Dedicated to: Ariari1004, my 300th subscriber

as well as lilhyung, Cheshta & namjoonbabe for your upvotes~

Also to every single one of my readers who have brought my story up to 10K ILYSM~ Also to every single comment along the lines of "don't you ing dare kill Jungkook, we'll locate you and cut you" You guys are seriously my favorite people.

Enjoy my loves~

T W E N T Y - N I N E

D E A T H: the total and permanent cessation of all the vital functions of an organism

 Too much happened too quickly. I watched in shock as Kaiden limp body dangled from Cade’s closed first, half of his spine was cleaved straight out of his throat, torn out with an abhorrent noise. Cade noticed my gaze on him. He turned to me and allowed a sadistic smile on his face. Throwing his arm out, he flung spinous strand of bone into the forest and dropped Kaiden carelessly. I stared blankly at Kaiden unmoving figure, unable to register anything.

He has a family. I swallowed, desperately praying Kaiden would push himself to his feet and throw a punch in Cade’s direction. Please. He has a son.

He’s dead. My wolf tipped her head back and howled, mourning before I could even accept the loss.

In my arms, Jungkook slumped forward against my neck. I glanced down, catching him against me, but my gaze was ripped back up to stare at my fallen beta. From somewhere, Nicole swore loudly, slamming into Cade and then they were back to grappling on the forest floor.

“Mei,” Mark kneels beside me, ready to help me bring Jungkook back, but I hesitated. I couldn’t leave. Not while my beta lay there on the ground, dead while his murderer still walked the planet. Kaiden had been one of the few to stand by me when I’d resumed Alpha female position after my father, he was one of the few that chose to look past the dark shadow of my father’s tyranny.

What was I going to tell the pack?

“What am I going to tell Jennifer?” I whispered, horrified. There was no doubt his mate could feel the severance of their bond at his death. My heart pounded painfully. Mark glanced over to where my gaze rested and his eyes widened.

“Oh god-” He in a sharp breath and when he turned to me, I could see the pain in his expression. I swiveled my head to where Nicole clashed with Cade, my eyes tracking their movements. They were both equally matched in strength, speed, and ferocity. Nicole’s only advantage was that she struck with a force that was clean and focused that originated from experience in martial arts while Cade used brute force. It was obvious he was used to winning a fight purely by his excelled werewolf traits. Whereas Cade couldn’t get past Nicole’s iron defenses, she was landing hits.

I would only get in Nicole’s way if I interfered, no way in hell would I try that. And yet- my eyes darted back to Kaiden’s fallen figure. I just had to hope she’d be here in time.

“Watch him,” I ordered Mark finally. Reaching forward, I grasp the scuff of a rather sizable werewolf from Cade’s pack and flung him off one of my fighters. “I need time.” I needed to buy time for my backup to get here, but glancing at Jungkook, there was no doubt I was racing against time. He needed treatment, but I couldn’t spare any of my fighters to get him back home.

A few enemy werewolves shifted, noticing that I was still in human form. I quickly found myself surrounded by heavily built, blood-crazed male shifters. A fury exploded in my alpha current, a fury that had been building; first for Jungkook and now for Kaiden. It had been a struggle to keep my wolf from taking control of my body, but the rage was quick to take hold of my human body and shove me into motion.

They moved first, surprisingly fast for such large creatures and my vision shifted blue, not red, blue and I became unaware of my actions other than the fact that I was shattering bone. I was fighting in a daze, refusing to let my wolf take control meant that I had to let the emotion control my body. My limbs moved without registering anything other than my enemy.

“Aaemi-ah,” I detected her scent before hearing her voice. And then the shifters surrounding me were gone and the soft sound of someone landing on the spongy earth of the forest.

“Lee,” I sighed in relief for the first time today as I turned to face my best friend.

Lee’s real name was Kaleesi, but she’d slaughter anyone who called that. I’d met her in ia, she worked under my father for a short amount of time before realizing just how much of a nut job my step-mother was. Only one year older than me, we’d gotten along nicely. She worked as a hitman, rouge since the day she was born, she was an extremely weak shifter which made her weapons an extension of her being.

Lee grinned at me, her delicate Korean features contrasting harshly against the dual blades she spun skillfully in her hands. Her dark hair swung messy ponytail, spilling hair down her back. Her clothes were minimal in order to avoid movement restraining; a pair of black shorts and a strappy black crop top. She looked utterly fearless, not shivering in the frigid temperatures of Oregon. “Long time no see. Which one do you want dead- holy god is that Cade?” Her voice was heavy with disbelief, “Who is he fighting with? What is he doing so far north?” I choked out a laugh.

“Just kill him, okay?” I rolled a sore shoulder out, “Quickly. I think my boyfriend is dying.” Lee had been throwing one of her knives up in the air with the intention of catching it. She almost missed the handle (which I think was for my benefit) pinning me with a look from under her eyelashes. A look mixed with amusement and incredulity. I was almost too mentally drained to roll my eyes. Almost.

“You’ve changed,” Lee flashed me wild grin, “It’s good to see you.” She returned her blades in their sheaths; one in her boot and one in the sheath strapped to her thigh. Reaching into her

hair

, she withdrew a thin piece of metal I almost mistook as a chopstick. Her hair tumbled down to curtain her face, but she didn’t appear to notice.

“This is the last of my wolfsbane,” she says nonchalantly, swinging the metal stick around carelessly, but her eyes stayed trained on Cade and Nicole.

“Don’t miss,” My voice cracked in the most amusing way. Nicole shot me a wide grin as if to say ‘I-never-miss’ but she wouldn’t let such cheesy words out of