When I came to, there was a massive pounding in my head. The big guy had knocked me out with just his fist. Great. Another concussion? I could hope not. I tried to move, but found my hands and feet were restrained to the chair I was sitting in. This had all the looks of when Thomas had been in The Torch's basement, only now the script was flipped. 

"If we could just not do this, that would be great. I already got a concussion yesterday, and I think Mr. Muscles may have messed me up even more. All you have to do is let me go, and I'll call a cab to come pick me up. You won't have to see me ever again." I leaned my head back, but the angle made the chair dig into the back, at the bottom of my skull. 

"We could do that, but we won't." Layke stalled on in. Glided really. Her eyes flashed that wolfish yellow. 

So she wasn't an Alpha. 

"Come on, woman to woman, I'm sure there's something we can work out."

"More like werewolf to hunter, and I'm sure you know why I won't when it's put that way."

"Just because our kind doesn't get along out there doesn't mean you and I have to be the same way in here." I tried to pull on the binds at my wrists. They were secure. 

Damn.

"There is a reason our kind doesn't get along. You act as our parole officers, waiting for that one moment we slip up. We don't need regulated by humans."

"Better than what we did back home," I murmured under my breath. 

"Ah yes. America. The Organization they call it back there, no?"

My eyes flashed up to hers. How in the world did she know about The Org? 

"Oh darling. We have people everywhere just as you do. We just keep better touch with our other troupes."

"You fight." It was a question, but it sounded more like a statement. Mr. Muscles had been the first werewolf I'd gone up against that knew how to fight. 

"We do. We all do. How else are we supposed to hold our own against the likes of you? We've witnessed the fall of many vampires and werewolves. We're not about to go down the same way. If we can match you hit for hit, then we would obviously come out on top."

"Obviously." I closed my eyes against the pounding in my head. "Is there a reason you're keeping me here, tied to a chair?"

Layke gave a sideways glance, and the big man came out of the shadows. 

"Mr. Musscles. Great."

I big guy grunted and I saw something flash in his hand. 

"We want to know what The Torch wants with us. We know there have been eyes on us for months."

"I don't know what The Torch wants with you."

Big guy came at me. The flash I'd seen earlier had been of a knife, and now it was poised and ready to strike at me. I was completely helpless. I couldn't move away, I couldn't do anything, but close my eyes and prepare for the sharp pain I knew was coming. 

"Stop," Layke's strong voice carried through the air. 

I opened one eye and released the breath I hadn't known I'd been holding. Big guy was standing in front of me, still and with the knife at his side. He was literally the attack dog. 

"She's not lying. She doesn't know."

I relaxed slightly. Apparently it was going to work out in my advantage to have a living lie detector. As long as she didn't ask any questions I needed to lie about. 

"Thank you."

"That doesn't mean we're setting you free. If you're not here as their lackey, then why are you here?"

"I already said, I was hoping you could help me."

"Help you what?"

"Build a force against the hunters. Well, the ones that want to kill all supernaturals."

"Why would you want to do that? You're one of them." Her eyes were suspicious now. She was starting to second guess her ability to sniff out lies. I was a hunter. In her mind, there was no possible way what I was saying could be true. 

"Because my boyfriend is a werewolf, and I'm his mate." I was worried about telling her all of this, but the more I could give her that would put me on her side, the better at this point. At least when I was completely helpless.

"You're lying." There was a hesitation in her voice.

"If I were, you'd know for sure. You can probably smell him on me. I even have a mark if you'd like to see."

I tilted my head to the side, my hair still just covering where the mark was. Big guy moved to brush it back. 

"No offense, but I'd rather Mr. Muscles not touch me again. You know, with the hit to the head, the blacking out, the coming at me with a knife."

"Stand back," Layke commanded. 

Big guy stepped back and Layke came up to me. She brushed the hair back and examined the scarred puncture wounds. Her fingers ran over the spot, and I flinched at the touch. She was just as warm as Jared, and her touch was just as light. 

She leaned down and sniffed me, and I had to fight back my instinct to shy away from the wolf-like behavior. Not that I could really get away. 

Layke snorted and stepped back. "A mate who can't even tolerate what we are."

"I can tolerate it. I'm just a bit...edgy. I'm sure you can understand that. I am still tied to a chair after all."

"Fair point, Ms. Jaeger. But before we let you go, I want you to tell us the whole story." The woman crossed her arms, waiting for me to give her exactly what she wanted. 

And I did. I spared no expense, starting from the very beginning when Jared moved to the town. Who I was, what I did, his first interactions with me. She'd rolled her eyes and told me to skip the mushy teenage love story. 

"Believe me. I didn't want any of it either, but that's what this is."

"Continue."

I went on, telling her how we'd found out about each other, the struggle I'd obviously felt from being a hunter. The way Jared had talked me though everything little by little, never giving me more than I could handle at once. 

The way things had finally seemed to be working out until they weren't. The life saving exit strategy, and fleeing the country. 

"Why did you join with The Torch then?"

