blockquote
p class="Normal1"Alek walked into the luxury apartment building in downtown Beacon Hills. He pressed the elevator up button and waited for the doors to open. His mind was replaying the events that had happened on the school's roof with Stephen. Had The Order made a breakthrough in engineering a new human weapon? If so, why didn't Stephen kill him? All Mai, including Alek, knew that the Order's primary purpose was to kill Mai, not talk with them. Perhaps Stephen was an enhanced Mai that one of the Prides had been hiding away just to control the Uniter. Each of the Prides had their secrets, but all of them were constantly trying to gain an advantage over each other. Alek was not going to let anyone try to hurt or control Chloe; with her being the Uniter. She gave whomever Pride claimed her the ultimate weapon against any other Pride./p
p class="Normal1" /p
p class="Normal1"He got on the elevator and pressed the button for the penthouse. The confrontation with Stephen still had him rattled and feeling off of his game, but he cleared his mind the best he could. He trained hard and the honor of protecting and looking after Chloe went to him. The elevator opened and he walked out. He walked towards the dark double doors that led to Valentina's home. Valentina had adopted him from Russia when he was young. He could barely remember his time there. When he turned sixteen, he moved out of her place and into his apartment on the lower floor of this building. As he approached the apartment, two big Mai were standing at either side of the door. One had dark – almost black hair, the other had a deep dark blond. They looked at him with their Mai eyes. Alek replied to the threat with his eyes also. He had not known that another Pride had come to see Valentina./p
p class="Normal1""Who are you?" asked the dark-haired man. His voice was even, but the threat was there./p
p class="Normal1""I could ask you the same question," stated Alek letting his claws show and trying to show no fear. He was not sure if he could take on two full-grown Mai though./p
p class="Normal1""What do you want?" asked the dark blond Mai. His voice was not as threatening, but Alek could tell that out of the two, he was the more dangerous one./p
p class="Normal1""I live here," stated Alek then countered with a question of his own. "Why are you here?" The two looked him over; it really irked Alek when he realized that they had dismissed him as a threat./p
p class="Normal1""Wait here," demanded the dark blond Mai. Before Alek could protest about the treatment he was getting, the man turned and walked through the door, leaving him with the dark-hair Mai outside./p
p class="Normal1"A moment later, Alek moved to follow, but a clawed hand stopped him. "Get that hand off me or I will remove it from your arm!" Alek went to grab the arm. But quickly found himself face down on the floor with the man's knee pinning his arm against his back, his other arm underneath him./p
p class="Normal1""You are a feisty cub," said dark hair Mai. "We have heard of you. The one that Valentina saved from Russia. The one that the great Valentina saved instead of killed off. She is weak and you are weak also."/p
p class="Normal1"The door opened and the dark-blond Mai came out. "Let him up," he said. "He can come in."/p
p class="Normal1"The dark hair Mai picked Alek off the floor with ease. Alek had his claws out and fangs extended and had been prepared to slash open the Mai's throat. He did not give Alek a second glance as he moved to stand back at his position near the door./p
p class="Normal1""Right this way," said the blond Mai gesturing for him to follow him into his own home. Alek was furious but knew that he needed to stay calm. He did not want to start a war between the Prides. He walked into the apartment behind the dark blond Mai. He saw Valentina standing at the head of the dining room table, at the other end were three more Mai. One was a pretty blonde female, in a dark business suit jacket, a white button-up blouse, and instead of pants she wore a dark skirt fitted skirt that ended at just above the knee. The big man beside her had dark hair and eyes and the dark suit that he was wearing was doing a poor job of hiding the muscles that seemed to bulge all over his body. But Alek knew it was the gray-haired man in a matching dark suit sitting at the table that had all the power in the room. Valentina had always exuded confidence and power wherever she went, but this man's very presence made Valentina seem small and insignificant./p
p class="Normal1"Alek walked into the dining room ready to defend Valentina if needed. Jasmine was also there standing beside her mother. Jasmine implored him with her eyes to not cause any problems. She knew how hot-headed Alek could be at times. Alek stopped just inside the door, making sure he was permitted to enter. Valentina beckoned him in with a small wave of her hand./p
p class="Normal1""Alek, this is Carlos Silva, the leader of the Brazilian Pride and his people," said Valentine gesturing towards the people at the end of the table./p
