ARLIS
"So Konrad thinks you think he's dead?" Arlis asked, looking out to the trees where snow had captured every green value and smothered it with a freezing death.

The guy across from him, a messy haired, baby-faced witch named Becker nodded solemnly. One foot was resting up on the railing while he sat on it. His back was resting up against the small pillar.

It was dark outside, the moon covered by clouds. Becker held a flame in his hands to keep him warm.

Arlis was slightly cold but he didn't dare act like he was. He thought back to just five minutes ago where he was warm under the covers with his love.

But Becker popped into his territory, his power waking up Arlis from slumber.

Arlis had slipped out the room without waking Kate, and found Becker at his doorstep. They had been talking for ten minutes, a recap.

Becker said he had escaped from Konrad. Arlis was wry of the story, as much as he hated to be. Apparently Konrad was holding the kids above Becker's head and if Becker did anything that Konrad disapproved of, then the children would be killed.

Becker had apparently found a spell that undid Konrad's hold on the children and then he slipped out of his grasp.

And then he attacked Konrad, at the Dawn residence. He realized he didn't have my blood and he didn't have a hunter's knife.

"How come you didn't just teleport to me? Grab Everly's blade?" I asked, shaking my head. "Instead of this... plan? To make him think you think he's dead. How does that help?"

Becker sighed, looking down. "By the time I had teleported here to get your blood he would've been gone."

Arlis narrowed his eyes. "You knew he was there. Why didn't you come here first? Becker, something isn't adding up."

Becker licked his lips and ran a hand through his hair. "I wasn't thinking rationally, okay? I thought, he's there I'm going to kill him. And I went. I... Arlis... Konrad has Constance. She's ready to die."

Arlis blew out a cold breath, creating fog in front of his face. "I know."

Becker slipped off the railing. "And you're not doing anything about it!?" Becker yelled. "I'm livid!"

Arlis stood up from his chair and stood close to Becker. They were about the same height, maybe Becker a little taller. "What am I supposed to do! I have Kate, I have another girl now and a little boy that I promised I'd protect because Konrad killed their parents because I wasn't paying attention."

Becker gulped. "And that'll keep happening unless you do something."

"Stab me. Take my blood. And then leave me alone." Arlis tried to turn away but Becker grabbed his arms.

"Who are you!?" Becker's eyes welled up. "Because you're not my Arlis. What if Constance and I had just left you with Konrad. Huh? What if we hadn't of gone and saved you?"

Arlis couldn't meet Becker's eyes. "That was different. We had nothing to risk back then. Now I have everything to risk. I'm Alpha, now. You... you have family now."

"Constance is our family. She needs us." Becker argued. "I can't do this without you. Don't leave her to die."

Arlis shrugged out of Becker's grasp. "You know I don't do things without thinking over it. I've thought over this. I'd rather, and I'm sure Constance would agree, have her die. Then have both of us die." It wasn't just that. Something about this situation was off, something in Arlis's mind was screaming at him to turn Becker away.

Becker backpedaled a step back. "How dare you. We're friends, Arlis. We've been through hell together. And you're going to turn your back on me? Or Connie? Fuck you. I'd rather die going to save her alone, then stay here with a coward." Becker shook his head. "You have—"

Arlis held up his hand. "Don't call me a coward. I'm not a coward. I'll go with you. But I swear to God, if something happens to me, or Kate while I'm gone. I will come back as a fucking demon and murder you."

Becker's face lit up. "Fine with me. I'll give you some time to tell Kate that you're leaving."

Arlis shook his head. No. She'd be able to talk him out of this. Becker might not have been nervous but Arlis felt his stomach rolling.

He was a coward. He didn't want to do this. Didn't want to fight Konrad and lose.

"I'm just gunna write a note." He said and turned inside.

He found a piece of paper from a notebook on one of his shelves. He sat at the kitchen counter and began writing. Notes always did last longer than memories.

Dear Kate,
Don't hate me. I'll be back. Or I won't. Either way, you'll be fine. I'm going with Becker to save Constance from Konrad, his decision not mine. I'd say mind link me but I'm going to shut it off for the time being, can't take any distractions. And you're a big one. You'll... feel me if I'm gone. And if you feel me break from you... I want you to continue running the pack. Chleo will help you. Take care of Gracie and Lilly and Jake. And Dalia and Leif. And Sam. And Jonah and Melloni. I love you, I always will.
- A.Barron

It wasn't that personal. Arlis wished it had been.

He walked to Becker and set his hand on his shoulder. "Let's do this."

They warped away.

Arlis and Becker landed in a dark room with hardly any light.

