I'd once thought I knew what it felt like for my life to flash before my eyes—the night Amaury bit me. Surely, there was no chance of me surviving such a vicious attack. Yet somehow, I earned another chance at living as a wolf shifter. Some might say it was fate. For us to cross paths, that was. Could it have been fate? I didn't know. Up until now, I hadn't truly believed. But here I was again. Earning another chance at living. Maybe it was fate.

"Genesis!" Amaury's voice was a faint echo in my head; faded and barely audible, as if we were miles apart. "Genesis!" I heard him again. But I couldn't move. I was trapped inside my mind. Somewhere far away from him and the outside world as my consciousness slipped away.

"I'm going to make sure you die a slow and painful death!" Another voice echoed. My neck felt tight—hands? Were there hands around my neck? They squeezed. I couldn't breathe.

"Genesis! Wake up!" Amaury's final cry caused my eyes to blink open slowly. A blurry face hovered over mine. Long dark hair hung from its head, draping over me like curtains. I then noticed the pale hands around my neck, traveling up to the blurry face I soon registered as Sophia's. And as I lay limp on my back, she straddled my waist, choking me.

Sophia was clamping down on her jaw, teeth bearing at me viciously. Had she crawled over to my unconscious body after busting through the door? I coughed. Blood spurted from my mouth. I tried prying her hands away, or even loosening their grip. Casting that spell, however, took all that was left out of me. I didn't have the energy to fight her.

"How dare you try to outsmart me?" She was putting all her strength into her grip now. I weakly slapped at her hands, my legs twitching underneath her. I feared she'd snap my neck. "I hope you didn't think I'd let you get away that easily. You wretched, wretched girl—"

Before Sophia could finish her sentence, I saw a hazy spot of gray leaping over me. Sophia's back slammed against the floor. But rather than a person hovering over her, Bennett's wolf towered her, his breath awfully close to her face, pinning her to the floor.

"Benny," she whispered.

He growled in response.

"B-Bennett. . ." I coughed again, more blood spurting from my mouth. Shit, I didn't want to know how bad my internal injuries were. "Do it."

Sophia chuckled, then said, "Will you really kill me?"

Bennett breathed in through his nose.

"Do you have the guts to do so?" she continued.

"Ben. . ." I rolled onto my side, attempting to hold myself up with my elbow.

His hesitation went noticed.

"Oh Benny"—Bennett was so focused on her face, he hadn't acknowledged the fact that she reached out for the nearest glass shard beside them—"you can't."

I heard my own gasp as Sophia inserted the long, thick piece of glass into Bennett. She pushed it deep, then removed it, letting the bloodied shard fall from her hand back onto the floor. Bennett staggered back, whimpering. My mouth hung open, quivering like a leaf, while Sophia kneeled on all fours. Her eyes glowed the color of a wolf's. But her attention was no longer on me or Bennett. It was split between the cottage entrance and the hallway leading to the back.

What was she doing?

I received my answer when I sensed them—Vincent and backup. She was looking for a way to flee. And she'd found it down the hallway. After shifting, she took off. I heard a crash from the back, indicating she might have jumped through the window. All was quiet afterwards.

Bennett's silence disturbed me.

I turned flat on my stomach, using my elbows to drag myself to Bennett's wolf, who was now bleeding out on his side, unresponsive. My body trembled as I struggled to my knees, balancing my weight on my palms. Vincent's wolf barging into the cottage was the next thing I saw. He looked around, then did a double take when he saw Bennett.

"She ran that way!" I yelled and pointed.

He hesitated, his eyes never leaving Bennett.

"Go!" I urged.

Finally, he shook himself out of it and ran.

"Bennett," I pleaded, spreading my fingers through his fur in search of the wound. His warm blood blanketed my hands in mere seconds. I exhaled a shaky breath, silently pleading for it to stop but it never stopped; oozing out like a volcano spitting fire. I pressed both hands down and tried to apply pressure to his wound but that'd been just as useless.

