Happiness damn near destroys you, breaks your faith to pieces on the floor.
So you tell yourself, that's enough for now. Happiness has a violent roar.

"I need gas, can you come with me?" I glanced up to see Allison standing in the doorway of my room.

I held up a finger to her to indicate for her to wait a moment and grabbed my phone that was previously on speaker. I took it off speaker and placed it in between my ear and my shoulder.

"Hey, I gotta go. Allison and I are going out." I explained as I stepped off of my bed and grabbed a pair of black Vans from under my bed.

I sat down on the edge of my bed and pulled them on while Allison watched me curiously from the doorway. I smiled shyly at her and waited for Isaac to say anything.

"Okay, just, you know, be careful." He replied. "It's night time and there might be somebody out there." I smiled at his way of telling me that he worried about me and walked out of the room, following Allison closely behind.

"I'll be fine. I'll see you soon, okay?" I promised as we walked down the stairs. I saw my dad peak out from the study and look at us curiously, but he ducked back in before we could say anything. I frowned at that, but continued outside and to Allison's car. "Okay, bye." I smiled and hung up.

I climbed into the car and glanced over to see Allison staring at me, waiting for me to dish out all the gossip on that phone call. I smiled and shook my hand while Allison drove out of the driveway and to the closest gas station.

"Okay, but please just be careful." Allison told me after I'd explained about the police station and how Isaac had gotten my number somehow. "I'm not exactly poster child for werewolf/hunter relationships, but they get really tricky, especially since everyone knows Isaac's a werewolf. " I sighed and got out of the car at the same time she did.

I frowned and ran my hand up and down my arm. It was freezing in early winter in northern California, especially this late at night when the sun wasn't up to at least warm us up a little. I looked around, trying to see if there was anyone around us. Ever since my parents dropped the hunter bomb on me, I'd become super cautious when it came to being alone in random places late at night.

I leaned against the car as Allison put the gas nozzle into the tank. The little bell above the door chimed and I glanced up and watched as a guy walked out of straddled his motorcycle. Allison looked over his shoulder at him as the guy smiled at us and nodded and then put on his helmet. She frowned and turned away from him, raising an eyebrow at me in confusion. I shrugged, not having any idea why this random guy had smiled at us. He started the bike and drove away.

I sighed and held my arms tighter to my body. I started to feel a little weird about this entire situation and just as the guy on the motorcycle was out of her eyesight, the lights at the gas station went out. I stood still in almost complete darkness and knew that something was going on. I stepped back, closer to the car and looked around, trying to see if anyone was approaching us.

"Emma, get in the car." I turned to look over my shoulder as Allison took the nozzle out of the gas tank and headed towards the driver's side door.

I followed quickly, climbing into the passenger seat. I glanced over and frowned, though, when I saw Allison reaching for the keys that were no longer in the ignition.

"Em, do you see my keys anywhere?" she asked. I glanced around the car as Allison climbed out to look for them outside.

I frowned when I couldn't find them and climbed out of the car, looking on my side. I looked around on the ground, but straightened up at the same time as Allison did when I heard keys jingling nearby. I frowned and looked around, not being able to see anyone or anything due to the darkness.

I looked across the street, towards some of the other buildings, but turned back when I heard Allison gasp. My eyes widened when I saw my cousin with a bag over her head, but before I could move to do anything to help her, one was pulled over my head as well. I struggled, trying to fight back, but was unable to.

I was gagged and transported somewhere, by the feeling of the seat underneath me I thought maybe we were in Allison's car. It seemed kind of weird that kidnappers would transport us somewhere in our own car, but then again maybe it was a genius idea. I tried to listen and hear where we were going, but that became impossible as soon as the person driving the car turned on the radio and turned up the volume really loud.

I felt around me as best as I could with my hands tied together behind my back. I could feel another body next to mine, probably Allison. I reached out and gripped her hand, she tightened her grip on mine and we held our hands together the entire journey to wherever we were going. Soon enough, the car stopped and the back doors were pulled open. Allison was pulled from her side as I was pulled from mine and we were forced to drop each other's hands.

I was put down into a chair and my hands were rebound so that my arms went around the back of the chair. The bag over my head was ripped off and I glanced around wildly, trying to figure out where I was and who had taken me. I saw Allison next to me, we made eye contact and I nodded slowly, trying to encourage her the best way I could. I turned and my eyes widened when I saw my Uncle Chris in a similar position across from us.

"Ever wonder what happens if a hunter gets bitten, Allison?" I frowned and glanced around, trying to find the source of the voice.

Allison wasn't doing too well, she was crying and struggling trying her hardest to get to her dad. I calmed myself down as best as I could and lowered myself in the chair so that my arms were bent. I reached my fingers as far as they could go and attempted to untie the bonds.

"Ever wonder what happens if you get bitten?" I frowned and leaned back in my chair when I was unable to untie any of the bonds.

