Sunlight was creeping through the windows when I woke up the next morning.

As I blinked awake, I noticed that Theo had his arms wrapped loosely around me, like we'd gone to sleep like that – our bodies curled around each other. But I distinctly remembered that we were on opposite sides of the bed, facing away from each other and that Theo was, surprisingly, asleep well before me.

We must've moved towards each other in the night.

Reluctant to move, I immensely enjoyed the feeling of his arms caressing me once more. I pretended to be asleep, closing my eyes again, silently rejoicing at the closeness between us.

Theo woke up next to me after a few minutes and presumably noticed the way we were lying. Though instead of springing away from me like I thought he would've done, he brushed a stray strand of hair out of my face and kissed me softly on my cheek.

My heart fluttered at the gesture before Theo got out of bed.

For a few more minutes, I pretended to be asleep still, before fake-yawning and stretching.

"Morning., I said, sitting up in bed.

"Hey," he replied, hands set on hips looking out of the window. "How did you sleep?"

Not well.

"Fine," I told him a little white lie.

"Yeah? Is that why you were thrashing around so much?" He smirked, turning to me.

It was then that I realised that he was topless... Why hadn't I realised that earlier? I looked away from him, wishing that I'd kept him in bed with me a little longer.

"Sorry., I mumbled to the sheets.

"It's fine; I got to hold you again," he said, before rushing, "I mean, I had to hold you."

I blushed slightly and looked up at him again. "Okay, so maybe I'm getting night terrors again." I shrugged. "No biggie."

"Erm, yes biggie," he corrected, "It's a biggie if you try and strangle the person next to you whilst you're asleep, and whilst they're trying to sleep."

"Sorry." I pulled an apologetic face.

He shrugged. "Nothing I can't handle. Besides, what do you even dream about?"

"I honestly can't remember," I admitted and sat up a little more. "I never can."

"That's fine," he assured, folding his arms.

"Can you put a top on or something?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Why, feeling distracted?" He teased.

Yes. Very, very distracted.

"No." I shrugged, trying to ignore the heat in my cheeks and forehead.

"We should probably get up now anyway," he said.

"Mhm." I nodded in agreement before something hit me. "How will the others have got home?"

"That assumes they came home at all." He smirked, "Which they haven't — we're the only ones here."

Why does that excite me so much?

A whole empty house; just me and Theo, with nothing better to do... Apart from each other.

Oh God, my eyes widened at the dirty thought that came unbidden into my head.

"Ember?" Theo broke into my thoughts, "You good?"

"Uh-huh." I nodded, not really though. Needing to get away from Theo for a bit I decided, "I need a shower."

"Go for it," he said, "But make sure you use the girls' one this time."

I frowned. "No one else is home though."

"So, you want to take a shower with me then?" Theo raised an eyebrow as he grabbed a towel.

I mean, yeah, I really freaking do. And you'd like that too, wouldn't you, Theo?

"Pass." I stood up to take a towel from him, before heading off to find the girls' bathroom — which actually wasn't too hard, because it was right next door to the guys' one.

There's something refreshing and renewing about a shower, whereas baths were more relaxing and made you want to go to sleep. Even though you should never go to sleep in a bath — that's a big no-no.

I kept my thoughts blank as I stood under the stream of hot water. Trying and failing to ignore the fact Theo was showering just next door, my mind drifted back to our passionate moments back home in Lake Oldoy.

Interrupting my thoughts, Theo knocked on the wall between the bathrooms and shouted to me, "Ember!"

"What?" I yelled back.

"The goddamn water's cold!" He complained. "You've been in there for ages."

Damn, had I been in the shower that long?

"Fine, I'm getting out now!" I rolled my eyes and washed my hair and body super quickly in the lukewarm water.

The rest of the pack got home around midday, all looking absolutely shattered. They'd had to catch a bus back up to the ranch, which they weren't best pleased about.

"I thought werewolves can't get drunk?" I whispered aside to Theo.

"We still need to sleep." He shrugged as a bleary-eyed, smeared-makeup Jade stumbled past us into her bedroom. "But Abi and Storm can get drunk." He nodded in their direction as the two of them basically crawled to their rooms.

"Hey, hot stuff." Ryder smiled at me tiredly.

I was about to tell him I wasn't in the mood when Theo stepped in.

"Give her a break, man." Theo placed his hand firmly against Ryder's shoulder. "Some creep tried to take advantage of her last night, and that's why we left early."

