Declan paced back and forth in the living room waiting for Maria to wake up. He was afraid to leave her side in case there were unintended side effects to the cure. He had watched as the wound closed before his eyes, and his ears were still ringing from Maria’s screams.

He sat down on the couch and pulled out his phone. He scrolled down to Noelle’s number and almost dialed it, but he stopped. He had no idea what he could possibly say to her, to offer any sort of explanation. He moaned and threw himself back against the couch.

“Declan?” Maria moaned quietly from the bedroom. She started coughing and Declan rushed inside of the room to make sure she was okay.

“Yes, Maria? Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Maria looked at him, her eyes big and round, and Declan could see the tears sitting there, about to fall.

“Oh, Declan. I was so wrong about her, I never should have said anything about her to you. Now she has saved me and I —I ruined everything.” Maria closed her eyes and a few tears escaped the wall of her lids and traveled swiftly down her cheeks. Declan sat down next to her and wiped the trail of wetness from her face.

“It’s alright, Maria. You were scared and you had every right to be. It was my fault for thinking that she could be capable of that. I am the one who should be blamed, not you. I am so glad that you are okay, now.” Declan smiled at Maria and leaned down, planting a soft kiss on her forehead.

When he looked up, he saw a small smile tugging at her lips, but she still seemed worried.

“Don’t worry about Noelle. I will figure out how to fix things with her.”

“Declan, she is not the only person I am worried about,” Maria said quietly. Declan raised his eyebrows at her comment, but remained silent waiting for her to continue. “I did what you asked me and I got close to Gabriel. It wasn’t hard at all, I just played into his hatred of you, and his loneliness.” Declan grimaced, but said nothing. “Declan, he has started to lose it. I know Dustin talked to you about the role of an alpha, and how not everyone can be placed into the position, but I’m not sure he ever explained the consequences. This is why there are rituals and rites of passage —this is exactly why any werewolf who is put into power needs to prove themselves.”

“What are you saying, Maria?”

“I’m saying that the power of the alpha is literally driving him insane. He is on the verge of snapping and I am not sure he will be able to ever recover from that. Declan, he stills feels threatened by you, even though you cannot turn anymore. And he feels the only way he can maintain his alpha status is to kill you, and get rid of the threat once and for all. Not to mention, he is slowly turning the pack against you. He is playing up the fact that you left them, and that you chose a hunter and compromised their safety. Most of the pack isn’t buying into it, but some of the newer members who didn’t know you well, they are talking.”

Declan’s eyes widened. He knew very well that Gabriel was playing with fire, but he never anticipated Gabriel to turn on him like this. They had been best friends, after all. Declan felt overwhelmed by a deep sadness —first he lost Dustin, then Noelle, and now Gabriel.

“So, what are we going to do about it?” Declan asked, more to himself than to Maria.

“You need to leave, Declan. You need to get out of here now,” Maria said seriously.

“Leave? I can’t do that. I can’t leave my pack in his hands if he is turning into a monster.”

“I’ll take care of him, Declan. You can trust me,” Maria said. She sat up from the bed and looked down at her hands nervously. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but until you are able to turn into a wolf again, I don’t think you’ll stand much of a chance against him.”

Maria looked at Declan, and she could see sadness in his eyes. This was one of the things which truly made Declan special —despite all his strengths and leadership skills, he wasn’t one to shy away from his emotions, or hide how he was feeling. He was truly remarkable.

“I should leave then,” Declan whispered. He looked out the window and saw the sky was gray and covered in clouds, there was no sunshine to offer him hope. Not today.

“Not just leave,” Maria said. “Find the witch. Turn yourself back into the wolf you are, and then come back here and reclaim what is rightfully yours.”

Maria laid her hand on Declan’s, and then nodded at him reassuringly. All he had to go on was the information the elderly alpha female had offered him, and only during the pack meeting. He would have to travel across the country and hope that the woman was still alive and willing to help him.

“I suppose I should get started right away,” Declan said. He stood up from the bed and walked over to his closet where he pulled out a backpack. Declan started throwing in a few shirts and jeans and he looked around wildly, not even sure what else he should bring.

Maria stood up from the bed and Declan turned and saw her as if it was the first time they were meeting, all over again. Her skin was bright and her hair had the familiar luster, but most of all, her smile was brilliant, once again. She smiled at him and shook her head playfully.

“Let me help you,” she said.

She took the bag from his hands, and then removed all the clothes he had stuffed in there. One by one, she folded each piece so that once she finished, he still had over half the bag empty to use. She led him into the kitchen and opened the pantry. There was nothing inside.

“Declan, what have you been eating?” Declan shrugged his shoulders. He hadn’t had much time to think about food, lately.

Maria scolded him, “You are a human now, Declan. You need to be eating and drinking enough water. You have to keep up your strength.” She pulled out a small wallet from the back of her jeans and handed him a plastic card. “Use this to buy some stuff. Make sure it’s nothing that is perishable, and make sure you ration. You don’t know how long this trip will take, so you need to be prepared.” Declan nodded and tried to hide his smile. “What?” Maria asked, annoyed that Declan wasn’t taking her seriously.

“You just remind me a little of my mom,” Declan said quietly. Maria returned the smile and then surprised Declan by running up to him and giving him a tight hug.

