"Avery, I can explain-" Greyson started but was cut off by my palm slapping him so hard across the face that his head actually turned to the side. A look of surprise briefly flashed across his face before his eyes flashed black, his body quickly tensing. "Don't do that again," he warned as he turned so that he was facing me once more, causing the anger that was already boiling in my veins to spill over. I made a move to slap him again, but he caught me by the wrist a few inches away from his face. "Avery-"

"Don't you dare tell me what to do," I lowly growled as I yanked my wrist from his grasp. "First I find out that you had a mate before me that got killed that you never even mentioned to me, and now I find out that you let one of the monsters that raped me live after you said you'd killed them all?" As the words slid past my lips, tears built up in my eyes and sobs climbed up my throat, but I kept both at bay. I refused for Andrew to see me cry.

"How did you find out about Katherine?" Greyson whispered, pain flashing across his eyes as he completely disregarded the last part of my sentence.

"The same way I found out about Gavin," I spat. "From a piece of paper instead of my supposed mate."

"Avery, I promise I was going to tell you-"

"Like you were going to tell me that this beast is still alive?" I cut off, my eyes narrowing in on Andrew as my wolf began pushing toward the surface. His face was bloody and battered as well as the rest of his weak, mangled body. But that wasn't good enough. Nothing would ever be good enough as long as he was left breathing.

I felt River push to the surface and her power flow through my body, causing my eyes to shift into their black color as my canines elongated and my nails to effortlessly turn into dangerous claws. I quickly lunged at Andrew and wrapped my hands around his neck, my claws digging into the soft flesh of his throat. His eyes widened as he weakly wrapped his arms around my hand in a pathetic attempt to pull me off. "You're not so strong now, are you?" I lowly growled as my hands became tighter around his throat. I could hear his heart struggling and crying out for the precious oxygen I was depriving him of and an oddly satisfying feeling moved through me like it had when I'd snapped Becca's neck the night of the pack dinner. I pulled my arm back as my hand formed a fist before I punched him in the face with all of my might, causing as sickening crack to fill the air as he was thrown to the ground. I wasted no time straddling him and repeatedly punching, not caring how badly he'd already been beaten or how much blood began spilling from his already battered nose.

"Avery, stop!" Greyson growled as his arms wrapped around me from behind and pulled me off of Andrew before using his body to pin mine against the wall, his hands wrapped around my wrist. "I know you're upset, but you need to calm down." At the words "calm down", something within me broke. He seriously wanted me to calm down after what Andrew had done to me? After all the nightmares he'd caused? Fury boiled within me, and before I knew what I was doing, my claws had found their way into Greyson's cheek, leaving five deep, bloody claw marks. A mixture of anger and fear swirled in my mind as well as a feeling of satisfaction due to Greyson feeling a glimpse of the physical and emotional pain Andrew had caused me.

"You shouldn't have done that, Avery," Greyson lowly said as he stepped backward from me in a sinister tone that sent an unfamiliar shiver down my spine. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. "I've warned you about pushing me and usually I can control it but..." he trailed not finishing as his eyes shifted as his breathing became erratic before he suddenly hunched over, a pained scream escaping his lips, one like I'd never heard before as his bones slowly started breaking and reshaping.

My heart began beating out of my chest, concern for Greyson filling my head while fear consumed my heart. Both Natalie and Matthew had said that Greyson was dangerous, especially when his emotions got a hold of him and now I was seeing what they meant up close and personal. "I can't keep him at bay for much longer," he painfully made out. "Run and don't look back no matter what!" Greyson yelled as he fell to his knees.

"Greyson, what's going on? What's happening to-"

"Avery, go!" he yelled, his soulless black eyes boring into mine. Fear moved through me as I forced my legs to carry me out of the cell and out of the jail, ignoring the questioning looks the guards gave me. I'd barely made it a few meters from the jail when a loud, petrifying howl filled my ears. And it was all too familiar. It was the howl that announces the commencement of the Hunt. And I was Greyson's prey.

I found a strangled sob escape my mouth, my fear turning into unparalleled terror and my chest became tight. After a few moments, I heard Greyson's beast somewhere behind me, its scent approaching at an unearthly speed. I wasn't going to survive this. As if to confirm my thoughts, Greyson let out another howl. My blood ran cold. I had to think fast if I wanted to make it out of this alive.

I took a sharp turn and entered the woods, zigzagging so that he'd hopefully get confused, but knowing Greyson that simple trick wouldn't put him off. Pressure built up behind my eyes letting me know that River wanted to take over and I let her without putting up a fight. I could move far faster in her form than I could in mine, and she was extremely agile. So without wasting a second, I let her take control, my bones breaking and my clothes ripping off and in a matter of seconds, my paws were thundering against the cool ground. I allowed her to navigate through the dark forest and use her tricks of deception, but no matter what she did, Greyson was still a hair's width behind us, snapping at my tail and hind legs.

