Throughout the next three weeks Liz had learned how to use a variety of weapons. She shot pistols, shotguns, machine guns, and sniper rifles. She excelled with close range weapons but she was a terrible shot with a sniper rifle. She couldn't hit the side of a barn at ten feet with a sniper. Her weapons of choice were a .44 revolver and a D2 sawed off shotgun. She had grown fond of one shotgun in particular. It was gold and engraved with the Eden's Gate symbol. Someone had told her it was called the 'Sin Eater'.

Each day throughout those weeks had been the same. It was a routine, that she just burned through. The days were so dull that she honestly didn't know how much time had passed. She took no pride in her training though. It was just a job to do. She was stronger than she was before. She wasn't nearly as skilled as the other Chosen, but she was different. She had killed a man... That was something that burned into the back of her mind.

Jacob hadn't shown up in the past three weeks. Liz looked for him every day but he never showed. She never saw him but she heard him all the time. His own personal 'sermons' were broadcasted over the grounds of the chalet. Most of them were about evolution and the weak. If she had a nickel for every time she heard the phrase 'Cull the Herd', she'd be rich. Most of the time she would tune his voice out but there was one thing he was right about. The training did become instinctual.

Liz spent her free time reading The Book of Joseph. She had read it several times. The story of this crazy man had captivated her. Joseph and his brothers had went through hell ever since childhood. Joseph had been beaten and abused by foster parents and he was fired from about every job he had. His youngest brother John had also been abused and preyed upon, having to confess his sins to his foster parents.

The story that had captivated her the most was Jacob's. He had been a rebellious child, always picking fights and getting into trouble. He had even burnt down his foster parent's house. Jacob was sent to juvy as a child and then joined the army not long after that. The stories of his time in Iraq and Afghanistan were horrific. The things he had done to people and what he had to do haunted Liz. He had told her the first time they met that he had done things she would never understand and he was right.

The part that had always broke her was the story of Jacob in the homeless shelter. His brothers had found him curled up in a corner, chanting their names. His brothers wouldn't have even recognized him if he didn't say their names. As much as she thought, Liz could never picture Jacob Seed like that. He had always been strong and intimidating to her, but deep down he was a broken man. A life of abuse and the hell of war had been the cause. Her feelings for the redheaded soldier had changed after reading about him. She didn't know how she felt but she didn't feel the hatred for him that she did before.

Today was Sunday. Liz had been a captive of Eden's Gate for almost a month. Tonight Joseph would be giving a special sermon at his church. He wanted all of his followers in attendance. The Chosen would be attending the sermon tonight. They had all loaded into vans to head to the sermon. The windows on the van were barred and mostly blacked out. Liz didn't care, she was just thankful she wasn't cuffed and gagged. The men and women she was with mainly talked about how they were excited to see the father again. Liz didn't open her mouth. These people weren't her friends or her family. They were just people who were in her path to survival.

Even with the blackened windows, she could tell that the last rays of the sun had started to fade away. It would soon be nighttime. The van eventually came to a stop south of the Whitetail Mountains. When she was let out of the van, the sky was dark and stars shone in the sky. They were at Joseph's compound. This place was the heart and soul of the cult.

The compound was smaller than she expected, but still heavily fortified. It was on an island in the middle of the county. There were several white buildings scattered about the compound. Each one looked heavily guarded. The entire compound was surrounded by a ten foot tall fence with barb wire at the top. Anyone was a fool if they tried to break into this place.

There were flocks of cultists everywhere. Some were fighters and heavily armed. Others were defenseless women and children. All of the cultists were dressed differently, depending on which region they lived in and which herald they served. Liz wasn't dressed like they rest of the chosen. The chosen wore red shirts and white camo jackets. She was wearing her long sleeve Henley shirt. She wasn't one of them, she was only under the control of Jacob Seed because of her relative.

The group continued on towards the church. The archway read 'Church of Eden's Gate'. The church was simple in appearance, it didn't look like a crazy cultist's church. It looked exactly like the church in Fall's End that she had gone to every Sunday as a child. The doors were open and beckoning everyone inside.

Liz piled in with the other chosen and sat in the third row from the front. As soon as the crowd had settled down her eyes landed on Jacob. When their eyes met, Liz felt a chill go down her spine. She had gone three weeks without seeing him and she forgot how intimidating his stare could be.

