It was the wrong thing to do to shout out Jade's name when Ember was right there, saving my life. But I wasn't exactly to know that, was I?
"Ember!" I called out into the darkness after stepping gingerly out of the caravan. Even though the wolfsbane was gone, my shoulder still ached from the bullet's impact.
"What do you want?" Her tone was harsh, biting.
"To apologise?" I couldn't see her, so I kept walking to where I thought she was. To say I was disorientated after being shot and after Storm's message would be an understatement. "I'm sorry about what happened back there."
"Whatever." She huffed and I could finally see her silhouette standing at the edge of the lake.
Thanking her was the next resort if apologising didn't work. "Thank you for what you did."
"It's fine," she grumbled back as I stood next to her. "Kaden said you needed to burn out the wolfsbane, and obviously, I'm the next best thing to a lighter."
"Thanks," I repeated and crossed my arms. I was beginning to feel the cold of the late fall night — especially as the back of my t-shirt had been torn open so that Halia could remove the bullet from my shoulder.
"So, you got shot," Ember stated, still refusing to look at me.
"Yeah, I got shot," I confirmed — I would've shrugged it off, but my shoulder was stiffening up quickly. "By a hunter, who also happens to be the dad of a kid I went to high school with back in Montana."
"Seriously?" She feigned nonchalance, though I could tell from how she leaned towards me that she actually was interested.
"Yeah, his name's Chris. I don't think he wants to be a hunter, by the sound of their conversation." I chewed the edge of my lip. "His dad was giving him a pretty rough time about it."
"Speaking of giving people a rough time," she began, "I've been thinking... I've spoken to my mum about it, and I've decided that I'm going to stay in Svalbard for a couple more weeks after Christmas."
Staying silent, I nodded; Storm was right. Ember was going to stay in Svalbard, and I had to search for my pack back in America.
"I don't want to go, and I don't want to stay there for that long, but I know I have to." She fidgeted next to me. "I have to, otherwise everything here could fall apart... Damn it, Theo." She finally faced me, revealing the pain painting her face. "When are you gonna say something?"
I pressed my hand to the side of her face and told her my thoughts, "You should go, as soon as we get rid of these hunters."
"What will you do?" She whispered, leaning her face into my hand.
"I have to go look for my pack — the Agency isn't doing anything about it, otherwise they would've been found already."
"What about school? What about your pare— I mean, Lis and Neal, what about them?" Her brow furrowed.
"The only thing holding me here is you, Ember," I confessed. "I don't care about school; I don't care about Lis and Neal. I don't care about anything here, except you — I only care about you."
Abruptly, the sky cracked above us and lightning split the darkness.
I looked down at Ember as she said, "We should find shelter, shouldn't we?"
"We should, but I don't want to." I drew her close to me just as the heavens opened and rain poured down on us.
I pushed my lips against hers, wrapping my arms around her tighter. I felt hot under her touch despite the freezing rain engulfing us.
"Ember," I spoke against her lips, "We have to get rid of the hunters as soon as possible if we're to get away from here."
"I know, I realised that." She nodded, raindrops beading on her eyelashes.
"Tomorrow?" I asked.
"Tomorrow, but we need to get everybody ready," she confirmed.
"I know... We should probably ask to stay in Kaden's caravan tonight. I can't be bothered hiking back to Saint Francis in this thunderstorm." I cursed as my shoulder blade twinged, reminding me that I was still in pain. "And my shoulder blade wrecks."
"It was bloody hard to burn out!" Ember now had to shout over the sound of the rain hitting the lake.
"Thank you for that, by the way!" I shouted back and we ran back to Kaden's caravan.
"It's fine." She smiled back through the rain; her hair plastered to the sides of her face.
As soon as we stepped into the caravan, heat enveloped us. Kaden had got a fire burning in the fireplace and was adding more wood to it.
"It's so hot." Halia grinned, stretching her slightly webbed fingers out in front of the flames.
"Not as hot as you." Kaden smirked at her, obviously not having noticed me and Ember stood there, shivering.
I cleared my throat, making our presence apparent before Kaden and Halia started making out or something — they were so clearly into each other.
"Hey!" Kaden sprang away from Halia like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"Hey." Ember smiled and winked in a not-so-subtle way at Halia, who merely frowned back.
