*****

Her world began to crumble. Like the beach sands being washed into the ocean by the crashing waves, the ground beneath her began to dissolve. All of a sudden the firm ground at her feet, turned into quicksand. Any movement on her part she was sure would quicken the process of taking her under.

He couldn't do this. The words were a mantra that kept replaying through her head.

Silence fell around them.

Matt stepped out of the car and closed the door; he walked to the front and stopped. The passenger side door opened and Christian stepped out and strode to stand beside him. With the headlights still beaming behind him, Sarah could only see his outline. His expression was hidden and his emotions were obviously under a tight lid for his scent gave nothing away, but his stance spoke volumes.

Terror rolled through her. Her mind worked furiously trying to come up with a solution. Fear settled in her stomach, an acid that threatened to consume her from the inside out.

Nothing, she could think of nothing.

She saw no easy way out.

Maybe she could talk to Matt. She didn't know what she would say but there had to be a way to talk him out of it. She had to stop him somehow before it was too late.

She could hear the clock ticking closer. Her own personal doomsday clock, it moved to a minute before midnight. Sarah took a step forward and was suddenly pushed aside by her father.

"Mathew!" He boomed, spreading his arms wide. "What a surprise to see you here."

The worse type of surprise, Sarah thought almost hysterically.

"Have you come to rejoin the fold?" Her father asked. Sarah could almost taste her father's anticipation; nothing would make him happier than to take Matt from Nick's side.

Matt nodded. He stepped forward until the headlights no longer concealed his features. There was a ruthlessness there that Sarah had rarely seen before. As Matt moved towards her father, he pulled his shirt off and flung it to ground.

Sarah eyed her father from the corner of her eye. He hid his reaction well but not well enough. She saw the sudden tensing of his shoulders and the surprise in his eyes. It flared in his eyes for less than a second, missed by most but for the few that were near him.

"You dare?" Sarah heard a hint of mockery in her father's voice but she also detected that he might also be a bit perplexed. He began to walk slowly towards Matt. A look of concern decorated his features but fooled no one. The tension that gripped her limbs tightened up another degree.

When he reached the halfway point, he paused and asked incredulously; "you think you can come here and take my pack from me?"

His eyes morphed to golden honey. Their sudden glow was the only warning. He leaped forward and shifted to his half form in midair flinging shredded pieces of clothing to the ground. He swung a clawed hand barely missing Matt. "You dare?" He snarled.

Matt jumped away, evaded the sudden attack and snarled in return. So quick was his transformation, Sarah missed it until the deed was done. Then, he shifted, one moment he stood as a man and the next he was a deadly monstrosity. Gaging by the crowds' murmurs and gasps, the quickness of his shift took everyone by surprise.

It all happened so fast. Even if she'd managed to come up with a way stop the collision, it was clear that Sarah had no chance in hell of preventing the fight.

Her father charged. Matt jumped away just in time. Blinded with rage her father chased him down. The scene was like a grotesque version of a bullfight with Matt as the matador and her dad the raging bull.

Over and over, Matt backed away when her father advance. Matt used his quick reflexes to dodge the sharp claws and was successful most of the time. Still, Sarah could see a few cuts on his arms, chest and stomach. None were deep enough to cause any true damage though and they were already healing. But enough shallow cuts could be as bad as one deep cut to slow him down.

She wondered why he was not going on the attack though. Not once, since the fight began did he go on the offensive. Sarah watched with dread boiling in her stomach as her father slashed his claws across Matt's thigh. Matt stumbled back and managed to dodge the sudden attack aimed at his stomach.

The blood in her vanes curdled and her heart beat came to a standstill. Matt was getting slower. Judging by the sudden barrage of attacks, her father also noticed. She didn't think there was a chance in hell that he had not.

Her father was not the Pack Alpha for nothing. He had not held on to his position by lying on his back and showing his belly to every wolf who came looking to take over. No, he held on to what he considered his with the same claws and teeth that were now attempting to rip Matt's insides to shreds.

Suddenly, as if he could taste the end, taste Matt's death, he picked up the pace. She did not think it was possible but her dad's attacks got sharper. He landed a kick on Matt's injured thigh that sent him sprawling to the ground. He chased him down and landed on top of him, using his knee to put pressure on the injury.

A sound full of pain was dragged from within Matt and Sarah felt it down to the bone. She shook her head and even though it was against the rules she knew she couldn't let Matt die. Sarah willed herself to shift and as she did her mind furiously scrambled for an option that could keep everyone alive.

The wind carried the scent of Matt's blood through the area. Sarah could almost see the wind carry Matt's life essence away. It was a chilly reminder of her nightmare and she refused to lose him like she'd lost their son.

Her father was not going to take Matt from her too.

"Do you have any last words?" She heard her father ask.

Normally, she despised hearing her father taunt his opponents before killing them but this time she was grateful for the extra seconds he was affording her. Her gaze darted desperately around her, trying to spy an escape route for Matt when she spotted Christian.

As Sarah hurried rushed towards Christian, she heard a groan from behind her followed by mocking sound of sympathy. "I'm sorry, did that hurt?"

"You have to do something." She urged Christian feverishly as soon as she reached his side.

Christian looked at her and she saw the surprise in his eyes. "You know the rules better than I." He told her. "I cannot intervene."

She did know the rules.

"I will enter the fight," she declared.

*****