AN: Sorry, I know that was a cruel cliffhanger. But that's the angst we all love, isn't it ;D Never fear, the story continues...

"What will we do with the body?" a voice asked from above Riza. The pain which had previously enveloped her body had receded, leaving only a dull ache. It had only been a couple of hours since the shooting in front of Roy's house. She had been carried back to a vehicle and tossed in the back seat. They had drove for approximately an hour. Riza tried to keep up with the turns, but in her current injured state it was difficult to maintain concentration. It took every ounce of effort already just to remain conscious.

She hadn't expected to be shot. In truth, that was probably the best outcome of her actions. Whether it was sheer luck or not, the bullets had not been covered in wolfs bane. Riza had recalled reading a book with Rebecca that bullets very rarely killed werewolves due to their fast healing rate. Riza doubted the Hunters knew that sliver of information.

She thought of her pack and felt her heart rate increase. She fought to keep the panic down. She didn't want to give herself away. Not yet.

It couldn't have been easy seeing that. She knew that. She felt incredible guilt towards putting both Roy and Rebecca through that tragedy, but she did what needed to be done. She knew if she surrendered at the very least it would cause a distraction. Best case scenario, they would leave her pack alone while they took her as a captive.

"This is completely crazy, you know that right?" Jean exclaimed.

"Of course I do," Riza replied impatiently. "Will you help me or not?"

Jean rubbed a hand over his face tiredly. "I don't want to do this to your friends. I don't want to do this to Rebecca."

"How the hell do you think I feel?" she exclaimed. "Look, you are the only one who can help me. Christmas will keep Roy quiet and try to keep him calm, but it won't be enough. After his reaction with Kain in the hotel, he will be on the warpath if anything happens to me.

"You need to be the one who gets him away from there. He won't listen to reason. Not at that point."

Jean studied Riza as she went quiet. She was determined in her resolve. She was sure this was the only way to ensure their safety. However, offering herself up the Hunters as bait was suicide.

"If they take you alive they will try to carry out experiments on you. They will make sure your death will be slow and painful."

"I know."

"Are you prepared to die in front of your friends? They might not take you prisoner so eagerly."

The question threw her, Jean could tell. Her determination wavered for a moment as she considered this possibility.

"Yes. If it means saving them, then absolutely. Do whatever needs to be done."

Jean discovered a new respect for Riza. If she was willing to go this far to protect the ones she loved… Well, Jean considered them very lucky.

She knew she couldn't keep doing this too them. Yes, she was doing this to protect Roy and Rebecca, but she had been too reckless recently, risking her life unnecessarily, not telling her pack her plans.

In truth, she had always been on her own. Her Father had abandoned her as a child, leaving her to raise herself. She wasn't used to having other people relying on her, or even looking out for her. Nine months later, after her first change, she still found it difficult to both believe and get used to.

Before meeting Roy and finding out he was a werewolf too, there hadn't been any life threatening situations both she and Rebecca had been involved in. So, now, when all hell had broken loose, it was difficult for her to adjust. She trusted them with her life. Why didn't she trust them with her plan to protect them?

Riza pushed those thoughts aside for the moment and focussed on getting back to them alive. She decided to use her current opportunity to its fullest.

A couple of hours later she found herself lying on something cold and hard. At least, Riza thought it was a couple of hours, she couldn't have been sure. The blonde had drifted in and out of consciousness at least twice.

Now, she had been left alone for an hour or so and couldn't hear anyone nearby. She opened her eyes and tried to sit up, fighting the groan that tried to escape her as she moved. The pain flared up again in her chest, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. After the crossbow bolt in her leg, this felt like nothing.

The room was empty. It wasn't concrete she was sitting on, like she suspected, it was stone. She was in a cave-like room. A doorway lay to the north, bringing a breeze with it. Good. That means there is an exit nearby. Rising into a crouch, she sniffed the air. There was no sign of human activity. Odd.

The tables in the room held little to no information about her location or what they were all up to. Various books were stacked around the room. Taking a brief look at each of the titles, Riza found nothing of importance. It didn't mean there was nothing useful in them though.

Riza made her way to the door, but froze at the sound of approaching footsteps. She whipped backwards, pushing herself against the cold stone wall. She winced at the contact, but remained silent.

"I don't know why we have to check up on a dead woman," someone grumbled.

"Can it," came a barked reply. "The beasts can be crafty. We don't know what they are capable of."

"What can survive four shots to the chest though?"

The other Hunter didn't have a chance to reply because Riza grabbed his crossbow and slammed it back against his face. He dropped like lead to the ground. The other was too caught off guard to react. Riza pulled his crossbow down and kicked his knee, sending him crashing to the floor with a cry. She then kicked him in the head. He was unconscious before he hit the ground with a sickening thud.

"I can."

"Interesting." Riza's eyes widened in shock, turning around to face the third Hunter. Just as the smell of wolfs bane hit her, something struck her already tender chest. Riza's face contorted in pain as the all too familiar feeling of poison rushed through her veins. The woman before her smirked as Riza fell to her knees.

