Here we are, the chapter you've all be waiting for! This chapter ended up being longer than I planned, so that is why it has taken me a while to get it posted. I'm not sure how many chapters of this story are left exactly, but we are reaching the end. Thanks for sticking with me this far, and enjoy this chapter! You've been waiting for it long enough ;)

Previously - RPOV

I'll be careful, I promised her. We'll be back before nightfall.

Alberta gave me a little nod, before nudging me. Go on, kid. Bring them home.

Chapter 34

The idea that I would get to see Dimitri soon…not even just see him. I would get to touch him, to hold him, maybe even kiss him…the thought excited me beyond belief. I hurried away, my eagerness to see them all again moving me forward.

Oh, and Rose? Alberta called me. I turned to face; she was almost out of my line of vision.

I approve of him by the way, I could hear the smile in her voice. He's perfect for you.

My own heart leapt at her words. There wasn't anybody who could keep me from Dimitri, but the fact that we had Alberta's blessing now made my heart practically swell out of my chest. Soon, we would all be back together. Did this mean we could finally be happy? There were still some trouble between our packs it seemed. That, of course, would have to be sorted out in one way or another – I hoped that it wouldn't come down to violence.

But I was sure now; being split up from my friends and family had shown to me the importance of being part of a pack. It wouldn't be long before Dimitri and I would be reunited. When that moment came, I knew that we would be able to handle anything. I was a strong wolf, as was Dimitri. But he was my other half, and we were strongest when we were together.

I arrived at the spot I had chosen to phase long ago – the last time I had returned to Abe's pack I had stashed my clothes well to hide them from sight. Thankfully when I got there, I discovered they hadn't been moved. Discovering they were missing would make my situation a little more complicated – I would not be able to walk into the city wearing nothing in my human form, nor would I be able to trot there in my wolf form due to the risks.

Fortunately, it was a dilemma I didn't have to deal with.

It took a little longer for me to phase because I was so out of practice. But as soon as the warm, tingling feeling began to spread from my fingertips and toes, the rest was easy. I hobbled unsteadily on my two feet, my head spinning as I pulled on my old human clothes. I stumbled out of the forest, leaving behind me the cover of the trees as I made my way back to civilian life. I hadn't thought about coming back so soon; I needed to spend some time away from humans and focus on being reunited with my family. Of course, I couldn't do that if I didn't actually have half of my family with me – which is exactly why I was forced to return so soon.

"Ow!" Before I realised what had happened, I was lying on my stomach on the forest floor. Panicked that I had met an attacker in my defenceless human form and not as my ordinary, predatory self, I scrambled to get to my feet while trying to swat away at whatever had a hold of my legs. After a brief moment of desperate struggling, I glanced down to confront my opposition head on…only to discover that my legs were entangled in different kinds of vines and branches.

I let out a sigh before chuckling to myself. An angry pack of wolves hadn't been able to bring me down. The human world? Nope. Ruthless hunters who had tried to kill me? Hell no. Being in captivity for weeks on end? Not a chance.

But some miserable-looking, overgrown plants had been my downfall. Laughing to myself, I reached down and unwound my feet before clambering back onto my two legs.

Still slow on my feet, I eventually made it to the outskirts of the city. I did my best to not draw attention to myself as I hastily climbed a fence and scurried through a grassy area before finally arriving at the pavement. Thankfully, there wasn't very many people around – none of these had even batted an eyelid at my abrupt appearance. Feeling glad to avoid unnecessary hassle and questioning about where I had come from, I rushed further into the city. I wasn't exactly sure where I would find the others, but my options were limited. I hurried towards the apartment – I figured it was probably my best bet considering the time of evening.

However when I arrived, I found it to be completely empty.

"Dimitri?" There was evidence that there had been people living in here very recently, so I was positive they hadn't vacated it. They just weren't in. An idea suddenly entered my head and I spun around, slamming the door of the apartment shut behind me.

People on the street muttered sounds of displeasure and annoyance as I bumped into them in my haste. I really didn't care; I was certain that I was about to see Dimitri. He would be here – with Lissa and my brothers no doubt.

