Declan drove his car south; not even sure which route would be the fastest for him to reach his final destination. He had the windows down and he couldn’t help but think about the last time he had driven like this. He looked over to the empty passenger seat and imagined Noelle sitting there, her beautiful smile, her gorgeous hair blowing in the wind, and the feeling of her hand in his.

Declan shook this idea from his mind and focused his attention back on the road. So many times, he had been faced with a choice of whether to believe Noelle or not, and he had always decided against her. Why? Why couldn’t he ever trust her? Was it because of her origin —that her very framework was made up of a hunter? Was this a fact which he would never be able to move past despite all the times that she had shown him otherwise?

Declan thought deeply about his conundrum. He could not satisfy himself with an answer right then, but he knew that once he had met with the witch and she had restored his ability to be a wolf, he would need to decide once and for all. Could he really see himself living a life without Noelle? Just days ago, he was willing to give everything up to have a life with her, but now, was he willing to give her up to have everything else?

What about the family he desired now? He and Cassidy had talked about starting a family, but they had both decided against it because the position of Alpha for their pack took too much time and attention. Besides, would they really want to willingly bring someone into this world. A world where they were surrounded by so much loss and grief?

Would Declan ever know peace again? Would Noelle?

He was starting to come to the realization that since they had met, everything in both of their worlds started falling apart. It was as if their love was a cruel act against nature, and in pursuing it, they were willingly destroying everything and everyone around them. He was the alpha —could he live with the fact that he was putting his pack in chronic danger because of his feelings toward Noelle?

Declan drove on, hardly aware of when the sun sank into its bed for the night. He kept his eyes glued to the road, passing signs and cars without notice or care. He stopped briefly at a rest stop off the side of the road and used Maria’s card to purchase water and non-perishable foods, exactly as she had instructed him. He put them into his backpack and turned to leave, when a young man walked up to him.

“Woah,” the kid breathed, “cool crossbow thing.”

Declan had thought he was being discreet, and he hadn’t noticed this kid watching him. His whole body tensed up and the kid shrank back a little bit, clearly intimidated by Declan.

“Sorry man, I didn’t mean to offend you or anything. It just looked cool. I don’t know what you’re hunting, but I doubt it stands a chance against that thing.”

Declan relaxed a bit and smiled at the kid which seemed to relieve him. “Yeah,” Declan said as he nodded. “I guess we will see what I run into out there.”

“Good luck, man!” The kid smiled at Declan and Declan felt a strange little pull in his heart toward the kid.

The young boy turned and waved over his shoulder and suddenly, Dustin’s voice was in his head saying: An alpha can always recognize another alpha, even before the man has turned into a wolf. As I knew with you, from the moment I met you in the woods… as a child asking for help. I saw it in your eyes.

Declan was filled with reassurance as he walked out of the rest stop. He considered this encounter with the boy a sign —even if his own quest proved to be unsuccessful, there would still be alphas being born into the world, able to rise to the challenges and demands. Declan started his car again, and pulled out of the parking lot and merged onto the highway. He turned up the radio.

* * *

Noelle woke up feeling groggy. It was pitch black and she couldn’t see a thing until she realized that she had a blindfold covering her eyes. There was something covering her mouth, preventing her speaking and she discovered that her hands and feet were tied up. She listened carefully and realized that she was in a car. She tried to make out voices, but she heard nothing other than the engine humming as they made their way to whatever place Edmund was taking her.

Noelle shimmied her body so that she was lying on her back and she slowly brought her feet up. Too quickly, she came into contact with something hard above her, and she realized with dread that they had probably thrown her into a trunk. Out of desperation, she started kicking against the trunk, praying to someone that anyone would hear her and rescue her.

She noticed the car slow down and she realized they were probably pulling over. She shifted her body so that she was lying on her side, prepared to kick whoever might open the trunk. She heard the latch click and as soon as she felt the air hit her face, she pushed her legs out with all her force and she connected with someone.

“Fuck!” a man cried out. “This little bitch kicked me.” Noelle tried with all of her might to pull herself up so that she could climb out of the car, but it was useless. They had tied her up so tightly, her fingers were numb.

“Get out of my way,” someone urged, annoyed. Noelle instantly recognized the voice as belonging to Edmund.

She struggled even harder against her binds, but soon, she felt a familiar sting in her neck. She felt her whole body get heavier and it seemed like the more she struggled, the less she could move. She heard the trunk close, and within seconds, she was unconscious again.

* * *

Noelle’s eyes flickered open and the sunlight instantly blinded her. She shut them again and struggled to sit up. She realized that they had removed the blindfold from her eyes and the tape from her mouth. She was also able to move, which meant they had untied her.

As she sat up, she felt an odd material beneath her hands. She grabbed it and opened her eyes again, giving them a few seconds to adjust to the light around her. She looked down at her hands and saw leaves and dirt. She squinted as she looked up and noticed that she was surrounded by trees on all sides of her, and the sunlight was bleeding through. She noticed there was an intense pounding in her head.

She stood up shakily and noticed out of the corner of her eye, something white drift down into the leaves beneath her. She bent down to pick it up, and realized it was a note.

We all come face to face with a crossroads in our lives, and as a hunter-born, you were expected to know the right path. Now, you will deal with the consequences of choosing wrongly. You will face the reality which you always knew, but refused to accept. Enjoy your final hunt.

Noelle re-read the note a few times, unable to completely comprehend the message. Obviously, her choosing Declan and the werewolves was the wrong choice, which the note referred to, but what did they mean by coming face to face with reality? What did they mean by a final hunt?

As Noelle considered these words, she heard a strange noise coming from behind her. She turned around, but saw nothing. Now, the strange noise was coming from the other direction and it sounded as if it was getting louder. Noelle leaned down to her shoe without looking away from the direction of the noise, but realized with dismay, that they had taken her knife from her.

As the noise grew louder, she realized what it was —a growl. From behind the trees, Noelle came face to face with a large wolf. He was a grayish-brown color, but his eyes were yellow and hungry. Noelle realized slowly… that he was not alone. She turned around in a slow corner and her heart sank as she faced wolves in every direction.

They snapped their muzzles viciously, saliva dripping from their enormous teeth. They walked closer and closer, never looking away from her. Noelle stood there, unarmed, and with no idea of what to do now.

“Help,” she whispered. But the cry fell dead on the leaves beneath her feet.

“He turned up the radio which was playing Lynard Skynard’s Free Bird as he drove on to his unknown destination.”