According to what Abi told us, Ember had killed a total of 12 people in order to escape. Whether it was an accident or not, Abi didn't know. But all of us sure as hell knew that it had left Ember broken; she was seriously hurting.

She slept out in that hut for a couple of nights, with Abi taking her constant supplies of food and blankets. Though I doubted that she actually ate any of the food.

And I was getting close with Jade again. I don't know quite how it happened. Ever since Chris gave us that vial of cure, and after we'd found Maia and she'd snuck in my room and kissed me, it was like things went back to how they were before my pack was taken.

But nothing could be the same again; if there's one thing we can't repeat, it's the past — contrary to what Jay Gatsby insists.

At that point, my night terrors had gotten so bad that I was now resorting to not sleeping at all. And so, insomnia controlled me by night, though I'd got into the habit of reading classics such as The Great Gatsby (hence my reference to good, ol' Jay). Most nights, Jade snuck into my room, mostly just to talk, but sometimes neither of us could bare talking, so we just kissed instead.

I lay in bed one warm night, with my windows thrown wide open and wearing only a pair of boxers, yet I was sweating uncontrollably. The moon was a tiny sliver in the dark night sky and over a hundred stars were shining, creating a gorgeous night for stargazing.

I bet Ember is seeing these stars as well.

God, it was like being on a different continent to her again. She was in Montana with me, a few hundred metres away from the ranch in a tiny wooden hut. So why does it feel like she's a world away?

"Hey, Theo." Jade stepped into my room, wearing a silky, black bathrobe, her hair tied up in a ponytail on her head, clearly as hot as me.

"Hey, Jade." I sighed, dragging a hand across my sweaty forehead.

"Hot tonight, isn't it?" She sat down on the bed beside me.

"Yeah... I'll be right back," I told her, going to the bathroom between Jason and Ryder's rooms.

Running my wrists under cold water, I instantly felt myself cooling down. Then, I splashed the water over my face.

Staring at myself in the tiny mirror above the sink, water dripping off my face, I wondered if Ember was hot tonight, or if she was just as cold as she usually was. But, with her fire returning to her in the powerful way it did, surely, she should be warm now?

"You okay?" Jade called to me, knocking lightly on the door.

"Yeah, I'll be out in a sec," I responded and patted my face dry with a towel.

"Can't sleep?" She asked when I reappeared from the bathroom.

"You know there's no point in me even trying." I huffed, standing in front of her and stroking loose strands of her messy, thick hair back behind her ears.

Her hands rested on my forearms as I kissed her on the forehead.

"Tomorrow's Monday," she told me — as if I didn't know the days of the week.

"Yeah, I kinda guessed that," I smirked. "You know, today being Sunday and all."

"What I'm saying." She rolled her dark brown eyes at me. "Is that tomorrow's Monday, and you've got basketball practise tomorrow night."

"Hmm," I responded, flopping onto the bed, Jade following suit.

"You're thinking about her, aren't you," Jade spoke in a soft, sad tone; it was a statement, not a question.

"No." I quickly denied, before admitting, "Yes."

Jade sighed almost unnoticeably and placed a hand on my arm. "I'll give you some space."

She got up to leave, walking towards the door before I grabbed hold of her hand.

"I want you to stay," I pleaded, needing her with me, "We don't have to talk, or do anything, but I just want you to stay."

She sunk back down to the bed. "You sure?"

"Of course." Placing my hand on the side of her face, I ran my thumb over her cheek.

Jade ran her hand down my hot, sticky body, tracing her fingers across my sweaty abs, her eyes locked on mine as she did so.

Her eyes were gorgeous, just like most parts of her. They were dark brown, but sometimes, somehow, like just then, they caught the light and ended up looking a little golden — golden-brown.

"What now?" She whispered breathily.

"Whatever you want."

Slowly, Jade pressed her lips against mine, her hands sliding around the back of my neck before she slid her leg over my body to straddle me. I kissed her back, inhaling her scent of vanilla and pinecones as our tongues pushed against each other.

Despite everything that had changed, kissing her had remained the same — it was almost like the past year had faded into insignificance.

