The metal door cranks open and all eyes flash to me. Jesse's eyes widen as they rake over my nude body and Nick reaches through the bars to slam his head against the cell with a possessive growl.

I grin at the action and move to release Nick first. He removes his shirt with haste and tugs it down over my head. I watch him as I put my arms through the holes and he pulls it down to cover my thighs. "How much time do we have before they come back?" He questions as he goes into Beta mode while crossing his arms over his chest. My wolf purrs as she watches his muscles flex and I chastise her. Now is not the time for conflicting hormones.

"Five hours tops." I respond as firmly as I can while clearing my throat and tossing him the keys to release the other wolves. The last thing we need is for my wolf to start lusting after someone who is not her mate. The smell of my arousal might stir Lucius awake faster than I planned him to.

"Hey Sherlock." Whistles Jesse "You forgetting something?"

Rolling my eyes I nod at Nick to toss me the keys. He gives me a disapproving look but throws them to me anyway. "Don't make me regret this." I state as I release him and the others. He grins right before shoving me roughly in front of him.

A sharp prick in the middle of my back makes me groan as the familiar effects of the aconitum seep in. I pull strength from the Kynda to aid me in burning it quickly out of my system while shooting a withering look at Jesse.

"Better you than I." He shrugs in answer as he nods behind me to where Lucinda stands holding a dart gun, green eyes bright and alert. Clementine snickers from her cell and raises her eyebrows as if to say 'I told you so.'

"Lucinda. What are you doing?" I ask as I hold my hands up in caution.

"What I have to do to survive. You don't -" Her voice cuts off as blood splurts out of her mouth and she drops forward to reveal a shirtless Nick standing behind her with her detached heart in his bloody grasp.

"We don't have time for this." He states gruffly dropping her heart carelessly on the ground.

I nod and motion for everyone to follow us.

"Ahem." Clementine clears her throat sarcastically "Forgetting someone?"

I smirk and without turning around I shrug "You got yourself in, you can get yourself out."

Jesse chuckles beside me as we make our way outside. I curse under my breath the moment we step foot on the snow and see dozens of guards posted by the barrier.

"There's been a breach!" One of them shouts and their attention lands on us as they switch into attack mode.

"Shift!" I yell out as they come slamming into us. The group splits and the hunters sprint away. Jesse shoots me a wink before disappearing past the barrier and into safety.

Snarls and growls echo through the forest and suddenly I'm sixteen years old again. Flashes of my father telling me to run play in my head like a movie. With a feral growl I let my anger take over and fight back the way I should have three years ago. With no mercy I rip into their flesh and waste no time moving on to the next as I drop as many bodies as I can.

'Alora.' Says Nick through the mind link. 'There's too many of them. They're backing us into the cliff.'

I look behind and see the waterfall roaring in all its glory. I contemplate spontaneous combustion but try as I might nothing happens. Great, I'm recharging.

I close my eyes trying to gather my thoughts over the roar of the running water. The cliff is too steep. If we jump I'll survive but Nick most likely will not. Plus there's the fact that we can't even see if there are rocks at the bottom through the steam of the falls.

'Jump.' I hear Rose whisper in my mind.

I'm losing my mind. I know I am, because I'm actually considering it. I look over at Nick's grey wolf and then at the werepires that were growling loudly as they stalk towards us. Their growls were being swallowed by the thunderous roar of the running water.

...The running water...

...Running, yet still...

'It runs forever, yet does not move. It has no voice yet still shouts. With no eyes, I can still be found.'

That sneaky witch.

'Nick! We have to jump.'

'Have you lost your mind? I'm not immortal L, I will die.'

'Trust me Nick. I will never suggest anything that would hurt you.'

He looks back to see the wolves that are now distracted by Clementine's son and an army of vampires, then nods at me.

'There are worse ways to die.' He agrees as we both take a running start and jump into the air.

The wind wraps around us harshly as we soar through the air and into the misty steam of the falls. The drop seems to go on forever yet in the blink of an eye. I inch closer to Nick.

'Shift.' I order him as I shift back into my human form. He looks at me puzzled while complying and I pull him into a tight embrace.

"What are you doing?" He asks as he pulls my head into his chest and buries his face into the crook of my neck.

"Protecting you." I respond as I flip us and my back slaps into something hard. Gravity pulls us apart as we submerge into the freezing black water. The pressure of the fall causes Nick and I to separate.

I search for him feeling completely disoriented. I have no clue which way is up or down.

Everything is pitch black except for a warm glow that grows bigger as I swim toward it.