With a grin on my face, I rounded a corner and bombarded my way into the café.

"Hey, what the- Rose!" Mia's annoyed expression quickly turned to surprise. I scanned the room, disappointed. Dimitri wasn't here, nor any of the others. In fact, there was nobody here but Mia.

"Are you closed?"

"Only just," she replied, still looking shocked. "But that's okay, you can come in."

Mia hurried forward and gave me a quick embrace. I winced as the movement caused my shoulder to ache. It occurred to me suddenly that it had been quite a while since I had had a body part that didn't ache.

"I can't believe you're here!" Mia gushed, removing her vice-like grip. "You look…rough."

I figured as much. In my rush to find my friends, I hadn't exactly stopped and taken the time to check out my reflection. That, along with my numerous injuries…yeah, I could see the reason for Mia's concern.

"I'm okay," I assured her. "I've just been through a lot recently."

It wasn't going to be easy to even attempt to explain to Mia what had happened over the past six weeks. Which was why I stuck with giving her vague answers. I should have known better. Part of me had momentarily forgotten how much Mia loved details.

"I know," she sighed, taking a seat at one of the tables. "Well not really – Dimitri didn't really tell me all that much, but I know you guys had been fighting and-" Mia rambled on as I mulled over her words. Seemingly, Dimitri had already fed Mia an excuse for my absence. I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn't immediately notice the silence around me. Mia had stopped talking and was looking at me expectantly.

"I'm sorry, what?" An expression of sympathy crossed her face and Mia reached forward to squeeze my hand.

"It's okay, Rose. You can trust me. I may be your boss but I like to think we're friends."

"Thanks," I replied, feeling suddenly uncomfortable. I planned to stay away from the human world for a little while – meaning that I probably wouldn't even see Mia for some time. That wasn't something Mia needed to know however; I planned for us to just vanish – hopefully she would assume Dimitri had just whisked me away on some romantic getaway or something.

"So, what did he say to you?"

I started. "Who?"

"Who do you think?" She chuckled, swatting at my arm. "Dimitri! What did he say when he got to your parents' house?"

"My par- what are you talking about?"

"When he- Haven't you spoken to him?" Mia's perfectly-shaped eyebrows furrowed.

"No, actually, that's why I'm here. I was hoping he'd be here."

Mia was starting to look pretty frazzled. "But he took some days off from work to find you – he was going to your parents' place to try to make things right with you. Didn't he?"

"Oh, well I haven't been at my…parents' place recently," I covered smoothly. "We must have just missed one another. Do you know where else he could be?"

"How would I know, he's your boyfriend."

"Yeah, but-"

"Oh my god! You said it!" Mia started squealing then for some reason unknown to me.

"I said what, exactly," I asked her, feeling confused. She continued to make odd, girlish noises of what was seemingly, excitement.

"You said that Dimitri was your boyfriend!"

"No, I didn't."

"Well, you didn't deny it!" Mia clapped her hands happily. "I knew it! Does this mean you came back here for him? And at the same time, he went to find you? It's like a movie! You need to find him and make up!"

"I'm trying," I sighed, feeling tired from just being near Mia's happiness. It was exhausting. "But I'm not sure where else I can find him; I've looked in the obvious places."

"Well, where was the last place you saw him?" Mia asked. "Sometimes when I can't find my hairbrush, I try and think about where was the last place I used it and-"

The last place I had seen Dimitri? It suddenly hit me. I felt like a complete idiot for not thinking of it sooner. Jumping to my feet, I flashed a stunned Mia a quick smile before dashing out of the door. I called a brief thanks, right before the door swung shut behind me.

I darted down the street and across the roads, almost oblivious to the people and traffic around me. I had last seen Dimitri and the others outside of my enclosure in the zoo. I assumed that zoo officials weren't at liberty to tell random members of the public that they had released one of their animals…therefore I was pretty certain that my friends didn't know I had been let go.

