I knew that Madame Beaudeline was thoroughly, thoroughly dead when every single organisation member buckled to the floor.

I fell too, a sharp, stabbing pain in the back of my head. I flexed my fingers, tried to keep everything in my body flowing as much as possible. She was gone, and any control that she still had over me was completely and utterly gone.

"Cassandra!" Someone called, dropping to their knees in front of me, "Cassandra, are you alright?"

Alexander, of course. His hands cupped my face as he brought me to eye level, immediately trying to figure out if anything was wrong.

I gulped, "No, I'm fine. Promise, I am." I looked over at the decapitated body, "I killed her. It's done, I did it."

Alexander spared a glance to where I had just looked, cringing the moment he saw it. "It's over." He looped his arm underneath mine, pulling me up. "Come on, grab onto me, we need to get moving, I don't want to hang around a dead body. We can deal with that later,"

It seemed that to each wolf in the area, an organisation member was attached to their hip, handcuffs and chains easily being wrapped and clicked around their frail, weakened bodies.

I felt somewhat the same, relying more and more on Alexanders strong frame as we walked. We moved ourselves into a more central part of the area, visible to everyone who was nearby.

"Attention!" He called out, "As quickly as we can I want these people handcuffed and transported to a secure location. These people are criminals, however, they were under influence. I will be in contact with your leaders about some particular details but otherwise, everyone takes their prisoner to a secure location within your pack. If they manage to escape along the way, bring them back into custody no matter the circumstances. Thank you, and carry on."

We started moving again, continuing with the shuffle, "So where are we going from here?" I asked.

"I'm taking you to Ti, whatever you made her do has got her lying against a tree half-unconscious. Since you look like shit, The two of you can recuperate together, who knows, maybe being next to each other will help." He said firmly, "And there is no changing my mind, there isn't time to get you into a bed, so this is the next best thing."

Something in me wanted to argue, wanted to keep helping, but I couldn't. My eyes were beginning to droop and I could feel my body getting heavier.

"Just quickly," Alexander started, "Do you think any of these people are going to end up going through withdrawal?"

"Theoretically, no." I hummed, "One would think that since all three leaders are dead, there isn't any control left over them, therefore, there isn't anything to trigger the withdrawal, but I would make everyone aware anyway so it's at least something that they can be aware of. Of course, they would go into it within the next few hours, so at least it's not very long to wait before they would find out."

A grunt in response, and finally, we moved completely out of the way of everything, there not being a single sound in the air, only the whisper of voices on the wind. Finally, between the slits of my half-closed eyes, I saw Ti.

Just as Alexander had said, she was completely slumped against the trunk of a tree, her hair half falling out of a loose bun that had been tied up at the back of her head.

Xander slumped me down next to her, "Ti, you doing any better?"

She just waved her hand in dismissal, muttering something completely illegible. Alexander stuck out his lip and nodded, sufficing with that answer.

"Alright, I'm going to go help. I promise I'll be back, if something happens, mind-link me straight away." He said earnestly before starting to move backwards before eventually running away, disappearing into the distance.

I leant my head back before Ti spoke up,

"Oh thank god you're here, I was getting so bored." She slurred slightly, rolling her head to look at me. "He's so... overbearing, isn't he? Ti, are you ok, Ti can you hear me, Tatiana say something right now, like, Jesus man, let me do what I need to do!"

I chuckled, "By the looks of you, I doubt it was coming from anywhere but concern."

Ti's eyes were flashing, a spinning kaleidoscope of colours that just could not settle. She scoffed, "Well, at least I'm not worn out from something boring, I can't actually believe that it worked."

I raised my eyebrows, "Same. It was a gamble that we needed to take. I don't think I have ever been in anything as dark, and the cells in Madame Beaudelines basement didn't have any windows!"

The atmosphere between us completely changed at my words.

"She's dead, isn't she," Ti said quietly, her voice a whisper.

"At my hand," I admitted.

I watched her lips raise, "I felt it you know, I think that's half the reason I feel so drowsy. I was fine up until... well... you killed her. I guess even though we thought that we had fully escaped it, just a small essence of her remained."

I tilted my head in thought, "I suppose, I felt a little more of something chip away with every leader that we killed. Who knows, maybe we'll always have it in us. You know, during the games, weeks and weeks after I had gone through withdrawal, we went through tests to make sure we weren't under any influence. The doctor found that I had dormant magic in my blood. He said he would keep it quiet so it didn't end up affecting me, but I think that's who she was able to get control of my mind like that."

