Chaos sprung forth in the clearing as hunters raised their rifles, poised to wipe the Wolf Queen and King off the face of the earth.

Ambrose hovered over Calypso's sprawled form, a golden knife clutched in his shaking hand. Before a single shot could be fired, hundreds of wolves descended. Far more than Visena had expected. It all made sense when she saw a few familiar Alpha's, and she could have kissed Gideon.

Not the time! He scolded.

Carina's small wolf zipped through the hunters crunching through wrist bones, disarming hunters with violent speed. Visena felt a rush of love for the Colombian Alpha that had first shown her kindness.

Veronika and Cillian from Europe appeared next, looking a mixture of feral and ecstatic. Their wolves rounded up a group of disarmed hunters before tearing their fingers off.

No more itchy trigger fingers.

Akabe, Nairi's first Alpha, jumped clear over the heads of a cluster of hunters and slammed into the body of a man cornering one of the Praelia wolves.

Folami and Alheri from Nigeria and a familiar brown wolf stalked out of the dark trees. Jed?

We're here for you, Vi! Jed's voice shouted down the mind link along with a chorus of others.

Visena's mind was flooded with the adoration from the different packs, almost taking her off her feet. Disarm them if you can. Kill them if you must! She sent back, rushing to her sister's aid.

The growls, yips and tearing of flesh signalled they had heard her.

"Ambrose, stop!" She tried to scream over the din, but she wasn't fast enough.

His knife plugged towards Calypso's throat, and she vaguely heard Ambrose cry, "They have Sybil. I'm sorry!" Before his body froze, and the knife dropped uselessly to the earth next to her.

Visena hardly registered Mihnea standing beside the ancient Witch. His sharpened nails dripped with black sludge, as Ambrose's head slid off his neck and thumped at his twitching feet. Mihnea pushed the headless form away from his lover, and it crumpled on the ichor drenched floor.

A strange mixture of relief and regret flooded her system, looking at the dead Witch who had helped her many times before. It seemed like there was something that forced his hand. Or someone.

Mihnea reached his arm out to Calypso and smiled sadly, "Need a hand, my love?"

She readily accepted his outstretched hand, pulling herself to her feet. "Did it work, Vi?"

Her shout drew Visena from her thoughts, and she responded, "I think so!"

"Then let's end this!"

The trio turned to face the crowd when Mara's undulating form caught Visena's attention. Her visage shimmered, and as if a mask had been pulled away, Visena saw a completely different face. What the fuck? Her brunette features had morphed into mousy blonde and blue-eyed, snub-nosed giant. She was particularly menacing. Teiv and the twins didn't change, though.

"They were glamoured! That's not the real Mara!" Rebekah zoomed up to the Fae with a grimace. "I knew something was up! That bitch is a hunter!"

"The Hunters are in control of the Human Council then." Visena realised aloud. "Figures."

The Wolves had successfully disarmed most of the humans and suffered a few casualties. Still, every Wolf death was like a needle in Visena's heart.

She let herself breathe for a moment when the thundering blades of machinery returned, and hundreds of humans descended. "Holy fuck!"

The clearing was overrun. Fighting had spread across every inch of the open space, on the building sites and through the forest. The sun had finally dipped out of sight, and visibility became harder for the humans, not the Wolves.

The Vampires hissed and darted out of the trees, assassinating and feeding to their heart's content. It was the first time they had fed so recklessly straight from the vein in a long while. Mihnea disarmed large hoards with compulsion as Calypso immobilised them with a spell.

Mara, or the Hunter who had used her image, cut through wolves and Vampire alike to reach the Fae. Visena sent out her magic to stop her, but she kept on prowling forward. "Cold Iron, exoskeleton armour. Your pathetic magic won't work on me if that's what you're trying to do," she shouted, shooting a silver bullet into a blonde wolf's skull.

"What is your endgame, huh? Extinction? What good would that even do?" Visena shouted right back, eyes blazing. She had never felt more furious; her vision sharpened, but not as it did when she shifted into a wolf; it was something else. She could almost see the energy trails that the moving bodies left in their wake.

"The power you have is almost limitless and dangerous, and I don't like to feel weak," Mara replied, levelling the gun in Visena's face. "Your power over these creatures is a threat to all humankind."

"Fuck humankind, and fuck you."

Rippling energy buzzed beneath her kevlar suit and rubbed uncomfortably. One look at her hands, and she realised her Fae form had come out to play. Azure scales shimmered across her exposed skin, and her nails lengthened into sharp silver points. She imagined her eyes were the colour of pitch as she stared down the sneering Hunter. I may not be able to use my magic, but I sure as shit will fight.

"Disgusting," Mara growled as the Fae hissed and lifted her guard. The hunter's trigger finger moved, and Visena dropped lightning-fast, thrusting her foot into the other woman's stomach. She hunched forward over her boot, and Visena grabbed the gun while simultaneously slicing through the tendons on her right wrist. She wouldn't be firing that again any time soon.

Mara screamed and latched onto Visena's charcoal braids, stopping the Fae's movement and whipping her neck backwards painfully. Visena twisted and yanked her hair back when her feet were swept from beneath her by another hunter. Gideon darted in and grabbed the hunter by the throat, throwing him across to a group of Vampires. "Move, Vi!"

Mara went to stomp on Visena's head as she rolled towards her mate. Gideon picked up the long-forgotten gun and jammed it against Mara's face. His other hand clawed around her throat. "Sit down, or die!" His growl had other Wolves turning their heads fearfully in his direction. "Tie her up," he shouted, and the Vampires swooped in to restrain the now kneeling Mara. Her perpetual grin infuriated the Fae, as did the intervention of her mate.

"Vi, are you okay? I think the Fae Queen was wrong. You look like a fucking dragon right now,"

Gideon's half-smile had her fury cooling slightly. Then, her frustration turned to gratitude.

"There's my girl," he hummed, kissing her forehead.

Her hands had returned to their regular fleshy texture and she was relieved. Whatever form she was in, had made her murderous. She wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

Two pained growls redirected Gideon's and Visena's attention in different directions. "Go help Jed; I'll help Thyra!" The pair split and ran towards the cries.

Thyra's ebony wolf was being choked by one of the Council twins, her whining and twitching limbs signalling she was almost gone.

"Get off her, you murdering bastard." Visena drove her shifted nails straight into the twin's eyes, and he reared his head back with a heinous scream. Thyra gasped and growled as she shook off the unconsciousness and charged at the blinded man, still screaming. She quickly silenced the sound with a resounding crunch through his neck and a rip of his vocal cords. The twin gargled and choked on his blood until he was dead.

An identical scream sounded behind the Fae as the surviving twin went to plunge a silver knife into her back. Thyra pounced into Visena's side, throwing her from harm's way and received the blow herself. The widening eyes and forced shift left no room for uncertainty. Visena moved on autopilot, ripping the human's heart from his chest like she had done to Zeir all those months ago. She threw it to the side as she dropped to her knees next to the former Praelia Alpha, bundling her in an embrace.

"Thyra? No. You're okay. You're okay."

"Shh, shh," her voice wobbled. "I'm sorry, it wasn't.... your fault. It- It wasn't. She lo- loved you, Qu-Queen Visena." Then, with one last pained smile, all tension left her face, and her body went limp in Visena's arms.

~~~

A/N