This is a repost for those who missed it last night since I posted at an ungodly hour. if you don't see this as the last sentence... (One that made me never want to stop, but there were other things we had to attend to.) Then let me know because Wattpad has been doing weird things and a chunk of the story was missing last night. Thanks!

I was staring into Zelena's eyes. Eyes that were like two emeralds; dark and yet bright at the same time. Anger gleamed behind them, reflecting off the light of the flickering candles. 

I felt my own rage rising up again, like water that was about to boil over the surface. 

While her anger was clearly visible within her eyes, the rest of her body was completely relaxed. She was dangerous, like a snake that could strike at any moment. Except she couldn't strike, not as long as we kept her within the confines of the circle. 

I knew that she wouldn't be there forever though, we would need her to reverse the curse she placed on the pack, and to do that we had to let her out. I wasn't sure we'd be able to trust her enough to do that though. 

"Who are you and why did you do this to my pack?" I asked keeping my gaze level with hers. 

"It appears you know who I am." The witch looked down at her nails as if she were already bored with what was going on and this was just a minor inconvienence. 

"I know you're name, but I don't know who you are. And you never answered my second question." I felt the stab in my palm again and it was like a temporary release. Pain that allowed the rage to slip out. I clenched my fist tighter. 

"Well when you realize who I am and where you stand, then you will have all the answers you need."

"I'm not playing games, witch," I sneered. 

"Obviously I'm not either."

I circled the candles that held Zelena and her eyes followed my every step. Neither Zachary nor the other witch dared to step forward and intervene. I wasn't sure if it was because they were scared of me, or Zelena. 

"I'm going to get the answers that I want you know." My voice was steady, quiet. "And you're going to be the one to give them to me. It's just a matter of how long it will take."

"Well, judging by your mate over there I'd say you have about ten hours." She flipped her dark ebony hair behind her shoulder and I growled. 

Only ten hours. I had ten hours to get the witch to reverse whatever it is she's done. My heart started to pound inside my chest. It felt like it was going to break every rib that stood in its way of leaping out. 

"What have we done to warrent such an act against us?"

Zelena's eyes watched me, the cold stare giving nothing away. 

I growled again at her silence. 

I started walking around the circle again, my eyes trained on the floor. "You know, not too long ago I was taken captive. I had been handed over to a group of people that knew exactly what I was, and just what they could use that would hurt me. They'd been interested in getting more information about our kind, about werewolves," I started to tell Zelena about the hell I'd been through. 

"They wanted to know our stamina, how we healed, what we couldn't heal from." I stopped directly in front of her, our eyes meeting. I held out a clenched fist, showing my bare arm that still had the scar from the silver dagger. 

"They tortured me. I had no idea how long it was when I was in there. I never saw the light, I never saw a clock. It was one endless day. I was moved around in a drug induced haze, one that kept me from my wolf, one that kept me from making any sort of connection to the one person who could help me.

"You're probably wondering why I'm telling you all of this. Why would you possibly care about what happened to me?" I opened my fist to reveal the clawed hand. 

"Well you see, that time taught me a few things. I learned a few methods about torture from them, witnessed it first hand. I wonder; how many lacerations, how many stab wounds can you endure before you bleed to death?"

"Allison," Zachary warned behind me. He apparently wasn't fond of where the conversation had gone. 

My head whipped around, my eyes feral, glowing with my barely contained rage, my wolf just beneath the surface. 

"If she wants to come within my pack, pretend to be friend while playing foe, then she can most certainly deal with the consequences, warlock."

The other witch placed a hand on Zachary's arm to hold him back. 

I looked down, the tip of my shoes were even with the candle directly next to me. Zelena wasn't able to leave the circle without our permission, but there had been nothing saying that I couldn't cross.

I slowly looked back up into her eyes and a small smile started to pull up at the corners. I took the step forward and swung at the same time, my clawed hand sinking into the witch's side. When I pulled it back her blood shone bright red on my nails and I watched as it seeped into her clothes. 