"I wanted weapons, and I'd seen the papers. There were ghouls running all around. I didn't have the means to fight them off alone, and I thought it would be the perfect chance to get in there, get their trust, and acquire a few weapons in case we needed to leave again. I felt like a sitting duck, and I just couldn't handle it. I needed something to do, and it seemed like the only thing for me. They seemed better than The Organization back home when I learned about them."

"And then you found out that one of them was just as bad," she guessed. 

"Klarke."

"That Klarke does talk to the American hunters."

"But Steele told me they weren't in communication with one another."

"And you believed her?" Her tone implied I should have known better. 

"It seemed true."

"At first."

"Yes."

"Then what happened?"

My throat tightened. I couldn't tell her. I couldn't just say that they'd had me torture a werewolf and kill him so I could earn Klarke's trust. There was a good chance that would get me killed. 

"What. Happened."

"Klarke put me on one of their high profile cases."

"High profile. Seems like an odd thing for a hunter to do when the person coming in is new and unexperienced. Or so they believe."

"Yeah, well I didn't exactly bomb the test, and I guess they wanted me to prove that I was really like them."

"What was this high profile case."

"I'd rather not discuss it, if that's okay. I had to do some things I'm not proud of. It's what led me to getting back on the path I'd originally set out on. I want to take down The Org back home, and I want to get rid of the Klarke here. I just want to tear it all down."

"That's a rather large task, don't you think?"

"Depends on how many people you have."

"A thousand already in the states. Two here."

"Well, you probably equal the number of hunters there. Why haven't you gone after them before?"

"We like to keep our numbers."

"You're practically unstoppable if you know how to fight. You know that just as much as I do."

"Practically, but not completely." Layke looked to the big guy and back at me. "While we hate the way we're constantly watched, we know there are bad creatures out there. Just like humans, we have those who step out of line. Hunters are good for that case. We know you watch our world, and when we see someone who steps out of line, we give a little push to put them on the radar of the hunters."

"You mean you out your own kind?"

"Only the ones who go against the laws of our kind."

"So the ones the hunters find to go after..."

"A good number are because we let you find them for one reason or another."

It felt like part of a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. There was a good chance most of my kills had been creatures that deserved it.

"You're a hunter, and because of that, I don't want to trust you. You haven't lied though, and I smell your mate, and see the mark. I can feel the sincerity of your words. I'm not sure if we can help, but I do know you mean us no harm."

Layke held her hand out, and Mr. Muscles turned over the knife. She cut the binds herself, and stepped back. 

I rubbed my wrists where the rope had dug in. 

"It probably would have gone down differently if you'd brought your mate with you," she said as she looked me over.

I stood up and stretched my neck from side to side. 

"I would have, but we had a fight. He walked out on me." That ache in my heart throbbed once before subsiding slowly. 

"He walked out on you after marking you? What did you do?"

"Does it really matter what I did?" I snapped. 

I could feel Layke's energy, like a crackling wire. "I you did something bad enough to cause a mate to walk out when they've already trusted you enough with the mark, then it just might matter."

"We'd disagreed about me going into The Torch from the beginning. When I did what they made me do, he was angry. He walked out because he thought I hadn't changed from the hunter he met that night in the bar."

"I thought you met at school." She looked at me suspiciously. 

"He met the girl at school. He didn't meet the hunter until his fangs came out."

"I really should make you tell me what happened."

"I would rather you didn't. Shouldn't the only thing that matter be that I didn't want to? If I hadn't, my life could have been in danger. I have no idea what Klarke would have done if I'd decided not to follow through. I felt like I had no other choice. I'd thought of every way to make the outcome different, but nothing would have worked. I was surrounded."

Layke looked like she was tasting the air around us, as if that would tell her whether or not she should press the issue further. Apparently she decided not to.

"Byron will take you out through the underground car park. Windows are tinted, so if there are any Torch men they won't know you were here. I will be in touch with my American men, and if we feel it will be worth our people and time, then we will be in contact."

"How are you going to get in contact?" 

"We have our ways. Just know you'll hear from us if we decide to help you. We will try to do what we can. You're one of us now."

Layke gave a knowing smirk at the shiver that went down my spine with that. I still had that hunter perseverance in me. 

"Take her home."

Mr. Muscles started walking toward the door. Apparently he was Byron.

"Do not talk to anyone about this meeting. I don't care if you trust them or not. No one knows."

"As if I would say anything that could put my head on the chopping block."

"Good. You may be useful to us, Electra. Now get going."

I followed Byron out into an underground parking area. It looked like the perfect place for him to jump me if he was going to do it. Not that he hadn't had the advantage in there as well. 

"London," I said as I got in the passenger side. 

Byron backed out and took off, the tires squealing as he sped up and out of the underground portion and onto the road. 

Hopefully I wasn't going to die before I made it back home.

~~~~~

DOUBLE UPDATE! I just happened to crank this one out. I guess I'm trying to make up for that long break between the updates earlier. 

Let me know what you think in the comments below, and don't forget to vote! :)

I hope you have had, or will have a very happy holidays. I'm about to dive into some more cookie making. 

Thank you for everything you've done for my stories. You're continued support is beyond amazing. 

Thank you kindly,

Red Assassin