"Black hair?" I asked into the phone.

"Yes," Theo responded, "I saw the back of the creature. Can't tell whether it was female or male, but the black hair was visible." "I should really be angry at you for putting yourself in danger like that." "Boy, have I got stories to tell you one day."

I scoffed, then said goodbye and hung up. That man was something else.

Two days before, the doctor had left, and was promised to return sometime this week, and hopefully, he would have some advice on how to stop this creature. We could only hope.

My stomach sank as I watched a stretcher come in with a filled body bag on top. It was the third in two weeks. The creature was getting smarter, faster and deadlier. I didn't want to see another dead body in my life after this ordeal.

I punched in my time and clocked out, grabbing my bag from under the counter. Theo was on his way right now to pick me up, though I had insisted I could take my own car. But, stubbornly, he got his way.

As I walked out, I saw the gray clouds in the sky, and upon sitting down on the bench under the pavilion, I heard the rain begin to fall. The leaves on the decorative bushes behind me fluttered as the drops hit them, and the concrete near them began to darken.

A few minutes later, Theo pulled up under the drop off and I stood, walking to the passenger side and hopping in.

"Hey," I said, and he smiled. "Work go alright?" He asked, pushing the accelerator. "Went fine. As for results on the files, there wasn't much. A young couple, a teenage girl, a family of four, all pretty normal."

I purposefully failed to mention that Zinnia Rubek had been the teenage girl…with raven black hair. It could be just coincidence.

I wasn't going to point any fingers right away, after all, she had given me no reason to suspect her. If Theo knew that I would be checking into her life more, he might jump the gun. There were only certain things I trusted him with, and I didn't trust him to not try and hunt her down and kill her before we knew for certain.

"Damn," he muttered, glaring out of the windshield in thought. He leaned against his door, leaving only one hand on top of the steering wheel and covering his mouth with the other as he searched his mind. I let my eyes roam over him, wanting more than ever to reach out and touch him.

But I refrained.

When the time came, we'd get closer, and right now, we had enough on our plates without throwing in a stressful relationship. Deep in thought, Theo and I both startled when my phone went off with Liam's text sound. I read it, then turned, slightly stunned, to Theo.

"The doctor is coming back day after tomorrow. He says that he's found something." "Already? He must have had some sort of connections."

I shrugged, replied to the message and put my phone away.

"Cass," Theo said. "Hmm?" "We need to sit down and talk about some past things. If we're ever going to get past this phase we're in, it has to happen…and you're not going to like everything."

I nodded, knowing there was things he wouldn't like to hear about me either. But, I was glad that he was willing to take this step.

"Well, I have a completely free afternoon. I made lemonade this morning." "Are you sure we should talk so soon?" He asked. "Theo, I have a stalker after me, there's a wyvern on the loose killing people, and unlike you, I'm not supernatural. I could literally be killed at any given time. There is no such thing as too soon, only too late."

"It's just…going to be a lot of information." "Well, I get the idea that a lot happened before I showed up." "You're not wrong."

I took a deep breath, and spoke again, "Theo, there's things about my past that you wouldn't like either. It's why I have a hard time trusting you, and with the revelation of your pack…"

"I was about seventeen years old, Cassia. Teenagers, children, do really dumb things." "I couldn't afford to," I said, giving a light and wistful smile, "doing dumb things would have cost me my life."

"Well, we can't all be as perfect as you," he replied. "Don't say that." I said, trying not to be angry, "I'm far from perfect. My life is one huge ball of fuck up. Until I came to Beacon Hills, no place in the world saw me for me. I haven't been called Cassia in six years. I don't give a damn about you fucking up in the past, what I care about is are you going to do it again? And when, and who? I want to know I can trust you without doubts, and that in no point in my life will I ever have to run from you. Because I can't run from you…I could never hide, never fight back. You're the only one who has ever brought balance to my life, and I don't want to die because of that."

Theo parked the truck on a patch of dirt and grass beside the road and turned to me. He grabbed my hands and pulled them to his chest, making sure he had my undivided attention, and boy did he.

"You will not die to my hand or anyone else's. Remember my promise? I will not be making any assurances to not kill others who deserve it, like this stalker of yours. If he comes here and will not leave peaceably, I will kill him. But there won't be another pack, and other than Liam, there is no one here that has pushed me far enough to kill them."

