Okay, guys the song that was put in the last chapter is 'She's no you' by Jesse McCartney. And Thank you sooooooooo much for the reviews.

Seven –

We barely stopped to catch our breath. Mainly, because we didn't want Valentina to send the Hunters' after us and we knew that she would. But when I really couldn't breathe, Alek slowed down.

"Almost there," he urged, but even he was taking huge gulps of air.

"Can't," I groaned. I felt faint. My legs were shaking, and I felt off balanced. And to add to that, my heart was pounding in my chest, and taking deep breaths didn't help much.

"Come on, Sweetheart, it's just another mile."

"A mile?" I asked in disbelief. "Exactly how far were we?"

"Fifteen miles," he answered. Fifteen? Who the hell can run fifteen miles? "You've been doing great."

"I don't feel great," I said. "Can we please rest?"

He didn't look like he wanted to stop, but I guess he was exhausted too because he nodded. He led me to one of the trees with shade and he sat on the roots. Alek pulled off his shirt – smirking at me, as I stared at his toned muscular body – and laid it out for me to sit on, but I picked it up as I sat down and placed it beside me. Alek was about to pull me closer, but I leaned away.

"I'm sweaty," I protested. He gave me a look like 'are you serious'

"I'm sweaty, too, Sweetheart. Come here."

I sighed and caved. I leaned back on Alek's chest, and closed my eyes. He wrapped his arms around me and I felt him kiss my shoulder.

"How much longer do you want to rest?" he asked.

"How about an hour?"

He laughed. "If we're not home within the next thirty minutes, Valentina might send the whole pride to get us back."

I groaned but didn't move. Alek rubbed my arm soothingly. I looked up at him, and he smiled down at me.

"I'm so thankful you weren't killed," I said. His smile widened.

"I'm thankful you weren't killed seven more times."

I laughed. I grabbed his hands and intertwined our fingers together; he gave my hand a squeeze. My hand fit perfectly in his. Both our phones rang at the same time. Why is it that it was always our stupid phones that ruined the moment? I pulled out my phone and so did Alek.

"Valentina," he said.

"My mom."

I put my phone away. I couldn't talk to her without crying, hell I didn't even know what I was going to do when we went back. I didn't want to tell her the truth. I wanted to keep her safe from what I really was. Alek picked my phone up. He had his pressed to his ear; he moved it a few centimeters away from him.

"She's yelling," he mouthed. I nodded. He handed me a phone and nudged me to answer it. I shook my head. My phone stopped ringing.

"Okay, Valentina…We're already coming…we took a small break…well we haven't stopped running…we'll be home soon…I know."

He put his phone down.

"Why didn't you answer your phone?"

"I can't talk to her right now," I whispered. "I don't even wanna go home when we do."

"You can always stay with us," Alek offered. "But you and I both know you have to go home eventually."

"I know. But can I stay with you?"

He smiled.

"Of course," he said. He checked the time on his phone. "We better go, Valentina said we have fifteen minutes to get back."

I got up, even though I was completely exhausted. Alek looked at me, and then pulled me closer.

"Come on," he said. "I'll carry you. You look ready to drop."

I shook my head. He looked the exact same. I wasn't going to make him more tired. It wasn't fair.

"No, I can run." He looked worried.

"Chloe…"

"Alek its fine," I insisted. "Let's just go. Fifteen minutes right?"

He nodded and let me run first. He followed behind me. I continued to run until I reached their apartment building, when I pulled myself to a stop, I almost fell but Alek caught me.

"You okay?" he asked. I nodded and forced myself to stand up straight. Alek let me lean on him and supported most of my weight. I've never been so grateful to someone in my, current, life. He led me inside the elevator and pushed 18. I leaned my head on his chest and wrapped my arms around him to keep myself steady. He kept his arms around my waist, keeping me close to him. When the elevator doors opened, we walked out. At the door two Mai's - tall and burly – were standing guard. I didn't want to go in. Alek squeezed my side, reassuring me. One of the Mai guards – the one on the left, with untidy black hair and dark eyes – nodded at Alek.

"Good to see you man," he said.

"Thanks James," Alek said. James opened the door and let us through. I've never seen the apartment so crowded. A lot of them were staring at me in confusion. One of them stepped up to us and spoke to Alek in a language I didn't understand. When Alek responded it was in the same language.

The guy nodded and moved on. I looked at him.

"What language was that?"

"French. He's from the Pride in France."

"How long have you been able to speak French?" I asked. Alek smirked.

"I know many languages. Valentina taught them to Jasmine and I when we started to transform. Come on, he only came to tell me that Valentina's waiting for us."

He let go of me, but kept my hand and led me into one of the hallways and into a room. Valentina was sitting behind a desk, with a bunch of Mai standing at the opposite end. She looked up when we walked in.

"Leave us," she ordered the others. She looked recovered – exactly like her old self. I guess the accelerated healing did work. She stood up and walked over to us. I was afraid of what she was going to do to us. Well to me…because I was the one who hung up on her in the first place. But she looked relieved to see us.

"Glad to see you made it back in one piece," she said. "You did well protecting her, Alek."

Alek nodded, his head bowed low. Valentina looked at our joined hands.

"This better not interfere with your duties," was all she said. "Or else."

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I had been scared of what she was going to say about me and Alek's relationship. At least it wasn't, 'I forbid you to be together because you're the Uniter…'

"You two are dismissed," she said finally.

She grabbed a few papers from her desk and began reading. I was about to walk, when I noticed Alek hadn't moved. He turned to me.

"Go ahead," he said softly. "I'm just need to talk to her. I'll come find you in a bit."

I nodded and he kissed my forehead. I left the room. I wanted to find Jasmine. I wondered around, avoiding the many Mai that were everywhere. I finally found a room that was heavily guarded. Two women and three men. The first woman stopped me.

"You're not allowed to go in," she said.

"I'm the Uniter," I told her. "I want to see her. She's in here isn't she? Jasmine?"

The woman stepped away from me and nodded to the others to let me pass.

"Go ahead, Uniter. Welcome back."

I nodded and opened the door slowly. I slipped through and open door and a huge lump formed in my throat.

"Oh my god," I said under my breath.

Review. Yay, now they're home. I'll explain why all the Mai are there later.

But there's still more to come, so keep reading I have more surprises in store for all of you.