Theodore held my hand as we walked South.

The chill of the morning had never fully lifted and even as we marched on at the fast speed Theodore set, I felt my hands and feet become numb as my cheeks and nose blushed red. The discomfort of this combined with the pain of being ripped away from Rose and Tobias after just being reunited meant that I was in no mood to speak.

So I just walked with my eyes on the floor, watching the light shining down on the dead leaves slowly change to orange and then just begin to fade away.

"Are you alright, Esme?" Lou asked after hours of walking.

"She's fine," Theodore said, "Alpha and Luna Brynn are needed on the Eastern territory. We are needed in the South. It has to be like this."

"I thought I was a burden?" I asked, "Now you need me?"

"I need you by my side where I can protect you," he replied.

"And you don't think Tobias and Rose can protect me? Or that I can't protect myself?" I asked.

He clenched his jaw and his eyes flickered down to me before he slipped his hand around my waist and pulled me closer.

"I want to know exactly where you are, what you're doing and whether you're safe or not," he said, "If you went with them, it could be days before I see you again."

"I care about you," he reassured, giving me a tight squeeze.

Lou glanced at me before he quickly averted his gaze and pressed his lips tightly together.

"Are you okay, Lou?" I asked, realising something had to be done to break the awkwardness, "Are your family all safe?"

He nodded, "I've got three older sisters in the cave with my neices and nephews. As far as we know, the caves are still completely hidden."

I smiled, "Hopefully that won't change and they'll all be okay."

"Well at this point, the war could go either way," Lou said with a shrug, "But say we lose and all our soldiers are killed, Alpha Kane may have the good grace to spare the women and children."

Theodore scoffed, "Keep dreaming."

"What sort of man would kill children?" I asked, "How old are your neices and nephews Lou?"

"They're all under six. The youngest was born a month ago," he replied.

"What sort of man would kill toddlers and babies!? A new born baby?" I asked.

Theodore seemed to have tightened his jaw again, "Maybe he'll spare some of the older male children. Raise them as his soldiers. But if it's too much trouble or they need too much care, they'll be dead."

I swallowed.

"How are you so sure?" I asked.

He seized up even more and tilted his head back so that his eyes were gazing at the tree tops.

"He's well known for being ruthless," he said, "It's common knowledge."

I shrugged, "To who? Nightingale borders Pheonix yet until this war, none of us had ever heard of him. How are you so familiar with him?"

Theodore bit his lip as his arm unwravelled from my waist and he took my hand firmly instead.

"Pheonix has had trouble with him before," he replied.

"So before the famine?" I probed, "Before he would have wanted this pack for it's fertile fields?"

He swallowed and finally looked at me. His eyes, which were usually a gentle brown, had turned sharp and piercing as he looked at me, almost with a glare.

"Does your questioning ever fucking stop?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," I said with a nervous laugh, "I just thought that since we're mates now we might want to get to know each other. Call me crazy..."

"Then ask me something normal like what my favourite colour is," he suggested.

"I don't want to know you're favourite colour," I said, "I want to know about you and your life and your past and your...family."

He let out a slight laugh, "You're cute. But we aren't talking about my family. I thought I already made that clear?"

I nodded, "I was just curious."

He wrapped his arm back around me, "Don't ask me again."

He then bent down to place a firm kiss on my cheek.

Before he had even taken his lips off my skin, I saw his hand reach to his belt where he withdrew his knife and flung it backwards.

I gasped as I turned to see a man drop to his knees, the knife in his throat.

"If there's one, there's probably going to be more," Lou said as Theodore took his knife out of the dead body.

"Keep moving," Theodore ordered, "In case there's more than we can fight."

He then took my wrist and marched even faster than before, continually checking behind us. The pace was so fast I had to jog to keep up with every stride of his long legs.

We'd been walking up hill for some time but now the path was beginning to become steeper and we were soon scrambling up rocks and boulders to higher ground.

By the time Theodore and Lou finally stopped, my thighs burnt from the climb and I had to put my hands on my head to let myself breathe.

"Do you see anything?" Theodore whispered to Lou.

He peered over the edge back down at the forest. The sun hadn't fully set yet and there was still plenty of light filtering through the treetops.

"No," Lou replied just as quietly, "But we can't get complacent."

Theodore nodded and pulled me back close to him.

"Alpha Kane's men don't seem to travel alone. It's unlikely there was only one of them," he said, "So let's keep walking and assume we're being followed. I know a way we can lose them but it's dangerous."

Lou glanced at me, "You mean the lake way?"

Theodore nodded.

"No more dangerous than a fleet of Kane's men, ay?" he said.

I opened my mouth to question but Theodore brought a finger to my lips, "Silence from now on," he whispered.

We were now on a rocky track that curved around a mountain far above the treelines. The evening was still and apart from our footsteps, there was silence. But Theodore and Lou kept their knives drawn all the same and Lou who walked at the back never went more than a minute without looking back.

With no sign of any more of Alpha Kane's men, I was beginning to relax. The adrenaline slowly drained away and I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Well that was until we heard the distinctive sound of a pebble bouncing down the steep side of a mountain after being displaced by someone's foot.

My stomach plunged as Lou turned to look down the path.