p class="Normal1"Alek looked at the gray-haired Mai. He was about to say something, but Valentina cut him off./p
p class="Normal1""They arrived here just under an hour ago," Valentina said in a very unhappy tone. Even without the tone in her voice, Alek could tell that she was not happy that the leader of the largest Pride in the world was sitting in her dining room unannounced./p
p class="Normal1""Forgive me, Valentina," said Carlos. "I heard rumors that the Uniter might be in the area."/p
p class="Normal1""If the Uniter anywhere in this area," said Valentina evenly. "I would have notified you right away. Do you know how honored we would be if the Uniter was from my Pride?"/p
p class="Normal1""That is why I am here, Valentina," Carlos explained, "We want to make sure that the Uniter is safe."/p
p class="Normal1"Valentina almost hissed in contempt at the statement. Alek barely refrained from flashing his eyes at the man. This man did not care for Chloe's safety. He only wanted to control her and use her to make his pride even stronger./p
p class="Normal1""Your Pride is one of the smallest," said the muscular Mai. "You could not protect the Uniter."/p
p class="Normal1"Alek's claws started to come out. The muscled Mai had just insulted his Pride saying that they were not strong enough or capable of protecting Chloe. He was going to show them that he was more than capable./p
p class="Normal1""Alek, don't you have a school project to do tonight," prompted Jasmine, keeping him from attacking the man./p
p class="Normal1""Huh?" Mumbled Alek, trying to figure out what Jasmine was talking about. He did not have any school projects due soon or even projects in general./p
p class="Normal1""The group project you have with, what were their names?" asked Jasmine, acting like she was trying to remember some names./p
p class="Normal1""Yeah, with Paul, Amy, and Chloe. Isn't it due by Monday?"/p
p class="Normal1""Yeah," said Alek finally catching on to what Jasmine was saying. She was trying to give him an opportunity to go to style="text-align: center;""You let them go to a human school? He should be in a Mai school," said the female Mai. "No wonder your Pride is so weak./span/p
p class="Normal1" /p
p class="Normal1""We were protectors of the humans. What better way of getting to know their ways than to interact with them?" stated Valentina./p
p class="Normal1"Jasmine grabbed Alek's arm and pulled him towards his old room. He reluctantly went with her. He wanted to stay. He did not like these other Mai. When he got into the other room with Jasmine, she put her finger over his lips and used to other to point to her ears, letting him know that they were more than likely being listened to./p
p class="Normal1""I can't believe you waited this long to do this project," admonished Jasmine. "As you can tell for the conversation that just happened; Carlos does not approve of mom's ways of interacting with humans." She motioned for him to take off his shirt. He did. She kept ranting on to him about him needing to become a better Mai and stop procrastinating on projects. Once she was sure to get his scent all over her clothes, that they were pretending were his, to trick the Mai outside, she stuffed them into an old backpack, and added her science book on top. She kept ranting at him, but at the same time wrote a note for him to stay away this weekend. He read her note and looked at her not understanding./p
p class="Normal1""Do you have everything?" she asked./p
p class="Normal1""Yeah, I think so," he said still not yet understanding why she wanted him to stay away./p
p class="Normal1""Also," said Jasmine in an accusatory voice. "If you decide to go out and get drunk with your basketball jerks, I will skin you alive."/p
p class="Normal1""It was just one time," countered Alek, playing along now. He now realized that she was letting him know that he needed to stay away and also provided a cover story in case he did not show up./p
p class="Normal1""What!" she hissed at him. Relief flooded her face as she realized he figured out her scheme./p
p class="Normal1""Fine, whatever," Alek said gesturing to the door wanting to know why there was another Pride here. "What time do I have to be home?"/p
p class="Normal1""How much of the project do you have left?" asked Jasmine. She gestured that she wasn't sure why the Pride was here but it probably had to do with Chloe./p
p class="Normal1""A lot, we have not really gotten started," said Alek./p
p class="Normal1""As usual," retorted Jasmine. Trying to come up with a time for him to be back./p
p class="Normal1""Maybe it would be better if I spent the night at Paul's place and we can work on it more," said Alek./p
p class="Normal1""You will have to ask mom," stated Jasmine. She nodded her head liking his plan./p