There were two other people standing in the front as well, which she assumed were his siblings. The man had dark hair and wore a trench coat, he must be John. The woman that had blonde hair and wore a white lace dress was his sister Faith.

When Joseph came out, the congregation cheered, happy to see their father.

"Thank you my children. I am happy to see you all on this wonderful night. Let us being in song." He said.

Joseph led the crowd in Amazing Grace. As crazy as he was, his voice was angelic. Joseph Seed had a way of even making the most stubborn people stop to listen. Liz sang along. Her voice wasn't nearly as nice but she didn't care. She felt like she was in church again with her family. But this wasn't church with Pastor Jerome, she was captive to a cult.

Among the singing of the cultists, Liz heard something outside. Everyone else was too invested in The Father to pay attention. But she wasn't the only one that had heard something, Jacob had heard the noise too. It sounded like helicopter blades. She would have thought nothing of it if Jacob hadn't reacted. Eden's Gate had an unexpected visitor and Liz had no doubt that it wouldn't end well.

The doors to the church opened, and three police officers stepped inside. Everyone inside the church had stopped singing. Joseph was the first to speak.

"Something is coming. You can feel it, can't you?" He said.

All attention had been turned to the intruders in the church. Liz immediately recognized Sheriff Whitehorse. He had been friends with her father and he had pulled her over countless times for speeding. One of the deputies was Joey Hudson. She had graduated six years before Liz had. Hudson had also played softball at Hope County High School. She had been one of their best players and a legend. They were joined by a U.S. Marshal and a deputy she had never seen before. He was tall but skinny. He had short brown hair and was clean shaven. The deputy couldn't have been much older than she was. He was definitely the newbie of the group given his age. Liz thought he was kind of cute.

Everyone in the church was on edge. Whatever was going to happen here it wasn't going to be good. Joseph began to talk the seven seals of the apocalypse. As the sheriff walked forward, everyone in the pews began to stand up. Liz stayed seated and fidgeted with her hands. She thought that maybe she could escape. Leave with the deputies or even just try to slip away in a car during all the chaos.

She looked up and met Jacob's eyes once again. He was shaking his head at her. Jacob knew exactly when she was planning and he was telling her that if she went through with it she would be sorry.

Joseph was yelling now. He was angry. The U.S. Marshal stepped forward to face him despite the protests from Sheriff Whitehorse.

"Joseph Seed. I have a warrant issued for your arrest on the suspicion of kidnapping with the intent to harm. I want you to step forward and keep your hands where I can see them." The marshal said.

All of the cultists in the church started to protest.

"Here they are the locus in our garden. See they've come for me. They've come to take me away from you. They've come to destroy all that we've built!" Joseph said.

The cultists started shouting at the deputies. Whitehorse did his best to stop the situation from escalating. Joseph simply stepped forward and addressed his flock.

"I knew this moment would come. We've prepared for it. Go… Go. God will not let them take me." He said.

The congregation began to filter out of the church. Jacob and his siblings gathered around their brother. Jacob crossed his arms.

'He sure is an intimidating son of a bitch.' Liz thought.

His icy blue eyes were the last thing she saw before she exited the church. The cultists outside were in a complete panic. Outsiders had come for their savior. Liz made her way through the crowds of chattering cultists. The deputies had brought a helicopter. This could be her way out.

There was one deputy waiting in the helicopter. She made her way towards him and when she realized who it was, she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Staci?"

It was her ex-boyfriend Staci Pratt. He had been one of her brother's best friends and had dated her for three months in high school purely out of pity. Liz panicked and scrambled behind the closest building, but Pratt had already seen her. She hadn't seen or talked to him in about six years. This definitely isn't how she had wanted to bump into him. She hadn't know that he had become a sheriff's deputy. But now the only thing Pratt knew about her is that she was with the cult.

Liz surveyed her surroundings. There were a few trucks around the compound but she doubted that there would be keys with them. She couldn't leave with the sheriff now and she couldn't steal a car. She didn't have many options left. She noticed that beside the church was a riverbank, she could swim. But once she got to the other side, what would she do? She had no food, water, weapons, and nowhere to go. Her only goal was to get the hell out of there. It would be worth the risk. She could find her Uncle. That was her plan from the beginning.

