Hey readers!

So this is the last chapter to Pack Rules. For those of you who enjoyed it, good news! There will be another story coming out shortly! For those of you who didn't enjoy it...well, you may be a little frustrated with the ending. That's right! Chapter 11 WILL end in a cliffhanger! You have been formally warned. So since I did most of the thanking last chapter, I'll just summarize everything and say thanks again to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, and followed. Your guys' support has been great for my writing motivation! Please enjoy the last chapter to Pack Rules!:D


Nick opened his eyes, peering up at a white ceiling and blinking groggily. Confusion slowly crept through his foggy brain when he couldn't remember where he was. Trying to sift through the black hole that was his memory, a thumping noise coming from somewhere below him caused him to hastily sit up in alarm. He instantly regretted that decision as he felt a burning pain flare in his chest as his stitches were pulled. With a groan, he slowly lowered himself back onto the stack of pillows behind him. Waiting for the pain to slowly fade into a light throb, he took in his surroundings. Instantly recognizing where he was, he had an overwhelming urge to do a forehead smack.

He was lying in his own bed in his own house. Damn pain medication, he thought cursing his foggy brain and the person who had forced the stuff upon him in the first place. Another noise coming from what he now knows is his downstairs made him tense, wondering who else was in the house with him but he relaxed when he heard the familiar voices of his family and…was that Monroe? He listened again, closing his eyes and really concentrating on stretching his hearing to the lightest of sounds.

At first he couldn't hear anything but the light noise of their chatter until all of a sudden, everything became magnified. He heard the boiling of water in a pot, meaning someone was cooking something…dinner maybe? Judging by the darkness of the room, it had to be nighttime. He heard a female voice- Christie- ask for some vegetarian chicken broth and potatoes. Dinner it was then, Christie had always made a vegetarian chicken soup that had potatoes in it whenever he or Jason had gotten sick as kids, Nick recalled fondly.

He felt his stomach growl in anticipation and kept on listening. He heard the fridge open and glass bottles-must be his beer since that was the only food currently subsiding in his fridge- get moved around and then a curse and a low mumble about him owning the crappiest beer in all of Oregon. Yup, definitely Monroe, Nick confirmed with a smirk. Hearing the Portland Timbers playing on the TV finalized that Tony and Jason were watching the game in the living room.

Huh, so the gangs all here. Well now that the issue of who is in his house is settled, he can move on to remembering how the hell he got here in the first place. He went back to the last thing he could remember. He could remember the doctor coming to give him one more check over and finally giving the green light a couple hours after he, Monroe, and Jason had somehow gotten into a bizarre pillow war…

He paused right at that very random and kind of alarming memory. How had that happened again? He could remember being angry at something someone said…he concentrated harder, determined to win against the medication. Looking straight ahead, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. Geez, he was a mess. His skin seemed a little paler than usual and he had dark circles under his eyes, not to mention that he had the worst bed head he had ever see… wait a minute. That was it! Someone had been messing with his hair! There was no doubt in his mind that that someone had been Jason. His older brother had always seemed to make a hobby out of finding new ways to annoy him. But now the gate seemed to be open and everything came back to him. That unfortunately included the development of rules that somehow seemed to all be centered around him, he recalled distastefully. He remembered that after Jason jumped out of his reach, he had grabbed one of his many pillows and prepared to hurl it at him putting extra Grimm effort into it, but Monroe had stopped him with a quick grab of his arm…only to throw it full speed himself.

At Nick's questioning look, Monroe had given a small shrug, "You're injured."

Nick had smiled then, really smiled. That is until Monroe was taken out by return fire straight in the face. After that it was chaos in which Nick was barely touched, but Monroe and Jason got hammered mercilessly in a downy nightmare.

Present time, Nick smiled again glad to have that memory explained. He wasn't normally a spontaneous pillow-thrower, but one never knows what could happen when their jacked up on pain medication. As for how he got in his bed, he figured he had better let them explain.

Sucking in a deep breath, Nick slowly sat up using his arms to push against the bed. After what seemed like an eternity of taking it inch by inch so he wouldn't pull anymore stitches, he finally reached his goal of sitting up. Panting lightly, he took a moment to just sit there and wait for the annoyingly persistent dizziness to subside, and then looked at the floor. Here comes the hard part, he thought and carefully pulled first one leg then the other in front of him, slowly lowering them onto the soft carpet of his bedroom floor. Feeling impatient at the pace it took him to do what would normally take him only a few seconds on a normal day, he gathered his courage and stood up.

