Short chapter, I know, but I would rather get this out and stop struggling with it. I've been having a rough go of it as of late. I'm hoping the next chapter will come easier.

Bekah sat sprawled out on the bed, her legs and arms splayed as if ready to make a snow angel in the covers.

She had finally been allowed a small amount of freedom. While a week had passed since the huge revealing of the boys' secret, David still didn't really trust her. For David, it seemed hating someone and/or beginning to mistrust them, was as easy as a turning off a light switch. And that's exactly what he had done. Gone was the carefree guy who laughed with her and made jokes at her expense. Now, when she looked at him, all she saw was cool ice behind his eyes. On one hand, she couldn't really blame him, but on the other, she had done nothing to warrant his mistrust.

And so these days, when she thought about freedom, it had a completely different definition than it used to. Before freedom meant doing whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. Now, it meant being able to hang out in the cave while three of the boys were on the boardwalk. She didn't even get to be alone in the cave. David had conveniently left Dwayne behind.

She hadn't talked to Dwayne in a week but she couldn't exactly say why.

Dwayne's demeanor towards her in the past week had been much like David's. He was cold, wouldn't look her in the eye, and never spoke one word in her direction. Before, she never would have let it stop her. She wouldn't have done everything in her power to get him to speak to her, even if it meant pissing him off. But now, things were just different.

The past week, her heart had been waging a war with her mind. While her heart told her this was her new family, her mind told her that this new family, could hurt her old. The new family could literally kill the old. Her heart would argue back that as long as she didn't do anything wrong, all parties would be left alone. And it was better this way.

Her mind had been winning all week.

Although her heart had some great arguments, her mind couldn't ignore what she saw and what she heard. Or rather, didn't hear. Paul and Marko had been great with her the past week, spending time with her and making her laugh, but leaving her alone when they sensed she needed time.

She didn't miss the whispered conversations and heated arguments they had when they thought she wasn't looking. Although most of the time she couldn't hear what they were saying, she knew they were arguing about her. She just didn't know why. And it didn't ease her insecurities in the slightest.

It hurt, actually. After all they had been through, after the lies, she was still there (even if they had threatened her with death). So why were they still keeping secrets from her?

At this point, she couldn't even guess. What was worse than what she already knew? What could they possibly spring on her now?

She sat up slowly, deciding finally that she wasn't going to spend any more of her quiet time moping. Star was even out tonight and so was Laddie. The cave was peaceful and Dwayne was nowhere to be found.

As she swung her legs over the side of the bed, her eyes caught the headboard, the one Dwayne had basically snapped in half. She sighed at the memory it brought up. For the first few days, she couldn't believe herself. She couldn't believe that she had fallen into bed so willingly with a monster, but then her thoughts had cleared. She had realized on about the third day, that it might be only memory like that with Dwayne. The way he had been acting, she was sure their relationship was over (whatever kind of relationship it had been). She wondered briefly if anything would get back to normal.

As she looked up from the headboard, her shoulders tense. Dwayne was across the room from her, staring at the headboard like her own eyes had been doing only seconds before. She wondered if he was thinking the same thing as her that it was likely to never happen again.

She tried to avert her eyes from him but, with her luck, Dwayne caught her staring a second before she looked away. The tension in the room seemed to grow as Dwayne refused to speak and Bekah wondered if anything she said would get him, too. Maybe he was just checking on her. Maybe he had decided she was being to quiet and needed to make sure she hadn't tried to escape. She grumped at the thought under her breath and stood the rest of the way from the bed.

"Going to read," she mumbled under her breath as she kept her eyes trained on the stone below her. When Dwayne's feet finally came into her vision, she tried to side step him, only for him to step into her path again. She looked up angrily. She refused to do this little dance with him. If he wanted to taunt her, fine, but she didn't have to like it and if he wanted to talk, then all he had to do was open his mouth.

She continued to glare at him as she tried to side step around him, but again he blocked her path. She finally swung out her arm, trying to push him out of the way but he was rock solid beneath her and didn't budge.

"What?" She finally snapped as she crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't care if she looked like a child. Their treatment of her was getting on her nerves. She wasn't a criminal. She hadn't wronged them in any way.

"I'm sorry."

She blanched at his answer. What was he sorry for? There were so many things she hoped he was sorry for but she wanted to know specifically.

His dark, chocolate eyes were smoldering as he kept her gaze. Her arms fell to her sides and she opened her mouth to ask what he was talking about.

But she was silenced when he brought a hand up to gently stroke up cheek.

"I've been thinking for a long time now about how I could tell you. You found out on your own and I wished you hadn't. I wish I could have told and you and explained everything. There's a lot more going on here that you don't know about." His hand tangled in her hair at the base of her neck and he tried to use it to pull her against him. She tried to resist but his grip was too strong.

When she was close enough, Dwayne buried his face in the hair at her neck and took a deep breath. The action made her shiver but she told herself she was still made him and it wasn't going to change.

"I don't know if I can protect you," he murmured against her ear. Her brow rose in confusion even though he couldn't see her face.

"Protect me from what? You?" She whispered.

"From any of us," he pulled back a little until their noses were almost touching. His eyes scanned her face. "On the outside, it looks like David is in charge. It looks like he's the leader of the pack. For all intents and purposes, he is…" he trailed off for a moment as he softly brushed his nose against hers in an Eskimo kiss. "You have to know that there's someone else, someone more powerful than David. David is getting a lot of pressure to turn you."

She closed her eyes at the revelation and took in a shuddering breath. She supposed it made sense.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like this," Dwayne continued. "I want you to be like me," he admitted. "I want to be with you and I wanted to tell you myself. I wanted to turn you myself. It was supposed to be my right. But now…" He trailed off again and Bekah wished he would stop doing it.

"When were you going to tell me?" She asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I was going to tell you that night, the night we made love, but I lost control of myself."