"What do you want with Ethen Volkov?"

"I told you, I want to catch him," I breathed, trembling in fear. It wasn't long until I found myself tied to a scrawny tree with the rope tearing at my skin. My shoulders were aching from the awkward angle of my arms, uncomfortably tied behind me, and I was standing, my knees threatening to unbuckle beneath me. The burly man, whose name was Pete, punched me in the cheekbone once again, causing black spots to appear in my vision. By now, my head was feeling heavy and my entire face was bruised, probably broken. Kolton, with a smirk on his face, lingered a few feet away, watching the interrogation. Releasing a moan, I blinked away the spots in my vision and spat blood onto the dirt beneath me. "Just s-stop."

Pete popped his knuckles. "What do you want with Ethen Volkov?"

"I want to catch him," I answered, once again. I expected it - his fist connected with my jaw and for a second, I thought I had went unconscious. Tears were streaming down my throbbing cheeks and keeping a straight face, I spit out more blood. I didn't know where Temp was; they had separated us instantly. What if he was dead? Unconscious? It would've been all my fault; how was I supposed to handle knowing that he was dead because of me? Or, possibly close to dead? This was truly all my fault - I should've let him handle all the talking.

"What do you want with Ethen Volkov?" he repeated, calmly.

"I want to kill him!" I shouted, exasperated. My bottom lip was quivering and I looked towards Kolton who seemed pleased. "I-I want him dead."

"Why?"

"He's a monster," I said, relaxing against the tree. "It's a-all my fault." Kolton stared at me for a long moment, confusion and curiosity swarming in his evil eyes. Kolton beckoned Pete to move and I watched as he backed away, allowing the one in charge to step forward. I pinched my bloody lips together, staring into Kolton's eyes in anger. I had already basically explained to him my intentions with Ethen, yet he felt the need to torture me. A part of me knew that he had me tortured just because he enjoyed it - he was the type of werewolf we should've been studying at the facility. The monstrous kind.

"Okay, Thea," he started, waving his hand around. "This is what's going to happen. You have the chance to walk away alive - all you have to do is defeat one of our best fighters in a match." Suddenly, he reached behind his back and snatched a blade from the waistband of his pants. The blade gleamed and I noticed the specks of dry blood. Tauntingly, he waved the blade around, dragging it down my shoulder, between my breasts, and in a circle on my stomach. When he chuckled, clearly amused, he started speaking again. "Don't worry, you'll have this blade to defend yourself since you know, we have teeth - sharp teeth."

"And, what about Temp?" I asked, concerned.

"He'd leave with you too," he said, nodding once. "Now, you can participate in the match or I'll kill you right here, right now - oh, and I'll go ahead and kill your boyfriend."

"He's not my b-boyfriend," I told him, scowling. "I'll participate."

"Good, I've been needing a thrill."

"But, if I win the match, I don't just want Temp," I negotiated, raising my chin. "If I win, the entire pack follows me, including you." Pete frowned, looking at Kolton in disbelief. Kolton's eyebrows shot upwards in surprise and he released a harsh laugh, shaking his head. "You'll announce it to the entire p-pack, right before the match and when I win, all of you will answer to m-me and help me find Ethen Volkov."

Kolton shrugged. "I'm not negotiating."

"What? You afraid?"

"I think you're overestimating yourself," he responded, eyes narrowed. "You won't be able to defeat a werewolf; we're stronger, faster, and smarter." He moved closer to me and I noticed his eyes flicker up and down my body, a growl coming from the back of his throat. "You're already dead."

"Then, make the deal," I responded, swallowing loudly. "In the end, I'll either lose my life or you'll lose your power." He hesitated, staring at me with his evil eyes, debating in his head. Pete remained silent, though an expression, similar to respect and shock, rested on his face. "It'll make the match m-more exciting; it'll keep everyone on edge."

Kolton nodded. "You've got yourself a deal." A wave of relief washed through me, but at the same time, I was wondering how in the hell I was supposed to defeat a werewolf. There was a high possibility that I was going to die. Kolton raised the blade and I winced when he pressed the cold edge against my cheek, the point nearly poking my eye. "You should've never wandered into this forest - because of your stupidity, you're in the depths of Hell now." He dragged the dip down my throat, applying a little pressure near my collarbone. "You have the Devil toying with you."

"Sounds accurate," I responded, quietly. "So, if, uh, we're going to do this match, lets get it over with." Honestly, I was just afraid he was going to start slicing me open. Besides, I knew my fear was only going to become stronger with more time that passed. Kolton smirked at me, excitement swirling in his eyes, and cut the rope from my wrists. I rubbed at them, noticing the rope burn; Pete walked up beside me and grabbed my upper arm, cautiously. He started leading me through the trees, dragging me behind a cocky Kolton.

Kolton peered back at me. "This'll be fun, Thea."

I gulped loudly, wondering if I was even recognizable with how many swings Pete took at my face. Reaching the clearing, Kolton started shouting and everybody in the pack gathered around, whooping and clapping. Pete stopped us at the edge of the small circle, his grip even tighter, almost as if he was afraid that I was going to runaway. Kolton, standing in the middle, started rotating in a slow circle and informing the pack. "Okay, so Thea here will be battling one of our best fighters - Trent!"

