Hope that somebody reads this!! If you do, please review seeing as this is my first Wereling story.

As a result of an ambush organized by Kate's mother, Marcie, Kate is forced to abandon Tom; injured and bleeding at the mercy of their enemies. Nearly a year later, Kate's hope has fallen to ashes. But when an old friend shows up with news of his survival, the flame is reborn. Set after book 1.

Kate Folan glanced around warily, fearful of the falling darkness. Night would shield them, but it would also be a time of blindness.

They had barely escaped the grasps of Papa Takapa after he'd captured them both to play their own individual parts in his sick plan. Kate still had heart-wrenching dreams involving the horrid video images of Tom that she'd been forced to watch in that dark auditorium. She shook her head focused on the figure moving beside her, glad that she was sharing the eery feeling with Tom.

The full moon had barely passed, and he was jumpy as hell. An owl hooted far off, a hidden warning to the fugitives blundering through the forest. As if to prove Kate's point, Tom stiffened beside her and she could nearly see his glittering eyes in the lighting. Kate reached out to him, grasping his arm and attempting to pull him forward with her. Tom refused to move, standing absolutely still.

She dug her nails in and tugged, suddenly feeling desperate to get moving. A low growl emmitted from Tom's throat. Kate froze.

"Tom?"

He snapped out of it, letting his head hang down in an attempt to keep out of the faint moonlight. Slowly they began to move again, gradually picking up speed until they were walking along at the same speed as before. Tom's threatening growl had frightened Kate, though she knew that he would never attack her, human or lupine.

She focused on staying quiet, but her every footfall seemed like an earthquake compared to Tom's silence. His animal senses had heighted so much that he seemed at home in the forest, slipping through the trees and moving fluidly with no guidance whatsoever.

They emerged into a large clearing, one that seemed out of place among the thick trees, packed together tightly as if to guard the tiny space. Tom entered first, holding a hand out to keep Kate in the trees. He went totally alert, looking panicked as he sensed something wrong with their surroundings.

"Kate," he whispered, "we should get-"

He was cut off as a humungous shape burst out of the woods beside them, crashing into Tom. Kate screamed as he was brought down heavily, landing with a thud on the ground. The the unnaturally large wolf lunged savagely for his neck, but Tom wriggled out from under the animal, jumping away even as his size swelled. He fell to the ground as the 'wolf began to take over, overtaking his human form.

His clothes burst open as thick hair grew from every pore, covering his whole body in seconds. The sound of bones cracking and reforming made Kate wince as his skeleton pulverized itself and snapped back into place. Adrenaline surged through his veins as every shred of the human Tom was shrugged off in favour of this powerful form. The other wolf saw his transformation completing and rushed in to stop it, jumping on top of Tom and biting into his flesh.

Kate began to run forward as Tom writhed under him, struggling to become totally 'wolf. She barely got halfway across the clearing before a rough hand wrapped around her waist, while another roughly covered her mouth, cutting off her screams. She was jerked backwards carelessly as her captor dragged her away from Tom, fighting to pull her back into the trees.

Kate kicked at his legs, throwing her head back in the same gesture she had used to fend off Jed's brother, Rod. But this man just tightened his grip until he was cutting off her air supply.

Kate watched, wide-eyed, as Tom bucked strongly, throwing the other 'wolf off of him in one movement. He jaws opened and a deafening roar ripped out of his throat, freezing everyone else for a moment. He took this oppurtunity to attack his enemy, trapping him immediately by clamping his razor-sharp teeth around his attacker's neck. The other 'wolf snapped and whimpered at Tom as he crunched down on his throat, silencing his pitiful cries.

The fur-covered body went limp and Tom backed away, growling at the man who was choking Kate. The coward let go and ran blindly into the trees, sparing one terrified glance back at the sleek, powerful wolf.

Kate ran to the unmoving form that lay between her and Tom, checking it's pulse even though she presumed that it was dead. Sure enough, the wolf wasn't breathing. Tom slunk up to Kate, whimpering softly and pushing his head up under her arm as if begging for forgiveness. She looked down at him and took her hand from the wolf's neck to rub his head.

"Oh, Tom."

He looked up at her with those soulful brown eyes, and she could almost imagine that it was the real Tom she was holding right then. The image was shattered as a shout echoed out of the forest, jarring them out of a somewhat peaceful moment.

"Put your hands behind your heads. Now!"

Kate bounced up, looking around frantically for the source of the voice. Tom's hackles raised and he bared his teeth impressively.

Kate could hear the beginnings of another fierce roar, but whoever was threatening them yelled, "Your pet moves, and you both a get a bullet through the skull."

Kate swallowed, believing him entirely.

"Get over here, puppy," said the man mockingly as he moved into view. He was a big guy, one who looked fully capable of shooting and killing someone without regret. Kate saw the gun in his hand, pointed at Tom's head.

"Don't hurt him," she said shakily. "I'll do what you want."

