3rd Person POV

Cassius had somehow managed to regain his composure until Azriel started screaming. He was at his side in seconds, Desmond crouched before them, but he couldn't do much else. Interrupting a spell while it was in progress was incredibly dangerous.

Azriel let out another scream filled with so much pain and misery that Cassius couldn't help the cry that ripped out of his own throat in response.

"We need to do something," Desmond yelled.

There were tears in Desmond's eyes. Cassius had never seen Desmond look so devastated. Azriel hands were now clawing at the stone floor.

"We can't," Cassius replied brokenly.

He took Azriel's hand in his and the tight grip seemed to crush the bones in his fingers. Still, Cassius kept Azriel's hand in his. Desmond shifted Azriel's shaking body to lie against his chest.

Desmond's low body temperature did nothing to cure the sweat that had now broken out all over Azriel's body.

Cassius wiped the damp hair off Azriel's forehead with trembling fingers. Another broken scream echoed through the air and Cassius started sobbing in earnest. He should have stopped Azriel when he'd had the chance.

Another scream and Cassius wanted nothing more than to die right then and there of guilt and pain.

"Azriel c'mon. You can do this," Desmond whispered.

If Azriel had heard Desmond's words, he gave no indication. Cassius looked at Desmond but Desmond refused to meet his eyes as he muttered reassurances to Azriel. They waited in agony and after what seemed like an eternity, Azriel's cries reduced to whimpers.

It broke Cassius' heart.

He pulled himself beside Desmond and caressed Azriel's face, hoping to offer some semblance of comfort. The whimpers slowly began to decrease. Still, Azriel didn't open his eyes.

The soft whimpers were replaced by a hollow silence. Azriel's eyes, which had been rapidly shifting behind his eyelids, finally stopped.

Cassius' heart skipped a beat, and in his shock he froze. The silence was deafening. Desmond was crying quietly, head buried in the crook of Azriel's shoulder.

Cassius refused to believe this was it. They'd come this far. They couldn't do the rest without him.

Cassius cradled Azriel's pale face in his large hands as tears dripped down his cheeks.

"Please, please," he whimpered.

Still, Azriel didn't move. Cassius didn't know how to check a pulse. He didn't think he'd have the strength to even if he did know how.

"Azriel, don't do this," Desmond whispered.

They waited in silence, staring at his immobile body. One breath, two breaths, a whole minute passed. Cassius began to pray to deities he'd turned to only once before in his life.

A cough. Slight movement.

A broken sob echoed out of Cassius throat as Azriel opened his eyes blearily. They were bloodshot, but still the beautiful violet eyes Cassius had almost lost all hope of ever seeing again. He pulled the drained warlock towards him, burying his head into Azriel's shoulder.

Long fingers gently combed through Cassius' hair and he cried even harder.

Desmond's arms came around them both and they were all nothing but a pile of jumbled arms and legs crying on the stone floor. Azriel drew back slightly, putting a hand up to Desmond and Cassius' faces. His eyes were twinkling as he spoke in a rough voice.

"Let's go bring her home," he said.

Azriel had been pissed to say the least when Cassius insisted that he stay behind and rest while they recovered Catherine. He was incredibly weak after all the energy he'd lost with that spell. Desmond had threatened to knock him out for real this time if he didn't stay put and Cassius felt inclined to agree.

Azriel must have realized that Desmond wasn't going to budge and relented. 

Cassius got in the front, Desmond taking the driver's seat and they began their twenty-minute drive to the small town of Asheville. Cassius couldn't believe that she'd been so close all this time and they hadn't found her. Azriel had said that there was a grey building in the forest near there from where Alex had escaped.

They parked in the small town before heading into the woods on foot.

Desmond hadn't said a word to him since Azriel had woken up. Cassius could tell he was mad, furious even. He understood why but that didn't mean it bothered him any less.

"Des I know you're mad at me," Cassius stated.

Their footsteps were the only sounds for miles around but this time Cassius felt none of the peace that the forest usually gave him. The tension Desmond radiated even had Cassius' wolf on edge. Cassius almost stopped walking in surprise as Desmond actually replied.

"I'm not mad at you," Desmond admitted.

That was the last thing Cassius had expected to hear.

"Then why haven't you spoken to me even once in the last hour," Cassius asked.

Cassius sensed that the conversation was heading towards a more vulnerable direction for both of them.

"I just, I'm just mad at myself," he whispered.

"Why? Because you tried knocking Azriel out to stop him from making his own decision," Cassius asked unsurely.

He wanted to swallow his own tongue as Desmond sent him a death glare.

"Of course not. I'll try doing that again if he keeps making more stupid decisions like the one he made before," Desmond replied.

"Well then why are you mad at yourself," Cassius asked sharply.

Desmond stopped walking and turned to him. Cassius didn't know where to look as Desmond fixed his wide, slightly vulnerable eyes on him. Whatever Desmond was thinking about, it was eating him alive.

"Go on," Cassius urged.

"I just, I can't believe it took me this long to figure out what you guys were getting at in the car earlier," Desmond said.

It took Cassius a second to recollect that conversation and he raised a brow.

"It took Azriel almost dying for you to realize that you care about Catherine," Cassius asked incredulously.

"No it took him almost dying in my arms for me to realize how much I've come to care about all of you," Desmond replied almost angrily.

Cassius realized that Desmond was actually pissed at himself for letting himself care about people. In Desmond's words, that was the 'dumbest thing' Cassius had ever heard.' Of course, Cassius refrained from saying that out loud.

Cassius could still feel the intensity of Desmond's gaze fixed on him.

Cassius finally gave in and shifted his gaze from the tree behind Desmond's back to Desmond's eyes. Desmond stepped in closer, so the tips of their feet met. Even the winds seemed to hush.

