"Rei!"

I turn, hearing the shout and see the Healers running towards us.

They weren't here during the battle. We agreed they're too valuable to take the risk of losing. I mean, sure, Serena could keep herself alive for a while if she was injured but she does have a limit at which she becomes too weak to heal and needs a break. They were nearby however, ready to step in when it ended.

"Asher, good to see you," Jordan says, giving Asher a soft smile, which he returns with a polite nod.

"Here, let me see," Serena mumbles, tilting my head to see my cheek. I wince slightly at the unnerving feeling and stinging pain of my skin stitching itself back together, Serena's power healing it. "There we go. It's healed as much as I can heal but I can't get rid of the scar."

I nod, "Thanks, Serena."

"Of course."

She bustles off to help everyone else, Quinn and Amara going with her. Reese, Dexter and Jordan stay with us.

"Everyone alright?" Killian asks, his appearance now back to his own, instead of the redheaded disguise from earlier.

We all nod. Everyone's alright (physically at least), sporting a few injuries but nothing life-threatening.

"So," Dexter says, clapping his hands together, "Should we start cleaning up?"

I look around at the bodies littering the blood-covered snow. We can't just leave them here. We'll need to gather them up, see if anyone knows who they are and wants to claim the body. Otherwise the bodies will be burned and the ashes released to the wind.

Thatcher's rogues have all been captured, the ones who participated in the battle at least. There are still countless other rogue groups around the country but if they didn't show up when Thatcher told them to in an order Daring told me about, then I doubt they want anything to do with Thatcher's previously hidden master plan.

My Royals, Scott, Dean, Four, Max, AJ, Reese, Dexter, Jordan and some of my other rogues start cleaning up, moving the bodies and lying them next to each other a short ways away. Raiden, Daring, River, Hellor, Nick, Drake and Blake stay with Asher and I for a while longer.

"What happens to the kingdom now?" Blake asks.

"I'll be taking over as King," Daring replies, looking around at the captured rogues.

"Is that a good idea?" Raiden says skeptically. "If you're Rogue King, can we truly trust that something like this won't happen again?"

"I believe that destroying the kingdom and giving the rogues complete, unsupervised free reign may eventually build up to something like this," Daring says. "With no one watching their activity, someone could try something without being noticed. You all have other duties as Alphas to attend to and I doubt rogues will answer to you anyway. It's ironic but part of my job was to make sure there were no rebellions or uprisings against Thatcher; I can make sure no one tries to build up a rogue army."

"So you're saying rogue attacks would be completely random, up to the rogue groups to decide like how we believed it was done?" Drake asks.

Daring nods. "Having the attacks is better than having no rogue attacks at all. It keeps everyone's skills sharp, training and sparring can only do so much. You never know what future problems might occur where we'll need to fight. The Kingdom prevents completely insane rogues too. If it helps, I swear to the Moon Goddess that I will do my best to make sure nothing like this ever happens again and I'll willingly work with and report to you with 100% honesty if requested."

Hearing Daring make that unbreakable vow, I can tell the five Alphas relax, putting more trust in the idea of Daring as the Rogue King. That promise—that vow to the Moon Goddess—sets Daring's words in stone.

"Alright," Nick says, accepting Daring as King. He looks at me, "And I'm guessing the Queen will stay active as well?"

"Of course," I reply. "Everything I do can be managed from Moonblood. If you hear any whisper of abuse, neglect, anything, I ask that you contact me. We need as many eyes and ears as we can get to make sure nothing is overlooked."

The four alphas, River, Blake, Drake and Nick, nod, agreeing.

"Now," River says, turning to Asher, "Why did you never say you could do that? That whole beastly, half-wolf shift."

Asher doesn't reply and when I look at him, he's looking down. He doesn't look like he's listening at all and he just looks lost. It's not like him to not be paying attention, especially with something like this.