I watched with wide eyes as a burly man, probably in his late twenties, with dark hair and eyes, emerged from the circle. His nostrils flared at the supportive cheering and he started bouncing on his feet, eyes narrowed at me. Kolton nodded and continued, "Now, I've made a deal with Thea. If she wins, she'll take control of this pack, lead us to find Ethen Volkov." Whispers and gasps filled the circle, followed by eyes shifting my direction. "Trent, make sure that doesn't happen."

Trent nodded, clearly confident in himself. Another round of cheering followed and with a smirk, Kolton tossed the blade my direction. Roughly, Pete released my arm and shoved my forward, watching as I picked up the blade with shaky hands. What had I gotten myself into? Where was Temp? Was he even still alive? Was Kolton lying to me? I had so many questions swarming in my head and the sad part was, was I didn't know if I was even going to get answers to them. Straightening, I braced myself for the worst; I was prepared to die in front of this entire pack.

Trent rolled his shoulders and next thing I knew, cracks and pops were filling my ears. Right in front of me, his clothes ripped to shreds and he shifted into his wolf form, a large black wolf. He snarled, drool dripping from his teeth. I tightened the grip on my blade and took a deep breath, moving into a stance. Trent didn't waste any time; he launched at me, his teeth snapping. I leaped out of the way with a screech, barely missing his wide jaws. Frantically, I glanced around, seeing the pack clapping, shouting, and jumping around in excitement, laughing. Kolton stood near Pete, his arms folded across his chest, that annoying smirk on his face. A snarl gathered my attention and I turned my head around, seeing Trent on his haunches, readying to attack. I looked down at the blade in my hands - this wasn't going to save me.

Shakily, I stared into his golden eyes, which held no emotion. No remorse. No sadness. No hesitation. He circled me for a long moment, before lunging at me with a determined growl. I leaped out of the way again, but this time, shoved the blade forward in desperation. I was shocked when the smell of burning flesh shot up my nose - I had scraped him on one of his back legs. A few gasps came and Kolton shifted back and forth on his feet, rubbing his jaw.

"Trent! Trent!"

Trent growled, sneaking a peek at his scrap. Since the blade was silver, his wound was going to take longer to heal. Anger flared in his eyes and he came charging towards me, somewhat limping. He was fast; his claws connected with my right thigh and he received a scream of pain in encouragement. I stumbled away from him in shock. Blinking away the tears, I limped towards the other side of the circle and desperately, tried slipping through a small gap of people. I wasn't surprised when I was shoved away, knocked to the ground, hearing Kolton's laughter over everyone else's.

Quickly, I stumbled back to my feet and narrowed my eyes at Kolton - how could he be this cruel? This was ridiculous; it was scary. I gripped the blade in my hand and when my back was turned, my attention focused on Kolton, Trent attacked me from behind. I plummeted to the ground, whipped onto my back, and looked up, seeing Trent hovering above me, his teeth inches from my face. My eyes widened in shock and on instinct, I shoved the knife into his side. He yelped, staggering off me, and I scooted backwards, breathing heavily. That was undeniably a good jab; hopefully, it hurt him internally. Moving back to my feet, I watched as Trent howled, his eyes roaming the members of his pack.

He was limping since his back leg was bleeding, slowly healing itself, and his body was awkwardly angled from the stab in his side. The crowd started booing and screaming for him to kill me already, to stop wasting time. Trent started pacing, his golden eyes narrowed at me, begging for his teeth to connect with my throat. He was thinking about his next move; I was just thinking about how not to die. I looked down at the blade, seeing his blood smeared on the surface. Oddly, I liked the look of it and proudly, kept the blood on the blade.

With a growl, he rushed towards me, listening to the cheers of his fellow pack members. This time, he aimed for my legs, hoping to leave me vulnerable on the ground. But, I was cautious and managed to leap out of the way, missing his teeth by inches. My thigh screamed when I landed, putting my entire weight on the leg. My eyes burned in fear and I whipped around, charging at him for once. I swung the knife around, avoiding his jaws, and sliced at his shoulder. It wasn't deep enough - not for me, so I swung again, jabbing him in the neck. Blood started pouring out, splattering against the ground, and wheezing, he stumbled backwards.

The crowd shouted in disbelief and I glanced towards Kolton who appeared pissed. Keeping my grip on the blade, I watched as Trent collapsed to the ground, tremendously bleeding. When he became motionless, silence filled the circle. I stood there, blood coating my hands, my knees shaking, my body covered in dirt, my face emotionless. I had defeated him; I had won. How? I wasn't entirely sure, but the longer I stood there in silence, the more time I had to think. I had just killed someone - he wasn't completely human, but he still had characteristics of a human. I had killed someone; I had his blood on my hands. Was I a monster too?