I arrived at a large gate that I assumed was the entrance to the zoo. My gut was telling me Dimitri was here. I was possibly within a one mile radius of my friends after so long. I was almost breathless with the anticipation. It was just a matter of-

"Sorry, ma'am," A hand suddenly shot out in front of me, effectively blocking me from the entrance. Recovering from the abrupt obstacle, I glanced up at my hindrance. It turned out to be a large man wearing a blue uniform. He was a little older than middle-aged, his neatly combed grey hair matched his meticulously groomed attire. I resisted the urge to glare at him for delaying my reunion with my friends.

"Is something the matter?" I asked him, feigning sweetness. If he wanted money from me, I didn't have any. Perhaps I could charm my way in…although this guy looked older than my father. I glanced down at his hand…yup, a wedding ring. Just my luck. Unless this guy was a sleazy, cheating asshole, my chances weren't looking great.

"Zoo is closing in a few minutes," he explained gruffly. "We're not accepting any more visitors."

"Oh but my-"

"I'm sorry, lady," he cut me off, not unkindly. "Please come back tomorrow."

After some more arguing with the front gate's security men – to no avail - I agreed to wait outside for my friends instead of searching for them inside. According to the security, there was only one entrance and exit, meaning that if they were inside, they would eventually have to pass me as they were leaving.

I paced for a short while before losing my patience almost completely. I had promised Alberta that we would all be home by nightfall. Glancing up at the sky, I saw that the moons and stars had already appeared and I still hadn't found the others.

I ended up sitting on the concrete, fiddling with pebbles on the ground while simultaneously scanning the small groups of people leaving the zoo. Tourists were plentiful, and I had to strain my neck at times to see around their groups and make sure I didn't miss the people I was actually looking for.

Alberta would be getting concerned now, I realised. The moon had risen fully above me, his brilliant light illuminating the area around me. Maybe my gut instinct had been wrong and Dimitri wasn't really here…but where else could they be? As far as I knew, they didn't frequent at any other places in the human city. After another thirty minutes of waiting with no sign of my friends, I decided my best bet of finding them would probably be to wait back at the apartment; wherever they were, they would probably eventually end up there.

I pulled myself to my feet, ignoring the stiffness in my bones; I had been sitting for longer than I realised. The wound in my leg ached as the cold around me began to seep in. I struggled to not limp as I began my journey back to the apartment. If I only I-

"…really don't know…"

"Maybe they're just keeping her inside – you know, away from the public."

I froze. I knew those voices…they carried easily in the evening breeze surrounding me, blowing from somewhere behind me. I didn't even have to turn around to be positive: I had been playing the sounds of their voices in my head for weeks.

I finally spun to face them, allowing my eyes to well up at the sight of the very people I had been looking for for hours now. The four of them were there, walking slowly out of the zoo's exit. Eddie and Christian seemed to be caught up in some argument about my whereabouts, while both Lissa and Dimitri seemed lost in their own thoughts.

Dimitri. He looked even more perfect than I had imagined. I had known him so long that I was sure I had every last detail of him memorised…only my memory hadn't given him the justice he deserved, even in his human form.

My foot took a step towards them, my mind still unaware of anything other than Dimitri's sheer magnificence. I didn't mean to alert any of them, but Dimitri was sharp. He seemingly caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and moved as fast as lightning to stand defensively in front of the others.

I didn't move for a few moments. I only watched his hard expression melt into one of complete and utter shock. Realising something was wrong, my brothers were quick to copy Dimitri's stance, only they too, stood with similar expressions of astonishment. Lissa on the other hand, had somehow been shoved to the back of the group by all three males. I heard her struggling to move forward and see what was going on.

"No…" The little word escaped Dimitri's mouth. It was the only sound he made as his eyes swept over me, studying my face and body – possibly to try and decide if it really was me standing in front of him.

"Rose?" Eddie was the first one to make a move. He took a tentative steps towards me, his disbelieving eyes sweeping over my face too.