"Oh." Ryder's face fell.

The words sunk in for me as well; Theo and I hadn't spoken about it.

I was nearly taken advantage of last night.

Though I was kind of glad that Theo hadn't brought it up to me. I was still ashamed of how I wasn't able to do anything to defend myself — no matter how much I trained myself on Svalbard.

"Theo," I addressed him when Ryder practically face-planted onto his bed. "Theo, I want you to teach me how to fight."

When he arched an eyebrow at me, I continued talking, "I need to know how to protect myself; I was useless last night. I should've been able to get out of it, but I just froze. And I need to know how not to freeze. So," I set a hand on my hip, "Teach me how to fight."

"Sure." He grinned. "Not like much is going to be happening around here today anyway."

"You can talk to me as well then," I said pointedly, "Instead of avoiding me."

"I thought you were avoiding me," he retorted. "You wanna get changed first?"

"Nah." I glanced down at my outfit: those ¾-length leggings that I wore pretty much every day, a sports bra, just because it was comfy, a vest and a hoodie. "I'm good, as long as you don't plan on dragging me through the woods."

He laughed at that. "C'mon, let's go out the back."

It seemed like every day was as sunny and as humid as the one before, which meant that it was only a matter of time before we had a storm.

Theo noticed me eyeing the sky and reassured me, "We don't often have thunderstorms round here. But when we do get them, they're huge."

I glanced down at my feet, "I don't think I properly thanked you for last night."

"It's fine." He waved my thanks away. "You ready to train?"

"Okay, I'm ready." I grinned. "Come at me."

"Okay, so you always want to be protecting your face and head," Theo explained and showed me, "Like this."

"Got it," I nodded and set myself up, raising my hands in front of my face.

"We'll work on your punches first." He held his palms towards me. "Hit my palms."

"So," I began punching his hands and addressing the elephant in the room, "You think that the hunters might be back in Montana because Chris is back?"

"Maybe," He shrugged; "It's hard to tell."

I huffed as he encouraged me to punch harder, "When's the next full moon?"

"About half a week away." He eyed me. "Now let me ask you something."

"Shoot," I replied.

"How come you haven't visited your grandad if he's living in Missoula?" He questioned.

Ah, damn it. I should've known that lie would catch up to me at some point.

"I have visited him." I shrugged. "You have as well."

"What?" Theo was beyond confused, though I was being a little confusing.

"He's been dead for half a decade." I sighed, finally letting the truth out, "And his ashes are scattered across this mountain range."

"So, you lied," he stated bluntly.

"Well... only a half-lie," I responded indifferently. "Anyway, I can punch outstretched palms pretty easily — when are you gonna teach me to fight?"

"When you can throw a good enough punch." He told me, dropping his hands. "Punch the air now, and I'll check you out... Erm — I mean I'll check your body position and technique out. Damn it..."

I laughed at his flustered state; he was acting almost as bad as me.

Then thunder rumbled across the valley, and my laughter morphed into worry, "Do you think that's gonna hit us?"

"It's difficult to tell." He frowned at the sky. "Weather systems around the mountains move very quickly and are very hard to predict."

"You're telling me." I glanced up at the darkening sky, "It was sunny a minute ago!"

Huh, so much for it being sunny every day around here...

Lightning split the sky not so far away. The crack of thunder that followed made me think about how Theo and I got caught out in a lightning storm back in Lake Oldoy — we'd been... intimate, and then he'd just closed off again.

"We should probably get inside," Theo said, taking a hold of my arm.

"I can walk by myself, thanks," I spat at him and ripped my arm away from his.

He held his hands up in mock defence as we neared the ranch.

"Will you continue to teach me inside?" I asked, having to raise my voice as the rain began to fall.

"Not enough room," he replied with a pretty pathetic excuse.

"Whatever." I shrugged and pushed the door open into the house, where it was evident everyone was fast asleep, even snoring.

It seemed like we'd got inside at the right time because the wind and rain picked up massively.

"Brr." I shivered and went to grab a thicker hoodie.

"You know it's weird," Theo said, sitting down on the sofa that faced the window so he could watch the rain.

"What is?" I sat down next to him, shook my half-damp hair out of its ponytail and scraped it back into a messy bun. Saying that all of my buns end up messy whether I want them to or not.

"How you're so cold all the time. It's weird." He faced me.

Shrugging, I looked out the window, surveying the darkened landscape as two bright bolts of lightning struck the ground.

