I don't really remember instructing myself to move, but at one moment, I was staring across the small lake at James, and the next, I was ten metres away. The colourful flowers blurred into a rainbow of moving shades, and I hadn't even noticed I was growling until James held his hand up to stop me from getting any further.

I wasn't going to listen, because one, he had kidnapped and attempted to kill my mate, and two, I knew that my wolf form would take him down in his human form, hands down.

Then he moved to the left slightly, and I saw the long, sharp, silver object resting directly in the middle of Katie's chest.

I felt my paws stumble in the flowers a little, before coming to a full on stop in terror. That was a sword.

A fucking sword.

A fucking sword, about to pierce straight through Katie's chest.

My blood ran cold as my wolf lost his desire to kill and we both withered in fear for our mate, and the smug grin that turned James face into a disgustingly attractive array of features spread slowly into a triumphant expression.

"I wondered when you would show up. Have a good...nap?" 

If he could read my thoughts right now, I bet he wouldn't be smirking. Instead of trying to communicate with the words streaming through my mind, I settled on letting out a low growl of warning, but I hadn't moved one inch since I had spotted the fucking sword in James' hand.

Who even used one of them anymore? I mean, there were easier ways to kill someone.

"I bet you were a little surprised that my friend could do that right? He's always had that special little talent." 

My anger was starting to seep back into my body, into my wolf, as I felt myself start to shake with the effort of staying still. My eyes flicked over to Katie's limp body again, pain twisting a sharp knife in my heart when I saw the blood again.

Then I noticed something.

I tried not to look too alarmed, but the fact that Katie was buzzing slightly, as if she was a phone on vibrate, was something a little out of the ordinary.

Mind you, so was a sword.

So was your physics teacher getting his little bitch of a friend to knock out a group of student werewolves and kidnapping one with a rare bloodline.

What was even normal these days?

"I do feel a bit bad for you and Katie, Kade." James voice cut through my thoughts, bringing me right back to the beautiful little clearing with the sinister feel. "Because of what I'm about to do, you two never really got a fair chance. Rejecting at the start was a little cruel, but I must admit I did see your point of view. But it seems as though you two reconnected just a little too late."

Fuck this, I thought, I'm shifting.

Shoving my wolf back was harder then I expected, but eventually I managed to push through the wolf barrier and find my head again. Shifting was much easier, it was like changing clothes to me now. 

"I really should call you a fucker, but I get the feeling you wouldn't get offended with anything I would say." I spat at James, who just grinned and nodded. 

"Yeah, you're right Kade. Nothing you can do now will change the outcome. I've been waiting for this day a long, long time."

He wasn't fully sane, surely.

Here I was in the middle of the forest, fucking naked in front of a madman who was currently trying to kill my mate.

My eyes flicked back to Katie again, and this time, something was definitely happening to her. Her body was still buzzing, but it was more noticeable now. I was half expecting the sound of bees wings to fill the meadow, but her movements were silent. The edges to her body were growing blurry the longer she vibrated, and panic squeezed in my throat again as I wondered what the hell was happening to her.

People didn't just vibrate while unconscious.

James still hadn't noticed, however, and I counted that as a plus.

"You're friends are taking a while to get here, aren't they? Surely Katie's important enough for them to run like their lives depended on it." James sighed melodramatically, scanning the trees edging the lake almost hopefully. "I was so hoping for a full crowd, too."

"You're sick." I spat, actually at a loss at what to do. If I tried to lunge at James, I wouldn't be fast enough to stop him piercing Katie's heart with that sword. 

But I couldn't just watch, either, and if I shifted back into my wolf, he would take that as a threat and kill her instantly, too.

So basically, I was fucked.

"Not sick, Kade. Powerful." His face contorted into some sort of smile that if you didn't look too closely would seem endearing, or charming. 

But when you peeled back those layers and took a look at the real man behind those stone carved cheekbones and easily persuasive grin, charming was the last word that would spring to mind. 

But then, something hit me, or rather, my mind.

Quite literally, might I add.

Kade, it was Katie's voice. Kade, distract him. I need more time...

More time for what? I thought back fiercely, slightly startled at the mind invasion. Katie didn't replay, and I had another second of panic before an idea came to me and I stood fully, staring at James straight in the eye.