Arlis tolled his shoulders back. "Are you gunna stab me, yet, Beck?" Arlis asked, as the lights flickered on in the old... cell.

Arlis felt something wrap around his hands and screamed when he realized they were lotus tinted.

"Becker!" Arlis yelled.

"Constance isn't here." Becker said from behind him.

Arlis whined and tried to shift but werewolves couldn't shift if something was holding them down or back. And even if he could, there was so much lotus in these chains. It burned Arlis's skin every time he moved.

"I rescued her, sent her away. And now I'm paying for that. With you." Becker was crying but Arlis didn't care.

"I'll kill you!" Arlis whined out. "I'll keep myself alive just to rip out your throat!"

Konrad walked into the cell and knelt in front of him. "Oh it's not your choice whether you live or die."

Arlis, in the heat of the moment, wished nothing more than to see Kate's face. However, he knew that is he saw Kate's face then she was here. And he didn't want her here. He didn't want anyone here. Of all the people Konrad could've taken, Arlis was glad it was himself.

"Someone very close to you just took his last breath. That wasn't his choice." Konrad walked to Arlis and backhanded him hard enough to make Arlis's head turn.

Arlis faces back to him slowly, his heart racing. Jonah? Sam? Leif?

Konrad stalked around the cell, his dress shoes clicking against the cold concrete ground. Arlis wanted to take off that shoe and chop his head off with it. Not that is was possible, but he'd try.

"Who?" He growled out.

Konrad stopped walking and spun on his heels to look at him. "Let's see... shall we?"

Konrad dug his hand into Arlis's shoulder.

They appeared in front of a cabin window. The cabin was familiar, in it were drawings that Arlis saw... saw Seymour draw.

Inside, people were talking lowly.

He froze when he recognized the voices. Everly. Seymour. Some others who Arlis didn't think were important enough to pay attention too. He felt the tension from outside, standing at the door of the cabin. He knew the cabin... this was the cabin where Angelica sacrificed herself and from the blood rose up the Hunters. The town was small, with a name not spoken by any locals. L'aube Du Diable, or... Devil's Dawn.

The Dawn family, was the first to rise up. And from Canada (back then it was land undiscovered) they went to Russia. Where they adapted to the last name, рассвет. Russian for Dawn. They moved down the lines, always moving until they adapted the English name, Dawn. Dawn as in the town, Dawn as in the Dawn of a new era, a new species.

Seymour took a deep breath and looked at the body on the body on the ground with sadness. "She was my mate, Angelica." He sniffed and began crying. "I never should have trusted him."

Arlis didn't know who he was talking about.

Arlis narrowed his eyes at the other people through the window. Everly? Everly's older brother, Dallas. And... Colin Gold. Everly seemed wry as she took a step back as Seymour took a seat on the couch.

"Who? What happened?" Dallas asked.

"You all know how Angelica saved the world. Killing herself, offering herself to the Salem Witches. POLYPHEMA WAS HER BEST FRIEND!" Seymour yelled. "And Polyphema let her do it, let her die." Seymour began shedding more tears than any one person could count. His wise old eyes were on the brink of insanity.

Arlis looked through the window even more and saw what body was on the floor. Angelica's bones to be specific. He felt for Seymour, he did.

"I trusted Konrad to talk Polyphema out of it, but he didn't. Konrad was my best friend and he talked Polyphema into letting Angelica kill herself for those STUPID SALEM WITCHES!" Seymour yelled. And then he was silent again, closing his eyes. "I knew Konrad was bad news. And nobody believed me. I didn't even believe me. I had necromancers tell me he would end my world and I... I didn't believe them."

Arlis was more confused than he was earlier. Seymour was best friends turned enemies with Konrad? He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Zach was the first person to speak, his little voice so loud in the emptiness of the room. "Best friend?"

Seymour nodded. "We even had this stupid quote together. It's not wise to be a fool. We thought we were Socrates."

Ah. The infamous saying Seymour used nearly every day. The saying he shared with the man of Arlis's nightmares apparently.

Dallas nodded his head. "How did you get kicked from Arlis's pack?"

He began sobbing again. "Trying to protect him."

Liar. Filthy LIAR! "LIAR!" Arlis screamed, pounding on the window.

Konrad shook his head at Arlis. "This is the past. About ten minutes earlier to be exact."

Arlis tried to attack Konrad but it was useless, each attempt went through him. Literally.

Seymour continued talking. "He doesn't understand who his mate is. He doesn't understand who he is. He doesn't understand Konrad like I do." He was rocking back and forth, shaking his head. "I bit her, bit his mate."