My chest begins to cave against the pressure of diving so deep. The temperature drops to unnatural levels and feels like ice cutting across my skin. I contemplate turning around but the Kynda begins to glow bright and tugs me further down.

As I reach the glow, I realize it's an enormous red flower with closed petals. The Kynda pulsates and the flower reacts with a pulse of its own. I reach out to touch it and the water ripples followed by a massive boom that sends my body hurtling towards the surface. I gasp as I feel the air both make its way into my lungs as well as get forced out when I land roughly onto a hard surface.

A groan below me causes me to take notice of a very wet and naked Nick with his arms wrapped around my waist.

"You caught me." I gasp out while placing my hands against his chest to steady me.

"Don't I always?" He hisses out with a grimace.

"Are you okay?" I ask while trying to catch my breath and caress his face.

"Are you?" He groans as he pulls me to stand.

Before I could answer, the flower bursts out of the water and its fiery red petals bloom open revealing a body encased in flames. The body begins rising into the air. Her shiny black hair floating around her. Her lovely brown skin untouched by the flames as her loose white gown sways in the wind. The flames casting a burst of warmth in the otherwise freezing cave.

Nicks arms wrap around my waist protectively as he stands with his chest pressed firmly against my back. Her closed eyes flash open and I gasp in shock at their striking white color. Her body floats down onto the red flower and with a sway of her fingers the flower moves rapidly towards us. The flames disappear and the Kynda stops glowing.

"Alora." She says with a slight nod. " We need to prepare."

I gape at her as she steps off of the lotus flower and onto the cold hard dirt. Looking around, I realize that I've been here before. Turning my gaze upward I see the small hole at the top of the cave where we must have fallen through. This is the same freezing cave I'd come to when Jesse was torturing me.

"Oh this won't do." She states as she looks down. With a snap of her fingers, her loose white gown morphs into a tight black corset dress. "Much better." She sighs in content before cocking her head to the side and pursing her lips. Her white eyes staring at me intensely before she twirls her finger and Nick and I spin in the same way her finger does. I look down to see that I'm wearing a dress in the same style as her except mine is red and the corset is so tight my breasts are practically spilling out. A look that Nick obviously appreciates as his eyes are glued to my chest. Nick is wearing a loose white shirt and black trousers. He looks like he's just stepped out of a romance novel.

"There, that's better than being naked and wet." She smirks "I presume you have questions?"

"Yes. I'd like to start with the fact that you're blind." I state watching in amazement as she feels around the cave walls before grinning at a particular spot. She lightly taps it and the wall shimmers as she steps through it. Nick and I share a look before following her.

My eyes widen as I take in the rows of containers and spell books cluttered about. "You really are a witch." I whisper in amazement.

She grins and extends her hand. With a flick of her wrist the Kynda breaks free from my neck and into her palm. "Yes I am. To both of your statements." She grins.

"You are Nick, the Beta." She says with a knowing smile. He nods at her, confusion lining his features. "Very handsome."

"How would you know that?" I retort before quickly covering my mouth as Nick shakes his head.

"I do not need eyes to see Alora." She states simply as she closes her eyes in concentration while closing her palms around the Kynda. After a moment she sighs and places it into a crystal container. "The spell is weakening."

"If you and your sisters created the spell to trap him in there, why not make it so that he can never escape? Or better yet, why not get your sisters now to help lock him up for good. Why do you need me?"

Her eyes flash open and I can feel her stare pierce into the deepest parts of my soul. "It was not our intention to create a backdoor for him to escape. That night, everything that could go wrong, did." She says seriously. "I need you now because you are the only person strong enough to help me seal the spell and actually destroy the Kynda once and for all. Like it was intended to happen centuries ago."

"So you're telling me that the most powerful witch in the world needs a werewolf to help her defeat my big bad great great and so on grandfather?" I say with an arched brow.

"That is exactly what I am saying." She replies "You seem to think that he is not a threat. Let me clarify that Emerson Lume is the most dangerous person to ever walk the Earth. He is vicious and cold hearted. He murdered his mate the second he realized she was his weakness. It took the power of all twelve witch covens in the world just to trap him in here."

"Where are the covens now?" I question while trying to wrap my head around the fact that he was the one to kill his mate and not Clementine.

"Gone." She states in a monotone voice. "I am the last witch in existence. I will finish what I started, and you will help me."

"Tell me how." I agree and she nods.

"Very well. In order to understand your place in all of this, you must make the journey back to the beginning."

"What do you mean?" I question.

Her white eyes lock onto mine and her hands rise up in my direction, palms forward as she whispers 'Somnum.'

Cold runs through my brain and my eyes droop. With heavy lids I see a blurry Nick catching my collapsing body.