A/N: I am very very very sorry it took so long for me to give you guys the next chapter. I will try as best I can not to make you wait so long next time. Anyhow, enjoy the chapter and feel free to comment. =)

Disclaimer: Have I been putting these? I don't remember. If not, then I would like it to be known that I do not own the Darkest Powers series, even though that would be really awesome

As I woke, I could hear the engine of the van slow and I knew we were off of the highway. Chloe was still sound asleep beside me. Taking this as a sign that we were about to stop I moved toward the back of the van and peeked out of the door to see where we were. There wasn't much around here besides huge clusters of trees, making for perfect cover, and the truck stop we were about to turn into. We were close enough to where we needed to be that we could get off here. I would rather have been somewhere more inhabited but I didn't know when he'd stop next. The driver was just pushing on the breaks to stop us as I heard Chloe stir behind me.

"Is this our stop?" she asked me, still sounding partially asleep.

"We should be far enough. We aren't I a town, though. It's another truck stop." I said, by way of an answer. Chloe made another comment but I wasn't really paying attention, as I'm trying to get a better look at exactly where we're going to stop. "Yeah." I mumbled, agreeing though I didn't know what she said. "I'd rather be in a town...." I confide, hoping she'll see some hidden solution to our problem.

"But he might not stop at one. We should get out while we can." I nodded, internally conceding that it was the only real solution, just as the van stops.

"Get under a tarp, in case he checks the back" I whispered, watching Chloe go and hide before doing so myself. The driver opened up the back and rummaged around muttering something about new supplies. He stopped rummaging I could hear the muffled thunk of him hitting himself in the forehead.

"I did forget the new vise grips, great." he muttered, before shutting the door. He hesitated in front of the door before starting to walk away, and I verbally cautioned Chloe as she started to come out from the tarp. I'm tensed listening for any sound. For some reason his footsteps stayed close to the van, though he was constantly moving around. After about 30 seconds I heard him finally walk in a direction away from the van and then I couldn't hear any steps at all. I waited for a bit and I didn't hear any more noise so I assumed he was too far away to be heard.

"Okay." I said as a signal to Chloe that she could come out now. I peeked out the door and saw one of the large clumps of trees close to us. "Trees to our left. We'll head through there, then circle and grab something to drink from the restaurant before we head out."

"And use the bathroom." Chloe added.

"Yeah. Follow me." I dashed out of the van and toward the woods, trying to go quickly but not so fast that Chloe wouldn't be able to see me. I could hear her footsteps, moving at a pace way slower than mine. I was about to slow down when I heard a second set of quiet, sluggish steps behind us, as if someone was tiptoeing.

The wind began to blow and I could smell the scent of our driver not too far away. I stopped mid-step and whipped around, growling a curse when I found I had been too slow. He sees that I've spotted him and my eyes narrow as he runs and catches Chloe before I can say anything to her. Something snapped inside of me and I broke into a run, not exactly sure what I was going to do, but knowing that he needed to get his hands off of her. The wolf part of me took over, insisting that he be punished. I stop only when I see Chloe making wild motions at me, and I noticed that I was tensed for attack. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself, now only standing several yards from him. Just then, I had almost lost it. Again. I glared over Chloe's head, now realizing why his footsteps leaving had been so strange. He was waiting for us.

"I thought I'd picked up a passenger or two," said Chloe's pony-tailed captor, as he turned Chloe to face him. I stretched and squeezed my hands in an attempt to control myself, still breathing heavily.

"W-we didn't take anything," she stuttered. "I'm sorry. We just needed a ride."

"Jesus," the guy said, shifting Chloe around for a better look at her. "How old are you?" He stared at her in a way that made my eyes narrow.

"F-fifteen."

"Just barely, I'll bet." He shook his head, and I knew that he was not going to just let her go. I stopped listening, and in my mind I try to remember how Simon and I had gotten out of these situations before. I kept my gaze fixed on him, hoping I would catch the tell-tale tensing of his muscles before he bolted with Chloe. I was growling and it was helping me keep myself in my right mind. Thankfully, the growl was too deep for either of them to hear. Slowly, I began to take careful, measured steps towards them, still intent on keeping watch on the guy's motions. My focus was mainly on the guy but I was noticing Chloe too. She reached and touched the knife she still had. Noticing that I'm paying attention to her, she locked eyes with me and asked me something silently. I nodded at her. I was still in control, though I'm quite sure I could have given into my internal beast, violently thrown him away from Chloe, and still been rather satisfied. The man continued to talk and I paused my advancement toward him, catching the end of one of his sentences.

"...not as bad as you think."

"And if it is?" Chloe asked him, staring straight into his eyes, trying to challenge him with her words. The man slowly nods.

"All right. Maybe that's so. It happens, more than you think, but there are other ways to deal with it. Places you can go. People who can help." The man said, in an almost pleading sort of tone. I took a deep breath and tried to reason with myself. Simon's usually the one who talks us out of this sort of thing, but I didn't really want to hurt the guy. He was trying to help after all. I wasn't much of a negotiator, but I thought I should probably try just a bit.

"We're fine." I said, making sure it was just audible. People usually think I'm scarier when I'm louder. The man shook his head at me, looking pitying.