With Joseph in custody, the cult would be too distracted to find her. This was her best chance for escape. She made her way back across the compound towards the church. All the cultists were scrambling around worrying about the fate of the father. No one was paying attention to her. She slid across the side of the church and lined herself up to swim. It was at least a 200 yard stretch to land on the other side. It lead straight back into the Whitetail Mountains. She had never swam a distance this far, but she had to make it. She had no other choice.

When the doors of the church opened again, Liz took off. She didn't even look back to see Joseph in cuffs. She dove headfirst into the water. The water was freezing and icy to the touch. It made her body seize up for a moment, but she had to keep moving. Liz kept her head underwater and started to swim. She kicked her arms and legs under the surface of the water until she had to come up for air. She was at least halfway across the river when her head emerged from the water.

Fear had started to set in that maybe someone had seen her. The cultists could easily hop in their boat and snatch her out of the water, or shoot her from the shore. She didn't look back. She ripped her arms through that water and came up periodically for breaths. Liz wondered what Jacob was going to do when he discovered she was gone. Jacob wasn't one to lose his cool, but with his brother gone that might change.

When she finally reached the shore, she felt like she could cough up a lung. It was colder on the shore than it was in the water. The midnight winds ripped across the riverbank. Liz was shivering. She was soaked from head to toe. Her legs were wobbly under her but she was able to get to her feet. Her Uncle was out here somewhere. She had to find him. It was her only chance for survival.

The Stone Ridge Chalet was in the south of the Whitetails, so north was her best bet. Eli would be somewhere concealed. She had heard from Jacob that Eli was leading a resistance against the cult. He was most likely in a bunker somewhere. Liz kept moving. It was too cold to run but she couldn't stop. The terrain was rocky and concealed by trees. She did her best to step only on rocks. Doing her best not to leave any footprints to follow. Despite her efforts, her soaked boots squished as she walked and left a sopping trail of water behind her.

The air was chilly and Liz clutched her sides in an attempt to keep herself warm. There was no one out on the roads. The citizens that remained in Hope County hunkered down and Eden's Gate was too busy trying to get back their father. Liz had been up and down the roads of this county for years but this was the only time it had been void of life. Eden's Gate had been responsible for that. The cult had come into the town and changed it completely. Now the only thing Hope County would be remembered for is being the home of a bunch of crazy people.

She kept heading north until she found a source of life. It was a covered picnic area with several benches scattered around and there was a small wooden bathroom. Something nailed to one wall of the bathroom caught her eye. It was two posters put up by the cult. One of them read 'Sinner Wanted. Eli Palmer'. There was also a picture of her Uncle. He looked so different from the last time she had seen him. She ripped down the poster to inspect it closer.

His beard was longer and his eyes didn't have the same joy they used to have in them. The happy man that had used to be her uncle was gone. The other poster was for a woman Jess Black. Liz didn't know who the woman was but if she was wanted by the cult, she was clearly dangerous.

The Oberlin Picnic Area didn't have much. There were scattered beer bottles and empty coolers that didn't yield her any bottles of water. She did find a yellow backpack that had some use though. It had a sleeping bag, a first aid kit, two bottles of liquor, and spare 9 millimeter bullets. No gun though, so the bullets were useless to her. She also found a shovel lying around. Some kind of defense was better than nothing.

She thought about sleeping here, but it was too out in the open. If a bear came along in the night, she would be eaten for sure. With her shovel in hand, she kept moving. She needed to get as far away from Joseph's compound as she could tonight. The rest would be tomorrow's problem.

Her mind wandered back to seeing Pratt. He had been so shocked to see her. Not that it mattered. He had never really cared about Elizabeth. He was kind of a douche in high school, but it looked like that had changed. He had cleaned himself up and gotten a real job. Staci had been living his own life without her. He had never even bothered to check up on her once in six years. He was a part of her past that she could never go back to.

The night seemed to drone on forever. Liz kept trekking through the forest. She couldn't stop until she found somewhere relatively safe. She gritted her teeth and kept moving. Her clothes were still damp from her swim in the river. Eventually Liz found a cabin north of the picnic area. It was small but relatively intact. The cult had gotten to it though. This cabin had belonged to The Cooper's. They were nice people. It's a shame the cult got to them.

