I was able to keep the werewolves off of me, but only just barely. They were bigger and stronger than I was and a pitchfork certainly was not an ideal weapon of choice at this precise moment, but it was all that I had.

I held my ground as they circled and snapped at me. If they all rushed me at once, I would be a goner, but for some reason, they were keeping their distance.

"Kill her, now!" Keller boomed from the other side of the barn.

I gripped the pitchfork so tightly that the wood bit into my skin as I braced myself for the inevitable.

My heart flew to my throat as the barn doors flew open, the force of the blow, knocking them off the hinges.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it was Rook who came crashing through the doors. He stood there in wolf form, his eyes scanning the area until they rested on their target, me. His eyes softened instantaneously when he saw me.

To everyone else he was a vicious sight with blood dampening his fur and maw, but to me he was my life line.

Keller took a step backwards, gaining Rook's attention. Rook bent low and growled, ready to pounce at any moment.

"It's seems you have a choice to make, alpha." Keller's mutated werewolf voice growled, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand.

"Do you kill me or do you save your precious mate?"

Rook's eyes focused on me again as the werewolves around me ventured closer. I knew immediately who he was going to choose.

"Don't you dare, Rook. You end him, now!" I yelled.

One of the werewolves swiped at me when my attention was on Rook. I hissed and jumped back as its sharp claws cut into the flesh of my forearm.

Rook lost it at that moment and my heart fell as he rushed towards me and Keller slipped closer to the door.

"This isn't over, Rook. We meet tomorrow at dusk at Dante's Point. That is if you are brave enough for what is coming."

Keller's wicked laugh would haunt me in my nightmares for the rest of my days. He slipped out of the barn and was gone before I could even take a step towards him.

Rook tore into the werewolf to my side as I stabbed the one in front of me with the pitchfork. I ducked as the third one snapped at my face, but before I even had a chance to react, Rook had him on the ground, his teeth around his neck.

My body shook all over as adrenaline pumped through my veins. I did not relinquish the death grip I had on the pitchfork until Rook turned back into his human form and pried it from my fingers.

He tossed it to the ground and crushed me to his chest. We both stood there hanging onto each other like our lives depended on it. I breathed in a ragged breath as I buried my face in his chest.

"I thought I had lost you."

Rook's voice was deep with emotion, which made warm tears slide down my cheek.

"I thought I lost you, Keller said he killed you."

Rook took my face between the palms of his hands and made me look up at him. He carefully wiped the tears from my eyes with his thumbs.

"He'll have to try a lot harder than that to take me away from you." He said with a sly smile.

Warmth blossomed in my chest at his words as he bent down and kissed me.

"Salty, but nice." He joked and lifted up my injured arm.

A deep growl rumbled in his chest as he looked at the jagged lines marring my skin.

"Its just a flesh wound, nothing serious." I assured him.

"Alpha!" I tensed as Leo came through the door, roughly pulling Diana in behind him.

I took a step towards her with every intention of wiping her from the face of the earth, but Rook pulled my back flush against his chest and pinned me there by wrapping his arm around my waist.

"Easy, love." He whispered in my ear.

Frustration welled in my chest like a tidal wave, but I waited just as he asked as they got closer.

"I think you should hear what she has to say." Leo said and shoved her in front of him.

Diana stared at the ground, too ashamed to look at us.

"I'm so sorry, Rook." She whimpered. "Keller turned us all into these monsters."

I wanted to snap her head from her shoulders, but Rook had a vice grip around my midsection.

"How is it possible for him to turn a lycan into a werewolf?" Rook stared at her, his eyes glowing with anger.

"I don't know. He overpowered me in his werewolf form and bit me. I instantly felt the most severe pain I had ever felt in my entire life, so much so that I passed out. When I came too, I was this monstrosity."

A tear slid down her face, putting a slight crack in my resolve.

"He's been turning both human and lycans into werewolves for months. The werewolf numbers are now close to a thousand."

At that precise moment, I was glad Rook held me in his arms. I was pretty sure I would have fell to my knees in shock from what she just said. I figured that he had turned his entire clan, but a thousand werewolves was beyond my minds ability to process.

I looked back at Rook, I was sure my facial expression betrayed my fear, but at the moment it could not be concealed.

"Do you think she is telling the truth?" I said barely above a whisper, hoping that somehow this entire ordeal was just a nightmare and that I would wake up at any second.

"It has to be for Keller to be brave enough to challenge me at Dante's Point tomorrow. He must figure that his numbers are so great that he cannot possibly lose."

My heart sank a little deeper in my chest at his words and I slumped into his strong hold.

"Leo, send as many as you can to round up all the lycans from all the other surrounding packs. Maybe if the packs can come together on this, we might have a snowball's chance in hell of coming out of this alive."

A snowballs chance in hell didn't sound like much of chance to me. I gulped as my throat became particularly dry.

"I'll help, me a few others who were changed against our will."

Diana spoke up and I was tempted to tell her where she could shove her help, but at this point I didn't think it would be particularly smart to turn down any help. This was no longer a fight between werewolf and lycan, this was a fight against werewolf and all of humankind. If they won and Keller was able to go on turning whoever or whatever into werewolves, all of humanity would be doomed.

I carefully eased myself away from Rook's embrace and took a deep breath.

"What is it?" Rook asked, not allowing me to get too far from him.

"You said we need all the help we can get and there is only one other who is as good at killing werewolves as a lycan."

I paused as Rook's face instantly darkened. He knew what I was going to say and I could tell he didn't like it.

"Who?" Diana chimed in and looked from me to Rook.

"The Hunters."