It was a shame it all ended the way it did. It's funny to think that if only a few aspects of my life would have been avoided, none of this would have happened, and my life wouldn't have to come to this.

Death.

It's a simple five letter word, but it's buried with emotions deeper than we could imagine. Such a little word yet such a huge impact changing the lives of so many people, in good and bad ways.

Different people mean so many different things to an individual, yet when it's time for death to strike, somewhere in the world someone will feel the one thing that others might not. Pain.

Life hadn't been the best for me, yet I had the chance to experience it all. Should I be thankful to my mother despite the kind of life I had? Perhaps not. Then why was it that despite everything, somewhere deep down I felt the pain of the bond that remained between us by a thread break forever. Perhaps it was because there was no one left to call family.

Of course, I had Ryan, Jane, Andrew, Emilia, James and every other person I was greatful for having met in my life, but somehow it still managed to hurt, even if it was just a tiny sting in my heart, it still hurt.

Love.

Another small word with such a large emotion buried in the depths of it. Believe me, I despised my mother with everything I had for the hell she put me through, but there was a time she did love me. Or was it all just part of my imagination?

The fact that I didn't know the answer to that rhetorical question was perhaps what hurt the most.

My mother was dead, and it was all done. Every member involved in giving birth to me was gone, and I had officially been left alone. Then why didn't I feel lonely?

I would never know.

I felt my senses taking over, my brain returning to the state of my present.

My hands still held the gun aimed in the direction in which she was.

My eyes fell on the corpse lifeless on the floor, a large bullet wound piercing the very center of her head as her eyes remained wide and open staring at the ceiling.

Had I pulled the trigger? My hands lowered, my eyes moved behind me, where I saw Ryan with a gun in his hand, pointed straight at where my mother was, one of his hands covering a chunk of blood leaking from his lower abdomen.

So it hadn't been me to pull the trigger.

Instinctively, I dropped my gun to the floor dashing towards Ryan to help him.

I found myself ripping clothing off my mum and covering him up as well as pressuring his wound wordlessly.

"Elisabeth-"

"I'm fine" I spat, my eyes not meeting his as I continued to attend to his injury.

"Elisabeth-"

"I said I'm fine Ryan" I snapped again, my eyes meeting his finally.

"No you're not" he replied instantly, contradicting my words.

"What do you want me to say Ryan? That I'm broken, or that I'm full of grief? Or-"

"How about the truth?" he interrupted "Why is it so hard for you to just open up to me? I'm supposed to be your mate, someone who is there for you, who supports you, who understands you. Why do you keep rejecting something like that? It's not wrong to feel Elisabeth! It's not wrong to let go of your emotions damn it!" He exclaimed.

That's when I felt it.

I felt it all coming back to me. Every emotion, every feeling I had lacked throughout my life, rushing back in that one sentence.

It had never occurred to me that I was human too, and that it was never wrong to feel, then why did I compress those emotions all these years? What was I so afraid of?

Isolation.

That was the answer. I had never had anyone I could have let go of my emotions to. Was it trauma that triggered this or just shame? I would never know, but perhaps it was time to let go.

I remained motionless for a few seconds before I made a decision.

I leaned over, dropping my lips on Ryan's, my hands cupping his face. In less than an instant his mouth responded, moving perfectly against mine. Our mouths opened, letting each other in to explore. Tingles spread through my whole body, making me feel absolutely... magical.

It was only when the both of us were out of air we pulled away, our heads leaning on one another's our eyes closed as we caught our breaths.

"Thank you" I whispered in the darkness.

"For what?" he asked me, his eyes opening. I opened my own eyes, looking straight at him.

"For shooting her"

His hand came up, cupping my cheek.

"I don't want you to thank me, just let me in." I nodded, a small smile appearing on my face.

"Why did you come here? After everything I –"

"I knew you weren't going home El, so I followed you, I wanted to make sure you were okay. When I got here and saw what was going on, I shifted" I nodded once again.

"Where did you get the gun?" he chuckled at my question.

"You're not the only one who carries a gun you know?"

"Well mate, this ain't America. You're not allowed to carry a gun on the streets of London, it's illegal." I stated plainly.

"Well as long as no one knows about it I am safe"

"I am a cop you know?" he chuckled slowly, a minute of silence covering the atmosphere until I realised something else. "Why aren't you healing?" I questioned, briefly glancing down at this injury.

"She stabbed me with a silver knife. It takes longer for werewolves to heal from silver inflicted wounds" I nodded, returning my eyes to his.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Well, how about some Nandos take away and a nice movie in my hotel room?"