This is it. Nicolette wasn't supposed to die. There were so many things she could've done with her life, but here she is watching her life being drained.

Nicolette is a witch, werewolf, and vampire. If Denali takes all of her power, she is left with nothing. She would be left on the ground as a lifeless, empty shell. There was always time. 500 years wasted on hiding.

Everything moved in slow motion as Nicolette watched Denali's eyes glow an unnatural color of green as she started to suck all of Nicolette's life out.

It began to grow bigger as it's energy began to pulsate throughout the room. A tear fell off of Nicolette's cheek as she stared at Malcom.

"Malcom," Nicolette choked out. "I-I'm sorry. I failed to realize you were being controlled. I-I'm glad I didn't leave when I wanted to. Even though it was torture, I get to hold onto the few moments where magic wasn't controlling you. I-I love you and I hope that one day you will be free. I'm sorry that I can't be the one to release you."

It became harder to breathe. The loss of magic was suffocating. Nicolette didn't realize the amount of magic in her body until she saw it in front of her. The glowing blue ball had become larger than her. Nicolette felt it, the last few ounces of power she had left.

"Fight," a voice boomed in Nicolette's head. "I didn't teach you to quit." Nicolette's body jolted alive as she heard her father's voice. "Live your life, Nicolette. You have more power in your fingertips than that person in front of you."

Nicolette sobbed as her brain began to play flashbacks to her training with her father. He always made sure to teach her to protect herself in case she was caught.

Nicolette let out a piercing scream as she pulled her arm, away from the invisible hold Denali had against Nicolette, and held her hand towards the ball of energy.

"E-even if you take all of my power," Nicolette strained. She felt herself slipping out of consciousnesses, but she kept her focus. The ball of energy began to move towards Nicolette as she started to chant a spell. Slowly, Nicolette used what was left of her power to overpower Denali.

From the corner of her eye, Nicolette saw Lucas and Seth run down the steps. There was a moment where Denali pushed through Nicolette's power and a spike of pain rushed through her body.

By now, Nicolette was pushing out all of the energy she had. Her eyes were bright silver and her head was pounding. It was a fight between who was stronger and Denali was winning.

Nicolette was worn out from the torture she went through earlier. Lucas and Seth just stared at Denali and Nicolette fighting over the giant pulsing ball of energy.

They could feel Nicolette's raw power off of the sphere, but they couldn't do anything. At first glance, it would seem that Nicolette was at a clear disadvantage. She was pinned up against a wall and fighting with the little energy she had left. On the other hand, Denali was suffering from the backlash of her power.

Time was running out for Nicolette. She slipped into darkness for a moment and Denali's grip on her power had gotten stronger. Nicolette needed to finish this fight and fast.

Nicolette could take the time to take her power back again, or she could use it in it's raw, untamed form. With Nicolette's power in front of her, she could use it to finish Denali off, but it would kill everyone else, maybe even herself.

"You don't deserve my son," Denali yelled out to Nicolette. She growled and pushed against Denali's power further. "The pack would crumble under your rule."

"Sure, it was fine before I showed up, but it would suffer if it was under your rule. I will sacrifice myself to make sure these people get to live a life of freedom. The second my power absorbs into you, you'll slowly start to incinerate. You can't even handle y'all it away from me. What makes you think you're strong enough to use it? I've been mastering it for centuries. You are not going to be able to take in all of my hard work in seconds. I was born with little power, but with each minute of training I did, it grew. Even if you are successful, you'll die because my body has been trained to handle my own power. Your body would crumble under its pressure. If you wanted to take control of this pack, you should've led it beside your mate. It would've been better in the long run. You would be able to mold Malcom into treating his people with disrespect. By the time you have to step off your royal throne, Malcom would've been the splitting image of you and he would continue your horror reign. You were greasy though. The thought of leading the royal pack enveloped you thoughts, dreams, and eventually your life. The sheer power of being queen of all the wolves took over your life. So, you looked into the future and saw what other would get you to be the sole ruler of all of the wolves. It showed you taking my power and defeating everyone. You failed to take into account that other paths were possible. Your greed took over logic and that will lead you to your doom," Nicolette pushed back with all of her energy. Denali grunted and more energy emitted from her.

"You don't know anything, Nicolette. You don't deserve this power. You are nothing," Denali yelled back.

"Unfortunately for you, I'm the monster that controls it," Nicolette growled.

With the rest of her energy, Nicolette pulled her other arm away from the wall and pointed it at Lucas, Seth, and Malcom. Her eyes were shining brighter than ever. The veins to her eyes were black and her fangs were out.

A protective barrier formed around them and Nicolette let out one final scream. Her energy was like electric as it came out of her body. It reflected off of her power in front of her and struck Denali.

"Thank you, for teaching me how to live my life again," Nicolette thanked through the pack link. The sphere of energy began to crack as it was struck by Nicolette's energy.

It happened fast, the ball of energy exploded throughout the room at light speed and destroyed everything, including Denali. As quickly as it blew up, it sucked back into Nicolette's body as she fell to the ground.

———

Malcom watched Nicolette struggling to keep up with her energy loss. He wanted to love and take his mother down but he was still trapped in his own body.

He watched Nicolette out the protective barrier around the three of them and then everything was white. Malcom could suddenly move again.

"Thank you, for teaching me how to live my life again," Nicolette thanked through the pack link. The sphere of energy began to crack as it was struck by Nicolette's energy.

As soon as the room was enveloped in white, it was sucked back into Nicolette's body as she fell. When she hit the ground, the barrier immediately fell. Malcom ran to Nicolette and picked her head up. A tear ran down her face as she took her last breath.

———