A/N- I just wanted to say I hope y'all enjoy and thank you so much for reading!

Chapter 8

Chloe's POV

I knew something was wrong when Beca pulled up and didn't get out of her car right away. Though I was tempted to go down to see if she was alright, I gave her a minute. Maybe she's just getting her stuff together. When she opened the door and I turned the light on, I saw that I was right. Something was wrong.

Bruises cover her jaw and her lip is split. Shadows under her right eye tell me that she'll have a nice shiner in the morning. Blood trickles down from a cut on her forehead and I stifle a sob that wants to be released. Beca's jaw is set and her eyes are fixed on something past me. I can see tears forming in her eyes and I can't be weak by breaking down. She doesn't need that. I think that she needs me to be strong for her. To lend her a shoulder to cry on. Something tells me that she doesn't get that often and maybe never has.

"Come on," I whisper and lead her into the bathroom. Thanks to her small figure, I'm able to grasp her waist and lift her up onto the counter. Telling her to stay, I leave to grab a first aid kit and come back. The Beca in front of me breaks my heart. Her head is tucked into her chest which shakes with silent sobs.

"Hey, shh," I pull her close to me. "It's okay baby." Even though we haven't known each other for a long time, I find myself wanting to make her happy. To know everything about her and protect her from whoever did this.

Beca sets her head in the crook of my neck, but doesn't cry. Instead, she calms down, sniffling every few seconds. My hands run over her hair and down her back, doing anything to help. For a while, we stay like that and with every second, the bond we quickly formed, grows. I can't help but notice how well we fit together, like two pieces to a puzzle.

"I'm sorry," Beca apologizes, her voice muffled. Pulling away from her, I make her look me in the eye.

"Why are you apologizing? The person who did this to you should be on their knees begging for your forgiveness." Beca smiles thinly and I get to work on cleaning her up. When I get to the cut on her forehead, she stares at the blood on the rag like she hadn't realized she was bleeding. "So who did this to you?"

"Chloe," Beca shakes her head. "Thank you for this, but I can't involve you in my shit."

"Beca, it's okay. You can trust me." Sad, grey eyes stare into mine, holding secrets far deeper than I'm afraid, that even I can swim.

"It's too fucked up," her soft hand goes up to cradle my cheek. "Maybe one day I'll tell you but for now, I just want to be normal." But we're not normal and we never will be. What do I have to do to get her to accept that? It took me hundreds of years to accept it myself, but she doesn't have that long. A fact that brings sadness to my heart.

"Beca, what's happening?" I whisper and lean my forehead against hers. Our breaths mingle together, kissing each other's skin with warmth.

"I don't know."

"What do we do?" Beca leans back and her eyes seem to search mine.

"I don't know that either." My breath catches in my throat as we both lean forward and just when our lips are about to touch, Beca moves back.

"We can't," her voice sounds strangled and it pulls at my heart. "Once you learn-"

"Nothing can change this between us," I promise and she shakes her head. "Whatever it is that haunts you, doesn't make you who you are. Who I know you to be."

"You barely know me," she whispers, voice thick with tears.

"In the little time we've known each other, I've seen someone who is brave, kind and selfless. You don't judge and you try your hardest to understand. Not to mention you're just as beautiful on the outside as you are on the inside." A blush creeps up from her neck to her face and I chuckle.

"Thank you," Beca says, gratitude replacing the tears in her voice. I nod and lift her off the counter.

"Let's get some sleep." Beca nods and turns to leave when I stop her. "Thank you for letting me see a side of you that no one else gets to and for being honest with me."

"I may not be able to tell you everything yet Chloe, but I won't lie to you." Beca leaves to get changed and I follow suit, thinking about the girl after my heart. There's something different about her and it's not just her unique personality, but something else. Something not quite human. This morning, when she was able to smell everything in the kitchen before seeing it, it wasn't normal. Wasn't human. She has the sense of smell like a werewolf. Maybe…? It fits. Her keen observation skills and the eerie way she senses you coming. The way she watches everyone as if they are all a target. The way she looks at me like I'm something to eat, but that may be something completely different.

Shaking my head, I crawl into bed. Beca will tell me in time, I know it. We have a connection and a bond. I'm hoping that in time, we can explore both of those things. Unless she likes Detective Swanson. They seemed to be flirting earlier but I got the vibe that she wasn't into him. Not like he seems to be with her. Maybe, hopefully, they're just friends. As for us, I hope that together we can figure it out. I know that I want to be with her, get to know her.

Beca walks into the room dressed much like she was last night. The wounds on her face make me wince. Seeing her like that isn't easy and only makes me furious. Not only did they hit her, but got her where it truly hurts. So badly that she cried and I have a feeling that she doesn't do that very often.

"Come here," I open my arms and she curls into them, resting her head on my chest. My slow heartbeat doesn't seem to bother her, not like it did with Stacie. It ended up being that Stacie wouldn't cuddle very often with me when we were together, though she didn't admit why until later.

"Goodnight Chlo," a soft, southern voice sleepily says and I smile. Chlo. I like it.

"Night Becs." Together in each other's arms, we fall asleep, staying that way until morning.

…

"What do we have to do today?"

"Look over everything," Beca's voice full of sleep whispers up at me. "We have no leads, nothing at all to go on. Just one witness who may or may not have seen the same person who killed John." Beca sighs.

"Why don't we relax today? We can go to the barn, workout for a little bit." Beca nods.

