Disclaimer: I do NOT own The Nine Lives of Chloe King!

Alek's POV

I waited outside of the vintage clothing store that Chloe worked at, waiting for her to get off of work. She was just closing up and I was waiting for her to finish up so that I could walk her home. I was on guard duty tonight, protecting Chloe from all of the evil members of the Order who wanted to kill her, our Uniter.

When Chloe emerged from inside of the store, I felt an involuntary smile spreading across my face just at the sight of her. She was so beautiful, inside and out, I thought to myself as I watched her lock up. Her curly blonde hair cascaded softly down her back and I wished that I could run my hands through it, but I knew I couldn't. Chloe didn't like me in that way. She just saw me as a friend.

I sighed as I thought of that. I didn't want to be just friends with Chloe. I loved her and I was pretty sure that she was my mate, but Chloe never seemed to notice me.

"You ready to go?" Chloe asked once she turned back to face me.

I nodded and we silently made our way down the street towards her house. We walked quietly until Chloe broke the silence, saying, "Alek, I was thinking that you should take the night off tonight."

I snapped my head in her direction. "Why?" I demanded. Had I done something wrong and she didn't want me protecting her anymore?

She saw the look on my face and quickly started to explain. "No, no. It's not something that you did," she said, practically reading my mind. "It's just that you have been guarding me every single night this week and I just think that you need a break. I can tell that you're exhausted. I appreciate what you do for me and I understand why you do it, but you don't need to lose sleep over me."

I stared at her for a couple seconds. This girl just continued to amaze me. She was worrying about me when she was the one who was being hunted down by freaks who wanted to murder her over and over again. She was so selfless; it was one of the things that I loved about her. "I'm fine, Chloe, don't worry about me. I can handle it."

Chloe stopped walking and placed her hands on her hips, turning to face me with a stern expression on her face. "Alek, you are not fine. I can tell how tired you are, and I'm sure that you haven't done anything fun since you found out that I was the Uniter. Why don't you take the night off and go have fun with your basketball friends or something. Somebody else can protect me tonight. You deserve a break."

"Did I do something wrong and is that why you want to get rid of me?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to hear the answer.

"No, Alek, of course not. I'm just worried about you."

I laughed. "I think you have that backwards. I'm the one who is supposed to be worrying about you."

She chuckled, but quickly turned back to the earlier topic. "I feel guilty that I'm ruining your life, Alek. Please just take a night off for yourself. Tell Valentina that I said to give you a night off and have somebody else come guard me tonight."

"You're not ruining my life Chloe," I said, shocked that she had come to that conclusion. "I actually like guarding you, I like knowing that you're safe. I don't know what I would do if somebody hurt you and I wasn't there to protect you. If you got hurt and lost a life just because I wasn't there. . ." I said, trailing off, trying to clear my head of that horrible image. I don't know what I would do if something happened to Chloe while I was away. That was why I had insisted on taking so many shifts guarding her.

Chloe gently placed her hand on my arm and I slowly looked from her hand to her face, surprised. "Nothing is going to happen to me tonight Alek, I will be perfectly safe."

I snorted. "I'm not too sure about that Miss King; you seem to run into trouble quite often."

She smirked back at me. "Well I promise that I will not get into any kind of trouble tonight. I promise I'll wait for you to be on guard duty before I get into any kind of trouble that could possibly get me killed," she said before turning serious again. "I'm serious, Alek. I will feel so much better if you take a break and get some rest."

I took a deep breath and looked away from her, thinking through this in my head. I really didn't want to leave Chloe alone tonight, but she was right. I was extremely tired and I had missed hanging out with guys my own age. I knew that there was a basketball game on tonight and I couldn't remember the last time that I had sat down to watch a game and just relax. I could invite the guys over tonight and watch it and then get a full night of sleep for what would feel like the first time in weeks.

"Fine," I finally said. "But you have to be extra careful and do not leave your house no matter what," I said, eyeing her.

She smiled. "I promise," she said and then pulled me into a tight hug. "Thanks Alek." She pulled away and I just smiled down at her.

We continued walking to her house, talking about random things on the way there, and I also called Valentina, telling her that I was taking a night off and that she should send someone to Chloe's house immediately.

When we arrived on her front porch, I could hear someone walking around on the roof and I knew that it was the mai who was here to protect Chloe. I relaxed slightly, knowing that someone would be here to look after her while I was away.

"Remember what I said Chloe," I said in a warning tone. "No trouble."

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, I know. Now go and have some fun. Enjoy your night off."

I smiled and looked at her one last time before walking away. I kept walking until I heard her close the front door, and then I quickly turned around and climbed up on top of her roof.

"Hey Alek," I heard Jason, one of the mai, greet me. "Valentina told me that I was covering for you tonight. What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to talk to you," I said.

"Go ahead," he said, gesturing with his hand for me to continue.

"I just wanted to tell you that you better protect Chloe with your life," I said, and saw his eyebrows raise slightly. "She's very special, and not just because she's the Uniter. I just want your word that you'll do everything in your power to protect her."

He stared at me in surprise for a few seconds before recovering and saying, "Of course I will, Alek. I will do everything that I can to keep Chloe alive. I promise."

I nodded. "Thank you. I just wanted to make sure."

I turned to leave, but Jason grabbed onto my arm and held me back. "Alek," he stated hesitantly, biting his lip. "Is Chloe your mate?"