If he thought he was dizzy before, then he didn't know the real meaning of the word. He lost complete sense of what was up and down as the room spun so fast it gave him vertigo. Instantly losing his balance, he grunted as his bottom hit the floor with a thump. Well this is just great, he thought as he rested his sore body against the side of his bed. The last humiliating blow, all he needs now is for someone to walk in and see him like this. As if in response to his thoughts, he heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs.

Nick's head hit the wooden frame with another light thump which he instantly regretted as a sharp pain shot through his head. Left with no other alternative, Nick sat and waited to be found. He felt helpless like this, completely helpless…and that was one feeling that he absolutely hated. He just had to hope that along with super hearing, he had some super healing so he could at least be able to get out of bed without the assistance of his friends. Finally, the door to his bedroom opened,

"You alright in here, Nick?" Monroe asked, taking in the room. His eyes widened when he spotted Nick on the floor, "Geez man!" he mumbled as he rushed over to help him up. "Are you alright? Why the hell didn't you call somebody?"

Nick grunted as Monroe grabbed his arm and helped him stand up. When he could finally stand on his own two feet without Monroe's steadying hand, he sighed.

"Thanks, Monroe."

"It's no problem, Nick. You know it isn't." Monroe said sincerely.

"Yeah, I know," Nick replied. "I just wanted to say thanks for everything, though."

"Well that's what friends are for, aren't they?" Monroe said with a snort. "Now let's get you downstairs. It smells like dinner is ready."


In the darkness, the soft patter of rain hitting the roof of the warehouse was the only sound that disrupted the still quiet of night. Adrian sat in a chair, the fingers of his left hand tapping against the wooden arm impatiently. Two more of his men stood on either side of him, a third waited at the door. This informant had better not be late, he thought savagely. Adrian was not one to waste his time; there were much more important things that needed doing than listening to the complaining of the worthless scum off the street, but unfortunately, that was what his Prince had requested of him. And if the Prince requested it, then it will be done. That was the motto if you wanted to stay alive, and Adrian had every attention of doing just that.

Suddenly the door to the warehouse opened, revealing a small figure of a man. Adrian waved his hand in Boris' direction at the door. Immediately the door fell shut and Boris motioned for the small man to walk in front of him. The man looked quite fearful, Adrian realized with amusement. He watched the cloud of frozen water vapor shoot into the frigid air of the warehouse as the man breathed rapidly and walked closer and closer until he stood directly in front of him. All was quiet as Adrian examined the man. He stood at about 5 foot 5 inches with dark hair that had a greasy look to it and small, beady eyes. All in all, not a face that Adrian would trust.

"Why did you call us?" He asked, his deep voice breaking the silence.

The man's eyes immediately glanced at him then dropped to the floor again. "I-I found the Grimm, sir."

"Which Grimm?"

The man looked up in confusion, "The Portland Grimm. The cop who's friends with a Blutbad."

The man wasn't lying. He didn't know it, but he had just passed his first test. Now he could be allowed to live longer. "Did you meet the Portland Grimm?"

"I did…and it's not something I want to do again," A small shudder ran through his body at the memory, "He would have killed me."

"And how exactly did you escape with your head if you met this Grimm face to face?"

A small smile slowly crept across the man's face, "I knocked him unconscious."

Adrian raised an eyebrow. He will admit that he was surprised to hear that this small man could manage to gain any upper hand against a Grimm. Now it was time to push, "What happened after the Grimm was unconscious?"

"Well, I ran-"

"You didn't kill the Grimm even though you had him completely at your mercy?" Adrian said, a dangerous tone creeping into his voice.

"I-I couldn't! He had the Blutbad with him!" the man hastily explained, a nervous ripple passing over his face, "Once I knocked the Grimm unconscious, the Blutbad attacked me and left me to die in the street!"

"A fate that you would have very well deserved!" Adrian responded, "It is the duty of every Wesen to kill any Grimm they come across. It's what must be done after hundreds of centuries of being hunted! Do you want the Grimm to come cut off your head in your sleep now?" Adrian smiled inwardly as the man woged revealing the frightened face of the Ziegevolk.

"No! I don't want that! That's why I came to you; you're supposed to stop him!" The Ziegevolk half whispered in fear.

Adrian's eyes darkened, "And we will," he nodded in the direction of the three men standing behind the Ziegevolk. The sound of three scythes swinging open in unison echoed throughout the empty space of the warehouse. "With your help," Adrian finished with a cold smile watching the Ziegevolk turn around timorously just in time for Boris to hit him in the head with the butt of his scythe.

The Ziegevolk fell to the ground at Adrian's feet, unconscious. "Inform the Prince," he told the three reapers, "It is time to make our move on Nick Burckhardt."


"Almost there, Nick. You can make it!"

