Two days after I had sent Valerie away she returned with Noah and quite a few of his men. They all seemed more than happy to give their support to the cause and though Alpha Kale seemed a bit wary to be working with reformed rogues.It didn't take long though before Noah and Kale were treating each other like old friends. They decided that they should hold a pre-battle celebration for the men, for good luck.

Now that the main cave was full of laughter and shouting, It was hard to imagine that we would be going into battle soon and that some of these people might not come back. I suppose that's why celebrating with each other now was so important. It was a moment to forget all of our worries and to cherish the time and the people who were with us.

Silver leaned down and pressed his lips to my ear, "Later tonight you and I are going to have our own celebration mate."

A shiver of excitement raced through me, "I can't wait." I whispered back to him.

He gave me a quick swat to my butt before he pulled away following after Noah who had called him over to join the other men in a well natured round of wrestling. I didn't quite understand it but they tried to push each other out of the circle to prove their strength. It seemed silly to me but men where men.

I let my eyes scan the room and I spotted Libra and Leo in some type of argument, as usual. I chuckled and continued my perusal my heart feeling light. I noticed Marshall escorting Bunny away from the party and by the look on her face she wasn't to happy about it. As my eyes drifted around the smiling faces in the room I caught a strange scent as someone passed in front of me. I tore my eyes to figure and watched their graceful steps with a strange unease. The stranger paused and cast a glance back in my direction. She smiled a wicked smile before she slowly lifted her hand. In a slow motion she drug her finger across her neck, a death threat.

My blood froze in my veins. The world around me seemed to move in slow motion as I watched canisters flying through the opening cave. Dense smoke and flashes of light erupted interrupted our former happy celebration.

"Get down, It's an ambush!" I yelled as everything erupted into chaos.

The sound of rapid gun fire pierced through angry growls and reverberated off the cave walls. I felt the fire as my flesh was pierced by several silver bullets. I hit the ground with a heavy thud. It took a moment for me to register that I lay on the ground in the middle of the surprise attack. I tried to pull myself up off the ground but I quickly fell back to the ground. I looked to see blood pooling around my side, a bullet must have lodged itself in my hip as well as nicked something important by the blood flow.

I began to drag myself across the cave floor trying to ignore the burning pain in my side. Around me hunters and wolves were fighting and killing each other. The scent of blood overwhelmed all my senses. I needed to find Silver, my mind screamed at me. My eyes began to race through the scenes around me trying to spot him somewhere within it all. Instead I watched as Leo took an arrow to the chest. He stumbled back before falling to the ground beside a fighting Libra.

"LEO!" I heard as she screamed his name, which caught Lennicks attention who was fighting with a hunter a few feet away from the siblings. Lennicks turned into a crazed beast at whatever he saw. He began ripping through the hunters in his path without a conscious. Blood sprayed onto the cave walls and dripped down off his face.

My heart clenched tightly in my chest and my desire to know Silver was okay erupted in my mind. I dragged myself further on the ground as helpless tears streamed down my face. I squeezed my eyes shut in frustration, memories of the past floating behind my eyelids. This was my parents all over again—I had been helpless then and I was helpless again to protect the people I loved.

"Please, Please let everyone be okay." I muttered to myself as I continued to move. I tried to avoid being crushed by the bodies that moved around me, not seeming to notice my presence.

"Grace?!" Someone called to me above the noise, "GRACE!"

My eyes snapped open and I looked to see Valerie fight her way through the crowd to get to me. I spotted Noah and Silver fighting back to back a hundred feet behind her. I felt a sigh of relief flow through me at the sight of my mate. Valerie's eyes widened in horror for a moment as she looked past me before her movements became rushed. I tried to pull myself faster away from whatever force was stalking towards me through the masses around us.

A hand grabbed onto my hair and pulled back. I hissed as my head was snapped back at an awkward angle, revealing the female who had been hunting me from the beginning. She smiled down at me through a blood spattered face, "Hello alpha..."

She pulled a machete looking knife from a holster at her side with her free hand and placed it to my neck. The blade felt cold against my hot skin, "You should have probably killed me when you had the chance—I was going to drag out our time together, make it fun..." She pressed the blade harder into my flesh and I feel the sting of it cutting into my neck.

"GRACE!" I heard Silver call out to me and my eyes move in his direction. He was fighting his way toward me with a look of desperation. I knew there is no way he was going to be able to get to me before she could kill me. I wish I had the strength to fight her but my other wounds are too much even for me. My wolf was my only comfort at the moment. I could feel her warmth in my mind,

I knew she understood the situation as well as I did. A tear slipped from my eye, Thank you old friend.