"James, what's the big deal about this organisation anyway?" I asked, and James stilled, like I had just asked an absurdly stupid question and he was trying to figure out how to reply without coming across as harsh or condescending. "I mean, it's not like they're in charge or anything. Of the hidden world, and I don't see why they're going around, trying to kill off all the Ethers." 

Now he just looked plain offended, which meant my plan was working perfectly.

What did people say? If you can't beat them, join them?

Fuck that. My version was way better. If you can't beat them, stall them until you could get them distracted enough to rip their throat out. 

"The organisation is arguably the most dangerous and powerful group in the hidden world, other races included. We serve to protect the purity of the four natural wolf bloodlines; the fire, earth, water, and spirit wolves. The Ethers are a threat to our bloodlines, the outcast bloodline. If they tainted our bloodlines, nothing would ever be the same again. We have to make sure they don't return to full power, like before."

"So you're just killing off innocent people because of what's in their blood?" 

James smiled again. "Nobody's innocent, Kade. No matter how good they try to be. Everyone has that one deep, dark secret that they would take to their grave gladly."

"Okay," I nodded, folding my arms across my chest. "If the organisation is so dangerous and powerful, why haven't they just taken over the leadership in the hidden world? Surely if they're as intense as you make them out to be, they could take over the Royals and reign."

Now, I was just speaking out of my ass, but it was working. James' grip on the sword was loosening, the tip not quite centre with her chest anymore, and his eyes had lost their gleeful glint and were fully focused on me. 

"We could easily take over the Royals reign, they're a bunch of pompous wolves who sit on pedestals all day and pretend to do something useful. But," James spat out, not looking very happy with whatever he was thinking. "They have followers, they're loved by all, including the other races. The faeries, vampires, you name it. They all respect them enough that with an attempt of a take over, they would all turn against the organisation."

"Aren't vampires loners by nature, though? I didn't think they'd find us wolves more superior to them."

"Oh, they don't. They respect the Royals because they leave them be, lurking in the night." James shrugged, another sigh escaping his mouth. "I can't wait to return home. Especially once this mission is done."

A flash of fur blurred past my peripheral vision, and I didn't move a muscle in hopes James wouldn't notice. 

He didn't, of course, being the self absorbed asshole he was.

"You would adore the hidden world, Kade." James sent me a full on grin as his eyes glazed over with memories. "It's so grand, so high class. Everything is better there. Much nicer than this world, trust me. And there's no humans wandering around, either."

"I like this one just fine, thanks." I muttered, and another flash of fur blurred past. I wasn't alone anymore, at least. 

"I think you'd change your mind, just like your friends would. They can come out of the forest now too, if they want. No need to hide." James smiled and I cursed in my head. "What? Didn't expect me to notice them?"

Slowly, wolves emerged from behind James, and I quickly ran my eyes over them. Max, the chocolate brown to the left, Violet, her white coat and funny eyes beside him. Noah was the sandy coloured wolf in the middle, and Levi was easy to spot because he was like the size of a house. 

No sign of Lydia or Emeli, and that I was grateful for. 

"About time you guys arrived." James called out as they got closer and closer. I was wondering why the hell he still hadn't noticed Katie's vibrating when I looked down to her and realised that she had actually stopped now. 

Puzzled, my frown deepened and the urge to step forward and take her away was almost impossible to ignore.

The only thing stopping me was the sword, still way too close to her for comfort. 

"You were going to miss the show."

When Violet stopped just in front of the others, I noticed something. She wasn't focused on us, or James, or even Katie. Her eyes were unfocused and blurry, which just confused me more. 

What the hell was going on with her? 

"Shall I begin?" James said, his face spreading wide with excitement. I growled, blood red anger hitting me with a force. "We're all here now, so I will."

"We have this story we tell when we kill. It's about what happened on the beach all those years ago, when the war between Ethers and the other races first broke out. We lost a lot of good wolves back then, due to the Ethers fighting back. It was truly horrible, the times of that war. So many lives lost, too many. Far, far, too many."

He had moved the sword to the top of Katie's shoulder by this stage, and pressed down into her skin. I surged forward, a half strangled, desperate growl escaping through my lips. James paused and looked up at me, and his grin soon turned into a warning. "Careful, Kade. I can turn Katie here into chopped liver in seconds if you move one more step."

I clenched my jaw, stopping myself from walking forward anymore.

James just smiled, and continued. "You see, the Ethers hadn't always been so dangerous. There was a time where the other bloodlines looked up to them, when they were viewed as the most dominant because they contained all four bloodlines, not just one."