The cabin was in a complete disarray. It was covered in bullet holes from top to bottom, every window had been shot out, and the markings of the cult were spray painted on the sides. Despite the damage there was still a single light on in the cabin. Someone had been here recently. Hopefully they wouldn't be back soon.

Liz decided that this would have to be good enough for tonight. The inside of the cabin was just as destroyed as the outside. Bullet casings covered the floor and almost everything inside was broken. In the bedroom, there was a body. The man had killed himself. Liz covered her nose to block the stench and took the pistol from the man's grasp. She grabbed a pile of clothes off the ground as well. She shut the door to the bedroom behind her. She didn't want to look at anymore corpses.

In the back room of the cabin she found bottles of water and cans of vegetables. She brought them back out to the main room. She shut the front door that was ajar and slid the couch in front of it. Any intruder could crawl through the many open windows, but blocking the door made her feel a little better. The wood in the fireplace was old but thankfully it was dry so it would burn. There were matches in one of the kitchen drawers. She poured a little of the liquor she had found onto the wood and lit the fireplace.

As soon as she lit the fire, Liz immediately felt better. She stripped off her wet clothes and threw them on the ground. She didn't want to wear the Eden's Gate shit anymore. The clothes she had found in the bedroom were dry and didn't look too big. She put on camo cargo pants and a long sleeve shirt. The shirt was a black turtleneck and had American flag patches on the shoulders. She scoffed once she saw herself in them. She almost was dressed like Jacob fucking Seed.

Hopefully the soldier wasn't on her tail. Even though he was still in the church when she left, he was smart. One look around and he would know that she was gone. He was a hunter and a tracker. Even though she did her best not to leave a trail, he would probably still find her. With Joseph behind bars though, he would have bigger problems. Liz hoped that he and his whole family would get put behind bars. Then maybe all the crazy cultists would go away and she could have her home back. That probably wouldn't happen though.

Liz sat back on the couch and opened up her food. It wasn't the greatest but it was something. After being locked in a cage, she valued food and water a lot more. She thought back to the person she had been a month ago and how much she had changed. Now her brain was all screwed up, she could handle guns with ease, and she was a murderer. Those really weren't the best qualities to have as a twenty year old girl. And soon she would be twenty-one.

She and her friends were planning on going out to a bar to celebrate her finally becoming a real adult. Now she may not even live to see it. Liz didn't cry at the thought though. As much as she wanted to, crying wasn't going to help her. It would only waste her time and bring her closer to death.

After she finished eating, Liz laid back on the couch and tried to get some rest. Only she couldn't sleep. She laid on the couch for an hour trying to sleep but it was no use. Thoughts were rattling in her brain, refusing to let her rest. She got up off the couch and crawled over to the fireplace bringing the sleeping bag with her. She pulled her knees up to her chest and let the warmth from the fire soothe her worried soul. She pulled out the wanted poster of her Uncle and clutched it to her chest.

Liz didn't know that she was only a few hundred feet from the Wolf's Den bunker, where the Whitetails were. Liz was so close to finding her Uncle and she had no idea.

Maybe she would find her Uncle Eli. Maybe she would survive. But her mind continued to wander back to the redheaded soldier who was probably on his was on his way right now to cull the herd.

It's what he did.

…

Jacob gritted his teeth as Joseph gave himself willingly to the cops. He had shook his head at Joseph but he didn't listen to him. Why didn't people just listen to him? With the wave of his hand he could have had the cops dead as soon as they set foot in the church. If people just listened to Jacob all their problems would go away.

Joseph was so certain that God would protect him, but that was Jacob's job. He would die for his brother without question. It was his purpose in life. As Jacob watched his brother walk away in cuffs, he felt so helpless. If they took his brother he would personally make sure the he put every single one of those cops in the ground.

When the doors to the church opened again, the whole place was in pandemonium. Jacob trailed behind his brother with his hand on his holster. When he made it out the doors, he heard a splash in the water. He walked over to the riverbank and looked out. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary but he definitely heard something. He had turned to walk away when he saw it.

A figure emerged from the water. It was small and had golden hair.

'You've got to be fucking kidding me.' Jacob thought.

