Hunt growled, his eyes shifting to yellow as Brandon continued to smirk.

"The Arion pack is better off in my care if fate gave you weak and broken cripple for a Luna." He retorted.

Brandon snapped, his wolf finally coming out. Running towards the man who killed his family, shifting in mid-air, his clothes laying in tatters on the ground, the fight began.

Amy, Chris and Jake all ran to Grace, pulling her back to the safety of the forests edge, Hunts wolves doing the same. They were creating an arena.

Grace watched as Brandon stalked around Hunt, who still hadn't shifted.

"How is he going to play this?" Amy asked, turning to Chris.

"I have no idea. The guy is crazy." He replied, his eyes lingering on his new mate before turning back to the fight.

Grace gasped as Brandon lunged, Hunt rolling out of the way as he shifted. His Brown wolf with red flecks of fur almost as large as Brandon's. Almost.

They swiped at each other, lunging and jumping as though testing each other's abilities out.

Grace looked her mate over, his wounds still healing giving him the disadvantage. Though the blood had stopped flowing, there were still open gashes that when touched made him flinch and bite back a howl of pain. With each swipe, bite and tumble, Grace winced along with him.

But the wounds were healing, and Brandon fought back. His own claws slicing Hunt's fur, teeth ripping anything he could sink them into.

They both backed away, circling each other. Their eyes locked, as they caught their breath.

If Hunt won, he wouldn't just be ending Brandon's life, but also hers. A man who she had known only for just over a month. A man she had grown to love, respect, want. Her soul bonded to hers through their kisses and embraces, through their stories told and secrets shared.

Rustling behind Grace and the sound of footfalls made Chris stand on guard, Amy and Jake not paying them any notice. Grace realised it meant one thing- that their back up had finally arrived. A relieved sob escaped from her lips. Her throat holding back tears of mixed emotions that her mind could not begin to comprehend let alone process. There was a chance this could end up ok after all.

"Who the hell are you?" Thomas growled quietly, fastening the buttons of his shorts after shifting back into his human form.

"My mate." Amy replied for Chris, who had stood up to be ready to attack, she pulled him back down next to her so she could keep her eye on Brandon and the other surrounding wolves.

"And what the hell is going on?" Thomas asked, taking in Brandon, Hunt and Grace.

"They are fighting to the death." Grace whispered in reply, shuddering at saying the words out loud.

"What's the plan?" Jake asked, turning to his Alpha.

"If Brandon wins, the other wolves will submit to him. He will have won his title back." Chris replied.

"And if he loses?" Jake said, sending Grace an apologetic glance.

"Then you get Grace out of here, and we fight. Hunt won't let us go without one." Thomas replied.

"Yes Sir." Jake nodded, though he didn't look happy about leaving the fight.

Grace, only half listening to their conversation, still had her eyes fixed on the fight in front of her.

Hunt lunged. Sending Grace recoiling backwards, her heart pounding in her chest. His teeth wrapped around Brandon's injured leg, shaking it until she heard a sickening crack. But Brandon didn't seem phased. He rolled over Hunt, bringing the claws of his free paw down with him.

Grace didn't know about fighting, especially when it came to Werewolves. She knew that they were all trained, and that Brandon especially had dedicated his life to becoming stronger. But whether or not he was doing well, winning- that she didn't know.

Brandon flung himself back onto Hunt, his claws still extended. Hunt realising what was happening attempted to roll out of the way. And he would have. If he hadn't have still had Brandon's leg in his mouth.

Hunt howled in pain, letting go of Brandon's leg. Staggering to the floor as blood began to pour from his back. Wasting no time, Brandon pounced once more wrapping his teeth around Hunt's neck, closing his jaw.

Grace stood up shakily. It was over. He had done it. He had won. He was alive. Everyone seemed to realise this too, as though a shockwave had rippled across the field.

Brandon paced the floor around Hunt, waiting for him to get back up. He didn't. His ragged and torn body staying on the floor, eyes closed.

Wolves began to emerge from the tree line, some had shifted and some hadn't. Their eyes all fixed on Hunt, waiting.

Grace followed their lead, stumbling forward and picking up her discarded crutch as she grew nearer her mate.

"Hunt is as good as dead, and will be soon. Bow down to our new Alpha!" Chris shouted out, some of Hunts men looking at him shocked at his betrayal, most reigned to their fate.

Brandon was still pacing next to Hunts body, which was slowly and painfully shifting into his human form.

"Shift, Brandon. You need to start healing." Thomas said, walking to his side and setting down a pair of shorts for him.

His wolf collapsed to the floor, the pain of his injuries finally consuming him. If it weren't for Amy holding her back, Grace would have gone to him then. Fallen into him, held him.

Brandon shook as he shifted, crouched down he pulled on the shorts.

Grace pushed Amy off of her and using the crutch to support her stumbled forward as fast as she could.

She couldn't tell what he was feeling. His eyes staring blankly at her incoming figure. But she didn't care. He was alive. His body bloody once more, cuts and gashes covering every body part she could see.

