At some point, though I'm still not quite sure when, Jason had started making decisions on his own, instead of including the pack with discussions. And it was during one of these individual decisions that he concluded that Thea had to spend our entire school day alone in the basement, watching over Maia.

He brazenly claimed, "Thea is the strongest out of all of us, and she's the only one powerful enough to stop Maia if something happens."

"Besides..." Ryder forced a grin and slapped me on the back, his tone dripping with sarcasm, "We've got to get off to school — yay for us!"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," I said through gritted teeth, casting a worried glance at Thea before heading over to her.

She'd gotten around four hours of sleep and was a washed-out, ash-grey colour, her long hair pulled back from her face. She looks so much like Mom.

<Ugh.> She rolled her eyes at me. <I've been told that so many times by Dad.>

I shrugged. "It's true though... Are you gonna be okay?" I checked, "Having to watch over Maia, I mean."

She mirrored me, shrugging back. "I'll be fine. It's better than going to school anyway."

Frowning, I thought aloud, "I can't smell your chemosignals... Why is that?"

"I can hide them. The Phoenix part of me helps with that as well." She fidgeted, a smirk finding her face. "I also don't appreciate werewolves sniffing me like I'm some sort of meal."

We walked down the hallway, away from the rest of the pack and towards the front door of the ranch. "I didn't mean it like that. It's just useful to be able to tell what someone's feeling."

Rolling her eyes at me, she started stepping down into the basement, her tone joking as she threw back at me, "You mean you like invading other people's privacy."

"See you later, Thea." I shook my head at her despairingly.

"Later, bro!" She shouted back up.

I wanted to know more about Thea being a hellhound, but it seemed like it was a lot to handle — the bloodlust, the fire, the foretelling of death... She was a mix of so many supernatural creatures, it was surprising she still had her humanity.

Or does she?

"Theo," Abi spoke my name, took my arm in her hand and led me outside.

"Abi..." I didn't need to read her chemosignals to know something was seriously wrong — stress and anxiety were written all over her face. "Abi, whatever it is you're about to tell me, shouldn't you be telling it to Jason?"

"Jason's got enough on his plate." She shook her head, eyeing me intently. "The last night in Coloma before the pack was taken, what did Storm tell you? I know she spoke to you, so there's no point in trying to hide it."

I swallowed, remembering that it was Storm who had warned me of the pack leaving me. "She warned me that the pack was going to be gone and that I was going to become an Omega. She told me to seek out Ember, a 'friend in the fire', and that it was all written in the stars."

Abi paced back and forth with arms crossed. "Why would she try and help you if she was helping the hunters?"

A realisation hit me; "What if she wasn't working for them at the start? What if something changed after they took you?"

Abi nodded. "Yes... It would only have taken Ryan to betray us — and Storm could've shifted alliances whilst the hunters were torturing us. Maybe she made some kind of deal with them."

Hesitating, I swallowed — knowing the pack's torture was still an extremely tentative topic. "Did the hunters do anything in particular just to Storm?"

Abi's hands flew to her throat and her eyes snapped shut, no doubt remembering what the hunters had done to her.

"Shit, I'm sorry." Speaking quickly, I shook my head. "I shouldn't have asked. Look, it doesn't matter."

She nodded quickly, removing her hands from her throat and opening her eyes, which immediately betrayed her fear.

"But why aren't you bringing this up with Jason?" I frowned, making my voice gentle and stepping closer to her, placing a cautious hand on her shoulder. "He is the Alpha after all."

Her voice dropped to a hushed whisper, "Ever since he found Sienna's body, he's changed... He's not the same Alpha he used to be."

My eyes flashed at her dangerously, as I hissed at her, "Do you have any idea what you're suggesting?" I grabbed her arm and dragged her further away from the ranch, keeping my eye on the closed door.

Shaking me off her, she narrowed her eyes at me. "I'm not suggesting we take over. It's only that the time is going to come soon when the pack cannot stay as one."