"That's when the rumours about purity started. God forbid we had unpure wolves back then, and the Ethers didn't like that much. Things got tense. Then we realised the potential danger of the whole race entirely when one of the older Ethers killed an organisation member with only his mind. That's when it became clear that the bloodline had to be culled for the safety of the others."

By now, James had dragged the sword down towards Katie's collarbone, leaving a shallow gash trickling with blood on the left side of her body.

"We thought we'd succeeded, you see, until several years later when one of the younger Ethers this ones great, great, great grandmother had hidden away slipped up. That's when the organisations true purpose came to light. To keep the bloodlines safe, by killing off the one that put them in danger." 

The tip of the sword moved to her other shoulder, and my whole body was tense as the scent of Katie's blood reached my nose. 

"You forgot one thing, though." Violet's voice rang through the clearing, and my eyes snapped up to see Violet standing in naked form where she had previously been a wolf before. If Katie didn't have an ancient killing weapon almost attached to her heart, I probably would have laughed at Max's expression to her nakedness.

But now was not the time, was it?

"You forgot the power that one bloodline can possess, James." Violet continued, causing James' forward to marr in confusion. "The fact that you killed the bodies of the Ethers didn't mean you got rid of them. Quite the opposite, actually." 

Violet smiled. "Just because a physical forms gone, doesn't mean their spirit is."

"And how would you know this?" James said in a condescending tone. "The souls died with the bodies."

Violet just smiled again, this time more mysteriously, more gleefully.

"Not all of them, young one."

The voice that just spoke wasn't mine, nor Violet's, or James. It was deep and feminine and completely strange to my ears. The tone was lyrical, the accent something out of an old, historical novel. 

It was almost an inhuman sound, one so intriguing and unique and magical that I was almost distracted from what was happening.

Then James looked down at Katie, and I followed with my eyes.

To find hers wide open, staring up at James.

And her eyes were flicking from every colour imaginable. Blues, greens, reds, yellows, purples, oranges. Her irises were bright, alive, flowing. 

It was beautiful. 

And that's when I realised that wasn't Katie speaking out of Katie's body. 

"You modern wolves are so sure of yourselves." Her mouth moved with those words, the strange, lilting accent flowing out of her mouth like a stream but it wasn't her. Not at all.

James looked shocked, paled, like he didn't know what to make of the fact that she was talking to him. He raised his arm with the sword in it, aiming it at Katie's chest, but grew even paler when he suddenly didn't move.

Or couldn't.

"What are you doing to me?" He ground out through clenched teeth, although they weren't shut tight on his own accord. Katie's mouth moved up into a smile, and her eyes paused as a mix between glittering red and gold, before the words that came out of her mouth still everyone in the clearing.

"Nothing you don't deserve, follower of the organisation. You forget the most important rule of my bloodline. For what lives inside us is a drug to others. We must savour the gift, or release the curse."

The melodic voice was the last thing I heard, before everything in front of me flashed a brilliant white light.

I stumbled backwards, my ears ringing, although no sound emitted in the clearing. My head hurt, my eyes watered, and I managed to catch myself from falling long enough to clutch my ears with my hands. Trying to focus in the lightness that surrounded us was almost impossible, but I lifted my eyes anyway and almost lost my breath at the sight.

There, standing side by side, was Katie with a woman who she was the spitting image of. Her doppleganger, only a few years older, a few years wiser.

And they were smiling. Together. Holding James sword as they drove it through his chest with their joint hands.

Then, as soon as it had begun, the lightness dissipated and strength left my body as I collapsed on the ground just as James and the others did.

Things seemed eerily silent, too quiet and still where we were. Like the dead silence after something unexplainable. Like everything was on mute, apart from one single sentence running through my head.

Savour the gift, or release the curse.

When I could finally stand up, my first instinct was to run over to Katie, would had collapsed on the ground again, but this time her eyes were open. James was gasping in pain beside her, and that's when I noticed sound was returning to my ears. 

He lay flat on his back, shock and pain filling his eyes as he stared at the sword protruding from his chest. Blood was spilling out, over his fancy clothes, down his sides, as he inhaled and exhaled with extertion.

Walking unsteadily towards Katie, I dropped to my knees beside her as she stared dumbfounded at what she had just done.

Whatever the fuck it was.

