The truth cannot be found without the trust, the truth cannot be found without the trust.

Sat cross-legged in the shed at the bottom of my garden, I tried repeating my mantra to harness my power. But it wasn't working – I was struggling with both truth and trust at that time. My thoughts were running rampant and almost completely absorbed me.

I can't believe they want to sacrifice me.

Staring down at my hands, I tried to make them burn on purpose. I tried imagining the flames dancing and twisting together. But my palms remained normal, much to my disappointment.

Come on, come on, come on!

Then I thought I saw something; I could've sworn there was a slight flicker of fire sparking across the fingers on my left hand.

"Ember?" Someone knocked on the shed door, calling out, "Are you in there? It's Al."

Continuing to focus, I stayed silent, pressing my lips together. Come on. I squeezed my eyes shut. Feeling a surge of energy crackling through me as I concentrated more, I balled my hands into tight fists.

And when I opened my eyes, my hands were on fire.

On purpose.

Fascinated, I spread my hands open and watched the flames dance over my fingers and crawl up my wrists. I'd always been captivated with fire, even before my mother gave me the Phoenix. I guess it was just part of who I was, and there was no escaping the flames.

Might as well let those flames burn. Let it all burn.

"Ember, we know you're in there!" Theo shouted against the door; his voice barely muffled by the thin wood. "We're coming in."

"No, don't!" I yelled but he'd already shoved the door open.

"Ember!" He called out to me.

"Stay away from me," I warned him.

My hands were still burning but I felt as if I had control over the fire. For the first time in my life, I felt like I could stop the flames if I wanted to.

I don't want to stop the flames.

"You don't know what you're doing," Theo warned in a carefully measured and clear tone, stepping closer to me. "You're not thinking straight."

"Stay away, Theo," I insisted through gritted my teeth. I was thinking straight; I was fine... They were the ones messing things up.

Kaden stepped into the shed as well and rushed toward me instantly.

"Kaden, stop!" I turned away from him and pushed my hands in his direction.

Facing the back of the shed, I covered my face with my burning hands. I just want them to leave me alone. I can't hurt anyone if I'm alone.

"What did you do?" I heard Halia hiss at me, and I had to turn around.

Kaden was lying on the floor of the shed, unconscious, with his t-shirt burnt away where my palms had touched it. His chest heaved as he struggled for breath and seeing him lying there reminded me of Jack.

I've hurt two people now. Maybe my mum is right.

"Shit." I dropped to the floor next to him, the flames from my hands instantly dying away.

His chest was burnt as well, the skin blistering and flaking and blackening — smouldering. The stench of burning flesh in such a confined space was truly awful. And it was all my doing.

"Why isn't he healing?" Al questioned rapidly as she dropped down next to him as well.

"It needs to be activated," Theo said with a clenched jaw and in an instant, he was sinking his claws into Kaden's forearm.

"What are you doing?" I exclaimed shrilly, temporarily forgetting how little I knew about werewolf lore.

"Saving his life." Theo narrowed his eyes at me, silently blaming me. He was right; Kaden's charred skin quickly began to heal.

As Halia eased Kaden into a sitting position, I collapsed back against a bag of compost. "All of you need to stay away from me. I had control," I spat out, "Then you lot came along and screwed it up."

"It's not control if you did that to Kaden," Wednesday stated, pale once again.

Saying nothing, I stormed past them, a strong feeling of indignation flooding through me. But there was also a feeling of power.

I was in control — I couldn't deny that from myself. Though the idea of control had always been so temperamental for me that I was struggling to comprehend it.

Walking a little way into the woods, I tried to do it again, to have control: taking a deep breath and feeling that same energy running through me again.

And again, I did it. It was like once I knew what to do and how to do it, I wouldn't lose it. Equally as fascinated as I was before, I watched the flames lick my skin, feeling no pain whatsoever. All I felt was blissful joy at being able to control the fire.

