Soooo, this probably looks like I'm updating everything BUT The Training, but I swear that's not the case. This has been on my old laptop, and I've been meaning to post the rest of this. So if you are still reading this story, there are only a few more chapters left to go.

And yes, The Training will be updated really soon. Promise!

Amity gets a new leader on Friday.

The announcement comes in the form of an e-mail, and I go over it several times, reading between the lines of the carefully worded message. The new leader, elected by the members of Amity, will take over effective immediately.

I find myself smiling over the cool glow from my phone.

Ivy is fast asleep next to me, her dark hair splayed across the pillow, and her naked body warm beneath my sheets.

She's been here a week before I realize I've made a mistake.

Well, not so much a mistake, as an error in the fact that I let her stay in Amity as long as I did. It's surprising, a funny feeling in my stomach whenever my eyes land on her, a tightening so intense that sometimes it makes me stop in my tracks. She doesn't notice, or maybe she does, but she's sidetracked here.

I keep her occupied with my own sort of tasks for her to do, since she's so on par with my leadership skills. She dutifully responds to e-mails for me, though in a tone noticeably much nicer than I would, and she organizes my daily schedule with a practiced skill. She's startlingly good at balancing the Dauntless budgets, and I reward her by biting her neck, teeth nipping into her skin as she sighs against me.

"You're distracting me." She says the words in a scolding manner, and I bite down, harder until she yelps. She's learned quickly to watch her tone, but sometimes I don't mind. It sends a warm thrill through me when she tries to get snippy. It only proves she's not quite as Amity as she thinks she is.

"You'll have to learn how to focus better." I say the words against her skin, ignoring the fact she smells good- somehow the same lavender scent that she smelled like when I saw her in Amity, and I move until I can kiss below her ear. She predictably squirms, her slender fingers now digging into the fabric of my pants.

"I won't finish if you don't stop." She whispers, but it's spineless. I've got her exactly like I want her; warm and lush against me, her bones softening as she melts against me.

"I'll make sure you finish." I smirk the words as I find her waist, adjusting her further back against me.

I don't know if she ever finishes her little project, but I don't really care.

Their new leaders name is Grandon, and I squint at him, wondering if he knows his name sounds like a granola bar. He's tall and thin, older than Ivy by at least thirty years, and he wears a pair of overalls to his first meeting.

I recline back in my chair with eyebrow raised at him in disbelief. While Ivy had never looked like she was old enough to even have chosen a faction, Grandon looks like he's spent his whole life on the farm. He's glancing around the room with an optimistically bright smile, and he shoves the thin wire frames of his glasses up higher.

"Hello." He greets Jack carefully, as though he's been hurriedly training on proper meeting etiquette. Jack's reaction is amusing; he glances at Grandon twice before he speaks.

"Where's Ivy?" Jack asks him, his gaze direct. Jack doesn't typically bother with forced formalities and today is no exception. I can tell from the look on his face that he doesn't think too highly of Grandon.

I cock my head at him.

I can't wait for his answer.

I watch Grandon carefully, and his whole face tightens up in despair.

"She was in an accident." He answers his voice legitimately heartfelt. "All of Amity is in mourning. We miss her terribly. She had a presence about her." He shakes his head, and lowers his eyes. "She was far too young to suffer such a terrible fate."

I try not to snort.

Max shoots me a dirty look and I let out a bark of laughter. "Sorry." I flash Grandon a cold smile. "We'll certainly miss seeing Ivy around here. She was so ambitious."

Max rolls his eyes and turns his attention back to the papers in front of him. I can tell he's biting his cheek to keep his expression neutral, and he blinks hard when Grandon shifts uncomfortably.

Grandon finally looks over to me, and he throws me the darkest look he dare muster. Since he's probably highly stoned on peace serum, he comes off looking more mildly inconvenienced than irritated at my lack of concern. I can tell her doesn't appreciate my flippancy, and how I want to laugh in his face. I idly wonder how he would react to know Ivy is alive and well in my apartment, currently taking a nap.

"It's wonderful how easily you stepped into her position." I throw out the words casually, toying with the pen in my hands.

Grandon predictably flinches.

"Eric." Max says my name warningly, and I try to look sympathetic. I doubt it works. "We're sorry for your loss."

Grandon doesn't answer. He eyes me warily, and something tells me he won't forget me.

Good.

Ivy bites her lip, her head tilted back and her eyes shut.

"You're so beautiful." I trail my mouth up her throat, her pale skin still pink from our last night together. The words have been spilling out of my mouth much faster and easier than ever. The compliments fall from my lips effortlessly, the words pulled from deep down within me. I've never been so openly complimentary towards her, but it's useless to try to stop it.