"Kade?" She said, her voice teary. I reached for her hands, pulling her upright, and the minute she was I engulfed her in a hug as she sobbed into my shoulder. 

The presence of Violet beside me and Levi, Noah and Max still in their wolf forms behind us reminded me we weren't alone. I looked into Violet's eyes, seeing the understanding, the relief, the teary disbelief of what had just happened.

"You knew, didn't you?" I realised, remembering her spaced out look from before. "You knew something like this would happen."

Violet laughed and shook her head. "I knew something would happen, but not that."

"You had a vision?"

"More like a visit from her great, great, great grandmother." Violet shook her head again like she was in awe, and I realised who the other woman I had seen was.

"I just...none of that should have been possible. Souls don't just move into someones body and then leave again like what just happened. It's...impossible."

As ragged gasp from our right made us all look in the direction of James. He was writhing now, a dullness in his eyes that was only associated with death. I released Katie slowly and stood up, walking towards him with nothing more than hate in my veins. 

"I should rip your throat out right now for even thinking you could harm my mate." I growled, leaning down over him to nail him with my deadliest glare. "But I think you deserve to die slowly with that sword in your chest, because suffering is what I intend for you."

James stared up at me, and had the decency to smile at me. 

"That's where you're wrong, Kade." James rasped, his teeth bloody with the red liquid coming up from his throat. He coughed it out of his throat, spitting a little as it dribbled out the corners of his mouth and down into the soft grass. 

"I'm not going to die today."

"I beg to differ, James." I said, but he just laughed. Or gurgled, because his mouth was filling fast with blood again.

"I'm going home." James said. 

"You're going to hell. For eternity." I spat at him.

He just shook his head, and put his hands together as he tried to speak one last time. 

"Home."

And then, he quite literally disappeared.

Like, dissipated into thin air, right in front of me.

Only the blood from his body showed the evidence of him even being here.

"Where the fuck did he go?" I yelled, spinning to look around the lake fervently. He can't have vanished, he was about to fucking stop breathing. I saw him, he was choking on his own blood, and he'd lost enough from the sword lodged pretty fucking solidly in his chest to still be alive.

And yet, his body was gone.

"I have a bad feeling about this." I muttered, rushing back over to Katie, who was now standing unsteadily with Violet as a support post under one of her shoulders. 

But the disappearance of James could wait, because I had my mate back without her being too harmed, and the relief that surged through me almost had my knees buckling from underneath me.

Katie stared at me with teary eyes, and threw her arms around me as soon as I was close enough.

"God, I love you." I breathed into her ear as my arms tightened around her body as much as they could without me hurting her. Katie laughed a little, her breath tickling my neck as her tears felt hot on my skin.

"I love you too."

My wolf howled with happiness as we embraced, finally, finally, feeling as though we were properly together. At last, we seemed in sync.

One in the same.

And we haven't even mated yet, although I had a feeling that was going to happen in the very near future. 

"Guys, I'm not saying this to ruin the moment or anything, but in case James miraculously appears again, we better get out of here and get cleaned up. Then we can figure out what the hell just happened." Violet's voice was soft, and I nodded, pulling away from Katie and grabbing her hand with mine, planning on never letting go.

"Deal." Katie and I said together.

And in that one moment, everything felt like it would work out. 

Until I remembered the aftershocks of what just happened were going to cause. Emeli, my father, Katie's alpha, the organisation, everyone in general.

But right now, I didn't want to worry about that, because Katie was safe, alive, and well, and I couldn't have asked for a better outcome.

Apart from all fucking swords being destroyed, but I could work on that.

* * * *

I finally uploaded! :D But it's not really how I planned to finish this chapter and I'm sorry if this has been a let down, but trying to form this was incredibly hard, so I'm going to let you guys read this version instead of waiting another month to post a chapter! I really am sorry about the delay, too. You guys are all waaaaaaaay too cool to not upload for that long, so please accept my apology!! 

Theres still a lot more to go in this book, but I can see that the end is near, (maybe four or five more chapters????) so we're nearly there, guys! 

Thank you for sticking around and bearing with me through this book, and I'd just like to say a HUGE thank you to all those people who helped me get this story to the 6,000 reads mark. Seriously, I didn't believe I'd get 600, let alone 6,000. So thank you for making writing for me such an exciting time! 

I love you all, and don't forget to vote, comment and fan! 

:) 

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