"Ember!" Theo shouted to me, striding towards me — twigs snapping and leaves crunching under his feet.

"Oh, give me strength," I muttered to myself and turned to face him fully.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, steely gaze fixing on me.

"This is who I am," I replied defiantly, speaking the truth.

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

"What, someone that hurts her friends?" He frowned. "We both know that's not you, Ember."

Turning away, I tried to keep my voice even as I replied, "I told you to stay away from me."

As my emotions wavered, my hands burned a little brighter, a little stronger.

"Ember, I'm not leaving you," he told me, stepping a little closer.

"You still want me to take the fall for getting rid of Victoria?" I narrowed my eyes and began concentrating on letting the flames die down.

"It's a good plan," he replied evasively, watching as I was able to make the flames die away. "How exactly do you have control?"

I shrugged nonchalantly. "I just focus."

Looking around at the sky, I realised how dark it was getting. While my parents didn't particularly care what I did with my free time, they didn't like it when I came home in the dark — unless I had Wednesday's dad to corroborate me hanging out with his daughter.

"I should be getting home," I said, and we began walking back to my house.

"Yeah, me too." Theo threw a glance at me, and I could tell he wanted to ask me something.

"What is it?" I said, trying to keep the sigh out of my voice, "I know there's something else you want to say."

He swallowed, stopping and placing his hands on my arms. "Do you mind if I sleep with you again tonight?"

"I wasn't aware that we had slept together." I joked, the side of my mouth twisting up in a smirk.

"You know what I mean." He pushed my hair back from my face. "Next to you, I sleep better than I have for months."

Trying not to take his words to heart, I simply smiled and nodded in agreement. "Come by later."

Everyone had left my garden shed by the time I got there, though the faint smell of burnt skin remained. Theo ran off to Saint Francis while Olivis insisted that I sleep on the plan. I said nothing, not trusting myself to respond politely enough not to offend a dryad.

Sighing, I slowly walked across the garden, wondering if my mother would be interested in seeing me control the Phoenix. It was dark, but I figured that she may have been impressed — possibly even happy for me.

Though since I 'stole' her Phoenix, my mother's happiness is an alien concept.

"Mum!" I shouted into the house, "I need to show you something!"

"I'm busy, Ember," she called back, her weary voice echoing around the kitchen. "Show me in the morning."

Okay, that's a no — she's not interested.

Silently grabbing an apple from the kitchen side behind my mother's back, I then sloped upstairs, managing to avoid both my parents.

"I'm going to bed!" I yelled to the house so I'd hopefully be left alone, then I shoved my door shut behind me and began counting the minutes until Theo showed up.

Exhausted, I barely had the energy or effort to eat the entire apple, not to mention it tasted bland — should've gone for a bag of crisps.

I stripped off to my knickers and pulled an oversized t-shirt over my head. I didn't want to leave my room again, so I didn't even wash my makeup off, leaving it on to avoid conversation.

The only person I needed to talk to and be with was Theo. And when I heard the light knock against my window, my heart rose and I could feel my mood beginning to improve already.

"Hey," he whispered, stepping into my room.

"Hey." I sighed back, sinking onto my bed and wrapping my arms around my drawn-up knees.

"Are you okay?" He sat next to me, kicking off his shoes.

"Meh." I shrugged. "I'm better now that you're here with me."

Fatigue spread through my body, and I pulled Theo to lie next to me under the covers.

"If you want to talk, I'm here." He pressed his lips against my forehead.

"It's so infuriating." I sighed, wrapping an arm around his body. "It's just making me feel so indignant."

"What does that mean again?" He frowned in the dark.

"It's basically where you're angry internally and nobody else understands." I huffed. "It's like you're angry beyond expression."

"I understand that—" He began but I cut him off.

"I just want them and you to see that I have control."

"Show me, then," he insisted sincerely, his words drawing me in.

