I felt like a zombie walking into the hospital, and probably looked like one too.

I hadn't had all the time I really wanted to get myself cleaned up, and right now, the last thing I felt like doing was talking. What I really wanted to do was curl up into the fetal position, cry over the unfairness, and then high tail it into another state.

But I told myself that I had asked for this.

When I had allowed myself to get more involved with this town, and the people within it, and the secrets it kept, I had asked for trouble. I was scared of Damian, and how he always found me somehow, but if Theo decided I needed to die, then I would die.

He could follow my scent for miles, he could track for days, and he was supernaturally strong and healed fast. Any damage that I might could inflict would mean nothing if his desire was to kill me too.

Sorrow washed over me again. Pure pain made my knees want to buckle. I knew that I had really liked Theo, but I hadn't known how much until now that I was facing having to break away from him.

Melissa was the first to see me from behind the desk, and her grin slowly disappeared as I approached. I didn't have the willpower to give her even so much as a fake smile. I was far too miserable. She handed her papers and the phone over to Mrs. Vincent, who was too busy to notice me, and came around the desk, opening her arms before she even asked a question.

It had been a long time since I felt the embrace of a mother, and as soon as her arms clasped around me, I felt the presence of my mother, but this time it wasn't of her lying dead on the floor. She was the power in Melissa's hug. It made me realize just how lonely I had been all these years.

Melissa ushered me to a room close by just as my tears began to flow, and she closed it quietly, motioning someone to give us a minute.

"Oh, sweetheart, what's wrong?" She asked, gently pushing a strand of hair behind my ear, and I took a tissue from a box on the table. "I…I got too invested in someone." "Who, if you don't mind my asking?"

Well, nothing to lose now.

"Theo," I sniffed. I could see the wheels turning in her head, and the flames in her eyes as she tried to think of what to say.

"What, um, how did…?"

"Over the past few months," I shrugged, "Liam just told me that he's a killer." She scoffed, but tried, for my sake to stay nice.

"I can't say that it isn't obvious, his attraction to you. I'm not saying your crush was blind, or stupid, or wrong, but there are so many guys out there better for you than him."

It hurt to hear that from her, but I understood. He'd given her cause to dislike him at some point, though I had no clue what had happened before I got here, and I could tell that it tainted her opinion.

"He's going to meet me here at one. I'm going to confront him." "Uhhhh….I'm not too sure that's a good thing to do." "If you're worried he'll react badly, it wouldn't surprise me. That man is hot-headed, but I have to do this."

"I have an electric wand thingy that Chris gave me. I'll zap him if he does anything out of place." I giggled, then thanked her and went to clean up.

After caring for thirteen patients, I dreaded seeing the clock strike one. I had no choice but to head to the cafeteria, so I grabbed an orange from my bag and headed that way.

I was not surprised to see that he wasn't there yet. He wasn't known to be on time, and being ditched was the last thing I was worried about.

I began working on peeling the orange, taking comfort in the smell of the citric oil and doing my best to keep calm.

After a few minutes, I heard the door slam from around the corner, and I knew it was him.

He walked into the cafeteria like he owned the place, that damnably cute and mischievous grin on his face. I lowered my eyes, refusing to acknowledge just how good looking he was, and did my best to keep my heartbeat steady.

I noticed as half the women in the room watched him; some with scorn, some with lust, and others with slight fear, but I knew he secretly loved it. I returned my attention to the orange in my hand, and kept my gaze there.

Seconds later, I felt the table shift as he settled across from me. I looked up to see him flashing his canines in a winning smile, but I wasn't in the mood. Liam's revelation earlier still had me shaken.

Could Theo really, truly have killed the people he was sworn to protect?

"Are you pissed about something? You reek of it." He spoke with a growl. "Appreciate the update on my scent," I said as calmly and un-angrily as possible. Theo grumbled, and I took another quarter sized patch of skin from the orange.

I had no clue when the sorrow had turned to sudden rage, but it had occurred within the fifteen seconds he'd entered and sat down in front of me.

What I hid, I did to protect him, so that Damian wouldn't hurt him, but he lied to me. I hated what I had to keep secret, and he'd shown no intentions of letting me hear this valuable information.

"Where is the attitude spawning from? This morning you were peachy."

I swallowed.

"Theo, did you have a pack?"

Rage showed clearly on Theo's face, turning that charming face into a dark shadow of fury. It was terrifying to witness, but I did my best to stay collected.

"Who told you that?" He snarled, "Let me guess, little Liam Dumb-bitch."

"He didn't do anything wrong. And you didn't answer my question."

I heard a growl forming in the back of his throat. "Yes," he bit, "I had a pack."

Dread filled me before I'd even begun to utter my next question.

"What happened to them?"

"They didn't make it through the change."

"Liam said you killed them."

"I'm going to kill him."

I finally met his eyes.

They were glowing with anger, but I saw the truth in them, and suddenly my orange wasn't so appealing anymore.

"I think you should go, Theo. I've got to go back to work." I said dismissively, standing from the table and going to throw my perfectly good orange in the garbage.

"I'm not going anywhere," he stood to follow me, "where the hell do you come off on blindsiding me with this?"

He stayed on my heels as we exited the cafeteria, then he pushed me against the wall in the hall. "Let go." I said.

"No." He hissed. He let my arm go, but kept me pinned with an arm on each side of my head. His face and body were so close that it left me breathless. Suddenly, my recent dream came to mind.

But I felt myself wearing down under his cold glare.