Sickened by the thought, I closed my eyes to stop the world from spinning, "We have to stay together for a little while longer."

"I know, but I'm pretty sure a little while is all we can manage," Abi faltered, "I'm not sure which way I'll go when it comes down to it, though."

Opening my eyes, my brows furrowed together. "What do you mean 'which way'? Are you saying they'll be two sides to go to after the pack disintegrates?"

Her eyes widened in shock, "I thought — I thought you would've realised by now... Why haven't you realised by now?"

"Realised what exactly?" I snapped, eyes searching hers for answers.

"Realised that... that you—"

The door of the ranch opened and Jason strode out, quickly followed by Ryder, Jade and Zack.

"Let's get going!" Jason jumped into the truck, promptly starting the engine.

I shot a glance at Abi as we also got in the old GMC Sierra — that conversation was nowhere near over; something was going on that I hadn't quite grasped yet, and I literally needed Abi to spell it out for me.

In the school parking lot, Chris was waiting for us — or, more specifically, me — when the pack arrived.

"Theo, you have to listen to me," he rushed out.

I narrowed my eyes at him, blocking out the late June sunshine; he looked battered — more battered than what I'd done to him. And that's saying something.

"I'm guessing your dad survived then," I observed, before snapping, "What do you want?"

"I want to help you; I can help you." He nodded quickly, a faint sheen of sweat appearing on his upper lip. "You need to stop the hunters. This, what they've done to the pack, is only the start. They're calling it the hunt to end all hunts."

"And what makes you think we would believe you?" Ryder glared at him, pushing Chris against the side of someone's car.

"Because of what happened to Ember — and because she got something wrong." His eyes flitted across to me.

"Let him go, Ryder." I nodded the slight order at him, to which he immediately complied. "You know what your dad did to her, right?"

He swallowed, Adam's apple quivering. "M-my dad m-made me watch a-a video r-r-recording."

I bobbed my head, realising that it'd affected him badly — Ember had trusted him when no one else would... Even though he betrayed her, he still felt some sense of loyalty to her, or maybe this was an act of apologetic selflessness.

"What did she get wrong?"

"She was right about the three days and three nights," he told us, words clearer, "But she didn't factor in the fact that it would take you so long to get from the hunters' facility back to the ranch."

It was then that I realised none of the pack was around; it was just me and Ryder... is this part of what Abi was trying to tell me earlier?

"So?" Ryder pressed, raising a brow.

"So, you need to pour her ashes into the lake at midnight tonight, not tomorrow morning." He glanced around us, suddenly nervous. "I should go."

"Do you... um, do you want to be there when we do it?" I offered, thinking it would be what she would want me to suggest.

"No," Chris murmured in denial. Then he abruptly rushed forwards and shook my hand — slipping what felt like a USB drive into my palm. "I'm already taking too many risks as it is."

"What's..." I looked up, but Chris was already walking off quickly. "This...?"

"That's a USB stick, Theo," Ryder told me, pointing out the damn obvious.

"Thanks, Ryder." I faked a smile, tone sarcastic, "I hadn't realised that."

"No worries." He slapped a hand on my shoulder, before walking off — leaving me wondering what on Earth was on that drive — information about the hunters' whereabouts maybe?

Whatever it was, I'd make sure to open it somewhere public, like in the school library, and pray that the computer doesn't explode or anything.

The bell shrilled loudly and I followed the trail of teenagers inside, tucking the USB stick safely into my pocket.

Part of me was excited at the prospect of Ember returning sooner, but the other part of me remained apprehensive. What if Chris is lying? What would happen if I put her ashes in the lake too soon? Would she not return?

"Aquila!" A voice shouted my name, and I turned to see Coach Burkes striding down the corridor towards me.

"Hey, Coach." I forced a smile and pushed unneeded thoughts out of my head for the time being.