Ti furrowed her brows, "It was never something she liked doing much, mind control. That's a vampire thing, probably connected through the injection. But I remember Mistress Hemlock talked to me about it once, how there was some deep-rooted personal reason and she never did it unless she absolutely had to."

I didn't know that, "Do we call them by their first names? I mean, now that they're dead. They always said we had to out of respect, but now..."

Ti shrugged, "I don't think it really matters. I mean please, Ma- Avarise was a vampire and Circe was a spirit, neither of them is coming back to haunt us. And if Landon is still hanging around, haunting us for calling him by his first name wouldn't even make the list." She ran her tongue over her teeth, "No, It definitely doesn't feel right."

"I suppose we were just so used to it." I paused, "You know, we never have to talk about them again. We'll never see them, never run into them. I mean, they died at our hands, we know for sure that they are dead."

"We could, we could make a pact right now and never speak of them again, let the memories and terrors of the Organisation in our life die with us. Or, we can talk about them. We can tell people, share our story and how we dealt with it so that at the very least if something like this ever happened again, they would at least have a shrivelled piece of information to help them on their way."

She flicked a piece of dirt out from underneath her nail, staring at the hidden blue sky. "I don't know, I think it might be important."

"This is why we're friends." I rolled my eyes, "You're the perfect amount of practical to even out my irrationalism."

She let out a small laugh before her feelings changed once again. "I've been meaning to ask, do you know what they did with Cora's body?"

Cora.

I hadn't even thought of her since... well... her death. It was easy to move your thoughts, to try and think of anything else. Deep down, I think I just refused to admit the facts, that she was dead and she was never coming back. She was never going to live out the life that we wanted to have together.

I gulped, "To my knowledge, they disposed of it themselves like they usually would. She may have been one of us, one of the best, but she was still an organisation member. She would have been disposed of the same way as everyone else."

Ti raised a hand to her eye. "I hope they sent her away in the water, I hoped that they at least gave her that. We should have asked, we had the opportunity to and I didn't even think of it."

I leaned over and grabbed her hand. "We'll go to France, we'll go to Germany and Spain and the UK. She always said she should just run away and escape to Europe. We'll go there one day, engrave her name into the Eiffel tower if we can get away with it."

Ti snorted, a small laugh. "We will, just you and me. Maybe we won't even tell anyone, seriously make it look like we ran away to Europe."

I squeezed her hand just a little tighter. "We have to live for her, make sure that Harvey moves on and all the things that she would want. Hell, I've been thinking about even getting in contact with her family, to give them that peace of mind."

A twinkle in Ti's eyes, "I can see it now. She may not have had it, but we have the rest of our lives now Cas. No one dictating every move, no more waiting for battle, no more illegal activities. Just... life."

"You and me Ti," I said finally, "Us until the end."

--------------------------------------------------

Alexander had grudgingly came over the horizon and into my view once the sun had already begun to set. Vance, Farren, Myra and Harmony were just behind him, trailing behind and looking just as awful.

Alexander immediately held out his hand, "Feeling any better?"

I grabbed onto it and heaved myself up. "Massively, but it looks like I should be asking you all that."

Farren rolled her eyes, "Some of your organisation members felt good enough to run away. It's important that we don't let them get away, so I've spent the last three hours or so just chasing people. It wears a girl out, you know."

I furrowed my brow, "You guys should have come and gotten us, we could have helped-"

Alexander pressed his hand to my forehead, flipping it, and then pressing it to my neck. He then clicked his tongue, "Absolutely not. You may feel fine but you've got a fever burning. Trust me, now I've got you standing, you're going to break out in chills for a second."

He then turned to Ti, handing his other hand out. She just shook her head, pulling herself up and then clenching her fists, the air sucking in around her. "No thanks Xander, I've got it from here."

He didn't try and argue, instead just tightening his grip on me as we kept walking back into the direction of the pack.

After only about five minutes, I realised that Xander was right, my teeth beginning to chatter as my body started to shake. I hadn't even realised how much time has passed, the deep orange of the sky was transitioning into a deep blue.

"I think," Xander heaved, "We just get home, sort out something to eat and go from tehre. We can leave the rest to the morning, I'm satisfied with how we've resolved everything for the time being."

"The sooner we get back the better," Myra worried, "I've got Hugo all set up, he knows not to leave but he must be starting to worry-"

"We've mind linked him plenty of times Myra," Farren rolled her eyes, smiling jokingly, "Too protective for your own good I think," She said, wrapping her arm around Myra's waist.