p class="Normal1"Alek followed Jasmine out of her room, with the backpack strung over his shoulders. Jasmine went towards the kitchen with an exasperated look on her face. Their ruse must have been convincing as the two other Mai looked at Alek with disappointed faces. Alek did not let that look distract him./p
p class="Normal1"He approached Valentina, she was now seated at the head of the table facing Carlos. There were now Mai from their Pride there also, Alek felt better about that. Valentina was making small talk with Carlos. Alek knew that he should not interrupt but he needed to keep up the façade of being an unruly Mai./p
p class="Normal1""Valentina," he said interrupting her talk with Carlos. Valentina hissed at the interruption as her claws began to elongate. Alek knew that it was all for show./p
p class="Normal1""What!" she snapped./p
p class="Normal1""I have a project that I need to do for school," he said timidly. "So, I..., ah..., um..."./p
p class="Normal1""Spit it out, boy!" snapped Carlos./p
p class="Normal1""I was wondering if I can spend the night at Paul's so that I can finish it," Alek said in a rush./p
p class="Normal1""Get out of my sight," hissed Valentina finally letting her Mai powers come to the surface. This made even the other three Mai on edge as Valentina let her displeasure be known. "I will deal with you later."/p
p class="Normal1"Alek quickly headed towards the door. Behind him, he could hear Carlos telling Valentina that she needed to hand Alek over to his Pride and that they would make a proper Mai out of him. As Alek passed through the door and saw the two Mai that was there earlier, he was relieved when he noticed two more Mai from his Pride there as well, both were excellent fighters and loyal to Valentina. They gave him a puzzled look as he was leaving. Both knew how fiercely loyal he was and to see him leave when another Pride was in their territory was something neither one of them would expect from him. He gave them a quick look that told them to play along. He was thankful that neither one of them stopped him or asked him any questions./p
p class="Normal1"The elevator opened and Alek quickly hurried in and hit the "door close" button before he hit the lobby button. He needed those doors closed; relief flowed through him as they finally did. He needed to get his head together. A powerful Pride was in town unannounced. This could mean several reasons. One was that a tribe this powerful was looking to expand and take over the other Pride's territory. But if it was for territory or one tribe looking to expand their reach, they would not do it this way. They would send their enforcers and take out the leadership of the opposing Pride. Another reason was for them to join Prides together, This was done by marriages, forced normally. He had not gotten any marriage proposals; His mind went to Jasmine. Did she get any? She would have told him. She is the most eligible Mai in the Pride to make the merge of Prides work. But Valentina's was still young and available. She would make a better suitor for the Prides. The only other reason that made any sense was that the Pride was after Chloe and was after her./p
p class="Normal1"The elevator opened, forcing Alek to save those thoughts for later. He exited the elevator and headed for the exits. He noticed that there were four Mai from the Brazil Pride guarding the place. He did not see any of his Pride there. That was concerning in and of itself. Where were his other Pride members? One of the things that he liked about Valentina is that she let her Pride do their thing. She did not manage their day to day activities like some other Alphas did. He heard of some other Pride's Alphas micro-managing so far as to dictate when their Pride members went to the bathroom. He was glad that Valentina was nowhere near those types of Alphas but now he wished that she kept a tighter leash on everyone. He exited the building without any difficulties. The other Mai's were on alert, watching his every move, but made no move to stop him./p
p class="Normal1"Alek walked briskly away from the apartment building, knowing that he had Mai following him. Carlos was too good to let him leave without someone watching him. He knew he needed to get rid of them and protect Chloe./p
p class="Normal1"Alek walked on, thankful that people were now getting off work and heading home. He was hoping that he would lose some of his followers. He turned right into an alley. He looked around and did not see anyone. That did not mean that there was not a Mai nearby. He looked around one more time to make sure that there were no humans in sight, but mainly to see if any Mai were hiding. He leaped straight on to the third-floor roof of the building. Most Mai would have a hard time following him with a leap like that. He has always been a great leaper. He immediately leaped to another building, and then another. Moving as fast as he could. He looked back and waited. He dropped off of the roof and into another alley. He walked toward the park that was in the middle of downtown and sat on a bench at a bus stop, setting his bag at his feet. He pulled out his phone and waited. He saw that three other Mai were stalking him. They tried to act inconspicuous, but he saw through their ruse. But one thing he knew about Mai is that they thought as a Mai. Valentina allowed them to think outside the box./p