"Do you have any spare clothes whilst ours dry?" I asked Kaden.
"Yeah, there's some in that cupboard there." He pointed above our heads.
"You can wear this." I grabbed my discarded hoodie that was still dry and handed it to Ember.
"Thanks." She smiled that gorgeous smile at me, and took it from me, before pushing off her wet shoes and socks.
"Here." I gestured for us to step into what looked like where Kaden slept and pulled the concertina blind across so Kaden and Halia couldn't see us. Yet I doubted they had eyes for anything or anyone else when they were together.
"You two better keep your hands to yourselves back there!" Kaden yelled the warning through to us.
"Sure, whatever!" I called back as I rolled my eyes, knowing how unlikely it was that Ember and I would be able to strip off and not touch one another.
With wet clothes freezing and numbing my skin, I yanked off the remains of my t-shirt and stripped off my soaking jeans. Ember pulled off her t-shirt over her head and I couldn't help but watch her.
"You gonna stop staring soon?" She asked, arching her eyebrows as she pushed off her jeans — and we both stood there in our underwear.
"Nope." I grinned back, taking in the view I could never get tired of.
Rolling her eyes, she turned away from me — though I could sense from her chemosignals that she was anything but annoyed at me. I stood directly behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist, bringing her body against mine.
"Mmm." She relaxed, letting her head drop against my shoulder as I kissed her neck slowly.
"Tomorrow," I whispered in her ear, "We get rid of these hunters, and we're free to go do what we have to do."
"I know." She held onto my arms, her touch igniting me again. "We'll be free."
I couldn't help but think about how we'd be free to go our separate ways, and what that would mean for us and our relationship. Blinking, I shut the thought away and forced myself to embrace the moment with her there and then.
Taking hold of her shoulders, I turned her to face me and kissed her mouth.
I blocked out the sound of Kaden and Halia laughing and kissing in front of the fire; I blocked out the sound of torrential rain against the caravan roof; I blocked out my thoughts; I blocked out everything.
Except her – I don't block her out.
I wanted to feel everything she felt. I wanted to feel everything with her. I wanted to feel her love. She hadn't said it, but I truly felt like she did love me, she just wasn't prepared to say the words yet.
Stop thinking and kiss her whilst she's here.
And so, I did. I kissed her like there was no tomorrow.
Inhaling the scent of her skin, I slid my hands down into her panties, feeling her ass. I kissed her neck and moved my hand up her back. She sighed against me, her hands resting on my chest.
"You two better not be doing what I think you're doing back there!" Kaden suddenly shoved the concertina blind open.
"Jesus, Kaden!" I exclaimed, turning so that my body covered Ember's.
"Just get dressed — and you can sleep here if you keep your hands to yourself." He raised an eyebrow in disapproval, though he and Halia weren't any better than me and Ember.
I passed Ember some clothes and told Kaden, "Just go back to Halia and let us get dressed."
"Remember this is my house. And that's my bed. And this is my bedroom." He warned, pointing at the both of us.
"Whatever," Ember grumbled behind me.
Kaden semi-shut the concertina and walked back to Halia.
"We do always get interrupted, don't we?" I smirked at Ember, who just frowned in response.
"I wish we weren't." She sighed, pulling the hoodie I gave her over her head.
What if it's a sign? If we keep getting interrupted so often, does that mean we're not meant to be?
Stop, stop thinking like that. I told myself inwardly — I couldn't think like that if I wanted things to work out between us. Our future was becoming more and more unclear, what with her going to Svalbard to learn control, and me going back to the US to look for my pack.
"Come here," I told her, pulling her into the lower bunk of Kaden's bunk bed.
"Well, this is comfy." She joked; there was barely enough room for both of us.
"Here," I said and pulled her closer to me, "That better?"
"Yeah." She breathed, her body relaxing against mine, and she promptly fell asleep.
It's true that I slept better when I was next to her; I didn't have any night terrors. Even though she fell asleep quickly, Ember wasn't exactly a peaceful sleeper.
She moved around so much — it was crazy how much she tossed and turned. But, as far as I could tell, she stayed asleep, occasionally mumbling words. More than once, she'd murmur my name and pat the bed next to her to check I was still there.
