HEY! Before you get reading, just know that I love every last one of you. 

It may not always seem like it, especially after sad chapters like the last one, but I'm so grateful for you all. 

Nova's POV

I'm no expert on cars, but I'm pretty sure that the car was not supposed to be making the noises that it was making. 

But of course I had to be driving when it happened. 

I just can't do anything right, can I?

As much as I didn't want to wake him up, I did what had to be done. The pack was about two hour's drive and unfortunately, we were really close to the territory of the pack marked in red. 

"Blake," I nudge him. "Blake, hun. Something's wrong with the car."

He yawns and looks over at me. "What did you do?" His ears perk up to the noise I've been hearing.

I just knew he'd take it that way. I ignored the feeling of another slash to my heart. It's like he was a whole other person and I couldn't for the life of me understand why. 

Blake's POV

"I-I don't know. The noise started a couple miles ago." She stutters as the car gives up and comes to a stop.

"Oh God.." She mumbles and falls back onto the seat. Her face takes a hue of green.

"Hey, Nova relax. I'm sure it's nothing," I try to calm her, now getting a little weirded out myself.

"Besides, I'm an expert mechanic.. remember?" I smirk and look at the meters. The gas reads empty. 

"What the hell? I filled it twice," I distinctly remember filling the tank twice. How could it have run out? I know it's a truck, but I get great gas mileage with it.

I jump out and go to her side, opening the door and stepping up to hold her. She relaxes in my arms, "stop panicking, you're scaring me. I'll just get the gas tank from the back." I try to soothe her.

"The gas tank isn't here," I say after searching the bed of the truck where it usually is.

"What?" She hisses. Her hands start to shake.

"The gas tank is not here," I enunciate. And then my glare snaps to her, "real funny. Where did you hide it?"

"What?" She says defensively. "Why would I knowingly endanger us? Why am I your first suspect? Why not the slim shady guy I TOLD you I had a bad feeling about?" She gets closer to me and looks directly into my eyes with a fire burning hot in them.

"Blake, there is no way this is a coincidence."

Pfft. 

I shake my head and push the tailgate up to close it.

"Don't you scoff at me," she growls. "I'm willing to bet my life on the fact that the gas line has a nick in it or worse."

"Oh really? Well if you're so sure, then show me!" I get on the ground as she does and we go under. 

She pulls my arm across her body to confirm what she just bet her life on. There is definitely a hole in the gas line. 

Ok. Now we panic. I didn't want to believe her. I probably hurt her with how I acted. I pushed her.. 

Ever since I was brought to that town, I've known that I had to go back and find my family. I was tired of people trying to take it from me, postpone it. But this is Nova. 

She wouldn't do that. She knows I love her... I hope. 

What if I've lost her?

She gets out first and I follow her out, finding her with her jaw in her hand in deep thought. She takes in a shaky breath.

"Nova, I.. I," I stand in front of her with my hands on her shoulders. "You tried to tell me, I'm so sorry I didn't-"

"No time for apologies now. We need to get out of here," she whispers. "We need to shift and run as fast as we can."

"No.. wait," I turn around as I pick up a scent. It was so familiar.. I just couldn't place it.

"So much for a gas-" I stop her with a hand over her mouth.

"The gas station." It hits me. We're being followed.

"I'm sorry, the what? We need to go!" She pulls my hand.

I force myself into her head.

Do you smell the scent of wolf in the air? It isn't from a pack. It's the same people who have been following us since the last gas station we went to.

And you didn't tell me about this? Oh forget it. We need to run. Now!

Twigs break dangerously close, both of us liven, now frozen as three figures appear from the trees. The aroma is strong now and even though it was familiar from the gas station, there was something else about it I couldn't place.

The tallest one, in human form emerges and comes only a few feet away from us, I can make out his features.

"Uncle Dimitri?" I say in some shock, mostly confusion.

Nova's POV

As the figures appear, I put my hands behind my back and pull the knives out of my sleeves that I grabbed as Blake went to find the extra gas we were supposed to have. I bow my head, feigning submission, praying that they don't see me as a threat until I make myself out to be just that. 

Wait, wait. Uncle Dimitri that tried to kill your family in a house fire, Uncle Dimitri? 

No, the other one.

This is no time for sarcasm, Wilson. On my signal, we run.

No, not yet. Maybe he's changed.

Blake, no.

I beg as he walks a few steps forward.

"Yes, boy. My, how you've grown!" He laughs and pulls Blake into an embrace.

All my alarms are going off now. My eyes dart between the other two wolves beside him whose gazes are on Blake in fight ready position. 

Fight or flight?
I can feel her presence again.

Is that even a question? 

As they get ready to charge, I draw my knives and with a great battle cry, throw them both simultaneously as Taylor once taught me and watch in slow motion as they both land in the skulls of the two assailants. Blood spatters as their corpses fall to the ground. 

I pull Blake's shirt back towards me, out of the stranger's grasp and shove him behind me as I let my fur take over. He follows suit. 

Six more wolves come from the woods, teeth bared. 

