Author's Note:

So many ideas for this story..it's like my own little playground! :) The reviews I got were great! Thank you to everyone that took the time and dropped me some feedback.

That being said, this chapter is dedicated to CtrlAltDelicious for her sweet review! Enjoy.

. ... .

Chloe's POV

"You want to know about..what?" Alek said, stepping back from me as well. I felt an uncomfortable shift in the air.

"I was wondering about other Mai leaders. What are they like? You said Valentina was the leader of the Mai here in San Francisco, so there has to be different leaders in other cities."

Alek frowned slightly, and looked into my eyes with his dark gaze.

"Why are you asking about them all of a sudden, Chloe?" he questioned, and I knew that he knew that I wasn't being completely honest with him. I bit my bottom lip nervously.

"I was just curious.." I said quietly, looking away from his intense eyes.

I didn't like lying to Alek, but if I were to tell him about Bestet? What would happen then? I knew the answer. He would go and tell Jasmine and Valentina. It wasn't Jasmine and Alek I didn't trust, but it made my stomach queasy when I thought about Valentina learning of my connection to our ancestress and goddess. I felt my shoulders tremble as I remembered the conversation that I had had with Alek and Jasmine just before I met Valentina.

'She's killed thirteen members of the Order with her bare hands.." Alek had said, and I rolled my eyes at him.

'...The number is closer to fifteen, actually..' Jasmine had informed me, her voice sounding way too casual for my liking.

Interrupted from my thoughts, Alek wrapped his arms around my stomach, pulling me close to him.

"It's okay, Chloe. You just caught me off guard, asking about them out of no where like that. What do you want to know, exactly?" Alek asked me in a softer tone, and I smiled. Bringing my arms to rest on his shoulders, we stood in a half-embrace as we spoke.

"I don't know, necessary information? I'm supposed to be the Uniter and I know absolutely nothing about anything! I feel so...ignorant about everything," I said, trailing off when I noticed Alek begin to smile. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing, I just think it's great that I'm the one you always come to, with anything you need.." Alek pulled me closer and I found myself appreciating his muscular chest, even through his clothes. I inhaled quickly when I felt Alek's soft lips whispering against my ear, "Well, almost anything.."

His voice sent an aching thrill down my body and I gasped almost silently. Too fast. I pulled back from Alek, and he let go of me.

"What-"

"Don't you what me! And now that you bring up that," I said, as an after thought struck me and the glow that his lips gave my body wore off, "You can't just yank a girl into a classroom and start making out with her without warning!"

Alek looked at me for a moment, and it became apparent he was holding back laughter.

I exhaled sharply through my nose. "Obviously you're not able of talking to me with your intelligent brain right now," I said, annoyed. "So I'm going to go to class and you can do whatever you do with your time."

I turned away from him and began walking away when he grabbed my arm lightly.

"Chloe, wait! I'm sorry," he said, and I looked back at him, "I just get distracted by you sometimes..Can you really fault me for never wanting to stop kissing you?" he trailed off. I narrowed my eyes at him as I watched his brown eyes stray to my lips.

I cleared my throat and Alek's eyes came back to mine again, and he blushed. He blushed! I never thought I'd see the day.

"Anyways. I'm on my best behavior now," he added on. I couldn't help but smile a little.

"Then I need you to tell me about the other Mai leaders," I said, simply.

He paused and then spoke, "Well, I'm not having this conversation with you in an empty classroom. Lets go get coffee or something."

I hesitated, "I..I have class and-"

"What, the Uniter is afraid of skipping class? Oh, that's rich. Where's that bravery I saw down there with the Jackals?" Alek cut me off, and I frowned at his taunt.

"I'm not afraid!" I said, indignant.

Alek smirked, "Prove it, kitten."

. ... .

Before Chloe knew it, they had left the school and were walking the streets of San Francisco.

Chloe had that awkward feeling that a person gets when they have so much to say to one person and didn't even know where to start. Oh, hey Alek. I know we kissed last night but does that mean you're my boyfriend? Oh, and hey, I think that Valentina might be out to get me. Why do I think that? Well, you know..our ancestress appears to me on a semi-regular basis and basically told me I can't trust her farther than I can throw her...

Chloe put her hands in the pocket of her hoodie, and then flashed her blue eyes to Alek. He looked at her at the same moment.

"You okay over there, in that beautiful little head of yours?"

Chloe shook her head slightly as they neared the small coffee shop that Chloe visited often. "I don't know, Alek. These past few days have been so..overwhelming and confusing."

Just then they approached the counter, and the barista locked her eyes in on Alek.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" she asked huskily, only looking at Alek as if Chloe didn't exist.