"Why would you do that?" I asked, hearing the smallness in my voice and feeling the tears well up again in my eyes, "Kill people that you were supposed to care about?"

"I was a colossal idiot. With each mate that I killed, I grew stronger. Though I was tricked, it wasn't all on him. I wanted to do it."

I shuddered.

"That was years before I became an ally to Scott and Liam alike. I don't know why that little asshole even brought that up to you."

"Because he cares about my safety." I replied, pushing against his chest then.

He snatched my hands away and pinned them to my sides.

His forehead was almost resting against mine, he was so close. "And you think I don't?"

The question made my heart soar, but I did my best to quiet it. Meeting his eyes, I spoke quietly, letting a portion of my pain enter my voice as I answered him.

"You killed people who meant more and were stronger than me. What in the hell would stop you from killing me if it benefited you?"

His chest began to rise and fall with hurried, angry pants. Releasing my hands, he punched a hole in the brick beside me. His eyes shone gold, his fangs sharp and claws extended.

I waited breathlessly for him to decide what to do. Once he had control, he traced my jaw with a claw gently before drawing my face up to look at him.

I was surprised at the tenderness of his touch, but I could see him reminding me not to push him too far.

"I'm still an asshole," he spoke, "I always will be. But I would never kill you. If I had wanted to, I would have already done so."

No doubt hearing my heart take off, Theo dropped his hands from me, growling close to my ear, which made goosebumps ripple down my arms, and walked out of the exit.

I felt my body begin to shake, and I rubbed my sore wrists, shaking my head.

I felt dazed. That was the first time I had been victim to his anger, and to the possibility of being hurt by his power. Stupidly, it hadn't scared me enough to hate him.

I'd seen pieces of him, vulnerable pieces, in the months I'd been here. And it was true, if he had wanted me dead, I would be dead.

I realized that although he scared me, I was not scared of him the way that I was scared of Damian.

And that was the stupidest thing of all.

~Theo POV~

If flames could shoot from my eyes, this whole town would be on fire.

I was so pissed that my eyes still hadn't returned to their normal color, and I kept ducking my head as I passed humans on the street.

When I found Liam, I was going to tear him to shreds.

Fuck being peaceful.

I didn't care if the wyvern killed every single one of these puny humans. I was going to murder Liam, and if Mason and Corey insisted, I'd kill them too.

Let the whole world burn in hell. I'd save Rachel, and show her that I wasn't the jackass I used to be that Liam was showing her.

My actions back at the hospital were probably a tad much, but I'd been so angry at the unexpected accusation, and had allowed myself to lose my temper. And yes, it had scared her, but I saw the determination and the rebellion in those blue eyes. She'd kicked my ass before, and I had zero doubt she'd give me what for next time I saw her, but if I had any say in it, Liam would not be delivering her a past image of me anymore.

He'd gone too far this time, and I was going to make him pay.

I knew he might be with Cora, looking for things on the creature, so I headed to the library first. When that came up dry, I went back to his place.

Bingo.

There was his car.

Without knocking, I entered his house and stomped upstairs. He heard me before I reached his door, and opened it, but I caught him off guard by connecting my fist to his jaw.

He fell to the floor, holding his jaw and quickly standing to fight back, but I buried my fist in his gut before he could say or do anything.

I let rage power my punches, but kept a clear head. If I let anger consume me, I would lose the battle, and I had no intention of doing so.

He grunted, trying to catch his breath and I broke his nose, feeling satisfaction ignite in my chest as I heard the cartilage crunch under my knuckles. Blood spurted through the air, leaving an almost too perfect line across his wall.

I let my claws sharpen, and ripped them across his side and back, leaving behind four deep gashes.

I then allowed him to rest as he laid curled up on the floor, trying to recoup. I popped my neck, breathing hard from exertion, then squatted down beside his body.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" He growled, still laying on his side, unable to hold everything that hurt.

"Felt the need to talk about my pack to her, did you?" I growled. "Killing me is only going to prove what I told her." He groaned.

"Oh, I'm not going to kill you, I'm going to pulverize you." I snarled, delivering a swift, hard kick directly to his spine.

As his anger flared, he stood despite the pain and whirled, showing me his teeth and roaring at me. I roared in response, then grabbed him as he flew at me and flung him into the desk in the corner of his room.

Papers fluttered everywhere, pencils bounced off the walls and books landed on the floor as he attempted to get up.

"Go ahead, I'll just show her the damage you've dealt. What you could do to her." "You'll heal before then, dumbass and no. You deserve every bit of this, and more. She doesn't."

He flew at me and I pushed him straight to the floor and ground my foot into the space between his shoulder blades, incapacitating him.

"I allowed you to have Hayden, despite trying to drive her away. I saved her life, but all she saw was you, and all she cared about was becoming like you. I may not have had any direct interest, but you still stole her. I will not let you steal Rachel from me too."

I pressed harder into his back, enjoying his grunt of discomfort.

Finally, I took my foot off of his back, and stepped back, and he took a deep breath before standing, reaching again to hold the wounds on his side.

"Keep this up and you won't need me to 'steal' her," he grimaced, "she'll see you for the monster that you are."

"She makes me better, and until you poisoned the well, she was the only one who looked at me for me and not for the things I've done in my past. It's going to take a long time to convince her I can be who she needs now."

"Good," Liam grunted again, "You deserve to have to work for your happy ending. You don't get any free rides."

"Guess I should get started then, shouldn't I?"

**Hope you're all enjoying this! Thank you so much for your time and reads (and reviews)!**