loved again was
cooperating, then it was a survival mode. But to what degree would I surrender myself?

Im not sure if I could answer that question.

There was some shuffling and an apple was thrust in front of my face. Blinking
blankly, I slowly reached for it from Jays hand, taking the perfect red fruit. It almost
didnt look real, but my stomach growled its presence and I took a bite. As delicious as it
looked, my hunger emerged and the thing was gone in moments, leaving me wanting
more just as it hit my hollow stomach.

Im sorry, but thats all I have, Jay sighed, seeming to read my mind.

He ran his hand through his hair again, increasingly turning his hair into a mohawk
in stress. Not sure what else to do, he headed for the steel door, ready to leave.

Wait!

He paused.

 When will Ian be down? my voice shook despite what I wanted, betraying my fear
for him.

Jay fiddled with the handle, He said he wont come until youre ready.

Without any elaboration, he opened the door, revealing the dark hallway again with
a rush of warm air. I closed my eyes just as I heard the lock slide back into place with the
strength of a deadbolt.

As much as I wanted control, there wasnt much hope in me getting it. Because as
long as his mark marred my neck, Ian had an immense power over me that I couldnt
fight.
Chapter 14: The Faintest Clues
Alexs Point of View

The adrenaline was wearing off the longer we roared down the highway. I had been
sitting in the backseat for nearly half an hour and while at the beginning I had been
fidgety and anxious, each mile that passed brought my body down from its high. I had
woken up early that morning for a run that had never happened, chased down a scent
that led to nowhere, got caught in a fight that left my jaw bruised, and lost my last
nerve with worry--it was safe to say my day had been taxing. By the time Tristan had
returned from his run and told us about Sams link, it had already been nearly midnight.

Now it was practically four in the morning, and almost twenty-four hours had
passed since I had seen the soft side of a pillow. Even with my fury fueling my every
move, it had worn off into a dull ache that throbbed the longer I sat still in the backseat
of Tristans Jeep.

After I had instilled the passion back into my Beta and Wes, we had called Rayne
back downstairs so we could discuss strategy. He had come down with weary eyes,
mumbling something about getting his mother to sleep, but immediately perked up
when he saw Tristan back into lucidity.

We know he wouldnt be west--that would be like running straight back to you, I
stated towards Tristan. His head had been in his hands, fingers splaying across his
temples.

No, he growled, I knew something was wrong before you called, her presence was
stretching even thinner. She was taken east.

Im not-- I struggled to keep a blush from my cheeks, None of the rest of us are
mated so we dont know the bond, is there any way you can tell distance? Like mileage?

He looked around at the three of us as if realizing for the first time that none of us
could feel what he was going through, the thought hardening his eyes. I guess it can
work like that. I never bothered to know exact distance but...but I guess she was around
a two hundred miles away from the pack.

His gaze snapped back at me. Somehow I had wormed my way into the center of it
all and had become the anchor that the three strongest men in the pack latched onto.
There are a ton of different possibilities anywhere east from here, its such a broad
range that it would be pointless.

No. Not pointless, we have a point, we have to find Ian.

 He clenched his jaw and lowered his hands, Fine. Then what are we waiting around
here for? We have searching to do and Im not letting the bastard live another second
longer than necessary.

The rest of us agreed. Grabbing a couple changes of clothes so that we wouldnt have
to come back until we were finished, we packed the essentials that would be easy to
carry around. My mom had been worried sick but fell asleep before I came home, so I
was able to slip in to pack and get out without stirring anyone. Guilt filled me about
leaving her to wonder so I had made sure to leave a note on the fridge to let her know
that this was something I needed to do.

I had always felt that I wasnt doing enough by sitting back and watching all the
guys do the defending of the pack. The fight was in my blood--my father had been the
previous head of defense before he retired, relinquishing the position to Wes. But because
I was considered a kid and on the slight side I was never given any benefits for being his
daughter; I was a girl who would be better placed mated to a worker. Someone who had
a normal job and a normal life, but the thrill I got from chasing and fighting was never
normal. If I truly belonged in the domesticated life then I wouldnt long to endlessly hunt
in the forest or be the first to protect those in trouble.

