SHE CURLED HER fingers into a tight fist and wrenched her arm to the side, clocking one of the Revenants in the head. It dropped to the ground. Her foot stomped down. A sickening crunch echoed throughout the mineshaft.

Then three things happened instantaneously.

First, the barrier disintegrated around her. It melted to the ground — a waterfall of shadowy droplets evaporating against the earthy clay beneath their feet.

Second, the Revenants that stood in front of her moved. Each took a few steps backwards, creating distance between themselves and Sophie. A multitude of clouded eyes widened and focused on her.

And third, Finn bolted toward her. His hand extended toward her. His expression was frantic, lips parted around a petrified, "No, don't!"

The book in his hands had been discarded, abandoned on the floor behind him.

All movement ceased.

Two horrifically tense seconds passed.

Her heart thudded loudly inside her chest — a thunderous pounding that overwhelmed her senses. She stared at the Revenants in front of her, a thick layer of tension claiming the air between them. Her jaw clenched tight as she just waited — waited for the creatures to maul her.

The creatures appeared frozen.

Each one simply stared at her, making no move to advance toward her. The shift was drastic — so different compared to the frantic way they had clawed at the barrier to get to her. Sophie's head tilted. She took a small step forward, toward the creature standing closest to her. It shuffled backwards in response.

Almost as if it were afraid of her.

Sophie glanced back over her shoulder, just in time to see Finn stumble to a hesitant stop. The hand that extended hand toward her slowly started to lower, moving back down to his side. Utter confusion twisted his facial features and a crease formed between his brows.

She smiled at him. "How sweet," she remarked calmly.

A flash of anger swam within his eyes.

"What did you do?!" he hissed at her.

Sophie ignored his question, her smile growing even larger. "I was right," she told him. A snicker tore past her lips. "Honestly, how pathetic. And you really thought that you were strong enough to kill me?"

With a wave of her hand, she gestured toward him. "Just look at you."

The anger in Finn's eyes magnified tenfold. He shifted his gaze to a nearby Revenant, glowering at the creature. His hand shot toward Sophie — index finger jabbed in her direction. "Kill her!"

She arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. Her eyes remained trained on Finn's outstretched hand, reveling in the way that the appendage trembled in the air. Sophie didn't dare to look behind her — or at any of the creatures that surrounded them.

If it did decide to attack her, she didn't want to see it coming.

A few seconds passed between them, filling the room with a palpable and suffocating level of tension. There was no movement, however. No snarled growls or angry hisses. No sharpened claws slicing through Sophie's skin.

There was nothing but sweet, sweet silence as the Revenants simply stared at Sophie. Finn's hand started to sink. His eyes widened and a confused crease formed between his brows. "What the—"

"Didn't you learn anything in Werewolf 101?" she asked him, nonchalant. Her gaze shifted downward as she lazily examined her nails.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he hissed through clenched teeth.

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She honestly wasn't sure what she was talking about either. Aubrey had tried to explain the complex relationships that formed between werewolves at least once, while Wolfe was in recovery. But Sophie had only really half-listened at the time.

The more that she confused Finn, however, the longer she could stall him. And Finn didn't need to know that.

Her fist suddenly reared back, knuckles slamming into the bridge of his nose with a sickening crunch. "By immediately killing one of them, I've established myself as the Alpha," she announced.

Finn tumbled backwards, a free hand flying to grasp at his face. The Revenants around them shifted, clouded gazes focused on Sophie and following her movements throughout the room. Sophie took slow steps toward Finn. "And by establishing dominance over you," she stated calmly, "I've now proven that I'm the strongest in the room. They'll never listen to you now."

"That notion doesn't truly exist within nature," Finn snarled at her from the ground. Before she could blink, the ancient vampire was once again on his feet. Shiny rust-colored blood leaked from his nose, trailing down his face. "Your logic is flawed."

She smiled meanly at him. "Then why aren't they killing me?"

Finn lunged at her, his clawed hand searching for her throat. Sophie ducked out of the way, laughing as Finn stumbled into one of the Revenants. It snarled at him and lashed out, features twisted with fearful confusion.

Sophie locked eyes with another Revenant standing nearby. "Hold him," she ordered. The creature hesitated for a moment. Its cloudy eyes flooded with a sense of recognition. Then its hand shot out, bony fingers curling around Finn's shoulder.

Surprise flooded through Sophie's expression — she hadn't fully expected the creature to listen to her, or even understand her. A bead of guilt burrowed deep within her chest. Finn hadn't denied her accusation that the creatures were actually remnants of the missing students and faculty. The creatures had just seemed so far gone — so utterly barbaric that she didn't expect them to actually listen to her. Especially considering how many others they'd actually harmed.

"Let go of me!" Finn screamed. He tried to wrench his arm free from the Revenant, only for its grip to tighten. Its claws pierced through the skin and muscle that covered his shoulder. A pained sound escaped Finn.

"You might be right. But even if I'm not the Alpha," Sophie said with a small laugh, "The Revenants are still more scared of me than they'll ever be of you."

The distant rumble of footsteps graced Sophie's ears. Waves of excitement and relief crashed through her. "I told you that you'd never be able to kill me." She grinned at Finn. "Nice try though. I give you at least an eight point five out of ten for the effort."