Yeah. He did. Arlis understood exactly who she was. Kadelyn Summers, his one and only.

"You bit his mate? Isn't that a for sure way to die in the werewolf world? Attack another man's mate." Everly scowled at him.

Arlis tilted his chin up. At least she knew the rules.

Seymour looked up at her. "She's her. She looks just like her."

"Just like who!?" Everly shouted.

Arlis knew. Polyphema.

"POLYPHEMA! She looks just like Polyphema." Seymour looked like he was falling into himself, digging deeper and deeper into a black hole. "I bit her to see if I could taste magic, to see if she was Polyphema pulling some... trick. If she didn't actually die, just like Konrad." He said.

Arlis thought about that for a second and then shook his head. No. He talked to Kate's mom about that. They would've known if she was. Wouldn't they?

Seymour was silent, looking at the body. He smiled and looked up at the sky. "She ended up being a boring human with werewolf blood running through her from Arlis."

Arlis sighed in relief. Thank God. Because if Kate turned out to be Polyphema, then Kate turned out to not be his. And that thought killed Arlis inside and out.

He thought about Kate. Her curves, specifically her lips when they formed a smile. He thought about the way she fiddles with her hair without noticing. The small way she—

"Pay attention." Konrad said.

Seymour shrugged to something Everly asked, Arlis stopped paying attention. "I don't know." He leaned back. "I knew Konrad was going after leaders... so... I thought maybe if I became Alpha, he'd take me. Do you know if Arlis is planning an attack?"

Oh. Arlis frowned. Is that... is that what Seymour thought? That that was how things worked?

"Fool." Konrad chuckled.

Everly bit her lip. "Arlis is gone. We don't know where he is."

Seymour rolled off the couch and looked up at the ceiling, laying on the dirty floor. "You don't know where he is?"

Everly shook her head. "No."

"Good." Seymour turned and smiled at them, his eyes glowing yellow and his teeth sharp and jagged. "Konrad is happy to hear that."

Arlis heated up, ready to jump into the room and kill Seymour himself. Something worried Arlis, however. Why were his eyes glowing? Seymour's face began melting, revealing grey skin underneath it.

"Run!" Zach yelled, just as an impish creature jumped out of Seymour's skin at Everly and Colin. Everly dodged left and Colin dodged right, headed toward the door.

Arlis was proud when Everly headed toward the kitchen, towards the knives.

The Imp thing followed Everly, no shocker there. "What is that!" Everly yelled.

A fae. A Rogue fae. Arlis has faced a few of those. They eat your brain from the inside out and.... there's pretty much no way to get them out.

"An Atrax Fae!" Colin said at the same time Zach yelled, "Goblin!" They were the same thing.

The scene washed away, and Arlis was back in the cold, damp, cell. He was alone. People knew he was gone already, news spread fast in the supernatural world.

"So Seymour is dead?" Arlis asked.

Konrad nodded. "By the end of this month, everyone will be dead."

KATE
I don't really remember exactly what happened, only that I woke up in the same hospital room I was in when I came here months ago.

There wasn't anyone in my room this time. No Arlis. No doctor. Just me and the emptiness.

I took off my blanket and looked down at my stomach, the wound had healed but the pain was still searing.

I swung my legs off the hospital bed and fell onto the floor. I tried to stand but my legs collapsed under me again.

"Arlis." I cried out, a migraine forming in my head. I felt like I'd been buried alive, forced to die alone in a dark hole.

Someone came in the room and pulled me up and set me back on the bed. "You haven't walked for a couple days."

I felt tears slip down my face. "Becker?"

Becker nodded solemnly and sat down next to me on my bed.

Dalia came into my room but Becker shook his head at her and she walked back out, softly closing the door behind her.

"Wha— is Konrad here?" I asked. Had they taken over the pack? What happened after I passed out? What does he mean a couple of days?

Becker shook his head. "No. I uh... I escaped Konrad."

I sat up and winced, closing my eyes. "Then you can go get Arlis back, Konrad took Arlis."

Becker looked at the ground, melancholy and sad. "I can't. Konrad thinks I think he's dead. We fought and I ripped out his heart. He's alive of course, but he thinks I think I killed him. That's our only advantage right now."

I put my palm to my forehead. "Use that advantage to get Arlis. Please."

Becker gulped. "I wish it worked like that. Konrad would demolish me in a fight right now. Plus Constance is there too and I can't face him without someone's help."

I could've slapped him, blackened his eye. These were his friends that we were talking about. "And so why are you here? Go find help."