I giggled, and he leaned farther, placing a hand on the side of my face, which I leaned into. "If I haven't made it obvious enough that I care for you by now, you're blind and stupid. I can't change the person I was, and the person I am. We are both bastards, but I do know that both sides of the coin have their pros and cons."

I smiled, and leaned harder into his hand, which he gently plowed into my hair. I watched his lips part, like he was going to kiss me again, and I wanted him too. I made the offer by inclining my body toward his, and he responded by doing the same.

My heart began to pump faster, and judging by the ways his jumped underneath my left palm, I'd say he was looking forward to it too. I inhaled the strong, manly scent of his deodorant, taking comfort in the familiarity of him, and felt warmth as his face grew close to mine.

Closing my eyes, I held my breath as his lips brushed mine without any force, bringing goosebumps to my skin. Just as he began to apply a little more force to the kiss, we both jumped at the sudden, sharp sound of rapping on his window.

Theo whipped around and I was still trying to catch my breath as we turned to look at the intruder. Liam stood grinning from ear to ear in front of the window, and I felt my cheeks redden. Theo rolled down the window.

"What?" He griped. "Hope I didn't disturb anything." He said innocently, but with a wicked smile.

"Oh, no of course-"

"You know you did!" Theo interrupted me, "Now, I repeat 'What'?"

"What if we tried to trap this thing?" Liam said, serious. "Trap the wyvern? Liam, you're a genius, how did you ever come up with that?" Theo asked sarcastically. "Do you really want me to punch you in the balls right now?" Liam griped back.

"Boys!" I said, snapping them out of it, "Come on, now. Liam, where and when would we even think about doing this?"

"We need to do it somewhere that could take a beating, maybe the school locker room? A basement?" "And what exactly do you suggest we do to trap it, Liam?" Theo asked, "Put a leash on it, lead it there, and then kindly ask it to stay put?"

"I'm getting there!" Liam bit, "It will have to be something that either Mason or Cass does, because we're going to need all hands on deck to lead it there. Then, we try and seal it in with wolfsbane."

"Wolfsbane?" I asked. "Yes, wolfsbane is nearly impossible for my kind to get through. It's a barrier. If the supernatural rules apply to the wyvern, then we can seal it away and try to make it change back into its human form. Then we figure out what to do."

"And how do you make it change back?" I asked.

"Pain." Theo said, turning to me and looking at me from under his lashes.

I nodded, and licked my lips. "So…that means you're going to have to be up close and personal." I said, not really having to ask. "Yes," they both said in unison. "But," Liam continued, "this is where we'll have help. Chris Argent is human, and he's a hunter. If we can seal this thing in somewhere, the pain can be dished out through his devices, and he won't go overboard." He said, glaring at Theo, who rolled his eyes.

"How about Cora, is she in on this?" "Yeah, spoke to her earlier. She even suggested something about an old, desolate bank vault. Said she might know a place." "Okay, so, all we need to do is prep this. When do you want to do it?"

"Tonight." Liam said, "Chris, Cora and I will arrange it all and text you the details later. Cassia, more than likely Mason will be busy, and that will leave you to put down the wolfsbane, do you think you can do that?"

My stomach flipped, but I nodded. "Good, thanks. Chris will be with you to show you how to use it. I'll message you in a couple hours."

With those words, Liam ran off back to his car and drove off.

"Cassia," Theo began. "Please don't try to talk me out of this. We're a team, and I want to do what I can."

Theo snickered, "I wasn't going to. Just…listen to Argent, alright? He's a badass, and dangerous, but he knows his stuff." "I'm not you, Theo," I grinned, "I know how to take orders AND follow them."

"Har-de-har," He said, turning to face me again, and took my face in his hands, "Seriously, though. Pay attention to your surroundings. I know you don't have hearing or sight like us, but you're smart, and you know what it takes to stay alive. Use that knowledge."

"Yes, Theo." I said, giving him a small smile. "Good." He said, giving me one of his light smiles also and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

**Alright, another chapter! Hope you're all looking forward to the next chapter, it's going to be a bit of a doozy! Thanks for reading!**