Sasha had been waiting for them, the noontime sun hovering just above her head, the light setting her golden eyes ablaze.

She was dressed casually-- a pair of denim shorts, a loose fitting beige tank-top, a pair of red flip-flops-- but, as she stared at them in that eery way of her's, Dillon knew that she was all business.

Alexandra scowled at her, a gesture that Sasha had no problem returning.

"I can sense the magic of the potion. It's working." Was all she said. A slight breeze picked up just then, rustling Sasha's dark curly hair, flickering the fire in her eyes.

"Good," Dillon growled, stepping away from the Oracle, and towards the van that his daughter had just been transferred into.

Just as he put his hand on the handle, his mate walking around the back of the van, heading straight toward the passenger seat, Sasha spoke up.

Droplets of rain began to fall, the tiny bits of water either coming from the darkening clouds high above, or from the tears of whatever deity that ruled over the Brujas and witches.

Not even the gods themselves would be able to spare that witch.

The moment that she had gathered the ingredients for that gods-awful curse, her fate had been decided, carved into the deepest, truest rocks that laid just beneath his feet.

Her fate had been whispered by the wind, sung by the trees, roared by the rivers.

And now, howled by the wolves, as they began their hunt.

"And Dillon?" Sasha murmured, her throat swallowing with force. The steadily growing rain pelted the earth, quickly soaking anyone that hadn't taken immediate shelter.

Anger.

The rain was sent directly from the gods, challenging and taunting the wolves that were about to end the reign of the most powerful Bruja matron in history.

As he turned around to look at Sasha, he taunted them back with a glint in his eyes. 'Let it rain.'

"Yes?" He answered, escaping the depths of his mind, rain dripping from his hair, his nose, his clothes.

She didn't miss a beat as she spoke, her voice rising over the raging and howling and waring storm. "If you don't kill her, if that curse isn't broken in time... I promise you that I will kill Belladonna myself, with my own two hands. I did not come here to watch Adeline die."

And, with that, she spun on her heel, and walked toward the entry doors, her head held high and her shoulder pulled back.

The rain was so heavy now, that, had the wolves had the sight of a human, they wouldn't have seen her through the wind and water.

Dillon stepped into the van, probably slamming the door with a little more force than necessary; but he didn't care.

As they began to pull out from the parking lot, wheels squealing against the slick asphalt, Dillon couldn't help but to smile grimly, his eyes lifting up to the rearview mirror.

The doctor sat tensely beside Adeline, the man's eyes glowing from the emotion that twisted in his gut, and set his heart into a frenzy.

The bitter scent of nervousness stank up the air, but, as Dillon's nostrils flared, he caught the faint scent of... of...

Fear.

And he had the feeling that the man's emotion wasn't wholly coming from the fact that they were heading straight into the heart of a Bruja coven... but from the fact that he was sitting next to a beast.

A beast that had nearly killed her best friend, and countless other wolves.

A beast that hated herself as much as some pack members feared her, perhaps even more.

A girl that was lost and alone in a sea of souls.

A strong, deadly feeling bloomed in his chest, engulfing his heart in a fist of burning warmth. It traveled throughout his body, stretching to his fingertips and toes, racing up to his hair, clawing through his very being.

His eyes narrowed.

Let there be rain.

After all, what was a storm without a little bit of downpour?

A little bit of darkness

????

It was dark...

Oh so dark.

But it was peaceful.

Surrounding her.

Blanketing her.

Loving her.

But, creeping along that darkness, she felt it.

The evilness, the intent to make one last standing... one last example.

'What example?' She asked it.

A low, dark chuckle sounded, grating against every cell in her body.

'An example to everyone that has tried to stop me... us.′ It cackled.

Blue orbs flashed in the pitch night, venturing closer and closer to her.

Testing.

Challenging...

Another low snicker.

'You're weak. It would be so, so easy to take over. So, so easy.'

And, faster than she could reply, the blue eyes disappeared, replaced once again by darkness.

But a rumble still sounded, shaking the darkness surrounding her, throwing off any warmth that had stayed when the Beast had appeared.

Adeline was, once again, left alone, swaddled with a blanket of ice and fear...

The fear of the inevitable.

And, even as she pondered what the Beast would do as a final, dying stand, she felt cold.

Oh so cold.

The frigid feeling crusted the ground below her, covering the walls, the ceiling... the air.

Its chilling fingers grappled for her, wrapping around thoughts and hopes and dreams and memories. It froze anything that was within reach, encasing anything in a fine layer of nothingness.