"That sounds nice."

"Maybe you can teach us vampires a few things," I tease and Beca grins.

"I may do just that."

Three hours later, all of us girls stand in the barn, watching Beca workout. After many questions about her bruises, the girls left us alone long enough to eat breakfast and then followed us out here. Beca asked us to explain our usual training session so we told her our usual workout only lasted an hour or two and then we sparred. She said that she would just do what we do, but she's not. Instead, she's showing all of us up. She hasn't stopped moving and I'm worried that she'll drop from exhaustion, but when she comes over to us a second later, she's barely breaking a sweat.

"Is it time to spar?" Beca asks innocently, unaware of how shocked we are.

"What the hell was that?" Cynthia asks.

"What do you mean? Is that not what y'all do?"

"Um, usually we take a break instead of pushing through two straight hours of workouts." I inform her and Beca smiles shyly.

"My bad. I'm used to it."

"What's your workout consist of at the agency?" Emily asks.

"A few hours of workouts, then a ten minute break and another few hours of workouts. Then after a second ten minute break which consists of lunch, we do some training which was always different. The best days were the self defense moves." We all stare at Beca, processing her words. I knew the agency was brutal but that… That's just insane.

"Did you ever have a day off?" Stacie asks quietly, afraid to upset Beca. Beca though seems oblivious to our shock and cheerfully explains it to us.

"I do now because I work in the field, but when I was a rookie, we had that routine for 6 days a week. On the seventh, we sat in a classroom learning about the supernatural all day. That was the worst. I had a hard time sitting still anyway and got into so much trouble that they ended up just training me that day too." Beca hops up into the training ring, still talking.

"There was still the problem though that I had to learn all I could about the supernatural, so they expanded my break periods and filled those with lessons. Now though, I have to work out for a couple of hours before heading out and then after my shift is over, I'm expected to workout some more before going to bed."

"When do you have time to eat?" Aubrey gasps, letting her shock overcome her dislike for Beca.

"During the breaks." Beca shrugs. "I should also warn you that after training, I'm usually starving so if I eat y'all out of your house, I apologize. I can pitch in with the food bill, if that will help?"

"There is no need for that," Gail says, coming into the barn. "I have been informed of your eating habits and have been compensated appropriately for them. Even if I hadn't been, we still would have had you."

"Thank you," Beca beams, obviously not used to compliments. "Now, who wants to fight me?"

"Why don't you, Aubrey." Gail orders, not asking. Aubrey frowns and joins Beca in the ring. Both are dressed in tank tops and shorts and look absolutely stunning, but only Beca has my attention. They circle each other, gaging each other's body language. Beca's eyes seem to change from one of normal to predatory. Her eyes flick everywhere crazily, yet she seems so calm, so sure.

Aubrey is the first to move, lunging out with a fist which Beca dodges and then sweeps her leg which Beca jumps over. While Aubrey is faced away, Beca puts her in a quick chokehold. While that would usually be the end, us vampires aren't one for quick matches. With a deep breath, Aubrey doubles over, flinging Beca to the ground. Before she can hold her down to the ground, Beca jumps up and to the side. Aubrey lunges for her and Beca jumps up, doing a flip over Aubrey. While Aubrey stands there in shock, Beca sweeps her legs out from under her and pins her to the ground. A second later, Aubrey's palm slaps the floor in surrender.

"Damn, tiny mouse has moves," Amy shouts, her blond hair shaking along with her laughter. "That was unexpected."

"Interesting," Gail mumbles, barely loud enough to hear. "Chloe, you're up next." I swing towards Gail, not sure I want to. The look she gives me though has me scrambling up into the ring, passing Aubrey on her way down.

"Better get ready, " Cynthia Rose yells. "Chloe is the best out of all of us."

"I'm sure they are both equally skilled enough to do this," Emily assures, always the one to boost others' self confidence. I smile at her and then turn to dark grey eyes watching me.

With her bruises and cuts, Beca looks menacing. I wouldn't usually be worried, but in her eyes there's a wild look. It makes her grey eyes darker, almost black and her tiny body somehow looks like it could rip me apart. Refusing to show my irrational fear, I put a sultry smile on my face and crook my finger at Beca. Her eyebrows raise and the heat in her eyes almost puts me down on the ground right then and there. That would be embarrassing.

For a few minutes, we stare at each other. I can see the frustration in her eyes at my not moving. She's used to others making the first move, a strategy that can often help you win. It's used by people who think first and then act second. Something that I prefer to do. So I wait patiently, knowing that eventually, she'll move, desperate to end the fight.

Suddenly, her fist flies out, catching me lightly in the face. It doesn't even sting, but I can see the hesitation on her face. Why is she afraid of hurting me? Vampires are crazy strong so if anyone should be afraid of getting hurt, it's her. I use Beca's hesitation against her and kick her legs out from under her. Within seconds, she's back up and swinging at me. I dodge her first fist, but the second one hits me in the stomach. There's that hesitation again.

While I'm doubled over, I ram my head into her stomach, flipping her over my shoulder. She hits the floor with a thud and I can tell the breath is knocked out of her. Scared that I hurt her, I pause which gives her the time she needs. She's up and coming towards me before I can blink and suddenly, I'm airborne.

I hit the floor, my head cracking against the ground. Stars dance in my vision and my breath catches in my throat. Darkness starts to close in but I fight it. Eventually it wins and the last image in my head is stormy, grey eyes filled with danger.