A/N: Is it kinda creepy that Darrin sort of stalked Dana to the beach? But he did do it in the name of love so it's ok right? Oh well…here's Chapter 8.


Chapter Eight

What had taken the werewolves three days to travel only took Darrin less than one day. We didn't stop except once to get gas and allow me to stretch my legs. When we pulled up to my house the sun had begun to rise on a new day. Darrin put the kickstand down and helped me off his bike. His hands lingered on my waist for a second before he pulled away. I looked over at the front door to see Chris walking towards me. He pulled me into a tight hug kissing the top of my head. When he finally released me he looked me up and down.

"What in the name of God and all that is holy are you wearing?" he demanded.

"I had no choice in how they dressed me," I said quickly. "They threw out my other clothes."

"That is the last time I let you run with the wolves," Chris sighed shaking his head. "Thank you for bringing her home Darrin."

"It was no trouble," Darrin replied walking back to his bike. "I guess I'll see you at school Dana."

I nodded and waved at him. I looked up at Chris not quite knowing what to tell him. He motioned of me to come inside the house and I followed numbly. My brothers were all crowded in the small entranceway looking me up and down. Their eyes all widened as they took in my new wardrobe. I pulled Darrin's jacket tighter around myself blushing furiously.

"You want to tell us what happened?" Chris asked with a sigh looking down at me.

Before I could stop myself, I was telling them everything that had happened the past four days. Abel looked at me with sympathy when I had confessed that I told Darrin about my human life. When I was finished Helios pulled me into a one-armed hug. I leaned against him weakly, feeling extremely tired. I looked over at Cain who was sitting silently on the steps. His eyes met mine and I tried to convey just how sorry I was through my gaze. He nodded curtly before retreating up the stairs and to his room.

"So Darrin is your Bloodmate," Chris mused aloud.

"I don't know," I said weakly.

"Well, do you love him?" Alex asked coming to stand beside me.

"I'm not sure if I know how to love," I replied.

"But you do," Abel argued pulling me away from Helios. "You just don't know how to say it. But you show it every day to us. You cook our meals and make sure we get up in the morning. You always read to me when we sit outside. And you love your garden. You always look at the flowers with the tenderest of smiles. You do know how to love. You just are better at expressing it."

I looked at Abel in awe. Those were the wisest words he has ever told me. Alex beamed down at him and for the first time I could feel his love and admiration for Abel. I hugged Abel and announced I was going to bed. I walked up the stairs and towards my room. I could see Cain's eyes glinting in the darkness of his own room watching me carefully. I raised a brow in his direction but decided not to say anything. Once I was in my room I closed the door and fell weakly on my nest of pillows and blankets. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

X X X

Three months later

Life went on as normal after my run with the wolves…well almost normal. I eventually went back to school and threw myself into my studies. I had missed a lot and had little time to prepare for exams before winter break. Raven still glared at me in our class together and Darrin still insisted he was in love with me. He had decided to meet me after every class and walk me to my next. He even had the nerve to come sit with me and my brothers during lunch, his clan staring daggers at us the entire time. I always caught him looking at me during Chris's class. He even walked me home on occasion.

Today he told me he couldn't so I walked in the gently falling snow with my brothers in silence. Abel and Alex were the only ones happy about my involvement with Darrin. Helios and Cain tried to fight with him every chance they got. Chris wasn't thrilled about Darrin but he told me he accepted whatever decisions I made.

"So are you dating that Ruby scum?" Helios asked breaking the silence.

"Some people would see it that way," I replied blushing.

"But do you?" Cain countered looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

"I don't know," I mumbled. "He still thinks I'm his Bloodmate and he does spend every waking moment with me. I just don't know how to define my relationship with him."

"What would you want to call it?" Alex asked walking backwards to look at me.

"I don't know," I said with a sigh.

Whenever Darrin wasn't around this is where all of my conversations with my brothers turned to. It would end with me punching Helios or Cain because of something they said and storming off to my room or the library. Alex and Abel would eventually find me and talk to me about what I wanted or how I felt about the whole situation. We lapsed back into silence as we neared our house. All of my brothers stopped suddenly and I looked up to see why. Parked outside our house was a sleek black limo. I looked at my brothers confused. None of them spoke, just stood there in the snow. Alex had gone rather pale and looked like he might throw up.

"What's wrong?" I asked addressing all of them.

"It appears my father has decided to pay a visit," Alex said quietly.

I was about to say something when Chris opened the front door and motioned for us to come inside. I was the first to move, dragging Abel behind me. The others followed numbly, their faces all solemn. Chris led us to the den and I saw a strange man sitting in Chris's favorite armchair. His skin was rather pale as was his blond hair. His eyes were a piercing green and watched us all like a hawk. He stood up and looked over at Alex.

