“You ready to go in there?” Chris asked Eve as they stood a few feet from the already formed club line.
“As ready as I can be considering I have no choice in me going in there,” Eve replied bitterly.
“You always have a choice,” Chris said. “If you don't want to go in there you let me know right now and you won't have to. I can go in there by myself and tell Tom you were there if he asks, which I doubt he will.”
“I can't let you go in there by yourself,” Eve said with a shake of her head.
“I'll be fine,” Chris responded. “It's a public place. I don't see anyone trying to kill me with so many witnesses.”
“Then at least have Mia with you,” Eve said.
“No,” Chris said quickly. “I don't want Mia anywhere near this place until we get rid of whoever is targeting our pack.”
“You can't have it both ways Chris,” Eve said. “Either you think its safe enough a place for you to be alone or its too dangerous for you to even consider Mia going with you. Whichever it is, you aren't going in there alone.”
“Why can't it be somewhere in the middle?” Chris suggested.
“Because the middle is too close to danger for my comfort,” Eve answered. “And since you don't want Mia anywhere near this place, and Tom wants me here, I am your only option. I'll find a way to deal with being around Tristan. I'm not leaving you when you need me.”
“Okay,” Chris nodded. “In that case, I'm proud to have you as my second.”
Chris smiled at her as she smiled back. “And I'm proud to be that,” she replied. “But can we stay away from the bar unless absolutely necessary?”
“You got it,” Chris said. By the time they got to the front of the line and inside the club, there was already a pretty decent crowd. Eve didn't feel the pull she usually did when Tristan was around and she sighed in relief, hoping that Nick had possibly given him the night off. The scent they were looking for before still remained but there wasn't anything fresh for them to follow. After five minutes of standing off to the side, trying to find anything, Chris turned to Eve. “We're going to have to dance or something, otherwise we'll draw the attention of security. That wouldn't be very helpful.”
“Right,” Eve nodded following Chris on to the dance floor.
“Can I ask you something?” Chris said as they started dancing.
“Maybe.”
“Why are you letting Jay's threat get to you?” he asked.
“Who says I am?” Eve evaded.
“You're suddenly trying to avoid Tristan again after finally giving him a shot,” Chris said. “It's getting to you.”
Eve sighed, hating that he was right. “It's not like I want it to,” she said. “It's just that what he says is true. My relationship with Tristan is against pack laws and you and Ian knowing about it but not saying anything is almost as bad. All he has to do is tell Tom and then you two are dead with Tristan not far behind you I'm sure. I couldn't live with that on my conscious.”
“Then I guess you die too,” Chris said with a shrug and Eve stopped dancing to stare at him, open mouthed. Chris shook his head at her, trying not to laugh. “I was kidding Eve.”
“Well I'm not,” Eve said, starting to dance again.
“Come on, Eve,” Chris said. “This is Jay we're talking about here, okay? He's not stupid enough to believe that if he killed us you would willingly give into him. At least I would think he's not that dumb. If he wants you as bad as he likes to act, then he would have to know that's not the way to get you.”
“You know, for my best friend, sometimes I think you don't know me very well,” Eve replied with a shake of her head. “Let's be serious here. If Jay got you and Ian killed and then killed Tristan, all the important people in my life would be gone. An with you guys gone I would have no life left in me to put up any fights against him.”
“Lie,” Chris said low enough for only her to hear. “Because if he killed us, the first thing your wolf will want to do is kill him. Especially after killing Tristan. And we both know that when you can't deal with something you let your wolf do it for you.”
“Fair enough,” Eve said with a shrug and half smile, knowing Chris was right.
Chris shook his head and laughed. “Back to my point then,” he said. “Don't let Jay's threat get to you; they're just empty words. I'm pretty sure he knows you would kill him in revenge and as much as he swears you are meant for him, I guarantee you his life is more important to him. Besides he can't kill Tristan anyway, it's against pack law.”
“I doubt that would stop him,” Eve said stubbornly.
“Do you even know what law I'm referring to?” Chris asked.
“No killing or attacking humans unless in self defense,” Eve answered.
Chris shook his head. “Not that one.” Eve stared at him blankly and he sighed. “No harm will come to a pack member's mate by another member.”
“But he doesn't know Tristan is my mate,” Eve said lamely as Chris just stared at her. Eve's jaw dropped. “You want him to know?”