"We got a game coming up in a few nights' time," he told me, tucking his clipboard under his arm, "We could really do with you, Canis and Altair there."

"Hmm." I nodded slowly, unsure of whether we'd be able to or not — who knows what the hunters will be up to at that point? Especially since that bastard Evan is still alive...

"Theo, Theo!" Coach impatiently snapped his fingers in front of my face. "Earth to Theo?"

"Yeah, I'm still here," I fumbled, dazed. "I gotta get to class, Coach... I'm already late."

The corridor was empty and I could hear teachers starting to teach their lessons. I didn't even know what class I had first, so I dug into my bag and pulled out my timetable — Maths.

"I'll talk to you later, Coach," I told him, before walking off — against my better judgment — to Maths.

Ryder had saved a seat for me and pulled his bag off the desk next to him as I walked into the classroom, mumbling a half-apology to the grumpy teacher.

"You okay?" Ryder checked as I slumped into the seat.

"Coach wants us to play in a game in a couple of nights' time," I told him under my breath while I grabbed my books from my bag.

"You said no, right?" He looked at me expectantly.

"No." I shook my head, shrugging and eyeing him, confused. "Why would I be the one to make the decision? Jason's the Alpha, remember."

Ryder's eyes flitted away nervously, as he studied the graphs on the textbook page. "Alliances are shifting, Theo. You've gotta be ready for it when it comes down to choosing where your loyalty lies."

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

"Theo," the teacher called to me, her eyes narrowing across the classroom, "Page 200, and don't come in late distracting other classmates."

Turning to page 200, I rolled my eyes discreetly — it's always the same with every teacher if you come in late, regardless of what class it is.

Boredom sunk in quickly; we were studying graphs and charts and useless crap like that. My mind didn't stray from the contents of the USB drive in my pocket and I even decided I would open it on that day, at school. But that wouldn't settle my mind either.

There were endless possibilities to what it could be, and yet I knew it had to be something important about the hunters. Whatever it was, Chris didn't want anyone seeing him pass it to me.

Maybe I shouldn't open it in front of the pack? Should I even tell Ryder about it?

Then something hit me; something that Abi was trying to tell me about that morning and as Ryder alluded to talking about shifting alliances... It was true that something had changed with Jason, but it was also becoming apparent that something was changing with me.

The bell shrieked and everybody jumped to their feet, slamming books shut and grabbing bags — I thought the fire alarm was going off, but it turned out that I'd been daydreaming for the entire hour of Maths. I glanced down at my notepad, where the page was totally blank.

Ryder was waiting for me. "You coming or not?"

Shaking the confusion out of my head, I replied, "Yeah, give me a sec."

"Don't you think it's ironic that we went missing around a year ago, and the hunters killed Ember on almost the exact same day as they took us?"

"It hadn't crossed my mind," I admitted and figured it didn't matter — putting it down to coincidence. I told Ryder, "I gotta go to the library for something."

I started walking off, but he followed along with me. "What for?"

"I'll catch up with you later," I told him, but he didn't stop trailing after me like a puppy. Looking him in the eye, I told him forcefully, "Go find the rest of the pack."

His brows furrowed, but he turned on his heel and walked off without another word.

What was that about? I wondered but ignored it as I pushed my way through the double doors of the newly renovated library.

I headed straight over to the rows of computers before the librarian could question me on my reasons for trespassing on her holy ground.

Pulling up a chair, I plugged Chris's USB drive into the side of the computer unit, logging into the system quickly — thankfully my old account from the previous year was still active. I clicked the file open, and found a single photo, saved as 'BOO'. Either it was an acronym for something I'd never heard of before, or Chris was trying to educate me on ghost stories.

I opened up the picture and found a word scrawled at the bottom: Base of Operations.

Well, I was right about the fact that 'BOO' is an acronym.

It was a map of the state of Washington. Just across the border, there was a bright red circle drawn over a building. It had a similar layout to what I could remember of where the hunters were keeping me and Ember, and looked a hell of a lot like some sort of 'facility' of both torture rooms and testing rooms — maybe that was where they kept the pack for a long while as well?