My fingers undid the loose knot tying her sexy, silky bathrobe, dropping it off her shoulders as we continued kissing. Underneath the robe, she was wearing lacy black panties and a loose vest, and the sight instantly turned me on.

Breaking away from the kiss, Jade whispered in my ear, "Glad to know I can still excite you."

Snaking my hands around her waist, I pulled her body against me more, prior to sliding my hand into her panties and feeling the dampness there.

"Glad to know I can still turn you on." I smirked back at her, as her breath went shaky.

"Just shut up already." She grinned at me, regardless of her bossy tone.

"Yes, boss." I joked, but soon shut my mouth when she pulled her vest off, revealing her gorgeous breasts.

Holy shit.

Mouth dry, I swallowed as I took in her beauty.

"You can go on top now." She smiled as she flopped down next to me.

Promptly, I climbed on top of her, kissing her as hard as I could. Her chemosignals reeked of sexual intentions and raging passion, and the smell of that got me in the same state.

Leaving a trail of kisses down her neck, I began feeling her breasts. She breathed a ragged breath and wrapped her legs around my hips, moving my crotch against hers.

"Theo..." She breathed, chest heaving.

"What's up?" I stopped immediately, hands lying still on her skin, as I moved my face over hers, "What's up, Jade?"

She licked her lips anxiously. "I... want you—"

"You want me to stop?" I frowned slightly.

"No." She grabbed hold of my arm, claws out and digging in slightly. "I want you, Theo."

I kissed her lips briefly. "I don't know if this is the right time."

"Are you saying you don't want me?" Her face dropped and her hand slid away from my arm.

"No — I mean of course I want you," I rushed, "I'm just saying that I don't think now is the right time."

"When is the right time, Theo?" She cried incredulously, wriggling out from under me, grabbing her vest and dragging it back over her body.

Damn it.

"Jade, wait, I didn't mean it like that." I stood up from my bed, "I meant that a lot's going on right now, and I don't think that now is the right time to do it."

"There's always a lot going on, Theo." She threw back at me as she swept up her silk robe. "There's never gonna be a time when nothing is happening."

She must've read something in my face or manner — or maybe she smelt my chemosignals, but she froze. "It's her. Isn't it?"

"No, of course not, Jade." I sighed, rubbing my face.

"Forget it, Theo." She shook her head, biting her lip hard as she turned away from me. "You're obviously still in love with her. It's my fault for not realising that you are."

"Jade, wait." I grabbed hold of her hand as she walked out of the room.

"Theo." She eyed me seriously, "You love her, not me. Maybe you used to love me, but you don't anymore..."

"Just let her go, man." Ryder appeared from the bathroom that joined his and Jason's bedrooms.

I let go of her, watching her return to her room.

"Damn it," I swore and kicked the wall.

"She's right you know." Ryder shrugged. "You're still in love with Ember."

"No, I'm not," I growled at him.

Ryder laughed quietly, before mocking, "Oh, who would ever have guessed that the great Theo Aquila would have to face the problem of unrequited love?"

"Whatever," I grunted at him.

"Seriously though, man," he continued, "You can't mess around with Jade when you're in love with another girl."

"What if I don't want to be in love with her anymore?" I questioned him incredulously, "I can't just turn my feelings for her off, no matter what has happened between us."

"So... you don't want to be in love with her," he clarified and arched an eyebrow in confusion.

"No." I shook my head. "I don't even know Ember anymore. Ever since she came here from Svalbard... She's like a different girl. For God's sake, she killed a dozen people the other day!"

"They were hunters, and they were torturing her." Ryder unnecessarily pointed out.

"Yeah, but the Ember I knew in Lake Oldoy, I don't even know where that girl is anymore!" My voice increased in volume, "This Ember, she's violent, she's compulsive, she's—"

"She's what?" A voice snapped behind me, and I knew who it was without even having to turn around, "Dangerous?"

"Yeah, she's also got great timing as well." Turning, I glared at her.

"Well, sorry for interrupting your little rant." Sarcasm was practically dripping off her words, as she glared back. "Oh, and sorry for getting in the way of you screwing Jade."

