I decided that the best way to wake up in the morning was with my limbs tangled with Theo's and our bodies pressed tightly together — and that was the way I woke up the morning after Theo and I slept together— this time, in both ways.
"Morning." He kissed my bare shoulder.
Rolling over, I faced him and smiled. "Morning."
He stroked the side of my face and smiled back. "I really enjoyed last night."
"Me too." I nodded, leaning in to kiss his lips softly.
Someone knocked on the hut's door before our kiss could escalate any further. Thankfully, the curtain across the window was shut tight and the hut door was locked on the catch.
"Time to get up, lovebirds!" Jade's voice was muffled through the wooden walls of the hut as she knocked again impatiently. "Jason's calling an important pack meeting, so get dressed and come up to the ranch ASAP!"
Theo groaned, "Em... There's something I need to tell you — it's about Maia."
Apprehension filling me, I sat up and searched Theo's face for answers. "What is it?"
His face crinkled uncomfortably. "She, erm... Well, the hunters' experiment on her went a little awry. We thought she was transitioning back into being a human, but instead, she's now a skinwalker."
I shuddered; I'd come across a skinwalker whilst I was in Svalbard and she'd almost killed Uncle Rob.
"You've seen one before?" Theo placed a hand on my shoulder as I nodded, mute. "I'm so sorry, Em... But if it's any consolation, she's locked in the basement with someone watching her all the time."
"Does she — did she know what happened to me?" I asked, starting to get out of bed and pull on a fresh set of clothes.
"That's the thing," Theo began, following suit and getting dressed. "She claimed she killed some hunters for you. She said she wanted vengeance for the Phoenix."
My blood ran cold; I knew how bloodthirsty skinwalkers could be. But at the same time, did Maia's reasoning prove that some part of the old Maia was still in there, under that wolf pelt?
I voiced my thoughts to Theo, and he nodded in agreement. "That's along the lines of what I was thinking. As well as the fact that the hunters' experiment could've gone wrong because of what they did to you — maybe it was some sort of unseen consequence, that Maia would shift to become a creature of vengeance."
"Maybe." I shrugged a shoulder. "But we can't fool ourselves into thinking that the skinwalker Maia is the same as the Maia we used to know."
And with both of us dressed, we walked back up to the ranch, hand in hand.
When we got up to the ranch, the entire pack, plus Thea, minus Maia, were standing around the kitchen island — a small, single object in the middle of the table.
"Who's watching Maia?" I asked. "Theo told me everything."
"Dad dropped by," Thea spoke up, eyeing me. "He's watching her at the moment."
Jason began speaking, "Theo, why didn't you—?"
"Ryder, why did you tell him about the USB stick?" Theo cut in, glaring at Ryder.
The object in the middle of the table was a USB drive. Though I was confused about why Theo was so bothered about it.
"Maybe because it's important?" Ryder countered, "Maybe because Jason is still my Alpha?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Theo growled, aggressively stepping forwards.
Confusion was beginning to make my brain ache, and thankfully Abi stepped in. "Can everyone just put their inter-pack feuds aside and focus on the issue at hand? That being the hunters and stopping them."
"Stopping them?" I echoed, turning to Abi. "Is that even possible?"
She nodded slowly. "What's on that USB stick is going to help us defeat them."
I swallowed. "How did you get it?"
"Ask Theo." Jason's voice came out sharp and blunt.
"Chris gave it to me, okay?" He shrugged. "I checked it at school and it's a photo of the hunters' national base of operations. It's where they were keeping me and Ember."
"You mean... We broke into Hunter HQ to rescue you two?" Jade asked incredulously, narrowing her eyes at the two of us. "How come they took you there?"
"Well, it may have had something to do with the fact they were trying to extract my fire." My tone came out nonchalant and empty, yet I was still hurting over it.
"That's why they took us to their base of operations." Theo linked his fingers with mine, reassuring me silently.
"It wasn't easier getting you out." Jason folded his arms across his midriff. "And there will definitely be more hunters guarding the facility since we broke in."
"There are nine of us." Jade placed her hand on Jason's forearm — a gesture which caused him to look at her quizzically.
"Nine?" I echoed while a frown knitted my brows together. "You're including Maia in that count?"
Ryder fidgeted. "Ember, do you know what happened to her?"
"Yes, I do." My tone ended up snappy and blunt — suddenly irritated by everyone in the pack apart from Theo. "Theo explained everything to me. So why did Jade make it sound like we're taking a bloodthirsty monster with us?"
The word 'monster' made everyone wince.
"The thing is..." Abi started, her voice gentle, "Maia's power will be able to help us, and if she is still claiming vengeance for your Phoenix... then taking down the hunters should be the top of her priorities."
Leaning my elbows on the table, I put my face in my palms and groaned inwardly. How could they possibly be expecting to be able to trust a skinwalker?