"And your hair as well," he stated. "You're always wearing your hair up. You used to wear it down before."

I pressed my lips together; what does he want me to say? That I hadn't changed, that I wasn't different? Because we both knew that I was — both of us had changed and were different.

Drawing my knees up to hug them, I rested my chin on them. "There's something peaceful about watching a storm from inside, isn't there?"

"Don't change the subject," Theo snapped and moved closer to me. "Why don't you wear your hair down anymore?"

"I hadn't even realised that I wore it up so often," I mumbled to my knees, "Why does it matter anyway?"

"Maybe you'd be warmer if you wore it down more," he suggested, shifting closer and gently pulling my hair band out of my bun, letting my hair tumble to my shoulders.

I expected him to move his hand away after that, but instead, he ran his fingers through my hair.

It felt weird, but not in a bad way because I'd learnt from one of those 'signs that he's attracted to you' teen websites that a guy running his fingers your hair means he's attracted to you.

I cleared my throat and casually moved a little away from him; there was no way that he could want me again — that ship had sailed — instead, he was probably just messing with me. Needing to put more distance between the two of us — which I kept having to do a lot — I stood up and walked to the windows, staring out at the rain.

"I'm... I'm sorry if I overstepped, Ember," Theo apologised — he actually apologised; something which I often forgot Theo Aquila was able to do.

I swallowed; he wasn't overstepping at all. I wanted him to hold me, to run his fingers through my hair. It was just me that was the problem; I was freezing up at any implication of opening up to him.

"That's okay." I sighed, placing my hand against the cool glass of the window. "Tell me something, though, what are the surnames of your pack? Like the star surnames?"

"Sure," he replied. "Abi chose Lacerta, like lacerate, which isn't a coincidence 'cos if Abi chooses to, she could shatter someone's skull with just her voice. Ryder chose Altair, which is a star in the Aquila constellation. Jade chose Mira, literally just because she liked the sound of it, and the same for Storm choosing Fornax. Then Jason chose Canis, which means dog in Latin."

"That's pretty cool." I nodded, still watching the thunderstorm.

Jason Canis, Abi Lacerta, Jade Mira, Ryder Altair, Storm Fornax. Theo Aquila... All incredibly unique surnames, and here I am. Stuck with Milburn as a surname. Maybe I should choose a constellation as a surname.

"Can I ask you something?" Theo asked.

"Sure." It was only fair after all.

"What did you hate the most about Svalbard?" He questioned.

Being away from you. Being alone.

"Erm, probably the cold," I told at least half the truth.

"What do you miss most now?" He asked.

"Hmm." I had to think about that one. "I'd have to say that I miss the... erm... the..." I couldn't think of anything, so maybe I didn't miss anything about Svalbard — so I settled on the safe bet of, "Probably being with my uncle."

"Huh, I would've thought that you'd miss not having to be with me so much," he huffed to himself.

"No!" I whirled around, facing him. "No, if anything I hated not being with you."

"Really?" He leaned forwards from the sofa. "You missed me?"

"I told you I did." I frowned before my forehead softened. "I missed you more than I'd like to admit."

"I missed you too," he admitted.

Is this it? Is this where we finally admit our feelings for each other?

He stood up and stepped a little closer to me, and my breath hitched slightly in my throat. Then he asked, "Do you want something hot to drink?" And all the tension crumbled away.

"Yeah, sure — thanks," I said, smiling faintly.

He returned a couple of minutes later, with a mug of hot chocolate for me and some sort of tea for him.

"Thanks." I took it from him, avoiding placing my fingers on his.

"No worries." He smiled and sat back down on the sofa.

Slightly nervous, and very spatially aware, I sat down next to him. "So," I directed at him, "Meet any girls whilst travelling across the States?"

It was kind of meant to be a joke, but the way his cheeks reddened no longer made it funny.

"You did!" My eyes widened and sat up more. "You did meet someone!"

"Not really." He looked away.

"C'mon, spill!" I insisted, poking his shoulder. His strong, muscular shoulder that I just wanted to hold whilst he wrapped his arms around me, his hands running across the small of my back — okay, I'm good now: fantasising over.

"It wasn't anything." He claimed, glancing at me, before flipping it on me, "You meet any guys in Svalbard?"

My cheeks also reddened, "I mean, pfft, no!"

"You did!" He teased, reacting the same way I did.