I swallowed; Chris had just told me exactly where to find the hunters' base of operations...

Though I couldn't help but wonder if it was a setup, and if that BOO was just a national one.

Whatever it was, I had to tell Jason and the rest of the pack about it. We may have been falling apart, but this was information that I had no clue what to do with.

I decided to wait until the next day or so to tell Jason. Ember was coming back that night and I needed all my attention focused on that — focused on her.

The rest of the school day passed slowly, with lessons seeming to drag on for hours, and me doing little to no work and somehow managing to get away with it. Maybe my dad had had a word with Principal Martin, telling the teachers to cut me some slack. Or maybe they'd seen what I'd done to Chris and decided just to leave me alone, for fear of me lashing out again.

Even the pack kept casting wary glances at me on the ride home until I finally broke the unquiet silence. "Chris told me Ember's coming back tonight, and that we have to empty her ashes into the lake at midnight," I announced.

"And you believe him?" Jason worded carefully, glancing across at me while he drove the truck.

I nodded. "Yes... He told me that she'd miscalculated somehow, and I figured if anything it's better to be too early with putting her ashes into the lake than too late."

"What was on that—?" Ryder started asking beside me, and I kicked him in the shin to shut him up, throwing him a glare for good measure. He then muttered, "Never mind."

"So... What are you going to do if — when Ember comes back?" Jade shot a glance across at me, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"It depends." I shrugged. "I mean, she could come back really weak and exhausted..."

"Or she could come back strong and full of energy." Ryder nudged me suggestively, and I was beginning to wish I'd opted to sit in the truck's pickup bed with Abi and Zack, instead of squeezing into the front seats with Jason, Ryder and Jade. I turned around to check on the two of them, to see them making out.

Yeah, maybe it's better in the cab.

When we got back to the ranch, the first thing I did was hide the USB drive in the bottom drawer of my bedroom's closet. Then I dragged Ryder into my room and explicitly told him not to mention the USB stick to anyone until I did.

In the time waiting for it to get later, I caught up with some homework, took ages over eating a dinner of Chinese takeaway that Jason had ordered, and started reading Bram Stoker's Dracula — waiting impatiently for midnight to draw closer.

I checked on Thea, who had been downstairs in the basement watching Maia all day. She was exhausted and didn't hesitate when I offered to take her place for the next few hours.

Book in hand, I kept checking the time every ten minutes or so, ignoring Maia pacing around her cage, growling at me. Regardless of the fact that vampires don't actually exist, I got so sucked into the book that I ended up losing track of time.

"Theo." Zack was suddenly hovering in the doorway. "It's getting late. You should probably get out there and get ready."

I stood up, pausing at the doorway. "Someone needs to watch Maia."

"I will." Jade pushed past me, taking up my seat.

"Thanks." I nodded at her, but she ignored me.

"She's just hurting," Zack explained quietly as we walked up the stairs.

I frowned. "What did I do to hurt her?"

"Imagine if Ember had chosen Ryder over you," Zack suggested, "Jade's probably still a little sore that you're not her mate."

"There's nothing I can do about that." My frown increased; brows tightly knitted together.

"I never said there was... But she's still hurting over it all the same."

It was a warm night out; light clouds obscured the moon but there were many stars visible. I tilted my head heavenwards and breathed in the fresh mountain air. I was so ready for her to return to this world, return to me.

The rest of the pack, minus Jade, gathered around the lake's dilapidated and rotted wooden jetty as I walked out to the end, iron jar in hand.

"This is it, Ember," I muttered to the jar, unscrewing the lid at exactly one minute to midnight.

Inside the jar, her ashes were beginning to glow sightly, shifting from a dull grey to the colour of an orange-red flicker of fire, a glowing ember.

"Now, Theo!" Jason shouted to me.