“I'm not saying randomly go up to Jay and tell him,” Chris said. 'But if he ever even comes close to touching Tristan, then you tell him. Because whether Tristan is human or not he is your mate which means he can't be touched.”
“Wishful thinking,” Eve mumbled. Chris shook his head and opened his mouth to continue his point when a scent caught his attention.
“Travis,” Chris said to Eve, both of them stopping immediately.
“What?” Eve asked, looking around. “Where?”
“I don't know,” Chris replied. “His scent is here and its fresh.”
“Then let's follow it,” Eve said and Chris nodded as they walked in the direction of his scent. Halfway there, Eve caught another familiar scent and looked in time to see the boy with dark hair and slumped shoulders slink off. “Chris, that's the guy from the bar.”
“What?” Chris said, looking to where she pointed.
“That's the guy whose scent was in Claire's yard,” Eve said.
“He's going in the same direction as Travis's scent,” Chris responded.
“Come on,” Eve said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him through the crowd. They watched their lead slip out of a side door before pushing out of it themselves two minutes later. The door opened out to a side alley of the club and was empty aside from a few boxes of empty bottles. Chris slipped out of Eve's hold and cut in front of her, leading them down the alley cautiously. The end of the alley gave way to the back of the club, stacked with more boxes and a bordering fence with its door now opened. The opening in the gate led to a deserted let with weeds and tall grass overtaking the entire area.
“Because that doesn't scream 'set up' at all,” Chris said sarcastically.
“Set up or not, Tom didn't leave us with much of a choice,” Eve said. “We have to go in there.”
“Like I said before,” Chris said over his shoulder. “We always have a choice.”
“Well I don't know about you,” Eve replied. “But I'm choosing to end this. The sooner we figure out who's responsible for these attacks, and deal with them, the better.” Eve sidestepped Chris and ran into the lot before Chris could react to grab her.
“Eve!” The second Eve pushed through the grass, she was hit with Travis' scent. It was stronger than before and she knew he was close, pushing herself to go faster in its direction. Chris was running not far behind her when he noticed the reason for the scent being so strong that Eve hadn't picked up on. “Eve, wait!”
Eve was attempting to ignore Chris when her foot tripped over something and she felt it roll slightly by her leg as she fell to the ground. Looking over her shoulder at it, her stomach went cold and tightened, making her wish suddenly that she hadn't looked. Trying to escape the sight in front of her and knowing her legs wouldn't hold her up, she shuffled backwards on the ground until her hand bumped into something. Cautiously looking behind her, Eve saw the rest of her horrifying scene. Behind her was Travis' body, cuts everywhere, stab wounds in some places and much like Claire, insides on the outside. But what made it worse than Claire's death was the fact that Eve could see part of Travis' spinal cord at his neck because his head was no longer attached; it was his head that had freaked her out after tripping over it. Eve was sure she was going to puke again but when her mouth opened, what came out was a scream.
Chris heard the scream and pushed through the grass in front of her, looking around for anyone trying to hurt her. “Eve, what's-” Chris started but stopped as he looked down in front of him to find his friend's bodiless head and the headless body behind Eve. “Shit.” Before Chris could move to Eve again, she fell silent as her head dropped to the ground. “Eve!” Chris said as he ran over to her and shook her slightly. He heard her heartbeat and knew she was alive, but no matter how much he shook her she wouldn't wake up.
* * * * *
When Eve started waking up, it didn't take her long to realize that she wasn't outside anymore. She could hear the muffled sound of the club music and smell the drinks being served at the bar. But what she noticed first was the green apple and woodsy smell paired with the familiar pull that told her Tristan was there. Slowly opening her eyes, she immediately met his green ones hovering over her. They both stayed quiet, not knowing what to say.
After a minute, Eve started to sit up and look around her. “Where am I?” she asked.
“Staff lounge in the back of the club,” Tristan answered.
“And how did I get here?”
“Chris and I brought you in,” he replied. Eve just stared at him, waiting for more and he sighed. “I went out back to get a box and I saw Chris carrying you while you were knocked out. I went over to see if you were okay and he said you just fainted and he needed to put you down somewhere so I offered back here.”
“And where's Chris now?” Eve asked anxiously, remembering the reason she passed out.
“He went back outside,” Tristan said. “He said he needed to make a call but he would be back.”
“How long ago was this?” Eve asked.