This was the second time in my life I'd tended to someone's stab wounds. A wolf, at that. The first time, I thought there was hope, until there wasn't. This time, I knew there wasn't any hope from the start. He was bleeding to his death and there was nothing I could do.

"Genesis!" Claudia's voice brought me relief.

When I looked back, she and Mariah were sprinting to me.

"H-he's losing a lot of blood. What should I do? Claudia. Mariah. I-I don't know what to do," I rambled in shock, my hands still trembling in front of me.

Claudia came to an abrupt stop, her face paling at the sight before her. Mariah bent to my level and nudged me aside, whispering, "You've done enough, Genesis. It's okay. Let me handle it from here." She replaced my hands with hers, tending to Bennett's wound.

"Vincent," I managed to say whilst standing, "I need to make sure Vincent's okay."

"Alone?" Mariah frowned. I nodded my head.

"I think you should wait for Dylan or Dimitri. They're outside checking the perimeter."

I refused, "I'll be fine. They couldn't have gone far."

She couldn't have looked any more disapproving as she took in my wounds, and the dried blood on my lips. "If you don't see him within a few minutes, turn back immediately. Okay?"

"Okay," I promised.

"And bring this with you!" Mariah tossed me something. "It's an extra cloak for him."

I nodded, then proceeded to limp out the back. The trees were my support as their scents led me in the proper direction. I moved at an awfully slow pace. My chest was heavy as was my breathing. No matter how much I tried to erase Bennett's bloodied wolf from my mind, it taunted me as if to say Vincent's was next. But I kept telling myself Vincent wouldn't die with such ease.

And as I pushed through the pain, with hot tears pooling in my eyes, I let that thought simmer, then marinate. I refused to let any other thought invade my mind. Not until my blistering numb feet involuntarily came to a stop. I took a sharp breath, staring at Vincent's wolf.

He stood above Sophia in the middle of an open clearing. The boiling hot rage in his eyes was rare but not something I hadn't seen before. I couldn't see her face. Only her hair sprawled over it in bloodied strands. Blood poured from an open wound in her neck. The work of claws or teeth tearing her skin apart around her throat. I looked away, feeling queasy. No wonder she ran.

She didn't have a fighting chance.

Seeing as Vincent was unharmed, I finally allowed myself to collapse. I felt the cloak leaving my hand within the next few seconds. An arm slithered around my waist, lifting me. My eyes fluttered open and closed, giving me time to realize I was lying immobile on Vincent's back. My legs dangled around his waist as he held me up from under my thighs.

I felt him take a dip. When he returned to a standing position, I saw Sophia's body lying limp in his arms. He walked and carried her bridal style. I kept my head turned so as to not vomit. My nose was sensitive to the stench of blood in the air. Hers, mine, and Bennett's. It was too much.

"B-Bennett. . ." I heard a hiccup, then a cry. It sounded like it belonged to Claudia.

Vincent hesitated again before entering through the back of the cottage. There were more people from Calamitous lingering in the living room now, including Dimitri and Dylan. Dimitri faced the floor, his eyes anywhere but the scene unraveling in front of him. Dylan chewed on her bottom lip, one of her fists curled at her side, while the other clamped tight over Dimitri's wrist.

Bennett's wolf had regressed back into a human state. The wound was visible on his chest as if he'd been pierced right through the heart. Mariah's fingers were pressed under his jaw, where I assumed she'd been checking his pulse. But her fingers never moved. And Claudia crouched beside her, her silent tears falling onto Bennett's paling body.

Mariah whispered, glancing over at us, "What are we going to do with them?"

No one else might have seen it but I felt it—Vincent was shaking. From his core to his spine, I felt all the trembles in his bones. He inhaled a long and deep shaky breath, then exhaled.

"We'll take them both to Calamitous and discuss from there." His final and only response as he laid his dead friend's mother beside him and turned his back to the both of them. And for the first time since this all began, I thought I'd seen all of Vincent's inner turmoil break free in the form of tears. Angry, guilty, pained, swollen tears.

