That day pretty much ended at breakfast. I stayed in the bedroom, staring at the ceiling. I waited and waited as it got darker, but Dare didn't come up to sleep. I sighed, and rolled over on my stomach. Then I rested my head on a pillow and as I stared at the window I drifted off to sleep. I woke up to the sound of the front door slamming. I yawned and my stomach growled as I went over to the bedroom door, figuring Dare slammed it or something, but when I peered outside my room and down the stairs I saw Jacob standing there clearly distressed. I didn't anticipate the pain that came to my heart as I stared at him.

"J-Jacob!" I shouted, my lips trembling as he stared up at me and he came to me all within a few seconds.

"Ashley... I'm so glad you're safe!" He mumbled into my hair as he hugged me tight.

Tears filled my eyes as I hugged him back, it felt so good to be in his arms and when he pulled away I saw that his eyes looked so heavy.

"Jake... what's wrong? Haven't you slept at all?" I asked and Jake's beautiful smile slowly faded until he looked grim.

"No." He murmured. "Not since they took you." He muttered and his hands balled into fists.

"Jake..." I murmured and touched his cheek.

At my touch he instantly calmed, and his eyes slowly came to mine.

"Don't worry. I'm back now." I whispered and then he kissed me.

His lips were so soft and warm that every time we kissed I always want more from him. He held me close to his chest, and kissed me as if it would be the last time we'd ever kiss. I rested my hand on his chest, where his heart was and I felt it beating rapidly underneath my fingertips. His hand gently caressed my cheek, and then all of a sudden he stopped kissing me. He looked at me, and he sniffed the air. Did he smell Josh on me?

"They got to you?" Jake asked as he began to shake. "They saved you? Damn it!" He shouted and pounded his fist on the wall beside me.

I trembled out of fear and he stepped away when he saw it.

"Where are they?" Jake asked. "I'll kill them!" He snarled.

"Jake... you know them...?" I asked quietly and his eyes came to mine in an instant.

"They are our enemies." He muttered under his breath. "On many occasions I've met them at the beach when the elders hold bonfires, they come to pick fights..." He said. "And steal our imprints."

"What do you mean... steal your imprints?" I asked and he looked at me and sighed.

"Well imprinting has always been for genetics... but it has evolved a bit for some of our packs. Now we find our soul mates. Toutir's still have imprinting for genetics... and some other tribes haven't evolved either... and our enemies... their form of imprinting has evolved enough to the point where they imprint on our imprints."

I closed my eyes for a moment.

I left Kim with them? I HIT KIM?

I took in deep breaths, and then I began to cry.

"Jake!" I said and opened my eyes and hugged him. "We gotta go get Kim!" I said. "I left her... I... and Jared... he's there too, I heard him... he must be with Kim if she's there with them."

Jake held me in his arms as I cried.

"Did he hurt you? Did he touch you?" Jake asked me. "I promise you I'll kill him if he did!" He snarled.

"Jake it's fine. He didn't do anything." I muttered. "Please, I just want you to get Kim and Jared back. I'm afraid for her." I murmured and then he let go of me.

"Alright, but you can't come with me." He said seriously.

"Jake I have to go with you!" I whined, but he only shook his head. "Please Jake, please. You're going to leave me alone with Dare?" I asked, and he looked at me with alarm in his eyes.

"I guess not." He muttered and I broke out in a grin as he instructed me to shower and change into some warm clothes.

I took a quick shower, changed into some blue jeans and my favorite red T-shirt, then I went down the stairs and was greeted by a shouting match between Dare and Jake.

"Where the hell are you taking Ashley? She's been through enough!" Dare shouted.

"Shut up! Like you know what's best for Ashley! You're trying to make her sleep with you, isn't that true? At such a young age too? What makes you think you have any right to care for her. Huh?" Jake yelled and silence was the only thing that came from Dare.

When I stepped down that last step Jake came and took my arm as he opened the front door. I looked back at Dare to see his head hanging down and his hands curled into fists as he looked down at the counter. That was all I got to see before Jake dragged me out the door with him and we walked into the forest together. Today was as cold as any other day and I was happy to be underneath Jake's arm as a shield from the cold weather.

"Jake..." I said as we walked.

"Yeah?" He asked me.

"Why didn't you come rescue me?" I asked quietly.

There was silence for a long time before he looked down at me.

"We had our hands tied." He said and then there was silence again from him. "They were hunting us still and every time we were going to attack they would ambush us, until finally Jared went himself... and so we were shorthanded. I lost a lot of sleep over you." He murmured, and he had the heavy eyelids to prove it.

"I'm sorry I made you worry." I murmured and rested my head on his side.

We walked until we got out of the forest where Jake's car was parked. He opened the door for me and buckled me in before he got in the driver's seat and he drove as fast as his old rabbit could go. I sighed and looked out the window wondering why Dare was tired as well.

"Hey Jake?" I asked without taking my eyes off the window.

"Hmm?"

"Why does Dare look so tired?" I asked, and there was a long silence.

I turned to look at Jake and saw that his hands were fists around the steering wheel, and his eyes looked dead ahead with an angry glint in them.

"Jake..." I said and I touched his arm, but that only made him look at me for a moment with an angry expression.

"Why do you care so much about Dare?" Jake yelled and I flinched.

"Well I..." I couldn't answer him, I had no answer to give.

"It doesn't matter." He muttered. "I'm sorry, ok?" He muttered and I turned back to the window.

Tears came to my eyes but I held them back. He drove on in silence for a while. Then he got off the highway, and took a turn onto a dirt road. We drove for a couple more minutes before we came upon the country house. Jake stopped the car and sat there for a moment.

"Stay in the car alright?"

"No way." I said, and he looked at me, his eyes pleaded with me, but I wasn't going to be left alone in the car.

"Alright, stay close to me then." He murmured and we both got out of the car.

He took me underneath his arm and he looked around with his head lifted in in the air, and his eyes scanning the surrounding area. There was nothing around, and there were no sounds coming from the house, at all. I felt uneasy, and just when I was about to suggest we leave I heard a scream. A girl's scream.

"Kim!" I screamed and slipped out from underneath Jake's arm.

"Ashley, don't!" Jake shouted behind me as I practically flew through the door shouting for Kim, but nobody was there.

Tears poured down my face. Where were they keeping Kim? Then the front door shut and locked behind me. I turned slowly and found Josh grinning at me. It was a trap.