"Come on, we've got to move." An all too familiar voice. My entire body ached. "Hey. Ezra." A warm hand settled against my arm. "Wake up, we don't have much time before the witches get back."

Chains rattled violently.

Jackson crouched above me, I couldn't believe it. He was here. I lunged at him, throwing my arms around his neck.

He'd come for me.

"You're okay, I've got you." One arm secured around my back, another slipped under my knees and he stood.

Quiet laughter drew my attention toward Elijah. Jackson hadn't come alone, and the other wolves were poking and prodding at Elijah, snickering as he glared.

"Not so big and bad now are you?" One mocked.

A deep ache settled in my chest. For just a moment, Elijah caught my eye, and his softened.
"Wait. Jack, we can't leave him here."

"This rescue is for you." He continued toward the exit. "I'm not saving any Original."

I knew I shouldn't care.

I wish I didn't.

But Elijah was in such pain. He was hurt and tired and vulnerable. He needed help. Being jeered at certainly wasn't any.

"At least stop them. The last thing we need is a vengeful Original." Thomas and Liam, the wolves antagonizing Elijah, stopped the moment Jackson whistled.

"Come on, we're just having some fun." Thomas complained. "He killed so many of us."

"And he'll do it again if you keep bothering him." Jackson turned. "Let's go."

They couldn't very well ignore the command. They weren't like the wolves that'd turned on the pack.

Elijah hadn't looked away from me. Hadn't so much as blinked. Like he wanted to say something but wouldn't.

Was it strange that I wished I didn't have to leave him here? That I had a growing... fondness?

No. That was crazy. He and I were strangers and that's what we would remain.

He was an Original. I lived in the secluded bayou.

It was night when we got outside. The air was somehow more damp out here. I kept looking back at the tomb, even as we got further away.

Hadn't the witch put a boundary spell up?

Surely she wouldn't be that careless. She knew I wasn't bound. That I could walk out the door. But that would ruin her plans.

So why could Jackson take me out now?

Still. I was grateful. I'd be able to go back to normal now.

A little bump in my life.

"How did you guys find me?" Something blurry sped through the entrance, but that was all I saw of it before Jackson turned onto the street and the cemetery wasn't as clear.

"Oliver may have turned his back on the pack, but he knows how important you are. Can't have our most skilled nurse out for the count."

"That makes me feel so loved." I'd dropped out of medical school, and yet the wolves trusted me to heal what their healing couldn't handle. The really nasty stuff.

"And what ever would I do without my favorite gossip?"

I smacked his chest. "You know you love it."

He laughed, and something eased in me. No more witches or spells or Originals. He was going to take me back to the bayou. I would be safe and sound in my home.

In my bed.

Jackson was the alpha. The protector. He'd kept me safe to the best of his ability just as he'd done with the rest of the pack.

Why was I so exhausted? I laid my head on his shoulder, and began to drift.