* * *

New Year's day was supposed to be a time of celebration. A time where people commenced to think back on their failures, their achievements, and how that'd all change entering what was meant to be a new and promising beginning to look forward to. This new year, however, felt like anything but that. Because it was only four days ago, Calamitous had retrieved Sophia and Bennett's bodies while cleaning up the mess left behind around the cottage.

I wished I could snap my fingers and things went back to simpler times. But I'd have been a fool to think the week could end without any more hassles. Today was a cruel reminder of that as I amped myself to tackle the very last hurdle I'd been avoiding, which I honestly, hoped to avoid for a little longer. I wasn't so sure I could stomach any more disappointment.

"She's almost here," I announced, reading the text from my mother. I twisted in my seat to look through the back window of the car in search of my mother's car. Vincent and I had been parked in the empty lot in front of the field I'd once taken him to—back when I tended to his wounds—waiting for her. I figured this was the best location for us to meet.

"Careful." Vincent leaned over the console, touching my waist.

After having gone three days with a soiled bandage from when Mariah first took care of my wounds, I finally had a fresh one. Most of my wounds had already healed. That didn't stop him from worrying though. I guess I'd overexerted myself too much that day.

"I'm fine." I twisted back, settling my hand over his.

He grunted but said nothing.

"There she is." I perked up, noticing my mother's car driving into the parking lot.

"Do you want me to join you for this?"

"It's okay. You can stay in the car for now." I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the door. My mother had already parked and exited her car with an excited pep in her step.

"Oh goodness"—her face was scrunched as she took in our surroundings—"Genesis, where in the world are we?"

"An old, vacant field." I laughed, embracing her.

She returned my embrace, then let go, taking a good, long look at me.

"You didn't have trouble finding this place, did you?" I asked.

"Oh shucks, no," she said, fanning me off. "I'm just wondering why you asked me to meet you at such an odd place. I was so happy when you said you wanted to see me for new year's but now . . . I'm thinking maybe you want to kill me or something," she joked.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course not, mom."

"I'm just making sure." She held her hands up in surrender.

"I just"—I inserted my hands in my coat pockets and shrugged—"I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh?"

"Let's go for a walk on the field, shall we?"

She followed my gesture and nodded her head. We walked in silence, side by side, allowing the wind to speak for us. This wasn't exactly how I imagined myself coming clean to my mother. But it was better than nothing. Finding a way to start the conversation was the issue though.

"Did you come alone?" she asked, looking back at the cars.

"No, Vincent's waiting for me."

"What?" She stopped, looking back again as if he'd committed the ultimate crime. "That boy is here and he didn't care to say hi?"

"Not yet." I chuckled under my breath. "I needed to talk to you alone first."

"Out with it then," she said, an eyebrow raised.

I kicked the dry grass as I walked and breathed in through my nose. "If I turned into an animal right now, what would you do?"

"Excuse me?"

"If I turned into an animal right now, what would you do?" I repeated.

"Well, if that were possible . . . I'm not sure what I would do. Last time I checked, I birthed a human. Not an animal," she said, slowly.

"What if something happened that caused me to become half animal? Do you think you'd still love me the same? Would you fear me?" My heart was beating loud and fast.

My mother reached for my arm, stopping us both in our tracks. "Genesis, I'm not really sure I understand what's happening here. What are you going on about?"

"I. . . I haven't been honest with you. . ."

She waited for a beat to respond. "So, what you're trying to tell me is that you've been turned into an animal . . . and that's what you're asking me to believe?"

"It sounds ridiculous, I know." I cracked a small smile, my attention dropping to the ground. "I didn't believe it at first either. Then, I saw it for myself when I changed."

She frowned and folded her arms. "Genesis, if this is a new year's joke or nonsense—"

I stripped out of my coat, letting it drop to the ground. I then pulled my clothes aside, revealing the bite Amaury gave me. I heard a gasp but didn't have the heart to look yet.

I could only imagine how she'd react to my recent wounds.

"About two months ago, I got into an accident where a wolf bit me. I woke up in an unfamiliar town surrounded by people I didn't know. It turned out that the wolf was also human. Not human like us. But he was someone who had the ability to shift into a wolf."