"You're not fine, son. You're what, seventeen? On the run? Catching rides in the back of vans?"

"We're fine." When I said it I had meant for it to sound like I was reasonable, but my temper got a hold of me and I'm growling instead. I took another calming breath and, realizing that I'm in an attack position, backed off a bit. I cleared my throat and tried to think of what sort of phrase Simon may use. "We appreciate your concern, sir" Now let go of her I added in my head.

The man responded but I ignored him again, as I tried not to lose it. My gaze is still fixed on him and I notice his hand tighten around Chloe's shoulder as he said something. I immediately begin to listen again.

"...Now come on." He said, mainly at Chloe, but I knew he'd like me to come as well. His hand tensed on Chloe's shoulder.

I stepped forward, but otherwise tried to keep myself appearing diplomatic. "Sorry, sir, but we can't do that."

"Yes, you can." A threatening sort of glint appeared in the man's eye. I motioned for Chloe to come towards me, hoping that if she showed resistance that he would let go. Apparently, this had the opposite effect as the man squeezed her shoulder tight, definitely not willing to let her go.

Screw diplomatic, he needed to get his hands the heck off her. It was about time I used my methods to escape. "Let her go." I growled.

"No, son. I won't hurt your friend, but I'm going to take her inside and call someone who can help. I'm hoping you'll come with us, but that's your choice." I was about to counter with something when another voice came to my attention.

"Go." Chloe spoke low and soft, obviously intending me to be the only one to hear. "I'll catch up." Like hell, I was leaving. I was the reason she was even here in the first place. It's not like I could just abandon her now. I wasn't going anywhere until that guy let go of her.

"I'm going to ask you again, sir, let her go." I gave him one last chance, barely keeping myself from tearing his arms off, right this second.

"That sounds an awful lot like a threat..." I half listened focusing more on counting down in my head 5...4...3...2...1...I silently sprang at him, much too fast for him to react. I took him into a choke hold, actually strangling him for a few seconds before he relinquished his hold on Chloe. When she was safe I gave him enough slack so he could breathe. I was calm now that she was out of danger.

"We don't want to hurt you either, but you can see—" I said, totally cutting off his air and lifting his up a bit— "that I could. I know you're trying to help us, but you don't understand the situation." I turned to Chloe. "Run back to the van. Grab rope and some rags."

She followed the instruction quickly, and I tied him up, not too tight, and left him sitting inside the van, with the back door open. When I finished we ran like hell until we couldn't see the station anymore. For awhile we walked in an uncomfortable silence. I knew she was kind of bothered by what we had done. When I could take it no longer I finally decided to broach the subject with her.

"You don't think we did the right thing." I stated blandly.

She shrugged, but nothing else

"I didn't tie him too tight. He'll gt out in an hour, probably less, and I left his cell phone right there, in case there's any problem."

She nodded. This was not how I had hoped this conversation would go.

We lapsed into silence again. Unfortunately, my curiosity is not that easy to brush aside. I kept quiet for as long as I could.

"What would you have done?" I asked, picking something that she couldn't just nod or shake her head too. I half-expected her to shrug again.

"You know my plan. It's the one you pretended not to hear." Oh crud, I'd forgotten about that. I wasn't sure what to say to that. She clearly knew I'd ignored it, but I didn't really want to admit to it.

I gave in quickly when the silence came back. "Yeah, okay. I heard. But it didn't look to me like he was going to give you a chance to escape. I knew I could take him down safely, without hurting him, before things got worse. And if I can do that, then that's the choice I'm going to make. It's how our dad taught us to handle situations like that." Truthfully it was how he taught me to handle situations like that. Simon could always smooth talk. I knew this would get her talking. Chloe was incredibly moral, so I expected a bit of a rant on how things could have worked out. I was even looking forward to it. But, as usual, Chloe didn't do what I predicted.

"You're right." she said nodding. That definitely wasn't what I had expected... "I don't have experience with this stuff, these kinds of decisions. With the girl in the alley or the Edison Group, the answer was easy. If someone's trying to hurt us we have every right to strike back. It's just..." I half-smiled glad she'd finally started talking and finished what she was trying to say.

"That guy was trying to help a couple of runaways. He didn't deserve to end up bound and gagged." I used my tone to make it into a question. Chloe nodded in agreement, and I took that as a sign to continue. "Even someone like that is a threat, Chloe. Whether he means to be or not. We had to get away or his 'help' would have landed us back with the Edison group"

"I know." She was agreeing with me much more than usual today...it was kind of eerie. Just then a car passes and I can feel Chloe tense and hear her breathing quiet. She looks down at the ground, a somber look on her face. I know what she's thinking, and she confirms it a few seconds later.

"We can't trust anyone now, even the good guys..."

"Yeah. Sucks, doesn't it?" Even without her saying anything, I know her answer from her expression as she watches the car slowly go out of view.

(A/N)–I'm probably going to skip over some of the stuff coming up, so I can get to the werewolf part faster, since I know that you guys have wanted that part. I might start it in the next chapter...don't get your hopes up though...

Anyway thanks for reading =) Any comments, questions, or constructive criticism is welcome