***KATE’S POV*** 

The next morning came quickly, making me realize that today was the day this would all end. It was so surreal, thinking about killing and protecting my family, but I had no other way to ensure our safety. The mood throughout the cabin was mellow and sad, also holding plenty of anxiety along with it. We were all on edge, not only from the fight approaching but the Full Moon was tonight, making us all feel slightly more enraged than usual. 

Jennifer’s naked body was still and quite, I didn’t want to wake her but I knew we had to prepare for today.

Plus I had something I needed her to have on her while we were away deep in the woods. 

I gazed at her through the morning sunlight, it was hitting her face so I didn’t understand how she wasn’t waking up yet. She was perfect, the way her skin was golden with the sun rays dancing off of it. She looked like an angel, and for a moment I pretended she was, and she was in love with me. 

I still don’t understand how I got so lucky.

I shifted my weight in hopes to get her moving and she did, her soft eye lids fluttering as the sun threatened to his her irises. 

She opened her blue eyes, making them shine in the sunlight and she squinted, “Morning.”

I smiled weakly, not even wanting to say it because I knew what it held. It was the dreaded morning none of us wanted to face, we were nervous, and today was the day. 

I sat up, not bothering to bring the sheets up with me, “I have something I need to show you.” I lifted myself off of the bed, tugging on some loose sweats and a muscle shirt. She leaned up, actually holding the comforter to her chest like all the girls in the movies the morning after sex. 

I gazed at her, she was mesmerizing, her long, silky brown hair that fell over her shoulders and past her chest. Her blue irises were glowing with confusion and sunlight, giving her the most sexiest look I’ve ever witnessed. 

She mumbled, “What? Does my hair look bad?”

I pulled out of my dream-like state and shook my head, “No, you look like an angel.”

I saw her blush, and this allowed me to continue to walk over to my dresser and pull out a pistol, waving it in front of her. 

She nearly gasped, “Kate where the hell did you get that?”

“My dad owns one, he kept it in his office and showed me where it was in case I ever needed to use it. I want you to have it in your possession today while we are gone. Protect yourself and anyone else if things go wrong. One bullet to the head will kill any one of our kind.”

She sighed, “I’m not that great of a shot.”

“Then try to hit close, it’s automatic anyway so you have 12 attempts to kill before you have to reload.”

“You expect me to kill someone?”

I nodded, knowing this was hard for her, “Yes, if necessary.”

I placed the gun on the nightstand, but not before I put it on safety. I crawled over to her again, kissing her lightly and sighing, “I didn’t get to kiss you good morning.”

She smiled, “But you sure showed me your shiny gun.”

I winked, “It’s for your own good baby, I can’t leave her with you defenseless.”

She nuzzled her face into my neck and whispered in my ear, “I like when you call me baby.”

I smiled reluctantly, “Has a good ring to it?”

She nodded, wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me down on top of her. I was forced to straddle her, but I did it quite willingly because this position always had its way of turning me on. She whispered, “Last night was amazing.”

I nodded in agreement, “It really was.”

She was still naked, and she looked so irresistible with her messy but really sexy brown hair. I brought my lips down to her neck, kissing it softly and whispering, “One day I’m going to change you.”

I felt her tense under me, “Really?”

I looked at her, “Unless you don’t want, then I guess not…”

She shook her head, “No, I mean I want to… I want to be with you and I understand this is the only way but… Does it hurt?”

I shrugged, “It’s not that bad, you black out anyway so you don’t feel it course through your body.”

She seemed uneasy about it and I smiled, “If you can’t take it I’ll just take your pain away.”

She tilted her head, “What exactly do you mean?”

I sighed, trying to figure out how to explain this, “Well…” I grabbed her forearm in my hand, the same way Tess had showed me a long time ago. Her eyes were filled with wonder and excitement as I began to suck up any bad feeling or pain she could have, and I heard her sigh in relief.

I felt a couple of stinging feelings, and a little bit of anxiety, but nothing drastic. 

She looked at me, “That was pretty amazing.”

I shrugged, “I know I am.”

She shook her head, sitting up and kissing my collar bone and then my neck. She whispered, “I love you Kate.”

It still freaked me out when I heard it, but in a good way of course. No one had ever told me that before, but when she did I knew she meant it. I responded silently, “I love you too.”

Then there was  banging on the door, making us both jump with fear. I heard Tess’s voice bellow on the other side of the door, “Breakfast is in ten,” then her voice was gone. 

I wondered suddenly if she had heard everything last night, but who was I kidding the walls were practically made out of paper to us…

I knew she heard us having sex. 

I stood, pulling Jennifer up and I took her amazing body in with my eyes, knowing she was quite the sight. She pulled on some jeans and picked up her ripped bra, looking at me with a plain look at anger. I smiled mischievously, “Sorry.”

She shook her head, picking up a loose T shirt and throwing it over her head, allowing us to leave the room and head downstairs. 

Michelle was sitting in the recliner while Dustin was in a holder faced towards her. She was cooing him with amazement as Dean paced around the room on the phone with who I guessed to be Allen. Jennifer peered down at Dustin, and I realized his eyes were quite blue while his dark hair was matted thinly on his head. 

Jen smiled in amazement, “He is so adorable.”

Michelle spoke suddenly, “He looks just like Dean.”

Dean clicked the phone off and announced to everyone, “Allen will be here around 5:00.”

Me and Jennifer walked to the big breakfast table, Dean and Michelle joining us, leaving Dustin to nap in his holder. We sat there awkwardly for a minute until Jennifer spoke to Dean, “I guess I should thank you… that time you saved my ass.”

He smirked, looking at me and then nodding, “No problem.”

Then Michelle stood as the oven went off and she spoke, “Breakfast is ready!”