"T-this is an actual scar . . . ?" she whispered and stuttered.

I ignored her and continued, "I was held prisoner in Calamitous. That's the name of the town. It's located in those mountains over there. That's why you couldn't reach me back then."

"Prisoner?" she repeated.

"That's how I truly met Vincent. He wasn't my boyfriend at the time as I told you." My mother, starstruck, caressed my faded wound, her hand covering her mouth. "So, I ask again . . . if I turned into an animal right now, would you still love me the same? Or would you fear me?"

My eyes flashed the color of my wolf's. She gawked, speechless. Hesitation seeped into her limbs as she shifted uncomfortably, tucking her arms deeper into their fold for comfort. I imagined this could go many ways. The main one being one of us heartbroken by the end.

I watched her nostrils flare as she closed her eyes. "I'll always love my daughter the same no matter what she's become," she said, finally, "I'd have to get used to it, but I'll always love you."

"You believe me then?" The need for her acceptance was clawing at me. When I told myself I'd be honest with my mother, I hadn't made the decision on a whim. It was a long thought-out decision I'd considered since mating with Vincent. If I was going to stay in Calamitous, I needed for her to know the truth and not to worry. She needed to let me go.

"I'm trying to," she admitted.

"I can show you," I stated, calmly.

"No"—my mother held up her hand, shivering—"that won't be necessary."

"Too soon?"

"Too soon." She smiled.

I smiled too. "So, you don't need proof?"

"Those eyes are proof enough," she scoffed. "Sure, give your poor mother a heart attack by turning into a wolf and scaring her half to death."

"One day, I'll show you. It's as beautiful as it is scary once you see them enough. All you have to remember is that the animal I've become is still me. Look into my eyes and see me."

"Genesis, baby, I'll always recognize those eyes." Her smile was warmer as she brushed her thumb over my cheeks under my eyes. My bottom lip wobbled. I couldn't help but overflow with mixed emotions. Still, I held it together for both of our sakes.

"Maybe I'll tell daddy one day too," I whispered.

"Tell him whenever you're ready," she comforted me.

"Soon." I sighed. "I'll be staying in Calamitous with Vincent from now on."

"Vincent"—she paused and looked back again—"is he one of these wolf humans?"

"He is," I admitted. I turned and waved, calling him over. I could hear the car door opening and closing from afar. Vincent circled the driver's side in our direction.

"So . . . he's not your boyfriend?"

I cleared my throat, avoiding her eyes. "Well, um, now's a little different."

"Uh-huh. Okay, missy." My mother shot me a knowing look. The kind that said we were going to have a long conversation later. As if we already didn't have a lot to talk about.

"By the way, don't . . . you know, go around telling people this, okay?"

"Of course, I won't! What do you take me for?" She placed her hands on her hips. But she paused when she saw Vincent walking. He stopped at my side, threading our fingers together, then bowed at her in greeting. My smile widened.

"So, I guess this is goodbye, huh? You're stealing my daughter away for good?" said my mother, studying us, ever so dramatically.

"Mom," I groaned.

"You better take care of my baby." She drove her finger into his chest, staring up at him. "I'm trusting that you'll take care of my baby."

"Always," Vincent said.

"This isn't goodbye forever, you know?" I laid my head on her chest, holding her tightly.

"I know but still. I'll miss seeing you more often." She sniffled.

"Vincent's good to me," I said.

"He better be."

Seconds, or probably minutes, had passed before we finally let go. Not even the thirty-something degree weather clashing against our bodies could pull us apart faster. Our walk back to the car was slow and bittersweet. We hugged. We laughed. I'd even almost cried. All while Vincent lingered behind us, letting us have our moment. I appreciated it.

"I take it she took the news well," said Vincent, as soon as we were buckled in the car.

"She looked a little frightened. But she took it better than I expected."

"I've got to be honest with you"—he turned and rubbed the pad of his thumb over the back of my wrist—"I'm relieved to know you're not leaving us." I knew he'd been anxious but hearing him say the words eased me some. I felt more comfortable with my decision.