The girl had bolted. She saw her shot and she took it. Jacob was almost impressed by her quick thinking. Joseph getting arrested was sure the hell of a distraction. He would find her though. She wasn't smart enough to avoid him. There was no one that could outsmart Jacob Seed.

He walked away from the river. He would have plenty of time to find her. Right now he had to get his brother back. The deputies were loading him up on the helicopter. It started to take off and his men started to climb onto the helicopter. The deputies tried to shove them off but they just kept coming. When the chopper was at least fifteen feet in the air, one man jumped into the blades.

The chopper blades sliced him into a million pieces and halted the chopper's ascent. The helicopter crashed outside the fence to the compound. For a split second Jacob thought that he might have lost his brother. All of his men were frozen in fear, gawking at the flames that sprouted from the crash.

"Are we blind? Get out there and find The Father!" Jacob yelled.

The men were broken from their trance and took off in the direction of the flames. Jacob drew his red and black 1911 pistol from his holster and ran off to find his brother.

When he got to the crash he was surprised to find Joseph completely unscathed. He didn't have a single scratch on him. Jacob didn't always believe his brother but he was for sure right about one thing, God would not let anyone take him. His men had already seized most of the deputies from the chopper. Joseph had already sent others after the sheriff and the one deputy that had escaped.

Jacob approached his brother, relieved to see him alive.

"Jacob… My brother." Joseph said.

The two men touched foreheads.

"Fate had brought us towards the edge. The reaping has begun. Do what you need to prepare." He said.

Jacob nodded. They had waited a long time for this. They were ready. Jacob would make sure his men did what needed to be done. His men had drug out the marshal and two deputies from the crash. One was a woman with dark hair and the other was a man who had the face of a young boy. He looked weak. Jacob thought it would be fun to break him. He pointed to the male deputy.

"I want that one. Take him to the Grand View and start him on the trials. I got something I have to do first."

Jacob sighed and started to walk off.

"Where are you off to brother?" Joseph asked.

"I've got to tie up some loose ends real quick."

"It's that girl isn't it? Elizabeth."

Jacob stopped in his tracks and turned to face his brother. "Yeah. She took off."

"Then may God guide you in your quest. Bring my child back to me Jacob."

"Of course."

Jacob walked away from the crash and holstered his weapon. He had considered killing the girl for all the trouble she was worth, but his brother had other plans. Maybe he could send her over to Faith's region to become an angel. He thought she was pretty enough that the title would fit her well. But it would be a shame for all that training he spent on her to be put to waste in the bliss.

He walked back over to the riverbank where she had jumped in. She had definitely made it across the shore by now but she couldn't have gotten far on foot. He inspected the footprints she had left in the mud. It didn't take him long to figure out what direction she went in. He got in the boat that was on the shore and took off after Liz. The cold air ripped across the water. Jacob thought about where she would have gone. She was probably freezing her ass off right now. She wouldn't be out in the open. She would have hunkered down in some cabin and would be there until morning. That meant he had all night to find her before she moved.

Jacob drove the boat up to shore and got out. There were more prints in the mud. She had crawled up on the shore and started to head north. The tracks stopped where the forest began. She had been careful about where she stepped, only walking on the rocks.

He couldn't help but smirk to himself. 'Good girl.' He thought.

The hunt only excited him.

There was one thing she couldn't have prevented though, she was soaking wet. And just as he suspected there was a trail of water on the rocks. Jacob was thrilled. To him there was nothing more exhilarating than hunting down his prey. He was the wolf and the girl was his prey.

Jacob followed the water trail until it stopped at the road. There was a small picnic area a few dozen feet from him. She had stopped here to catch her breath. He walked over to where the sinner posters were. One of them had been torn down. The girl had ripped down Eli's poster. As smart as she was, he noticed that her emotions seemed to get the best of her. Her faith in that man would be her undoing.

He kept following the path that she had left before him. He tracked her footprints, branches she snapped, and followed puddles of water that was leading him straight back to her. It was almost if she wanted Jacob to find her. But that wasn't the case. If it were anyone else searching for her she could have slipped away easily. Jacob though, was an expert hunter and could find anyone no matter how much they didn't want to be found.

