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insert usualy blerb about errors here

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~~~Tyler's POV~~~

"Tyler!"

I jumped in my chair and tore my eyes from the window to see the entire chemistry class staring at me. "Uh, yeah?"

"I asked you a question," snapped my teacher. I just gave him a blank look and he narrowed his eyes at me. "What are the diatomic elements?" I glanced at Bo helplessly, and he mouthed something that I couldn't read. I started to scramble for something to say, and I was saved by the bell... literally. I lurched out of my seat and swiped my books off the desktop and into my backpack.

"Are you alright?" asked Bo as we filed out of the classroom.

"Yeah," I said quietly, and I looked away from the glare my teacher was sending me as I walked into the hallway. "I'm just distracted." Distracted wasn't even close; despite how hard I tried, my mind kept wandering back to Drake.

I'd gone over various scenarios in my mind of my recapture. It could happen at any time, but I figured Drake would go for a less public environment. I didn't know how many of the hunters were still alive other than Drake, so I had no idea if he had the manpower to attack the pack house. The thought of some of my pack members dying because I inadvertently led the hunters to the pack house scared me.

"Ty!"

I blinked and looked up at Bo's handsome face, creased with concern. "You were spacing out again."

"Oh," I replied, blushing deeply, "Sorry." Bo eyed me suspiciously, and then he grabbed my arm and started to drag me down the hallway in the complete opposite direction from my next class. "What?

Where are we going?" I protested shrilly, "Bo, seriously, what are you doing?"

He didn't reply, and I was forced to just follow along behind him out the front doors of the school and into the parking lot. Bo stopped next to his car and pointed to the passenger door. "Get in."

"You want to ditch?" I asked incredulously. Bo nodded and I gawked at him. "We could get in trouble!"

"It's Friday and I'll take the blame."

I stared at Bo for a moment, my arms crossed tightly across my chest. He gestured towards the passenger door and I sighed. "You're a terrible influence," I muttered, and he smiled broadly as I ducked into the car.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked curiously as we pulled out of the school parking lot.

"It's a surprise." I stared at the side of his face, and he turned and looked at me with an expression of amusement. I rolled my eyes and crossed my legs on the seat like a kindergartner. After a few minutes of silence, I heard Bo take a deep breath. "Why won't you let me in?"

"What?" I said quickly.

"You're distracted and I know why, and-"

"You don't know anything," I snapped, and instantly regretted the harsh tone to my voice.

"And whose fault is that!"Bo replied, and I could hear the hurt in his voice. "You're my mate. I can feel the pain you're in, and I feel powerless because I want to stop it, but I don't how. I don't know what happened to you for those three years and you don't seem to want to let me know." His eyes were glued to the road, but I could still see the pain in them.

I tried to say something, but I couldn't think of anything to tell him. I just shut my mouth and looked out the window, and a few minutes later, Bo pulled into the parking lot for a park. We sat there in silence for a while, not looking at each other. Finally, I made a decision. I didn't want to drive this wedge between Bo and I, and in order to do that, I was going to have to talk to him.

"I was taken when I was fourteen years old. I had been hiding under the bed when I was pulled out and brought downstairs by a hunter. There, I saw my parents' mutilated bodies. Then, I was taken back to their headquarters and locked in a room in the cellar."

"Ty, you don't need to tell me this," said Bo quickly, his eyes locking with mine.

Yet, I continued. "The leader of the hunters, Drake, would ask me all these question about werewolves and my pack, and truthfully had no idea what he was talking about. I tried to tell him, but he would always tell me that I was lying. Then, he would torture me."

Bo's eyes widened, and he had an expression with a mixture of anger and shock. "They would chain me down on a small sort of table and dig silver wires into my back, which is why I have my scars. Drake's second in command, Luca, liked to whip me with a whip laced with silver strands. That one didn't hurt is much."

Bo's jaw clenched tightly and he looked like he wanted to punch something. "I'd begged many times for Drake to just kill me, but he'd just let me heal enough before torturing me again. I guess he enjoyed it and didn't want his plaything to die just yet. Had you not saved me, I would probably still be in the same situation; barely alive."

"I..." Bo's voice trailed off, and he ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know what to say. I guess I wasn't prepared for that."