Becker stood up and pulled his hair, pacing around my room. "Don't you think I've tried!? Nobody wants to face Konrad. And Arlis's family knows to not go try and save Arlis." I tried to walk again, but almost face planted. Becker caught me in his arms. "I wouldn't be here but... I don't have anywhere else to go. Everyone else has marked me a traitor and I... I swear I'm not."

I moved until I was balanced on my legs, trying to get rhythm and feeling back into them. I sighed and rubbed my temples. "Becker. Will Konrad kill him?"

Beck shrugged, and that gestures was worse than any yes or no answer. At least if it was a yes I could've prepared myself or known of the depressing future ahead of me. At least I could've known to try and go save him. If it was a no at least I could relax and plan.

But it was a, "I don't know." A "maybe." That gave me no clue, no idea. It would be a surprise, something to rattle me.

"He might kill him just to kill him. But my vote is leaning towards torture. For Arlis it's always torture." Beck said it to himself, almost a whisper.

I felt my legs get weaker again, not from my physical wounds, but from my own mental instability.

How could anyone hurt someone like Arlis? How could anyone look into his brown eyes and put pain in them. He starts to frown and immediately all my emotions are set at hyperdrive, wanting to know what's wrong.

I walked to the door and held onto the frame, looking back at Becker. "We need to plan. I'm getting him back. I can't... I can't loose him. I won't."

The door opened and I was face to face with Dalia, eyes red with mascara slipping down her cheeks. "Can you feel him? Is he alive?"

I jumped into her arms, crying my heart out. "He's alive. But I feel our bond shaking. He's is so much pain, Dalia." I clenched my eyes shut, trying to will the tears away but nothing did the trick.

She wrapped her arms around me, a comforting feeling.

Chance came in next, hugging us both. "You're okay sis, he's okay. We're okay."

I backed out of the hug and wiped my eyes. "But we're not okay! He's not okay." I spun to look at Becker. "And you, why didn't you say anything about me looking like your mom. We could've used that against Konrad and prevented this whole thing."

Becker shook his head. "Because it wouldn't have made a difference, it would've just made everything more complicated." I hated it, I hated that he made a good point.

Dalia stepped to the side to look at him. "We're getting him back... right? Like we're going to start planning?"

Becker's woeful eyes found Dalia in a look of sorrow, his shoulders slumping over. "You know Arlis wouldn't want us to go get him."

Dalia shoved Becker back. "I don't care. I don't listen to my brother half the time we're together." She ran from the room and Becker started chasing her.

I almost followed but I was still barely able to even walk. I hooked my arm around Chance and winced. "Sorry you're a part of this."

Chance smiled down at me. "I'm not. This is exciting."

I slapped his shoulder and rolled my eyes. Even in the time of heartache of pain, Chance still managed to put a smile on my face.

I walked out of the room and turned the corner, looking down each side of the hallway. People milled about the corridor, some crying, some happily being reunited with their loved ones.

It was exactly like how I remember it, from the first night I came here. I had the same feeling too, sick and stranded, confused and alone. Only now... the feeling had tripled. I wasn't in some strange place wondering where I was, I was at home, wondering if I was safe. The latter was worse.

Something was plaguing me, following over my head like a dark cloud. Anxiety rolled in my mind, infecting everything about me.

Someone grabbed my arm and I jumped out of my skin.

"You okay?" Leif asked.

I was glad he was here, I missed him. Oddly. I felt close to him just like I did Sam and the others I had met when I got here.

I almost lied and just nodded my head but instead I didn't. I shook my head. "I don't know where Arlis is... I just want Arlis back."

Leif frowned. "Sam left this morning to go find Seymour."

Every time I turned there was more stress to be found, more hate to be discovered. It was a tornado of darkness and I was on the eye of the storm. "How's Melloni? And Jonah? And Chleo? Lilly and Jake?"

Leif looked behind him like someone was watching and then pulled me to the side harshly.

"Melloni isn't healing, her spine is cracked and she's paralyzed for right now. Jonah is in a coma, we can't get him to wake up. And Chleo... Chleo refuses treatment and is Arlis's office plotting. Real bitchy, he's drunk. Everly called like a day or two ago and he screamed at her that Arlis wasn't here." Leif explained.

I cupped my mouth with my hand. "Is She in pain? Is Jonah going to come out of it?" I completely skipped over the fact that I had been asleep for two days.

Leif, thankfully, gave me a quick "no." "She's fine. Can't feel... anything. We think Jonah's wolf is keeping him asleep while Melloni heals."

I didn't know wolves could do that. "What have I missed? Since two days ago?"

He looked to the sides nervously and then leaned close to me. "I woke up to Maddison holding a knife to my throat. And then she told me it was role play. I don't know what's wrong... but something is up."