"You're mine," I tell her, one of my hands holding her back, keeping her just where I want her. She's seated atop of me, hot and wet and so slick that my vision starts to blur together. I can tell it's hard for her to stay still; she squirms furiously, her thighs shaking and her nails digging into my back. "You're mine forever."

"Eric." She groans my softly, widening her legs the tiniest bit, urging me closer to her. "Say it again."

I smirk.

Poor little thing.

I know what she wants to hear. The desperation is often on her face, mixed with a frustration that seems painful. I held up my end of the bargain, I let her get close. I've held her against me most nights, I've kissed the softest skin on her, I've wrapped my fingers through hers, settled her tiny frame into my own during slumber.

She wants my adoration of her uttered aloud. She wants me to wax her soft words and quiet declarations of my feelings, warm promises dreamily spoken into her ear.

I'll do none of those things.

The worst part of this entire situation is the new feeling that burns in my stomach when I think of what she wants. I don't know how to fend off the disappointment that she'll get when I can't tell her I'm in love with her, and I don't ever plan on being in love with her.

It's just that during the times like now, when I'm buried so far into her that I can't tell where I end and she begins, that I think I might actually care for her. The thought of her leaving, while amusing, makes me uneasy. I've quickly grown used to her being around me at all times; she's slipped beneath my skin in some silent manner, infiltrating my every waking thought.

"I said you'll be mine forever. You're never leaving here." I say the words while I kiss her lips. I don't have the urge to bite her mouth shut anymore. Instead I find myself leaning into her, my own pressingly softly against hers, letting myself feel her for a moment longer. There's an intimacy in the act, a trust between us. She knows that I don't enjoy kissing anyone, and she's become the only stark exception.

Her hands wrap around my neck now, and she blinks up at me, her green eyes far too soft. Sometimes she looks at me as though she could love me, or at the very least feel something other than the intense lust that started this mess.

"Forever." She brushes her nose against mine, and one of her hands finds my own.

My stomach drops sharply when she slips her fingers between mine, holding my hand tightly.

I say her name, and this time is sounds just as desperate as the men who've begged me for their lives.

I'm fucked when Jax sees her.

It's my own mistake. I've brought her to my office, her presence a blur of her soft white dress and black hair. She's perched upon my lap, her hands examining my hair as though she's never seen it before.

"Does anyone else know it's curly?' She asks me softly. I close my eyes when her nails scrape against my scalp. She works her way through the slightly longer strands on the side. I've been too distracted to get a haircut, too lost in her and all her all too ready self.

"Doubtful." I answer. No one else is ever this close to me, and if they were able to get this close, I'd push them away. I turn my head when I hear the office door creak open, and my eyes land on the man before me.

His expression is one of shock; pure and utter confusion and betrayal all mixed together. His stare is on Ivy, her whole body curled against mine as she turns to look at him, her own eyes widening.

For a moment the room is quiet, and I can see Jax's eyes flash with horror. Everything he's ever thought to question has just been answered. Ivy's posture gives way to the fact she spends her nights moaning my name, her hands are possessively touching the sides of my hair, and her entire body is touching mine, down to her bare feet that rest against my shins.

When the realization that his former lover is perched upon my lap, live and well, his whole posture changes. There's a look that sparks in Jax's eyes, something wild and primal. Something pushing him, as though he should come after me for the prize on my lap. The very prize he was told was no longer breathing.

"Ivy." He gasps her name and he swallows thickly. "I thought you were dead. They told us…"

Her nails dig into my skin as he trails his words off, and I vaguely wonder if she knows they think she's dead. Jax is looking at her with a sense of shock, his simple mind trying to process the very living and breathing Ivy that's before him.

"Go to the infirmary." I bark at him. I try to untangle myself from Ivy's arms. I all but shove her into my office chair, and I make sure I knock it so it turns away from him. "Tell them you're seeing things. You might not be fit for battle." I snarl the final words, hoping it'll spur him to move.

He blinks at me, his face now flush with anger. "Why did they lie to us? Why is she here?"

I feel my lips curl up. "Tell the nurse you think you need help." I step closer to him, I and pull myself to my full height. " I'm sure they're find what you're suffering from is incurable. Unfortunately."

"Have you lost your mind?" He says the words wildly, and I can tell he's panicking. "You want them to send me home? Why do you have her? They said she was dead."

I make my way towards him, my entire posture silently threatening to end his stupid life in the next moment. He doesn't know how easy it would be for me to turn his neck in the wrong direction until it pops, how quickly the life would drain from his eyes.

"It sounds like the best option since you're seeing ghosts." I say the words very slowly, with great intent.

Jax's face turns to something of utter fear, an expression I'm very familiar with. "Did you do this? Did you take her?"

I don't owe him an explanation of why I took what was rightfully mine. I stop right in front of him, staring him down until I watch his spine bend. He's caving, exactly like he knew I would.

