Most of the chaos had ebbed as the wolves and Vampires subdued the remaining humans. A circle had formed around two people, and Visena numbly went over to investigate. Jed sat panting heavily with his mate licking his wounds and nuzzling his head tenderly.

Where's my mate?

Visena squeezed through the crowd, and they promptly bowed and moved back.

Found him...

Gideon was stuck in hand to hand combat with Teiv, who matched his every jab, cross and parry like a pro. For some reason, both of their shirts were in tatters, and Visena could see the iron armour hanging uselessly around the human's waist. The wolves moved back as the two grappled and dropped to the ground.

Teiv was quickly caught in a chokehold when a small knife that looked more like a letter opener appeared in his hand. He slammed it deep into Gideon's thigh and twisted. Her mate's agonising groan had Visena leaping forward defensively. Teiv pulled the weapon free and twisted his arm in a wide arc just as Visena drew him back with her water magic.

The small blade sliced a clean line through Gideon's neck, and Visena screamed bloody murder as the ribbons of blood appeared from the incision.

Her mouth shifted into her wolf form and bit down into Teiv's spine, ripping the column from his skin. She spat the bones and spinal cords across the dry earth as his blubbery mass of flesh flopped in on himself like a twisted accordion.

With a moan, Visena shifted back and rushed to Gideon's side. His hands gripped the flesh of his neck, holding them together as blood trickled from his lips.

"It's okay, Gideon. Shh, shh. Don't talk. I'll heal it. Move your hands, move- Gideon?"

His hands fell to his side, and Visena screamed until her throat burned. If you die, I die. Gideon. Please!

"He's just unconscious, Visena. Hurry up!" Calypso appeared next to her and touched Gideon's forehead, whispering more gibberish. "Pull out the wolfsbane, and it should heal," the witch shouted in a rush.

Visena broke out of her frenzy and placed her hands on either side of the cut. She searched for the poison and drew it out through his pores sniffling back her terrified sobs.

The blood pumping from the wound and drenching his torso drew her attention next and she shook uncontrollably as she directed it upward. "Go back, it's okay Gideon. It's okay. You can wake up now."

Precious lifeblood receded and swarmed inside the cut with a gentle push. Visena held back the torrent and watched as the skin slowly knitted together. So painfully slowly.

When it completely closed, she smiled sitting on her heels expecting him to wake, but he didn't. He didn't even stir from her gentle nudging. Visena's breaths came in shortening gasps as she looked at her sister. "Help him." Her whole body shivered. "Help me," she whispered squeezing Gideon's hands tightly. "Come back."

A cool presence appeared in her periphery and a calming energy flowed through the mindlink. "I will take him to Kora," Mihnea stated, scooping the massive Alpha up as if he weighed nothing. "He will be okay, pet. He's strong." Rebekah, Thana and a dozen wolves followed behind as he disappeared into the dark forest.

Calypso gripped her shoulder lightly. "Come on, Vi. We need to sort out the rest of these humans before any more hunters appear."

The Fae stood, still shaking and stared at Mara's smiling face. She drew a full breath before steeling her resolve. He will be fine. Focus. "What is your real name?" she asked the woman.

"Adaliah," the hunter replied through clenched teeth. "If you kill me, it will stop nothing. We will keep coming no matter how many of us you slaughter."

"Slaughter? Look around. Most of you are still here, worse for wear, but alive. How many of my kin have died tonight? I don't know for sure yet, but I will mourn every loss."

Adaliah chortled. "Mourn? You don't even have real emotions. You are just animals. Soulless beasts."

Visena wanted to laugh then. Is she actually fucking insane? Her gaze drifted to Calypso, who looked disgusted.

"What do you want to do?"

Visena stood there staring through the humans for a few minutes without speaking. She could feel the other species getting agitated as she tried to decide the best possible outcome.

The Fae took no delight in killing, and despite it being a necessary evil, she still hoped for another way.

If only I could take their memories of us, then we could live in secret.

Her musings had her gasping and turning to Calypso again, whispering harshly in her ear. "You know how crossing a Fae ring in wolf form causes memory loss?"