While he had kept a steady trail, he had been searching for a couple hours. Part of Jacob had expected to stumble across the girl's body, already exhausted from the cold. After following her trail some more Jacob spotted a small plume of black smoke in the sky. That was it. She had lit a fire. She had probably assumed that Joseph had gotten arrested and that their operation would be too broken to function without him.

It wasn't a bad assumption, but it was one that was going to cost her. Jacob went in the direction of the smoke and found a cabin. There was a soft orange glow coming from the cabin. Jacob thought about what he would do when he went inside. The girl would most likely try to fight him or pull a weapon on him. He thought about making the girl beg to take her back with him. He could make her get on her knees and beg until she was grateful for what he had done for her. Part of Jacob enjoyed the thought of Liz on her knees, begging for him. He dismissed the thought as quickly as it came. That girl had been a pain in his ass since she had gotten here. She deserved to know what a nuisance she had been to him.

He approached the cabin. He remembered when he and his men had destroyed this place. The place was riddled with bullet holes and all the windows had been shot out. That was a fun day. Any day when he gets to shoot something is a fun day for Jacob. He pulled his gun from his holster and silently stepped through the open window.

The girl was curled up into a ball by the fireplace. She was wrapped in a blanket and the poster of Eli was sitting at her feet. Jacob opened his mouth to speak but the girl beat him to it.

"If you're going to kill me, please just go ahead and do it." She said.

Jacob was shocked by her words. He thought she would get up to attack him in a blind rage, but she just sat there.

"Little lamb if I was going to kill ya. I would've done it already." He scoffed and holstered his gun.

Her voice was soft.

"I wish you would have. I can't do this anymore." She brought out a pistol from under the blanket and slid it across the floor so it was at his feet.

"Do what anymore? Be a pain in the ass? You know I wasn't planning on blowing your pretty little brains out but I might change my mind." He said.

The girl scrunched up her face. She got up to face him. She was looked pissed. She started him down. She was at least a foot shorter than him but she didn't back away. She poked him in the chest. The lamb wanted to pick a fight with the wolf.

"I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't do anything to you people before I came back here. You've kidnapped me, starved me, locked me in a cage, and forced me to fight in your goddamn holy war!" Liz spat.

Jacob laughed at her response.

"Oh poor you."

He started walking towards her. She didn't stand her ground. Jacob kept coming towards her until she was pressed against the wall. He put his hands on the wall beside her head.

"You think I asked to be beaten by my father? To get separated from my brothers? You think I asked to get sent off to war? To get shot down in the middle of a desert and have to eat my friend to survive? I didn't ask for any of that shit but it still happened to me."

He never raised his voice at her but he was still terrifying.

"The world doesn't care what you asked for. The weak sit around and complain about their lives, the strong fight their problems." He growled into her ear.

He was so close to her now. His breath was hot on her neck. She looked away but Jacob grabbed her chin so she was looking in his eyes.

"I've been soft on you. You have no idea what I could do to you. The ways I could make you hurt until you were begging for death. But I haven't done any of that shit to you, have I? You should be grateful for what I've done for you. Who were you before you met me, huh? Some dumb sorority girl. And now look at you."

She gritted her teeth. "My life was fine before I met you."

"I doubt it little lamb. You're not pissed because I locked you in a cage. You're pissed because you found your purpose. And you know that you can't go back." He said.

Jacob let go of her chin and backed off of her. His point had been made.

"And what exactly is my purpose?" She asked.

"You survive shit. Even though you shouldn't be able to."

Jacob meant what he said. That girl seemed to survive anything despite all the odds being stacked against her. It was uncanny.

Jacob noticed a yellow backpack on the floor and snatched it up. The girl had opened her mouth to protest but didn't say anything. He pulled out a bottle of cheap beer. He sat down on the couch and leaned back. He pulled out his hunting knife and popped the top to the beer. When it met his lips it tasted like shit but it was better than nothing. The girl was puzzled by his actions. She curled back into a ball on the opposite wall and faced him. He felt just like Old Man Seed. Shitty couch, bottle in hand, and a woman he didn't deserve at his feet.

Jacob thought about what his life could have been if things had gone differently. If he had lived a normal life with normal parents. If he hadn't gone through the shit he had gone through. He had always imagined himself living in a cabin like this. Somewhere out in the woods in north Georgia where it was peaceful.

