Chapter 5

B: She watched him take a deep breath and then take a drink. Her mind was realigning. What if he says no? What if he laughs and says you are too weak to train? What if he thinks I'm to mundane? As he called himself insensitive, she looked at him and shrugged as if saying, it's okay. She smiled brightly when he said that her training began tomorrow.

"Oh, thank you Isaac. You have no idea what this means to me." She said swiftly. When he rose and looked at her and mentioned the werewolf she stiffened. As he continued, she nodded. "With you I only expect you to be harsh on me." She smiled at him as she said it. Again, she nodded at his words. "You will not regret this, Isaac. I promise." She said with a determined voice. As he pulled her close to his body she blushed softly. No male had ever done this to her. As his words left his lips she nodded slowly. He was terrifying her. But when he rested his forehead on hers and spoke to her so softly, she felt something burn inside her belly and her checks reddened deeply. "Oh yeah...sleep" she stammered when he pulled away.

She slowly climbed up the ladder to the loft and saw the woman's clothing. Her heart seemed to falter a bit. He must have a girlfriend or a fiancée. She thought to herself and she put on a t-shirt and some shorts to sleep in. She slowly crawled into the bed. As she pulled to covers over her shoulder she was surrounded by his scent. She smiled to herself and drifted off to sleep.

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I: Zack took a shower downstairs, early before the sun rose in the sky. The last thing he needed was for Jess to see him indecent. He wasn't a creep, and after being so lonely, only focused on the hunt, it drove him to a life of solitude. So much so, that once he stepped out of the shower, and he could hear her soft breathing as she slept, he knew that he was in trouble. Maybe not now, maybe not soon, but eventually he would be in a lot of trouble.

Zack didn't entertain the thought. He clutched the towel to his wet waist, covering the most indecent part of his body, and he walked up the stairs in slow silence. He stood at the closet and tossed the towel aside and grabbed his boxers and slipped them on. He began to dress in his usual, a hunting leather jacket with a plain t-shirt beneath and black pants. There was a good reason why all Shadow Hunters wore black, but he had forgotten that a long time ago since it really didn't matter to him much. Once he was fully clothed, he stood at the foot of the bed and clasped his hands behind his back.

It was time to wake the sleeping princess. Zack should have just shouted like a drill sergeant and scared her out of her wits. But he remembered last night why she gave up hunting. he wanted her to get over her fears, not put more fear into her. That would only make her constantly afraid of him, and Zack did not like that feeling. It was still on his mind how she had said yesterday to "Stop hurting" her. Zack wanted to hold someone, but not to the point it frightened them or caused them pain. He knew inside his heart that he could do so much greater than bring pain. He could give passion, and show kindness, and the many other things angels were supposed to be known for. Isaac lost track as he watched her sleep, and he thought about how he could make up to her the pain he had caused. Then he realized...she would never want a guy to like him.

He watched her sleep a moment more. he stared at the way her body took air in, and slowly let it out. he watched as she smelled the scent of him, it was his bed...he should have known it would smell like him and possibly make her feel uncomfortable. What woman would want to sleep in a bed that smelled like a man no matter where she turned? he would change the sheets after training if it made things better for her.

Wait...Stop...Who cares about her feelings? About her comfort? About her well-being? Zack shouldn't give a damn about it at all she wasn't his sister...his girlfriend. She was not even a friend! He needed to stay focused, and he could not let Jess distract him. Yes, she was beautiful, and yes, she was in his bed right now making it impossibly hard for him to not...touch...her...

But he had a job to do and his loyalty was to the Institute and demon slaying. Not to a woman.

Zack took out his Stele, and he began to draw a very specific, and unwritten rune on the wall of his bedroom. If she was going to learn how to fight, and be a warrior, then she had to First overcome her fear. Zack stepped back as the rune began to activate and overtake her mind. It was the sign of "Remembrance" and the rune forced her to imagine the night of her parent's death. The story had changed, and instead of being saved, the wolf entered the basement where she and Seth were hiding. He knew she was trapped in the dream, and the only way she could escape it was overcoming her fear.

As the dream overtook her mind, Isaac went closer to the bed and began to whisper to her so as she slept, she could hear his voice. Sometimes this type of training would take hours, or days, because the person conflicted by the memory rune was so terrified, that they could not figure that the way out was overcoming the one thing that terrorized them the most.

"You can do this Jess...Everything you need is inside of you." He gently placed his hand to her forehead to relax her through the horrible dream she was trapped in. If it took hours, days, weeks for her to escape it, he would remain by her side until it was done. It was probably the hardest test she would ever face. "Listen to me Jess...think. You can kill it...but you cannot be afraid. I'm right here." he gently swiped his thumb across her head to help her through the nightmare.