Throwing the crutch down onto the floor she released everything she had been holding in. Throwing her arms around him, she began to sob.

"Never again. Do you hear me? I can't lose you. I can't." She said, her voice muffled in by his chest.

Slowly his arms wrapped around hers, at first holding her tightly, then crushing her against him.

"Grace. Grace. Grace." He chanted, as though he couldn't believe she was really there with him.

"Alpha?" Chris asked, walking forward, Brandon tensing, his eyes shifting to that of his wolf as he realised on of Hunt's men was approaching him.

"He's talking to you. You won, Brandon. They are all waiting to hear from you." Grace said, running her hand soothingly up and down his arm, his muscles relaxing at her touch.

Looking around the field together, they watched as a hundred wolves all knelt to the floor, their heads bowed in submission.

"Grace!" Amy's scream of anguish and terror snapped her out of the awe she was feeling about being back in Brandon's arms.

Spinning around, she saw what Amy had screamed about.

Hunt. On the brink of death. Reaching for his discarded dagger on the floor. His blood shot eyes fixed on her. Revenge no doubt on his mind.

Everyone began running to her, Brandon grasping her hips ready to push her away.

But not this time. Slipping out of his hold, Grace scooped down and picked up her crutch and using it like a golf club swung it towards the knife on the floor, millimetres away from Hunts clutching hands.

The knife flew towards the house and through a down stairs window.

Even on his death bed, he wouldn't give up. Grace tightened her hold on the crutch, twirling it around in her hand before bringing it down on the part of a man nothing should ever hit.

"That is for calling me weak." She shouted, as Hunt's eyes rolled into the back of his head as a silent scream of agony passed his lips.

But she wasn't done, bringing the crutch down again, this time onto his chest, Hunt wheezed out his final breaths.

"And that is for trying to kill my mate."

She tossed the crutch onto the floor, backing away until she felt Brandon's arms wrap around her, a chuckle reverberating through his chest.

Taking deep breaths, Grace was happy to feel most of her anger towards the man who had tried to tear apart her life dissipating.

Looking up, she saw Thomas, Jake, Amy and Chris all staring at her with mixed expressions.

Thomas was looking between her and Brandon with a smirk, Jake and Amy looking at her with pride, Chris staring at her in shock. And a little bit of fear.

"He's dead." Brandon whispered, telling himself as much as her.

"Is it over then? Are you ok?" Grace asked, turning in his arms to look up at him.

"It's over and I'm more than ok. I have you. What were you thinking? Giving yourself to him?" He replied, his voice almost breaking.

"He was going to kill everyone until I agreed. There were children, families. You." Grace replied, a sad smile on her face. "I knew you would save me." She nuzzled into him, resting her ear on his chest finding comfort in his warmth and steady heartbeat.

"Instead you came to save me." He mumbled, his tone telling her he wasn't happy about that decision.

"Yep. No saving of Grace for you. Once was enough." She replied.

"I agree." Brandon replied. Taking a deep breath, he turned to the others who were waiting for instructions.

"What are you going to do now?" Grace asked, looking around at the wolves who had now all shifted back into their human forms.

"I have no idea." He replied honestly. "Any ideas?"

"I do, actually." Grace said, a small smirk on her face. "Chris!" She shouted, before Brandon could retort to her mischievous smile.

Chris ran over to her, nodding hello to them both.

"Can you do a few things for us?" She asked, Chris's eyes widening in surprise before nodding with gusto.

"Absolutely, anything you need." He replied.

"Firstly, can you get someone to dispose of the body? I don't know how that works for your culture but I would hate for it to just be left here." She asked.

"Yes, we will bury him in the forest." Chris replied, Brandon nodding in approval.

"Then can you get everyone here back to the pack? Obviously people are going to have questions and things are going to be a little upside down at the moment, so we need to make people as at ease as possible. We don't want a revolt on our hands."

"We need to go to the cottage and get our things, sort out the peace treaty debacle with Thomas and contact the other Alphas in the country before gossip gets to them." Brandon replied, Thomas nodding in agreement as he listened into their conversation.

"So should I tell everyone to expect you in the morning?" Chris asked.

"That sounds good to me." Brandon replied.

"Is that everything?" Chris said, looking between Grace and Brandon.

"Yes, thank you." Grace replied.

"Alpha. Luna." He said, stepping back and nodding respectively to them both before turning away and joining his other pack mates.

"Luna. My beautiful Luna. You will make an excellent leader." Brandon whispered into her ear, nipping her earlobe teasingly.

"We better get to the cottage if we are going to fit everything that needs to be done into this evening." Grace replied.

"Everything?" Brandon asked. "Packing a little bit and talking to the other Alpha's shouldn't take too long." He said, sending her a questioning look.

She raised an eyebrow before leaning in and bushing her lips with her own. The familiar tingle running down her spine. Brandon jerked away, his eyes wide as he realised what exactly she meant.

"Oh!"

--

YAY! Brandon won! Though Grace gave the final blows.. ;)

*hands out chocolate cake to celebrate*