He had never thought about having a family much. There was always some war to fight. He fought his father, he fought the system, he fought for his country, and now he fought for his brother. Jacob had never thought much about having a wife. He had been with a several women before but they were just a temporary weakness. Something to make the nights easier. His brother Joseph was married before and his brother John had countless lovers in the past.

But not Jacob. That was something that had always seemed to slip through the cracks for him. Love and women had no place on a battlefield. That was never his purpose. He never had time for things like that. The girl sitting across from him was very young and beautiful. If he had lived a normal life he might have married someone like her.

It didn't matter though. Thinking about what-ifs didn't help him. Jacob was too far broken to have a family. Or for anyone to care about him. His only purpose now was to serve his brother.

"Why did you save me that night?" She asked.

He rolled his eyes. She didn't know how to just leave things alone. "Because those men weren't following my orders and they needed to be put down for being cowards."

"But… why did you pull me up from the cliff? You could have just let me die and you didn't" She asked again.

He stared her down. She clearly wouldn't this go until he gave her some sort of answer.

"I did it because you're still useful to me. And if you weren't I would have enjoyed hearing your skull crack open on the rocks."

The girl said nothing to his spiteful comment. Jacob would have enjoyed listening to her die but he still needed her. Things would have been a lot simpler for him though if his men had just tossed her over the cliff.

"My Uncle hasn't tried to get me back." She said.

She wasn't asking him. It was a statement of fact. She knew.

"He's not coming for you sweetheart. The sooner you accept that the easier this is gonna be. Hell, if someone had one of my brothers I wouldn't stop until I had them back."

"But didn't your brother just get arrested?" She asked.

Jacob chuckled to himself. She didn't know. "He did. But then the chopper crashed and he walked away without a scratch."

She let out a sigh. "Yeah that seems about right. He really is chosen or some shit. No wonder it only took you about three hours to find me." She said.

He was surprised that she had been counting down the moments until his arrival. She had known that he was going to come for her.

"Three hours, huh? Damn I've been slacking. If only I had my judges with me I would have found you like that…" He snapped his fingers.

"Yeah well, it was worth the risk if it meant I could get away from you." There was venom in her words but she smiled innocently.

"But I guess it doesn't matter because you're like some goddamn blood hound." She said.

Jacob was amused by her words. No one had been blunt with him in a long time. Everyone around him was too afraid of him to speak their minds. Jacob wanted it that way, his men needed to respect him and know who was in charge. But it was nice for someone to fight him sometimes. He welcomed the challenge.

"Keep sweet talking me little lamb. I rather enjoy it."

She rolled her eyes. Jacob enjoyed pushing her buttons and getting her all riled up.

"Fuck. You." She spat.

"Oh honey… you couldn't handle it. But if you really wanted to you can join me on the couch over here. I'd make an exception for only you…"

He patted the spot beside him suggestively.

The girl's eyes grew wide. Jacob could see the blush rising in her cheeks. She huffed in response and buried her face in her knees. He chuckled.

That's what he thought. The girl had no problem cussing him out or trying to kill him but the moment he made a suggestive comment, she folded. He needed to remember that the next time she was pissing him off. Jacob wasn't surprised but he was a little disappointed. He could have really used a stress reliever. Even though most of the deputies had been captured, he was positive that he was in for some shit real soon. Now though, all he wanted to do was relax.

He sunk deeper into the couch. The beer was definitely helping. Jacob didn't drink a lot. He didn't like the feeling of not being in control. He wanted to be alert at all times. Threats could come from anywhere at any time. He felt more relaxed but he didn't dare close his eyes. The last thing he needed was to be stabbed by the girl in his sleep.

They sat there for a while in silence. The small fire in the corner didn't do much to fight off the cold. It was past midnight and with each hour it grew colder. Jacob knew he couldn't sit there forever but he wished he could.

With a grunt he got up from the couch. The reaping had started and there was shit that needed to be done. He pushed the couch aside and opened the door.

"Alright little lamb you have two options; you can get up and follow me out the door on your own two feet or I can throw you over my shoulder. Either way is fine by me."

The girl sat there for a minute, pondering the options. Without a word she got up and followed Jacob out the door like a lost puppy.