Nick glanced back at Monroe, an incredulous look on his face, "It's just the staircase, Monroe, not Mount Everest!" He shifted his focus back to the next step, "Geez, I don't look that bad, do I?"

Monroe snorted at the sarcasm in his friend's voice and continued to help him down the stairs, "Well, let's just say you've seen better days…and nothing's wrong with a little encouragement!"

"You're right, sorry. It's just that I'm pretty hungry and that food smells amazing." Nick replied, hobbling a little faster towards the last couple of steps when the kitchen slowly came into view.

"Well I guess that makes sense, you haven't really eaten much in the past few days except for IV fluid..." But before Monroe could finish his thought, Nick's arm was already twisted out of his grip and he was making his way towards the table.

"Nick! You're up already?" Christie said happily, "Well you're just in time; I was just going to set the table."

"I'll help you with that," Monroe said as he grabbed the plates and silverware Christie was holding, "You should just concentrate on getting that soup served, I don't think he can wait any longer."

"Thanks, Monroe," Christie said flashing a bright smile in his direction while she poured the soup.

After calling Tony and Jason for dinner more times than they should, everyone was finally sitting down. Nick dug into his vegetarian soup eagerly leaving Monroe, Tony, Christie, and Jason a little startled with his enthusiasm. Monroe had just picked up his fifth spoonful of the warm liquid when he noticed that Nick's bowl was already empty.

"Uumm… want some more?" Monroe asked.

"Yeah, sure…but I can get it."

"No, no," Monroe said already standing up, "You just sit, I'll get it."

After filling Nick's second bowl to the brim, he placed it in front of him and sat back down, deciding to watch this time. Just as before, Nick began to eagerly scoop up spoonfuls of chicken broth and potatoes until the bowl was once again empty. Not even bothering to ask, Monroe stood and reached for Nick's bowl to refill it, the whole time feeling slightly baffled at the Grimm's behavior. I mean sure, the guy hadn't eaten real food in a couple of days, but his appetite shouldn't be this big. Even Dr. Harris had said that because of all the medication Nick was on that they shouldn't be surprised if there was trouble getting him to eat. But as Monroe watched Nick practically inhale his third bowl of soup, he figured there was not much to worry about in that aspect of the Grimm's health. It was just strange seeing the Grimm who he normally had to force to eat because of his busy schedule, now not needing even one word from Monroe to finish one square meal.

"Wow… Hungry much, Nick?" Jason said staring with wide eyes at Nick's third empty bowl, his own spoonful sat forgotten in his hand.

"Yeah, it's kinda weird actually. I guess I'm just missing a few nutrients." Nick answered, brow furrowed.

"Just as long as you don't make yourself sick, you can have all the helpings you want, sweetie." Christie said smiling sweetly at him making Jason snicker quietly into his soup.

Nick ignored his brother and continued his conversation with his parents. It felt like years since he had talked to either one of them after all. "So how are you guys doing?"

"We're okay son. We've been worried about something like this coming from that side of the family for a while now; we just didn't expect it to happen like this." Tony's face darkened slightly, "We never expected for them to come after our sons."

"You don't have to worry about that, they won't be bothering any of us anymore." Nick said trying to reassure the mixed expression that both of his parents seemed to share.

"And if anyone else tries anything-"Jason began

"Well let's just say, it won't be that much of a problem." Monroe interrupted shooting meaningful looks at both Jason and Nick.

Tony seeing the exchange between the three men at the table smiled. He knew exactly what had happened between his boy and the other Blutbad; he could smell the difference of scent in the air right when the two had stepped through the door, Nick in between them. They were pack, something that he had only had a taste of a life time ago, but those days were long gone. Being around that many of his own kind, all secretly competing to be the leader of the pack, didn't exactly end well for any of his buddies least of all him. He quickly stopped that train of thought with a slight shake of his head. No need to bring up the past, he thought darkly. Besides, he was confident that things would be different for his son. He and Christie had always worried about Jason and his future, but as far as Tony was concerned, it was a relief that his son was part of a pack…this pack at least.

A small pressure on his hand caused him to look up from his untouched bowl of soup and into the worried but beautiful gaze of his wife. He squeezed her hand back and tilted his head in a small, reassuring nod, casting a quick glance around the table. He saw Jason laughing at some exchange with Nick and Monroe standing at the stove moving a screaming tea kettle off the flame. It was nice to have everyone together again, he thought happily. Even with the new addition, everything still felt just the way it used to and as always, Tony felt truly blessed. Tuning into the conversation, he managed to catch the ending of a story.

"…and then after she punched you she ran screaming from the street!" Jason said barely able to catch his breath because he was laughing so hard.

Nick looked a little miffed, "I was about to tell her I liked her."