I was meant to fight and I wasnt going to go out and tell my mom only for her to
demand that I stay back and be a teenage girl. So I left the note and told her I would be
safe so she didnt need to worry. Never less I would be getting an earful when I returned,
but this was worth it.

But as the car ride lasted longer into the night the more my energy was sapping
away. Wes sat by me, his large frame dwarfing the back seat; legs so long that his knees
nearly touched mine in order to not be crowded. Tristan was driving and Rayne sat
passenger on our way east. We had a rough estimate of where Sams last contact came
from so we were going to start there, but there was still hours between us and the
destination.

Not being able to help it I gave into my first yawn, attracting the attention of all
three males at my breakage of the silence. What? Weve been driving for awhile and its
nearly dawn--I havent slept in twenty-four hours. Im pretty sure Im allowed to be
tired.

Wes rolled his eyes, but Rayne cleared his throat. Youre right, we really need to find
somewhere to stop, even if for only a few hours.

Tristan shot his brother daggers but the Alpha didnt back down, We need all the
strength we can get. I can guarantee that Ian didnt go into this alone, so we cant go
straight into the mess sleep-deprived. Just stop at a motel or something and well catch
five hours of sleep and something to eat, then well continue on.

 He got two grunts of surrender from the men and a sigh of content from me. As much
as I wanted to be out there hunting Ian down, I had to admit to myself that I wouldnt
be able to do so properly if I was falling asleep while standing. The mere thought of
sleep had my eyes drooping and I could feel myself nodding off several times before we
got to the motel, snapping awake when my head started tilting to the side.

We stopped at a cheap place and Rayne walked in to book the rooms, coming out
with two keys. One was handed to me and I gratefully dragged my bag into the single
bedded suite, hitting the mattress without even bothering to change.



It was lighter out when I woke up, not because I was well rested but I had heard
something. My eyes flashed open and I looked around the room from my vantage point,
seeing nothing but the bland decorations of a cheap motel. There was a deep breath and
I silently sat up.

My heart jumped a bit when I saw the man-sized body laid out on the floor, a bag
used as a pillow. Wes wasnt asleep, just staring at the ceiling as if in contemplation.

Sorry, he grunted, indicating towards waking me up. He was still in the same
clothes from the night and looked extremely uncomfortable being on the floor.

What are you doing here? I asked sleepily, glancing at the clock which only said six-
thirty. Wed only been here for two hours.

His silver eyes flickered towards me, their depths giving nothing away in terms of his
thoughts. Ive lost track of one girl, theres no way I was going to let you stay in a room
alone and let another pack member get kidnapped.

I sighed, still feeling extremely worn out, with any luck we could get a few more
hours but there was no way I was going to let him stay on the floor. Get up.

He scoffed, I dont care if you are all tough and mighty, Im not allowing you to be
alone--

Fine, whatever, I waved away his macho approach to protecting me, But I really
meant is get up because theres no way youre going to get any rest done on the ground.
Get in bed.

I almost giggled at the way he couldnt find words to say, but instead of indulging
myself I just lay back down, snuggling into my pillow. Even with my eyes closed I could
tell every step he took to go around to the other side of the bed and felt the mattress
dip at his weight. Thankfully my hair covered my face or else he would get a perfect view
of the red tinge my neck was sporting. My heart stuttered when he sighed and got
comfortable, but even if I was unusual to having a guy in my bed, I couldnt help but feel
safer with his presence so close.



The next time I awoke, it was to knocking on the room door. I was so comfortable
that I didnt want to open my eyes, the pillow was too warm and I had never felt so
completely relaxed in all my life. Instead of replying to the incessant noise I mumbled a
go away while wrapping my arms tighter around the body pillow beside me.

Most hotels didnt have nice smelling stuff, but the pillow I clutched to was scented to
perfection--evergreens and night air. The warmth radiating off it shouldve been
uncomfortable because of the body heat I emitted myself, but instead it only
complimented my own temperature. It wasnt until I noticed the way it moved steadily
up and down that I realized there was the gentle beating of a heart beneath my ear.

Finally opening my eyes, I stopped breathing. My face was resting on the t-shirt
covered chest of Wes, arms wrapped tightly around his trimmed waist. Now that I
thought about it, he wasnt pillow soft; the hard planes of his stomach muscles were
anything but soft.

