The sky above faded from a light blue to a black. I didn't know if this wolf had just been dragging me for so long that it was already nighttime, if I had lost too much blood and was hallucinating, or if I had been shifting in and out of consciousness.

Twigs dug into my backside, cutting right through my clothing. My leg had gone numb some time ago. My bloodied fingers laid lifelessly at my sides. Yet all I could think about was seeing Ares again.

Please, Moon Goddess, give me something. A memory. A flashback. A fucking hallucination for all I cared. I wanted to see his boyish smile in the stars and his twinkling brown eyes. I wanted to run my hands through his hair and tell him I loved him again and again and again. I wanted to mark him... something that I would never get a chance to do.

Because if Ares didn't die in that Hound attack, this Hound would surely kill me.

His teeth were still sunk deep in my flesh, deep enough so that no blood even trickled out of my wound. The wolf started up a steep hill, and I gazed down at the trees below. In the distance, the sign for the Pink Moon Tavern glowed faintly.

The forest seemed eerily familiar, yet my mind was so fuzzy I wasn't sure if those pink neon letters were actually real or if they were just a figment of my imagination. Hell, I might be dead already... because wherever he was taking me was going to be hell itself. And, if I made it out alive and walked back to Mom's pack... I doubt I'd be able to tell the difference between Hell and Earth. They were going to be too many dead bodies.

When the wolf reached the top of the hill, he pulled me inside of a cave. And, suddenly, I knew where I was. This cave... was the same one that Jeremy and I used to go to. It was the same one that Jeremy told Elijah he loved him. The same one Elijah said had been taken over by Hounds.

Was this all some sick joke? Did Tony tell him to take me here to torture me? What did I do in this lifetime to deserve this?

He dragged me toward the back and leaned me against one of the rocks. It was messy on the inside, yet looked exactly like a Hound hideout. Piles of dirt for wolves to lie on to sleep. Some rotting meat in the corner of the cave. The nasty stench of shit piled up near me.

For the first time today, I could see the wolf that had taken me. Matted, ratty fur. Dull, dead eyes. Teeth dulled. He gazed at his puncture wounds in my wrist, then at my leg--moving closer to me.

I pulled my knees to my chest and stared at him, my eyes widening in realization. He was the same wolf that had saved me the other day from Jeremy's killer. My heartbeat in my chest. What was going on? Why was he saving me? Was he saving me?

He whimpered softly, nudging at my leg. Feeling relieved that I could trust him--even if it was just a bit--I slowly inched my leg down the ground, watching the blood ooze out of it. I scrunched my nose at the foul stench and the raw muscle. The wolf licked my leg, right over the wound.

My leg jerked up, and I grasped it--a stinging sensation shooting through my entire body. He growled at me, and I placed my leg back onto the ground, watching a thin layer of skin heal over my wound. My eyes widened in amazement, and I held out my wrist for him to do the same. He shifted his head down and licked my wrist too.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked, softly, rubbing my wrist. I didn't know if he could understand me; Hounds didn't typically shift into humans at all. They were regular, rogue wolves on fucking steroids or something.

He lowered his head, almost in submission, and that's when I saw it. Under his fur in his neck, something glowed the faintest color white. My eyes widened, and I drew my fingers across the back of my neck, feeling the stone underneath.

"You... you have the stone..." I said, my words coming out as mere breaths. "That's why you're helping me?" I drew my brows together. "Wh-what are... Who are you?"

He turned on his heel and walked to the front of the cave, gazing down the hill as if he was watching and waiting. If he had the stone... that meant we didn't need Tony for anything, if he died, he died. But... who the hell was this guy? Did the stone connect us? We each had half inside of us... did that draw him to me?

"What do you use it for?" I asked, hoping that he'd give me some indication that he could understand me, but instead he continued to ignore me. I crossed my arms over my chest, brows furrowed together, thinking.

In the distance, I heard the cries of my pack--both my old one and my new one. They were being slaughtered by his kind.

I pressed my lips together. I had to do something about it. I couldn't just wait here until the end of my days. So, after grasping onto any part of the rockwall that I could, I stood and hobbled toward the exit. The wolf turned around, baring his teeth at me, the foam dripping from his mouth. I swallowed hard but continued forward, needing to help my mate and my pack.

He growled again and stood in front of the cave in a menacing manner. While he didn't make eye contact with me, he lowered his head and stared right at my hips, watching my every move.

"I need to go help my friends," I said, stepping forward. My mind became fuzzy, little stars appearing in my vision.

He stepped toward me, and I stumbled back and fell right onto my ass. I hit the ground with a thud and grasped my wounds, a searing pain shooting up my limbs. I felt helpless. Absolutely helpless... just like Mom had thought I'd be. I couldn't even make it past a stupid Hound who was locking me in this damn cave. How could I ever lead? Who would follow me?

Now that Ares's whole pack knew my secret, everyone would hate me even more. Ares might've loved me... but I would never be able to lead his pack, especially when he was gone. I would be useless. They might even throw me out and abandon me.

I wrapped my arms around my body and cried as loud as everyone outside was howling. I cried for Ares. I cried for Charolette. I cried for Dad. I cried for me. Never stopping once. Never letting up.

The wolf just stared at my body and turned away from me, completely uninterested in dealing with a crazy, crying alpha.

After a good hour, the sun descended in the sky and the forest darkened. The dim lights from Pink Moon Tavern glowed brightly through the trees. I stared at the entrance, hearing the last and loudest shriek of the night, then everything became completely silent.

My wolf cried out with it, recognizing the howl as Ares's voice. It was the last howl that she would ever hear from him and when she was able to run free again, she would curl next to his dead body in the middle of her mother's property and would pray to the Moon Goddess that she would treat him well in the forest in the sky.