35.- The end?

TW: blood, death, and disturbing in some cases

Lupita pov

The days that passed were slow. Lupita spent all her time in bed, recovering from the wolfsbane. And even though she felt better, the people around her refused to let her leave. She wasn't allowed outside, and they barely let her come downstairs. They had even restricted her access to her window which was currently closed. Her interactions with the others were also limited, especially with North and the others as Abeba was unsure if the wolfsbane would transfer like the sickness.

"So I'm guessing you are very bored?" Ambrosia's voice sounded from the phone. Lupita didn't like the device, it had a buzzing sound to it that scratched her ears the wrong way.

"Yes," she answered as she walked around the room. Staying in bed was making her restless and her body buzzed with unused energy. "I want to go outside. I want to run and shift."

"I understand Lu," Ambrosia said and Lupita smiled at the nickname. "But you are still hurting, and no one can keep up with you out there. They are just keeping you safe."

"I will be safe," Lupita said and sat down on her bed.

"Yes, when you are inside, but not with that man and whatever he is doing out there," Ambrosia said. "We don't know if there is more to him, and I don't want you to find out on your own and weak in the forest. I mean, he has had almost a week to recover and plan shit. Who knows what he could do! I can't have you out there while that guy is still walking free. Just stay put until Gulterio figures everything out."

Lupita grumbled and stared out the window toward the brown and withering forest. It should snow soon. It was December, and at least in the north of Norway, where she used to live, there used to be snow around this time. She felt her wolf whine in her head as they stared out, longing for the fresh air, the wind in their fur, and the earth under their paws.

"I could do it," she said in a gruff voice as her wolf made its way to the front of her mind.

"No Lu, you couldn't," Ambrosia sighed over the phone. "I know that might not be what you want to hear, but you can't. You are weak right now and need to rest. Could you stay inside until I come back? It's just a few hours now and then we'll figure something out. But please... try to stay safe."

"I'll try," Lupita said in her own voice and smiled at hearing Ambrosia not ordering her to do anything. "How are you?" The past few days Ambrosia had called daily to check in on her and Lupita always tried to get her to talk about how she was doing but she often dodged the topic and went back to talking about Lupita.

"A lot better," Ambrosia said and Lupita heard something slump onto something soft. "I finally accepted everything. I am ok with staying a vampire if it comes to that. I can finally love me for me and leave my bio parents behind. I connected more with Bela and Gulterio, though, calling them mom and dad is still too weird. And I got to read up on the mate bond and werewolf culture. So... hopefully I'm all caught up. I'll ask you a few questions when I get back, but rest assured, I still want to be with you after all this."

"That's good to hear," Lupita said with a smile. It wasn't the acceptance needed for the mate bond to begin, but it did send a wave of energy through her. "I'm excited to see you."

"Me too," Ambrosia said. "Now, I'm sorry, but I have to call MJ. I promise to go straight to Jazmyn's house when I get back. Now I have to go, bye."

"Bye," Lupita said and felt her smile linger as she heard the small buzz when the call ended. She was actually going to be accepted. She was going to have a mate. She couldn't help the huge smile that grew on her face and the butterflies flying around in her stomach.

The house was silent. People were either at work or school and Lupita was left alone. MJ had enchanted the house so no one could enter, so the next sound caused Lupita to be on high alert. There was knocking on the door downstairs. Rapid knocking. Frantic. Lupita carefully stood up and slowly made her way down the stairs. The knocking became even more frantic as she neared the door and a scent made its way to her nose.

"Lupita, I know you are in here! Please help!"

Alex? Lupita hadn't seen him in ages. Why was he at the door?

"They took Karri! They mentioned you! Please you must know something!" he screamed as he banged on the door.

"Who took him?" Lupita asked from inside as she placed her hand on the doorknob.

"Some vampires! They came to our hut, I managed to get out but they took Karri! I don't know what happened! They just came and went. One of them mentioned you, so I just ran here. I don't know if you can help me, but please help. I know it could be a trap, but I need to get him back." Alex rambled, his voice getting weaker as he spoke. "Please."

Lupita placed her head on the door, her heart hammering in her chest. It was him. It had to be. But would it be a trap? Did he know that Lupita knew Alex?

"Do you know where they took him?" Lupita asked.

"Yeah, I know their scent, and if I lose it I managed to grab a piece of their clothing when I was running away," Alex said, a hint of hope in his voice.

Lupita sighed, she had just told Ambrosia she would be safe. What would she say? She would be mad and so would the others. But Karri could die in there. And so could they. Lupita slowly turned the knob on the door and saw a frantic Alex. His short hair disheveled and his eyes blown wide.

"I'll help," she said and Alex didn't waste a second in taking her hand and storming off into the woods.

They ran for what seemed like hours, Alex stopping to sniff the air and taking quick turns before turning and running another way. This pattern continued until Lupita quickly pushed them both to the ground.

"Why did you-?"

"Shh," Lupita interrupted him and pointed forward. In front of them was a cabin. It was the size of a big house and looked normal. She sniffed the air and confirmed her suspicion. Rouges. "Inside?" Lupita asked as she caught her breath, she hadn't realized how tired she was.

"Yeah," Alex said while furrowing his brows. "But... I don't understand. Why here?"

"Masked man. He is strange," Lupita said taking a big whiff of the air around them. He had been here but wasn't here anymore. The only smell that remained was the rotting smell of rouges. Had they taken him? "He's not here."

"Then we go in," Alex said and began walking toward the house without Lupita being able to stop him.

"Wait," she whispered and carefully followed after him the hair on her neck standing as she neared the house. She had spent years trying to escape the man, and now she was walking right into his house. The only comforting factor was that he wasn't home. She couldn't feel his presence, but the lingering rotten smell in the air still made the hair on her neck stand up and her ears twitch.