“Eve, you've only been here five minutes,” Tristan said, picking up on her anxiety. “Relax, Chris will be back.”
Eve ignored his words and took out her phone, hitting Chris' speed dial. He answered on the second ring. “You okay?” he asked immediately with no greeting.
“Yeah,” she answered, trying not to notice Tristan watching her tensely. “Are you?”
“I've had better nights, but otherwise I'm fine,” Chris replied.
“Did you call Tom?” Eve asked.
“Yeah, he's coming now,” Chris said.
“I'll be right out-”
“No,” Chris said quickly. “You stay where you are, I'll handle this.”
“But-”
“I said no,” Chris said firmly. “Just stay.” Without another word, Chris ended the call leaving Eve half relieved and half angered.
“I see your phone is working,” Tristan said flatly.
“What?” Eve asked, looking at him in confusion.
“Your phone is working,” he repeated. “But you never answered me today.”
“Oh,” Eve said lamely as she looked down at her phone before putting it back in her pocket. “I was kind of busy.”
“And yet you're here,” Tristan said.
“I wasn't busy anymore,” Eve said. “And Chris thought we should hang out tonight so we came here. What's the problem?”
“I just don't know where we are,” Tristan answered. “One day you're flirting with me and acting like we're together and the next you're completely ignoring me again. And I don't know where that leaves us right now.”
“Tristan,” Eve sighed. “I'm sorry, I really am. It's just I've never been in this situation before, I mean not really. It's a lot different and harder than I thought.”
“How?”
“I don't know how to explain it,” Eve said. “It's just...”
“Complicated?” Tristan offered in frustration. Eve bit her bottom lip, knowing that's what she was about to say. “Yeah, that's always your go to answer. Eve, I've pretty much been sprung on you since high school and after yesterday I thought you felt the same too.”
“I do,” Eve said quickly and Tristan shook his head.
“Don't,” he said, sounding resigned. “Just please don't give me some false hope for you to shoot me down again.”
“But I'm not,” Eve said quietly. “I mean it.”
Tristan stepped back from Eve and the small gesture made her feel hurt. “If you mean it,” he said, voice rough. “Then when things are less complicated for you, we can try again.”
“Tristan,” Eve said again but he turned his back on her and walked towards the door. She suddenly felt like she was losing him and if he walked out of that door he would be gone forever. Chris' words came into her mind again and she went after Tristan, knowing she couldn't let him go again. Tristan made it to the door when Eve grabbed his arm, spun him to face her and kissed him hard, slamming him against the door behind him. Tristan made not sound of complaint as he got caught up in the kiss and pulled Eve closer to him.
When Eve pulled out of the kill to look at him she saw he kept his eyes tightly shut and he sighed. “Why do you keep doing this to me?” he asked quietly and Eve didn't know whether to feel guilty or relieved.
Eve took a deep breath and gave the only answer she knew would make sense to him. “Because I love you.”
Tristan froze, opening his eyes to look directly at hers. “You love me?” he repeated in surprise.
“I do,” she nodded. “And I know I haven't been fair to you with not telling you everything or telling you its all complicated but its not because I don't want you to know. You have no idea how much I wish I could just tell you everything right now, but its like I told you before its not only my stuff to tell. But one day, soon hopefully, I'll tell you all of it and my only hope will be that you don't think I'm some crazy person or something. I just don't want you to think that I'm choosing not to tell you because that's not the case. And I know this must all just sound so crazy right now and desperate but you are important to me and the thought of losing you because you think I don't trust you or don't want you is just horrible to me. Because I do trust you and I do want to be with you because I do love you.”
Tristan just stared at Eve, the silence in the room suddenly feeling heavy after her speech. “It doesn't sound desperate or crazy,” Tristan finally said after a minute that felt like forever to Eve.
“It doesn't?” Eve asked uncertainly.
“No, it doesn't,” Tristan said with a shake of his head. “Because I love you too.”
“Really?” Eve said hopefully even though Chris had told her Tristan was already hers.
“Yeah, really,” Tristan smiled, pulling Eve against him and holding her tightly. “I'm sorry I got upset like that.” Eve didn't respond, already being content enough in his arms and knowing he loved her. Being with Tristan was enough to keep away the gruesome memory of what was left of Travis. At least it was until there was a knock on the door and Eve picked up Chris' scent on the other side, making her deadly reality crash back down all around her.