"I'm guessing Thea's coming with us as well then," Ryder spoke.
Thea narrowed her eyes at him. "You've not seen half of what I can do. You need me whether you like it or not."
"Does that mean your dad will be helping too, Theo?" Jason directed at Theo, ignoring Thea.
"I guess so." Theo shrugged. "But, I mean, we need all the help we can get — right?"
"Right..." Jason trailed off, getting lost in thought as all of us fell into silence.
"But you're all forgetting another advantage over the hunters that we have," Theo spoke up, twisting his fingers with mine tighter. "The hunters don't know that Ember is alive; as far as they're concerned, she's nothing but a pile of ashes."
I threw a sidelong glance at him. "You better not be about to try and be overprotective over me..."
"What I was about to say." He threw a playful glance back at me. "Is that we can use Ember to our advantage. She's one of the most powerful out of all of us, we'll need her out there."
My heart filled with a strong emulsion of pride and courage as I beamed at Theo. In response, he pulled me close to him and kissed the side of my head.
"Save it for the bedroom, you two." Jade rolled her eyes, "Or — might I correct — hut."
"Whatever," I muttered, but moved away from Theo all the same — there were more important things to focus on than my love life.
"So... Do we have a plan or not?" Ryder asked, filling a gap of semi-silence.
A sense of nostalgia washed over me; this was the second plan I was part of formulating to get rid of a group of hunters. I could only hope that this time we'd stop Evan, his hunters and their spiteful ways for good.
With our plans laid, there was nothing we could do now apart from waiting for the next full moon to roll around — when there would be ultimately more power, strength and unity within the pack. They needed the unity part especially. It wasn't hard to see that they were hanging on by a very, very thin thread.
Though, whilst the pack were disintegrating, Theo and his dad were becoming closer; closer than I'd ever been with my own father. Yet I wasn't jealous of their reunion and the strengthening bond between them — I was happy for Theo and nothing could take that away from me.
I overheard them talking once, on the evening after my return and after we'd run our plans past Jonathan (who'd approved and agreed that it was the lesser of two evils). I'd just finished in the shower and was about to knock on Theo's closed bedroom door when I heard Jonathan's gruff voice speaking.
"...if I've learnt anything from getting Thea to trust me, it's that love is like an orchid — paternal and romantic love alike." He paused before elaborating, "If you water it daily, and allow it proper sunlight, it grows openly. But if you stop watering it, or block it off from the sun, the orchid dies. Orchids are sweet, sensitive, easily damaged..."
Stood outside the door, I hesitated, heart in my throat.
Theo spoke, "What are you trying to tell me?"
"Love is very much the same..." Jonathan concluded, before clarifying, "You can't let go of that girl... Even if she pushes you away."
"Ember, what are you doing—?" Ryder's voice sounded behind me and I whipped around, grasping his throat with my free hand (the other was firmly holding my towel against me), cutting him off. I felt a surge of fiery power rush up my forearm and enter my hand — it'd just started to singe his skin when I let go, frowning; unsure of where that sudden ferocity had originated from.
"Sorry..." I muttered and walked back into the girls' bathroom.
I couldn't bring myself to tell Theo that I'd accidentally eavesdropped, or what had happened with Ryder — even when Theo specifically told me that there shouldn't be any secrets between us.
"You know," Theo spoke in a hushed voice as we lay in the hut by the lake, our skin flush against one another's after more physical displays of our mutual affection, "We shouldn't have to keep any secrets from each other anymore."
I nodded, trying to subdue my racing heart. "I know."
He searched my eyes, and for a millisecond, I thought he'd heard a quiver in my heartbeat before he kissed my forehead. "We should get some rest."
In order to 'keep up appearances that everything is normal', Jason insisted we go to school. The fact that I had risen from the dead just a few nights before didn't deter him one bit.
"Well, how will we explain my absence?" I demanded, adamant I wasn't returning to school.
"We have an actual adult living with us now," Jason explained, gesturing to Jonathan, "He can sign some sort of form for you."
A shadow of a frown crossed Jonathan's face. "But I'm not Ember's legal guardian."
"You're the closest thing she's got right now," Jason told him, casting an awkward half-smile at me.
I shrugged. "I could just forge something."
"We'll get it sorted," Theo appeared next to me, resting his hand on my waist, "Don't worry."
Nodding, I took his advice and relaxed a little — a state which wouldn't last too long in that current climate.
The pack split up between the GMC Sierra and Jonathan's pickup, with Thea staying behind to watch Maia — Jonathan would return later to be with her. Having laid our plans, all other conversation topics seemed irrelevant, unnecessary, and a waste of breath.
It was when we were pulling up in Hellgate High's carpark when a sudden dread coursed through my veins, and I clutched at Theo's wrist.
