Gripping her head in pain, twenty year old Bethany Holt made her way through the forest, heading towards what she could remember to be the closest town. Her deep blue eyes were dimmed more than usual which may have been due to how dark the night was at the moment, but was more than likely caused by the fact of what had just happened. Wincing as a nearby tree limb clipped her shoulder, revealed from the dark purple spaghetti strap shirt that she had decided to wear that morning, she let go of her head and placed her hand on her new wound, unintentionally covering it in her blood. Her long dark brown hair, now freed from the constraint of her hand, fell down and brushed against her shoulders softly.

She turned her head sharply, hearing something move behind her, which probably wasn't the best idea considering the blood that coated the curls of her hair, her own blood. Inhaling a sharp breath, her hand shot back up to her head and gripped it as a shot of pain moved through her while her free hand gripped the camera around her neck to her chest protectively. A low growl sounded from behind her and her eyes widened as a cold breath landed on the crook of her neck, making goose bumps rise up all over her body.

"Going somewhere?"

"Everything's clear here Lucan, can we head home yet?" Dante sighed, leaning against a nearby tree and looking around at the rest of his bretheren. He was itching to get back home to Tess and there unborn child, not that he didn't trust the other breedmates to take of her until he returned, but it was killing him not to be there for her. The other members of the order that had been fortunate enough to breed so far felt the same way towards their mates, their blood bonded loves, and they were just as anxious to get back home, but they knew they had to finish up here first before they were allowed that luxury. Moving some of his messy black hair out of his deep eyes, Lucan looked up at the sky and nodded slightly to himself, noting that they only had a few hours or so until sunrise.

"We'll leave when Sterling gets here and when Brock gets back," he stated, looking over at Dante as the blonde sighed, knowing that Lucan's word was law. Niko, who stood next to Renata as she held Mira in her arms like a protective mother, scoffed lightly and let his eyes which were still glowing with adrenaline and the protectiveness that had been brought out by fighting for his love and breedmate, move over to the forest where Brock had gone off a while ago to burn off some of his own adrenaline.

"We'll be lucky if Brock gets back here before morning. Maybe someone should go drag his ass back here so you guys can get back to your girls before someone goes and explodes from being away too long," Niko teased while wrapping his arm around Renata's waist and pulling her closer, making her face burn lightly in a soft blush that was barely visible from the lack of light. Dante smirked and stood up straighter, pushing against the trunk of the tree to do so.

"I'll go drag his scrawny ass back here," he said as he started towards the forest, his boots making slight tracks in the dirt, before stooping short and sniffing the air, "Do you smell that?"

"Smell what?" Tegan asked, raising his eyebrow at the younger warrior as he crossed his arms.

"It smells like...oranges and some kind of spice...cinnamon?" As the warriors looked at each other, confused and contemplating what the smell was coming from, Brock came out of the woods, booking it toward them with a woman on his back and a foreign object around his neck.

"Guys, look what I found," he said, kneeling down and shifting the girl on to the ground softly, his hand craddling the back of her head gently as he laid her down. Her long ark brown hair cushioned her head and she groaned lightly in her unconcious state as her head moved to the side slightly, allowing her bloodied hair and head wound to come into view.

"Holy Hell Brock! What the fuck did you do?!?" Lucan growled as everyone took in the sight of the woman. Renata placed Mira down gently on the ground and moved to the woman's side, kneeling down and placing two fingers on her neck to confirm her pulse.

"I didn't touch her! I was kicking around some trees and stuff when I smelled her blood. When I got there, a rougue was getting ready to kill her, but I smoked him before he could, grabbed her and brought her back here," he glanced at the woman in front of him before moving his hands to the object around his neck, which happened to be a camera, and taking it off while looking up at Lucan solemnly,

"She had this with her. You need to see what's on it." Lucan rose an eyebrow at him, accepting the camera and turning it on bfore hitting the review button.

""Holy shit..." he muttered, amazed as he flicked through the pictures, "This is Reichen's house...breed members...Reichen himself...what the Hell was she doing taking these pictures? She could've been killed! I wonder why she wasn't..."