p class="Normal1"As the bus began to pull up, Alek grabbed his backpack and stood up. Letting the Mai assume he was going to board the bus. The three Mai observed his actions and two of them went back to the car to potentially follow the bus. The third started sprinting in the direction of the next bus stop. The Mai sprinting toward the other bus stopped and looked back at Alek. He saw him fiddling with his phone instead of finding a seat on the departing bus. Just then Alek got into an Uber, offering a one-finger salute to the Mai. The Mai furiously took out his phone and began speaking into it very animatedly as Alek rode away in the opposite direction./p
p class="Normal1"Alek had the Uber drop him off at the mall. He went in and hurried out the other end and headed towards a neighborhood that was a shortcut to Chloe's house. He was confident that there were no Mai following him. The sun was starting to set, which was good. He stuck to the street level. The sun had not quite set far enough yet for him to go prowling on the rooftops. All he needed was for someone to look up and see him leaping from rooftop to rooftop. He made it to Chloe's house and looked around. Satisfied that no one was around and that it was dark enough, he leaped onto her roof and waited./p
p class="Normal1"He sat down on the backside of the roof and waited. He knew that Chloe was home and probably waiting for him. She had texted him asking where he was. He could tell she was frustrated just by the way she moved around in the house. He just needed time to figure out how he was going to handle the Brazilian Pride being in town. They were clearly here for her. But the situation with Stephen also still had him confused. He needed to talk with Valentina about him, but with the other Pride in town, there was no way he could say anything. They were probably looking for an excuse to take over Valentina's territory. Still, he had to figure out how Stephen fit into this. Stephen had unique abilities, like his telepathy - which might be a long-lost Mai ability. Alek had never heard of a Mai being able to teleport though. Alek, for some reason, believed that Stephen did not think that he was a Mai./p
p class="Normal1"Alek grew up with the stories of the Uniter bringing peace and harmony to the Mai. But there were still some other strange parts of the prophecy that did not make sense. It all came back to Chloe leading the Mai back to their natural position as protectors of mankind. But there was another part that spoke about the Uniter being corrupt and destroying the Mai as a race./p
p class="Normal1""Hey, you ok?" asked Chloe appearing on the rooftop near him./p
p class="Normal1"She startled him; she was wearing her "prowling clothes" as she likes to call them. Black pants that showed off her nice, muscled legs and a black T-shirt with a black hoodie. Her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. The streetlight making her blue-gray eyes sparkle in the night. He was lost in his thoughts as he just stared at her./p
p class="Normal1""Hello," she said again./p
p class="Normal1""Yes," he said. "Are you ready?" He did not wait for her answer. He leaped to the neighbor's roof and then onto the next. Not looking back to see if she was following him. He knew that she would. He waited on a rooftop for her to catch up. He looked over the apex to the other houses on the street. He heard a commotion coming from one of the houses across the street. It sounded like people were fighting./p
p class="Normal1""Hey, why did you take off so fast?" said Chloe as she crouched beside him./p
p class="Normal1""Shh, look," he said pointing at the house across the street./p
p class="Normal1"Chloe looked at the house in the direction he was pointing. She saw Scott McCall throw who looked like Erica Reyes and Isaac Lahey onto the lawn at the feet of two people. There was a guy in a leather jacket standing in the front yard saying something about a pack and that Scott could not beat him. Next to the leather jacket guy was Vernon Boyd who went over to check on Isaac and Erica./p
p class="Normal1"As he was talking, Alek saw a lizard-man thing on the rooftop of what he assumed was Scott's house. It turned and hissed at the people below then sleeked off into the night towards that woods. Alek kick into high gear after it. He needed to catch that thing. His insides were telling him that thing was dangerous. He needed to protect Chloe from it./p
p class="Normal1"The creature was fast, like really fast. Alek was running as fast as he could and was not gaining any ground on it. Alek saw it enter the woods, he looked over his shoulder and saw Chloe was still following him. /p
