I dodged another fist to my stomach, jabbing Leo with my elbow. His head snapped to the side and I felt sick satisfaction as yet another one of my blows landed successfully. My victory was short-lived as he swept my feet out from under me and I landed on my hip. I rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding his foot as it slammed into the wood floor, which groaned under the pressure of the hit. I gripped the hilt of the dagger I had tucked into the waistband of my leggings. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't smart about transporting the dagger, so my waist was riddled with nicks and cuts from the sharp blade, and my leggings were stained with blood at the waistband. The dagger had splotches of my blood on its blade as I jabbed it forward, catching the edge of Leo's shirt with its lethal edge.

Leo stepped back and glanced down at his ripped white t-shirt. "If you wanted me to take my shirt off, you could have just asked."

I glared at him. "You're not my type, Leo."

"What, ruggedly handsome gentlemen aren't you're type?"

"No, pathetic rapists aren't my type."

His eyes narrowed. "Is that what he told you?"

"He told me the truth, Leo. He told me what you did to his sister . . . what you did to Natalie."

"Don't say her name," he said with soft menace.

"You are the reason she is dead," I said. "You killed her!"

"I loved her!"

"You raped her! You drove her to kill herself. You are the reason she is dead, not Gabriel. The only person you can blame for killing Natalie is yourself, Leo."

He came at me, like I expected he would—in a blind rage. He was sloppy in his punches, which helped me. I managed to stab him once in the side with my dagger. He didn't even flinch. His eyes were black and my instinct warned me that he was on the verge of shifting, but was holding himself back. If he shifted, he would be vulnerable for the time it took him to shift. According to Sarah, that could be anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes or more, depending on the age and dominance of the werewolf.

Leo lunged for me once more, and I was ready for him. Only, this time, he managed to knock the dagger out of my hand. His hand latched around my throat and he thrusted me against the wall. My back screamed with pain. His hold on my throat tightened and air neary stopped flowing in or out of my lungs. Distantly, I heard terrified shouts mingled with violent growls and the sound of flesh tearing under claws and fangs.

Gabriel.

"I loved Natalie," Leo growled. "She was the only thing that mattered to me. Everything I've done is to avenge her death."

"You . . . raped her," I gasped.

Leo shook his head fiercely. "No. No, the bitch who interrupted us lied to Gabriel. She dragged Natalie to her car, screaming about how I raped her best friend. Natalie cried as Sarah drove her away from me. She cried because she wanted to stay with me, you see? She wanted to be with me."

"S-Sarah . . . ?" I frowned, confused how he knew her name.

Leo punched the wall beside my head. "That bitch will get what's coming for her. She lied to Gabriel—she was jealous of what Natalie and I had. She is another reason why Natalie is dead."

Sarah found him raping Natalie. She's the one who fought him off.

A tear spilled from my eye as I imagined a younger Sarah fighting off an Alpha's son to save her friend and then losing her a few months later. Sarah's fierce desire to teach me how to protect myself as well as her need to constantly shadow me everywhere on the compound now made sense. Her loyalty to Gabriel and his unwavering trust in her—all the pieces fell into place.

"Natalie . . . wasn't your . . . mate," I wheezed.

His hold on my throat tightened. "Yes she was!" he screamed. "I loved her! I still love her. She was carrying my child. We could have been happy!"

As he continued screaming at me, I slid my left arm up the wall behind me and wrapped my fingers around the Colt strapped to my back. "You . . . killed her."

"STOP SAYING THAT!" Leo bellowed.

He lifted his fist to punch me once more in the face, but I was quicker. I pulled the gun out from under my hoodie, pressed it against his right side and pulled the trigger.

. . .

Kellan emerged from the tree line mere steps behind his Alpha. Jason flanked him on his right; Georgie, one of the kids from an Alabama pack, on his left. All of them were breathtaking and lethal in their wolf forms as they charged onto the open field, engaging with the first rogues they laid eyes on. Alpha Alexander surged forward, heading for the cabin at the far end of the clearing. Every wolf who came into his path was put down and he was nearly halfway across the clearing when four wolves plowed into him. One climbed onto his back and another nipped at his heels.

Kellan bounded toward his Alpha, his eyes on the beast who dared to climb on top of the king of North American werewolves.

No! Alpha Alexander shouted through the pack mindlink. Phoebe's in the cabin. Go!

Kellan immediately obeyed the command, changing his direction toward the cabin, Jason and Georgie deflecting the foolish wolves who approached them. Jason was tackled by two rogues and Georgie held back to help him while Kellan sprinted forward.

A gunshot sounded from the cabin, followed by a dangerous and powerful growl from the battlefield behind him. Kellan leaped over the front porch and into the house, knocking down the pathetic wooden door as he entered. He barely had time to process the scene inside the cabin before he heard Phoebe's strong voice, "Get my brother out of here!"

Phoebe ducked as a man who could only be identified as the infamous Leonardo Alvarez threw a punch with his left fist. He was bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound on his right side, the weapon itself lying useless on the wood floor several feet away from the fighting pair. Kellan lunged forward to defend his Alpha, but instead, he ran into an invisible wall as Phoebe spoke again, "Go! Now!"

Kellan pushed against the wall that was preventing him from helping his Alpha. Her dominance had evidently erected the wall so he couldn't interfere . . . so he had to obey her order when she commanded him to save her brother. He shoved against the command.

Alpha, he called to her, almost begging her to let him protect her.

GET TOMMY OUT OF HERE, she screamed back to him through the mindlink.

