Sup y'all! I just took the SAT! This chapter might suck ass, and it'd be no fault of my own. Thanks to those of you who have favorited or followed, you've got no clue how much that means to me. Those notifications make my whole day. Don't forget to leave a review and/or favorite if you haven't already.

Nicki.

DANI

I lie down staring up at the ceiling. Kensi and Leah are still in Seattle, and now I'm wondering if I should've stayed with them. Kensi is throwing herself into battle plans, her wrath, and tracking down Mara, and Leah is more than happy to help. But I just couldn't sit with the two of them anymore.

I miss Jake.

I curl up onto my side in a tight ball, and clutch my pillow to my chest screaming into said pillow. My chest hurts so badly, and I remember Emily telling me that it physically hurts to be away from the wolves. The imprint demands contact.

I need Jake's warmth. I can still see the impression his body had left on my bedsheets last night. I can almost feel the lingering warmth his body left as he slept beside me last night, despite the bedsheets having gone cold hours ago.

The light blue satin sheets are marked with my tearstains, and drool. I fell asleep after crying with a stuffy nose and an aching chest hoping that the pain would go away.

But it wouldn't.

I tried to eat earlier, but what I did eat came up hours later.

Emily has been putting up with this for a month. Kim and Rachel a night or two. And I've been putting up with it for almost six hours and I'm ready to die.

Kensi has work she can throw herself into, but I don't. I can't find pleasure in hunting. Kensi loves it. Hunting deer through the woods with a bow and arrow or with a muzzle loader. She loves the thrill of the chase. I can't get off on killing an innocent creature, or even a blood thirsty monster like a vampire. Kensi understands and protects me from that life.

But with this upcoming war I'm not sure she'll be able to.

I sob again as my life, innocence, youth, and freedom seem to be crashing down around me. Pompeii happens inside my heart again and again as my growing distance from Jake pulls me into a million directions.

Kensi didn't sleep with Embry before he disappeared either. She doesn't have that kind of deep connection with him yet. She's got a serious connection with him yes, but not the deep one that goes with giving yourself to a man.

She's never done that willingly. Nathaniel gave her 'experience' but no connection aside from a deep hatred and resentment.

Kensi is so twisted. I love my sister to death, but she's got a heart of coal. So dark by her life of taking the tortures for me. We traded rooms so that I wouldn't have to listen to Paul and his girls. She would give me tasks to keep me outside whenever she and Paul fought. Whenever she and mom fought. She shipped me to friends' whenever Mom invited a man over. She would take the hits that he dealt to her.

She would stand in front of me when we faced a vampire, knowing that I'm too pure and soft to take a life, monster or not. Kensi would train twice as hard, do all the side jobs, and finish every kill so there was never any blood on my hands. And this has darkened her. Made her into a stone-cold fox, and an ice-hearted killer.

And now I'm paying for it. She's got the walls and the strength to fight the pain Embry's presence left her, and I don't. I can't do anything but be pathetic because I'm weak.

Jake made me strong. Sure I can hold my breath twice as long which always made kissing him interesting, but I felt powerful with Jake. Like nothing could stop us.

I flip onto my side again sobbing into my pillows as nightmares plague my mind.

Jake's russet wolf lies beside Embry's gray-and-black-spotted wolf. Embry is unconscious while Jake is wide awake, glaring at Mara as she walks through the warehouse. In the kennel next to him is Sam, and on Sam's other side is Jared and Paul. In the other kennel is a man that must be Devan.

Micah and Mara stand across from each other, eyes locked without saying a word.

"Kensi will kill us." Mara whispers. "Micah, sister, do not do this."

Micah seems to consider it as she pulls a large remote out of the folds of her dress.

I inspect the wolves noticing three collars around each of their necks One of them, a shock collar, another a very thick collar like a weight belt, and then the third being a choker collar.

"You're right. Kensi will kill us. But Dani won't."