"Whatever." I waved a hand. "The entire Svalbard archipelago has a population of something like 2,600 people."

"Ember," Theo said.

"Theo," I replied, equally as deadpan.

"Ember, who did you meet?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Theo, who did you meet?" I echoed, also raising an eyebrow.

"Just some random girl." He shrugged, "You?"

"Just some random guy." I shrugged — mirroring his every move.

Ember Hestia Milburn, you're such a liar. Liar, liar, pants on fire.

I took a sip of hot chocolate, taking the opportunity to look away from the intense gaze of his unique hazel-blue eyes. There was silence for a moment, with only the sound of rainfall audible, before a hair-raising scream split through the house — causing both of us to stand up.

"Abi," Theo muttered, obviously recognising it as her.

"Is she okay?" I hurried after him, still clutching my mug, as he set off towards her room.

"Probably not," he said quietly over his shoulder, before cautiously pushing Abi's bedroom door open. "Abi?"

She was rolling around on her bed, twisting this way and that like someone was tugging her around. Like she was possessed. She wasn't screaming anymore — it'd only been the one scream.

Jason ran into the room. "Is she okay?"

Jason was only wearing joggers, revealing washboard abs and a tattoo of an arrow on the back of his arm.

Interesting tattoo for a werewolf — an arrow.

"Erm..." I turned away from Jason and to Abi. "Sorry, but I have no idea what's going on."

"She's a having a premonition." Storm entered the room, looking pale and washed out.

"About death?" I questioned.

"Most likely." Storm nodded.

"C'mon Abs," Jason sat down on Abi's bed and started holding her writhing body. "Wake up."

She shuddered a couple more times, before her eyes sprang open, a tortured look on her face.

"Zack..." She said, "We have to find Zack..."

"Is he going to die?" The question tumbled out of my mouth before I could process my thoughts.

Everyone threw a look at me.

"I'm gonna give you guys some space." I ducked out of the room and away from their questioning frowns.

I sat back on the sofa, finishing my hot chocolate and the storm seemed to subside. I don't know how long I sat there, just thinking, but Theo eventually came to talk to me.

"Abi and Storm are gonna go try and find Zack." He sighed, sitting next to me.

"Just the two of them? Won't they need more help?" I instantly questioned.

"No, they'll be fine." He reassured, dragging a hand over his face. "Besides, Abi thinks that it needs to just be the two of them that find him."

"You worried?" I stared at the bottom of my empty mug.

"Obviously." His tone made his annoyance apparent. "Especially because the full moon's so close."

"Why does that matter?" I frowned.

"Because you'll have to stay here, alone, whilst the rest of us go out into the woods," he explained.

"Oh." I pressed my lips together.

"Exactly." He gulped his tea, which had to be stone-cold by now.

"When are they leaving?" I inquired.

"Pretty much now." Theo looked utterly miserable at the prospect of part of his pack leaving. "The sooner they leave, the sooner they find him and can get back."

"Hey," I said and boldly slipped my hand into his, surprising him. "They'll find him, and they'll come back."

"I know." He squeezed my hand and then pulled his hand away from mine.

"We're almost ready to go!" Abi called to us from the kitchen as she shoved some food into her bag, and we went over to her.

"I'm gonna miss you," I admitted, leaning in to hug her.

"Me too." She smiled as she pulled away from me, before turning to Theo. "Come here, you!" She wrapped her arms around Theo.

"We'll be back before you know it." Storm appeared next to me.

"I know," Theo said, crossing his arms.

They hung around for a few more minutes, debating whether they should take the pickup or not — they decided they'd just hitch-hike — before they left.

"We'll be back soon," Abi said as she stepped out of the door and into the post-thunderstorm air.

"Bye." I waved, letting go of a friend that I'd just made.

But it must've been heart-wrenching for Theo just to see them walk away like that.

Startling both myself and him, I turned to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. "They're gonna be okay," I told him, embracing him.

He hesitated, but embraced me back, the strong feeling of his arms around my lower back steadying me. "I know."

I let out a sigh of contentment that we were in each other's arms again, before stepping back.

"Well, this is gonna be one hell of a week," Jade exclaimed sarcastically, making me realise something — that I'd be spending an entire week with her as my only female company.

Maybe I should've gone with Abi and Storm — facing danger, potentially even death, over Jade, seemed preferable at that point. I inwardly groaned, especially because the full moon was so close. 

I was now alone in a house full of werewolves.