Finn somehow managed to get his shoulder free. He surged forward, reaching for Sophie's throat, profane screams tearing past his lips.

Eli made it to the abandoned mineshaft first.

His blurred fist cracked across Finn's face. Finn flew backwards, crashing against the wooden crates that lined the wall behind him. Eli followed him. He grabbed Finn by the ankle and wrenched him free of the wooden rubble. With another pained cry, Finn lashed out at him with a plank of wood.

Eli dodged and used all of his strength to chuck the ancient vampire across the room. There was a flash of movement. Before Finn could even touch the ground, Eli's fist smashed against his face. Blood splattered upwards, coating the back of Eli's hand and his forearm.

Eli punched again. And again. The earth cracked beneath them and the walls began to tremble with each anger-filled strike.

Sophie rushed toward them. Eli's fist drew back — prepping for another heavy handed punch. Her hand shot out, grabbing his bloodied fist and holding it in place.

Eli's head snapped toward her, his mismatched eyes wild.

"Stop," she told him. Her voice was soft.

Eli didn't move. His eyes locked with Sophie's. His chest heaved around ravenous breaths. Then he lowered his gaze and his shoulders started to sink downward. He swallowed hard. "Oh," he muttered.

She watched as Eli's expression twisted, marred by a cocktail of conflict and pain. He climbed to his feet slowly and stared down at Finn. His knuckles were stained bright red. "Oh," Eli repeated. His voice was softer this time.

"What's done is done," Sophie said softly. She grabbed his arm, pulling him away from Finn's fallen form.

The moment his gaze focused on her again, it was as if a switch flipped within Eli.

His hands shot out, grabbing Sophie by the waist. Her face smashed against his chest and all of the air left her lungs in one breathy laugh. His lips pressed against her forehead, her cheeks, the crown of her head — literally any part of her body that he could reach.

Sophie let out another laugh — and a few tears.

All of the emotions that she'd bundled up inside shattered, spilling down her cheeks. Eli wiped at her tears, still kissing all over her face. "You're okay," he said between kisses, "Oh my gosh, you're okay!!"

Movement caught Sophie's attention. Fear prickled through her skin, grasping at the fine hair that coated her arms and the back of her neck. She grabbed Eli's face, forcing him to remain still, and looked over his shoulder.

Aelia stood at the entrance to the mineshaft. She eyed the Revenants surrounded Sophie and Eli nervously, her expression stricken with terror.

"I think," Sophie started to say, softly. She glanced at the Revenants. Each creature watched her like a hawk — waiting for her to make any command of attack. "I think that it's okay," she said. "They won't attack you unless I tell them to."

Aelia took a hesitant step into the room. Then another. As she neared, Eli stepped aside. "Oh gosh," she whispered. Her hands grabbed at Sophie, pulling her forward into a hug. "You're okay! Oh, thank goodness!"

Sophie's vision blurred with tears. She hugged her mother back, relief rushing through her. As they hugged, a few other familiar faces hesitantly entered the room. Two in particular stepped toward Sophie while the others remained focused on the Revenants.

A startled gasp tore through Sophie. "What are you doing here?" Sophie asked, incredulous as both Aubrey and Wolfe approached.

Wolfe grinned at her and ran a hand through his disheveled dark hair. "Didn't you pay attention in Werewolf 101?" he teased. "I heal fast."

Sophie started to laugh nervously. "Ah," she said with a pained sort of grimace. "I guess you all heard that."

"Tis the beauty of modern-day speaker phones," Wolfe chuckled.

Aubrey stepped closer and threw her arms around Sophie, squeezing her tightly. "I'm so glad you're alright!" she said. Her voice sounded rough — almost like she'd been crying hard. "I was so worried about you!"

Sophie smiled at her and squeezed her back. "Thank you for picking up the phone," she said earnestly.

Aiela approached one of the Revenants carefully. She reached out toward the creature and it flinched backwards, away from her touch. "I've never seen anything like this," she said. The fear had vanished from her tone, replaced with a heavy sense of curiosity. "I'm not sure if it's possible to reverse whatever Finn did to them."

She lowered her hand and turned toward Sophie. "But we can definitely try."

"We should do whatever we can to help them," Sophie agreed. She walked toward the notebook that Finn had dropped and grabbed it. "It's possible that we might find some answers here."

On Sophie's orders, the Revenants hesitantly followed Aelia, Wolfe and Aubrey out of the mineshaft. Sophie started to follow along but Eli stopped her.

His hand grabbed a fistful of her hair. He wrenched her closer to him, his lips slamming down against hers. A startled gasp escaped her — followed swiftly by a smile as her lips molded against his. Eli chuckled and pulled back.

"Let's have a real happily ever after now," he whispered against her lips.

Happiness flooded through her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and giggled. "Sounds like a plan to me," she told him, pulling him back in for more.

~

THE END

~

I'll be honest: I'm still not sure exactly how I feel about this ending chapter! I hope that it wraps up the series in a way that makes sense, haha! But if it doesn't, definitely let me know and I can try to answer any questions that have been left behind!!

Thank you all so, so much for taking the time to read this book series and follow along with Sophie's journey!! It's still hard to believe that it's finished ;-;

I appreciate and love you all so incredibly much!!! <3

love, ash