Ember glared for a second longer, before stalking off.

"You see what I mean?" I turned back to Ryder, throwing a hand in the direction she'd left.

Ryder stood with his arms folded, "I think that you two need to go to a couple's counselling session."

"Oh yeah, 'cos your relationship with her ended so well." I spat back at him.

"At least I didn't fall for her as hard as you."

"CAN YOU TWO LITTLE BITCHES STOP BICKERING AND GO TO SLEEP?!" Jason yelled through to us.

Jason had been screwed up since they found Sienna's body, and him yelling at us like that proved just that.

"Piss off now, Ryder," I hissed at him.

"With pleasure," He hissed back, and just before he disappeared back into his room, he added, "Enjoy wallowing in self-pity."

Nope, I think I'd rather read Jane Eyre.

This is gonna be a long night.

"Well, you look like shit," Abi complimented me at the breakfast table the next morning.

"Thanks, Abs. I feel like shit as well," I responded, not looking up from my Nutella on toast.

"Ladies and gentlemen, behold!" Ryder announced as he walked in, "Behold the effects of insomnia, in Subject A: previously known as Theo Aquila."

"Ha-ha." Abi shook his head at him, laughing sarcastically, before placing a hand on my forearm and telling me. "You know we have some sleeping pills in the girls' bathroom, right?

"And, so extends the mystery," Ryder continued, "It's self-inflicted insomnia."

"Why does that sound like some sort of suicide?" Jade asked groggily, entering the kitchen — and therefore, the conversation.

"I don't know," Abi said thoughtfully, "But it definitely isn't good."

"What was Ember doing in here last night?" I asked, steering the conversation topic away from me.

"She's not banished to that hut, you know?" Abi raised an eyebrow.

"I was in here last night to talk to you, Theo." Ember provided the answer I was looking for, as she stepped in from the side door.

"What about?" I frowned, struggling to make eye contact with her, taking a swig of coffee.

"You might never find out now." She shrugged a shoulder.

"For God's sake, Ember!" I stood up with a sigh. "Just tell me what you wanted to talk to me about."

"Fine," she said bluntly, "Outside. Now."

Reluctantly leaving my Nutella on toast, I followed her outside.

"What's up?" I questioned, folding my arms against my chest.

"I wanted to talk to you because... Well, out of the entire pack, you're the only one I fully trust — and after the whole thing with Chris and those hunters, I'm not exactly in the mood for extending my shortlist of people I trust," she explained, eyebrows knitted together in a frown.

"Okay...?" My eyebrows crumpled into a frown.

"And, erm, I know that she helped you a lot, but erm, I think that she—" Ember fumbled for words as her blue eyes searched the forest floor for answers.

"Just spit it out, Ember," I told her, "I've not got all day."

"It's Storm," she stated. "I don't trust her."

"Now you understand how I felt when Wednesday first used her Sight on me back in Lake Oldoy." I huffed.

"It's not the same," Ember insisted, "Storm was close with Ryan, wasn't she? And he was the one that betrayed the pack to the hunters to first time around? What if it was Storm that betrayed the pack this time?"

"Woah, woah, woah." I raised my hands up to silence her. "Slow down. So, you think that we can't trust Storm because she was close with Ryan?"

"Exactly." She nodded.

"Ember," I sighed, "All of us were close with Ryan... Storm isn't an exception in that case."

"I've just got a funny feeling about it." She chewed her lip. "And I wanted you to know about it."

I inhaled a breath of fresh air and ended the conversation, "We should get to school."

"Thanks for believing in me." Ember huffed, before heading back inside.

Storm... betray us? I couldn't believe it — I wouldn't believe it.

"So, Theo, what do you want to do when you leave high school?" The guidance counsellor asked.

Be alive probably wouldn't have been the wisest response to make, so I came up with: "I dunno, go to college?"

Hellgate High made all of their students go to the guidance counsellor at least once a month, and that day was my day to go get interrogated. It was basically the end of the day, with my guidance counselling being in last period, though I still had basketball practice after that.