You have got to be kidding me..

I dig at the dirt with one paw, my ears come down as I give a warning growl unlike any growl I've ever made.

This one comes from my core, I was angry. She was angry. 

Run. 
I urge him.

No, I'm not leaving you.

"Blake, Blake. What did I always tell you about girls?" Dimitri chuckles and whistles. His gang closes in on us. 

Game on. Sic 'em, baby. 

A wave of fury comes over me. Murderous fury. 

Game over.

They almost killed him. 

Time to die.
She kicks in, putting me at the control panel.

I jump at the two coming close to me. One was smaller, the other was about my size. 

Their throats are both ripped out in seconds. A warm, metallic taste fills my mouth. One was left partly alive, so I put him out of his misery. 

Dimitri laughs at Blake being overtaken by four wolves. 

"You made it so easy! You're far too trusting, and that will be your demise." A devilish grin creeps across his face.

I sprint at the largest one and take him to the ground with my weight and engage in a jaw snapping battle, fighting to get out from under him. He lands a blow to my gut, rendering me winded for a second or two. I get a good shot at his throat and take it, he yowls in pain. In his weak moment, I flip him over and put just the right amount of pressure on his hind legs to hear a melodious crack as he whimpers and howls out, now unable to move, unable to hurt my Blake. He would soon bleed out.

Blake finally maims one similarly to how I did, but he is in bad shape himself. 

He still has two much larger monsters on him. Dimitri poses no threat, but I see worry in his eyes when I manage to look away.

I bark to get their attention, hopefully getting one of them to me.

The slightly smaller one gets a cry out of Blake which fuels my remaining wrath. We circle each other, he watches carefully for any signal I make to hurt him. In my split second glare at Blake who is now at an advantage, he runs at me and pounces, taking me to the ground in a slide. Getting up on my hind legs to try and take his blow more effectively at the last second did not help.

Road rash was nothing I couldn't handle.

He weighed probably three times more than I did and was able to hold me down with one paw.

I snap my jaws and try to get a hold of anything I could and never let go. I narrowly avoid his teeth which threaten to sink into my shoulder.

The cacophony coming from this scene was horrible. Bones breaking, jaws snapping, growling, yowling, whimpering, and flesh being torn.. but worst of all was Dimitri's laughter.

I wiggle and squirm out of the beast's grasp and roll over onto him. He kicks me off with ease, sending me airborne, landing closer to Blake.

He has various deep lacerations all over his body and is sopping wet with blood, that by the looks of it is his own.

The pain from all the blows and strikes I didn't realize I had suffered begins to set in. My whole body aches, but we aren't done yet. 

I shoot Blake a look of 'hang in there' as his reactions start to slow. The wolf that was on me focuses his attention on Blake once more. 

I lunge up and bite on the larger wolf's tail as hard as I can while he was distracted, not caring if I rip any off. He jumps and jerks back toward me, getting a chunk of my leg with his freakishly long body. 

As much as it hurt, my grip on his tail intensifies as I shake like a dog fighting for a rope toy, but this was life or death. I feel my teeth sink in closer to the bone more as he tries to pull away.

Get out of there! Pin him down! He is weak on his back where I tackled him.
I link him and get no response. 

The other wolf from before comes to my side and headbutts me, loosing my grip on the other's tail, taking a chunk of it with me to the ground. 

Fuck.

It hurts.

FUCK.

Blake's form lays limp where they left him.

Victims will experience rapid heart rate, shallow breathing and dwindling blood pressure as more blood is lost.

The words from one of my anatomy textbooks flash through my head.

We need to get to him.

I get up one more time and run as best as I can and lunge at both of them, taking one down but quickly being torn off by the scruff by the other one. I whimper and yelp until he lets me go, throwing me in the other direction.

Everything becomes blurry, I can hear my heart beating in my head. I could feel that I was losing blood, but I couldn't tell where it was from.

I crawl to Blake.. or try to and feel a foot, a human foot on my back leg. I look up and see Dimitri's figure.

The two other wolves come back to Dimitri's side. If they were in human form, they would be laughing over my body. The larger one comes between my legs to do what I dreaded.

No. Way. You can't have that too.

With the last bit of strength I have, I spring up and close my muzzle around where his ear connects to his face, bearing down hard, growling into his ear.. or what would be left of it.

When he pulls away, pulling me up with him, I only let go when I'm kicked again. This time it is a blow to my back. 

My teeth trail over his ear and puncture four holes in the outer cartilage. That is a scar he will have to live with, knowing for the rest of his life to never underestimate anything.

In return, he draws a paw over me and puts his whole body weight in it as he collapses on my ribs, poking holes of his own. His teeth lay ruin to my right flank as he drags me to Dimitri's feet.

He bends down to my ear and I try to snap at his face but he presses me down with ease, digging his fingers into my fresh wounds, emitting a weak, pitiful cry from me. 

"Long live the true Alpha," he whispers to me and releases his hold as he walks to Blake.