"Now I'm just going to make your mate watch as I slit your throat. I wonder how he'll feel to watch your blood spill out all over the ground knowing he could do nothing to save you? I'll make sure to ask him before I kill him..." Her words helped me find a small amount of strength to struggle in her hold. During the small struggle a fierce growl sounded in my ear before I felt the hunter let me go. My body smacked down into the cold hard cave floor at her sudden release.

I didn't know what was happening at first but I turned my face as I pulled myself back up onto my arms. Valerie was fighting with the hunter who had tried to kill me more then once now. She was dodging the heavy swings of the girls machete while landing quick swipes of her own. Valerie finally knocked the machete free from her hand and caught her up by the throat. She lifted her off the ground with a hard scowl on her face.

"Go to hell you mongrel!" The hunter chocked out.

"Make sure to save me a seat hunter..." Valerie replied before she tightened her grip and snapped the girls neck as if it were a twig she'd picked up off the ground. She dropped her as she spun back towards me. Valerie opened her mouth to probably regale me with another one of her lectures but her words caught in her throat at the sound of a gun shot. The silver bullet must have come from somewhere behind her, all I know is I watched the stray bullet exited her chest.

My lips parted in a silent gasp as I watched the light in her eyes dim a bit. Her body stumbled forward as she tried to catch herself before she slumped to the ground a few feet from me.

"Oh my god—Valerie!" I ignored the pain in my own body as I pulled myself to her side. Her eyes met mine as she struggled to breathe, a little bit of blood clung to her lips. I reached out for her hand with mine, "Valerie—stay with me, Okay?" I tried to command with a strained voice. She held onto my hand with a faint grip.

"Silver is going to be here soon Val. Just hang on..." My vision began to grow blurry the longer I watched her struggle to live. She relaxed into the hard ground breathing in soft shallow breaths, a ghost of a smile on her blood lips.

"I always knew that things would end this way—" She gasped out as I strained to hear her over the chaos.

"Nothing is ending. You're going to be fine..." I squeezed her hand. Valerie coughed out a laugh causing more blood to fall from her lips, "It's okay Grace—It's okay—" she tried to squeeze my hand. I knew I must be crying because I could taste salt on my lips. Valerie stared into my eyes with a quiet look of acceptance.

"I won't let you die. The pack needs you—Silver needs you..." I sobbed out as I pulled myself closer to her. I let go of her hand and pulled her to my side. Her face rested in the crook of my neck as I cradled her shoulders with my arm. I could feel her shallow pants against my flesh, "Grace—" her voice whispered like a gentle breeze.

I found myself holding her tighter as my heart broke over and over again. Her body sagged into me as she lost more strength, "Grace. It's okay—this isn't your fault. My choice..." She coughed and sucked in a wheezy breath. I could hear her lungs rattling with fluid and I knew the bullet must have pierced her lung, "I know you did it for Silver."

"No—I did it for you..." She sucked in another short breath, "Live Grace. Promise—not revenge..."

"I promise. I promise. Don't worry, I love him Valerie..." I squeezed my eyes shut to the world of death and blood that surrounded us. This was my duty as an alpha, to be with my pack until the very end and Valerie had proven I was apart of her pack. I understood that Valerie had sacrificed her life for me, as had my family.

"Hold on...It's okay—It's okay..." Valerie whispered faintly but I knew she was fading away as her words made less sense. In one last wheezy breath Valerie fell still and silent against me. I don't know where it came from me but a loud cry of grief tore from me. Maybe it was what I had been holding back for years, through everything that had happened to me, and all I had lost. My body trembled and felt like I was breaking apart into a million different pieces. I had seen too much death--I didn't want to see anymore. Strong hands grabbed a hold of me and pulled me away from Valerie's lifeless body.

"No, no, no!" I struggled in the hands holding me.

"Grace!" Silver shouted in my ear and I fell still in his hands. Marshall appeared before my eyes with a tense face as he bent over to examine Valerie. He peered up at Silver and I, his face splattered in the blood of hunters and gave a small shake of his head. I could feel the rush of Silver's emotions but he quickly shut them down, "Take Grace to Bunny, make sure she's safe. I need to help them deal with the remaining hunters..."

Marshall pushed up off the ground and moved towards us. Silver shoved me into Marshall's arms and walked away from us back into the remaining battle. I watched him go without a second glance back in our direction. My eyes roamed back down to Valerie and my heart sunk low. I kept my eyes focused on her as Marshall moved us out of the main cave. I clung to him for dear life ignoring the pain of my wounds. Valerie laid still amongst the blood and death, becoming yet another causality of power hungry men.

Most people would forget her—no one would know what she had done for me, but I vowed to never forget. I'd made her a promise and I would fight for peace, not revenge. I would fight so I never had to watch another person die so needlessly. I would fight and I would help create a new world for us all, a place for us all to live together peacefully.

I would succeed--for Valerie, for my parents, for the pack.

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Song: DJ ease my mind-- Niki & The Dove