Bonus Chapter

*One*Week*Later*

Rose took a deep breath, staring into the incredulous faces of her Clan. She had just shared her story with them – the truth of Mercer, that she was their new leader, and why they were allying themselves alongside the dragons for the good of both humankind and of magical creatures. She wasn't sure they were going to take it very well – it was going against their training, their teachings, and their values. Still, she knew it was something that was going to come to pass.

"Any questions?" Rose asked.

One brave Clan member in the front row raised her hand.

"Yes?" Rose prompted.

"I have two questions," the girl began.

"All right," Rose nodded, encouraging her.

"What happened to the old Master?"

Rose floundered for a moment. When she had checked his room again, he had vanished – death via prophecy. She, however, didn't want to explain to the Clan that she was a murderer when she was trying to gain their trust.

"The old Master decided to leave and enjoy his retirement elsewhere," Rose said firmly. "What is your second question?"

"Are we able to read Mercer's diary? Not that I don't trust you, Huntsmistress, but I would like to read the exact contents."

"I will have copies made and distributed." Rose decided. "I think having everyone read it is an excellent idea."

The crowd chattered for a moment before falling silent.

"Anything else?" This time she flicked her eyes up to the monitors that lined the conference room. Not only was it big enough to hold the entire New York branch of the Clan but it had monitors that would connect to all of the Clan branches worldwide so that the current Huntsclan leader could contact everyone at once.

Rose knew she must travel to all of the international headquarters soon, as she had been doing since youth. It would not do to have anyone revolt; not when she was so close to realizing everything that the Clan should be. Strangely, though, she didn't feel that any of the members were leaning toward a rebellion. Perhaps they already realized this was the best path or perhaps they were tired of being consistently cast as the villain.

The head of the Canadian branch raised their hand. "One of my Clan members has a question," she stated.

"Yes?"

A stout male stood up. "You said something about names? We get actual names?"

"Yes," Rose nodded. "Every Clan member is now going to get a name. You may choose your own. If you do not wish to choose or cannot choose the head of your branch will select a name for you. Once you have chosen your name, you must register it with your branch leader."

Another murmur ran through the crowd – one of excitement.

The same Canadian boy waved his hand again, getting her attention. Once he saw that he had it, he began to speak. "Do you have a name?"

"Yes, I do. The old Master named me when I was very young," Rose revealed. "Those on special missions that regularly operated in the human world often had names rather than just a Clan number."

"Do we address you by your name?" The boy asked.

"I believe in a hierarchy in order to keep the Clan running smoothly. I believe in respecting authority." She paused, "What is your number?"

"Twenty-five."

"So you would be called 'Huntsboy name' rather than 'Huntsboy twenty-five'. And your Captains will be called 'Captain name'. Understand?" Her eyes swept the entirety of the Clan who nodded their understanding.

"So what do we call you?" The boy pressed.

"You may call me just 'Huntsmistress' or you may call me 'Huntsmistress Rose'."

She paused, letting her name sink in.

"Anything else?" Rose called.

There was no response.

"All right, well, that is all for now. If you think of anything else, please send me an e-mail. I know that this is going to be a difficult adjustment, but we can and will overcome our reputation. We will become what Mercer, our great founder, intended for us to be. We will fulfill our proper destiny!" Rose inclined her head respectfully toward the monitors before dismissing them.

She turned off the monitors with a remote before directly addressing her New York Clan. "Traditionally," she started, "New York has never had branch leaders due to the fact that the leader of Clan has resided here since New York became a city. I do intend to stay here and continue to have this as the base. However, in the developing stages of our relationships with the dragons and other magical creatures, I am needed more as a liaison than anything else.

"Therefore, I will be appointing Huntsboys 88 and 89 or, as they prefer, Nicholas and Kyle," Rose gestured to each one respectively so the Clan would know who was who, "as co-leaders of the New York branch. They are my right hands and have been for some time now, as you all surely know. I trust them with my life and you may do the same. Any questions or concerns you have can go directly to them and, if necessary, they will bring it to me. They will also be handling name registration. Understood?"

"Yes Huntsmistress Rose!" The Clan barked.

"Be sure to keep an ear out – many changes will be coming to the Clan in the near future to make it run more efficiently under our new mission. Thank you. You are dismissed."

Rose watched the Clan file out, no doubt heading to the dining hall as it was lunch time. As they filtered out she collapsed, exhausted into a char. It had been a hard week, plagued with memories and heartache. She glanced up as Nicholas and Kyle approached.

"Do you need to talk about it, Huntsmistress?" Nicholas offered softly.

"Don't worry about me," Rose dismissed quickly.

"We kind of have to," Kyle broke in bluntly. "We need to make sure you're in the best shape to be running the Huntsclan and I know you're doing a fantastic job but if you keep pushing your emotions away, you're going to end up bitter like the old Master. We don't need you destroying yourself."

