Klarke made his way into the room within minutes. He had to have been on his way the second Thomas said yes. 

His dominating presence took over immediately, causing the air to tense up around us. 

Thomas' claws drew out and Klarke approached him, taking a needle and sticking it into Thomas' neck. The reaction was almost immediate. His claws retracted beneath the surface, and the glow that had edged into his eyes was gone. A haze replaced his attentive look. Whatever Klarke had given him, it had sedated the wolf within. 

"Get him ready to go. He's going to lead us there," Klarke said as he took the weapons away to clean them. 

Thomas' eyes looked worried. His defense had broken down enough with the use of the drug to rid him of his only real defense, the mask of indifference. He was worried about going into the wolf's den.

Klarke pulled out a heavy duty silver handcuffs, they appeared to be something created within The Torch, most likely for the purpose of transporting supernaturals that had a weakness to the material. There was a set for his hands and a set for his feet; it would ensure that even if the wolf started to find its way back, he would be too tangled up to get anywhere too fast. 

Isaac took one set, and I grabbed the other. I grabbed Thomas' hands and started cuffing them together, and it was only then that I heard his whispered plea over and over. He must have been saying it since the moment Klarke had made it clear what his role would be. 

"Please, please, please." His mouth almost didn't move with the words, and they were barely audible. As soon as I moved back, I could no longer hear him. 

I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to keep myself firm. 

Isaac stood up when he was finished securing Thomas' feet, and the easiness about him told me he hadn't been able to hear the wolf's whispered pleas from his place at the ground. 

"Lock the cage and come with me. We're getting the group together and we're getting ready to go," Klarke said.

Isaac and I exchanged a look. His eyes told me that he wasn't sure about Klarke leading this expedition. He wasn't going to say anything though, and I couldn't say anything. This was like my secondary entrance exam. If I failed this, something as important to this group as catching a pack of wolves that had been the epitome of evil in these parts, I was sure I would be out on the streets again. 

As we made our way through the halls, back toward the weapons room I thought back to my original goal when entering this place. I wanted to get the weapons and get out. I hadn't realized how impossible that would be at the time; no one left with weapons, not unless it was for a job on the outside. They were always put back in the room before anyone left. 

I hadn't thought about my original plan in quite some time. The Torch had seemed great, like the people I wanted to be around, the group I'd been missing back in the states. They were only after the supernaturals who had shone they couldn't be good, productive members of society, the ones who decided to act out. That's what I'd wanted. 

There had been glimpses of Klarke though, ones that said he wasn't completely on board with that ideal. Glimpses that reminded me of the Klarke who shot me in the shoulder as I ran away. 

With the thought of the wound, a dull ache radiated in my shoulder, a feeling that happened every once in a while; one that never let me forget that it happened.

Klarke threw the doors open to the weapons room, and a large group of people were already gathered together. He went up to the front, and the crowd grew silent.

"What's going on?" I whispered to Isaac.

"He's going to give a rallying speech. This is a group we've been after for years now. Since before I was even fully integrated. It's probably the biggest job we'll ever do. He's going to make sure everyone knows that. Expectations are high for this one. If anyone messes this up..." He didn't finish, and that alone seemed like a bad sign. 

Steele stood up, taking residence next to Klarke; the two powers at the top. That was the image at least, but over the short time I'd been within, I'd gathered that was very much not the case. Klarke was in charge, there was no mistaking that for anyone who spent a decent amount of time around them like I had. Even Isaac knew it. 

"We've had a wolf from the outsider pack this past week. We captured him and brought him in for questioning. Our newest initiate, Jacobson, has been proving her worth by cracking him, getting him to spill everything he knows. She's made The Torch proud today; he has agreed to take us to the pack so we can take them down." Murmurs went around the room. I couldn't tell what people were saying, but I knew they must be shocked. 

"As every natural born member of The Torch knows, we've been after this outsider pack for more than ten years. They've killed, and caused destruction in many areas of our cities. The time has come to take them down. It won't be easy, and it won't be pretty. It's safe to assume, some may lose their lives in this fight, but if there was ever a fight worth our lives, this would be the time."

The room was completely silent, I couldn't even hear the people breathing. 

"We'll go out there, led by this outsider wolf, and when we find the pack, we will fight to our last breath to make sure they cease to exist after this night."

War cries erupted throughout the crowd. Klarke had done exactly what he set out to do, he'd gotten the people ready to lay their lives on the line in hopes of eradicating the pack. He whispered something in Steele's ear. She nodded and he slipped away, making his way back to us. 

