Within the following days, Maia was focused mostly on school and avoiding her ex-boyfriend Donovan Donati as much as possible (which would prove to be difficult since they both lived under Theo's house). She spend most of her getting to know Josh who would take her out on real dates without people gossiping behind their backs. He could tell Donovan was jealous whenever he saw them together. This was obvious when Josh came to pick Maia up for school one morning, and watched the Wendigo-chimera crush his coffee mug in the palm of his hand at the sight of him.

"Maia?" Josh asked quietly.

They were by themselves in the school's hallway.

"Yeah, Josh?" She responds.

"Can we talk about it?"

"Not right now."

"Why?"

"We're in school!"

"So? No one else is out here!"

Maia sighed, and they both started walking to their classrooms.

"Come on! I wanna give it a go again."

"I'm not ready yet."

"When will you be ready?"

She didn't look him in the eyes, and runs into class.

"Great. No, that's… fine."

Josh begrudgingly left with his hands shoved in his pockets.

He wanted to desperately have sex with Maia to show her how much he felt about her, but unfortunately Donovan ruined that. She was in such a good mood after their time in the pool, and was still happy to be with him despite all their mishaps which felt really good to Josh. Except Donovan had to infiltrate her mind in order to break any strong connection Josh had with Maia.

Basically, he had to start over.

"This is all his fault."

Hayden stared over at Josh, leaning against a tree. They were waiting for Theo and the others in the woods to begin another training session to improve their abilities.

"Who now?" asks Hayden.

"Donovan."

"What did he do?"

Josh raised an eyebrow to her.

"Are you talking about what happened with Maia?"

"She won't even touch me!"

Josh was pacing.

"She barely looks at me! I have to ask her to hold her hand!"

"Okay. Maybe she's taking it slow?"

"Slow?!"

He scoffed at Hayden.

"She's not even trying anymore, Hayden!"

"I think you're impatient."

"Excuse me?!"

"We're here." Theo called, and he with the rest of the chimeras appeared.

"What are you talking about?" Gretta asks suspiciously.

Maia noticed Josh was upset.

"It's nothing."

"Right. Let's get started."

Tracy had volunteered to practice against Theo first, and the rest of the chimeras gathered around to watch them fight. Maia stood next to Josh whose arms who noticed his arms were crossed, and his eyebrows furrowed. He was glaring into the back of Donovan's head, and Maia couldn't help but feel partially responsible for his behavior.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She asks, whispering.

"I told you guys already…"

"That's not true."

Maia tried to stare into Josh's eyes, but he looks away.

"Wait. Are you still mad at me?"

Josh whips his head back down toward her.

"Because… Because I won't–"

"No! No, it's not you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Josh hesitated to grab her hand.

"It's just…"

"What?"

"You won't let me touch you."

Maia stares at Josh's hand, and slowly slides hers into it.

"Is it really that bad?"

"Yes!"

She noticed him squeezing her hands.

"I'm not like you, Josh."

"I know, but…"

"Hey! Pay attention back there!" Donovan snaps.

Josh's eyes glow purple and his fangs shot out, causing him to immediately growl in response to Donovan's comment. This caused everyone in the pack to pay attention to them now including Theo and Tracy who were busy sparring. Maia placed her hands on Josh's to calm him down, but could feel the electricity in the air ramping up.

"What's going on?" Tracy asks.

"You wanna go, weasel?"

Donovan's eyes turn white, and his numerous fangs shot out.

"No, stop! Leave him alone!"

Maia stood in between the both of them.

"I'm settling this right now!"

"Sounds good to me, pretty boy!"

"NOOOOO! STOP IT!"

Both Donovan and Josh ran at each other, and Maia ran in between to stop them from tackling each other. Luckily, Theo was much faster than Maia and was able to snatch her up before she could get hurt by the hormonal and angry teenagers.

"This is all your fault!" Josh yells.

He shocks Donovan who went flying into a tree.

"My fault?!" He shouted, "you kissed her while she was with me!"

Donovan launches on top of Josh, and bites his neck.

"AAAAAH! UGH!"

"This is actually your fault!"

"I'm not the one who invaded her mind!"

Josh kicked Donovan in the balls, and the boy rolled over groaning.

"I'm not the one who forced myself on her!"

He shocks Donovan again.

"I'M NOT THE ONE WHO RUINED HER!"

Josh was about to give him a killing blow when he felt Theo grab his wrist. When he turned his head around to give his leader an enraged look, he realized it wasn't Theo who grabbed his wrist but Maia. She had tears rolling down her face, and a look of pure terror.

"M-Maia?"

"Please, stop."

Josh's electricity disappeared.

"Please?"

"I'm so sorry…"

Suddenly, Donovan bites down on Josh's calf muscle.

"AAAAAH!" Josh howled.

"DONOVAN!"

"Theo, do something!" Beth yells worriedly.

"She's right."

Tracy and Theo shared a look.

"He'll go too far if you let him continue like this."

"I know. Alright, that's enough!"

Except Donovan continued digging his fangs into Josh's back as the poor boy tried to crawl away from him, and Theo quickly became nervous. When Donovan looked up at them, he let out an eerie hissing noise. His wendigo side had taken over, and Maia's heart felt like it could almost jump right out of her chest.

"Donovan!?"

"I said that's enough!"

Theo tried to pull Donovan away only to get tossed.

"THEO!"

"Donovan, please!"

Suddenly, a mouth appeared on the palm of Donovan's hand. Its long spindly tongue reached out to wrap around Josh's throat, and pull it towards his face and specifically over his left eye. Maia runs over to grab Donovan's arm, unaware that her body was releasing smoke through her pores and raising her internal temperature.

"DONOVAN, WAKE UP!"

His white eyes didn't stare back at her.

"PLEASE, STOP THIS!"

Suddenly Maia's eyes glowed, and she felt a warm fire explode out of her arms and hands. Donovan screeches in pain and steps away from Josh as he watches a blazing fire continue to engulf his arm. Maia looks down at herself confused, and watches the flames slowly dissipate from her arms and hands as quickly as they appeared.

"What did I just do?"

Suddenly, Josh's moaning alerts her.

"JOSH! Are you okay?!"

Maia fell down on the ground next to him.

"Hey, say something!"

"I'm okay, but… my ego isn't."

Maia let out a laugh.

"You're stupid."

"That's why I have you to think for me."

Maia kisses the top of Josh's forehead, and helps him stand back up.

"What about Donovan?"

"I don't know. He's gone now."

"Theo, too."

"He probably left to make sure Donovan didn't eat someone."

"Yeah. He's always forgetting to eat…"

Tracy faced the entire pack.

"Theo's gone, so I'm in charge of training now."

She turned to look at Maia.

"Maia, you managed to use your fire to attack someone."

"Yeah. I guess I did."

"This is good! Great progress…"

"I don't know how I summoned it though!"

"We'll figure it out. Together."

Tracy gave her a small smile which gave Maia a boost of confidence.

"Right. Okay."

"Who wants to spar with Maia?"

Gretta didn't hesitate to raise her hand up in the air.

"Alright, but go easy on her."

"That's fine. I don't want any scars."

She winks at Maia.

"Unlike your ex-boyfriend…"

"Either shut up, or stop wasting our time." Maia snaps.

"Oooh! Feisty now, huh?"

She watched Gretta's nails grow long and silvery.

"You ready for this, Phoenix?"

Maia felt her eyes glow again, and smirks.

"Are you?"

"This is gonna be fun!"

Then the two raced forward toward each other and fought.