Not only was I clinging to him like a koala but his arm was wrapped protectively
around me, tucking me neatly into his side. At some point when we were sleeping we
must have naturally sought each other out and snuggled close. There was no denying
that it was the best sleep I had gotten in a long time, but I wished it could have been
with anyone besides the emotionless warrior that I desperately wanted to teach me how
to fight.

The knocking stopped for a brief moment before I heard Raynes voice bark through
the door. Ten minutes and then were leaving.

The gentle heartbeat that had been rhythmically thumping beneath my ear picked up
pace and I knew that Wes had woken up. I shouldve jumped away the minute I woke up
but I couldnt seem to extract myself away from him.

I could feel the heat of his gaze down at the top of my head, and I forced myself to
face the music as tilt my face up to see his sheepishly. His mouth was slightly parted in
surprise, giving me a rather nice view of his pink lips that were sure to be perfect at
kissing. As Im sure mine was, his hair was disheveled from deep sleep, arrayed in a
messy design. But even if I had made sure to give every single portion of his face equal
time of scrutinization, the look in his eyes would do me in every time.

Never had someone looked at me the way he did at that moment. My heart instantly
knew and I could see the wolf in his irises coming to the same realization.

 Mate.

We unravelled ourselves from each other in record time, fleeing to the separate sides
of the bed. This couldnt be happening--I didnt want him to be mine. He was too hard-
headed and unreasonable. I had had to resort to childish methods to get him to agree in
me coming along on this trip, and even though I was ashamed of having had to through
a temper tantrum, it had worked because he was easily annoyed. Even if I had wanted a
real relationship that wasnt all smiles and rainbows, I needed someone who could feel
emotions other than anger and irritation.

I needed anyone but Wes.

He seemed to have come to an equal stance in his head because his scrutinizing eyes
hardened. Stiffly we gathered our stuff and took turns in the bathroom to take a shower
and change; the air suffocating the whole time we did so. I refused to meet his eye
contact when he held the door open for me to leave, ducking under his arm to the
freedom of fresh air so I wouldnt drown in my own misery.




If the brothers noticed anything off in the way me and Wes avoided each other at
breakfast, they didnt comment on it.

I picked at my eggs as Tristan ranted, The place I last sensed her was only a few
hours away from here, so it shouldnt be long before we find something to go by. I just
dont understand how they managed to drag her off without the tiniest hint of a scent--
not even the most talented hunter would be able to go undetected.

Rayne sat beside me, chowing down on his omelette like it was a last meal. Growing
up with sisters and a diet obsessed mother, I had never seen so much food consumed in
one sitting as I did eating breakfast with three men. One of them easily ate triple of my
plateful, coming back from the endless buffet with mountains that could only be
addressed as the Mount Everest of food. And they ate it all like it was a snack. I could
only imagine the bill and thanked the lord I wasnt the one that was paying for it.

The masking agent they used was really strong, probably infused with some
wolfsbane so that it inhibited the wild quality of their scent. Whatever it was, I have no
idea how they got ahold of something so strong and illegal, but at this point we cant
underestimate the lengths Ian would go to to get what he wants, Rayne supplied after
he had swallowed his mouthful.

There is still the absence of scent that creates a trail... I mumbled, a stray thought
that slipped through my lips. They stopped chewing and stared. It frustrated me that
they automatically dismissed me from most discussions and became flabbergasted when
I actually had an intellectual thing to say. Idiots.

Setting my fork down, I elaborated, Everything has a scent, but when you take away
your own you cant exactly mask the fact that you were there. There is an absence of
smell that disturbs the area and you are left with no smell at all, kind of like water with
no taste--even if you swallow it with no flavoring, you still know it was there.

So youre saying we could find traces of... emptiness?

Kind of. There might not be a definite trail that leads you straight to them, but its
something you can sense if youre where they were. At least thats how it felt when I
smelled it back at home...

They processed the information and I excused myself to go use the restroom. It wasnt
a huge restaurant so the bathrooms were small one persons, perfect to lock myself in.
My brain was still trying to process yesterday and adding on this morning was making it
a another level of difficulty. I shouldnt have told Wes he could sleep on the bed--he was
a trained to be in less than perfect conditions, he couldve handled a dirty floor. But
thinking that way had guilt inching its way into my head. No, even if I hated his guts, I
still wouldve wanted him to get as much rest as possible so hed be in peak condition to
hunt.