With the echoes and chimes of the pebble falling, it was hard to tell how far away it had come from but judging by its volume, whoever had accidentally kicked it, was not far from us.

"The lake is only a mile away," Theodore said, "We can make it."

But now that they had blown their cover, the men following us had broken into a run and the footsteps of at least a dozen of them were thundering up the path.

"Run," Theodore ordered as he pushed me infront of him, "Just follow the track."

I did as he said and sprinted around the mountain. There was a slight incline and the further along we got, the thinner and more treacherous the path became.

I glanced down at the valley below and swallowed at how tiny the trees had become. Needless to say, if they caught up with us here and we ended up fighting, someone would end up plunging to their death.

Behind us, I could hear the footsteps getting closer. I was running as fast as I could but Theodore was hot on my trail. I knew he could go faster and probably so could Lou. I was holding them back and that filled me with guilt.

But just as I thought my legs would give out underneath me, the path came to an end.

"What?" I asked in shock, "Where do we go now?"

"Down," Theodore said.

I looked up at him, "There's no path. How can we go down?"

We were surrounded by the rock face on one side and a sheer drop on the other. The path had widened slightly, leaving room for us to stand side by side, facing the direction of the footsteps.

"You have to jump," he said guiding me to the ledge.

My eyes widened.

"Jump!?" I exclaimed, "Are you out of your fucking mind?!"

"There's a lake below," Theodore said, "You just have to trust me."

I glanced down again. It was now almost completely dark and all I could make out was the slight reflection of the moonlight on what could have been water.

"You have got to be joking," I hissed, "You expect me to just jump into the darkness?"

"Yes," he replied urging me to the ledge, "Do as I say."

But before I could even consider mustering the courage to make such a leap, Alpha Kane's men were upon us.

I pulled an arrow from the holster and shot it straight at the first man.

He clutched his throat before collapsing to the floor. Half his body overhung the ledge of the path and in a lulled, semi concious state he was unable to stop his weight from dragging the rest of him down. Listening to him bounce down the rock face was horrifying but the splash at the bottom brought me a little reassurance.

"See?" Theodore said, "A lake."

The other men were following pretty soon behind the first and soon enough Lou and Theodore had stepped infront of me to fight them.

"Esme, jump," Theodore ordered yet again.

But instead I withdrew another arrow and shot the fourth one coming up.

"We should all go together," I said peering around to see at least a dozen more men coming up the path.

"Go now, Esme," he ordered again, turning back to me briefly with his eyes already a glow. "We'll be right behind you."

Lou was struggling against three of the soldiers. He was bigger than them all and his claws were longer and sharped but he was strugglings. I had no choice but to ignore, Theodore and reach for my arrows again.

I shot two and ensured the glow of heir eyes faded away, certifying the death of their wolves, before I looked back to the path.

A whole fleet more had reached us.

I shot as many as I could as Theodore and Lou foight with all their muscle and might. The once quiet valley was now filled with growls and shouts and the ghastly echoes of bodies fallen against the rock of the cliff.

But however many of them Theodore launched to their deaths and however many Lou slashed with his claws, more still seemed to come.

They were reaching me faster than I could shoot them. I kept backing further away until finally my back pressed against the rock face and the soldiers were so close, they could catch my arrows.

I tried shooting the one at the front for a second time but he clasped the arrow in his fist before it could even pierce his skin and he grinned evilly.

"Too late for that, little girl," he snarled before lurching forward towards me.

I fought him with all my might but he swung his first punch and hit me straight in the face. My eyes instantly blurred and my balance completely offset as the whole world began to sway.

I felt myself drop back. I just about had enough control of my feet to stumble but when I heard the sound of gravel crumbling off the ledge and then only air below my feet, there was nothing I could do to stop myself. My head spun too much and my vision was too obscured.

"Esme!" I heard a voice shout.

I could just about see Theodore's figure above me. He reached his hand down and his finger tips grazed mine but he was too late.

Air rushed through my hair as I looked up at the night sky. I could hardly move, let alone panic. All I could do as I felt myself drop into unconciousness was gaze at those beautiful stars above. They twinkled and dazzled like little beads of heaven.

And then there was just darkness.

The next thing I remember was being submerged in icy cold water. With the shock, I regained a small amount of conciousness, allowing me to open my eyes. But unable to move my arms and legs, I just sunk down as I stared lifelessly up the moonlight that shone in ripples through the water.

It was a weird kind of peace. Just floating further away from the surface. Deeper and deeper. I didn't even notice the lack of oxygen in my lungs or the cold anymore. Just the freedom and comfort of slowly drifting away.

At some point in my delirium, the moonlight was obscured by a splash, shortly followed by a person swimming down towards me. He fought through the water, kicking as hard as he could. I don't remember having any interest in him reaching me. The lure of the depths of the lake was far more attractive to me.

I craved the nothingness.

But he did reach me. First he grabbed my arm and then he pressed his body against mine as he swam back up to the surface.

The air chilled my wet skin and the oxygen in my lungs made me splutter.

"Breathe, Esme."

He held me from falling back into darkness of the water but my vision was turning black once again.

"Esme," he said again.

But his voice was but a faint echo in my spinning mind now until seconds later when there was just...silence.