As if on autopilot, Kellan turned and moved toward the closet under the stairs, which was where he pinned Tommy's scent. He shifted into human form, which took an agonizing couple of minutes, before swinging open the closet door. Tommy scrambled to the back of the closet, tears streaking his dirty face.

"K-Kellan?" he said softly, his eyes wide with terror.

Kellan bent so he was at Tommy's eye level. "Hey, little man."

"Wh-What's happening? Where's my sister?"

"Let's get you outta here, Tommy."

Kellan reached out for the small nine-year-old. Tommy took his hand and stepped out of the closet. Kellan rushed him toward the door, but Tommy stopped to look into the open living room where Phoebe and Leo circled one another.

"Phoebe?" the boy said, bewildered.

"GET HIM OUT, KELLAN!" she hollered as she lunged at Leo, a dagger in her hand.

Kellan tried once more to push against the command, but it snapped back at him, forcing him to grab Tommy by the shoulder. "Come on."

"But, my sister—"

"Tommy—" Kellan started, but what cut off by the boy.

"We're not leaving without my sister!" he screamed.

Kellan wrapped an arm around Tommy's waist, lifting him into his chest before sprinting out the front door.

"Phoebe!" Tommy shouted into Kellan's ear as he clawed over his chest, his short arm reaching back toward the cabin. "Phoebe! Go back! We have to go back!"

A wolf knocked into Kellan. He rolled in the air so Tommy landed several feet away from him as the beast fell on to his chest. He wrestled the animal down before Jason appeared and helped finished him off. Kellan glanced around for Tommy and saw him sprinting back toward the cabin. Jason caught up to the boy before Kellan did, blocking him so Kellan could scoop him back into his arms. The trio sprinted for the forest, Jason once more deflecting any wolves that came near them or blocked their path. Georgie found his way back to Kellan's side before all of them disappeared into the trees.

. . .

Leo stumbled as I landed a sharp kick to his shin. He gripped his wounded side, his hand coming up bright red. Another kick forced him to his knees. He coughed and blood dripped from his lips to the floor.

"Are you sure you're even human?" he wheezed.

"Last I checked, yes." I held the dagger to his throat.

He gave me a weak smirk. "You're going to kill me?"

"No. I wouldn't take the satisfaction of your slow and painful death from my mate."

Leo's eyes glassed over briefly with fear.

I grinned. "Scared, Leo?"

He chucked humorlessly. "Your pathetic mate—"

I kicked him in the shoulder, forcing him on his back. I stepped into the wound at his side. He shouted with pain as I calmly said, "If you dare to insult my mate again, I will see to it that your death never comes—only everlasting pain."

He growled. He moved too quickly, his arm latching around my ankle and forcing me sideways. I fell to the floor and he rolled on top of me. He gripped my wrist and forced my hand to tilt the dagger's blade toward my own throat. It slid across the tender skin at the base of my neck and I grunted at the flare of pain. I pulled on Gabriel's strength, allowing the wall I had built between us to collapse. The flood of his emotions and his dominance nearly drowned me, but I harnessed it, twisting the blade away from my throat and toward Leo's. He tried to turn it back toward me, but with a final shove of strength from Gabriel, I thrusted the dagger upwards, directly into Leo's jugular. His blood erupted from his throat and rained over my chest and neck. I shoved his body aside, rolling to my feet and pulling out the second gun strapped to my stomach, pointing it at the bloody body on the floor.

I watched as Leo choked on his own blood. His eyes locked with mine and he gasped out, "I l-love . . ."

"Natalie didn't love you, Leo. She never did," I said coldly.

He wheezed, but no words came out. The hands at his throat fell away and his head lolled the side, his eyes dull and lifeless. I barely had time to process the fact that I killed him before a flood of thoughts and emotions seared through my brain. I nearly crumpled under the new minds now linked to my own, but I managed to lean against the wall to hold my weight up. My head felt light as I stumbled my way to the front door, which was now in shattered pieces in the entryway. Outside, a battle waged on—fur clashed with fur and bodies were strewn over the entire field, both rogues and pack alike, a mix of humans and wolves. I took a breath, tried to straighten my spine and stepped out on to the front porch. My body was heavy and I had to force my eyelids open, but I stood at the edge of the porch and pulled on the last of my dominance with the energy I had left.

"ENOUGH," I bellowed. The response was nearly instantaneous—bodies stopped colliding with one another and eyes turned to me. Rogues snarled in my direction, but once their eyes locked with mine, their snarls became whimpers. "No more blood will be spilt today," I said calmly . . . tiredly. I held my chin high even as my body felt like it was going to collapse any minute. I pushed my dominance onto those whose minds were freshly linked to mine. "Submit to your Alpha," I commanded. "Submit to me."

They resisted at first, but after a tense moment, one by one, every rogue fell to the ground and rolled on to their backs, exposing their stomachs. My knees trembled as the last of them submitted to me, their new Alpha.

Something sealed within the mindlink—the rogue pack became one with the rest of the North American packs . . . with my pack.

It was finally over.

My knees buckled and I crumbled to the ground, my head colliding with the wood of the front porch carelessly. A body leapt onto the porch and crouched over me, its furry belly nearly suffocating me as my eyes finally closed.

My fingers curled around the fur at the wolf's neck as he spoke softly in my mind, Mate.

___

Author's Note:

My Christmas present to y'all is an update! Yay!

THIS IS NOT THE END!

I got some chapters still up my sleeve, so no one panic!

Vote and comment!

Much Love,

xo -Willow