"Obviously." the Witch replied in an irritated whisper, brow raised.

"Is there something like that for humans? A spell or curse? When they go through our barriers, it does that right, so is there any way we could isolate the memory and take any knowledge humans have of us existing?"

As the words spilt from Visena's lips, she appeared more excited and Calypso more dumbfounded.

"Uh..."

"We could take the memories and store them in the Veil and curse them, so any humans that interact with them lose their memories too!"

"Visena, I-"

"It could work. With magic, anything is possible," Visena leaned back and crossed her arm across her chest.

"Yes, but what you're asking requires a lot of power. I'm still not even sure where to begin. First, I would have to do a memory spell and then a binding spell, so the first spell jumps from person to person."

"What will you need?"

The Witch looked over the humans and gnawed her bottom lip. "Time."

*

T and Liam stored the humans in the old Invictus shifting sheds with dozens of guards as Calypso worked her magic. Midnight fast approached, and the Witch wanted to get spell over as soon as possible. "I need blood from all the species, black cordage, parchment, a glass jar, a black candle and an iron nail. They'll be in my cottage."

"I'll go," Mihnea said before he disappeared in the night leaving a vial of his blood with his lover.

She whispered into the blood, spat in it and plucked one of Visena's hairs. After a pinprick of Adaliah and Visena's blood, she added a drop of her own, pulverising unknown herbs with a stone pestle. "I'm, as you would say, cashing in that favour you owe me, Visena."

"Anything," the Fae replied. She hadn't had a chance to see Gideon yet, and she tried to keep her focus on the task at hand.

"I'm going to need some of your Anima. Not all of it, but enough to ensure the spell holds."

Mihnea returned with the items as Visena wrung her hands nervously. She trusted her sister, but losing too much of her Anima could leave her powerless. After a few moments of indecisiveness, she realised she would do anything for the safety of her people. Even become mortal.

"Do it."

"So mote it be."

*

Watching the humans walk out of Regium forest, dazed and confused, while wrapped in the arms of her gorgeous mate was a great way to start the day.

Gideon had healed and awoken in the early hours, furiously searching for his mate, whom he found curled in a chair next to him. He couldn't speak yet, his vocal cords still damaged from the cut. The scar was gnarly, pink tissue spanning from ear to ear.

She peppered his face with kisses as he squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to laugh. "I'm so happy you're okay. We lost so many," she sobbed against his chest.

I know, my love. What happened to the humans?

Visena sighed in relief and shared the tale of the night's remaining events. It was incredible watching the grin disappear off Adaliah's face as she stared blankly at the creatures before her. "Where am I?" she asked in a small voice. "Who are you, people?"

"We found you lost in the woods! I think someone kidnapped you, but you're safe now. We'll show you the way home in the morning."

You did not!

"Yep, that's exactly what I said. Don't give me that look. I wanted to have a bit of fun with it. They'll never find us again anyway."

And what if they find all their research and headquarters? Won't they piece it together?"

"Thana and a bunch of Vampires are on that already, tearing down any places the Council worked in, and besides, the spell is strong enough that they'll never believe anything they see of our species ever again. They'll write it off as imagination, a trick of the light or Photoshop."

Photoshop?

"It's a human thing. I don't understand how it works at all, so don't ask."

Gideon hummed in response and took a sip of water.

"I-"

"Gideon, don't talk! Kora said you're not allowed to!"

Alright, fine.

The following days were exhausting. They buried their dead, replaced the barrier over old Malum, and said their goodbyes to the visiting packs, trying to find the new normal. Liam and Nairi came over with Cassia, and the small child brought joy back into the virtually empty packhouse. She toddled around, throwing her arms around Visena and Gideon repeatedly until nap time was long overdue. Visena had missed the little girl, and she appeared to miss them too.

Prim sat on a chair, fanning herself as the pregnancy hormones took a toll. She was also starting to nest a lot more, making every possible room in their new house a baby haven. Orion looked smitten with his mate, as usual.

The fiery, chatty redhead could hardly get a sentence out without pausing for breath. It was mildly refreshing.