I smelt eggs, bacon, toast, oatmeal, and biscuits that were fresh out of the over. Collin, Gabe and Stiles joined us along with Tess who looked a little pissy but I expected it. But everyone acted normal, which was weird of course but I was grateful. 

They weren’t making a big deal out of Jennifer being here.

Dean spoke, “Kate, has Emma made it safely out of state?”

I nodded, “Yea she texted me, she’s fine.”

He nodded, “Good.”

We continued to eat and I realized this is what family felt like, everyone you love here with you. It felt good having everyone together, even if we were a bit dysfunctional and well… inhuman. 

After breakfast we discussed strategy, how we would fight in pairs because it was better odds for us. I of course was paired with Tess, Stiles with Gabe and Collin with Dean. It made sense because Stiles wasn’t very strong but he was intelligent, and Gabe could kick ass with his fighting and muscle. 

They made the perfect pair. 

And me and Tess, well it made sense. Females would attack us, but me and Tess were the best strategic fighters, so we were extremely lethal together. 

And Dean and Collin were our pure muscle, and Dean had years of experience besides Collin.

Then Dean spoke, “Wear loose pants and tight, comfortable shirts. It’s better for quick movement and the loose pants can benefit running.”

I nodded, heading up to my room to pull out the right kind of clothes for tonight. I retrieved my tight black Underarmor shirt and my grayish brown cargo pants. I began stripping, putting on a sports bra and tugging on my shirt, pulling up my pants and buckling them. 

I turned to Jennifer who looked quite scared and nervous, she sighed, “This is really happening.”

I nodded, walking over to her and taking her soft hands in mine, “Everything will be ok.”

She shook her head, “I have a bad feeling Kate…”

I did to, about this whole situation, but I couldn’t blame her because we were about to fight to the death. It was hard thinking about actually doing it again, because I had only done it once.

And it was highly possible that could change tonight. 

I took in her figure, her scent, her essence that wrapped me up and made me feel happy and fearless.  She was everything to me, and I was going to do everything possible to keep her safe along with my Pack. 

Even if it meant my life. 

I glanced at the clock, 5:00 was approaching quickly and I knew we would head out into the woods at that time. I heard the door open downstairs and Allen’s voice bellowing through my ears, he had arrived early to prepare. 

I grabbed the gun in my hand, giving it to Jennifer after making sure the safety was still on, “Protect yourself.”

She nodded, holding the gun in her hands as she wedged it into the belt of her pants, pulling her shirt over. I knew that this could be the last time we could share a moment like this, so I turned to her hastily and pressed my lips against hers. Her hands cupped my face as my hands wrapped around her torso, pulling her into me as I took all of her in for the last time before my dreaded hour. 

She whispered, “Kate I love you, please fight and come back to me.”

I nodded, “I love you, and I promise I will come back, no matter what.”

It was a hard promise to make but I wasn’t dying out there, there was no way I could leave her here alone. I wouldn’t give up, I would fight until I couldn’t lift another finger. We had trained vigorously for this day, and it was finally here. 

I held her longer, just holding her in a suffocating hug, realizing I didn’t want to let go. 

But eventually we were called downstairs by Dean, and my heart dropped down to my toes. I looked into Jen’s eyes, knowing this was it, and I pulled her downstairs hand in hand. 

We all stood in the living room, Allen had a gun on him as well so I felt a little better leaving Jennifer, Michelle and Dustin. Plus Michelle wasn’t defenseless. 

Allen spoke, addressing Jennifer first, “Wolfsbane.“ He handed her a vile of the crushed powder and continued, “Throw this hard enough to break it, once inhaled the wolf will be crippled by pain and die.”

I could feel her heart racing as she took it in her hand, tucking that in her front pocket secretly next to her gun. I squeezed her hand lightly as I tried to comfort her and let her know everything would be ok but I knew it wouldn’t be.

Things could go horribly wrong in the matter of seconds. 

Then Dean ran over the strategy once more before looking at me, getting my approval as well, I nodded. He ordered, “Let’s go.”

I looked at Jennifer, kissing her one more time as Dean kissed Dustin and Michelle, knowing this was as serious as it could be. 

I stepped out of the cabin, feeling the dried grass crunch against my bare feet. Yes, none of us had worn shoes, because we had lethal claws on our feet and shoes honestly slowed us down and hindered our foot work.

Then we took off in formation, me and Dean in the front while we were flanked by the others. We had about maybe a mile till the field where we would all end this, but we would be there in minutes. Jennifer’s beautiful face flashed before me as I ran, I knew I needed to focus but she calmed me down. 

I snapped out of my day dream once we reached the field, feeling the power welling up inside me from the spirits of the people who had died here years before. The power I felt inside me was phenomenal, I had never felt so powerful, but it felt good, and I felt confident. 

Dean turned to us, speaking quickly, “We’ve trained long and hard for this, every thing will come our way. These people are probably super immature other that Isis, they’re young and reckless, and they have no strategy. Just keep your senses on high alert and if you need help scream. Don’t phase into your Full Wolf unless you need because then you can’t communicate…”

Everyone was taking in the last words of pep as we stood there, and I finished up the conversation.

“And I love you guys, a lot, each and every one of you. I know we’ve got this in the bag, but have everyone’s back, because I have all of your back’s no matter what.”

I secretly grabbed Tess’s hand, smiling genuinely at her, receiving a smile back. I knew we had this, there was no way we would lose…

Then I heard Isis’s voice echo through the empty woods, knowing that this was about to get real ugly real quick.

“Oh how sweet, to bad you all are going to die tonight.”

I growled loudly, phasing and extending my claws in hatred towards her and responding quite forcefully back to her. 

“Think again.”

Then she charged.