"Maybe she's like Gabrielle and they didn't notice her?" Brock suggested before glancing at the girl once more as Tegan and Rio lifted her into a standing position, bracing her weight with their own bodies. Lucan looked up at Brock curiously as Dante moved to his side and looked at the pictures too, cursing under his breath.

"Did you see the mark on her?" Brock switched his gaze back to the older Gen One and shook his head.

"No, but there's a good amout of blood on her so it may be hidden. And when I tried scrubbing her, she passed out so I don't know if it worked or not." Lucan nodded as th rest of the order made their way over to them.

"So, what's the plan?" Tegan asked as he and Rio carried the woman over.

"We'll take her back with us for now." Brock nodded and returned his gaze back to the woman as Rio looked up and smirked a bit.

"Looks like our ride home's finally arrived," he said as Sterling pulled up in one of the biggest cars possible, perfectly able to fit everyone inside. Dante smirked and walked over to the car, hopping into the back.

"About time Harvard. Brock even made it back before you," he teased. Sterling looked back at him through the rear view mirror and rolled his eyes.

"At least I made it here before morning," he teased back, watching as the rest of the order moved into the back of the car as well, Tegan and Rio carrying an unconciuos woman, "Looks like we have a few extra passengers." Renata climbed in with Mira and sat next to Niko with Mira seated comfortably in her lap.

"My name's Renata and this is Mira," she said, gazing down at the little girl sleeping soundly in her lap before looking at the girl that lay across one of the bench seats, "As for her, we don't know her name...Brock found her in the woods." Brock smiled and looked up at everyone, swinging the woman's camera in his hand playfully by the neck strap.

"Actaully, there's a sticker on the bottom of this thing and assuming that it is hers and she didn't borrow it from someone or anything, her name is Bethany Holt," he tosed the camera to Niko, letting him flick through the pictures before letting his eyes move back to the woman who still remained unconcious, "She looks like a Bethany." Dante smirked a bit and leaned back in his seat as Brock placed his arm near the woman's head, resting on it slightly.

"Looks like Brock has a crush," he teased, smirking more as Brock turned his head and shot him a glare.

"Screw off! I just want to make sure she's safe," he argued before switching his gaze to Sterling, "Will you get going Sterling? Morning's in a few hours." Sterling rolled his eyes again, not appreciating how he was being treated today before stepping on the gas and heading towards the airport. Dante continued to smirk even as he closed his eyes, relaxing and more than likely thinking of Tess waiting back at home. After a while, Brock relaxed as well and leaned back, letting his head rest against the cool metal of the rear door of the van as he looked around at his newly found bretheren. Rio and Tegan sat on either side of Dante, Rio cleaning his guns while Tegan just sat there with distant eyes, probably thinking about his own mate, Elise. Niko sat next to Renata, his mate, with his arm around her waist as she leaned into him and played with the soft strands of Mira's hair. Kade rested on the other side of Niko and looked bored as Hell while Lucan sat up front with Sterling.

The only ones in the van that hadn't found their mate yet were Sterling, Kade, and Brock. Sterling had had his eyes set on his deceased brother's wife, Elise, but she had fallen for Tegan instead, leaving Sterling heartbroken and mistrusting love. Kade, however, wasn't sure he wanted a breedmate. He only wished to fight. As Brock sat there on the floor, his eyes wandered back to the woman next to him. her curly dark brown hair was spread out underneath her head and her face was turned toward him. Her skin was pale and flawless except for the traces of blood spattered along her cheek, arms, and even a few drops along the smooth, pink skin of her lips. Though her eyes were closed, he could remember the exact shade of deep blue they were from just before she passed out in the forest.

Moving his eyes along her slowly, he took in every inch of her, noticing where her shoulder had been clipped. He also noticed that her jeans and spaghetti strap shirt had been torn and stained by the mud and her blood and that she looked a little cold. He glanced up, making sure nobody was watching him before shifting and sliding the coat he was wearing off, placing it on top of her gently to make sure she wouldn't get cold. He leaned back and sighed, running his hand through his hair as he looked at her once more. Although he wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to admit it, he was beginning to become attached to this woman...this Bethany Holt.