"Die well, nephew. Tell your parents I said hello," he laughs maniacally and walks back the way he came with his henchmen who limp along side him.

I can't.. it hurts.
She blubbers, we pant and grapple our way to Blake.
Hold on, just a little longer.

I'm sorry.
Just before she fades, I force a loud, desperate howl. It is supposed to serve an SOS purpose to surrounding packs.

I'm left naked in my human form. When pain becomes too great in wolf form and the wolf-human bond isn't as strong as it should be, the wolf side can check out at will and leave the human to fend for themselves.

It looks like Blake's wolf has forsaken him as well.

My hair is matted with blood and debris and I am covered in the same marks I was left as a wolf. I'm still bleeding profusely from somewhere on my arm and lower trunk.

The pain returns a hundred fold, making me yell out in sheer agony but upon seeing Blake's body, I am no longer able to focus on myself.

"Help! Somebody help us!" I scream shrilly and turn my attention to Blake who is still partly conscious, but hanging on by a thread.

"Blake, you need to stay with me. I'm gonna get you cleaned up, okay?" I nod and kiss his head, pushing myself up to get my first aid kit from the truck that I always kept for emergencies.

I drop to my knees at his side which were already cut up, not that I could feel it.

I frantically try to wrap, splint and apply pressure to bleeding areas. The sadists had clawed his side open. He was laying in a pool of crimson which the ground hungrily soaked up, taking on its shade. I packed and packed his side with gauze but my measly supply was not enough to stop it. I grabbed a t shirt and stuffed it in. I apologize when he winces.

This kit was meant for small cuts and scrapes, not a four on one fight between mindless, near rabid werewolves at the hands of an insane murderer.

"Apply pressure to bleeding lacerations, remove excess debris. Stop bleeding at all costs, ensure that the victim maintains their airway," I mumble to myself the words I memorized from that textbook.

"Nova," his voice croaks.

I stop, starting to realize that there was not much I could do. 

I was losing him.

"Yes, Blake?" My voice comes out more shaky than I intend.

"I'm- I'm so sorry," he coughs up some blood which I wipe away and catch his head in my lap, stroking his cheek with my thumb.

"Save your apology, you can apologize and take me back to have fish when you can walk again, okay?" I chuckle, trying to keep his attention. 

He chuckles lightly. "Smart girl. Funny girl. That's what I always liked about you." His voice is so weak. He is more weak than I've ever seen him.

"What? My impeccable charm?" I choke back a sob, covering it with a laugh as his eyes lose their vibrance. 

He pulls a shaky arm to my face, cupping it with a bloody hand as I lean into it gently and hold it in place with my free hand, still looking at him.

"Please don't cry, not for me," he whispers, which is the only tone he can manage now. The flow of blood from his side has slowed, meaning that he hardly has any blood left to circulate.

"I won't cry if you stay with me," my voice quivers, his eyes start to roll back. "Stay with me, goddamn it!" I cry. My body throbs, but the only thing I can really feel is the tears running down my cheek.

"Promise me," he coughs, "that you won't let this hinder you from being incredible." The way his voice comes and goes breaks my heart. His hand grasps mine and holds tight.. a death grip. "You need to finish our mission." His cornflower, crystal blue eyes lock onto mine.

Realizing that his spirit would not be able to rest until I agree to his final wish, I wholeheartedly agree. 

He nods, but is not completely satisfied.

"Kiss me," he mouths with tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.

I do as I'm told through tears as his lips conform to mine for the last time.

His hand, still holding mine loses its grip.

His face in my hand relaxes away from my grasp.

His other hand holding my face drops.

His eyes close in an eternal sleep as he bids this world goodbye and starts his trek to worlds unknown.

"Blake.. Blake, no." I shake him, the force from it makes more tears fall and land on his bare chest. 

"Blake," I whimper and pull him into my lap, and let out a final cry of woe to the sky as tears fall unceasingly.

"WHY?" I scream long and hard, straining my vocal cords amidst my sobs as his body falls and I fall over him, crying silently until I had no tears left to be shed.

As the sun starts to set, I have to fight to stay awake. That is, until I see more people coming from the northwest direction.

Not again. Not on my watch.

I get to my feet and come out from behind the truck to face them, shifting and charging the group at full speed at full power as if I was never injured and as if I wasn't still bleeding.

I meet them quickly and am pulled back by one man, then another being told to calm down. All I can do at this point is fight against my human restraints and scream things like "if you lay a hand on him... don't fucking touch him or I'll burn you all alive," things like that. One of them shifts and broods over me, probably five times my size in wolf form. 

The sight of him combined with my fear at what he might do to me is enough to knock me out.

I hear a horrified cry of, "what happened here? I'm counting several bodies!" before everything goes dark.

~

In the darkness, soon after I pass out, I feel as though I'm floating. 

Sinking.

Deeper

and deeper

 I hear a deep, rumbling voice reach out to me:

"You'll be safe, darling. I'm here now."

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WOW! Can you say strong curtain?

It only gets better from here, honestly. I promise.

I love you all! I will be sure to post the next update very soon!