Welcome to the end of Kidnapping a Werecub—as in this is the last chapter. That means you might want to review…for me? I'm writing this at three o'clock in the morning, so I hope it sounds all right. I am kind of tired. Scratch that. Really tired.

Thanks to all the comments made so far, I'll take them to heart. Maybe my next book will be better than this one. fingers crossed

Chapter 26

A muscular man in his late fifties dropped to the ground. Jamie knew immediately who it was, although her brain refused to register that fact for a moment. She stared about dumfounded at all the bodies that littered the Colonel's encampment. Some of them were dead. She was sure of it. But most seemed to be hogtied and unconscious.

Amber had fallen back, gasping for breath. She was bleeding profusely in several places but there was a satisfied look on her face. She had done what Jamie could not. She dropped the gun that she must have picked up from one of the other forms. Jamie saw her waver. Amber was losing too much blood even as her wounds were healing.

As Jamie let out another soft cry, Amber turned to her. Amber's eyes changed then, her features filled with apologetic sympathy. "I'm sorry, Jamie," she croaked. "I had to do it. You know I had to."

Jamie only nodded, her eyes filling with tears. She had no idea what Amber was talking about but she looked so sad that she just had to agree with her. But Jamie was sad too. For a moment she was too shocked to realize why.

"It's okay," she whispered as she dragged herself up onto the ledge. Tremors shook her body. "You did well."

Amber only nodded with a woozy smile. Then she fell unconscious.

It was then that her brain registered who that last figure to fall had been. It was the Colonel. Her father. Her heart seized within her chest and she hurried to his side. The Colonel was staring at her, unrecognizing, his breath heaving in and out. Blood. There was so much blood.

Jamie lifted her hand to her mouth to keep from spewing her last meal. She used her other hand to rip whatever tattered material still hung at her midriff. She bunched this over the Colonel's chest, trying to slow the bleeding. It soaked her hands and she cried. There was nothing she could do and she knew it. The wound would be fatal.

The Colonel's eyes finally snapped on her in recognition. His face strained into a murderous look. "You," he managed to rasp. "I hate you. You betrayed us. You betrayed your mother. You betrayed the whole human race."

"But I love you," Jamie managed to choke out over her tears.

The Colonel only sent her a darkly troubled look before coughing up blood. The bullet must have punctured one of his lungs. His chest heaved again, as he attempted to take hold of a full breath. "I…" he managed on a whispered breath, "Will…never forgive you."

Jamie cried hard after that. She watched as he too his last shuddering breath and his eyes blinked out sightlessly. Maybe it was a fitting end for such a horrible man, but it didn't make her feel any better. Now she was crying not for the man he was, but the man he used to be. The man he should have been.

An insight happened upon her and she was able to slowly dry her tears. He had spent so much time trying to find a meaning to his life. In truth, the real he had died the moment her mother had. Keeping him alive after that was just dragging along the pain—pulling his life out needlessly. He had only stuck around to hurt others.

But now he could finally rest. And maybe—just maybe—he could find some peace.

Jamie took one final, shuddering breath and dried the last of her tears. She wouldn't cry over him anymore. This was one book she was closing for good. If she was to remember her father, she would remember him from before.

She glanced around for her companions of the last few days. Mrs. Carlyle was slowly getting to her feet in human form. A gash across her stomach was healing quickly. The other werewolves were beginning to arise right and left, sore and tired but alive. They all appeared to be there. Jamie started to do a head count, but her eyes became riveted on one figure that was slowly sitting up on his elbows, his blond hair tousled and streaked with blood. He was okay. He really was okay.

Jamie ran to Porter, pouncing on him. He fell back to the ground with an oof. "Ouch," he managed to say, his face straining.

"Sorry!" Jamie exclaimed, but she didn't move away. It was still so hard to believe he was there, alive and well. She wanted to touch him, hold him to make sure he didn't disappear. Her hands fluttered along his shoulders and up to his face and through his hair. He was there. All of him.

And then they were kissing. His lips found hers and he took her into an embrace she never wanted to leave. She was safe here. Protected. Loved. She could feel his emotions caressing her with a demanding worry which finally appeased into gentle comfort. She just wanted to bask in his emotions and she nearly wanted to forget the real world existed. It could never be so real, so vivid.

The doctor managed to tug her away long enough to force feed some TryptoKeri down her throat. She nearly gagged the stuff back up again.

She moved back to Porter's side, leaning into his shoulder. "You know," she said after a while, "you should really speak to Lacey. She thinks that you would as soon as kill her if she blabbed."

Porter sighed. "I don't think she'd let me talk to her if I tried."

"But we have to try," Jamie replied urgently. This was really important to her. "I'll help you. We have to make it better."

"All right," Porter agreed, nuzzling the top of her head with his chin. "We'll try. I suppose that's all anybody can do."

She nodded into his neck, trying not to think about how close his throat was to her mouth. Now was not the time for biting. While they were basking in each other's company, the others were discussing what to do about their captives. Slowly, Jamie got to her feet, pulling Porter up with her. It was time to get to work.

The end! Hope you liked it. I've been thinking about writing a second book with the same characters. I would like some input on who you think the main character should be for the next book. Jamie again? Doug? Leigh? Porter? Amber? Alec? If you send me a review, you could add which one you want to be the main character in the review. Also, some constructive criticism would be helpful too. Thanks for reading!

-Polished Gem