"Hi," my voice was a mere whisper. I found it difficult to look away from each set of eyes; they were all brilliant and unique in their own ways. I had missed each one of them.

"Roza…" It was his voice that grabbed my attention, tearing my gaze away from Lissa, who had managed to break out of my brother's protective shield.

His eyes were the same shade of brown I remembered. It was dark and I was human, so my senses weren't at their best, but for a moment I thought I saw them glisten.

"Hi comrade," I replied, not caring that my voice cracked as I spoke. Dimitri's feet moved him forward, taking steps closer to me.

"It's you. It really is you…" I nodded. Suddenly, I had a powerful urge to be in his arms. I had spent nights in captivity just imagining the feel of his skin and fur, his scent, his warmth…the mere thought of him had managed to get me through the longest and coldest nights.

I didn't want to have to imagine anymore.

I sprinted towards him, certain that I let out a cry as I did so. Dimitri was ready for me.

I crashed into his chest with force, feeling utterly overwhelmed with happiness and relief that came with being reunited with him after all this time. The tightness with which he held me against him told me he was feeling the same. We may not have ever mated, but Dimitri and I had a different bond that was irreplaceable. We had grown up together. I knew him in ways which others did not. My arms clutched his neck and broad shoulders as tightly as his own gripped my waist. I could feel his warmth and strength as we held each other close. I was so caught up in all things Dimitri, that I hadn't even noticed my feet weren't touching the ground.

"Nice to see you too, sis(!)" Christian's sarcastic voice echoed from somewhere over Dimitri's shoulders. "Ow!"

The sound of Lissa smacking my brother for ruining our moment made me chuckle. Dimitri gently lowered me to the ground, but refused to let up his hold on me just yet.

"I've missed you," he whispered, touching his forehead to mine. Carefully, he lifted his hand and softly wiped my cheeks…which were wet, I suddenly realised. A little embarrassed by the lack of control I had on my emotions, I ducked my head and made to swipe the tears away. Dimitri's hand tilted my face back up however, and gave me a reassuring smile. It made me feel a lot better to see that he too, had a small wet trail leading from his eye. As he had done for me, I reached upwards and smoothed my thumb over it, removing any remnants of his tear.

"I missed you too." Dimitri lowered his face then, and pressed his lips to mine. The pressure was so light, I wasn't one hundred per cent sure he was even there. I pulled him closer to me, deepening the kiss. After so long, I wanted – no, I needed – to feel more of him. The kiss grew more heated, both of us caught up in the passion we had been missing for a long time now-

"Eh, Hello?!"

"Christian!" I chuckled into our kiss as Lissa's scolding intruded on our moment. I felt Dimitri smile too, as the fire that had been building between us diminished. We were back together now; we could have all of the 'moments' we wanted to.

Before he exploded with annoyance, I turned to face my brothers.

"I missed you too, Christian," I threw my arms around him. A disgruntled Christian finally decided that he wasn't really all that mad with me, and returned my embrace. Eddie was standing quietly behind him, watching me with the same relieved expression the others had. I lifted one of my arms and gestured for him to come closer. He did, and I wrapped an arm around him too. How had I forgotten just how large they had gotten? It shouldn't have surprised me really – they both had alpha blood in their veins after all, but it had somehow slipped my mind in my absence.

Eddie and I didn't exchange words; our relationship had never counted on that. Eddie was a quiet soul by nature, and said most of what he had to say through his eyes.

"I'm glad you're okay," was the only thing he said, before both he and Christian released me. I was about to reply when I felt a fourth set of arms throw themselves around me from behind. I chuckled and spun to hug my best friend of many years.

"Hey, Liss," We held each other tightly, and I really hoped that everything I felt was conveyed through our hug.

"Thank you," I whispered into her ear. "For looking after them for me."

Lissa pulled away from me then, a smile on her face. "What are packs for?"

I glanced back at my brothers, before looking back at Dimitri. Lissa was right; we may have been from different packs originally, but all five of us were as close to a family as we would get. We may not all have been related by blood, but we looked out for one another…just like packs did.