p class="Normal1"Alek followed the creature as best he could. He could not catch its scent. He came upon a clearing and saw the creature peering over a blond guy on the ground who seemed unable to move. The only thing moving was his eyes. Alek roared at the creature who hissed back at him. Alek jumped into the air slashing his claws at the creature, coming down on the creature's forearm resulting in gashes on them. The creature used its other arm and knocked Alek into a nearby tree. Alek had to take a few seconds to catch his breath. He hit the tree hard. He saw Chloe rush over to the blond guy on the ground. He looked around for the lizard-man. Alek started to panic he could not see it. He heard a scratching sound on the tree behind him. He turned and saw the creature coming down the tree./p
p class="Normal1"Alek let his claws extend as far as they could. He knew that his claws had made contact and sliced into the creature's skin, but the gashes were already healed but for faint silvery-gray lines where his claws had connected. Alek rushed towards the creature, who turned quickly and used its tail like a whip and caught him across his side. Again, Alek was thrown through the air but this time he landed on his feet there was no tree for him to smash into. He held onto his side as he stood up. The lizard-man was going towards Chloe who was taking off her hoodie for the blond guy. Alek hissed a warning towards the creature. It ignored the sound as if Alek were insignificant and no threat./p
p class="Normal1"Alek watched as the creature was mysteriously hurled into a tree. The force would have broken Alek's back, but the creature got up as if it had not just been hurdled into a tree without anyone touching it. The creature made a hiss and turned and ran off. Alek followed the creature. He heard Chloe signaling for help for the blond guy from some hikers that were also in the woods. He then heard Chloe yell at him, but he ignored her and kept going after the creature to stop it before it killed someone/p
p class="Normal1"Alek followed the creature out of the woods and to the industrial side of Beacon Hills. Chloe caught up to him. He motioned for her to be quiet. The creature was coming down one of the columns of the overpass. Once it hit the ground it hissed as a jackal started to attack it. Jackals were stronger than Mai. So Alek felt some relief when he notices that even though the Jackal was attacking the creature. It also did not seem to have any luck with damaging the creature either. At one point the jackal used an old car door to defend itself against the creature./p
p class="Normal1""Look," said Chloe as she pointed to a big black SUV barreling down the street. It hit the creature and sent it flying into the concrete column. A man got out of the vehicle with a large handgun drawn. He was not aiming it at the creature. It looked like he was trying to find the jackal. The creature got up and hissed at him. The man began to shoot the creature and did not stop until the gun was empty. Another older man got out of the SUV. The man looked like principal Argent from school. The other guy with the gun just looked around like he was more concerned about where the jackal was than the lizard-man./p
p class="Normal1"Alek heard an intake of breath from Chloe. The Lizard-man creature got up again. He should have been dead. The creature got up and slowly moved towards Principal Argent. He did not move to attack; it was almost timid how he approached him. Suddenly Scott McCall was there. The creature hissed and ran away. Scott stared at Principal Argent for a minute before following after the creature./p
p class="Normal1""We need to go," whispered Alek while trying to be strong for Chloe. His side was still hurting. He motioned her to be quiet again and pointed to his ears to let her know that they still might be overheard if they talked right now. She nodded her head in understanding. He again motioned for her to leave, she looked at him that she was about to ask him which way to go. He pointed towards the houses to let her know that he wanted to go that way. He did not want to go back into the woods in case he ran into the blond guy. That would have caused too many questions if he were still there./p
p class="Normal1" Alek followed Chloe from rooftop to rooftop. Hoping that she did not hear all the grunts and moans he was letting out every time he landed on a roof. She acted like she did not hear anything, but her eyes told a different story every time she looked at him./p
p class="Normal1" /p
p class="Normal1"They finally made it to Chloe's house. They came in through her bedroom window like they normally did. Alek sat on the chair that went with the computer desk. He always liked the way she kept her room organized but not in a way that was OCD. He always felt comfortable with being in here./p
p class="Normal1""What was that thing and what was the other thing fighting it, why was the principal there?" Chloe questioned without taking a breath./p
p class="Normal1""Look I don't know," said Alek trying not to show pain. His side was still hurting him. He was hoping that he kept the grimace from showing on his face./p