But now Im sure we were both completely flustered.

Looking into the mirror I expected myself to look different; to have an ethereal glow
or something with pure happiness shining in my eyes. But the same old plain brunette
stared back at me, the reddish tinge to my locks the only attractive quality. Of course
Wes would be as disappointed as me to have found a mate in each other, he had been
probably holding out for a goddess to step into his life.

Growling I dragged my hands down my face. I needed to focus. This wasnt about me,
and it most definitely wasnt about Wes. It was about finding Ian and giving him what he
deserved, a painful ending.

Getting my inner beast to agree with me, I stalked out of the bathroom, only to find
the table empty. They were all waiting outside and I clambered back into the car, ready
to get back on the road.



This is it, Tristan muttered as we pulled in front of another dingy motel. I was so
glad that we had stopped the night before and hadnt made our way here to find a clue
and be forced to sleep in such an awful place.

Wes had sat in front with him instead of back with me, an action I had full-heartedly
agreed on until Rayne had sat beside me. Normally he was a perfectly funny and easy-
going guy to talk to; a great Alpha in comparison to other packs that I had visited. But
when he got serious he was a scary guy. Extremely tall with shoulders that looked like
they could carry the weight of the world, he was a force to be reckoned with and I never
wanted to find myself in his crosshairs. If he was the first one to get his hands on a
member of Redwood, they wouldnt have any mercy.

Because the boys sat frozen, unsure of how to proceed and stubborn enough to not
bother to collaborate, I sucked it up and got out first. They followed, making sure to
seem like it had been their idea, leading the way towards the motel. It wasnt hard to
find a discrepancy that was odd. Even if the place looked two shakes away from
collapsing, a man fixing a door that was hanging off the hinges was an unusual sight.

What happened? Tristan asked gruffly, trying to seem less intimidating than he
knew he could be. There was no sense in scaring the pants off of innocent humans.

The man fixing the frame looked at us with annoyance, What does it look like
happened? Some idiot decided it would be fun to wrestle a door...

My jaw clenched but I stayed calm. Some people were determined to make things
difficult. It wasnt like he looked like a respectable member of society, his clothes were
greasy and his hair/beard didnt look like it had been trimmed in months, leaving him to
look homeless and sickly. His smell probably wouldnt have been detected by humans,
but my heightened senses picked up the stench and I had to fight to not wrinkle my nose
in disgust.

Im pretty sure I asked a simple question. What. Happened. The boys were losing
patience quickly.

The man grunted, looking back to the door, I have no idea. The asshole rented the
room for the night, stayed for an hour or two, and left the place in shambles. I would
track him down and make him pay for it if he had left me with some sort of ID but he
payed in cash.

Without asking, Tristan stepped past the man and into the room. Skirting as far
away as possible from the greasy repairman, I slipped in after the Beta.

Ian had been here. That was certain; the room had the poignant smell of his scent
mixed with cologne. There was no trace of Sam, but I was sure that the masking agent
wouldnt have worn off in the short amount of time between her kidnapping and the
point where Tristan lost track of her. Like the man had said, the whole place was
trashed, even for a crappy excuse of a room.

There was glass all over the floor from something being smashed into the mirror,
leaving shards crunching underneath our shoes. I stepped closer to inspect the damage
as Tristan moved to the bathroom to search more and the other two went to the
bedside. Traces of blood were left on the reflective surface and I wiped a small portion
away with my finger. Bringing it to my lips, I tasted the liquid to search for a clue as to
who they were. It wasnt human, but it wasnt shifter either--suggesting that it could
very well have been the other person who used the masking agent. The kidnapper.

Tristan... Rayne called from by the bed. We all looked over to see him holding a
chain in the air, a shining circle hanging in the middle. Tristan strode over and snatched
it from his brother before I could get a real good look but recalling it from memory I
remembered Sam wearing it around her neck. She hadnt wanted to ruin the ring in
training so she put it on a necklace to always have her engagement ring at heart.