"I'm so glad you're alright. I can't believe I- I missed out on all the action. Ow!" Prim panted and poked the small bump protruding near her belly button. The spot moved and pushed again. "She won't stop kicking me, I swear!"

Visena laughed and kissed Prim's cheek before bidding her farewell and heading to her sister's cottage.

"Cal, are you in?"

"Yes. What do you want this time?"

Visena was about to protest when she saw the broad smile plastered across the Witch's face.

"You little shit, I just came to check in on you after the full moon. That was a shit ton of energy you used."

"I'm fine. Mihnea lent some immortal energy, and your anima offered more than enough power to complete the spell, so thank you." The Witch gave the Faery a knowing look.

"First off, ew. I don't need to know about anything Mihnea is giving you. He's like a step-uncle to me or something. I don't want to hear about his immortal energy going into my sister."

"Fuck me," Calypso muttered sarcastically.

Mihnea's comedic timing was impeccable. "Don't mind if I do," he said, strolling through the door and kissing the Witch across the cheek.

"You're still both staying?"

Mihnea grinned and answered for them. "Yes, my children were hoping to turn old Malum into a new nest, if that's alright with you. Then I know they will be close and out of harm's way."

"Of course, I'd be happy to have them. I guess they're kind of like my children now, too, huh? With my blood in them and all."

Mihnea straightened, apparently taken aback.

Visena laughed openly. "That makes you like my kid too! This is too weird."

"I think I'll just refer to you as the Queen if that's alright."

"No way, you may call me mother."

Calypso broke all resolve and hunched over, laughing hysterically while Mihnea stared wide-eyed and a little flushed for the first time. Visena joined in the raucous laughter, wiping tears from her eyes as she said goodbye to the pair.

She was still crying when she spotted Gideon tying a small child's shoelace. Oh dear Hina, please prevent my ovaries from bursting on the spot.

"Hey," his hoarse voice had Visena scowling. Sorry, I forgot. He thought with reddening cheeks.

Yeah, there's something else you've forgotten, Visena replied tentatively. She thought she had done well hiding the secret for this long, but now the guilt was eating her up, especially after almost losing him.

His raised brow made Visena want to melt into a familiar puddle on the floor.

Meet me at the cottage, she thought while sprinting to her home away from home.

Once they both arrived, one looking hot as fuck and windswept, the other puffing and frazzled, she sat him down on the porch steps.

"Don't hate me, but-"

Never a good way to start a sentence, Gideon's mind butted in, interrupting her train of thought.

"Shhh! Anyways, when I got all my memories back, I remembered the reason I left my mother and went to live in the human world..." Her voice trailed off, and she picked at her cuticles.

And?

Visena groaned. "And, it was because of you."

"What the fu-"

"Gideon!"

What are you talking about, Vi? I didn't know you until we met in the forest.

"Yeah, you did. We did. I knew you. You knew me. Yep. Yup. Cool." Shallow breaths and a restless leg accompanied her words.

"I crossed the Veil in wolf form, didn't I?" His hoarse voice sent tingles down Visena's spine. She didn't even have the courage to stop him from speaking. She had never felt so meek under his stern gaze.

"Yep."

"This Veil?"

"Uh-huh."

"So you could have given it back all this time?"

"Technically."

"Is it that bad that you wanted to hide it from me?"

Gideon bent over, coughing as his throat struggled to cope with the rapid-fire questions.

"I-I- I don't know, alright. But, no, it's not bad... there was just so much other stuff I was worried about, and then I was messed up for a bit, and now everything's over; it finally felt like a good time..."

Gideon's stony gaze softened, and Visena finally took a breath. "I left home because my mother wouldn't return your memories of me after she made you cross the Veil. She said it wasn't safe and I hated her for keeping us apart. I think I loved you. I did. I loved you."

There was a long pause between them as the news settled in.

Faer flew over and landed on Gideon's knee breaking the silence with animated tweeting. If Visena were to speak bird, she would have sworn she said, 'welcome home.'

Finally, Gideon faced his mate, his bottom lip being worried between his perfect teeth.

"Well... Can I have them back now?"

~~~~

A/N

Final chapter btw!

69!!!! hehehe ;)

K