Theo's arms tightened around me as I began to stir from my slumber.

"Theo…?" I whispered almost inaudibly, but didn't receive an answer, which told me that he was still asleep. I couldn't help the rush of happiness and…

And…what?

…love?

My heart jumped at the idea that I could be in love with Theo. True, I had known for a while that I really liked him, but had it graduated to the big L word?

Nervous suddenly, I cuddled closer into the bed, and once again felt Theo's arms contract. I just did keep a yelp from letting loose as he put a little too much pressure to my wounded side. I needed to stop moving for now.

Glancing at the clock on my side table, I was curious to know why I had awaken so early. It wasn't even seven yet. Then I remembered Melissa's text messages from yesterday. If I was going to be there on time, I'd need to wake Theo up to get him to at least let me go.

Wincing with the pain, I got a little leverage on my elbow and turned gently, pressing my hand to Theo's cheek softly. After a few seconds, he began to wake up, and without opening his eyes, he placed his nose against my palm and pressed a kiss to my wrist. "Theo," I said gently, stroking his brow, "I need to get cleaned up and be ready to go to the hospital. You can still sleep but I need you to let me go."

He sighed heavily and sleepily before finally opening his eyes. I stroked the bone just below his left eye and gave a small smile. His look lead down to my side, and he unraveled me from his embrace to sit up. "How's your side this morning?" He asked groggily.

"Sore still, but that's to be expected. You don't have to get up, I just needed to be let go," I chuckled, reaching over and brushing my fingers across the back of his hand. "I'm already up." He stated.

Without saying anything else, he reached over and lifted my shirt to expose the bandage. "Any blood?" I asked. "A little. Need help changing it?" "Just getting it off. Then I'm going to shower. Once I am decent again, I'll need your help redressing it."

"Want me to shower with you?" He flirted, giving me a devilish smile. "If we were married," I said jokingly, laughing and softly whacking his arm before sitting up.

~Theo POV~

My heart thudded tightly in my chest. Had she just said 'married'?

The whole idea, the thought, was enough to make bile rise in the back of my throat. We had been sleeping in the same bed together for two weeks, which she had asked for most of the time, but the idea of me seeing her naked had to be saved for after that?

I wanted to shudder at the thought, but left it alone as she stood slowly and went to walk to the bathroom. It wasn't the idea of marrying her, it was just the marriage thing. Together, forever, promising to only love each other.

What would happen if she suddenly woke up one day and decided it wasn't what she wanted? With what we had now, we could be happy, and if she up and left, there wouldn't be any legal holds.

I was quite sure about what I felt for her, and knew I wouldn't ever find anyone else, but with my past, her own, and my being a supernatural creature, how long would it be before she made up her mind that she didn't want this life anymore?

Hearing her exclaim in pain broke my train of thought, and I stood and went to her. She had her teeth gritted, and I could practically feel the heat coming off of her angry skin. We'd had her checked, and everything was fine, with no signs of festering or infection, but I could tell that it still hurt her pretty badly.

I bent down to help her take the tape off, but pressed a kiss to her side, like I had yesterday. This time, I paused, feeling her pain begin to leach into my face. I heard her sigh gently, and met her eyes as I pulled back.

"Thank you, Theo." She said softly. I could hear from the tone of her voice and tell from the slight darkness around her eyes just how exhausted she was. Pain did that to people, and it made me wish more than ever that I could change her. It also made me want to crown Melissa for making her get up early and come to the hospital.

"Be careful not the get your stitches too wet. You won't like the result." I instructed, peeling the last of the surgical tape away. "I know," she replied with a light, tired smile, "CNA, remember?"

I nodded, then stood and walked out of the door, closing it behind me as I heard the water start.

Sitting down on the couch, I listened out for her to make sure she didn't slip, and let my thoughts soar again.

~Cassia POV~

"I can drive, Theo." I argued with him as he stared at me.

"If you say so, but if your stitches start to bleed, I'm going to say I told you so." He said, grinning and handing me the keys. I rolled my eyes and smiled, and off to the hospital we went.

"I'll wait here, you just scream if you need me." Theo said as he helped me out of the car and steadied me. "Wow, I'm surprised you think I'm old enough to do that on my own," I jabbed, trying not to smile. "Shut up," he said, placing a hand lightly over my hip, "don't act like you haven't loved every second."