She gasped before laughing and she flung her hands forward as well. I was hit in the chest with a burst of power that sent me flying backwards. I slammed into a wall, but when I looked back there wasn't anything there. It was an invisible wall, one that was created by the candles on the ground. 

"The candles trap whatever's inside," Zachary said, guessing the question running through my mind. "And her magic couldn't leave the circle. It can however remain within the circle."

"And you convinently left that part out?" I snapped at him. 

"I didn't think you'd go charging in there like a hot headed werewolf. Seems I should have lowered my expectations."

I growled again and lunged toward the witch. I was hit with another wave of her magic, sent flying back again, but I wasted no time advancing on her again. I grabbed both arms and jerked them behind her back. 

I heard one snap as it went into an unnatural angle as I pinned them both with one hand, and the witch cried out in pain. My nails dug into her arm with my tight grasp and ruby droplets started to patter onto the wooden floor.

"Tell me what I want to know."

"It's not like you can kill me," Zelena said, her voice somehow managing to maintain its dark calm. 

"No, I won't kill you. But I can make you wish I would. Ten hours is plenty of time for something like that."

Her eyes widened before she hid back behind her mask of composure.

"I wonder, if I put my hand through your chest, would you survive it? I mean if I put it deep within your chest cavity, if I grip your heart within my hand, stroke the edges of it, would you survive that? I suppose if you don't I could always give you a bite before you die."

I felt her heart race with my words. My hand reached around, touching her skin lightly as I felt her heart pounding like it was trying to leap straight into my hand. 

"That's such a beautiful sound, such a wonderful feeling." I placed poised my claws directly over the pounding organ. the tips sinking in just enough to draw the smallest specks of blood to the surface. 

"I suppose there's only one way to find out if you'll survive."

I let the witch drop to the ground onto her back. I knew she could attack if she was in her right mind, and she was powerful, I'd felt it. I'd witnessed it in Zachary's need for another witch just to summon her here. If she weren't so consumed with her fear, she would be able to attack me. 

I applied pressure and my nails started to dig in, they were almost in to my fingertips when she stopped biting her tongue and let out a loud shriek of pain.

"Stop!" She shouted thrashing around, her broken arm limp at her side. 

"Tell me if you want it to stop," I whispered in her ear.

"The Alpha had gone back on his promise."

"Alarik made no such promises with anyone like you," I hissed. 

"Not Alarik, the Alpha before him! He and his daughter."

"Then why attack us? That Alpha is dead."

"The debt is passed down. O'Brian's debt becomes Trenton's debt."

"How was Alarik supposed to keep up a bargain that he had no idea even existed? You should have brought it up to him!"

"By that point it was already done," the witch hissed. Her pained eyes were full of rage. 

I applied pressure, jamming my claws in every small bit I could. If I applied enough pressure, I could force my fingers inside. I could grip her heart just as I'd said. The witch winced. 

"Reverse it."

"Why would I reverse it?"

"You see, I need you alive long enough to reverse the curse. If you do that and you save my mate, well then your chances of walking out of here are extremely high. If he dies however, I won't need you anymore. Your chances of walking out then? None."

The witch looked like she was truly debating between the two options. Did she not have any regard for her own life? Would she really sacrifice her life due to a broken promise by the O'Brian family? Maybe I should try a different approach. 

"The person who turned me over to those hunters, it was O'Brian. It was the Alpha that my mate killed. He was upset because Alarik wouldn't marry his daughter, he didn't want to give up his mate for more power. He chose his mate, true love, over power. 

"O'Brian had given me over to the hunters in hopes that with me out of the picture Alarik would do the right thing, and marry that bitch of a daughter or his, but Alarik never gave up hope that he could find me, not even when we couldn't make the connection through our bond."

The witch's eyes locked on mine. 

"Do you really want to kill a man, a leader who chose to follow his heart instead of follow the power? Do you want to punish a man that was wronged by the same person you were? O'Brian is dead, let his debt die with him." The last words came out as a whisper and against my better judgement, I retracted my claws from Zelena's chest and sat back. 

