Hey all! Sorry it took so long to get this up here! I was trying to graduate from college! (Woo hoo! I'm done!) Anyway, I HOPE to have the next chapter up for you by next Thursday. Thanks for staying tuned. And to everyone who has been commenting over the last nine months when it seemed like there was no hope for my return, thank you! Your comments always brighten my day. Here you are:

Chloe remembered everything when she woke up the next morning. She remembered who she was lying next to—who she had fallen asleep next to just like she had for the past week. Most importantly, she remembered who she had fallen asleep kissing the night before.

Her heart pounded in her throat, and she felt sick to her stomach. If Kai was dead—if she had killed Kai—there was nowhere left for her to go. She reached her hand across the bed, expecting to feel the heat of his bare chest on her palm. Instead she felt only the scratchy sheets of a cheap motel bed.

Trying to catch her breath, she shot straight up in bed. She was alone.

"Kai?" she screamed.

But he was not there. Her heart raced as she climbed out of bed. There was no sign of him other than his knapsack flung in the corner of the room, next to her own.

"Oh my God, what have I done?" Chloe cried. "Xavier and Brian and now Kai?"

The tears were pouring out of her eyes now. She knew she never should have let him kiss her. It had all happened so fast; she didn't have a chance to stop him. The only thing she couldn't understand was where his body was. Had he stumbled out of the room in desperate search for help in the middle of the night? Chloe pulled on a sweater and lunged for the door.

As she did so, the door swung open, revealing Kai holding a bag full of fast food.

She jumped on him the moment she saw him, sending the paper bag crashing to the floor. Within seconds her mouth was on his. Chloe hadn't killed him. The curse didn't work against Jackals, so she kissed him again and again until he lifted her off the ground and back onto the bed.

"Chloe," he managed to mumble as he stripped off the sweater.

"Kai," she answered.

"Chloe!" he screamed.

He pushed her away. She looked down at her hands—her claws. Kai had four long claw scratches across his chest.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry," she gasped.

He clasped her hands in his own and kissed her again.

"It's okay Chloe," he told her. "Everything is going to be okay." He walked back over and picked up the paper bag from the floor. "I brought breakfast sandwiches. I thought you'd be hungry."

But Chloe couldn't hear what he was saying. All that mattered to her was that he was alive. If only she knew how to control her animal instincts.

"But if you don't want to eat breakfast, I can think of something else to do," he suggested.

"We have to leave for Idaho in a few hours," she responded, glancing toward the clock.

"I don't care if we ever leave this hotel room," he explained. "I will stay here forever with you if you want. I am going to stay with you forever."

They were pressed against each other again, heat radiating from their bodies.

"Forever isn't nearly long enough," she said.

"Eat your breakfast," he ordered, kissing her again. "I'm going to go out and buy a few more things. Be ready to go when I get back?"

She smiled and let him leave. With her back to the door, she pulled the breakfast out of the fast food sack and unwrapped it. The door swung open.

"That was fast," she giggled. "Come back for seconds?"

"You're alive!"

Chloe spun around, penetrated with fear.

"Alek?"