"Come on, Theo, you have to be decisive about your future." The counsellor, Ms Marnie, looked at me sternly. "No one else can decide for you."

They can if they put a bullet through my head.

I shrugged. "I haven't really had time to think about it."

"Yes." Marnie picked up a file and scan-read it. "I can see you've moved around a lot. It's surprising that your GPA is actually pretty good."

Trying not to take that insult too hard, I gritted my teeth. "Ms Marnie, I should probably get back to class, it's—"

"What do your parents do?" She asked, and I felt my heart drop.

"Nothing — not anymore." I narrowed my eyes at her. "Or is that not in your little file?"

"Sorry, I meant, what did your parents do?" She corrected, still inspecting the file.

"My mom was a florist, and my dad was an accountant," I told her.

I remember how Mom used to ensure that our house was always filled with the sweetest-smelling flowers and how Dad was constantly buying her new vases for them...

"Theo?" Marnie clicked her fingers in front of me. "Theo?"

"Yeah, what?" I snapped — why am I thinking about my parents so much recently?

"I asked you if you want to be an accountant, like your dad was."

"Maybe. I don't really know."

"Well, you've already taken the Computer Science elective, which is great..." She tapped her pencil against the desk. "I can try and sign you up for the Personal Finance elective as well."

"But I've already got basketball as my second elective, and I was told I could only take one—" I rushed, but she cut me off.

"I'll talk to Coach Burkes and the principal. I'm sure we can work around it." She smiled like she was doing me a favour. "Head off to class now, Theo. I'll be in touch."

Bag over a shoulder, I strode out of the room without a glance backwards. I would've kept on going, heading out of school if I hadn't spotted Ember in the empty hallway.

"Hey, Ember." I slowed as I approached her. "What's up?"

Tears were streaming down her face as she sniffed, "It doesn't matter."

"It does," I insisted, stepping closer to her, "You're upset, and I care about you. So, it does matter."

"It's my dad." She sobbed, hands pushing her hair back from her face as she raised her eyes to meet mine. "He — erm, he..." She sniffed. "The... drugs that he was on... they, erm, they were seriously lowering his immunity."

"Shit," I cursed, but didn't push her to continue; I could see it was only going one way. The drugs he was on... they were....

"Last week..." She continued, sniffling and rubbing her eyes, "He got a cold, and then it developed into hypothermia, and his body just couldn't handle it."

"God, Ember. I'm so sorry." I shuffled slightly, unsure of what to do, unsure if she was finished or not.

"My dad..." Ember cried a little harder as she found the words, "My dad's dead, Theo. My dad's fucking dead."

It was almost an instinct when I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her, letting her cry, helping her cry. There was nothing I could do or say to console her; there are no words or actions great enough to console the loss of a parent.

"What now then?" I asked when she finished crying, leaving behind a wet splotch on my shirt.

"I'm sorry about your shirt." She sniffed, seeing me glance at it.

"It's fine, I don't mind you making me wet." The words fell out of my mouth before my brain could stop them. "Oh shit, that's not what I meant, I—"

"It's fine, Theo." She shut me up, placing a hand on the damp spot and smoothing the shirt down.

"I'm really sorry about your dad, Ember," I told her, tentatively and briefly placing a hand on the side of her face, "I know how much it sucks to lose a parent."

She nodded, but her bottom lip quivered. "Uncle Rob thinks that Dad's accident has something to do with the hunters. He thinks that they caused the crash... But he doesn't have any solid evidence, so he can't go to the police about it."

A frown passed onto my face. "If the hunters did do it, what were they intending to do?"

Ember shrugged a shoulder, keeping her gaze fixed on the wet part of my shirt. "They might've been trying to get me back to the UK... Not that that worked though. But I guess now it makes sense why my parents were so totally okay with me coming here instead of returning home."

Wondering why her hand was still on my shirt, I swallowed, "Do you wanna go back to class or what?"

Ember wrapped her arms around my neck, embracing me, as she whispered, "I'm not going home for the cremation, it probably wouldn't be very wise. I think that we're being watched, so don't react. I'll see you at the bleachers at the end of school."