p class="Normal1""Are you ok?" asked Chloe as she started to reach out to examine him./p
p class="Normal1""Yes," said Alek quietly as he grabbed her hand stopping her from touching him. "There is a lot of things that I need to tell you."/p
p class="Normal1""Huh, what?" inquired Chloe. The way Alek's voice cracked with emotions. She had never heard Alek this vulnerable before. He has always been full of confidence and arrogance. Never quiet and open, especially his eyes./p
p class="Normal1"Chloe pulled him off the chair and onto her bed so that she could sit next to him. She saw that he was hurt but did not want to push the subject too far. She needed him to believe that she still thought that he was strong and able to protect her. Even though right now she could beat him in a fight./p
p class="Normal1""Look, it all started today with Stephen Jameson," said Alek/p
p class="Normal1""Stephen?" asked Chloe clearly not know what Alek was talking about./p
p class="Normal1""Yes, I was sitting in Mr. Mulwray's class. When I felt someone probe my mind," said Alek./p
p class="Normal1""What like someone trying to mind-read you?" asked Chloe./p
p class="Normal1""Yes," said Alek. "It was a power that we had ages ago. It has not been seen in over 500 years," said Alek./p
p class="Normal1""You mean that we can read minds?" asked Chloe./p
p class="Normal1""Yes, there are lots of things you do not know about the Mai," said Alek./p
p class="Normal1""Obliviously."/p
p class="Normal1""I thought there was another pride in the room," said Alek. "Everyone was acting normally except for Stephen."/p
p class="Normal1""So, Stephen is a Mai who can read minds," said Chloe./p
p class="Normal1""Maybe, I don't know," said Alek. "But this would go better if you did not ask so many questions."/p
p class="Normal1""Sorry, continue," said Chloe trying to remember not to ask so many questions until Alek was done./p
p class="Normal1""Anyway," said Alek. "Ever since we found out that you are the Uniter. Things have been unsettling at best and completely insane at worse. You are lucky that Valentina found you and not another Pride. She does not want to completely control you. Other Prides if they heard that you were the Uniter. They would come after you. Whoever has you can control the Mai race."/p
p class="Normal1""I don't want to control anyone," said Chloe./p
p class="Normal1""I know," said Alek. "But other Prides do. If they got a hold of you that could use you to control the Mai race."/p
p class="Normal1"Chloe looked horrified. How could she be what these people think that she was? She was not a messiah out to save a race. She just wanted to be a normal teenage girl. Not a Mai dictator./p
p class="Normal1""About Stephen," said Alek. "I thought he was a Mai who was trying to read my mind. I got so upset that I flashed my eyes at him."/p
p class="Normal1""Why would flash your Mai eyes at him?" asked Chloe./p
p class="Normal1""It was a sign that I knew what he was doing and for another, once you flash your eyes at a Mai they have to respond in kind."/p
p class="Normal1""Huh,"/p
p class="Normal1"Alek turned and flashed his eyes at Chloe, who flashed them back at him. Her eyes went wide when she realized what she had done./p
p class="Normal1""But Stephen did not flash his eyes back at me," said Stephen. "Every Mai will flash their eyes when challenged. It is instinctual for us. The Order was able to exploit that feature with their technology. They developed special glasses that they used to see our eyes. It helped them to hunt us down and kill us so successfully."/p
p class="Normal1"Chloe was taken aback by the cruelty of the Order. Now she understood how that one Order assassin was able to find out about her and throw her off the tower. She did not even know she was a Mai then. Chloe wondered how many more unsuspecting Mai was killed just because their eyes were different./p
p class="Normal1""I panic," continued Alek. "We are never to reveal ourselves to the humans and I had just broken that rule. I could have ended up in jail for life or even dead. That is how serious we take revealing ourselves to humans."span style="text-align: center;""That is wrong," protested Chloe. "You made a mistake, and they would have killed you. Just because you showed someone your eyes."/span/p
p class="Normal1" /p
p class="Normal1""It is our law," said Alek with a warm feeling inside that she was taking up for him. "You must understand. We have been hunted down for thousands of years. The only way that we have survived is because we are a secret."/p
p class="Normal1""That is wrong and cruel," said Chloe. "You should not have to die just because of how you were born. It is not right."/p
p class="Normal1""The law is there to help us and protect the humans," said Alek. "Do you know what the humans would do to us if they find out about us and what we can do?"/p
p class="Normal1""Some would be ok, like Amy and Paul," said Chloe./p