“Okay, the last thing you should bring with you is a weapon. But it’s needed, probably.” Maria looked around the apartment trying to find anything which looked like a weapon to her. Finally, her eyes landed on a crossbow sitting behind the television stand. She walked over and lifted it from its place. “Umm, this should work, but why do you even have this?”

Declan shook his head as he remembered his failed attempt at staking out the shopping trip at the hunting store. He had seen her father buying the arrows for the crossbow and had been so quick to believe that she had lied to him —yet another time he hadn’t trusted her, which led to complete disaster.

“It’s a long story,” he said finally. Maria shrugged and put the crossbow inside of the bag and zipped it closed. She handed the backpack to him and crossed her arms over her chest in triumph.

“Well, you’re as ready as you’ll ever be, I think.”

She looked at Declan and nodded at him. He returned the nod, and then he swung the backpack onto his back. He headed toward the door and pulled it open.

Declan looked back at Maria to say goodbye, but she held up her hand to stop him. She said, “I’ll see you later.”

Declan grinned and said, “Later, then.”

He walked out of the apartment, and closed the door behind him. He thought about his pack and what they might think about him. Especially once they discovered that he had gone missing… again. It would probably seem like he deserted them and left them in the hands of a psycho maniac. He thought about Gabriel and prayed that he would be able to become the alpha again, long before it was too late to save Gabriel.

Declan made his way to his car and put the keys in. The engine roared to life and Declan closed his eyes, silently saying a goodbye to the home he had built and known for so many years. As he opened his eyes, a ray of sunlight shot through the clouds and he grinned, feeling that fate might finally be on his side.

* * *

Noelle rolled underneath Edmund’s weight and she tried to push him off, but he was too heavy. Instead, she brought her legs up and smacked each side of his head with her shoes. He grabbed his head in pain and she took the opportunity to push him off.

When she stood up, she tried again to release her inner wolf, but she was again, met with unfortunate silence. She looked up at Edmund who was smiling at her.

“What did you do to me?” Noelle asked, breathless.

“I made your choice for you, Noelle. You didn’t seem capable of deciding which side you wanted to be on, so I chose. That pleasant little drink you had —that was the same cure your parents took this morning. Well, almost the same.”

“What?”

Noelle looked at her hands as if surprised by her human form. She had only turned into her werewolf form once, yet there still felt like a piece of her was now missing. She looked at Edmund as his last words dawned on her.

“What did you do to my parents?” Noelle whispered.

“Let’s just say, Mommy and Daddy finally got the freedom they deserve from this life. They won’t be worrying about you anymore, Noelle. As a matter of fact, they don’t even know that you exist.”

Noelle’s heartbeat started racing. Her own father and mother had been forced to forget her. How was that even possible? She was quickly realizing that anything seemed possible, especially when you have the power of the council rebels behind you.

“You could never make my parents forget about me, Edmund. You cannot just erase someone’s existence or eradicate the love that parents have for their children. No cure or medicine or elixir —nothing could do that.”

“I beg to differ,” Edmund said as he let out a loud laugh. “See, we had a team go over to your house and they carefully removed every trace of your existence. Any pictures of the three of you —well now dear old Mom and Dad only remember the two of them.”

“And what about Megan? And my other family? Did you erase me from their lives too?”

Edmund yawned and took a few steps toward Noelle. “We did what was necessary. And trust me when I say, the council leaves no loose ends.”

The thought of her parents not knowing about her made Noelle’s blood boil, and she realized that even though she may not be a wolf any longer, she was still a kick-ass hunter… and that was something he could never take from her.

She ran up to him and threw her shoulder directly into his chest, sending him stumbling back into a chair. He fell over the chair and before he could stand up, she brought her foot right under his chin. She heard a satisfying crack, and when he looked up, his nose was spouting blood. She began another charge, but Edmund caught her by the neck and threw her against the wall, forcing the breath out of her body. He slammed her hard against the wall, and Noelle fought against the spots in her vision.

Noelle struggled against him as he tightened her grip, but she closed her eyes and recalled a move that her father had taught her for this exact situation. She grabbed his wrist and thumb, on one of the hands around her neck and she yanked back the thumb as hard as she could. Edmund screamed out in pain as she broke his thumb and then he let go of her.

He threw his other arm out and his fist nearly missed her face. Edmund yelled out and started to run toward her, but Noelle ducked down slightly and connected her fist directly with his gut and he yowled in pain as he doubled over. He tried to straighten up, but Noelle took hold of his shoulders and brought her knee up against his chin, sending his head snapping backward. He hit his head against the table and Noelle took this opportunity to run toward the doors of the kitchen.

Once she pulled them open, she was met by a group of people who were standing there. “Please!” she cried out. “You have to help me!” The people looked at one another and then stepped aside, revealing the older Edmund standing there.

He smiled at her sadly and said, “I’m sorry about this, Noelle. I really thought you would make the right choice.”

Noelle felt a sharp pain in her neck and she stumbled to the side, grasping the wall for support. She turned and saw Edmund standing there with a needle in his hand. Her vision was getting blurry and going in and out. She tried to speak, but her tongue felt like it was made of lead.

As her eyes closed, she heard Edmund’s final words. “Bon voyage, bitch.”

“As he opened his eyes, a ray of sunlight shot through the clouds and he grinned, feeling that fate might finally be on his side.”