Chloe's eyebrows raised, and she looked at Alek. His eyes were locked onto the beautiful brunette behind the bar. Chloe felt a surge of annoyance to the human girl, and turned her gaze to her.

"I'd like a vanilla cappuccino with an extra shot of espresso," Chloe said, and something about her tone made the barista unglue her eyes from Alek for a moment to look at her after she said it. Chloe saw a hint of something in the brunette's eyes as she punched Chloe's order into the computer. When she looked at Alek again, there was a different way about her when she talked to him. "And...you?"

"Same thing."

Money was exchanged then, with Alek paying, despite protests from Chloe.

"Alright, you two can go sit down. I'll bring it out to you."

Chloe watched as she turned around quickly and began making their drinks without another word. Mildly confused, she lead her and Alek to sit at a table away from windows. Who knows who could be watching nowadays..Chloe thought to herself. Or maybe I'm just becoming paranoid..

As she was about to sit down, Alek grabbed her arm lightly. She stopped, and he pulled out her chair for her wordlessly. Chloe looked at him and caught his eyes with her own, "Thank you," she said, sitting in the chair lightly.

"Anytime," as he pushed her chair in. Then he sat across from her, and she was faced with his intense stare again. He seemed to have a question in his eyes, and Chloe shifted nervously in her seat.

"What was that?" he asked, after she was silent for a while.

"What was what?"

"That. With the barista. You said one sentence to the girl and she backed off like a scared mouse," Alek said, and Chloe's brow furrowed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said honestly. "I didn't do anything on purpose."

Alek stared at her and then decided to let the subject go.

"So, you wanted to know about other Mai leaders?" Alek asked, and Chloe nodded. "Well, there's more Mai in California than any other state, you know," he began, "There's also a large settlement in New York and a few in Texas, and one small one in Florida," he told her, and Chloe felt the familiar feeling of being overwhelmed. All of the Mai were so spread out-how had that happened? Somehow, it didn't..feel right to her.

"Now, there are three leaders in California. Valentina, of course, in San Francisco. She deals with the Mai located in all the nearby areas. There's Dariya in Sacramento, and then Dimitri in Los Angeles," Alek told her, and she gave him her full attention.

"Dariya and Valentina, well, they're always in each other's business. Kind of like you and Amy, actually," he said, and Chloe narrowed her eyes at him.

"That's not true!" she protested, and Alek gave her a look.

"You can't honestly argue with me, can you? You've told her and Paul more than any human is supposed to know!"

"Says who? Valentina?" Chloe argued back, and Alek raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Look, maybe it was a mistake to tell you about what Valentina planned, but you can't honestly think that she's doing anything other than trying to protect you.." he said, almost expressionless. Chloe knew better, though. She could almost see his clear loyalty to Valentina written on his face.

"I know that, Alek," she lied smoothly. When had she gotten so good at that? "I just..I don't know. I'm just annoyed, is all."

Their conversation came to an abrupt halt as the barista brought them their drinks. Chloe remembered what Alek said about how the girl was frightened of her, and made sure to smile and say thank you. However, she didn't stick around, scampering off to safety behind her counter.

"Well, annoyed or not, remember who your allies are, and don't let Jasmine hear you talk about her mom like that.." Alek said, his tone lighter. Chloe flashed a fake grin and nodded in understanding. "Anyways," he continued, "Dariya is from the Ukraine. She came here after she lost her husband and daughter to the Order. She's the Yin to Valentina's Yang, if that makes sense. She's slightly older than Valentina, " he said, rattling on information about the woman.

"How old is she?" Chloe asked, and Alek grinned.

"Ninety-seven," he replied smoothly, and Chloe choked on her cappuccino.

"Ninety-seven? How old is Valentina?" Chloe asked, fighting the words through her coughing.

"Ninety-five."

"Oh, my god," she said, her eyes wide. "How..how is that even possible?" she asked quietly, looking down at her hands. Alek flashed a small smile, and reached across the table, grabbing her hand and taking it in his own.

"You're so naive to your new life, Chloe," he said softly, and his tone gave Chloe an extreme case of butterflies in her stomach. She watched in silence as he brought her hand to her mouth, kissing it lightly.

Suddenly finding it hard to breathe, Chloe pulled her hand away from his seductive mouth.

"Alek, focus," she said, trying to sound stern, but her voice came out shaky. Alek shrugged, scooping her hand back up with his easily.

"Anyways, we don't really have a lot of contact with Dimitri. He and Valentina..don't see eye to eye on some things. He's a mystic, and believes that Bestet herself can communicate to us," he said, rolling his eyes. "As if she even still cared.." he added in an undertone.

