A/N - Hey guys, I'm Elizabeth (FanOfDeliciousFlavour), and welcome to the story! This is a piece I actually wrote a long long time ago, which I recently rediscovered after sifting through my old google docs. After reading it over and making a few edits, I thought, what the heck, I may as well publish this.

This story takes place during Forever, when Mina is living as Teague's captive. The story starts as Mina is fleeing the library due to Teague, who was enraged by a conversation Annalora, destroying everything in sight. Now, in the book this is when she is rescued by Ternan, but as you'll see, I've changed it quite a bit...

Anyway, I'll let the story speak for itself.

Enjoy!

Mina left the library and Teague's destructive anger behind. She was so torn. What was the right thing to do? She ran blindly, not even caring where she was headed, as her feet pounded on, doubts and questions filled her mind.

Until she collided into a wall of flesh.

"Oomph." Mina groaned as strong hands grabbed her forearms, and she looked up into the tanned and bearded face of a shirtless stranger.

"Come, we will get you out of here." The man gripped her arm and tugged her after him.

"No, wait! I can't leave!"

Her abductor ignored her and pulled her down the hall. She struggled against the older man. His brown beard was tinged with gray, his eyes a dark hazel, filled with worry. On his arms, she could see the fine scars that had long since healed over. A long necklace of shells was the only adornment on his upper body.

(A/N - And here's where things get different...)

I was beginning to panic. This guy might be seemingly trying to rescue me, but I had no idea who he was. What I did know was that if I left, Teague would hunt me down, and he would be too filled with rage to consider that I hadn't left by choice. And I was just beginning to get through to him. It took me less than a second to make my decision.

"Teague!" I screamed his name as loud as I possibly could. The man clapped a hand over my mouth.

"Do you have a death wish, child?" He said in disbelief. In reply, I bit down sharply on his hand, and he released me, cursing as he nursed his wounded hand. I took off, running back towards the library, where I had last seen Teague.

"Teague!" I yelled his name again. It was funny how the name I used to fear was now the one I called in a time of need. I looked back to see the stranger hot on my heels, and I ran, once again, into a person. Hands gripped my arms and I looked up into the blazing eyes of Teague. Without uttering a word, he roughly shoved me behind him, focusing in on the intruder, who was staring at Teague in astonishment. He suddenly seemed to realize how much danger he was in, and took off down the hallway. He didn't make it far, however, as Teague, with a flick of his wrist, used Fae magic to send the man flying into a wall. I let out a startled yelp, as the man hit the wall, and then the ground. As the man struggled to get up, Teague approached him with firm steps. He used magic to lift the stranger off of the ground.

"Who are you?" He asked, voice angry. "And who sent you?" The man tried to speak, but the magic was choking him, cutting off his oxygen. Teague cocked his head to the side.

"What's the problem? Cat got your tongue? Oh wait, never mind, that's just dark magic you're choking on." Teague said coldly. I took a timid step forward, placing a hand on Teague's arm. He looked at me, and I could see the fire burning in his eyes, the darkness inside of him that I'd been working so hard to get rid of.

"Teague, that's enough." I said quietly. He ignored me, turning his attention back to the man, who was gasping, clearly running out of air. If I didn't stop Teague, he would die. I pulled on his arm. "Teague!" I clearly startled him, for his other hand flicked up, propelling me into a wall. My head hit the ground with a crack, and I cried out in pain. Teague seemed to realize what he'd done, and I immediately saw the flames in his eyes disappear, replaced by a grayish-blue. Teague dropped the man, and quickly came to crouch by my side. I instinctively flinched away from him. Hurt flickered briefly across his features, but he regained himself. He felt behind my head, where it had hit the wall and then the ground, and I cried out as it sent a jolt of pain through my head. His hand came away covered in blood. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the intruder slip away. Teague didn't notice, he was so focused on me. His hands began to glow with Fae magic as he attempted to heal me. After a moment we both realized nothing was happening.

"What the-" He muttered. Then he seemed to come to some sort of realization. "Oh." I was too focused on staying conscious to ask what was happening. "Can you walk?" He asked me. I nodded, not actually sure, but willing to try. But as soon as I stood, my knees buckled, and Teague quickly caught me, scooping me into his arms. "We'll do this the old fashioned way, then." He muttered, as he began to walk swiftly down the hall. I could feel the warmth of his arms underneath my legs and around my back, firm and steady. My head was resting on his chest, and I could hear a frantic beating, only I wasn't sure if it was my head pounding, or if it was Teague's heart.

I had assumed Teague was taking me to my room, but he passed it, taking me down a different corridor. I'd never been here before. There was a pair of double doors at the end of the hallway, and Teague kicked them open. The room was gigantic, almost the size of the throne room. The walls were painted a dazzling shade of blue, and the furniture matched. This included a large, king-sized bed, which Teague gently laid me on. This must be Teague's bedroom. I don't know why this came as such a shock to me. I guess I'd just never considered that Teague's needs were the same as my own. He needed food and water, of course he needed sleep too.

I struggled to keep my eyes open as I watched Teague disappear through a door on the other side of the room. He reappeared with wet hand-towel. He carefully sat down beside me, and gently lifted my head up so he could place the towel behind it. I coughed a few times, before I could finally form words.

"Thank you." I said weakly to Teague, my voice cracking. He looked astonished.

"For what?" He asked.

"For helping me." I replied. He looked confused.

"But I am the one who hurt you in the first place."

"No. That wasn't you." I told him. He laughed, but it was forced.

"You must have hit your head really hard." He said, voice tinged with bitterness. "Because it was-"

"That's not what I meant." I interrupted him. "I mean that wasn't really who you are. That was the darkness inside of you. Just because it's inside of you doesn't mean it is you." I tried my best to explain, but I wasn't sure I was making any sense. "Does that make any sense?" Teague didn't respond. I couldn't read his expression.

"You should get some rest." He finally said abruptly, standing up. My eyes followed him as he walked over to an armchair and sat down. He caught my gaze. "What?" He asked.

"If this is your bed, where are you going to sleep?" I asked him. Teague just shrugged.

"Fae don't need nearly as much rest as humans. I can usually go a couple days without sleeping and be perfectly fine. Besides, you need to be watched over with an injury like that, and since I prefer my room, you're staying here. Do me and yourself a favor and try not to roll over in your sleep, would you?" With that he picked up a random book and started reading. I took it as a sign of dismissal. My eyes began to close of their own accord, and soon I was fast asleep.

A/N - Sooooo what do you think? I really hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Sorry it's a bit short, but I wanted a simple start. This will be a longer story with multiple chapters, so don't think that this is it, because I have so much more planned! Anyway, please leave reviews with your thoughts. Seriously, you have no idea how much reviews mean to me! Thank you so much for reading the first chapter, and I'll see you next time!

~ Elizabeth (FanOfDeliciousFlavour)