I watch frozen in horror as Micah points her remote control at Jake.

"NOOOOOOO!" I scream in terror, but my voice makes no noise. No matter how loud I scream, I am not heard.

"NO! Please no!"

Micah presses her thumb down on the button and Jake's wolf collapses to the ground in convulsions as powerful amounts of electricity course through his veins.

"NO!" Mara screams. She rushes forward as Jake's body falls limp.

"SISTER!" Mara sobs. "What have you done!? You've killed him! Dani might not have been a killer but for sure she is now!"

Micah smiles. "Let the girl come. I will for certain entertain her wishes to kill me for some time."

I jerk upright in my bed screaming.

Kensi comes into my room seconds later, tripping over the blankets on the floor before lying down beside me. She pulls me against her chest as Emily and Kim flood into the room. My horrified screams and painful sobs start tears in Kim and Emily's eyes.

Kensi pulls me tightly against her chest as she rocks me back and forth whispering soft nothings into my ear.

"Nightmares happen every night." Emily assures me. She sits down on my other side.

"Do they get any easier?" I pant into my sister's chest. Her skin is warm and wet underneath my face.

"I'm sorry." Emily whispers squeezing my shoulder. "I'm so sorry. But it won't."

Kim sits down behind Kensi and I and rubs my shoulders while Rachel bounces my niece on her hip beside Kensi's legs.

"Why is everyone here?" I ask.

"Because we need to be together." Emily says firmly. "There's no way in hell we can get through this alone."

Always the motherly figure.

"You can't be alone." Emily whispers to me.

I nod to her beautiful face as Kensi rocks me back and forth. She's silent, her body and frame strong and sturdy underneath me. She's solid. Her face is utterly stoic, and I know that she's feeling the same pain I am. She always gets like this when I hurt.

I can hear her heartbeat through her skin though.

It's angry. She's angry. Quick and hard pounds against my ears remind me that Kensi is special.

Sure. Love is always going to be the strongest motivator.

But Kensi will always feed off her fire as if it's an ever-burning fire.

I just hope she'll realize that her love for Embry is actually the ever-burning fire she should use to fuel her strikes and not her anger.

KENSI

"You know you don't need to come with me right?"

Leah nods stiffly beside me from the passenger seat of the Camaro. "I know. But this is kind of cool."

I smile at her. The guys think she's some kind of raving bitch. Imagine if they found out that she's going to be the one to help them break out of prison.

"How are you doing?" Leah finally asks.

I shrug. "I'm alright. Dani has nightmares almost every night. I'm just frustrated."

It has been almost two weeks since Leah and I turned over all the locations that Colette gave me. All of them providing no answers and proving to be fruitless.

Leah and I walk around Seattle for hours on end looking for any sign of Mara, also fruitless as we wait for her credit card bills to come in. With that we can stake out specific locations and wait for her.

"Any idea where we're going today?" Leah asks. She's wearing a pair of black skinny jeans that are about four inches too short so they look like capris. Leah likes working with me because it gives her a reason to not look homeless all the time. She's got to blend in with other people, so she gets the chance to be a girl.

"Nope. Colette is meeting us at Starbucks. That's all I know."

Leah smirks at me. "Think she's going to give you another sweaty piece of paper."

I pull a face. "There's a plastic snack-bag in the console. I request you grab that."

Leah laughs but grabs the bag anyways. Being with Leah is so easy. I don't think she's a bitch. She's become my best friend. Dani has been getting pretty close with Kim, Emily and Rachel. Dani, Emily, Kim and Rach are all pretty soft people. They aren't entirely defenseless, Dani least of all, but Dani likes being with them more than she does Leah and I because Dani has always hated fighting and conflict.

Leah and I live for it.

I whip into the Starbucks inside of the Elemental Guardian's Chinatown. Regula Chinatown doesn't have a Starbucks that's as good as this one.