"Alexander, just promise us when we get home you'll tell him that story again. The Human girl and the Alpha King," Myra begged, "After such a day and how much he's been asking for it..."

Not even bothered, Alexander replied, "Of course I will."

Our positions moved, all walking in one line as I felt Harmony skulk up behind me.

"Anyway, Harmony, how are you feeling?" I asked. "How are you adjusting?"

She placed her hands out in front of her, "I think that I miss my tan and normal smelling breath."

I snorted, "Tell me about it. How did you go, killing people I mean."

Harmony paused, almost embarrassed. "As awful as it sounds, it wasn't too bad. I never thought that I would be the type of person who could do that sort of thing, but now that I've... changed. I barely even blinked when it happened."

I placed a hand on her shoulder, "You'll get used to it, promise. And hey, ideally, you won't have to do that again for a while."

Her smile softened, "I'm counting on it."

We gradually made our way across the pack borders, no one saying a single word as we re-entered the house. As the door slammed shut behind us, everyone parted ways, going in a million different directions as we all headed to our own rooms. I held on tightly to Xanders's arm, the sticky, disgusting feeling on my skin becoming more and more prominent.

"I'm going to have a shower-" We both started saying at the same time. Alexander retreated, "You go first, I can wait."

I raised my eyebrow, "No! We're both disgusting, there isn't any point. We're both responsible, if you're fine to shower together, I wouldn't mind."

Alexander leaned his head forward, "Really?"

I shrugged, "Well, yeah. Why not? Saving water and all that."

He didn't respond, other than a small show of agreement before leading us into the bathroom.

Facing away from each other, we both removed the clothes that we were wearing. I grimaced as I felt my hair, caked in dirt and blood and equally knotted. When I heard the water start to run, I turned away, blinking at the sight of Alexander's naked form leaning over and fiddling with the taps. Strangely, I didn't feel nervous.

Besides, it was just a shower.

Once Xander jumped in, I followed him, relishing in the lukewarm water that immediately hit my skin. The shower head was large, easily covering us entirely in the water.

We did nothing for a moment before Alexander picked up a bottle of shampoo and gesturing for me to turn around. Before I knew it, his hands connected with my scalp, his fingernails running over the skin as he massaged the suds into my hair. I almost moaned at the feeling. He cupped his hand and poured water all over my head and rinsing out the shampoo before repeating the process one more time, leaving my hair thoroughly clean.

I then leaned over and grabbed the shampoo that I knew he used, pouring some into my hand as I then raised it to his scalp. Seemingly, Alexander didn't have the self-control that I did, a moment of weakness as a sound escaped his mouth. I kept going, ensuring that as much dirt as possible had been removed before I washed it all out.

I then grabbed a bottle of soap, dragging it over his arms and chest, practically as low as he would let me go. I moved my hands in circular motions, anything that had been left was easily removed in an instant.

With a nod of my approval, he did the same thing, his fingers digging into my shoulders, causing me to completely relax in his hold.

It was only when every inch of our bodies had been cleaned did he lean down to me, capturing my lips and pressing me back against the wall. Heaven, serenity, that's all I felt.

His hand ran up my side, firmly planting itself on my ribs as I gasped for air. I moved my hands and pressed them against the side of his face, dragging him closer.

It felt like an eternity, just me and him as the water flowed over us before suddenly, Alexander pulled himself back.

His breathing was heavy, "We have to stop or else... and nows really not the time for that."

I nodded, looking away as I tried to regain my breath. "I agree."

Hastily, I stepped out of the shower and ran a towel fervently over my body before donning the large, grey shirt of Xander's that had been waiting for me.

I plaited my hair as Xander changed to, "You fine to head downstairs? Just for something to eat."

I nodded, "Absolutely."

I daintily moved over the floor, flexing my toes as I ran down the stairs, an uncomfortable growing in my stomach serving as reasoning enough.

Everyone else was already there, Myra pouring a thick, orange liquid into bowls as everyone came over and grabbed one, a smaller portion in a train-decorated bowl for Hugo. Alexander and I both came over and grabbed a bowl, thanking Myra profusely before sitting down on the couch.

We all waited for her to take her seat before digging in, eating in complete silence. In all honestly, I doubt any of us had the desire to talk, nor the inspiration for conversation. Especially after today.

But here, surrounded by my mate and my family, my closest friends, I felt something completely foreign, something that I had never experienced in my many years alive, especially in all the time I had spent at the Organisation,

I felt content, happy.

I felt at home.