p class="Normal1""If the humans ever find out that one kiss from us will kill them," said Alek. "Do you think they would be so understanding? You know that would want to control us or put us in camps or even kill us."/p
p class="Normal1"Chloe looked ashamed. She remembered the boy she kissed. He died. She did not know that she was a Mai at the time. She was devastated by what happened. She knew that it was an accident and that she would have never done it if she knew about it. But the boy was still dead. She now understood why they were so set on keeping themselves hidden./p
p class="Normal1""After class, I went up to the roof to think," said Alek trying to get back to the story. He knew that Chloe had not been raised as a Mai and that she did not fully understand their ways. He could see that she was sad, and he did not like it. "I needed to clear my head. I knew that Valentina did not want anyone else knowing that you were the Uniter. Besides her, only me and Jasmine know that you are the Uniter. No one else in our Pride knows about you."/p
p class="Normal1""Oh," said Chloe. She was surprised that no one else in Valentina Pride knew about her. But then again, she was not so sure that she was the Uniter that they were all talking about. She figured that Valentina did not say anything because she did not want to seem like a fool when the Mai found out that she was not this great Uniter. It made sense why Valentina sent Jasmine and Alek to 'help' her. There were obviously more seasoned Mai that could train her. More than likely Valentina thought that she was a fluke that survived the fall so she out two Mai near her age to help her and to keep her from getting into danger or hurting someone./p
p class="Normal1""While I was on the roof. Stephen showed up," said Alek. "I knew that he was Mai then because I did not hear the fire escape come down. Plus, no normal human could have gotten up there without either the door that leads to the roof from the inside. Which was in my line of sight or the fire escape. Which someone has the get a ladder to be able to pull down. We got into a fight."/p
p class="Normal1""What," said Chloe. "Is that why you are hurt."/p
p class="Normal1""Stephen did not hurt me," said Alek. "He does not fight like a Mai or anyone else. He said that he was a homo superior."/p
p class="Normal1""I thought he was straight," said Chloe. "I mean I never have seen him with a girl since he got here. But he did not strike me as someone who was gay."/p
p class="Normal1""I did not say homosexual," said Alek. "He said he was a Homo-Superior."/p
p class="Normal1""What is that?" asked Chloe./p
p class="Normal1""I am not sure," said Alek. "I only know of Mai and Jackals. But he could read my mind and he was able to hold me up without touching me. He could also teleport or disappear or vanish. I'm not sure which. But I saw it. I went to Valentina's place to tell her. But when I got there another Pride was there. Not just any Pride but the largest and most powerful Pride in the world. The Brazilian Pride. Valentina's Pride is one of the smallest in the world, if they tried to take us over, they could. It is only because Valentina is such a strong leader and respected through the other Prides is one of the reasons why another Pride has not taken our territory yet."/p
p class="Normal1"Chloe had to shake her head. Pride politics was not something she ever wanted to think about. Much less be a part of. If she was this great Uniter. Which she still was not sure she was. She knew that taking over someone's else territory was not going to happen./p
p class="Normal1""The only reason the Brazilian Pride is here. Is because they suspect we have found the Uniter," said Alek. "They don't think that we can protect you. But Valentina is smart she is not going to give you over to that corrupt Pride. I have been training since I can remember to protect the Uniter. Me and Jasmine are Valentina's family. She does not make us like another Mai. She made us able to live in both worlds. Most Pride only keep to themselves. They have very few interactions with the human world. They go to Mai schools, work at Mai businesses, etc... Valentina knew that the Uniter would be in the human world, so she trained us to live in the human world. The other Prides thought that me and Jasmine would expose ourselves to the humans. They are circling like vultures to take Valentina down. One slip up from Valentina, we could lose everything."/p
p class="Normal1"Chloe reached out and squeezed his hand to give him comfort. She did not realize all the pressure he was under. To live in two worlds. Now she understood why he was always so hard when he was training her./p
p class="Normal1"Alek took a deep breath and looked her hand on his. His heart was beating a little faster when she squeezed his hand. He knew that he needed to pull away from her. But he was glad that her hand was there hold his./p