"I don't want to burn anything..." I began — though it was his turn to cut me off.

"Then don't. Teleport, and take me with you," Theo demanded as if it was that simple and I had any clue how to do it. That one time I'd accidentally teleported from the shower at Theo's to the edge of Lake Oldoy was terrifying, and I couldn't see any reason to do it again.

"I don't know how—"

"I think I know what your tattoo does now." He grabbed a hold of my wrist and pulled me close to him. "I think that your tattoo helps you teleport. Think of a place you've been before — any place."

"What, why?" I frowned, turning the inside of my wrist to face me and tracing the shape absentmindedly.

Then, before I knew what was happening, I felt a lurching sensation, like someone was pulling me away and they wouldn't stop.

"Theo!" I tried to call, but I felt as if I would be sick if I opened my mouth.

Gasping as soon as the lurching sensation was over, I realised I wasn't in my bed anymore. It turned out that I'd just been thinking about the far side of the lake away from the town, in a small, abandoned fishing cottage.

"Theo!" I finally called, after having to spit out something that was in my mouth.

In the darkness, it looked like small lumps of charred material. Like the remains of a burnt-out fire.

And it came out of my mouth. But it was dark. It could've been nothing — right?

Looking away, I searched around for Theo, squinting into the blackness until I saw that he was sitting against the wall of the cottage.

"Are you okay?" I rushed to him, somehow managing not to trip over in the dark.

"Fine." He coughed slightly then grinned smugly. "I was right."

"All right, don't let it get to your head," I warned light-heartedly as I smiled back at him.

"Could you not have thought of a super-king-sized bed in a five-star hotel suite instead?" He stood up as he dusted himself off. In the faint light of the slim, new moon, I could see his eyebrows were raised.

"Well, I'm sorry." I huffed jokingly. "It's not like I'm an expert in this field."

"So... Where are we exactly?" He glanced around, confused.

"The other side of Lake Oldoy. There's not a town or village around here for miles other than Lake Oldoy and Saint Francis," I explained to him.

He nodded.

"Do you wanna go back now?" I asked hesitatingly, not sure if we could get back the same way. "I'm worried that if I try to take us anywhere else other than home, I'll end up getting it wrong. Which I especially don't want whilst it's nighttime and I'm wearing next to no clothes..."

"You look hot though." Theo grinned. "But yeah, that's probably a good idea. It wouldn't be wise to try and push your abilities too far too soon."

I took us back home.

The lurching sensation made me feel just as sick as before, but at least on the trip home, I didn't have to spit out chunks of char.

When I opened my eyes, and I was lying back in my bed, Theo was beside me.

"There you go," he said with a smile. "You just showed me that you have control."

"Whatever — it was pretty much an accident." I yawned.

"I don't think it was," Theo insisted, then pushed, "I want to know how you have control. Have you found an anchor or something?"

"A what?" I mumbled back as fatigue seeped into my veins like a numbing drug. "An anchor?"

"Yeah, werewolves have them. They keep us from shifting when we don't want to. They remind us of who we are and what we do and don't want to do," he explained.

"I guess I have one then." I shrugged sleepily, losing interest and concentration quickly.

"What is it? What's your anchor?" He asked, clearly desperate to know.

"I don't know, wanting to have control?" I replied, unsure of how to answer, before asking, "What's your anchor anyway?"

"You might need a stronger anchor than that at some point," he told me pointedly, then his voice quietened even further. "My anchor's you, Ember."

"Hmm, that's nice," I hummed as I tired even quicker. It was as if teleporting across the lake had drained me entirely — which wasn't surprising considering the scale of such an ability.

"You're not going to sleep, are you?" He questioned, "And besides, too much has happened today for you just to go to sleep."

"Watch me." I exhaled, relaxing into the softness of my pillow and the comfort of Theo's arms.

"Fine," He murmured.

I was on the edge of sleep when I heard a massive bang outside. Theo sat up instantly, springing out of bed and rushing to the window.

