"Of all of the places she could have chosen to hide out, why here?" Xavier murmurs.

I shake my head. "I really don't know, she likes writing but this is a little odd," I sigh, looking around at the office space. It didn't seem like a pleasant place to work, especially after growing up in a forest. The worst part is the outfit they have to wear; I feel like I can't walk in this stupid pencil skirt and I'm still waiting for this thin blouse to rip. I haven't worn heels in ages but it took only a few steps in these to remember why I hated it.

A woman walks over to us with a wide grin. "Hi there! I'm Harper, you two are from our neighboring firm right?" she asks.

Xavier nods. "We have been looking for some transcribers to transfer to our office for a short time . . ." he continues talking her through the story we made up back at the pack. Our last attempt at finding Shade failed, we even used someone she cared about as leverage to get her to simply turn herself in, but it seemed she was too far gone to even think about trading her life for a friend's. We decided that this time we should try a more covert approach.

"Oh of course! We have several people that are excellent writers—"

"Hey Harper do you have the things Eliot—" I turn at the sound of a young woman's voice. She stops dead in her tracks, her icy blue eyes shifting between Xavier and I. I can practically feel Ira smirk. Her hair was black and her scent was masked with perfume, but her scars are unmistakable.

"Oh, White, I wasn't expecting to see you," Harper says.

Her body begins to shake and I can smell the fear rolling off of her in waves. "O-oh, it's nothing, Eliot just needed something from you, but you look busy so I'll just come back later."

"White, are you okay? You've gone incredibly pale," Harper says, her voice full of concern.

"No I'm fine, just had a late night last night writing the transcript for the assault case that was due today."

"Here, let me get you those papers for Eliot then," Harper tells her, turning to walk away but she stops her.

"No no it's okay, I'll just come back later actually, I'm not feeling very well—probably what I ate for lunch, I'll see you tomorrow." She practically runs from the room. 

I look back to Harper who shakes her head with a small frown. "I'm so sorry, I really don't know what that was about," she mutters. "So back to what I was saying I guess, do you want to go through our employee profiles?"

I shake my head, my lips curling into a small smile. "No that's alright, I think we already have someone in mind."

*****

"Let go!" She grits out, straining against my arm locked around her neck. 

"I said let go!" she yells, struggling to get out of my grasp. 

I push my blade into her side and growl lowly. "Stop Shadow, stop fighting," I snap. I could feel her tears falling onto my arm but I didn't care. She quickly begins to submit, falling to her knees as Ira surfaces. 

Xavier comes up behind me with a pair of cuffs we use to restrain Shade. Her lycan seems so incredibly weak, but based on what has happened in the past, I can't trust that it isn't just a ruse of some kind.

"Back to the territory now?" my mate asks.

I sigh, pulling my cousin back onto her feet. "Back to the territory," I agree. I lean in close, forcing Shade to meet my eye. "You didn't really think I was going to just let you and that monstrous lycan of yours go, did you?"

"Please Raven I'm starting over! I've changed—Venatrix doesn't have control anymore, she's broken!" 

I snarl, yanking her head back. "I fell for that once, I'm not about to do it again," I spit. 

"Please don't take me back to the prison," she begs.

I snort. "Don't worry, I've got a much more secure place for you."

******

"You can't be serious?" 

I raise an eyebrow at the shock in her voice, then glance around at the interior of the cave. "It held me for weeks after my lycan was taken away, it will be perfect to hold you until your lycan regains her strength."

"Why would you even want that? She almost killed you," Shade mutters.

"As long as she is weak, she can easily try to trick me into believing that she really has been broken, but once her strength returns, it will be easy to determine if she truly has been deceiving me this entire time."

Shade let her head fall back against the stone as she wrapped her arms around her knees. "And if she has?"

"Then I'll do whatever it takes to protect those I care about. Goodbye Shadow." I turn on my heel, nodding to my warriors to follow me. 

I knew there was no way she was truly broken. The resolve she had in the beginning—that's not something you can break with beatings or harsh words. I had no intention of letting her out or even seeing her again. I was leaving her there to die.

"You know there was a time when you cared about me."

There's a sharp pain in my chest at the defeat in her voice, but then I think of my pack and my mate and it vanishes. "You used to care about me too Shade, it's amazing how things change," I murmur.

Ira calms down as soon as we exit the cave. She was quiet around Shade, but far from peaceful. I could feel her pushing to take control every second and with each word that she spoke it only grew worse. 

"Make sure there are several strong lycans posted there at all times, if she escapes it could mean the end of our pack," I warn Maia.

She nods quickly. "I understand."

As we move through the forest, I feel the hair on the back of my neck start to rise. I try to shake it off but the Ira becomes restless and I realize something is wrong. I stop, spinning in circles to find some clue as to what is setting my lycan on edge. 

Absolutely nothing strikes me as odd.

"What's going on?" Maia asks, her eyes wide with panic as she searches the forest with me.

"Do you feel it too?"

"Raven, feel what? What's wrong?" she asks, grabbing my arm. 

"Something's off, it's bothering Ira too but I can't quite put my finger on it." Realization hits me, and I swallow hard.  "Where's Xavier?"

Her face falls and she averts her gaze and that's when I panic. "Maia where is my mate?" I snarl.

She flinches hard. "Raven I'm sorry he ordered me not to tell you I can't—"

I take off at a full sprint towards the main clearing. It is almost completely empty, so much that I can hear every single sound coming from the forest. And every single sound coming from Blake's pack.

Find them! Ira growls. 

I run, barely managing to hold Ira back as I follow, desperately searching for my mate's scent but there's too many to decipher his. They all seem to go straight towards Blake's pack though.

When I reach the border, there isn't even a guard present—it's almost enough to let Ira take control. I keep going, following the sounds of cheering and screaming and the scent of blood that is slowly becoming overwhelming.

I find everyone in a massive clearing in the center of Blake's territory, and in the center of the crowd, I find my mate. Xavier's lycan stands there, his fur matted with blood and his chest heaving. 

I shove my way through all of the wolves and lycans of both my pack and my enemy's, growling at anyone who protests. I break through the other side, stumbling out into the clearing.

My heart stops in my chest and a sharp gasp escapes my lips. Blake's lifeless body lies on the ground, practically torn to shreds. "Xavier what did you do?" I breathe out.

He walks over, shifting back into his human form with each step. "I challenged him," he tells me, gently reaching up to touch my face.

"Why would you do that?"

He sighs. "I needed this war to end. I can't watch anyone else die and Shade is taken care of and now Blake is too," he explains, letting his thumb brush across my cheek. 

An icy wave of realization crashes over me. "It's over, it's finally over," I laugh, my eyes watering ever so slightly. 

He grins and kisses me hard. "Yes it is, and we won."

End of Book Three

*****

I know I said this book/trilogy was discontinued but I recently received a publishing deal and so I kinda had to finish it. It's not the best ending but I hope it's satisfying enough at least :) Sorry for the ridiculously long hiatus (3 years is a little obnoxious)