I poured the golden ashes into the lake, before quickly jogging back along the wonky jetty to the rest of the pack.

Abi clasped onto my hand tightly, squeezing a wordless message of reassurance.

All I had now was hope. Hope that she would return to me. Hope that Chris was right about it being midnight tonight. Hope that with her, everything would be okay. Hope that all the pain and suffering I'd put myself through would end. Hope that I'd be at peace.

Hope that I'd have her by my side that night, and all nights to come.

The lake started glowing, similarly to how the ashes started glowing as well. We watched from the shore as the jetty started burning up and sinking into the water. The water was now bubbling where I'd poured her ashes in — and I thought I could see the figure of her body below the water.

"What's happening?" Ryder asked impatiently, "Is it supposed to take this long?"

"Well, I've never actually witnessed someone being reborn," I said through gritted teeth, worry creeping into my mind; what if it's hours before I see her again?

Abi suddenly gasped, her hand clutching mine so tightly that she ended up dislocating one of my fingers. I shook her off me and popped the finger back into place, before bending down to catch her as she collapsed.

"Abi, Abi, talk to me," Zack insisted, running his hands down the sides of her face, smoothing back her strawberry blonde hair as she shook uncontrollably.

"Erm... Guys?" Ryder's voice sounded.

Ignoring him, I propped Abi's head up from the ground — if she was having some sort of seizure, she could've suffocated if her tongue fell down her throat. She suddenly froze stiff, eyes snapping open as she stared across the lake.

"Guys!" Ryder shouted at us, causing the rest of us to look up at the lake.

I slowly got to my feet; hovering about seven feet above the surface of the lake, there was a Phoenix — burning brightly; greens and blues tipped its wings and tail as it rose a few feet higher into the air.

Ember's Phoenix was in its full form and it was breathtakingly beautiful. I'd never seen anything like it before.

It seemed to eye me, its beak tilting in my direction before it wrapped its wings around its body and drifted slowly back into the lake — the fire extinguishing until there was nothing left except Ember's body. The rest of the fire burning away, leaving her floating in the middle of the lake, facing away from us — somehow fully clothed.

Mouth dry, I swallowed; I had just seen the rebirth of a Phoenix.

"Theo..." Abi reached up and touched my fingers. "You need to swim out and get her..."

Knowing that Abi was almost always right about these sorts of things, I kicked off my trainers, pulled off my t-shirt and dived into the lake without a second of hesitation.

I swam towards her quickly, slowing as I approached her.

"Ember?" I swam a little closer, circling her to see her face.

The fire was just dying out of her eyes. Without wavering, she launched herself forwards into my arms, which I promptly wrapped around her, holding her close to me.

I swam back to shore with her clinging onto me desperately. As I helped her onto the shore, I realised with a jolt that she'd been reborn in the clothes she was killed in — a dark crimson stain covered the front of her jumper, exactly where she'd been shot. Yet somehow, she wasn't wet, as if her Phoenix had protected her from the water. It was just me that was wet-through and dripping.

She frowned around at the pack, fear and confusion registering themselves in her eyes and her chemosignals before she wrapped her arms tightly around me again.

"I'll take her to the hut," I told the rest of the pack, and they nodded, figuring that Ember would need space for a little while.

I carried her unresisting body to the hut where she'd been staying, placing her gently on the bed.

"Theo." She grabbed hold of my wrist as I turned to leave, planning on getting spare clothes for her, "Don't leave me."

"I'll be right back, I promise." I raised her hand to my lips and kissed her knuckles lightly. "I'll go get you some other clothes, and something to eat and drink."

She wrapped her arms tightly around her knees, drawing them up to her chin, "Don't be too long."

I shook my head. "I'll run."

"Run back to me," she insisted, her forceful nature showing through despite the ordeal she'd just faced. "Promise you'll come back to me."

"I promise." I leaned forwards and kissed her forehead lightly. "I'll be right back."