Then she pulled away from me, leaving my arms empty, and walked off to the guidance counsellor, where she was undoubtedly going to get grilled the same way I was.

I couldn't believe it about her dad — she was going to be pretty broken up about it for a while, that much I knew for sure.

Shaking my head, I pushed into my last class of the day, English, and took a seat at the back, flashing a pass at the teacher that explained why I was late.

Ryder was in the row next to me, and he hissed, "Hey, man. Is Ember okay?"

For a millisecond, I contemplated ignoring him, especially after all his screwing around with Ember, but I answered anyway, "Her dad got sick and died."

"Shit."

"Yeah."

We didn't speak after that for the rest of the lesson, which was, to be fair, only like 15 minutes.

"Don't forget your essay homework on how the American Dream is portrayed in The Great Gatsby!" The teacher called out as we filed out of the classroom at the end of the day.

"Hey, so um..." Ryder began, "I'm really sorry that we fell out about Ember."

"Woah," I joked, "Is the great Ryder Altair apologising?"

"Ha-ha, Theo." He rolled his eyes. "I figured that one of us would have to apologise first, so I just went for it."

"It's cool." I nodded at him. "I'm sorry too."

"You know what I'm not sorry about?" He smirked as we walked to the guys' locker room.

"What?" I frowned, wondering if he was going to bring up that night at the motel on that stupid, pointless History trip when he and Ember got a little bit too intimate for my liking.

"How badly I'm gonna beat your ass at basketball." He laughed.

"Dream on, Ryder." I shook my head: at myself for even thinking about that night in the motel, and also at him. "Dream on."

That basketball practise was the first time that Jason, Ryder and I all played together since before they were taken, and damn, we still made a good team.

Before they were taken, I knew that Jason had his heart set on playing for the NBA, so he spent all his spare hours shooting hoops. Hell, we even rigged up a basketball net against a tree in Coloma; that's how dedicated he was.

But after everything that had happened, and especially with Sienna gone, I didn't know what my Alpha wanted his future to look like anymore. I don't think that he knew either.

I glanced over towards the bleachers to see Ember and Jade sitting together, talking. Storm and Maia must've been in the library, while Abi was staying home to take care of Zack.

"Hey, man. What's up?" Jason panted, noticing me thinking.

"Jade and Ember are sitting together, having a conversation," I explained, "I just didn't think that would happen, especially not after last night..."

"Oh yeah." Jason laughed shortly, pushing sweaty hair away from his face. "Well, I guess that's what happens when you're living in the same house as your ex."

I huffed and changed the topic, "Anyway, did Ms Marnie have a guidance meeting with you today?"

"Yeah." He crossed his arms. "I think she got the whole pack in, plus Maia and Ember, minus Abi and Zack, of course."

"Of course," I reaffirmed, "So, Jason, what do you want to do when you leave high school?"

He threw a glare at the school. "Being alive would be nice."

"Wouldn't it just?" I responded, before glancing up at Jade and Ember again.

"You should talk to Jade," Jason advised as we jogged back over to Coach Burkes, beckoned by him blowing his whistle.

"That's all for today, guys. Great job, and don't forget, we're practising every other night." He clapped his hands together, before tucking his clipboard under his arm, and asking Jason, "Canis, a word?"

Jason spoke to him, and I called to Ryder, "I'll catch up with you."

He gave me a thumbs-up over his shoulder, and with that, I turned and jogged over to where Jade and Ember were. They were now climbing down the bleachers, and Ember rushed past me without a word or eye contact. Her eyes looked red and I could smell salt; she's been crying again.

"Jade. Hi." I started awkwardly and sat down on a lower bleacher beside her. "How's your day been?"

"Better than hers." Jade nodded at Ember's retreating figure.

"I'm sorry about last night," I told her, looking across at her.

"It's okay." She said, but it didn't look okay.

"Today's been a hard day," I stated.

"Theo," Jade corrected, "Pretty much every day is a hard day."

I nodded; it only felt like the days were going to get harder.