The witch stayed where she was. and I turned to look at Zachary. 

"Break the circle."

Hesitantly, he stepped forward and moved a candle out of line, effectively breaking the circle and spell that had kept us both contained within it. 

I made my way to Alarik's side, placing my hand with the least amount of blood on his forehead. He was becoming worse by the minute, I could feel it. It was starting to affect me as well, not the disease, but what he was experiencing. 

I was finding it increasingly hard to keep my mind straight. Maybe that's why I'd just left Zelena lying in the circle, no longer contained within a magical bubble. Maybe it was because I actually had hope that she would reverse this. 

All I know was that the energy it took to be angry was too much now. I couldn't keep it up. I was emotionally and physically drained. 

Alarik hadn't even stirred through the entire situation, and I knew that was bad. He was out and I feared that there was no waking him up. Not unless the curse was reversed. If it wasn't I feared that I would never see those eyes of his again. I'd never look into them and see the love he had for me. I'd never get to share another secret with him, another kiss, another moment of raw passion. 

Quiet tears started to slide down my cheeks. 

I heard the uneven footsteps as they approached beside me. I saw the pale hand reach out toward his head and mine flew out, grasping her's tightly. My wolf eyes pinned her like she was prey. 

"Do you want it reversed or not?" She asked quietly. 

My muscles tried to refuse to let her go. I didn't trust her, but there was a part deep inside that whispered for me to give her a chance. If I didn't, then he was doomed to die anyway. 

My hand didn't know what to do after I released her wrist, so I brought it up to my face and wiped away the tears that were still steadily streaming. 

Her hand touched Alarik's forhead and I heard her murmur, barely audible even to my ears. A wave of energy hit me and I sucked in a quick breath. A glow pulsated from her palm and I watched as it went into Alarik's forhead and work down through his body. 

He was completely engulfed in a slight glow that slowly faded, until it was only a small area in his chest, pulsing with the beating of his heart. That soon faded as well, leaving him lying as still as he was before. 

When his eyes opened slowly, I released a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. 

"It's been reversed. He shall recover and so shall those who were also affected."

Without another word, she vanished. 

I heard Zachary curse under his breath at her departure. I turned toward him. 

"We needed to take her in. This goes against everything we stand for."

"I'm sure she knew that. That's probably why she left. That or she was afraid I would have still killed her."

"Would you have killed her?" He asked. 

"I'm too tired to kill anyone."

I think it was a look of relief that I saw cross his face, but he turned away and gathered up his things, the other witch helping him. 

"We'll be out of your way shortly." 

I just nodded. 

"Allison?" 

I turned back to Alarik and I couldn't help my smile. I placed my hands on both sides of his face and I kissed him. I kissed him hard and fierce. 

I'd thought I'd never get this moment and now that it was here, I wasn't letting it go. 

I heard the deep rumble within his chest and his hands reached out, grabbing me and pulling me onto him, his strength already returning. 

His teeth grazed my lower lip and I found my breath coming in ragged gasps. 

"You're okay," I whispered. 

"Of course I'm okay. I have the stongest person alive to protect me."

I smiled and kissed him again. A deep, slow kiss this time. One that made me never want to stop, but there were other things we had to attend to. 

*********************

Hopefully this chapter didn't disappoint. This was the last official chapter, there will be one more posting, which shall be the epilogue in which Allison and Alarik's story comes to a close. 

Thank you to all my readers and fans. For those of you who don't know, I have another series that starts with the book recently renamed to just THE HUNTRESS as well as I CAN'T BE THE ALPHA'S MATE. 

There's also a guide to Wattpad and writing that you can find on my profile. You can ask any questions you have about writing and traversing the Wattpad world, and I'll try my best to answer your questions in a section there. You can either leave a question in the comments of that book, or you can send me a private message. 

Thank you again. I truly appreciate you all!