I gazed at him, surprised that he had figured that out. Not even Jasmine had noticed that and she was probably the person who knew me the best. "Yes," I finally said. "Chloe is my mate."

He nodded. "I'll keep her safe. Now go and have some fun."

I smiled. "Thanks," I said before jumping from rooftop to rooftop and making my way to my house to enjoy a mai free evening and hoping that nothing would happen tonight and Chloe would be completely fine.

Chloe POV

Mate? I thought to myself. What was a mate?

I hadn't meant to eavesdrop on Alek's conversation, but I just happened to hear my name and then decided to see what they were saying about me. Alek had made the mai who was guarding me tonight promise that he would protect me with his life and then the mai asked Alek if I was his mate and Alek said yes. I was still in shock just thinking about it.

I was surprised that Alek cared so much for me and worried about what happened to me. It was so sweet that he went to all of that trouble to make sure that I would have the best protection while he was away. I felt butterflies in my stomach when I thought about him.

He was always protecting me and making sure that I was safe. He gave up so much just so that he could look after me, and I really did appreciate it. That was why I had insisted that he take a night off. He had been watching me every night and I could see the bags under his eyes. He desperately needed to sleep. He was so sweet and caring though, that he didn't want to leave. I really liked Alek, but I was too scared to tell him because I was sure that he didn't feel the same way about me. I was just a job to him. The Uniter who had to be protected at all costs.

I sighed, thinking about that. I wish that he could return my feelings, but I knew that he didn't. I thought back to the mate comment that I had overheard, and decided that I would ask Alek about it tomorrow.

I went upstairs, trying to get Alek, mates, and anything mai out of my head so that I could concentrate on my homework. Sometimes I didn't know how I was able to go back to school and worry about the normal teenage things like school and homework when I had an entire race to save.

I started on my homework, trying my best to focus on it, until I heard a loud crash outside. It sounded like it was coming from the alley that ran right next to my house. I sat up and didn't say a word, trying hard to listen to what was happening. I heard another loud bang and it sounded like people were fighting.

I crept over to my window and peered down into the alleyway and saw the mai that was assigned to protect me tonight, fighting off three guys, who I assumed were a part of the Order.

Alek was going to kill me. I had promised him no trouble while he was away, but as soon as he leaves, Order member come to kill me. No wonder he didn't like to leave me.

From where I was, it looked like the mai was losing, so I jumped out the window and decided that I would go and help him. I knew Alek wouldn't approve of what I was doing, but I couldn't just sit in my room and let this guy die for me. I had to do something to help.

I snuck up behind one of the guys and kicked him as hard as I could. He doubled over and I kicked him again, and threw a punch at his face, that he quickly dodged. I fought this guy while the mai took the other two, kicking, punching, and dodging, until finally I got an opening and dug my claws into his neck, causing him to fall onto the floor with a loud thump.

I went over to help the mai, who looked to be in pretty bad shape. I took on one of his attackers and started fighting until I heard a loud cry of pain, which distracted me from my fight.

I looked over and saw that the Order member had the mai's head in his hands, and the mai had a look of pure terror on his face. The assassin gave a quick twist and the mai fell to the floor, lifeless.

I stared in horror as I saw him drop to the floor. The worst part of it was knowing that he had died for me. I didn't want anyone to have to die for me.

Before I could turn back to the fight, the guy who I had previously been fighting charged at me before I could respond and plunged a knife deep into my stomach. I screamed in pain, hoping that another mai was near so that they could take care of these freaks.

I dropped to the floor, gasping for breath and praying that someone was close by. Another wave of pain swept over me, and the last thing I saw was the assassins quickly running away before I blacked out.

Alek POV

I had invited three of my friends from the basketball team over to watch the game tonight. It felt nice to focus on basketball and friends again instead of worrying about protecting Chloe. I sighed. Who was I kidding? I was off duty tonight, and all I could think about was her and wonder if she was okay. I turned my attention back to the game and tried my best to focus, and after a little while I felt myself relaxing and started to enjoy myself.

When half time started, Valentina came running into the house with a panicked look on her face and my mind immediately jumped to Chloe. Where was she? Was she okay?

Valentina motioned for me to follow her into the kitchen and I quickly obeyed, telling the guys that I would be right back.

"What happened?" I demanded as soon as I stepped into the kitchen. My aunt looked extremely scared and worried, and I knew that it had to be either Chloe or Jasmine that was hurt. Nothing else would make her look that worried.

"Get your friends out of here first and then I will explain everything," she said. "I need to get the medical supplies ready first."

My eyes popped out of my head. Somebody was definitely hurt then if she needed medical supplies. I just prayed to God that it wasn't Chloe.

I ran back into the living room and turned the television off.

"Hey!" My friends started complaining. "The game was coming back on!"

"You need to leave. Now," I said, looking straight at them, showing them how serious I was. "There's a family emergency that we need to take care of."

The guys looked shocked and glanced at one another before standing up and telling me that they would see me later. As soon as the door shut behind them, I ran to where Valentina was and asked what happened, this time a little more forcefully. Not knowing was killing me.

She looked up at me. "It's Chloe," she said, and I felt my heart sinking. No. No, it couldn't be. Not her. "She was attacked tonight and she might lose a life if we don't get to work on her as soon as possible."

Author's Note:

I hope you guys liked it. Part two will be up soon, but in the mean time, don't forget to review and tell me what you think!