Suddenly, people started dropping to their knees, crossing their arms over their chest. I rotated in a slow circle, watching in disbelief - all of them bowed their heads, submissively. I looked towards Kolton, just as Pete dropped to his knees. Kolton slowly dropped to his, his eyes remaining narrowed at me, and crossed his arms over his chest, though he didn't bow his head. I limped towards him, carrying the bloody blade. "You get me Temp right now." Reluctantly, he rose to his feet, giving me a nasty look. In response, I extended the blade to him. "I think this is yours."

Hesitantly, he took it from my hand, wiped the blood off on his pants, and returned the blade to the waistband of his pants. I was relieved when he whirled around and went off for Temp. I breathed deeply and slowly, Pete raised his head, peering at the wound on my thigh. "You need to get that taken care of, Luna."

I froze. "I'm n-not - "

"You're in charge," he interrupted, quietly. "You're our leader now - you're our Luna." He peered at me with his green eyes, before inspecting the wound on my thigh. "I can stitch that for you."

"Uh, yeah, that's probably a good idea," I muttered, feeling the blood rolling down my leg. Pete nodded once and rose to his feet, before scurrying off to to get the supplies. I looked around, shocked the pack was still on their knees with their heads bowed. Suddenly, I heard the familiar voice of Temp and whipped my head around, seeing him stumbling through the trees with Kolton. I grinned and when he stepped into the clearing with only a couple bruises, I collasped into his chest. I wrapped my arms around his waist and closed my eyes. "You're okay. Thank God. I-I thought you were dead."

Slowly, Temp hugged me back. "You look like shit, Blue."

I laughed. "Thanks, Temp."

He pulled away, glancing around in confusion. "Uh, what's going on?" His eyes danced along the bowed pack members, wide and suspicious. "Blue, what have I missed?"

"She got lucky," Kolton blurted, lingering nearby. "She won the match." Temp noticed the dead werewolf behind me and curiously, looked me up and down. His eyes widened on the wound on my right thigh and he swore under his breath, concerned. I wondered what he was thinking; was he shocked that I had defeated a werewolf? Did he not believe it? "I suggest you order your pack to rise, Luna."

"Oh, yeah," I said, ignoring how harsh he was. "You may all rise." Slowly, everybody rose and looked at me, waiting for an order. "Return to whatever you were doing." Temp watched in disbelief as the pack turned away and returned to their business, quietly. Kolton stomped away in rage, shoving his hands through his hair. I was thankful when Pete came emerging from the trees, carrying a medical-kit.

Temp shook his head. "You're their Luna?"

"That's correct," Pete said, before gesturing towards the nearest tent. "Lets go get you stitched up." I nodded and followed after him into the tent, which consisted of a mattress, picked fruits, and survival necessities. Temp trailed inside and flopped down next to me on the bed, watching as Pete picked up a needle from the kit. "You don't have a phobia of needles, do you?"

"No," I told him, before he started taking care of the wound. When he started stitching, it hurt badly and I depended on Temp's talking to distract me. "I'm leading this pack to help us find Ethen."

"You're insane, you know that?" he countered, paying attention to Pete's stitching. "I don't know how you did it, Blue."

"Me either," I said, releasing a laugh. "Like Kolton said, I got lucky."

"Hell yeah," Temp agreed, shaking his head. "And, what the hell happened to your face? You look like a bruised apple."

I looked towards Pete. "He tortured me."

"I apologize, Luna."

"Jeez," Temp mumbled, looking away from my thigh. "So, when will you be leading your pack to find Ethen?" I grinned at him, shaking my head at how much he loved the sudden situation. "Wow, this is crazy."

"I know the Volkov brothers," Pete spoke, suddenly. He was finishing up with the stitching and every time the needle dug into my skin, I flinched. "They're very dangerous, Luna. One time, I witnessed Caine reach into this man's mind and make him think he was being stung by a bunch of scorpions - the man ended up dying from fear." I looked at Temp in disbelief, knowing this was exactly why we should've stayed cleared from his brothers. "My cousin's mate was killed by Ryker; he made his blood boil. When her mate was begging for him to stop, his tears were sizzling blood." Temp pinched his lips together, sullenly. "As for Ethen, I've only seen him once. He's unpredictable; he's great at lying and convincing people to get what he wants."

"That's the truth," I said, quietly. "They're all monsters."

"They're our last hope," Pete responded, putting down the needle. "They're the only way we're going to win against the government. We need them." I replayed his words in my head, avoiding Temp's eyes. "I'll follow you, Luna, but I won't help you kill any of the Volkov brothers because by killing them, you're killing me. You're killing the rest of my kind."

"But, they've done horrible things," I pointed out, frowning. "Like you just said."

"We all have," Pete said, gesturing towards my face. "But, we're also capable of doing good, aren't we?" I watched as he wiped away the remaining blood around my wound, before applying a large bandage. "I've seen the Volkov brothers do good things, too. I'm just saying, think about this a little more, Luna."

I raised my chin. "I've made my decision."

"Okay," Pete said, nodding once. "I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into." With that, he left the tent, leaving me in an endless thought and with a grumbling Temp.