"Well," I laughed nervously, and wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes. "I don't think anyone could be ready for that. I sure as hell wasn't." Talking about what had happened was making me feel mixed emotions. I guess I was happy that I had finally broken down and told someone, but saying it out loud was bringing back a ton of unwanted memories.

"I'm sorry that happened to you," said Bo, and he still looked a bit stunned.

"I don't want your pity," I replied softly. I wasn't being harsh, just honest. I looked away from Bo and squinted out the window at the empty park. "What are we doing here?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "Do you want to go for a walk or something?"

"Okay." A walk sounded nice. The thought of fresh air after what I'd just let out sounded really appealing. I boosted myself out of the car and crossed in front of the hood and watched as Bo slammed shut his door. He rested his hand on the top of the car and after a moment, he looked up at me and I saw tears in his eyes.

My lips parted slightly in surprise, and before I could say anything, Bo had me in a bear hug. He'd taken me completely by surprise, but I quickly wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head on his shoulder. "Sorry," breathed Bo as he pulled away, "I just had to do that."

"It's okay," I said with a smile. Bo wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close, and we started to walk down a path. It was nearing the end of November, and any day now, it would start snowing. That also meant the air was chilly, much too cold for my thin jacket, so I was glad for Bo's warmth.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked hesitantly.

"Other than that one?" I replied, and Bo laughed. "Yeah, go ahead."

"Are you scared of him coming after you? Drake, I mean."

"Um..." That was a good question. "I think I'm still scared. I would be stupid not to be afraid of him. The things he did to me were meant to terrify me, and they did. But," I looked up into Bo's eyes, "I'm stronger now, and I have a fighting chance, should he come back for me. That gives me courage."

"You're so much smarter than me," observed Bo, and I punched him playfully in the shoulder.

"Do you know if the patrols have gotten any more information about the hunters?" I asked. It had been three days since Anton had come back with the scent of the hunters, and I'd heard no news on the progress of the search. Since Bo was the next Alpha, it made sense that he could know.

"Well, Anton took a patrol back to where he found the scent and tried tracking it but he lost the trail because it's so old. Then he went to the house where we found you and it was completely abandoned."

"Where is that exactly?" I hadn't ever actually been told where the hunters' headquarters was, other than the fact that it was the pack's territory. Where on the pack's territory, I had no idea.

"You know where the northern woods end?" he asked, and I nodded. "That's the backyard of the house." I remembered seeing the woods in the background from the small window in the cellar, and I'd been in that part of the area before. I hadn't had any idea I was that close to where I had been tortured. "You okay?"

"Huh?" I looked up into Bo's dark, intense eyes and realized that I had been spacing out. "Oh, yeah. It's just that now that I think about it, I've been in that part of the pack's territory before."

"The house was pretty well hidden," Bo replied simply. Instead of talking, I just burrowed closer into the side of his warm body, and we walked together down the path.

Bo and I came across an abandoned playground, and my feet crunched on the wood chips as I crossed over to the swings. I sat down on the cold rubber and watched as Bo sat down on the swing next to me. "So I need to ask you something."

"Again?" I asked with a raise of my eyebrow. "My, aren't you inquisitive today."

"Ha ha, very funny," said Bo, but I couldn't help but sense a bit of nerves in his voice. It was quiet for another moment, and I just stared at his profile, waiting for his question.

"Did you forget what you wanted to ask me?" I said, finally breaking the silence.

"No," He responded. "You know about the winter formal, right?"

"Vaguely." I'd heard about it on the morning announcements, but I hadn't paid much attention to it. I also remember glancing at the in-your-face posters about buying tickets and other information like that.

"Well I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go together."

"Really?" I asked, surprised, "You want to go to a dance together?"

"Of course," said Bo, obviously taken aback by my surprise. "Do you not want to go with me?"

"No, no of course I do!" I replied hastily. "It's just... Well, I've never been to a dance before, so I just never expected to go." I jumped up from my swing, walked over to him and straddled his lap. I tucked some of my windblown hair behind my ear and grinned at him.

"So is it a yes?" Bo asked with a crooked smile.

"Yes."

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Slightly boring and so not worth the long wait you guys had to suffer... so guess what.

I'M POSTING THE NEXT CHAPTER RIGHT NOW!!!

That's right; get excited.

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