Leaving her in the morning was always hard.
Even in Kaden's caravan, I didn't get a chance to stay with her the whole night.
"Theo," Kaden whispered to me early the next morning, "I need to talk to you."
"Fine," I grumbled groggily, extremely tempted to say 'no' and have a few more hours next to Ember.
The sun was only just rising when we stepped out of his caravan, with mist forming and curling over the surface of the lake. We stared out across the brown, fall landscape for a couple of minutes, the silence between us mirroring the peace around Lake Oldoy.
"What's the date today?" I frowned, realising from the trees that it must be getting close to the end of the year.
"Erm... It's the 30th of November," Kaden replied after a moment or two. "Why?"
I laughed slightly. "Ah shit."
"What is it?" He folded his arms in front of him; the morning was cold.
"It's my birthday tomorrow," I explained with a grim face.
"No way!" He grinned.
"Uh, yes way," I groaned.
"Does Ember know?" He questioned.
"I don't know, and honestly, I don't care." I crossed my arms. "Bigger things are going on than my birthday."
"Are we getting rid of the hunters today?" Kaden asked, thankfully sensing the fact I wanted a change in the conversation topic.
"That's the plan." I nodded. "Ember was going to see if Al could formulate a vision for Victoria."
"And what do we do?" He shifted, breath forming water vapour in the almost winter morning.
"We talk to Victoria and ask her to meet us at one of the abandoned warehouses near the Lyme Lane industrial estate." I picked up a flat stone and skimmed across the lake almost perfectly.
"Are you sure I have to come?" He began chewing the edge of his nail.
"It would look suspicious if you don't," I told him— but, in all honesty, I just didn't want to face Victoria alone. "You better be a convincing liar." He huffed in reply. I glanced back to his caravan, "I sure as hell hope Ember can do this."
"She'll be fine." Kaden slapped me on the back.
"Oww! Kaden!" I exclaimed angrily. "That's right where the bullet was, you dipshit!"
"Oh, crap — sorry, Theo." He pulled a face. "Will you tell Victoria about it?"
"Yeah, I think I'll use getting shot to my advantage to show her that we need to have a pack meeting about the hunters," I said, trying to think logically.
"I've never been to a pack meeting before." Kaden grinned as he bounced on his feet slightly.
"That's because you've never been in a pack before." I pointed out, rolling my eyes.
"What do you two want?" Victoria spat at us when we showed up at the house she was staying at.
We'd left Kaden's caravan at about midday, and it'd taken us a couple of hours to figure out where she was. The house we'd found her in was the remains of a grey, crumbling mansion on the outskirts between Lake Oldoy and Saint Francis.
"We want to talk." I clarified, "About the hunters."
"Theo was shot last night," Kaden said blatantly, a blank and unreadable expression on his face.
Don't do anything stupid, Kaden.
"I know. I can smell the blood and the remainder of wolfsbane from here." Victoria nodded and her pupils dilated slightly.
I hope she doesn't eat my liver like she did to that old guy I murdered for her.
"Who else have you turned?" I asked, sensing some figures standing behind her.
"Just a couple of your school acquaintances that wanted a little more excitement in their mundane lives." She brushed it off as if commenting on the weather.
"You can't just run around biting and turning teenagers," Kaden growled, finding his balls which he usually lost around our Alpha.
Is Halia boosting his confidence?
"Actually, Kaden, I can." She threw back at him.
"Okay, okay — we came to talk about the hunters, not about morals." I butted in, not wanting things to escalate any further. We still needed to appear to be on Victoria's side for the plan to work.
She crossed her arms, waiting for us to talk, so I explained, "We can't talk here." Then I lowered my voice, referring to the hunters, "They could be listening."
"Where then?" Victoria's eyebrows furrowed together.
"How about... How about the old, abandoned warehouses at the Lyme Lane industrial estate?" I suggested and took on an air of spontaneity — pretending as if the idea had just come to me.
"There are a dozen warehouses there. Care to define which one?" Her eyebrows unfurrowed and she arched one. It seemed like she was trying to express all of her emotions through her eyebrows that day.
"There's one with a vendetta spiral on the side of it. That one." I swallowed, trying to slow my racing heart as I knew she'd be able to hear it. "Apparently we weren't the first werewolf pack in Lake Oldoy."
