Rose held her chin high as we walked but she wasn't afraid to admit when she needed to stop to rest. Theodore was satisfied by our safe distance from the border and agreed to make camp for the night."Were you scared?" I asked Rose as we sat by the warmth of the fire.Tobias sat beside us too as Theodore sat brooding on the other side of the fire."Of course I was, Esme," she said, "I didn't know where I was, I didn't know if Tobias was alive, I didn't know if I was ever getting out of there with my life. With so much uncertainty, I was terrified," she replied.I nodded, "Did you feel weak?""Fear isn't a weakness, Esme," she continued, "It's a natural response to danger.""It's what you chose to do with the fear that determines a person's strength," Tobias said, "They can either choose to let it break them or face it with courage.""And I certainly refused to let those despicable men break me," Rose said squeezing my hand."Ho

Theodore held my hand as we walked South.The chill of the morning had never fully lifted and even as we marched on at the fast speed Theodore set, I felt my hands and feet become numb as my cheeks and nose blushed red. The discomfort of this combined with the pain of being ripped away from Rose and Tobias after just being reunited meant that I was in no mood to speak.So I just walked with my eyes on the floor, watching the light shining down on the dead leaves slowly change to orange and then just begin to fade away."Are you alright, Esme?" Lou asked after hours of walking."She's fine," Theodore said, "Alpha and Luna Brynn are needed on the Eastern territory. We are needed in the South. It has to be like this.""I thought I was a burden?" I asked, "Now you need me?""I need you by my side where I can protect you," he replied."And you don't think Tobias and Rose can protect me? Or that I can't protect myself?" I asked.He c

The next morning was cold and crisp. I was glad to have Theodore's arms still firmly around me, keeping me warm but dawn was approaching fast and he soon got up.At first, he just sat on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands, probably dreading what he was going to have to do today.I sat quietly watching him, feeling the same dread on his behalf. I felt it for me too. The dread of losing him.His shirt was still on the floor by the bed where it was discarded last night and for the first time since I saw them on the night of the storm back at home, I noticed the thin scars on his back."What happened to your back?" I asked after a few moments of mustering up the balls to question.He seemed to freeze up and he stayed facing away from me."Nothing," he said bluntly.I shuffled forward and sat behind him before I ran my fingers down his spine, feeling the faint bumps of scar tissue underneath my tips. He tensed even more and sat upr

I was taken through a large pair of wooden doors into a large room. I stumbled forward as the men holding me shoved me forwards to where a middle-aged man sat comfortably on an ornate chair."Well, well, well. What do we have here?" he asked, looking me up and down.His voice was deep and patronising. His features were sharp and oddly familiar. I even knew those brown eyes. It felt like I'd experienced their piercing stare many times before.Klaus stepped forward and brushed my hair off my neck.The man's eyes lit up and he instantly got to his feet. He smiled warmly yet his eyes remained dark and beady as he strode over to me and held out his hand."Alpha Kane, a pleasure to meet you, Luna Rivers," he said.I looked down at his hand and scoffed."You expect me to shake your hand? After everything?" I asked.He continued to look down at me."Yes," he said sharply, "Has Theodore not taught you how to show respect yet?"

Sometime later, Theodore came over to me. I was sat with Rose and Tobias and had just finished stitching up a nasty wound on the shoulder of one of our soldiers."Alpha Brynn, everything here is sorted. I'm sending my men out to search the rest of the territory for escapees and to recover the bodies of our lost soldiers. I'd appreciate if you did the same. The sooner the place is cleared, the sooner we can let the citizens out," he said.Tobias nodded.As he spoke I'd been trying to avoid looking behind him at the spiralling flames of the 'crematorium' his men had made to burn the bodies of hundreds of Alpha Kane's men. But the smoke billowed and itched our lungs, refusing to be ignored."We've lost a lot of soldiers so we will be searching the territory for their bodies," Rose said."Fine," Theodore replied, "Esme, you are coming with me though."I looked up at him."I was actually hoping to go with Tobias and Rose. The least I can d