We both get out and I feel like we're unstoppable. Leah has started wearing one of my spare daggers on her thigh to better fit in with this crowd. Everyone is openly armed here too. Besides, she can't phase in public here anyways.

I order myself a peppermint flavored cappuccino. Christmas is around the corner. December first was yesterday.

I realize with a prick that Sam missed Halloween, Thanksgiving, and might miss Christmas if we don't find him. Jared missed only Thanksgiving so far but it isn't right either.

And Paul missed his daughter's first thanksgiving too. It was a somber affair without half the pack there. It felt so wrong.

Leah orders her drink and we claim a booth to ourselves, gorging on overpriced mediocre scones and other pastries as we wait for Colette.

Finally she shows up fifteen minutes late.

"You're lucky I don't charge for my time." I note sarcastically.

Colette scowls before reaching into her dress. NO! NO! NO! God no! GODDAMMIT!

She hands me what can only be four of five pieces of paper, stapled together, and then folded into eighths.

I grab a napkin and pick up the paper while she scoffs.

"Mara's credit card records. I didn't look at them yet but it's all you." Colette says. "Hope you nail her this time."

I nod as Colette stands up again but she pauses.

"How much was that peppermint cappuccino, Kensi?"

"Way overpriced." I retort but do give her the price I paid for it.

"Thanks." She pulls out a sweaty twenty from the neckline of her dress again and I gag.

"Let's split." I mutter grabbing my drink and practically shoving Leah out the door.

I get into my car and set the drink into the cup holder. I reach over Leah's knees to the glove compartment and pull out a pair of black crime scene gloves and unfold the paper.

Leah laughs hysterically at my disgust. "It's fucking nasty, Leah! I mean look at this! She doesn't look sweaty or greasy and yet my god!"

Leah doubles over as I read the transactions. I feel the blood drain from my face.

"She spent 100 dollars at Tractor Supply Co on horse leads."

Leah's head snaps over to me in shock.

"Excuse me?"

I nod. "And an additional 150 dollars on large dog training collars."

Leah pales in horror. "What are they doing to them?"

I shake my head and swallow my fear. "I don't know. But the other imprints do not hear of this."

"No shit." Leah says. "They find out that their wolves are probably being paraded around using several training collars lashed together..."

"I just hope Dani isn't seeing the future." I muse. "Because she said she had a dream about Micah killing Jake. She was furious because Mara shoved him into a training collar in her dream."

Leah shivers. "We have to find this bastard. Now."

I nod flicking through her other transactions.

"She spends 30 dollars on chicken strips at Dairy Queen every night." I point out.

"What time?" Leah asks.

"Seven."

I flick my eyes to the dash clock. Three thirty.

I go through the other transactions. "Same parking meter, every day at the same time in front of another little café here in Chinatown."

I look at Leah. "That's an hour earlier."

I scramble for my phone as Leah grabs hers. "Call Dani and tell her to stake out the Wellington Café in Chinatown at Six. Tell her to fly. I'm calling Colette and Marnie to let them know that we'll tag her tonight hopefully."

Leah nods as she calls Dani and I call Colette.

Of course Colette doesn't answer so I leave a hasty yet detailed message for her while Leah tells Dani to go undercover at the diner.

"Leah and I are staking out the Dairy Queen." I add into Leah's mouthpiece. "And grab shorts for the guys in case we manage to break them out."

"In that case should we drive up with the trucks?" Emily asks.

"Hell no." Leah and I say at the same time.

"Do you want Sam to kill me?" Leah asks. "The other wolves will lose their damn minds."

"Between the Camaro and the Porsche there's ten seats. And there are only eight of us to worry about. So no." I say to Emily. "We'll keep you updated, I promise. With any luck, the guys will be home tonight."

There's cheering on the other end.

"Loop in the elders too. Dani, move your ass. Bring your gear just in case. I've got mine."

"Just in case?" Leah asks.

"Bring clothes for Leah just in case." I add with a smirk.

Oh I haven't felt better about myself in months.