Ryder and I had to postpone our date by a day. Somehow, he'd forgotten that it was a full moon on the day that he'd asked me out for — I mean, how on earth does a werewolf forget something as important as that?

Thankfully, the night of the full moon passed without much trouble: with Jason, Jade, Theo, Ryder and Maia going off into another valley, and me, Storm, Abi and Zack staying at the ranch.

Also, somehow, in between everything going on, Theo had gotten a job working at a diner. And that diner just happened to be the River City Grill in East Missoula. The exact diner that Ryder chose for us to go to on a date.

I'd like to think that it was just some freaky coincidence, but I was pretty sure that by this point, the universe was against me.

It was beyond awkward when we sat down and Theo came over to take our order. The mood had totally and completely died — we'd been fine on the drive over here, and I'd been excited. But now, my bubble was well and truly burst.

How can you have a date with someone whilst your ex is hovering over your shoulder?

Answer: you can't. It's impossible. Implausible.

"Classy, Ryder," Theo tutted as he pulled out a small pad of paper. "Your first date and you take her to a roadside diner meant for truckers."

I held my breath and didn't say anything as Ryder responded, "Well, Theo, it's better than that date that you never took her on."

Theo growled quietly, eyes avoiding mine, "It wasn't my fault we had to deal with hunters."

I swallowed; this was only getting worse. Both of them were behaving as bad as each other — dragging up memories that I'm sure both of them would rather leave buried.

"Oh, at least you weren't being tortured by the hunters," Ryder growled back, "And by the sounds of what Storm told us, you and Ember had plenty of time to fool around with each other, while the rest of us were locked in cells, hooked up to electric currents."

"You know that's not my fault! I came as soon as I could, as soon as I knew how to find you." Theo glared angrily at him.

"Both of you. Stop it. Now." I pressed my lips together firmly, deciding that enough was enough and I couldn't listen to them arguing over me a moment longer.

Much to my surprise, they stopped — normally it took Jason to get them to stop bickering.

"Good." I nodded, declaring bluntly, "I'm leaving now."

"Ember, wait—" Ryder began.

"Nope," I refused, not even wanting an apology or an explanation, not even turning back as I walked out of the diner.

Stepping out into the May sunshine, I breathed in the fresh, clean, mountain air.

Why does my romantic life have to be so goddamn complicated? I don't even know what I'm fooling around with Ryder for when all I want is for Theo to give a shit about me again. And then there's Jade... Jade and Theo, Theo and Jade. There's definitely something going on there.

But deep down, buried deep within my soul, there's some part of me that wants Theo just to slam me against a wall and kiss me until I can't stand — kiss me until all of our worries and troubles melt away into insignificance.

God. I let out probably the heaviest sigh I've ever let out. My mind is so screwed up; why am I thinking about Theo in that way when I'm with Ryder?

Stupid disloyal Phoenix.

"You alright?" Someone asked after my heaviest of all heavy sighs.

Not looking at them, I nodded and shrugged. "Fine."

A glance back towards the diner told me that Ryder and Theo were still arguing.

Ugh, boys. I don't even know why they're arguing about me so much; it's not like I'm the prettiest girl out there or anything... and then there's Jade... Jade and Theo, Theo and Ja—

A gunshot echoed through the valley, causing me to jump and halting my thoughts abruptly.

"Is it hunting season, or something?" I turned to the guy who asked me if I was alright, who turned out to be a truck driver.

"You can hunt all year 'round in Montana, dear." He responded, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

After another gunshot, (and after jumping again), I asked, "What are they hunting?"

"Could be anything." He responded, "Well, I gotta go now. See you 'round."

"Goodbye." I smiled politely, seriously doubting that I'd ever see him again.

"Ember!" I heard my name yelled, "Get inside! Now!"

I ran back inside the diner; it had to have been either Theo or Ryder yelling to me — no one else knew my name. And 'Ember' isn't exactly a popular name.

"What's going on now?" I asked Theo incredulously; Ryder was nowhere in sight, "Can things not go okay for just one day?"

"It's the hunters." Theo grabbed my arm unnecessarily tightly and began dragging me along. "They're here for us."

"Get off me," I resisted, struggling and squirming but he kept a firm hold and took me to a storage room, where Ryder was as well.

"The hunters are here. Right now." Theo glared at me. "You stay here."

"Bu—" They were already gone, locking the door from outside. "Ugh!"

I can help! Why don't they realise that?!