Despite herself, Rose felt tears leaking down her cheeks. She put her hands over her face, trying to quell the rash display of emotions. She hadn't cried in a week and she shouldn't be starting now. Yet, she couldn't help herself. A week of trying to forget that final moment on the battle field, when the gems had made their choice and taken Jake away from her forever had hollowed out her insides; she had forgotten how to think, breathe, and exist in that moment and she was still trying to remember. She had tried not to let it affect her because she knew she had responsibilities now – she knew she had thousands of Clan members and magical creatures depending on her to get everything organized.

Her head knew that. Her head was able to take over her body and get her through this week until the bulk of her initial responsibility had been taken care of. Now there was nothing left but her aching, broken heart. She didn't know how to deal with a broken heart. She hadn't even had time to sort out being in love with Jake (she hadn't ever had time to just truly be in love with Jake because there was always the Master and their destinies getting in their way) before she had to confront the realities of grieving over Jake. He was gone and nothing was ever going to bring him back.

"Huntsmistress," Nicholas prompted, sliding closer to her, "Rose?"

The more sensitive of the two, Nicholas was the one who dared to put a tentative arm around the sobbing teenager – the young girl who, though she seemed much older, was only a year his elder. He had never seen her like this – the Huntsmistress had always seemed strong and confident, above the earthly worries that plagued everyone else. He knew, though, that she was human too and that she had loved the dragon. He had seen it when they had been trapped in the basement. She wouldn't have gone to lengths that she did – risking her life for a magical creature and changing the fate of the Clan completely, if she wasn't in love with him.

"It's all right," Nicholas attempted to soothe, though he didn't know what he was doing. He'd never had to comfort someone like this before. He looked to Kyle, who shrugged helplessly. Nicholas continued to pat her on the back.

The Huntsmistress' communicator lit up bright red, indicating there was someone attempting to reach her. Rose glanced at it, eyes rimmed red, but she made no move to retrieve it, staying in Nicholas' loose embrace.

Kyle picked up the communicator. "Branch Leader Kyle, how may I help you?"

"I called the Huntsmistress," the gruff voice on the other end replied.

"You got me," Kyle snapped, "What did you want?"

"There's a man here, says he wants a meeting with the Huntsmistress."

"Who?"

"An old guy. Says his name is Lao Shi."

Kyle glanced at Rose.

"Escort him up," she ordered Kyle.

"I'll be down to get him," Kyle informed the doorman before heading out the door.

Rose moved away from Nicholas, patting at her eyes with her gloves. "Do I look a mess?" she asked him.

He shook his head. "You look fine."

"I'm sorry for breaking down."

"You're human. You're hurting. It happens."

"I miss him." Rose murmured, closing her eyes against the image of Jake that was fluttering against her lids. It seemed so impossible that he was gone, that she would never be able to hold him again. Yet, it was the truth that she would have to accept. She would never see Jake Long again. The tears began to rise but she had to push them away.

"Lao Shi," she greeted, putting on a forced smile. "How are you?"

"About as happy as you, so you can drop the pretense," the old man growled. "Can you dismiss your Clan members?"

"Go get lunch," Rose encouraged. "I'll be fine."

"We'll save you something," Kyle promised as they slipped away.

"What did you want to see me about?" Rose asked, getting straight to business.

"I want to make the relationship between magical creatures and the Huntsclan work." Lao Shi swallowed. "I owe it to him to make it work. Otherwise it seems as though he … left … for nothing."

Rose was grateful he'd avoided the word died because Jake wasn't dead. Jake was a piece of crystal that she'd held in her hands and placed in a safe in Lao Shi's shop. Jake had been transformed into something beyond himself; something Lao Shi said would help out humanity but she hadn't cared. All that had mattered to her was that Jake wasn't Jake anymore.

"I agree. We have to make it work. I'll be travelling over the next year to the various Huntsquarters putting new rules and regulations in place and teaching what Mercer described in his diary to my Clan members." She paused. "It may be a help if I had liaisons in each country to come work with us."

"Liaisons are a good idea," Lao Shi agreed. "I will help you in any way I can."

"And I you."

The two studied one another. Neither had ever had much to say to the other – Rose knew Lao Shi had doubted her until the very end, until he had come to that battleground and realized that Rose hadn't fought Jake – and now there was the memory of a beloved boy between them, bonding them together until their deaths.

"How is Haley?" Rose asked, genuinely concerned for Jake's little sister, whom she had come to love over their brief meetings.

"Heartbroken." Lao Shi said briefly.

They met each other's eyes and realized they were both thinking the same thing: there is no use in dragging this meeting out. Despite everything, we will never be more than business partners, working together for the good of all.

"I have business to attend to," Rose said.

At the same time Lao Shi mentioned, "I had best be going."

Rose nodded crisply. "I'll walk you out."

This bonus chapter was inspired by janzen222 who sent me a pm that got me thinking! I had never considered what might be done if Jake had died since I knew from the very beginning that he wouldn't. The sequel will be based on the original ending where Jake is still alive. I hope to see you all reading Hallowed Huntsmistress and I hope you enjoyed Forever Am Drag.

I own nothing recognizable. Thanks to my beta: Gift Of The Dragons.

~TLL~