"What do you think your father would do?" I paused frowned, thinking about what my father would do if he knew that I was fraternizing with the enemy. "What do you think he'd have to do?" I shook my head.

I just had to believe that my dad wouldn't kill me. I had to believe that my family loved me enough to let me go if I were to become a werewolf. I didn't believe in all of the hunting stuff enough to want to die if I became a werewolf, but I also never saw myself actually becoming one.

I glanced up when I heard my Uncle Chris groaning and saw the chair he was sitting on break. I guess that was one way of getting yourself out. He quickly untied his bonds and grabbed the gag from his mouth. He held his hand out and an iPhone was placed into it. I frowned when I saw a recording playing.

"When all it would take to change everything is one bite." I glared at the phone. "One bite."

"Everything changes." Uncle Chris stood and handed the phone to the guy we'd seen at the gas station. I sat back in my chair, glaring at my uncle.

He reached forward and took the gag from out of Allison's mouth. The guy from the gas station stepped forward and took the gag out of mine.

"Is this how we're gonna do father/daughter talks from now on?" she asked, glaring up at her father harshly.

"No," Uncle Chris shook his head, glancing over at me. "This is how we're gonna train you." He pointed to Allison and then moved his hand to point at me. "Do you know why we use arrows?" Uncle Chris asked as he stepped away from us.

"They can't heal until it's taken out." Allison replied.

"Look familiar?" Uncle Chris held out a broken arrow. I frowned when I realized that it must've been the one that I shot the hunter with. I inched forward, trying to protect Allison from any verbal lashing she might get if her dad thought it was her that had shot the hunter. He glanced over at me and raised an eyebrow.

"You were going to kill him." I spoke for the first time, glaring at my uncle.

"That's right and if we find Isaac on another full moon we will kill him." I continued to glare, trying my hardest not to show any other emotion. The last thing I needed was to be emotionally vulnerable to my uncle. He stepped forward, pointing the arrow at me. "That's the hard choice we make, but it wasn't my choice."

"Gerard?" Allison asked.

"No." Uncle Chris shook his head. He walked around and kneeled behind the chair Allison was sitting in. "You see, our family has a surprisingly progressive tradition." I looked up at him in confusion. "Knowing wars and violence are typically started by men, we place the final decisions, the hard ones…with the women." I stiffened, knowing immediately who had put the target on Isaac's back.

I shook my head, not being able to believe that my mother and aunt had decided to kill an innocent teenaged boy. That was a direct violation of the code, something my mother had always seemed so devoted to.

"Our sons are trained to be soldiers." Uncle Chris said as he walked away from Allison's chair. "Our daughters," he placed his hand down on Allison's shoulder.

"To be leaders." I glanced up and frowned when I saw my own dad walking through the doorway of the room and over to me. He circled around my chair and placed the arrow into my tied hands. I glanced down at the arrow and the up into my dad's eyes.

"Training starts now." Uncle Chris said as he left the room. My dad nodded and left the room.

"Time them." He told the guy standing in the doorway; he nodded and then pressed a button on his beginning to time us.

I frowned and began working on the bonds, cutting them with the arrow in my hand. I glanced over to see Allison trying to untie herself. I shook my head and continued sawing. After about an hour and a half the bonds were cut enough that I could slide my smaller wrists through. I grinned and stood from my chair, immediately going behind Allison's and beginning to untie her.

"We have to be careful, Allie." I whispered as I was untying her. "It just seems too obvious that I get kidnapped by my own dad and forced into training on the same night that I was talking to Isaac on the phone."

I untied Allison and then two of us stood. We walked out of the house and around to see the guy from before leaning against her car.

"Congrats." He smirked.

"On what, it took us two and a half hours." I frowned as I moved my hand to open the passenger side door.

"It took me three my first time." I smirked a little to myself and nodded, climbing into the car.

Allison started it and the hunter stood from his position. I glanced back to see him walking over to his bike and then turned forward in the car.

We were silent the entire ride home, neither of us really knew what to say. Our mothers had decided to kill Isaac and our fathers had kidnapped us, our lives were getting pretty confusing. I chewed on my lip and stared out of the window, wondering how simple my life would've been if we had just stayed in San Francisco.

When we got home I stalked inside, ignoring my mom's call from the kitchen. I climbed up the stairs and went to my room, closing the door behind me.

The next morning I woke up and continued with my everyday routine, but refused to say anything to any of my family members, but Allison. My mom frowned and watched me in the kitchen as I put some coffee into a travel mug. I glanced up and saw her staring at me and raised an eyebrow, but otherwise kept my face neutral and free of any emotion.

I shook my head and grabbed my bag for school. I grabbed keys from the wall, not really caring whose car they belonged to. I went outside and looked down. They were my dad's keys. I sighed and walked over to the Range Rover, I unlocked it and climbed in. I was too impatient to wait for Allison to get ready and I really didn't want to be in the house with my family for any longer than I had to be.

I got to school and parked next to Allison's usual parking spot. I climbed out of the car and locked it and then began walking into the school.