Tristan held it up to the light, his eyes filled with torment once again as he realized
the implications of it being here. The bed was rumpled from someone having been on it
and my stomach churned in horror. I didnt know the extent as to what Ian wanted Sam
for, but my soul burned at what he mightve done to her here.

Since something of yours is here, does that mean youre going to pay for the
damages? the man from the door asked with annoyance.

Tristan only snarled an answer as he stormed out of the room, roughly shoving the
man out of the way as he passed. My eyes met Raynes from across the room, and his
thoughts were just as grim as mine.

Our findings might not have been good, but it was something more than we had had
before coming here.
Chapter 15: Ticking Bomb
Sams Point of View

When I was eight, one of my friends had hosted a birthday party at their house.
Normally I wouldve loved a good party--cake, candy, ice cream, and goodie bags. What
kind of deranged little kid wouldnt be happy about being invited to one?

I had gotten dressed in my favorite pair of jeans and newest polo top so I looked just
as cool as the other kids, but like most of the time they hadnt noticed. The party was
huge and over the top, especially for an eight year old, but I hadnt minded because it
had felt like I had been invited to a mansion, plus the cake was supposed to be amazing.
Only ten of us showed up early and with the awkwardness that hung in the air since we
obviously werent the birthday girls first choices to have come, she decided on a game of
hide and seek.

Since it was such a huge house I was thrilled to find a hiding place that no one would
ever find me in. There were two floors and each had at least six rooms, making the
possibilities seemingly endless. While the girl that was it was calling out numbers I had
rushed up to the second floor, finding the most secluded corner and stashing myself in
the closet. The moment I closed the door in on myself I had been surrounded by
darkness, not even a sliver of light shone under the door because the carpet blocked the
bottom.

Though the darkness sent fear into me, I forced myself to sit down on the floor and
wait out the turn so I could win the game. Time ticked by slowly, ever more so with each
second I listened to silence. No one came running down the hall and not even another
kids voice rang through the hall telling me to come out. Since this was supposed to be
the biggest party of the year, I figured that more people had shown up and they all just
forgot about me. Smiling, I got up and dusted myself off, ready to gloat that I had beat
them all. But when I tried to open the door, it was jammed in the frame--warped from
the heat vent being right by the wood.

Trying to call out without embarrassing myself, I just knocked on the door and tried
to get anyones attention, but no one was even on the second floor. My heartbeat had
been going frantically, but the pace sky-rocketed when I started to hear the fire alarm
go off. All dignity out the window, I screamed and pounded on the door. There were no
lights, no openings, not even a window to look out of. I had been truly trapped, and
freaking out because I thought I was going to burn alive in a strangers house.

Eventually someone found me in that closet, hours later. The fire alarms had turned
off--it had only been smoke from the barbeque. I was curled up in a ball on the floor of
the closet, tears streaming down my face and blubbering something unintelligible about
being trapped. They had taken me home right away and I had found solace in my
mothers hug.

But never less I had never gotten over my apprehension of enclosed spaces.

Now that I was locked away in Ians house, it was only worse because I was in real
danger. Sure, I was older and more experienced than eight-year old Sammy Williams,
but that didnt mean I wasnt just as jittery.

The room was shrinking--I was sure of it. Every step I paced across the floor was only
succeeding in making me more anxious. God only knows how many times I had tracked
the perimeter of the room, determined to not let myself go insane from claustrophobia.

Jay had come in three times since the first, and since he had an apple each time he
came, I could only guess it had been three days. One piece of fruit a day. My stomach
was concaving on itself and its growls broke the silence every few minutes. If this was
anything like solitary confinement in prison, I could confirm that it would be easy to
start hearing voices in a few weeks.

My vigorous walking had worn a hole in my leggings where my thighs brushed
against one another, and my shirt was turning sour. With no supplies to wash my
clothing I had to resort to sitting in the bathroom while the clothes were being soaked in
the shower. But even if they were cleaned once every few hours, water could only do so
much to keep them cleanly.

I had been pacing for hours when I was growing restless of it and about to collapse
back onto the bed, but footsteps coming down the hallway to the room had me pause
from any movement. My bond that I had with Ian was weak because there was nothing
between us, but I could still tell that he wasnt anywhere near the house, so therefore
couldnt be the one coming for me.