Cassius briefly glanced down at Desmond's lips.

His heartbeat was erratic as Desmond leaned in even closer. Cassius' throat suddenly went dry, knees weak. He'd wanted this for so long and he hadn't even realized.

But now wasn't the time.

"I'm glad you finally figured it out," Cassius said breathlessly.

Disappointment flashed across Desmond's features and Cassius wanted to kick himself. One kiss wouldn't have wasted that much time. Desmond drew back and Cassius had to force his hands to remain at his sides.

Surprisingly, Desmond didn't look mad. In fact, a small smile curved his lips. His voice was rough and husky as he spoke and it had Cassius clenching his fists to keep from pulling the vampire towards him.

"Want to race," Desmond asked.

He didn't give Cassius a chance to reply before racing off. Cassius grinned and shifted into his pitch-black wolf. Later he'd make sure they continued where they'd left off.

Now, he needed to find his girl.

1st Person POV

I'd shifted back into my bird form. Walking around the town in dirty men's clothes had lost its charm quickly. The sun had set and I was still unsure of whether I was even flying in the right direction.

I'd been hoping to reach some kind of shelter before dinner but that seemed less and less likely.

I perched on a tree to rest for a bit. If I'd been going the wrong way this entire time I was really going to kill myself. The phone I'd stolen had died as well and I'd been forced to abandon it when I'd shifted.

I was back to having no phone, no clothes and no food.

I'd been about to fall asleep against the rough bark when two voices reached my ears. One male. One female. I peered over the side of the ledge I was perched on and my eyes picked out two figures walking below.

"I can't believe people would actually try and create this," the woman said.

She sounded incredibly upset as she trudged beside the taller man next to her.

"We'll find a cure Laura," the man assured.

"When Raphael? That boy we found today barely had any time left. What if we're too late to save everybody," Laura asked.

The man in question, Raphael, stopped walking and pulled the distressed woman into a hug. Raphael. The name rang a bell somewhere in my mind.

My thoughts were interrupted when Raphael's phone rang. I looked at them once again as Raphael pocketed his phone after replying to the caller in a hushed tone. He sounded tired as he spoke.

"That's dad. He wants us back. He's worried what with rouges running about," Raphael explained.

The name finally clicked in my head. He was Cassius' brother. I didn't think before swooping down and landing in front of them.

It hadn't helped that I'd taken on the form of a vulture and it had grown dark.

"Oh my god," Laura screamed.

I quickly shifted back before pulling my naked body behind a tree. I'd been flying for hours and my muscles were barely working at this point as I leaned against the tree for support. But I'd found Demetrius pack lands and that was all that mattered.

"Who are you," Raphael asked.

I peeked my head out from the behind the tree.

"I'm Catherine, a friend of Cassius. You're his brother right," I asked.

"Wait Catherine? My brother texted me saying he was on his way to find you," Raphael exclaimed.

"Call him quick," I urged.

If only he ever picked up his phone when he'd needed to. Raphael called Cassius. The boy of course, had put his phone on silent.

I resisted the urge to bang my head against a tree as Raphael pocketed his phone.

"He must have silenced his phones to concentrate on the mission," Raphael mumbled apologetically.

"How did he even figure out where I was," I asked.

Raphael was about to reply when his phone rang. For a second my heart soared thinking it was Cassius. Judging by the annoyance on Raphael's face, I figured it wasn't.

"My dad's getting impatient. We'll explain everything on the way to the packhouse," Raphael said.

He then slid his shirt off and tossed it in my direction. It came down to hang above my knees, considering he was ridiculously tall just like his brother. I didn't miss the blush on Laura's face as I followed them to the pack house.

That was adorable.

Those brief, childish thoughts faded though as Raphael began to fill me in on everything I missed.

By the time we stepped into the clearing with the packhouse, Raphael had told me about everything from the cure they were trying to invent, to Alex's return. Again, I felt a pang knowing I'd assumed responsibility for the boy and I'd let him down in the most horrible way.

A man with green eyes identical to Cassius' came to greet us at the entrance to the pack house. He narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously. I didn't flinch despite the intimidating aura that surrounded the man.

"This is Michel, my oldest brother. Michel this is Catherine," Raphael introduced.

"So you're the girl my brother ran off to save without so much as a word," Michel sneered.

"That would be me yes," I said with a fake smile.

I would have curtsied but the man already had steam coming out of his ears.

"Michel she's tired. Let's just have dinner okay," Raphael said softly.

Michel didn't look too pleased about it but he reluctantly agreed. I followed him and his brother into the packhouse with Laura at my side. She'd been surprisingly kind and sensitive on our walk here, as I'd shared my side of the story.

The same couldn't be said about the rest of the pack that just looked at me with wary, suspicious eyes.

"Everyone is a bit on edge since Alex attacked," she said apologetically.

It didn't help that I'd swallowed those chemicals as well. I knew they sniffed something different but I didn't want to say anything just yet. With Cassius gone and Alex's attack, I couldn't trust this place enough to not throw me into a cell like they did Alex.

I wouldn't blame them if they did but it would still be awfully inconvenient.

"Oh I thought he'd gone to find you along with the other two," Laura commented.

I followed her gaze to find a pair of violet eyes staring at me. 

New chapter! This one is one of my favorites so far so let me know if you liked it. Some action and a tinge of romance. The reunion is coming soon. I left you guys on a bit of a cliffhanger with that one (:

The next chapter will be up in 4-5 days. If you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to vote and comment down below. Let me know what your favorite part of this chapter was and even ideas for what you want to see in the rest of this book. Until the next chapter, 

LOVE, 

ASH

Also on a side note, do you think Desmond was right in trying to stop Azriel? Or do you think Cassius was right in letting Azriel make his own decisions, regardless of how dangerous they were?