"I'm saving my mate Lupita. No, I won't wait," he said grabbing the door handle. The door opened without an issue.

"It could be a trap," Lupita whisper-yelled as she slowly followed him inside.

"There aren't," Alex said and walked around the house. "They came and left."

Lupita knew he was right, she could smell it. They came and went, but Karri's smell was all over the house. He was still here. The rouge smell was also inside the house, and Lupita took notice of the blood-stained walls and floors. As she walked further into the house, passing what seemed like it used to be a cozy living room with brown and green colors, was filled with bloody pale limbs, and a rotten, clean smell coated the room. She quickly looked away and caught the faun's smell, luckily leading them further into the house.

"This way," Lupita said while quickly moving away from the living room and down the dark hall. Alex followed her, his worry coming off him in waves making Lupita nauseous as they continued down the long path and toward a dark oak door. When she opened it, it led to a set of dark stairs that seemed to lead to nothing. A whimper was heard at the bottom and Alex didn't waste a second as he ran past Lupita.

"Karri!" he shouted as he disappeared down the stairs. Lupita hesitated for a moment before quickly running after him into the darkness. Her eyes adjusted immediately and what she saw sent shivers down her spine. The room was bigger than the house, with tools strewn on metal benches and jars of both wolfsbane and liquid silver lined the walls. Further down the room were lines of cages with busted open doors or what seemed like dead bodies inside. It smelled like rouges, but Lupita didn't want to confirm her suspicions.

"I want out," Lupita whispered and turned to where Alex was crouched beside Karri.

"Same Lupita," Alex said and turned to her. "Are you able to shift? I can't carry him all the way home and he is in no condition to walk." Lupita hesitated again and came over to the two. She looked at Karri who was unconscious and their leg was twisted in a weird angle. It would be possible to shift, but it would use up most of her energy. The others would be so mad when they found out.

"I can," Lupita said and carefully picked up the faun and hurried up the stairs. She wanted to get out of this place as fast as possible. They made their way outside and Lupita quickly shifted, still in her clothes which were enchanted to stay on her body - thanks to MJ - even after the shift. The shift was more painful than usual and it took almost a minute until she stood tall and in wolf form. She shared the consciousness with her wolves and quickly crouched down to let the odd pair on her back. Once they were secured, she took off running.

The forest was tainted with the smell of rouges, vampires, and wolfsbane. Lupita even saw the vocational rouge and had to jump out of the way for several. She caught a few whispers of the masked man and how he had used the wolfsbane to try and turn some of them human but ended up killing most of them and causing permanent damage to others. Lupita didn't like rouges, but using them like this was wrong. She was glad they were able to get out.

She had barely been running for a few minutes before her vision blurred and her ears rang. She came to an abrupt stop and fell to the ground, her ears still ringing but her vision moving to something else. She saw smoke. A car. A mask. A hand wrapping tightly around someone's arm. She heard a shout. She heard a slithering voice, "I will have use for you".  And then she saw... Ambrosia. Ambrosia!

Her vision cleared and she only spared a glance at Alex and Karri, making sure they were ok, before bolting through the forest and toward where her heart pulled her. She didn't understand where this energy came from, but she didn't mind as she hurried through the forest, quickly making it to the road where she rolled onto it, scraping up her shoulder but pushing the pain to the back of her mind as she continued to run. Her legs ached as she ran and her heartbeat was uncomfortably strong in her chest. Her ears were up and her teeth barred as she made her way down the road, dismissing the few cars driving passed her.

The smoking car slowly made its way into her view. She spared it a small glance, noticing Bela and Gulterio in the front seats. Unconscious but they would wake soon. Lupita was quick to continue running along the road, picking up on the nauseatingly clean smell of the masked man. A few meters away, she saw him, with Ambrosia in his hold. Luckily she was struggling and seemed to be unharmed from where Lupita was running.

Lupita quickly realized she was gaining on them. She would either have to stop or continue running. What would be better for Ambrosia? What would be safer for her?

"Let me go!" Ambrosia shouted, the sound close in Lupita's ears as she continued to run.

"When that dog gives herself up to me, I will," he hissed. Lupita growled and felt her wolves push to the front of her mind, not stopping her from running, rather speeding her up. As she came closer, she could see his clothes drenched in blood and hear the slight wheeze in his voice. She wondered what had happened. Why had he chosen to take Karri?

"She won't do that! She is safe from you," Ambrosia said, her voice dying down as the thumping of her heart and Lupita's own filled her ears.

"Then why is she here?" the masked man said and turned. "Hello, my champion! I have a prop-"

Lupita roared as she continued to run. She smelled the fear from behind his mask. He thought she would be scared of him. Cower before him and let him use her. She wouldn't. It would end today.

"Stop!" he shouted. Lupita felt nothing. She neared them quickly. Ambrosia quickly managed to get out of his hold and in his confusion, Lupita was able to pounce. She soared through the air, her paws outstretched and her jaw open at the ready. Her jaw wrapped around his head and her claws pinned him to the ground. But just as she ripped off his head, she felt a prick in her neck. And just as his head fell, so did she.

To be continued...

A/N: and that's the end. For now at least.

I also regret to say I will be absent from publishing anything for a while as I work on this for a chance to hopefully get it published. I might work on some of my other stuff and might start a small one-shot story of this in the meantime, but I can't promise anything.

To the people that have followed this journey, I see you, and if I ever get published I will try my hardest to get you a killer deal!

I will also be writing a second book (of course) but that might take a while considering everything.

So thank you to everyone who has helped me on this Journey of writing and discovering these characters and discovering you guys.

As always, I will answer any questions you might have (if I have an answer). Thank you for reading.

Love you all and take care!!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️