"Hey there, little Argent." I raised an eyebrow at Stiles as he began walking beside me. "You're smaller than Allison, therefore, you're little Argent." He smirked. I rolled my eyes and headed towards the gym.

I changed in the locker room into a pair of shorts and a tank top. I walked out into the gym and pulled the hairband from my wrist, pulling my dark curls into a high ponytail. I sighed when I saw the giant rock wall; today was going to be a bad day.

I stayed near the back during the beginning; I didn't want to be called on if I didn't have to do it.

"Argent, the smaller one and Jackson." Coach pointed to me and then to Jackson, who I hadn't even noticed was in this class.

I rolled my eyes and walked over to the wall, easily attaching myself into the harness without any help.

"Do a lot of rock climbing, Em?" I turned and raised an eyebrow at Jackson, who had watched me the entire time I was getting into the harness. I shrugged, why let him know that I had actually done quite a bit of rock climbing.

I began climbing easily enough, leaving Jackson behind only for a few moments.

"I shouldn't be surprised." I turned to frown at him. "You Argents are good at everything, apparently." He rolled his eyes.

"You're right." I beamed.

"Add your extreme athletic ability to your weird beauty and you're the perfect girl." He shook his head.

"I'm not perfect, Jackson." I told him, climbing up a little higher. I glanced down at him. "Far from it." I reached the top of the wall and easily propelled myself down, passing Jackson on my way down.

I got myself out of the harness and stepped back, merging into the crowd around me easily enough. I stood next to Allison and watched while Jackson came down only a few moments after me. He sauntered over and stood beside me, smirking down at me. I rolled my eyes and watched Allison and Scott begin to climb up the wall.

I rolled my eyes as the class laughed when Scott fell down the wall. Allison reached the top soon after and then propelled down. She joined me, standing on my other side because Jackson was still standing beside me.

"Alright next two, Stilinski and Erica." Stiles nodded and walked over to the wall; Erica followed a little slower behind him, but harnessed herself in nonetheless.

I watched with a concerned frown as Erica struggled to climb up the wall. Stiles propelled down beside her, having already reached the top and she was only near the middle. Everyone stepped forward and gathered near the bottom of the wall, looking up at Erica. Coach began shouting up at her, asking if she was okay. Lydia corrected him about the definition of vertigo and I smirked over at the red head. She glanced over at me and grinned and then turned back to looking up at Erica.

"Coach, maybe it's not safe. You know she's epileptic." Allison said.

"Why doesn't anybody tell me this stuff?" Coach shook his head. "Erica, you're fine. Just kick off from the wall. There's a mat to catch you. Come on." Coach encouraged.

I frowned and looked up, waiting for her to make any kind of move. Erica kicked off from the wall and came down easily. When she landed I took a deep breath.

"See you're fine, you're on the ground. Let's go, shake it off. You're fine." Erica stepped away from the wall and started walking towards the locker room. Other people in the class snickered as she walked past and I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Erica!" I called after her. I followed her quickly into the locker room and smiled when she stopped to look at me. "Don't worry about them," I told her. "They're just mean teenagers who laugh at other people's misfortunes because they don't want people to see theirs."

Erica nodded with a small smile and then went back to her locker. I smiled and then walked over to my own.

I let my hair down from the ponytail and changed into my regular clothes. As I was putting in my last earring Allison came rushing into the locker room. I frowned as she grabbed my arm and pulled me out and towards the wall, where Erica was seizing on the floor.

"Oh crap, go get Coach." I said as I sat down next to her. "Turn her on her side." I told Scott. Scott turner her easily as I watched her. "How'd you know?" I looked up at him.

"I just felt it." He responded as he held Erica's hand. I frowned and looked down at her.

After the Erica incident Coach had informed all of us to continue on to class. I gripped my books close to my chest and walked down the hallway, before I could get very far, however, an arm reached out from a classroom and pulled me in. I stiffened, immediately expecting the worst, but calmed down immensely when I saw Jackson looking down at me.

"What?" I asked. "Come to make out with me in an empty classroom?" I asked with a frown, not really in the mood to deal with Jackson.

"Is Isaac a werewolf?" he asked. I glanced up quickly and frowned. "Just tell me, Emma."

"Isaac is a troubled kid whose father just died. He was wrongly accused of murdering his father and he escaped from jail. That's all I know." I told him as I stepped back and made to leave the classroom.

Jackson reached forward and gripped my wrist, pulling me back and forcing me to turn around. I looked up. I hadn't noticed until that moment just how close we actually were. If one of us moved we'd be kissing. I stared at Jackson, waiting for him to say or do anything, but he only stared back at me. The warning bell rang and he smirked a little.

"Seems like we're always being interrupted by the bell." He whispered. He dropped my wrist and stepped around me. Jackson opened the door and held it open for me. I rolled my eyes and walked through and into the hallway, I headed towards class immediately, not wanting to have any more alone time with Jackson for now.