I place a hand on his arm and he startles, head shooting up. His eyes are wide and his posture is tense as he looks around at us as if having forgotten we were with him.

"What?" he asks in a nervous confusion

"River asked how you managed to shift halfway," I reply gently, seeing the insecure look in his eyes.

Asher shrugs, mumbling with what I think is a faint blush on his cheeks, "I never knew for sure that I could. Theories, yeah, but I never actually tried."

I grasp his hand tightly, "Well, it's a good thing you learnt you could when you did."

Asher nods. His eyes fall to the scar on my cheek, the curved mark made to resemble an extended smile. His fingers brush over it softly, before he cups my cheek, eyes shifting to my lips, hesitating before looking away, head lowered in shame.

"Asher," I say softly, tilting his head up to look at me, "You don't have to be nervous about kissing me. I love you, that will never change. Forever, right?"

My mate's blue eyes search my own red ones, searching for any hint of dishonesty, before he sighs softly and whispers in a pained, barely audible voice, "It's hard, Rei. I need time after... everything."

I nod and kiss his cheek softly, making a small, bashful smile appear on his lips.

"Aww," River says, grinning. "You two are so cute."

"Zaine!"

Drawn by the shout, I look and see, quite far away, Zaine on his knees while Killian throws somebody into a tree before rushing over to Zaine. Feeling dread crawling up my spine, I start running towards them, the others not far behind. I notice Clove, Serena, Quinn and Amara also running towards the two warlocks, Killian now on his knees cradling Zaine.

Skidding to a stop and kneeling next to my best friends, I feel my mind start to go numb as my eyes land on Zaine's stomach, which has been torn open, his blood rushing out onto the slowly melting snow. Everything else just sort of fades and blurs out. All I take in are my two best friends/brothers, one dying while the other cradles him tightly. I feel like my emotions shut down and I'm left feeling numb.

"Why?" Killian whispers, grasping Zaine's hand tightly. "Why would you jump in front of me?"

"That's a stupid question," Zaine whispers, light rapidly draining from his eyes as they start to fall closed, voice growing softer. "I die from saving someone I love and that makes losing my life worth it."

Serena, who had been farther away than us, appears on Zaine's other side, placing her hands on his chest and trying to heal him. His skin mends, leaving a large scar but his eyes remain closed, body still. Slowly, she leans down, placing an ear to Zaine's chest, tears falling from her eyes as she pulls away.

He's gone... Zaine's really gone...

"I... I was too late..." she whispers, ashamed.

"It's... not your fault," Killian says softly, kissing Zaine's forehead before gently lowering his body, a furious glint sparking to life in his eyes. "It's hers."

He stands abruptly, turning to face the person he threw into the tree earlier. My eyes narrow, anger sparking inside me as I recognize her.

Darcy fucking Carson.

We completely forgot about her. She's unconscious, her head likely having slammed back against the tree when Killian yeeted her.

Some of the icy numbness fades, replaced by anger, the desire to rip this fucking bitch apart.

Killian grabs Darcy by the hair, yanking her up. Her eyes snap open and her lips curl into a snarl. When she tries to take a swipe at him with her claws, Killian grabs her wrist, squeezing tightly. He throws her back when she tries to punch him with her other arm and her back hits the tree again.

Clove and I stand on either side of Killian, ready to grab Darcy if she tries to run, though we're unneeded as Killian could easily catch her with his speed. We all want her to feel as much pain as possible and I have a feeling that Killian will end up killing her quickly if she tries to run.

"And this," I hear Daring say to the others, "Is why you better move to a completely different dimension if you piss off the Royals. As they themselves say, never mess with the Royals. You'll feel the flames of hell before you even get there."

Darcy blinks, looking a little dazed as she lifts her head to look at us, standing in front of her, ready to send her to hell slowly and painfully.

