I went straight to practice as Drake had told me to do. I was supposed to act like nothing was wrong but I could barely walk without feeling the pain radiating from everywhere he had kicked me. I stopped taking my anti-depressant. I hoped that if I could clear my head I would be able to think of a solution and at the very least I would be able to mind link for help if things got out of hand. The biggest down side was that I felt like crap and I still wouldn't be able to use magic for a few days.

"Are you ok?" Alex asked as I joined him on the field.

I nodded. I just had to get through the next couple day's in one piece and I would be able to find a solution.

"uhh oh..." Alex said.

I turned to see what he was looking at just in time to see Quinn rush at me. I dropped down and covered my head. My body hurt so bad even the thought of sparing with Quinn made me want to cry. Quinn froze. He and Alex exchanged a concerned glance. I hidden my face in my arms. I considered counting but this didn't feel like a panic attack. I'd just had a brief moment of fear and been foolish with my reaction to it.

I felt one of them move to stand in front of me and crouch down so that they were closer to my level.

'I'm sorry. I just need a minute.' I signed quickly without looking up. I didn't want him to feel like he had done something to deserve this reaction and I didn't want to have to answer a billion questions about what was going on.

A warm hand rested on my arm. Even through the sleeve of my long shirt I could feel the tingles dancing their way up my arm. I sucked in a sharp breath and raised my eyes to meet Silas's.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

I nodded and moved my arm out of his grasp.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked.

'Training.' I signed.

Silas shook his head.

"Emily said you were not feeling well. We came to fill in for you." He said.

'Yesterday.' I signed shaking my head as well.

Silas eyes flickered over my face and then the rest of my body. I didn't know what he was looking for but I held my breath. I didn't want him to find something that might give me away. He sighed and stood up. He held his hands down toward me. I accepted his help in standing up. It put less stress on my sore body.

"You're pale." Silas said.

I shrugged.

"She seems fine to me." Drake said from somewhere behind Silas. My eyes flickered to Silas shoulder but I couldn't see past him and I didn't have the energy or desire to lean around enough to see Drake

'You should go.' I signed.

Silas didn't move. I could tell by his lingering gaze and small scowl that he knew something was wrong. I wished I didn't have to keep it from him but it was for his own good. The thought losing him was far worse than anything Drake could do to me.

"Ok..." Silas said finally. "But I'm leaving Quinn and Alex to help you with training today. If you need to take a break or call it a day, have them take over."

I nodded. Usually I would be excited about having both Quinn and Alex to help with training. Today they were going to be more trouble than help. After what I'd just done they were going to watch me like a toddler near the lake. If I so much as flinched too hard I'd be sent to Matthew and Drake had specifically told me not to go see Matthew for anything.

'Alright girls,' I signed, and Alex repeated for me. 'start warming up. Stretch and do a lap.'

The girls went silent and began stretching. After a few moments they took off. I kept my eyes on them as well as the trees. It had become a habit to watch for any sort of threat.

"Are you going to tell me what the hell just happened?" Quinn spoke quietly but there was a bite to his tone that made me cringe.

I shook my head no. I couldn't tell Quinn what was going on and I didn't want to lie to him. Quinn stepped in front of me and blocked out my view of the girls.

"Silas is dropping it because he didn't see exactly what happened. I saw. That look you gave me hasn't crossed your face since the first day you came here and thought we were going to rip you to pieces. What happened, Ry?" Quinn said.

I shook my head and moved to step around him. Quinn caught my arm. It wasn't a rough grasp or even tight but it was still too much against the fresh bruise beneath his fingers. Instinctively I winced and caught his wrist. Quinn's mouth popped open in surprise and his grip loosened to almost nothing.

"Show me." He demanded.

I set my jaw and shook my head. I tried to push his hand away but only succeeded in causing his hand to press into the bruise again.

"You can show me or you can show Silas." Quinn said.

I gaped and shook my head. He couldn't be serious. Quinn's eyes flickered over my face and he nodded. His hand slid down to my wrist and his other hand came up to adjust my sleeve down my arm. I caught my shirt and glared at him.

"Then Silas it is babe." He turned and began walking. His firm grasp on my wrist forced me to follow him or risk tripping. I knew if I started tripping he wouldn't hesitate to turn back and put me over his shoulder. I wouldn't be able to handle the pain of bouncing around on his shoulder with my bruised ribs.

"Alex you're on your own today." Quinn said. Alex glanced between us but nodded and turned back to focus on the girls.

I pushed at Quinn's wrist again. This time I was trying in earnest to get loose but physically Quinn was at least twice as strong as me even without using his wolf. I tapped desperately at his arm instead. Maybe I could negotiate with him or say something to convince him there was nothing wrong. Quinn stopped and looked at me expectantly.

'Please don't do this. You don't understand. I'm fine and Silas can't know anything is wrong or...' I hadn't meant to tell Quinn the truth but I panicked and couldn't think up a lie quick enough to cover myself.

"Or what?" Quinn asked.

I shook my head. I had already said way too much.

"If you were fine then there would be no problem in proving it to Silas or me." Quinn said.

'It's... relationship stuff.' I signed. 'I'm not read to tell Silas about him.' I lied.

"If you are keeping shit from us, shit that's causing you prolonged physical pain, then it's shit you shouldn't be doing in the first place." Quinn said.

I gulped.

"Show me or we take it to Silas." Quinn said.

'There's nothing to show.' I lied again.

"Then show me your pretty little arm and we can go back to the field." Quinn said.

'This is out of line.' I signed.

"Out of line would be ripping your sleeve from your arm which I'm very tempted to do babe." Quinn growled.

I shook my head and tried to pull my wrist free from him again. Quinn ignored my attempt and caught my sleeve in his other hand. I gasped but before I could reach for his other hand the material ripped. I struck out. In quick succession I hit three main pressure points two in his arm and one in his leg. It forced him to release me. I landed on my back and blinked several times before i realized i was staring up at the sky.

"What the hell Rylan!" Quinn growled in pain and held his injured arm against his chest. He was kneeling a few feet away from me where he had dropped as well.

'I'm so sorry!' I signed horrified. I couldn't believe I had done that to Quinn. I hadn't even been thinking about it. I'd reacted on instinct because all I could think about was that if Quinn saw the bruises he would tell Silas. If Silas found out he would hurt Drake. Silas couldn't lash out at Drake. The council would kill him for sure if he even tried and I couldn't let Silas risk his life over me again.

Quinn attempted to move toward me but his injured leg wouldn't cooperate. He growled lowly and reached out with just his arm instead. I scrambled back away from him, forced myself to my feet, and took off in a dead run.

"Rylan!!" Quinn yelled after me but I kept up my quick pace and didn't glance back.