The man glanced from Tom to her and then back again, speaking to her though his gaze was focused on the dark shape that stood by her side.

"You think we need you? You're just some kid."

Kate heard the tremble in his voice, sensed the lie.

"Papa Takapa needs me alive."

The thug frowned, apparently unconvinced, though she was sure that his master had told him to take them both alive. Tom was a wereling, and Kate was a pureblood. They were irreplacable unless the sick bastard wanted to wait for another hundred years or so, and he certainly would have chiseled that into this desperate mortal's head to avoid any misunderstandings. The man scowled and his eyes began to dart between them even faster.

"You- you're nothing! Just some stupid girl that he's taken a likin' to!"

The man paused, and his face twisted in anger and jealousy.

"He won't miss you one bit. I'll bet you're more trouble than you're worth."

Kate began to realize that the guy was drunk, or stoned. He looked slightly crazed already, and the rant had just begun.

"He'll thank me for gettin' rid of you. He'll turn me 'wolf out of app-appri...."

He struggled to form the word but the alchohol he had likely consumed was numbing his lips.

"Papa Takapa will be happy with me."

Kate began to get scared as the deranged thug hooked his finger around the trigger, ready to give a pull and send the waiting bullet into Tom's skull. Tom was remarkably still, standing with his ears pointed and tail up, ready for anything. Kate glanced from him to his potential killer and tryed desperately to destract his attention.

"Takapa won't do anything for you. You're just another hired muscleman that he plans to kill once you've done his dirty work."

The man's face twisted with rage.

"You're wrong!"

"No," said Kate firmly. "I'm not. He'll throw you away like trash. Especially if you kill either of us."

The man began to loosen his hold on the trigger, glancing at his partner laying dead on the ground. The 'wolf's eyes wide and unseeing as they stared accusingly out up at the painted sky, which was darkening my the minute. Kate went on, the words forming out of thin air to spin a confusing web around him.

"He needs us to bring the 'wolves to power. You want that, don't you?"

The man nodded, suddenly unsure.

"Well, then Tom and I need to live, because Wolf Time will never come if you shoot us. How would you like to be the idiot who ruined all of Takapa's plans? He'd skin you alive and feed your remains to 'wolves like this one."

She gestured towards the dead animal at her feet, his lean form that was no doubt fed on human flesh. This last imaginative sentence pushed their attacker over the edge. He lowered the gun and then raised it again, realizing that he could still make threats with the weapon.

"Fine," he grunted. "But one wrong move, and you get a chunk taken out of your shoulder."

Kate nodded and began follow as he led them away, probably towards some inpenetrable holding cell designed for their capture.

They would never know.

Just then, crashes started going off all around them, exploding everywhere. A tree was hit just to Kate's right, and she screamed and jumped away, immediately beginning to run. Tom followed, bounding heavily by her side as they attempted to flee the soon-to-be battlefield. A man's voice shouted commandly behind her, and Kate turned to see a heavy set man pointing yet another gun at her face. He cocked the weapon and moved to pull the trigger, so caught up in the noise and chaos that he forgot orders.

Tom leaped towards Kate as the gun fired, sending a great bang out that forced Kate to cover her ears. Time slowed as Tom jumped onto Kate, bringer her crashing to the ground with him.

Too late.

The bullet struck flesh and dug deep into the chest of it's victim, thought not the intended target. Tom went suddenly limp and Kate pushed him off of her.

"Tom, let's go before-" Kate froze, staring at the unmoving beast that lay beside her. She crouched over him, ignoring the carnage and gunfire that echoed around her. Feeling through his dark, thick fur, she tried to locate the source of the wound, praying that she would feel hair and only hair as her searching fingers neared his chest.

Her heart stopped as wetness engulfed her slim fingers. The wound could not have been an inch from his heart, if not directly where it was. She couldn't tell because of his anatomy at first, but either way, the wound was unrepairable.

She watched his deep brown eyes as they fluttered closed, saw his breath catch wrenchingly as the bullet took it's toll on him.

Kate stared around, looking for help where there was none. People were flowing around her, running with sub machine guns and rifles through the forest. Soon, they would see Kate and arrest her. She stumbled blindly up, battling with her common sense. The fight or flight instinct kicked in, and the obvious decision was to fly. Fly far away.

But Tom kept her anchored to the spot, laying like a rag doll on the forest floor, blooding pooling around his torso and soaking the lush grass. From what she could tell he wasn't breathing. That was when Kate's mind lurched into motion, rolling forward in a panic that told her to run as fast as she could.

Her heart breaking in two, Kate turned and sprinted towards the safety of the treeline, glancing back at Tom to see his eyes open and looking into hers.

Go.

Kate tore her gaze from him as she slipped into the woods. Bark shattered above her head and millions of shards of wood flew around her. She closed her eyes and crashed through the undergrowth, leaving Tom behind, a bullet in his chest and death in his eyes.

PLEASE REVIEW!!! No, Tom is not dead.