By the time I was nearing the forest line, my side was completely healed. Shaw didn't bother to tell me what was in the bottle but clearly it wasn't poisonous. I took off my sweatshirt, smelling the wolf scent on it and knowing everyone else would as well.

I went to toss it into the dirt but froze seeing Davis standing just feet away. I had purposely come back earlier thinking I could beat him to waking up. Apparently that was a failure.

Both of us stared at each other, neither of us wanting to make the first move. His eyes dropped to my hands holding the sweatshirt before looking back up to meet my eyes. His eyebrows raised, questioning what I was doing.

"I got blood on it... I figured I'd just toss it." It was a crappy excuse but maybe I could wave it off.

"Try again, Charlotte." His voice was hard. He knew better and saw right through me.

I looked down. How could I shrug this off. There was no way if he had already smelled the wolves. He raised his arms, crossing them over his chest. I felt like a child about to get yelled at for doing something stupid.

"What do you want me to say, Davis?" I growled.

"I told you not to force me to lie to Thomas."

"I never asked you to!" I shouted, stepping forward at him. "You're the one who keeps watching me. If you know what I'm doing then why keep watching me?"

"Because I don't want to see you get killed, Charlotte!" His arms dropped back to his side. "King Pierce is bound to get suspicious. You and I both know he doesn't take lightly to anything regarding those... things!" His arm raised, pointing towards the direction I had come from. He knew exactly where wolf territory sat in our sector.

"So don't tell him, Davis. No one knows I leave at night. Soon enough, I'll be back to staying at my house and then they'll never think anything of it."

"You're naive to think that way." He sneered at me.

"You don't understand anything."

"Then help me to. You have a chance right here right now to explain whatever it is you think you're doing." He paused and waited for me to speak. After seeing my contemplation, he continued. "How about this; you tell what everything. If I understand your logic, I'll cover for you. If I don't, you'll tell Thomas yourself, today as soon as we both get back to the palace."

I knew this wasn't a truce. He meant what he said before. He wouldn't lie to Thomas anymore. The only difference here was that he was giving me a shot at explaining everything.

"Ronan isn't dead." I whispered.

Davis snapped, looking directly at me.

"I met him tonight, actually." I shrugged at it like it was nothing and sat down on a fallen tree. "When we were attacked yesterday, that was because for the past two nights, I've gone into their territory. At first, I didn't know where I was. When I ran from the ball, I just ran. I didn't think about where I was going and just ended up there. But that's also when I met Ronan. He was nice. Made jokes, made me laugh and feel better; he was a normal person not trying to work and ranking system..."

Davis leaned against one of the trees, his eyes still watching me intently.

"He started teaching me things about wolves. Things that aren't written about in any of our books. Did you know that they can see our memories... because I didn't..." I paused and looked down at my hands. "All my life, I've wanted to learn about them, why we hate them and fight them. Anytime I'd get my hands on books about them, I wouldn't put it down until I finished the book. Now, king Pierce hides anything relevant about them. Hell, I've read some books that were lies about them even." I looked up to him, trying to see some sort of reaction to what I'd told him so far but couldn't see anything. He continued to stare at me, waiting for me to fully finish.

"Look, for the past couple nights, Ronan has given me a chance to learn and understand them. Not once has he asked about us or tried to figure anything secret about us. He's genuinely trying to help me understand our worlds."

Davis realized I was done talking and dropped his harsh stare down to the dirt between us. The gears were spinning inside his head. Tell Thomas or let me continue what I was doing. Even I understood that was a hard decision. Davis was a royal. If he didn't report this, he could even get in trouble. However, from everything I'd seen from Davis, he was the most understanding of any of them. He understood my need for normalcy and to fit in.

"Davis, I just want to understand what might help lead someday. Plus, I think he knows something about my real parents. I can't just walk away from that."

His stance shifted. It was gentle. His arms were at his side instead of up and standoffish. His eyes softened and looked up at me moving closer.

"So this isn't just about you trying to make a point to Pierce or Thomas?" Quickly I shook my head knowing it was all for me. "How do you propose your disappearance every night? Someone is going to notice whether it's your parents at your house or people at the palace. Plus you reek like them."

"I haven't really figured that out yet... to be honest, I haven't gotten sleep all night because of this. It's just been the naps when I could get them."

"Alright, I won't tell Thomas about this." I smiled and ran forward, giving him a strong hug. His arms lifted above me, surprised at my hug before they relaxed around me.

"However, I have some conditions. One, you have to figure out a way to go there and cover yourself. You're going to need some story whether you're training or running, I don't know. Second, you have to start bringing clothes there so you don't come back smelling like this. Any person, royal or not, is going to smell them and know something is up. Third, I need you to be smart. I don't want to be the one to have to tell Thomas you're dead because I let you see them every night. Plus I won't be here in a couple days so you'll have to figure out what to do then since the focus will be back on you."

"Can't you ask to stay or something? I'm sure King would allow it."

It was upsetting knowing the one guy who seemed willing to help me no matter what would have to go. I wanted him to stay more than anything. It wasn't just because he was helping me but because he was caring. He was someone I could talk to now.

"I could, but my own people are on their own then. Maybe I'll ask. We'll see when we cross that bridge, okay?" I nodded before he continued. "Now, what are we going to do about that smell?"

I looked down at my bloody shirt and jeans. The shirt had a massive hole of blood from yesterday and last night but the smell was the worst part. He was right, anyone would be able to smell that.

"Tell you what, I knew. I saw you leave last night in those clothes and knew you were up to something... You're lucky I didn't follow you." He leaned over behind a tree and pulled a shirt from a backpack before tossing it to me. "See, I trust you a bit."

I laughed slightly, shaking my head and catching the shirt.

"You're lucky you didn't follow me. They would've torn you to shreds. They actually like me!"

Stepping behind a couple trees, I changed shirts and held the sweatshirt and old shirt in my hands.

"Give them here. I'll get them washed no questions asked. I see how much you want to keep the sweatshirt at least." He smirked again.

"Was Thomas up when you left?" I asked. He shook his head. "If he was, I'll use the story that I went out for a walk, for now until I think of something better. I'll try to stay at my house tonight maybe.

Davis nodded and took the clothes. He stuffed them back in the backpack and turned to leave. "C'mon, you don't want to be here when they all wake up..."

With that we both took off running, knowing at any point in this plan, we could both be screwed. We were playing with fire now but neither of us cared. The outcomes of any scenario made it worth it. To possibly find my real parents or to even have vampires and wolves coexist in a world where we don't hate each other, either one would be great.