Darcy stands up slowly and lets a smirk grace her lips, one that says she doesn't regret what she did and that's what sets Killian off. He lunges at her, holding nothing back as he beats her bloody, making sure to keep her alive and conscious. Darcy tries to fight back but I don't think she stands a chance against a heartbroken and pissed Killian Ranger.

I feel a push in my mind and instantly reach out, knowing it's Zaine's spirit.

I feel like someone should stop him, he mumbles, referring to Killian, But I'm enjoying it way too much. Don't let the others hear, let's not distract them.

She deserves it, I reply. There's no way she was getting out alive... What happened?

We were moving bodies when I saw her sneaking up on Flash out of the corner of my eye, Zaine says softly. I can tell he misses Killian as much as Killian misses him. And when she went to lunge, everything just... disappeared. Fighting back didn't matter, I just wanted to keep him safe, even if it meant my life. I didn't know if I'd get between them in time, I didn't... I didn't have my bat and I didn't think of fighting her... He sniffles and I can tell he's crying. I just wanted to make sure Killian didn't get hurt, because if she got him with his back turned, it would have been him in my place and I wouldn't allow that.

I glance to where I had been with the others when Darcy attacked, where Zaine's bat rests on the snow, the metal spikes reflecting the sunlight back at me.

She must've tried to attack Killian because of his skill and how dangerous he is, and because she wouldn't have been able to get to me, I say softly, making Zaina give a soft hum of agreement. Well, you've gotten your bearings fairly quickly. It takes most people an hour or two to make sense of things in the afterlife.

Zaine snorts quietly, I'm just that awesome. I would appear as a spirit but Mum says it's best to wait a few hours after death or else I'd feel really sick, like holy-shit-I-want-to-die-again sick. And she won't let me if I tried. As much as I want to appear, an angry Mama is not something I want to face so soon after seeing her again.

I smile softly at the mention of how he found his mom's spirit. I'm not sure why but she's never tried reaching out to me to talk to Zaine at all.

I hear a crack and see Killian's broken one of Darcy's fingers and is now focusing on breaking the remaining nine, Clove holding the bitch down for her brother while everyone else does nothing but watch, expressions cold and hard.

Fucking hell, they can be really scary, Zaine mumbles. But I love 'em. Strange like a sister, just to be clear.

If it was in a different way, you'd have to deal with a jealous Killian and Raiden, I reply, smiling softly, stepping back to sit next to Zaine's body, closing my eyes.

Asher sits next to me, I know it's him because of the sparks that appear as he takes my hand.

Do you know how weird it is to look down at your own body lying on the ground? Zaine says.

No, but I can imagine.

There's a short pause before Zaine whispers sadly, I know you have your dad to consider but Rei, I don't want my life to end like this. I want to stay with you guys and keep being a lovable pain in the ass.

Bring him back, Dad says, joining in the conversation. It's worth more to revive him than it is to revive me.

But Dad... I say softly.

No buts, Rei, he replies. Zaine has more years to live than I do. And I'd end up lonely soon enough anyway.

Why? Zaine asks in confusion.

Dad hesitates, then whispers, Carrie... Has cancer. It's terminal, it's been getting worse over the last two months.

I thought werewolves don't get cancer, Zaine says, confused.

We can, Dad replies quietly, It's just not as common among us as it is among humans, witches and warlocks. There is a form of the disease our bodies aren't immune to. And even if your witch healer could help, Zaine still has more of his life to live.

Alright, I whisper. I'll contact the Moon Goddess.

Already here, her light voice echoes in my head. I may, or may not, have been eavesdropping. Well, watching your life with my sister, Fate. She insisted we watch the battle together with popcorn.

Now that's the kind of divine being I aspire to be, Zaine says.

I'll tell her you said that, Selene, the Moon goddess replies. She'll like that. So, we're bringing Zaine back to life?

Yeah, I say. I'm sure.

I'm just gonna quickly say bye to Mum first, Zaine says, his presence disappearing from my mind.

Selene vanishes too and I know she'll revive Zaine when he's ready.