"Alexander," he said coldly.

"Father," Alex replied emotionlessly. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been waiting for you all to get home," he told him looking at each of us in turn. His eyes lingered on me. "I see you've added a new addition to your clan Christopher."

"Yes," Chris replied coming over to stand by me, "this is Dana."

Alex's father said nothing but continued to stare at me. I met his gaze trying not to look away. His eyes were so cold and fierce that it made me shiver. He walked back to the chair and sat down crossing his legs. Chris motioned for us all to sit down. I went over to the couch, the farthest seat away from Alex's father and sat down with Abel and Alex. Helios and Cain stood on either side of the couch, never taking their eyes off of the man.

"As I was telling Chris before you all came here," he began in a regal voice, "it is time once more for the Games."

"What are the Games?" I asked before even thinking.

"You really haven't told her much about us have you Christopher?" the man asked looking over at Chris.

"No King Malic," he answered bowing his head. "There hasn't been much time to."

"Well girl," Malic said turning his eyes back to me, "ever since our kind came into existence and the first ruler of the clans came into being there were wars against each clan. It wasn't until a vampire from the Emeralds came forward with a plan: each clan would send a champion to fight for their people. The winning champion's clan would be supreme ruler of all the clans with a single vampire to represent them. So every year since that day, each clan sends forth one champion to fight. Last year's champion was from the Rubies, this year it shall be the Emeralds. Your small clan has been chosen to bring forth a champion."

I looked over at Chris and then back at the king. His eyes held a sick gleam at the thought of the Emeralds winning. This would mean he would be king of all vampires. I stood up and tried to walk out of the room, feeling a little ill. I was stopped by a rather large man wearing a dark suit and sunglasses.

"No one gave you permission to leave Miss Savior," Malic said behind me.

"I want to," I said not turning to look at him. "This is my home and I have the right to go where I wish."

"I am your king!" Malic thundered. "You will listen to me and sit back down this instant!"

I turned around and glared at the man. All my life I had been ordered around and now this man had the gall to speak to me like a common dog. I stood there for a moment before I caught Chris's gaze. His eyes pleaded with me to do as I was told. I sighed before taking my seat between Abel and Alex.

"Now before I was rudely interrupted," Malic said taking his seat as well, "you all have been chosen to produce a champion. Do we have any takers?"

I looked at my family suddenly afraid. I didn't want to see any of them go into the ring. I wasn't sure how old Chris was but he seemed too frail to do battle with another vampire. Helios could hold his own in a fight but I didn't want to imagine him fighting in these stupid games. Abel was completely out of the question. He was far too innocent and sweet to go up against anyone. If anything happened to Alex, it would kill Abel so he couldn't fight either. Same thing would happen if Cain fought.

That left me. I sat there and thought what if I fought. I had already killed a vampire so I knew I could do it again. Still, the thought of spilling another's blood made me cringe. I stared down at my hands. They were small and had slim fingers. The skin was pale and dusted with freckles much like 98% of my body. Could they bring victory to the Emeralds?

"I'll do it," I said softly clenching my hands into fists.

"What?" everyone in the room asked looking at me bewildered.

"I said I'll fight," I said more firmly.

"Dana you can't," Chris argued. "You're just a girl and you were just changed. There's no way you can fight."

"I'm old enough to make my own decisions," I said sternly. "If I want to fight I should be able to do so."

"You could die," Abel said quietly pleading with me. "I don't want you to die."

"Oh I won't die," I told him feeling a burst of energy flowing through me. "I'm way too tough to die."

"Then it's settled," King Malic said standing up and walking to the door. "Dana Savior has volunteered to fight for us and so she shall. The Games shall begin on the first day of spring. You have until then to prepare. I'll send you the names of the other champions when they are decided…until then my Emeralds."

We all sat there in silence. No one knew quite what to say. Eventually Helios stormed out of the room and up the stairs. I flinched when I heard a door slam and looked up at Chris. His face was pale and he looked much older. His eyes were hollow and sad. He got up without a word and walked into the library. Alex was the next to leave. He gently touched my shoulder and walked into the kitchen. Abel got up, tears streaming down his face, and flew out of the room. Cain followed closely behind never looking in my direction. I sat there in silence, mulling over what had just happened. My cell phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and looked at the caller id. I hit the green button and put the phone up to my ear.

"Hello," I said my voice sounding hollow to my own ears.

"Do you know about the Games?" Darrin's voice flowed into my ear.

"Yes," I replied getting up off the couch.

"Well I've been chosen to fight for the Rubies," he told me slowly.

The phone fell from my hand and crashed to the floor. I came to my senses and dived for the device. Darrin's voice was calling out my name frantically.

"Are you serious?" I cried feeling tears sting the back of my eyes.

"Yes," he answered.