p class="Normal1""Anyway," he continued looking at her hand for a moment longer. "I was able to leave because the Chief Mai thought I was incompetent and had a school project to do. Jasmine helped me get out of there also. I was able to lose any Mai that was trying to follow me. I was going to tell you this after our patrol. I needed to make sure that no Mai was following us also. But then I saw that lizard-man creature and you know the rest."/p
p class="Normal1""What now?" asked Chloe./p
p class="Normal1" "I am going to go back to Valentina's," said Alek. He wanted to tell her that he could not go back home. He knew if he told her that. She would offer for him to stay with her. He wanted to stay here, and he knew that he would not say no if she asked. But he did not want her love to be out of pity. Plus, he had to go see Stephen. He needed to speak with him. If he told her that, she would insist on coming along also. He did not want to put her in danger in case Stephen ended up being a danger. Alek got up to leave already missing the touch of her hand on his./p
p class="Normal1""Can you tell Paul," said Alek. "That we finished our school project."/p
p class="Normal1""What?" asked Chloe not understanding./p
p class="Normal1""The only way I got out of Valentina's was that I made them believe that I had a school project with Paul," said Alek. "I needed an excuse to get out of there. So, can you let Paul know if anyone casually asks, we finished our project."/p
p class="Normal1""Ok," said Chloe knowing there was more to the story than what Alek was saying. She was definitely going to call Paul and Amy and fill them in on the situation. She trusted them. They knew about the Mai she needed to warn them that they needed to keep the Mai knowledge extra secret, especially since there were other things out there now./p
p class="Normal1"Alek crawled out of Chloe's window and onto the rooftop, making sure that no one saw him. He made his way to Stephen's house. Luckily, for him, Stephen did not live too far from Chloe's place. Alex stopped on Stephen's roof. He waits and listened to what was going on in the house. He heard what he assumed was Luca, Stephen's brother. Playing a video game. He could hear him yell at someone to cover him and the distinct sound of gunfire coming from the headset. Alex jumped from the roof onto the open window, he winced at the sudden sharp pain went through him. The lizard-man creature packed a strong punch. He hoped that this window leads into Stephen's room. He opened the window and fell into the room. His injuries catching up to him and his adrenaline left his body. He knew that he needed to sleep so that his Mai's healing abilities could kick in./p
p class="Normal1"He stood up as a door open. His claws extended he barely had the strength to lift his arms. He saw Stephen come out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, his hair matted against his forehead from the water of the shower. Alek felt his body rise off the ground as Stephen levitated him up with his powers. Alek was too tired to put up much of a struggle./p
p class="Normal1""I need your help," said Alek right before he passed out from exhaustion and pain./p
p class="Normal1"Stephen was startled to see a bruised and battered Alek in his room. He did not even hear him come in. He knew that he had come in through his window because it was open. How he got up to the second story without a ladder was a mystery to Stephen. But he closed the window with his telekinesis before anyone else decided to pay him another visit. He lowered Alek's sleeping formed onto the floor. He pulled out his boxers and put them on then removed the towel and threw it in the corner. He rummaged through his drawer and found a T-shirt and slipped it on./p
p class="Normal1"Now that he was no longer half-naked. He looked over at Alek, his face looked bruised and there were abrasions across it. He was fascinated as the abrasion slowly started to heal. It was as if he was watching Wolverine from the X-men. Alek did not heal as fast as Wolverine though. Still, it was impressive. Stephen could not believe that Alek was a Mai. He was not even sure what that meant. He was going to Google it later. He was amazed at the length of Alek's claws. He still felt the pain of those earlier today from the fight on the school's roof. Stephen tried to read Alek's mind, but there was nothing there to read. It was not as if he was blocking him. More like he was in a deep sleep./p
p class="Normal1"Stephen convinced that Alek was not going to attack him anytime soon, released his telekinesis and waited to make sure Alek was not going to suddenly leap up and slash his throat. Instead, Alek curled into himself and grabbed his side. Stephen saw a huge blue bruised where Alek's shirt rose to expose his skin underneath./p
p class="Normal1"Stephen got up still wary of Alek, went to the hall closet, and pulled out the extra pillows and blankets. He made a pallet and levitated Alek onto them. He threw a light blanket over him. /p
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