"With me." His words were barely heard over the room full of hunters. We followed him into an area of the building I hadn't seen yet. It was like a smaller version of the weapons room we'd just left, only the items in there seemed to be a bit better than what we'd left behind. 

"You're going to be wearing one of these. Each team leader will have one, and you're leading in the wolf. You need to stay connected with us."

Klarke handed us both a bluetooth. It was similar to the one he'd given me earlier. He then walked us over to the wall of weapons. 

"Make your choice."

My eyes immediately connected with the daggers on the wall, and I took one down. I weighed it in my hands, feeling the evenness in it. It made me miss my old one, but this would definitely do. I then took down a gun that looked like the Necos we had back home. I tapped my finger on the ammunition box. If these werewolves were really as bad as they've claimed, we needed to make sure none of them walked away from this. 

"Do you have any ammo that's filled with silver powder?"

Klarke raised an eyebrow at me. "Silver powder?"

"Yeah, a hollowed out bullet with silver powder in the middle. The force of the impact shatters the tip and the silver releases into the bloodstream. Even if the shot doesn't kill the werwolf, there would be no way to extract the powder from the system. They would die no matter what."

There was a glint in Klarke's eye. 

"Where did you say you were from?"

"California. I did some hunting on my own for a while, and I experimented with making my own bullets. I needed something a little better quality since the guns themselves weren't the best."

He gave a nod of approval Isaac released a long breath beside me. I hadn't realized how tight of a line I'd been walking until Isaac's tension eased. 

"We've been experimenting with it as well. It's about to be distributed with the group as a whole. I have some in here." He messed with a ring of keys, picking one out of the many and unlocking a cabinet drawer. A jingle sounded from inside as he picked up a box and sat it on the counter. 

I opened the box and loaded the gun before grabbing a second and loading that as well. My three weapons sat on the counter, the dagger glistening under the light. I loaded up, slipping the dagger into a sheath and placing it at the small of my back, tucked into my jeans, one of the guns in my jacket pocket, and the other tucked into my jeans at the hip. 

Klarke nodded again in approval, and I wondered if I was showing too much knowledge. 

"You two finish getting ready. Meet out by the vans." 

As soon as Klarke left, Isaac turned toward the wall of weapons. 

"Face this way," he said quietly. 

I turned around, looking at him. 

"Not at me. Look directly at the wall or the counter. Just keep looking that way."

"Why?"

"The camera is behind us. Talk quietly; I don't know if it has sound or not."

Isaac started pulling weapons down, looking them over to find the best ones. I kept my hands busy as well to make it look like I was still doing something. 

"Once that bluetooth goes in your ear and Klarke turns them all on, there will be no way to turn it off. He and every other person will be able to hear you at all times. You'll know when it's on. There will be a green light right here." Isaac pointed to the side of the ear piece. "Don't say anything to incriminate yourself once it's turned on. I think Klarke may be suspicious of you."

"What did I do?" My heart picked up speed. Had I actually done something to tip him off?

"Nothing that I know of. You work your way around lies well. He's just a suspicious person, and you came from the States. Doing this today could help you get in his favor. Just do what you need to do to prove you're on our side."

"You're sending mixed signals you know that?"

"I know, and I'm sorry. I'm just trying to keep your best interests in mind, and those are shifting almost every minute with every choice you make."

"Is this organization really what Steele claims it to be? An equal chance for supernaturals?"

"For the most part, yes."

"Most part?"

"Did that guy down there really seem all that bad to you?"

"I don't know what he did in his past."

Jared's words came back to mind. The way he'd pleaded with me to get Thomas out of there. Swearing up and down he wasn't like the rest of that pack, that he'd left them long ago because of how they were. 

He reminded me of myself. I'd done some dark things with The Organization back home, but I'd left them. I'd fled. But only because of Jared. If he hadn't come along, would I really have realized what they were doing was wrong?

"There isn't any way for me to back out is there?"

"Not if you want to keep up this front. Give Klarke a reason to doubt you, and he will dig."

"How do you know so much about the inside workings?" I asked. I was starting to get suspicious of Isaac. I'd originally thought he wasn't that high up, but he'd been everywhere with Klarke that I had, and he seemed to know quite a bit. We may be related, but we didn't know each other well, and I couldn't rely on that relation to save me. If it came down to him and some cousin he'd known less than a month, I knew he'd have no problems throwing me down. I wouldn't. 

"I'm a Secondary. I may not be a founder, but our line is strong. Judging by you, I'd say the same is true in the States. We're held in high regard, and all Founders and Secondaries are included in the inner circle so to speak."

"So that girl...Lissa, she isn't ahead of you?" I thought back to that day I'd made the assumption by the way they'd been addressing each other, the war of superiority. 

