Chapter 12

I looked in the mirror, trying to tame my hair. Kylie called, "Are you ready yet? You've been in there for, like, ever." I yelled back coming, finally yanked all of the knots out, and then ran quickly by my nightstand for my little EnV 2 phone.

Tonight was the big party, and everyone was freaking out with anticipation. No one at our school dressed up in costume; everyone had a school issued one. For formal events Packs were required to wear special uniforms (color was the Guardians' choice, thank god) that showed who they were. The uniforms also came with individual badges to show what the Pack and individual had accomplished. Our Packs had deep, forest green ones, and wore two awards that no one else had. One of them was the tournament winner sash, which we got to keep until next month when we had to compete for them again. The other was a shiny medal bragging to everyone else that we were the only undefeated Pack in the books.

My personal uniform also came with an Alpha badge, a fancy short sword to show my authority, a patch showing my Klasse, and another patch showing my year. I was proud of how sharp my Pack looked in their uniforms, and once we were all assembled, I directed them to the Auditorium. Before the actual party, all of the years gathered for a big Banquet, which was held every month as a sort of celebration for the tournament. That was why we had to wear the fancy suits.

Once their, we realized that we were one of the last Packs to arrive. We also realized that we had special seats. Because we were the freshman tournament winners, we sat at a table positioned at the head of the Auditorium. The different year winners were all sitting there as well. I found out that I was supposed to give a speech when the pleasant Judge Harks started announcing the other winner's Guardians. He then announced Dimitri, who was supposed to give a speech and then hand the mic to me. I stood up in awkward silence, and then coughed once or twice. I said a few words that came to mind, and then sat back down to scattered claps.

The rest of the dinner was bearable, with minimal awkwardness considering the fact that I was sitting at a fancy dinner with a sword at my hip. Soon we were released to our parties, and everyone was laughing and playing around. We were sufficiently scared by all of the mazes, and decided that they were not for us when Jean broke down sobbing. She was comforted, and then we all went to the big room where the dance floor and music was.

It wasn't really party music, but all of us knew how to Waltz and ballroom dance, so it wasn't a problem. I danced with Nick, Sam, and Matt (ew), before I finally ended up in the arms of Dimitri. We twirled around the room, and danced far longer than any of the other couples. I had just settled in on his shoulder for a slow dance, when an old face caught my eye. I froze, and Dimitri stepped on my feet. He apologized frantically for about two seconds before he realized that I had barley noticed. Following my gaze, he saw an empty corner.

"Rose? What's wrong? Did I miss a step or something?" He asked the question jokingly, but got a little more worried when I didn't respond. "Hello? Rose?" He waved his hand in front of my face, and I broke free of my memories.

"No ya, I'm fine. Just uh, just thought I saw someone I recognized. Everything's fine." I got him to stop worrying, and then we started dancing again. The memory was soon gone, erased by Dimitri's smooth dancing, and we danced the next 2 hours away.

"Do you wanna go somewhere?" Dimitri asked uncertainly. And then there he was again. Alex had just ran, turned to face me, and ran through the next room. This time I wasn't going to let him get away. I blitzed, knocking Dimitri on his ass in the process. But I didn't ask him if he was okay, because all I wanted was to catch, literally, the one that got away.

I lost him in the crowd outside, but spotted him a little while longer by running in a straight line. We ran, I chasing him, all the way to the forest near the west wall in two minutes. There, I lost him in the darkness. I was creeping around, trying not to trip while still keeping my senses alert for his first misstep.

And then there he was, behind me, his arm around me in a choke hold. "You know, Thorn. I could choke the life right out of you now, and then just leave. No one would find you, and I could finally get you off of my damn mind. But I'm going to be nice. I'm going to let you come with me. Isn't that nice?" I kicked him in the shin, suprising him and loosening his grip. I twisted out of it, jumped forward into a front flip with a twist, so that I was facing him again.

Except that he wasn't there. And his arm enclosed my neck once again, this time with his legs spread firmly apart so that I had nothing to kick at. "Nice move! You really have improved, you know that? They've trained you well, brainwashed you, and even tailored you into a nice little Alpha. What great people!" So he had noticed the outfit. He could've had this, could've celebrated with me, maybe even made Alpha himself. But he left, and threw it all away. I would have told him so, but I was currently being strangled, and as a result had lost my speech capabilities.

He heard me gurgle, trying to talk, and loosened up just enough to the point where I could breathe. I got in two breaths before he kicked me in the back of the knee, causing me to fall to the ground, my legs going dead beneath me. He turned me around, and layed me out on the ground. "What a shame that you would throw away my kindness. Now I guess I'll have to leave you to your mother's fate." With that, I saw him transform slowly, sickeningly, into a mountain lion. He fell to the ground, sprouted a tail, grew fur, and shed his clothes. The cat in front of me growled viciously, showing 2 rows of sharp, pointy teeth. Just when I was about to run, finally snapped out of my paralyzed state, he pounced on me. I cried out when his claws made contact with my chest, quickly tearing away cloth and skin. His mouth opened, and he bit down, hard, on my left wrist. I again cried out in agony, my body twisting and bucking in pain. He was thrown off me, and only then I remembered the sword at my hip.

I drew it, and faced him, circling. My arm was spewing warm, sticky blood fast, and I knew that I was going to faint soon. So when he pounced, I side stepped, and then used all of my strength to swipe at him. I cut his side, and he fell to the floor. He transformed back into a human, curled up on the floor. The last thing I remembered before I fell again into the blackness was a noise, and his figure getting up and disappearing into the darkness. I had let him get away. Again.