"That was a hunter... Wasn't it?" I whispered, finally realising it had been a gunshot. The dread of that realisation flooded through my system and temporarily wiped away my fatigue — leaving my mind left racing with the possibilities.

Wednesday. Al. Kaden. Halia.

Theo said nothing.

"Ember?" My mum called to me from outside my door, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine, Mum," I mumbled back as if I'd been asleep, silently praying please don't come in, please don't come in...

She didn't come in. "Try and get some sleep, hon."

"Hmm-mm." I hummed back and kneeled forward to urge Theo to come back to bed, whispering, "There's nothing you can do now. We'll find out what it was tomorrow morning."

"Fine." He sighed and climbed back next to me.

"You worried?" I whispered, lying down again.

"Who wouldn't be? But I hope it's not Victoria, only because then we'd have nothing and no one to lure the hunters away." He wrapped his arms around me from behind, our bodies spooning.

"Won't you feel bad getting rid of Victoria? I mean she is your Alpha now." I kept my voice quiet as I danced around the fragile subject of Theo's pack and ex-pack.

"No," he whispered back, breath tickling the back of my ear. "No, I won't feel bad. The only person that I could ever think of as my Alpha is Jason."

"It'll all work out," I mumbled to my pillow, and when he said nothing, I argued more convincingly, turning around to face him. "It will."

"I still don't know if I'll ever find them again, Ember," he murmured to me, his eyes misting over ever so slightly.

"You will. I know you will." I smiled weakly. "The Theo that I know wouldn't give up on them, would he?"

"No... But what if they're not alive by the time I find them?" His voice broke slightly with emotion. "I've been without them for so long, I don't even know..."

I swallowed, aware of how broken he was getting, "Then you find their bodies and you bury them or cremate them, and you remember them. You let their spirits live on in here." I pressed my hand over his chest. "In your heart."

"Okay," he said and held my hand against his chest a little longer, letting me feel his strong, sure, steady heartbeat.

And lying there next to him, looking into his eyes, into his soul, I suddenly realised that I think I... I lov—. No, not The L Word. Not yet, but soon. Maybe.

I didn't want things to fall apart even more so I kept my mouth shut, not saying anything. Instead of facing him, I turned away so his chest was against my back again.

"Night, Em," he murmured softly.

I'd hated that nickname when he first tried it out, but now I actually liked it. In the darkness, I grinned through my sleepiness. "Night, Theo."

He sighed deeper into sleep, and then he mumbled something that I didn't quite hear. Well, I did hear it, I just didn't want to hear it. I fooled myself into thinking that the next day, I could pretend that I didn't hear it.

"I love you," he mumbled barely louder than a breath, almost inaudible.

I felt my entire body freeze up, but then relaxed when I realised that he was already asleep, so I didn't have to say anything back.

But I was his anchor, it was me that kept him sane when he needed it the most — surely that means love? Or a powerful emotional connection of some sort, at least?

I didn't have him as my anchor though, I wasn't even sure if I had an anchor in the first place.

Hopefully, he wouldn't remember it the next day... But I didn't doubt that it would be awkward on my part.

I'd rushed into love too many times to know how susceptible I'd gotten to heartbreak. I just didn't want to risk my heart again, but part of me was beginning to suspect that Theo had risked his many times and that risking it again for me was a huge step for him to take.

Saying I threw myself into a relationship with Theo would be an understatement; I hurtled into it without a moment of hesitation. From that first day at Ashley's, I'd flirted back with him. From that first day, it was like I knew he'd stay by my side for the rest of my life.

Not admitting my love for him there and then was foolish. Repressing my emotions would only lead to prolonged suffering and losing Theo for a little while.

Unaware of the future consequences at that time, I simply sighed. Letting sleep fully submerge me, it truly felt as if all my worries and concerns were being put off until the morning.

If only it were that simple.