"Fine." She turned to go back inside, before clarifying, "Meet me there in two hours. Not a minute later."
By the time we got back to Kaden's caravan, we didn't have much time left. Thankfully, Al had already started formulating a vision for the hunters — as prompted by a vision Wednesday had.
"Did it work?" Was the first thing I asked Al as her eyes fluttered open.
"Yes." She narrowed her eyes — not at me, but rather at the sky — and rubbed her forehead. "The hunters now know that there will be a couple of... incidents tonight. And Victoria knows that in a couple of days there will be an attempt on her life, and when it does happen, she should run."
Needing clarification as anxiety began to gnaw at my insides, I questioned Al, "So, it worked, then?"
"Yes, it worked." Al spat at me, and I noticed how grey she'd become. On the plus side though, Wednesday looked a little better.
"Where's Halia?" I glanced around, eager not to get on Al's nerves anymore.
"She's swimming." Ember nodded her head towards the lake.
"Ah."
I remembered that I needed to talk to her about what happened with my pack and the hunters in Georgia whilst we were both there.
"How long have we got?" Ember nudged me out of my thoughts.
After a glance at the time on my phone, I told her, "An hour — so we should probably get moving now." I stepped away from her, so I didn't shout down her ear when I yelled, "Kaden!"
"Yep, I'm here." He stumbled out of his caravan.
"You ready to get going?" I walked over to where he was.
"Yeah... As ready as I'll ever be, I guess."
"Which warehouse did you tell Victoria to be in?" Ember stepped over to us.
"The one with the vendetta spiral on it," I responded simply.
Inevitably, I was starting to shut her out again. Despite everything going on, I couldn't stop thinking about how we were going to be in separate time zones in the next few weeks.
"Okay. What's that?" She asked, trying to get me to open up and talk to her.
"A spiral which was drawn in vendetta," I told her harshly.
"Wow, Theo." Her voice became cold, and she clenched her jaw in frustration. "That clears things up."
"I'm gonna go to talk to Halia," Kaden announced to no one in particular before walking away.
"We should get over to the industrial estate," I said, starting to move away as well.
"No, Theo." Ember grabbed hold of my arm. "You don't get to shut me out, especially not now."
I sighed, rubbing my face with my hands. "There's nothing to say."
"Yes, there is." She pulled on my arm desperately — clinging to our relationship with both hands. "There's always something to say."
"A vendetta spiral," I explained with a heavy sigh, "Is something that a werewolf draws or creates to show that they will get revenge and vengeance for something or someone. The fact it's here means that there must've been other werewolf packs here in Lake Oldoy before."
"Thanks for explaining," she said, a smile tugging at the edge of her lips.
"There are multiple possibilities for it being here, like two feuding packs, a feud within a pack and, of course, the constant feud between a werewolf and a hunter," I continued explaining, making it as clear as I could.
"You can always talk to me, Theo," she told me, taking hold of my hand and squeezing it a little. "I'm always here for you to talk to."
With a weak smile, I squeezed her hand back, knowing that she wouldn't always be there for me — no one ever is, in the end. She could promise all she wanted about being there for me, but I knew it wasn't worth anything when it came down to it.
But instead of voicing my narcissism, I just nodded. "Sure."
"Theo, Ember, let's go!" Kaden shouted to us.
"You scared?" I asked Ember, noticing her worried face as we set off from the caravan.
"No." She swallowed and shook her head, before confessing, "Yes, maybe."
"It's fine. Fear is what gives you an edge." I kept her hand in mine. "You know what you're gonna do?"
"Yeah. Kinda." She replied, looking down at the ground as we walked.
"Ember, stop a second," I demanded. She stopped, staring up at me with those beautiful, deep blue eyes that were all I needed to see. I took hold of her shoulders, "You will be absolutely fine, okay? I trust you; I believe that you can do this."
"That makes one of us..." She mumbled to her feet.
"Hey," I said more softly, "You got this."
Then before she could say anything else, I pulled her in for a short, sweet kiss.
I resisted the temptation to tell her I loved her — that would only mess with her head when we desperately needed her to have her 'A' Game when we did this.
We all do.