Slumping down onto a step, I rubbed my face with my hands, undoubtedly rubbing off the light layer of makeup that I'd put on that morning. Part of me jibed: this is what happens when you try and be normal and go on a date — more fool you, Ember Hestia Milburn. More fool you.

Maybe Theo was right. Maybe I should've gone home, instead of coming out here to Montana — God knows why my parents let me move halfway across the world. Probably because I only make things worse, no matter where I go. In that case, maybe I should've just stayed on Svalbard: isolated and cold, where the only person I could hurt was myself.

The door handle rattled; someone was unlocking it or trying to break it open.

Springing to my feet with a sudden grin on my face, thinking that Ryder or Theo had come back for me, I rushed towards the door.

It wasn't Ryder. Or Theo.

It was Chris, Chris Woodman.

"Chris?" I frowned at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Come on, Ember, there's no time." He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the storage room. "The hunters are all around the front, we'll go out the back."

I heard Theo and Ryder growling, as well as the sounds of bullets and arrows being shot from the front of the diner.

"I have to go help them." I tried to turn away from Chris and back towards where Theo and Ryder and the hunters were.

"Not if you want to end up dead," Chris insisted and tugged on my hand, leading me out of the back of the diner.

Outside, there were a couple of men dressed in black, and they were approaching me.

They have to be hunters.

"Chris?" I frowned, as he did nothing to help me, as he did nothing to defend me.

Chris, Chris Woodman.

The son of a hunter.

A hunter.

"I'm sorry, Ember." He genuinely looked sad. "I had to do this... I had no choice."

"Do what?" Panic sparked into action within me, the men were closing in, backing me against the wall, and one had a black bag, and the other had zip ties. "What are you doing? You don't have to do this; you've got the wrong person. I don't know anything, I swear, I promise..."

I tried to scream for Theo, but there were gloved hands pressing tape over my mouth before I could utter a sound. And then the black bag went over my head, and the zip ties were tightened around my wrists, binding them together.

"MMEOO!!!" I yelled for Theo, but the sound was muffled by the tape and the bag.

"Shut her up." One of the men grunted to the other, whilst they dragged my resisting body along the ground.

Chris protested, "No you don't have to—!"

Something hit the back of my head, hard, almost instantly knocking me unconscious.

Oh shit.

A bucket of icy cold water thrown in my face returned me to an unpleasant state of consciousness.

I was chained to a chair, so I guess the zip ties were just a temporary thing. Somehow, probably in the struggle, my jumper had been torn off me, leaving me in my vest, feeling cold and bare. One bright light shone on my face.

Hunters. Hunters took me.

Chris... He was there.

There was a sort of cold darkness hanging in the air — I couldn't name it, but it felt unnatural... supernatural.

I blinked the water out of my eyes, hoping that this was an extremely twisted nightmare and that I was about to wake up any minute; any minute now...

"Well, aren't you just a pretty little one?" A tall man with indistinguishable features sat down on a chair in front of me. His features were indistinguishable because it was basically pitch black.

This isn't a nightmare. I can tell this is real.

God help me; this is real.

The tape was still over my mouth, so I couldn't spit at him like I wanted to. Instead, I just glared.

"Now, I'm going to take the tape off, but if you try anything, and I mean anything, things are gonna get a whole lot worse for you," he told me, leaning forward and tearing the tape off my mouth.

I spat a fat wad of spit straight at his scarred face.

"Hook her up!" He yelled to someone, as he wiped away my spit.

My eyes widened as I saw Chris run towards us. "Are you sure you want to do that? I mean surely if—"

"Son. Just do it." My interrogator scowled at Chris — son... is this Chris's dad?

I soon found out what I was being hooked up to, as Chris placed those little circular pad things onto my chest and the sides of my forehead, on my temples, which connected to a machine. Either I was having my heart rate monitor, or they were going to give me electric shocks.

Probably the latter.

"Chris, please," I whispered to him, eyes glistening with tears, "You don't have to do this."

Chris didn't say anything, he just looked down at me, eyes sad, apologising for what was about to happen.

"Don't fall for them crocodile tears, son," his father warned. "They try it every time."

"What do you want from me?" I questioned as Chris left me, stepping back into the darkness — where there were probably a dozen other hunters with guns and crossbows all trained on me.

"That's not things work here." Chris Senior shook his head. "I ask the questions, and you answer them."

I scowled at him. "I won't help you."

"Yes, you will, actually," he corrected, beginning to turn the dial on a box that he had on his lap.

Definitely the latter.

The feeling of being electrocuted was most likely amplified by the fact they'd just thrown water all over me. Regardless, it was excruciatingly painful as I felt the electric current zap through my body.