"Tell them I sent you." I tell him lowly, and Jax finally gets it.

He nods his head.

Ivy is panicking, but it's all unnecessary.

"He'll tell them." She whispers, her fingers twisting in the dark sheets. "He'll tell them that I'm here. I'm not dead."

I snort in response.

I'm not sure what she thinks they'll do. Send their half way trained farmers to Dauntless? Maybe demand her return when they have Grandon doing such a fine job leading their faction? Start a nasty and ridiculous rumor that she's alive?

None of it matters. The idea that she's alive and well, living in Dauntless, is utterly absurd.

I remind her of that.

I hold her down beneath me, one hand knotted in her hair in a tangled mess, and I don't stop until the only word she says is my name.

Max cashes in his favor far too early for my liking.

I knew it was coming; I'd have been stupid to think otherwise.

"You're to find Tris. Bring her to Jeanine."

I try to keep from sighing in exasperation. Finding Tris is the last thing I want to think about. At one point it was all that occupied my thoughts. I could just imagine the sweet victory I would feel when I finally had her in my hands, my thumbs crushing her windpipe as she struggled to breathe. The thrill that would run through my entire being as her eyes closed one final time, her whole body falling limp.

There was a time that I could have almost felt her in my hands, her skin clammy as I dragged her to Erudite.

It's different now.

Tris is nothing more than a mere pest, a tiny gnat that needs to be swatted away. By running for her life she's all but done the dirty work for me. I'd thought I was rid of her. There's really no need for me to go find here, wherever the fuck she's gone.

I bite back my retort when I realize Max is waiting impatiently. He doesn't look pleased; in fact he looks annoyed that I'm hesitating. I unclench my hands from the fists that I didn't know they were in, and I nod at him.

"When does she want her by?" I flick my gaze to the papers on my desk, noting the way Ivy had arranged them neatly. I think of her suddenly, large eyes looking up at me while I pushed her back into my mattress.

"The sooner the better. She said no later by next Friday." Max says the words clearly and I nod, never less interested in anything in my life.

He leaves without saying anything else, and I know I'm expected to return with Tris very soon.

Ivy doesn't like the idea of me leaving her, and her troubled expression makes something warm curl in my stomach.

"You want me to stay here. In Dauntless?" It's more of a question than a statement, and she utters it while she watches me shrug off my jacket. The familiar irritation flares up for a moment, but it tapers down just as fast. Lately I don't often grow annoyed at her, and this questioning is more personal than practical. She knows full well I would not bring her with me to hunt someone down, and she's far too naïve to realize I've already worked through the unwanted turmoil that idea has brought up.

"You'll stay here. Where you belong." I inform her. I keep my stare on her, making sure it's fixed on her green eyes. She doesn't say anything, but her body language says it all. She curls herself up, hugging her knees to her chest. She's barely dressed in my own shirt, and it won't be long before that shirt joins my own on the floor.

I step towards the bed, noting the way her eyes are downcast. For a moment I wonder if she really thinks I could bring her with me. She may have joined me in battle once, but she's certainly not about to join me on this hunt. I smirk, knowing full well how to remedy this situation.

I kneel on the bed in front of her, making sure my legs are on either side of hers. I lean forward until I can reach her arms, prying them apart. She peers up at me carefully, and she looks downright miserable.

"I could help you." She offers up. Her words are quiet and unlike her. Ivy is hardly of any violent nature, and her offer to come with me to potentially harm another human being tells me just how much she wants to assert her place her with me.

In any other situation I would find this heartwarming.

I smile at her, the kind where my lips curl on their own because her actions delight me. I move to push her back, making sure my nose brushes hers as one of my hands finds her ribs beneath the shirt.

"You'll help me by staying here. I'll make sure you're taken care of." I murmur the words in her ear, making sure to say them slowly. My thumb strokes over soft skin, and she reacts appropriately, arching herself closer to me.

"What if you don't come back?" Her voice sounds wobbly, wavering slightly as she slides her fingers beneath my shirt. I feel them skim along the muscles in my back, her nails scratching the skin pleasantly. "What if you leave me here alone?"

"I wouldn't." I promise and the words sear my throat. She swallows and nods slightly, observing as I rise up to yank the dark fabric over my head. Seconds later her own shirt follows suit, and I'm rewarded the same pale skin I've come to know. I try to ignore the raw feeling in my chest, this dull ache that is blooming as though I've done something wrong. I push it away, focusing on the squirming girl beneath me.

Her hands reach for me, always wanting me closer, and she pulls me back to her.

"Do you promise?" She says the words against my lips, mumbling as she kisses me urgently.

"I won't leave you, Ivy."

It's not until my bare skin presses against hers do I realize that I actually mean the words.