When Max and I reach the backyard of his house, both of our parents come rushing out into the dark. Max slips off of my back and I shift back into my human form. I know our parents want to know what's happened, but the first thing I do is throw my arms around Max. He had the same idea, because his arms were already pulling me to him.

I bury my face in the crook of his neck, and I burst into tears.

"Oh B," he says quietly, stroking a hand gently through my hair and down my back.

"I missed you so much," I bawl, my voice muffled. I don't ever want to let go.

"I missed you too. So much. This were the hardest two weeks of my life. I'm never doing that again. Ever."

"I'm not letting you."

"Please don't."

I laugh, and I pull away so I can look closer at his face. He keeps his arms tightly around my back so I'm still pressed against his body, and I'm not complaining.

His bruises are slightly better than they were a few hours ago when I first say him, but they're not healing as fast as I know they should. I run a gentle finger over the bruise under his right eye, and he winces. "Max," I say, and the pain I feel for him is so clear in my voice even I hear it. "What did they do to you? Why isn't it healing?"

"Some potion they had. It stops me from healing at my usual rate."

I stand up on my toes and barely press my lips to the bruise. "I'm sorry," I whisper.

"Don't be. I would do it again in a heartbeat to protect the two of you." I smile at the mention of our baby, and once again bury my face into his neck. His smell is intoxicating and I don't ever want to leave from his embrace.

I hear our parents finally approach us, and I turn around to face them. My back is right up against his chest, and he repositions his arms so they're wrapped loosely around my stomach. "Where are Hayden and Mara? They turned around as soon as they got here," Lacey asks.

"They're okay." I explain to the four of them what happened, from my talk with Arden and Athena to now. They remain silent as I explain, keeping their questions for the very end. When I finish, Max presses a kiss to my forehead, and I know me and him are going have an even more in depth talk about this later.

"Wait," my dad says, shaking his head as if to clear out the unnecessary information. "So let me get this straight. You got a book all about hybrids from Alden, found a mixture that is toxic for hybrids, got the ingredients while Mara and Hayden came back to help you, made this toxic mixture, lured the hybrids to our backyard, set our house on fire with the mixture mixed in with the gasoline to make the air toxic for the hybrids, somehow turned your vampire side off so it wouldn't be toxic for you, and left to bring Max to safety while Mara and Hayden stayed behind to kill the the hybrids now that they were weakened?"

I nod, wanting to laugh at how absolutely ridiculous it sounds.

"Well, that's one way to do it," Rick says, and I really do burst out laughing. So does everyone else.

"Well, I'm just glad you guys are okay," Lacey says, and my dad wraps an arm around her. Julie nods, and she approaches both Max and I and wraps us in a hug.

When she pulls away, I ask, "Where are the kids?"

"They're all downstairs watching a movie," she responds, but Violet, Ryder, Lexi, and Levi come outside right as she says this. When Lexi sees me, she bolts in my direction. She wraps her arms around me, and Max releases me so I can hug her back.

"You did it," she says quietly.

"I did it," I respond, holding her close. Violet joins our hug, wrapping her arms around both of us.

"So it's over?" she whispers.

"It's over," I confirm, and I pull away. I pull Ryder and Levi each into a hug, glad that we were able to get them all away from the pack lands safely. "Our house is gone, though," I say to them all since they missed the explanation of what happened. "I had to burn it down to take out the hybrids."

I watch as the faces of four of my siblings fall at the thought of our house being reduced to ashes. We were all raised in that house for our entire lives, and it held so many memories and stories of our family.

"It's completely gone?" Violet asks quietly, wiping away a loan tear that starts rolling down her cheek. I nod, feeling Max slip his hand into mine.

"Where are Hayden and Mara?" Ryder asks, and he's scanning the area when I turn my gaze to him.

"They stayed behind to take out the hybrids. They should be back soon," I tell him.

"So where are we going to live now?" Lexi asks, looking at my dad and Lacey.

"The pack house," my dad responds. "We'll start building a new house soon."

I start to sense Hayden and Mara from a distance, their scent's getting stronger each seconds that passes. I move back into Max's arms, taking my hand out of his grip so I can wrap my arms around his waist. I relax my cheek against his chest, listening to the soft beating of his heart as he holds me close. He plants a delicate kiss to my hair before resting his chin on top of my head.

This is what I missed the most when he was gone. Not the teasing, not the kisses, not the making love, not the goofy moments we endlessly shared. The thing I missed most is when we would silently hold onto each other and only focus on the fact that we were with each other.

We hold each other like that until Hayden and Mara emerge from the woods into Max's back yard. They both look a little beaten up but otherwise healthy. Hayden looks mostly relieved and victorious, but Mara doesn't look any happier than when I saw her at the house.

"That bastard got away," she hisses, and I know immediately that she's referring to Kai. "He was stronger than the rest of them. The fumes from the fire still weakened him, but he was able to escape before it was deadly."

I don't feel as worried as I should. It's two hybrids against one, now. Max and I will easily be able to track him with Mara's help, and we can lock him up in one of the pack cells after hybrid-proofing it. Maybe we'll even be able to get more information out of him.

"So we'll find him," I say simply.

Mara's face contorts to rage at my words, but I don't flinch. I don't blame her for the amount of anger she's feeling.

I would be just as furious if my mate turned out to be a mass murder who wanted to take over the supernatural world.