Isaac's mouth pulled up at one corner. 

"She was, and she wasn't. She definitely isn't anymore." The confusion on my face must have been plain, because he continued to explain. "She held a higher position in the rankings, but she isn't part of either the Founders or the Secondaries. Though she held higher rank in the order, within the system I was still higher than her. That's what that whole name thing was about the night we brought you in."

Apparently I'd been obvious with where I'd gotten my assessment from. 

"But why not anymore?"

"After we brought you in, a meeting was held on the way things were handled. It was determined by Klarke, and reluctantly by Steele that the way Lissa had conducted things wasn't fitting of the status she held. She was demoted. They decided to put me in her place. As if I needed to be around Klarke more."

"Why was Steele reluctant?"

"This place is run by the name you were born into. To a lot of people, that doesn't seem fair, but then again, look at the royal family. It's essentially another working of that system. There have been strides to include some people from outside the inner circle into the higher ranks, like Steele and Lissa, but they're on thinner ice if they mess up. That's another reason Steele would throw you under the bus if you're found out. She's going to save herself before anyone else."

"Understandable. I'd do the same."

"So would I." 

I looked to Isaac, our eyes locked, and it was like he was saying more than just those words. Was that his confirmation of my question? I hadn't actually said it out loud though. The green light on the ear piece turned on, and our conversation ended. Our question session was over. We put the ear pieces in just in time to hear Klarke's voice. 

"Down by the vans as soon as possible. Jaeger and Jacobson, you have the wolf in yours. You will lead the way."

Isaac grabbed a few weapons, loaded them up, and we made our way out to the vans. The closer we got to our van, the louder my heart sounded. Even though he was drugged, I still wasn't comfortable being stuck in a cage on wheels with a werewolf, especially not when I knew just how terrified he was. Fear and anger were the two biggest triggers for werewolves, and I'd seen one angry up close not too long ago. I'd been terrified even though I'd known he wouldn't have done anything to hurt me. But this werewolf wouldn't give me a single thought if it meant saving his life. 

"Do you wan to drive or shall I?" Isaac asked. 

"You can."

"We've set the wolf up with a shock collar of sorts," Klarke's voice came over as we got into the van. I looked back at Thomas sitting incredibly still in the back. "Silver prongs have pierced the skin in five places. If the need arises to subdue him, the control is in the center console." 

The twisted collar joke didn't slip by me. Against my will, I felt a small bubble of laughter creep up. It was the darkness that had set in since I'd been assigned the task of getting Thomas to crack. That part of me thought the joke was pretty darn funny. The other part of me was sick with myself. 

It took a few shocks with the collar, but Thomas started giving us directions, taking us miles outside of the city. The sun had been falling down in the sky, and we were surrounded by nothingness. I had started wondering if he was leading us in the wrong direction. 

"Tell that wolf that if he's taking us anywhere else other than to that pack then he's dead," Klarke barked through the ear piece. 

"I can hear him," Thomas growled from the back. 

"Good, then he might as well know that if he's lying to us, he's just as dead."

This time, the response was just a growl. The drugs were obviously wearing off, and the wolf was coming back full force. 

"Those cuffs are strong enough to hold in a werewolf, right, Isaac?"

"They're pure silver. There's no way he'll be able to stand trying to break out of them."

I looked back, unsure if he was actually right. Angry red marks lined Thomas' wrists where the metal had rested, burning his flesh. Lines of blood trickled down his neck and had stained the collar of his shirt, his claws fully out and that wolf glow lighting his eyes. Eliza the huntress was starting to set in again. She'd been the one to press the buttons on the shock collar, and now she was trying to chase Electra away. 

"It's up here in another two miles. It's barren land for the most part, a few large sheds. A couple houses. That's where they stayed when I was with them." Thomas said through gritted teeth. 

This was the moment everyone was anticipating, the moment we would pull up, ready to fight the most elusive pack that had been terrorizing the area for years. We turned into a drive a ways away, the lights of all the vans turned off. We were about to move in. I was about to go on my first hunt as part of The Torch. 

********

So here we are. They're about to go in for the hunt. What do you think is going to happen? Leave your thoughts in the comments. What's in store for Electra and Isaac? What about Thomas? Do you think this is going to be simple, or a blood bath? I wants ta know you thoughts!!!

Thanks for sticking with me through the long breaks. I have a ton of stuff going on in life right now and not a lot of time to write. I really don't want to give up on this story though, because I'm really liking what I have in store for the rest of it. I hope you enjoy the ride... You know... the feels train... Let's see what happens!

~Red