I clamped my jaw shut as my body shook with electricity, trying not to scream out, not wanting those bastards to have the satisfaction of me screaming.

But the pain wasn't the only thing that made me want to scream; I was angry. I had trusted Chris and he'd led me into a trap because I thought he was helping me. Because I trusted him.

Finally, the hunter turned the dial down and off.

I sucked in a shaky breath.

"Let's try that again, Ember." The hunter glared at me.

I couldn't help but flinch a little when he said my name, how does he know my name? Chris — Chris must've told him. Bastard.

"Where are the pack staying?" Was the first question.

"I don't know. I don't know what you're talking about," I denied, shaking my head.

"Now, now, Ember. I know you're lying — for one, this machine also monitors your heart rate, so I can tell when you're lying. Second." He let out a harsh chuckle. "If you weren't one of them, you'd already be dead from the amount of electricity I just ran through you."

"I won't tell you anything." I gritted my teeth, bracing for the pain.

This time, the chair shook as well when he electrocuted me — he'd obviously turned the voltage up. But again, I didn't utter a single sound. I wouldn't let them hear me scream and cry and beg for them to stop.

I won't, I won't, I won't.

"Where is Jason Canis?" Was the next question.

"Up your arse." Was my response, a response that I was particularly proud of — it was almost worth getting electrocuted for.

Almost.

Where are the pack staying? — They electrocuted me.

Where is Jason Canis? — They hit me.

Is the banshee still alive? — They hit me again.

How many predictions has she made in the last month? — They waterboarded me.

How's Jade recovering from silver poisoning? — They electrocuted me.

How's Ryder's anger management these days? — They hit me multiple times.

Can Zack still walk? — They stuck an arrow into my thigh.

Storm can't See during thunderstorms, can she? — They stuck an arrow into my other thigh.

Where is Jason Canis? — They waterboarded me.

Where is the pack staying? — They electrocuted me.

Round and round and round and round until I couldn't see straight. I was beaten and bruised and bloodied, but I didn't give in; I couldn't.

Chris left at some point, at which point I didn't know, but I hoped that he felt guilted and ashamed of how he'd sold me out to the hunters — to his family.

My body was healing slowly, but the constant supply of electricity that they kept running through me meant that I was in constant pain.

"How much longer will it take to break you?" Chris's dad grabbed the top of my head and yanked on my now-loose hair. "How much longer will it take for you to reveal what you are?"

"You don't know what I am." The fact amused me and I laughed with a hoarse throat, "You don't know what I am! You've had me locked up in here for hours and you still don't know what I am!"

"Care to enlighten us, then?" He leaned over my face, grasping hold of my jaw.

"You don't wanna find out what I am," I smirked at him, despite my persistent agony.

"Fine, I'll ask another question then." He let go of my head and jaw, sitting back in his chair, finger stroking the dial.

I waited, glaring at him as his finger teased the dial that would send God knows how many electrical currents through my body.

"How long do you think Theo Aquila would last if we tortured him?"

"YOU BASTARD!" I yelled at him; he'd brought Theo into this, and he was going to pay for that. "YOU LEAVE HIM THE HELL ALONE!"

"Ah, thought that would get a reaction." The Bastard with a capital B smirked. "What would you say if I told you that he was getting tortured right next door?"

"THEO!!!" I screamed for him, as Chris's dad turned the dial to electrocute me.

Whilst my body was jolting around due to the electricity, the hunter was laughing at me, "You stupid bitch, you really think that we wouldn't soundproof these walls?"

"You really wanna know what I am?" I shouted at him through the excruciating pain. "You really wanna find that out?"

I could feel the fire building inside of me, something that I hadn't felt for a long time. It was building in a way that I knew I couldn't possibly attempt to control, a way that I knew there was no stopping.

Nothing could stop this.

Nothing could stop me.

My Phoenix was returning to me, and with a burning passion.

I am fire and flame and fear and there's no controlling or changing that.

"What's happening?" A hunter stood in the dark edges of the room asked, clearly worried.

I glanced down to see my beaten, bruised, bloodied skin beginning to catch fire, the arrows in my thighs burning to ash.

"What are you doing?" Chris's dad questioned me, flicking the dial around repeatedly; it wasn't working. My Phoenix must've been burning up all the electricity before it could harm me.

"You wanted to know what I am," I told him, as my heart pounded loudly, "You wanted me to break."

The chains tying me to the chair were melting by now, as heat radiated off me, setting me free. I stood up as the last of the chains dripped to the ground in a molten mess.