And luckily Jay was the only one to ever come for me.

Flopping down on the bed, I waited for him to open the door and close the lock
behind him; isolating us both from the world outside. The air wasnt nearly as tense as it
had started out between us, in fact if it were under different circumstances me and him
probably wouldve been great friends. But there was the fact that he was holding me
here captive that drove a rift the size of the Mississippi in our could-be friendship.

Seconds after he had come into the room and slouched down at his usual spot on the
wall, an apple landed inches from my head. The soft impact didnt make me flinch, but I
felt for it instinctively with my eyes closed knowing that it was my only meal for the day.
Unlike the first few times when I had devoured it without a second thought, now I took
each bite at a time, pausing to let the food hit my stomach.

Are you guys determined to starve me to death? I finally muttered after a few
minutes of nothing but my chewing.

Jay sighed, I dont know.

You dont know much, do you?

No, probably not.

Involuntarily I chuckled, but the sound came out strangled in my throat. I wanted so
much to be able to laugh at his resignment to his own stupidity but I couldnt. Not when
it dealt with my own life or death.

The apple disappeared quickly and I rolled over onto my stomach, a pillow propped
under my chin so I could see Jay. He was staring right back at me, his eyes trained on my
face. But his expression was far away, clearly thinking of something else.

Do you know anything? Or are you a mindless drone that follows orders because
you have to?

A blink and his focus was back on me, silver eyes clouded with some emotion that I
couldnt pin point. Does it have to be one or the other?

Not necessarily.

I know certain things, because having me know them will not affect any plans. Yes, I
do follow orders obediently, but Im unfortunate enough to know whats behind them.

If theres no harm in you knowing, why is there any harm in me knowing? Im stuck
here anyway, so its not like I could go out into the world and sell the Redwood secrets
to the highest bidder... I closed my eyes again, not really expecting an answer. Every day
our conversations had gone the same--I ask him if he knows anything, him denying to
being able to tell me, and a resulting silence. It was getting quite old, but my mind had
to be trained in on something important, lest I lose it to the shrinking walls that
crowded in on me.

If I tell you, you have to promise that you wont interrupt. This room might be
soundproof but that doesnt mean there arent members of the pack keeping track of the
business that goes on in here.

I flashed my eyes open briefly to see if he was telling the truth, but his head was
leaned back against the wall, gaze inspecting the ceiling. The hard lines of his jaw
suggested that he was being serious, and since he hadnt done much lately to make me
believe that he was bluffing I close my eyes again to just listen to the sound of his voice.

Fine, I wont say a word, I whispered.

I dont know how much you know about werewolves, but its become increasingly
obvious that you dont know some very important key points. It feels ridiculous to list
them out like this... he scoffed, but I guess its just like teaching any child.

I tensed on the bed, not like being called a child, but it was coming to the point that
all the new facts being thrown at my face made me feel infantile.

One. We dont exactly age like normal humans. I mean we do, up until a certain
point--right around the time we turn twenty. Im still nineteen so my aging lines up with
that of a human born the same year I was, but the moment I turn twenty my bodys
biological clock slows. Its a evolutionary trait to keep the race going, due to the fact
that we are extremely rare in comparison to our human counterparts. Its not much, but
we age twice as slowly as people, so for example, I will only look thirty when I could
really be forty.

Great, I get to deal with life like this for twice as long.

Two. I noticed how surprised you were when Ian said something about Mooncreak
and Redwood being one pack, and that is true. The two split roughly around forty years
ago due to irreconcilable differences. I say we, but I wasnt really born yet, but Redwood
was the controlling power. We were one of the last packs who still believed in power of
command--the steadfast ability to follow orders when they were given out by a
superior. All werewolves have the power to use their command to order around those of
lesser status; male wolves to their mates, Alphas to their Betas and inferiors. Ians father
was Alpha of Redwood at the time and though he was determined to keep the strict
upbringing his ancestors had insisted on keeping with the pack, he was losing the battle
of personal rights due to the pressure from other packs.

Three. Tristan and Raynes mother is the one who split the packs.

