Ellie

Not sure what time it is, or what really wakes me, but popping my head up I see it's the middle of the night. I can see the light from the moon shining through the open flap of the tent and the stars still light up the night sky. Wait why is the flap to our tent open?

"Ellie, we need to talk." My whole body jumps from the sudden voice coming from my side of the bed. It's my brother Keith.

"What are you doing in here?" I whisper trying not to wake up Kayden. Looking over I see he's still dead asleep.

"Please we haven't had much time to talk, and we really need to." He pleads with me.

"It can't wait until morning?"

Shaking his head, no, he makes his way to the flap and turns to face me. I want to tell him no, that he can wait until tomorrow morning, but seeing the look in his eyes I can't get the words out. Looking to Kayden one more time I slowly get out of bed and follow my brother.

We make our way out of the tent, and he closes the flap. Taking my hand, he leads me towards the trees. I'm not sure why, but I am getting a bad feeling about this.

"We shouldn't go to far away from the camp site. That is where the safety barriers are." I tell him adamantly.

"Don't worry we won't go outside of the barriers." He speaks.

"You know where the barriers are?"

He looks back at me and gives me a nod. Having no reason not to trust my own brother I follow behind him. We walk farther and farther along, until you can't even see the tents anymore. I dig my feet into the ground, but he keeps pulling me along.

"Keith, just tell me what's going on." I argue with him.

He's acting strange, he won't even look at me. He's not talking at all. Thought that was why he needed me out here so we could talk about everything that is going on. Finally, just as I am about to pull my arm out of his hold, he stops.

Dropping my hand he makes his way to a tree, turns facing me, and leans against it. Looking around at my surroundings I see nothing but trees, and bushes. There are beautiful flowers along the ground, but I'm not sure what kind they are or what they can do. So, I stay away from them, and face my brother.

Crossing my arms over my chest I look at him. He doesn't look like the brother I am used to. There are dark circles under his eyes, his hair is a disheveled mess, and he looks like he's lost weight. I'm wondering what's going on because his eyes keep looking around wildly, like he's afraid.

"So, what did you need to talk to me about?" I break the silence.

He looks back at me, takes a deep breath, and says "why, why are you fighting with these monsters?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Kayden Monroe, and his gang of assholes. Who else would I be talking about?" He practically shouts.

"They aren't monsters Keith. His father and his fathers' men on the other hand. They are the monsters."

"Have you forgotten what they did to me? I was in a pile of my own blood, barely able to move the last time you saw me. And then you go and live with him for a couple weeks and you become his whore!" He shouts at me.

He's no longer leaning against the tree. No, his body is right in front of mine now. I can see the rage in his eyes, feel it radiating off his skin. I've never seen my brother like this.

"Have you forgotten why they did that. You gambled away so much money at his casino. You owe his family half a million dollars. There was no way we could pay that." I take a step back trying to create space between us.

"So yes, I went with him to pay off your debt, but there is so much more to this then you know. He's my blood bond mate Keith. Has been my entire life."

Keith takes a step back; his eyes are wide open in shock. His face has a bewildered look on it. One second, he's a couple steps away from me, the next moment he has a hold of me by the shoulders. He's squeezing me and shaking me as he talks.

"You lie. There is no way he can be that to you. A human cannot be that to anyone in the supernatural world." The more he shakes me the more I feel dizzy.

"You're hurting me, Keith." I tell him but he doesn't seem to care.

"And I'm not human, I'm like him. I'm a Hybrid." This stops him cold.

No longer does he shake me, and I feel thankful for that. He was making me nauseous and hurting my shoulders. I'm almost certain I'll have bruises by the morning. That will be hard to explain to Kayden.

"No, you're like him?" He whispers so low I can barely hear him. Making me believe he is saying it to himself.

He walks away from me and begins pacing along the ground. He keeps saying no repeatedly. He has his hands in his hair, pulling it making it stick up in every which way.

"Keith, what's wrong?" I take a step in his direction to try and comfort him in some way but stop when he places one hand out.

"Don't come any closer, it's not safe for you here." That's all he says. He won't look at me.

When I think about his words and repeat them to myself, I wonder what the hell he means by that. None of us are safe here. So why does he say I am not safe here specifically?

"We need to leave. Need to get you back to Kayden before it's too late." He stops pulling his hair, straightens his back, and walks my way.

Grabbing my hand, we are about to leave when I ask, "what do you mean by that Keith?"

He looks back at me and I see it. For the first time tonight, I see true pain and agony on his face. His eyes plead with me for forgiveness. Forgiveness for what I'm not sure.

I get my answer a moment later, all hell breaks loose. Men are jumping from the trees, dressed in all black, and they have weapons in their hands. As well as some along their hips on belts and fastened along their backs. They move closer to us crowding us in.

"What did you do Keith?" I look to my brother in horror.

I want to think there is no way my brother could have done this. No way he would have sold me out to the monsters that want me dead. But as he looks to the ground and whispers, he's sorry I know that is exactly what he did.

"Do you know they want me dead?" I shout at him, pulling my hand away from him and holding it close to my chest.

"Well, we don't want you dead now pretty girl," one of the men say to me as he walks right up to stand in front of me.

Can't make out his face too much in the dark. Having very little light to work with, but the second his eyes contact mine; I see he has to me one of Kayden's brothers. His eyes are the same ocean blue. Only difference is looking into his eyes I see no soul, only an empty depth.

"What do you mean by that?"

He smiles at me. A smile that makes my stomach turn. I know I'm not going to like what happens next. "You'll find out soon enough."

That's the last thing I hear him say before there's a pain in the back of my head and everything goes dark.