"What the hell is this?" Chris's dad's face was etched with fear as he backed away from me, running towards the door. "Shoot her!" Were the last two words he yelled before he slipped out of the room.

There were a dozen hunters all around me, and they began firing bullets and arrows at me. But they burnt up before they got within two metres of me.

Flames were racing across my hands and arms, illuminating the room as I held them out, demonstrating my Phoenix's power. Demonstrating my power.

They say that fighting with fire is dangerous... But I've learnt that you don't get burned if you're the flames.

"What the hell is this?" A hunter cried out, as their arrows and bullets did nothing.

"This is what happens when you're fighting with fire," I declared.

And I let go of the scream that I'd been holding in from all the pain, fire bursting out from me in every direction as I did so, flames reaching out and scorching bodies.

The scream was similar to that of when I lost control in the woods in Lake Oldoy after Kaden had shown up, and I'd smashed the scream that Al had captured for me.

The noise was horrible, and the more it seemed to go on, the less human it became, the less it became my scream... It became more like the song of some sort of bird, a beast... the Phoenix.

Until I stopped screaming. Yet the fire continued raging — attacking and destroying all of the hunters in the room... leaving them as nothing but piles of ash.

Destroying them.

I am a destroyer of lives.

Swallowing as I let the flames die away, I stared around at the mess I'd made of these men and women; 12 piles of ash were left behind — Chris's dad had made it out after all. What a shame.

Yet I was glad that Chris had left when he did; I don't know if I could've coped knowing that I'd killed him as well.

Pressing against the flame tattoo on my wrist, I felt myself go up in flames again, as I teleported out of wherever the hunters were keeping me and to just outside the ranch.

Gasping as the flames diminished, leaving me in a smouldering heap on the floor a few paces away from the ranch, hot tears began tracking down my cheeks. I coughed out the few obligatory lumps of coal, the hideous taste never leaving my mouth.

"Ember!" Abi rushed out of the ranch. "Where the hell have you been? We've been worried sick about you. Jason, Theo, Ryder, Jade and Maia were all out looking for you."

"Didn't you see?" I questioned incredulously, body shaking as I fixed my eyes on her. "Didn't you see them?"

"Of course, I saw them; I heard them as well." She dropped down onto the floor next to me. "You didn't have a choice."

"You don't know that." I spat out a few more mouthfuls of black, sooty char — ever the evidence and result of teleporting.

"Yes, I do." Abi moved a little closer to me. "I know that they had you chained up and they were interrogating you for information on the pack. I know that they tortured you for hours, but that you never told them anything. You were so strong, Ember. So strong."

Fresh tears sprung up and my voice broke as I told her, "Chris betrayed me. I trusted him and he betrayed me."

"Now you know how we felt when Ryan betrayed the pack to the hunter," Abi responded in what was an attempt at a soothing tone.

Yet nothing could soothe or console me. The fire was burning too strongly to be put out.

"Ember?" Ryder ran out of the woods, closely followed by Theo, "What happened?"

Slowly, I got to my feet, refusing Abi's help.

"Ember?" Ryder frowned and stepped a little closer to me, reaching out to put a tentative hand on my shoulder.

"Give her a break, Ryder," Theo told him as I flinched away from Ryder's outstretched hand, pointing to the char. "She's just teleported, so give her a break."

"Yeah, she's also just been tortured for hours, so you might wanna give her a break for that as well." Angrily wiping the back of my hand over my tears, I spat out black, bloody spit.

"Ember!" Maia appeared out of the woods and rushed towards me, "I'm so glad you're okay."

"Who said I was 'okay'?" I glared at her, voice bitter and cold whilst I walked towards the ranch. "Who said I was ever 'okay'?"

Jason and Jade pulled up in the pickup and jumped out.

Jason spoke first, "Ember, if you don't want to sleep in the ranch tonight, I completely understand."

Finally, someone who realises that I need some space and some time alone after what just happened.

"There's a little hut not too far away from the ranch," he continued, "It's in the woods, at the far end of the lake."

"Thank you, Jason," I thanked him, stepping inside the ranch, "I'll just grab my stuff."

"You're really gonna let her stay on her own after all that?" I heard Ryder question his Alpha. I stopped in my tracks, just in the hallway of the ranch.

Jason responded, "Yes. If any of you actually gave a damn about her, you'd see that she's broken after all of that. She told them nothing, but they still broke her."

Theo spoke up, "What do we do next?"

"We let Ember recover," Jason told them, "She won't be the same person after what she had to do, and we have to—"

I walked off at that point, done with it.

Done with them.

Done with everything.