His eyes took on a lusty look and I gently leaned into his chest. He took my face in his hands and pressed a quick, but lingering, kiss to my mouth, making my heart stutter. "Now, go see what Melissa wants, and be careful." He said, then walked around to the passenger side of the car and climbed back in.

I walked slowly and steadily to the door, trying not to pull my stitches any more than I already was.

Melissa looked anxious as she sat behind the front desk, her brown eyes tired, but alert. She looked like she was ready to run at the drop of a hat.

"Melissa," I greeted, and she stood, motioning me to come join her in a secluded room. I followed as fast as I could manage and she closed the door gently behind me.

"I'm sorry I had to ask you to come in, but this isn't something I could discuss over the phone, if you know what I mean." "I do. What's going on?"

"Would you happen to know anything about what this creature might be…allergic…to?" "No, we've been striving to figure that out. I haven't found any weaknesses, though wolfsbane seems to at least keep it within its boundaries." "And I thought about that. Chris said that the bullets he shot into it just reflected off of its skin. Obviously wolfsbane isn't the answer."

"A worrisome thought." I agreed. "But…what if the creature were responsive to an element?" "What do you mean?"

"Okay, myths and legends believe that if you use silver against a werewolf, you can kill it. Silver is its weakness. According to them, it will not only stop a wolf in its tracks, there is no cure to heal it. If they can shapeshift, and you wound them, it will reveal their true identity."

"Are you saying we should use silver against the wyvern?" "It's certainly worth a try, but…" "But?" I encouraged her to go on.

"What if it were a different element?"

I began to think. "I wouldn't think it was a gas, at least not a common one, like hydrogen."

"How about gold?" She asked.

"Gold? I really hope not, because that's very hard to come by out of the blue."

Melissa suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "Do you know for sure that it's gold?" I asked in a small voice.

"I think I do." She said. "How? I searched pages for weeks in books and on websites and nothing said anything about gold."

"Well…it showed up in a patient's blood test. I just didn't think anything about it at the time, and I kept forgetting to mention it to you."

Just as I opened my mouth to reply, I heard what sounded like Liam hollering coming from the entrance. I looked back to Melissa, and we opened the door, looking for him.

He spotted us immediately and ran for the door, closing it after he entered and began talking too fast for us to comprehend through his panting. "Liam, Liam," Melissa said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Slow down! Now, what's going on?"

"I don't know how, it's not supposed to be possible, but it escaped!"

My insides felt as though they were liquefying. It had escaped? How?!

"Liam, how could this thing have escaped? It couldn't break the barrier, could it?" "Not from what we could tell! Nothing is supposed to be able to get through that barrier."

"How about…determination?" Melissa asked quietly. "What?" I asked, and watched Liam's eyes go big. "Determination." Liam said, his face taking on a startled yet understanding realization, "What if it's so desperate to kill something or someone that it freed itself? It has to be wanting…vengeance…but from who?"

"Determination is what made Scott a True Alpha. When he made up his mind to save his boss, he was absolutely going to make it across that barrier, and he did." Melissa said, a touch of pride lighting up the features of her face before returning back to her worried and concentrated look. "If this creature is seeking revenge, it could make it even more powerful that we gave it credit for."

"And that means we have got to stay on its heels. I'll message you both later. For now, stay close and if you see it…" Liam's eyes fell to my injured side. "We'll stay out of the way." I said, giving him a light smile. "I hate to do this, but I need Theo," Liam said. "He's not my property, Liam, please, go ahead, we'll be safe here."

He nodded, then ran back out the door. I went to follow, but Melissa pulled me back and spoke in a hushed tone again. "That thing could show up here. Now, I don't know the first thing about who it might to kill, but I do know that we've got to find a way to stop it. Since we're not of use to them via strength, we need to be useful as the brains. Let's go talk to Chris." She said, beginning to open the door.

"Wait," I said, tugging gently on her arm, and she stopped, "who was the patient with the gold in their bloodstream?" "Cassia, we really don't have to worry about that right at this minute." She said, reaching for the handle again.

"But what if calling it out by its true name changes it back?" I asked. Melissa stopped, then sighed.

"The patient," she said slowly, "was Zinnia Rubek."

**I know, it's a little short this time, but things will pick up more very soon! I apologize for the slower updates, I have been very busy and unable to get to a computer! Thank you all for reading!**