Jason stared at him, eyes serious, "Dude, you do not tell a girl that you like her by taking her to an empty street in the middle of the night telling her 'I bet you know what's going to happen next'! You sound like you're about to murder her!"

"Even I gotta admit, that does sound a little sketchy," Monroe added in, getting a loud 'thank you!' from Jason in response.

"Well I figured she did know what was going to happen next! It wasn't exactly a secret that I liked her!" Nick argued.

"Alright boys," Christie interrupted; she could see where this was going. "Jason, let your brother finish his soup."

"Well someone's got to fill Monroe in on Nick's teenage years. I mean, this guy didn't even know that we existed before I showed up!"

"We don't usually talk much about our pasts," Monroe said, "Most of our conversations consist of who the Wesen of the week is, or what latest scandal went on down at the spice shop… you know, present things."

"How about I fill you in on both of their teenage years," Tony said an innocent smile working itself on his face when Jason's loud gulp of soup was heard by everyone around the table. He was getting ready to tell a story, a great one too, when Nick suddenly looked up from his soup, brow furrowed in agitation.

"What is that noise?" he finally asked, scanning his gaze around the kitchen with narrowed eyes. There was silence as everybody stopped moving to listen.

"I don't hear anything," Monroe said followed by murmurs of consent from everyone else around the table

"I could've sworn I heard something. It sounded like it came from over there," Nick said pointing in the direction of where his front door would be had the kitchen wall and stairs not hide it from view. "I heard it earlier today too; it's what woke me up."

When nobody said anything, Jason mouthed the word 'pain medication' to Monroe. After a couple exchanges of worried looks sent around the table which, of course, Nick was left out of, everyone turned back to their soup. About to continue where he left off, Tony prepared to speak when a very faint thump was heard from somewhere on the other side of the staircase.

"Did anyone hear that?" Nick asked standing up.

Monroe rushed out of his seat and grabbed Nick's arm to steady him before he could fall, "Yeah, I did hear something."

"So did I," Tony agreed placing his napkin next to his soup bowl and standing up. "We should probably go find out where that's coming from."

"Agreed," Monroe said as he became Nick's personal crutch to help him keep his balance on his way to the front door.

As they got closer to the entrance, the slight thumping noise grew louder and louder until finally they stood in front of the coat closet.

Jason grabbed the door knob and slowly opened the door. What they saw inside made Christie gasp quietly and Tony shake his head, lips pressed tightly together.

"What is it?" Nick asked trying to peek around the corner wall and walking faster, Monroe hovering over him like a big, worried, mother wolf. "Did you find something?"

When he finally made it around the corner and could see the contents of his coat closet, Nick paused then let out a small groan. "You have got to be kidding me," because inside the closet were both Aidan and Oliver sitting down back to back handcuffed. Aidan was unconscious but Oliver was leaning forward and lightly thumping his forehead against the wall as far as the small space would allow him. As Jason opened the door wider, the light shined in on his face and he squinted up at all of them, a look of desperation shining in his eyes.

Monroe sighed and turned to look at Nick, "Does your job ever end?"

"Hey, don't look at me. I've got a concussion remember?" Nick said with a smirk causing Monroe to raise an eyebrow.

"Damn it! I knew we forgot something!" Jason said shaking his head.

"I'm just surprised that nobody but Nick could hear that noise he was making all day," Christie said.

"Yeah, I'm especially surprised that Nick's little Grimm ears could show up a houseful of Blutbaden ears." Jason murmured mostly to himself looking at Nick curiously.

Nick was saved from needing to think of a hasty reply when the doorbell rang, shocking Monroe into action. He quickly slammed the closet door shut again, then calmly reached over Christie to answer the door. Everyone was surprised when instead of seeing a person at the other side of the door, there was nothing but a white letter resting on the welcome mat.

Monroe picked up the white piece of parchment haphazardly, "It's addressed to you, Nick."

Nick reached for the letter, a little curious as to why it was delivered so mysteriously. It was already too late to be receiving mail and even if it was a late delivery, why wouldn't the deliverer just leave it in his mail box instead of walking all the way up to his front door?

Opening the fragile outer layer, he unfolded the slightly yellowed parchment inside and began to read but stopped after the first couple of words, heart pounding in his chest.

Monroe, seeing Nick's emotionless expression, reached for the letter. Surprised at how easily Nick handed it over, he looked down and started to read…

Dear Portland Grimm,

Everyone you know is in terrible danger. The enemy is closer than you realize. Watch your back and follow your instincts and be sure to strengthen your will, for they are coming.

˜ H

Monroe looked up and met Nick's worried gaze, "Oh dude…"


To be continued…

Thanks again everyone! Hope to see you in the next story!