She was numb; numb to the pain that riddled her heart, her throat, her very core.

But, even though she no longer heard the little, desperate voice that cried and wept, screamed and howled to fight, to stay alive, she felt cold.

So, so, so cold.

????

They had been driving for hours, turning down any road and street that could, possibly, hold a clue regarding the location of the coven grounds.

And their search had been in vain.

The most interesting thing that they had seen, was a pasture full of beef cattle; a large bull mounting the wrong end of a poor cow.

'Talk about getting a mouth full.' She nearly smirked at that.

"This is ridiculous," Alexandra growled, her fingers drumming against the car door, right below the window.

It was nearly twelve at night now... only one more hour, and they'd only be twenty-four hours from Adeline's birthday.

The day that she was due to die...

And they hadn't even found the coven yet! Lydia had said that they'd know the moment that they crossed over the boundary line, that they would know when they were in witch territory, but so far, nothing.

Nothing at all!

Dillon still hadn't acknowledged her, but the muscle in his jaw twitched, and his hands tightened around the steering wheel, his knuckles going white from the strain.

The sound of cracking filled the silent air, ripping through the shroud of darkness that had arrived with the night.

Her eyes shot to Dillon's tense form, dark shadows clinging to his body... clinging to his face.

She placed a hand on his shoulder, rubbing the skin and muscle there with gentle, soothing strokes.

His hands released their damaging grip on the wheel, replacing it with slacked fingers. Dillon rolled his head, trying to relieve the tension that had settled there.

She opened the bond that connected their souls, binding him to her, and her to him. 'We will save her, Dillon.' Her voice was firm, but not overly so. It didn't possess the tones that would've labeled her as being insensitive or uncaring-- if anything, it was quite the opposite. Dillon was a very confident wolf, but, even the most self-assured, confident creatures needed reassurance sometimes, to receive comfort other than physical interactions.

And she was probably being selfish, but she needed it too. She needed to hear from someone, perhaps even herself, that everything would be okay.

That their only surviving pup would live.

That, this time, they'd stop the witch in time.

She had been too late for Eli; but, as she slipped her hand into Dillon's larger, warm one, she knew that this time, they wouldn't be too late.

Lifting his calloused hand to her lips, she placed a sweet kiss there, right above a jagged scar, lingering a few seconds longer than an ordinary, loving peck.

His eyes met hers, ever so briefly; and, much to her surprise, tears dwelled there, outlining his blue orbs in silver.

Darkness surrounded them, cocooning them in warmth and the sweet scent of... of security.

It gathered between them, but instead of driving them apart, it drew them closer together-- causing the alphas' hearts to clench in their chests, and their throat to swell.

Then, they felt their wildness rising up within them, going up, up, up.

Up and up until the spirit had left their bodies, merging into the air and time around them; merging with the moon high above, hidden behind mourning clouds, weeping their sorrow down to the earth and life below.

Around and around, the wildness dancing together, spinning and twining together, chasing and twirling, dancing and howling along with the northern winds.

Even though Alexandra couldn't see the magic, she felt it. She felt the relief, the joy that had replaced her wolf's temporary absence.

And she knew that Dillon felt it, too.

The cry of a bird of prey pierced the air, gliding along Alexandra's skin and soul.

Her wolf danced high above, and, with that freedom, the primal instincts that often controlled her laid down, purring their content.

Looking up into the rearview mirror, she stared at her daughter.

Adeline was sound asleep, and, as the doctor had said earlier, the sleep was temporarily permanent.

There was no way that Adeline would wake up from her comatose like state. She was nothing more than a vegetable, trapped between the realms of life and death.

Life and death.

The doctor had also said, within the first hour of the journey, that it was pointless to even try to find a cure. Adeline was on her deathbed, and it wouldn't take much more to send her over that fence that she had been straddling so carefully.

Alexandra had snarled at him, flashing her teeth.

The healer had shut up after that, but she knew that he still believed that.

And it killed her to know that.

But she couldn't stay mad at the doctor. She had forced him to come, sitting him right beside someone that he feared greatly, and told him that, should Adeline die, he'd be partly responsible.

But, another reason why she couldn't hate the man, was because, a little, traitorous voice, was repeating it...

As her wolf descended back into her, settling deep within her soul with a satisfied grunt, a little voice repeated it...

Again and again and again and again.

'Trapped between the realms of life and death.' It pointed out, its claws pushing through the barrier that separated her conscious, from her subconscious.

Trapped between the realms of life and death.