I willed myself to move faster. Duck under that low hanging branch! Weave through those trees! Jump over that log! Run toward that-

My thoughts were interrupted by a large black mass tackling me from the side just like Andrew had done the night my old pack was attacked. A red-hot burning pain shot up my back and deep into the back of my skull, the trauma causing me to shift back instantaneously. Once the black dots cleared from my vision, I saw Greyson's monstrous wolf standing over me with his four legs caging in my body just like he'd done the night we first met, but this time it was much more sinister.

"Greyson, please don't," I begged as tears started falling down my cheeks. He merely growled in my face, his eyes cold possessive. As if they had a mind of their own, my legs bent so that my feet were under his soft belly before they straightened out as hard and as fast as they could, causing Greyson's wolf to sail through the air. I didn't waste any time checking to see where he'd ended up, but instead, I got up as fast as I could, ignoring my blurred vision and pained back before I sloppily tried climbing up a nearby tree. My head spun and pounded, but for the life of me, I forced myself to make it up the first branch, then the second. Yes. Yes. Then the third and the fourth. I was about to make it to the fifth when an unimaginable pain shot through my leg and throughout the rest of my bare body. A mind-numbing scream burst from my lips as my fingers lost their grip, allowing Greyson to viciously pull me to the ground. The stench of my blood hung heavy in the air and black started overtaking the edges of my vision and slowly swallowing it whole. Once he was sure he'd rendered me lame, he released his my thigh from between his jaws, a few bits of my flesh coming out as well. The sight made me want to vomit.

I wanted to scream and beg and curse him, but all I could do was cry as he slowly crept over me as if he was relishing in the work he'd done and the fear he'd caused me. "I-I thought you loved me," I barely made out as the memories of the dinner we'd had mere hours ago filled my head while his wet nose moved up my stomach and between my breasts until he found the crook of my neck. I felt numb. "Please Greyson. I'm begging you to stop." He let out an annoyed huff as he ran his course tongue along my neck. I closed my eyes, hoping that if I couldn't see it, then it wouldn't happen. But that wasn't the case.

Goddess, help me.

Almost instantly in a gust of wind, I felt Greyson's pressure leave my body followed by a deep grunt. My eyes instantly snapped open and through a vision blurred by tears, I made out Matthew's bare figure hurriedly coming toward me. "Avery, are you alright?" He frantically asked as he hoisted me up, a scream escaping my lips as pressure was applied to my fresh wound. Matthew cursed before he slung one of my arms across his shoulders and pulled me up once more, causing stars to dance before my vision for a few seconds due to the sudden action.

I merely shook my head, tears continuously falling down my cheeks as I looked to see Greyson shift back into his human form, a look of confusion on his face. But as soon as he saw me, something clicked. "Matthew, I need to get out of here, he's going to kill me!" I shrieked hysteria seeping into my system as he wiped my blood from his mouth with his hands, staring at them in shock and disbelief as they shook.

"This wasn't him, Avery," Matthew said as he narrowed his eyes at Greyson. "That was Gavin."

"What?" I whispered, disbelief and confusion clouding my mind just as Greyson started shifting once more, a scream escaping his lips as he fell to his stomach, writhing in pain.

"A-Avery, I'm so s-sorry- Ah!" Greyson choked up as his body started breaking all over again. I shook my head. No, I couldn't believe Greyson or Gavin or whoever he really was. "Matthew t-take her to Convergence. T-Take extra pro-protocols so He can't get to her again."

Without saying another word, Matthew quickly picked me up bridal style and took me away from Greyson, his screams following us every step of the way. "Wh-What's going on? What did you mean back there when you said that was Gavin?"

"That's not mine to tell, nor is it my priority. My priority is to get you to Convergence," Matthew sharply said as he swiftly moved through the thicket of trees.

"What is Convergence?" I asked, begging for some sort of information. He remained silent. "Matthew, please."

He sighed, giving in. "You'll be separated from the pack in a very compact room with silver bars with Wolfsbane. We usually only use it for the worst of the worst, but trust me, it's your best protection against him right now.

My heart stopped. "No, Matthew. Please don't do this to me!" I sobbed. My old pack had their own version of Convergence and many times people come back traumatized and scarred. Some didn't make it out at all. His jaw tightened and I could see the conflict in his eyes. "Just take me out of the territory. I can run, just please-"

"No, Avery," he tightly said as we made it out of the woods, and into a clearing.

"Can't you just stop being so afraid of Greyson for once and just help me?" I snapped, anger boiling up within me at the fact he'd rather let me suffer than set me free. He instantly stopped and looked down at me with a hard look in his eyes.

"I'm doing this specifically to help you," he lowly said as he gently set me down so I was leaning against him so all my weight wouldn't go on my injured leg. "If I let you free, he'd only track you down like prey, but in your condition, you'd barely make it out of the territory, probably a mile tops. This is your safest bet whether you like it or not and I refuse to let anything worse happen to you. So I'm sorry, Avery, but you don't have a choice." And without another word, he put a hand on either side of my head and snapped my neck.