I leaned back against the head of my seat, angling my head to the side to get a better look at him. "You were worried?" I asked, softly.

"Being a wolf isn't easy. I know you didn't have the option to go back to your normal life as a human, but you could have possibly found a way to make it work. . ."

"Honestly?" I looked down at our still entwined hands. "I don't think I would have."

"You don't?"

"I don't." I studied him—the twitch in his jaw and the bags under his eyes. I couldn't remember the last time either of us had gotten a proper sleep. If nightmares of Bennett's bloodied body hadn't plagued me, they surely plagued him. He was a lot better at hiding it though. Even him being here with me today was a miracle in itself. Everyone had been hounding him.

All I wanted was for him to have a moment to breathe. But he couldn't even grieve. I imagined Amaury's death was the same. But at least, everyone was on board with what to do.

"That's not all that's on your mind," I whispered, sighing, "there's something else."

He stared ahead, then said, "Maybe."

"You're thinking about him again, aren't you?" I caressed his fingers.

He took his time answering, "Everyone's expecting me to give them an answer soon." What he was referring to was no secret.

Sophia's body was to be buried in the woods away from town as per an anonymous vote. The problem arose whereas Bennett's body was concerned. There was still much discussion to be had; whether he'd be buried in Calamitous or outside of Calamitous with his mother. The reasonable thing to do would have probably been to bury Bennett with his mother.

Personal feelings were to be had though. This caused the vote to be split between the pack, and it didn't seem like Vincent was going to make a decision anytime soon. Not with so much pressure down his throat. It was his personal feelings versus everyone else's and what was best for Calamitous as a whole.

"Where do you want him buried?"

". . .I don't know," he said, a humorless laugh leaving his lips. "He was one of my closest friends. But he was also an enemy of the pack. But he also helped the pack in the end."

I nodded, slowly. He had so many conflicting thoughts and emotions, I wasn't sure I could help him come to a decision. I still wanted to try though.

"What do you think he'd have wanted?"

"I think he'd have wanted to accept his punishment and atone for his sins. . . There's nothing but chaos waiting for us back at Calamitous." Vincent sighed.

"Isn't there always?"

"Sometimes . . . I wish I could forget I was an alpha so that I wouldn't have to deal with such things. I miss the times where I could close my eyes and pretend."

"You can always pretend when you're with me."

"Is that so?" There was a faint smile on his lips.

"Mhm-hmm. We're good at that, aren't we?"

"I suppose we are." He lifted his hand to my cheek, brushing his thumb over my bottom lip.

"Are you ready to go back to Calamitous?" I asked.

"Are you?" he retorted.

"I am," I said.

The crank of the engine was the last thing shared between us. And as I stared in wonder at the alpha wolf next to me, I fantasized about our lives moving forward.

How long this grief and mourning would last. Whether acceptance would ever be attainable for us or not. Him, as alpha. Me, as a former human and a new member of the pack. If Amaury would always be a part of me. But most of all, I wondered if peace would ever settle within the pack again. Only time would tell though.

***

THIS BOOK IS FINISHED! Omg. I do not want to see this book again for another year or so (I'm partially joking lol). Seriously though, my intention was never for this book to be this long. Nor was it my intention to spend this much time writing this book overall. But somehow, it ended up being over 100K words and now I can cry because it's finally over. But I'm also sad because I'll miss my babies. 

Then again, I will be writing 4 bonus chapters from Vincent's POV. . . So, don't go anywhere yet my loves! That is, if you want to see what was going on inside Vincent's brain at the time of certain chapters. Anyways, I want to give a HUGE thank you to all of you who have read this book! Whether you've been here from the beginning or you've just got here. All of your support is very much appreciated. I can't believe there's this many of you already!

I do have a few regrets while writing this story. For instance, I wish I would have sprinkled in some more information about Bennett's parents before the reveal and so on. There were things I forgot to do because I was so eager to finish. Maybe one day, I'll revisit this story to add and/or fix some stuff. For now though, I'm just happy to have closed another journey.