"Well what a small world," I said bitterly. "I'll be fighting for the Emeralds."

"I forbid it," he growled.

"Well it's too late for that," I spat. "And who do you think you are to forbid me. No one forbids me from doing anything."

"You realize that this means we have to fight each other," Darrin argued, "to the death."

"Your point?" I asked annoyed.

"I can't kill you Dana," he said softly. "I love you too much to do so."

"Well I don't love you!" I shouted. It went silent on Darrin's end.

"I see," he finally said. "Then I suppose that means we fight."

He hung up then. I stood there clutching the phone in my hand. I let out a shriek and threw it at the wall. The phone shattered into a million pieces as I collapsed to the floor. I started crying then, each sob ripping through me. I stayed like that until the tears stopped flowing and my throat ached. I wiped the wet tracks from my face and stood shakily on my feet. Alex was standing in the doorway looking at me.

"You lied," he said quietly.

"What are you talking about?" I croaked.

"When you told Darrin you didn't love him," he answered. "You told him that so he wouldn't try to throw the Games so he wouldn't have to hurt you. If you didn't love him like you claimed you would have let him prattle on with his declarations of love knowing he would never hurt you. Instead you broke him so he wouldn't try to harm himself before fighting you."

"Am I a terrible person for telling him that?" I sniffed.

"No," Alex said shaking his head. "It means you have more courage than I gave you credit for."

X X X

One Week Later

Darrin stopped walking me to class. He stopped sitting with us at lunch. He stopped staring at me in class and even demanded to have a different lab partner. He stopped walking me home, texting me, calling me, even thinking about me. He had completely cut me out of his life. I felt empty and hollow. Chris told me it was due to the loss of my Bloodmate. I asked if he felt this way and all he did was pat me on the head with this sad, knowing smile on his face. I missed Alice terribly. She always had a way of making me feel better.

The nightmares had started after my phone call with Darrin. I would cry myself to sleep every night and wake up screaming a few hours later. I was lucky to get more than three hours of sleep. Surprisingly my grades didn't suffer through all of this. I get top marks on my exams and received all A's; Chris was very proud. Helios and Cain still wouldn't speak to me. They were pretty upset that I had volunteered. Alex, Abel, and Chris all tried to cheer me up with stories and jokes and lots of ice cream. Still, I wouldn't let any of them in after I had a nightmare.

I was sitting in the library when Chris came in one day. Since it was winter and my garden was frozen I spent my days in the library devouring any and all books I could get my hands on. He held in his hand a sealed envelope with my name on it. He handed it to me without a word and sat in the seat beside mine. I opened it to see that it was the list of the other champions.

Darrin Cobalt: Ruby

Damon Silver: Onyx

Lucas Underwood: Sapphire

Hector Green: Topaz

Tristan Ingle: Amethyst

Dana Savior: Emerald

These are the chosen champions to participate in the Games. It is hand to hand combat to the death. Weapons may be used.

"Who are the Amethysts?" I asked Chris tearing my eyes from the paper.

"They're a new clan that has recently come up," he explained. "They weren't in the last Games due to their small numbers. These are the vampires you would find in a Hollywood movie."

"Meaning they feed from humans?" I questioned quirking a brow.

Chris nodded and walked out of the room. I looked back at the paper. I couldn't help but feel the whole in my chest grow larger as I read Darrin's name again.I tried calling him the other day only to get Raven telling me that Darrin didn't have time to waste on little girls…he had to train for the Games. I felt a twinge of fear that the thought of training. I had no fighting skills what-so-ever and Chris had tried to train me but confessed that it made him uncomfortable trying to strike at me. I was getting better at summoning weapons but I had no clue on how to use them. I got lucky with our encounter with the Rubies; I mean the guy practically ran into the spear. I looked up at the presence of another person. Helios and Cain were leaning on opposite sides of the doorway. Both weren't looking up at me, choosing to stare at their feet.

"We'll train you," Cain said finally looking up at me.

"What?" I asked stunned.

"How much do you know about any form of combat?" Helios asked looking at me.

"Not much," I sighed.

"Then let us help you," Cain said more sternly. "Besides, Helios and I are still pretty mad at you so we won't be afraid to strike."

I let out a small laugh which Cain and Helios joined in. Helios can towards me and pulled me into a bear hug. I closed my eyes missing his familiar warmth. I clutched to him, letting the paper fall to the floor. I stood there and cried burying my face into his chest. Cain came up behind me and joined in on the hug. They held me tightly as if they were trying to shield me from everything. For the first time since I had come into this life, this family, I felt safe.


A/N: Poor Dana…her life just can't get better can it? First she tells the lover of her life—though she'll never admit it—and now there is a new group of vamps in town. Sounds like fun doesn't it? Reviews are welcome and treats shall be given. Thanks for reading!