There was silence as the words sunk in to my thoughts. Their mother? What in the
world did she have to do with anything along the lines of splitting the most powerful
pack in the country in two? I sat up, no longer able to stay relaxed while listening. Jay
seemed to sense the same tension in the air because he pushed himself off the wall and
resumed the same pacing I had been doing before his arrival.

Ians father, Kyle, had a teenage sister who was rebellious against her older brothers
wishes. She was just as entitled to the title of Alpha as Kyle, so his commands had little
affect on her. But she still wanted to fight for the rights of others in the pack, so she
started the pact to divide the pack--her and her mate from a small bordering pack,
against her Alpha.

Im not a certified expert on the subject, but I knew that the break was a messy one. A
lot of the men who liked the way things were run stayed behind with Redwood and the
rest left to follow Raynes mother. She married her mate, and because they wanted to
show their new pack that they werent in charge because of lineage, they named it
Mooncreak, instead of Everdeen.

What does this have to do with me? I finally asked, interested in the story but still
wanting to know exactly how I fell into the equation. I could understand fights, and the
one over a persons free will was a huge one, but that didnt make Ians orders on me
any less true.

Jay paused and glared at me, You said you wouldnt interrupt. I can stop now, if
thats what you want?

I clenched my jaw and rolled my eyes, but made a show of zipping my lips shut.

Even though I could see he was annoyed, he couldnt keep the best of the information
from falling off his tongue. Some things, once started, couldnt be stopped.

Ian took over after his father died, determined to keep up the same traditions. This
was only ten years ago, when he was eighteen or so, meaning that he didnt have very
long to adjust to taking the reigns. People followed him simply because he was exactly
like his father and fit the needed profile of being a Redwood. I heard from people that
were close to him that he wasnt nearly as bad as his dad, at least before he lost Clara.

He fell in love with her in high school, but she was human. It was very rare to
intermingle with humans because things always got messy. Questions would get asked,
secrets exposed and allies strained. No one wanted to get into the hassle it took to keep
humans as friends, never less spouses. It is possible to change a human to a wolf--as
Im sure you know by now--but it is highly illegal in our world because of the after
affects it can have. As natural born werewolves, we have the chance to grow up along
with our feral counterparts, maturing and learning alongside one another. If you infuse
a human, who has already established their sense of identity, with a wolf spirit, then
unpredictability is bound to happen. They can never change at will, it always is
regulated by the full moon and they usually have less control over their actions because
they arent as tapped in with their wolves as they should be.

Im pretty sure Ian panicked when he changed her, it was crossing the line for an up-
in-coming leader of the were-world. Instead of allowing her to flourish and at least try
to come into harmony with her wolf, he locked her up so that no one would try to
persecute her. My older brother used to be Ians right hand before the accident, and he
relayed to me on how much he cared for Clara. For months he kept her hidden and tried
to get her to cooperate with her wolf, but nothing worked. The blood-thirsty qualities of
a wild animal slipped into her human self, and drove her crazy.

I could feel the tightening in my chest, every word about Clara hitting a chord in my
soul that let me know that this was what was going to happen to me. My own wolf was
fighting to control my every move, even from the shroud of a human skin, she held
power with every movement I managed. It wasnt just a phase, this was my life.

Jay stopped, gaging my reaction but continuing on, She didnt last long before she
committed suicide. Ian couldnt stop her, she wanted an out and couldnt find another
solution. Her death signaled the end of his rebellion from his fathers control, and he
took up every custom back to full power. Ever since he has been the most controlling
and menacing Alpha in the country, the strictness over the members considered
borderline illegal against werewolf rights.

But no one can stop him, I muttered, burying my hands in my hair. The fascination
that Ian had had with me from day one suddenly made sense. He didnt want me
because I resembled his mate, but because he could keep me from ending my life like his
mate did. But what in the world did my specific condition have to do with him keeping
me locked away?

I asked the exact question to Jay and received a contorted look of pain that reflected
deep in his eyes. Ive really already said too much, any more and I dont think Id be able
to live with myself.

Please, I begged. There was no way he could keep me hanging, not when he had
successfully toyed with every single one of my emotions and insecurities in his
revelations.

All I can say is that the full moon is tomorrow night and I dont think Ian is going to
let an untapped weapon of feral quality like you get away again.

Publication Date: April 4th 2014

http://www.bookrix.com/-jabooker