I love you, Dad, I say softly.

I love you too, Rei, he replies. Forever.

He too fades away, leaving me smiling softly.

My eyes open slowly. I didn't notice the headache creeping up on me from using my power but now I take heed of the pain that decided to take up residence in my skull.

Killian and Clove are still beating up Darcy, who might have more broken bones than the total number of people I'm sure she's opened her legs to.

Giving Asher a quick peck on the cheek, I get up and move to stand next to Clove, who's holding Darcy down with her arms above her head while Killian sets his attention on making her feel more pain than she's ever felt in her life while Darcy hisses and screams.

"We should put the Royals' mark on her," Clove says lowly. "It's been a while since we've done that and we're definitely not ashamed of torturing this bitch and letting everyone who sees her soon-to-be-dead body know that it was us who killed her. I say we put the mark of the Rogue Queen on her."

I nod, agreeing. I should probably wait until my headache fades but fuck it, I'll just regret doing it now after it's done.

Summoning a small flame on the tip of my finger, I press against Darcy's shirt at her side, letting the flames spread. I let them burn away the lower part of her shirt, then turn to the revealed skin, making the flames into a pattern, the crown surrounded by thorns, the same as the tattoo on my shoulder that the author had mostly forgotten about.

Darcy screams and grimaces as the orange tongues of flame dance on her skin.

I let the flames go out once the image is burned into her flesh, appearing as red marks against Darcy's pale skin as if made by a branding iron. Then I slash three of my claws across the burn, making the claw marks that complete the mark.

"Huh, nice touch," Zaine says, leaning over my shoulder, peering at the mark.

"What the—" Clove starts.

"Oh come on, did you not think there was a chance she would bring me back?" Zaine accuses sassily.

As Zaine starts to look at Killian, Killian grabs him and traps him in his arms, hugging him tightly. Zaine wraps his arms around Killian's neck, hugging him back. I can hear them whispering soft 'I love you's' and such.

I feel arms wrap around me and I lean my head back against Asher's chest, placing a hand on his arm around my waist. I can tell this relaxes him and I realize he must still be hesitant in touching me at all. Yet even though he may not be as confident, I still feel completely safe in his arms. Hearing a laugh nearby, I see Raiden has Clove in his arms, kissing her softly.

"Oh this is so sweet, I'm gonna puke," Darcy groans, "Just kill me already."

"Gladly," Zaine replies, glaring down at her.

"How the hell are you even alive?" Darcy spits. "Sell your fucking soul to the devil? Wouldn't put it past you."

Zaine pulls away from Killian and crouches down next to her head, grabbing her hair and yanking her up. "Well, whore," he says, smiling in a sickly sweet way, a way that matches his dark voice, "The dead don't always stay dead. Besides, I've never been very good at following the rules, rules of nature and life included."

Zaine releases Darcy's hair, letting her head fall back down. He stands up and starts singing softly, eerily.

"Ring around the rosie

Pocket full of posies

Ashes, ashes

We all fall down."

As he says down, he stomps on Darcy's stomach, causing her to grimace and gasp. He crouches down again and wraps his hands around her throat, choking her.

"Ring around the rosie

What do you suppose we

can do to fight the darkness

in which we drown?"

Releasing her throat, Zaine stands once again, watching Darcy take big gasps of air.

"Ring around the rosie

This evil thing, it knows me

Lost ghosts surround me

I can't fall down."

Zaine stomps on her face, pressing her head down against the snow, a cruel smirk on his lips.

"I say we strangle it," he says, not even referring to Darcy as a her. "Take away its oxygen until it takes away its life as well. May not seem like much but not being able to breathe when your body is begging for air..."

"It's your choice," Killian says, making Clove and I nod agreement.

"Never am I gonna make you guys this mad," Asher mumbles.

"Don't worry, this level of pissed is reserved for bitches like this," Zaine says, gesturing to Darcy.