"Chris... He's going to be here, isn't he?" I couldn't hide the tremor in my voice.
"Yeah, why?" Theo frowned, helping me out of the truck; though I didn't really need any help.
"Won't he tell his dad that I'm alive?" I explained, "And if he does, that will screw up all our plans."
"He won't — trust me." Theo linked our fingers together, "He knows I'll beat the crap out of him again if he does."
Rolling my eyes, I pulled away from Theo and started walking into school, once again trying to shut out the dread and fear that were lurking in the shadows of my mind.
"Ember...?" I heard my name called as soon as I pushed through the double doors into school, "Ember! Is that really you?" The owner of the voice rushed up to me, and it was Chris. His eyes desperately searched my face and my eyes. "It really is you."
As if I hadn't recently returned from the dead, I shrugged. "Yup, it's me. You knew I was coming back anyway."
"I missed you," he admitted and quickly wrapped his arms around me — letting go just as quickly and just as suddenly. Then he turned and fled, and the reason for his sudden disappearance appeared at my elbow.
"He wasn't annoying you, was he?"
"Theo." I turned to face my loyal protector. "He just told me he missed me and hugged me — okay?"
"Not okay." He shook his head, speaking through gritted teeth.
"Relax, Theo. He hugged me; he didn't touch me up."
A low growl emitted from Theo and he looped his arm around my waist, "I'm the only one allowed to touch you up."
I giggled slightly; his possessiveness was half-amusing, half-sexy as hell. "I know, babe. I know."
The bell shrilled, causing us both to groan and question Jason's reasoning once again. "Let's skip Maths," Theo insisted, grabbing my hand and leading me out of the busy hallway.
"Theo..." I started complaining, "I've already missed so much school already... I don't think this is a good idea..."
"We've not really talked about the plan." He led me to a storage room and set up crates for us to sit on. "And the last time we were in this sort of situation, it was definitely better to talk about it."
I shrugged as I sat down on the crate opposite Theo. "Well, I'm not being used as a scapegoat this time, so I'm feeling better about that."
"Yeah, true... But we're still using the fact you're supposed to be dead to our advantage," he voiced.
"I know..." I nodded slowly. "But it's not like everything is resting on me. I think Jason's idea of splitting the pack into smaller groups to take the hunters on in several directions is a good plan."
"It's a good thing that we're doing this on the next full moon as well," Theo mused, "Without that, I don't think we'd even make it to Washington."
"After this, what do you think will happen to the pack?" I asked a question for which I already knew the answer.
"We'll fall apart, go our separate ways." The thought seemed to subdue Theo; the pack he'd fought for and looked for, for such a long time, was disintegrating before his eyes.
"What about us?" I eyed him cautiously. "Where do we go?"
He reached across and took my hand in his, "Wherever the wind takes us, Em."
After that, we spent the rest of first period sitting in semi-silence; nothing more to say, nothing more to do — apart from wait.
And there's nothing worse than waiting, knowing you can't do anything yet.
It's fair to say the rest of the day passed without any major incidents; Chris avoided me and the pack at all costs, we (somehow) all managed to stay out of trouble, and it was only when we arrived back at the ranch that some action started to happen.
"I'm going to check Chris's USB again," Theo announced, pulling out a battered old laptop and plugging the USB stick into the side.
"What else do you think you're going to find?" Abi asked wearily, running a hand through her strawberry blonde hair as Zack wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek.
"I don't know." Theo's eyes were searching the picture of the hunters' headquarters. "Something, anything."
"It would be really useful if there was a blueprint of the place..." I thought aloud; "That way we'd have some sense of direction to our plan."
"We have a sense of direction," Jason let out a growl, "You're not going to find anything else, Theo."
Theo emitted a growl back. "I won't know if I don't look."
A sort of crackly tension filled the air; Theo stood and faced Jason down — their eyes changing to their other eyes. Yet a trace of orange seemed to flicker through Theo's usually yellow eyes.
"Jason... Theo..." Abi warned; "We just have to last a few more days as a pack, okay?"
"Fine." Jason spat, before storming out of the room.
"Jason, wait!" Jade sprang up and went after him.
What the hell is even happening to this pack?
It felt like so much more than it falling apart — it felt like things were changing in Theo. He was becoming more powerful, more controlling. Almost like he wasn't Jason's Beta anymore like he wasn't anyone's Beta anymore...
"I found something," Theo voiced after a few more minutes of staring at the computer. "There's another file... hidden in the image."
"What is it?" I placed my hand on his shoulder and peered at the screen.
"Blueprints..." He breathed. "Another advantage over the hunters."
"Time to adjust our plans then, I guess!" Abi exclaimed, pulling out a blank piece of paper and beginning to draw out the blueprints.
And so, the waiting game persisted and continued.