"Wait, you're saying that he claims to have talked to her before?" she asked, as a wave of different emotions hit her. Excitement because this is exactly what she was hoping to hear, and dread because the one guy she might be able to get answers from was obviously on the other side of the fence with her current allies.

"I don't know exactly. All that I know is that he's a very back-to-basics kind of guy. He trains his Mai in martial arts and is a big believer in the goddess. I've never met him, but I've heard Valentina mention him on several circumstances."

Chloe had to try not to look too interested, she knew. Alek's dark gaze was unreadable as he told her information. "What kind of circumstances?" she asked quietly.

Alek sighed, and he took a drink of his cappuccino.

"Chloe, I don't know how to explain all of this to you.. Maybe you should ask Valentina?"

"I will. I just want to hear what you can tell me first," she told him, "Just give me at least a little bit of understanding before I go talk to her," she pleaded.

Alek couldn't say no to her. He had promised Valentina not to tell her some of the things Chloe was asking him right now, but in all honesty it didn't feel right keeping her as blind as she was. He couldn't do it any longer.

"Alright, Chloe," he sighed, "ask and you shall receive.

"What you have to know first, is that the Mai have fallen eons from where we used to be. Our numbers are diminishing at an exponential pace. In population world wide, our numbers have dropped to less than half of what they where fifty years ago," he told her and she felt her eyes widen.

"What were they fifty years ago?" she asked.

"Five million, globally," he told her. "There were few settlements on every continent. Cities of affluence. They were very centralized around their city, however, and that was why the Order was able to go through us so quickly," he said, his voice darkening.

"Over the past fifty years, Order assassinations has caused a flight of the Mai. We have spread and disconnected from each other. We haven't heard from some Mai settlements that we used to talk to monthly in ages. Some have just fled and hid. Some have been murdered."

Chloe listened to his words, a cold shiver going down her back. Alek's words were hitting her with a force. From a corner of her mind, she recalled Valentina's words the first time she met the woman.

'You were born during dark times...so many Mai were scattered and lost...Its my job to find them...'

Chloe blinked the memory away, coming back into her conversation with Alek.

"Some Mai have chosen to hide in human society. Other's have decided to go on the offensive and fight the Order. And yet some other Mai have chosen to go rouge and kill humans and others indiscriminately. Peachy times."

Chloe simply looked at him. She didn't...know what to say. What Alek was describing was so unbelievably terrible. And knowing that the Order was after her made it even worse. What was she going to do? What could she do?

"So that's what's wrong with Valentina and Dimitri? Conflicting choices?" she asked slowly and Alek nodded.

"Valentina wants to hide in the background. Dimitri is something of and Undesirable to the Order," he said, stopping himself from continuing his thought. Rather like you, Chloe King.

"Well, at least him and I have something in common.." she said, and Alek looked at her strangely. She didn't catch it, though, and he chose not to voice what just happened.

Chloe sat in silence, letting Alek's information soak in on her.

"Well, I mean, that wasn't really what I wanted to hear, but thanks for not treating me like a little child that has to be protected," Chloe said, and Alek shrugged.

"I believe in you, Chloe. I think you deserve to know what's going on in your own life."

Chloe smiled at him, and began drinking her lukewarm cappuccino. Thoughts were circling in her mind. Her conversation with Alek had raised more questions than answers; more thoughts than comfort.

. … .

The street was busy. A main street crossed another main street, leading to a main intersection. On the corner there was a cute little coffee shop. Near it, on the sidewalk, was a bus stop, and a man and a woman sat.

"I don't know what we're doing here," said the man. He was reading the news paper, and his lips barely moved.

"You heard what the Jackalsss sssaid at our lasst meeting, my love," said the woman. Her accent was stronger than his.

"I know, she spared their lives but..why?"

"Exxxactly why we're here," she responded, looking at her nails. "I need to know what this Uniter hass under her ssleeve."

The man turned another page in his newspaper.

"Alright. But if we get killed, I hope you know that it is all your fault."

The woman didn't respond, and the man sighed quietly.

"I get the feeling you don't really care."

"You know me too well."

. ... .

Author's Note:

As I said, thanks so much to my reviewers! I wanted to post this much sooner, but I found it difficult because I kept rewriting and editing, plus some personal issues. I'm extremely nervous about this chapter and the next.

I will say that I'm not sure if my fanfiction will have anything similar to the ABC series. I've kinda..split the two in my head. My NLoCK and ABC's NloCK. They might have similar, they might be a complete 180.

Hope you stick around to enjoy the ride. :) Please leave a review because they make me write faster.