Glancing down, she saw a crossbow bolt sticking out of her chest. It looked sickeningly familiar to the one Maes had pulled out of her leg. The woman's face lit up with satisfaction as she watched realisation set in Riza's face.

"I have never come across a werewolf personally," she began, crouching down to meet Riza's panicked and pain-stricken gaze. "But I would love to take a stab at what makes you lot tick."

Riza didn't miss the emphasis the bitch put on the word "stab".

"If they find you are alive they will try to carry out experiments on you. They will make sure your death will be slow and painful."

Jean's words rang in her mind. Suddenly, the bravado she had put up in response to that warning evaded her. All confidence left her in that instant. She felt like a young girl again. Scared, unsure, alone.

"Time to get some rest. You will need your strength once I start with you."

Roy felt a deep ache in his chest as he slowly surfaced from unconsciousness. Groggily, he opened his eyes to find himself under a pink, dawn sky. A cold wind brushed his face with a gentleness that didn't seem appropriate for his current situation.

Without warning, he shot up. Rebecca, who had been sitting next to him, jumped in surprise. Roy caught one look at her face and felt the rage build within him. It was tear stained, defeated, and heartbroken.

Roy jumped up with purpose, his gaze looking for only one person. Once his eyes found Jean, he shot off the truck.

"Roy." Rebecca tried calling him, but her voice was defeated. It was barely at her normal volume and held no substance or command.

Jean turned at the sound of his approach. His expression was blank and looked as if he expected the reaction.

Roy's fist met Jean's face with all the force he could muster. He flew through the air, hitting the ground hard. Roy watched him land, the cracking sound sending some kind of sick satisfaction through him. He was the reason Riza had been left in the clearing by herself. He was the reason she had… He couldn't even think the word.

"Roy!" Christmas admonished with a frown.

"What did you do?" he growled.

Jean picked himself up off the grass, brushing snow off his trousers. "Look, Riza asked me for help with this.

"She what?"

"I didn't do anything. That plan? That was all her."

Roy ran his hand over his face, not believing what he was hearing. She did what? Trust Riza to put herself in front of the danger to ensure the rest of their safety. But she didn't need to do it. They had come up with a solid plan to escape. They were going to leave the resort and come up with a plan to take them down. Why would she risk it all, risk her life so recklessly. It hurt that she had acted by herself. She didn't even tell him what was happening. From the look on Rebecca's face, she had been kept in the dark as well.

"She said it was her duty as the alpha to protect her pack. This was the only way she could make sure you guys escaped," Jean further explained.

"Then why did you let her?" he asked, his anger rising again. "She didn't need to go out there like that. We could have helped her!"

"No, you couldn't. They already knew your name and where you lived. It was only a matter of time before they killed you."

"Who the hell are you to tell me what I can and can't do?" Roy shoved Jean this time, hard.

"Knock it off, Roy," he warned. "Don't test me. I only did as she asked."

"So you're someone who trades people's lives for others?"

"No," Jean replied vehemently.

"Well you should have done a better job at not getting her killed!"

His yell seemed to echo around the forest. There was no reply from Jean as Roy stared at him angrily. As the gravity of the situation and the emotions he had harboured towards Riza's downfall overwhelmed him, he felt himself sag. His shoulders slumped and he felt himself falling. He crumpled to the floor, sitting down and bringing his knees up in front of him. Jean watched as he rested his head on his forearms, looking utterly defeated.

Jean felt overwhelming pity for the man. He had watched his soul mate "die" in front of him.

"Look –"

"Please," Roy interrupted him, all anger heaving left his body. "Just… Leave us alone."

Jean briefly glanced towards Rebecca. It killed him to see her hurting like this. He stepped towards the brunette, who flinched and backed away. "I can't believe you would do something like this," she whispered, tears shimmering. His outstretched hand fell back to his side. He couldn't shake the feeling of loss that had overwhelmed him.

Their car journey was ridden in silence. The humans and Elicia sat in the truck, with Jean driving, while Roy, Rebecca, and Maes rode in the bed of the truck. No one had much to say and no one wanted to break the silence.

For Roy, he kept playing the same scene over and over in his head. Every time he heard those gunshots, it was like a blow to his own chest.

Roy watched helplessly as Riza approached the Hunters. What is she doing?! The woman in the centre urged her forward. Hope fluttered in his chest at the prospect of her coming out of this unharmed.

As the first bullet was fired, Roy couldn't process it. He heard the noise, but couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. Another sounded, and Roy watched in horror as Riza's body jerked with the impact.

No… No!

She fell to the ground and Roy felt himself springing into action. Launching himself forward, Roy's only thought was to get to her and tear the heads off the three Hunters in front of her.

An arm stopped him, however. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as he watched her fall to the ground, completely missing the interaction between the Hunters.

Another two shots sounded and it felt like they had hit his own chest. The pain he felt in that moment was unbelievable. So much so, that he felt himself falling to the ground. He felt his heart shatter into tiny pieces in his chest. "Riza!" He screamed her name, willing her to turn around and face her. He wanted her to tell him everything would be okay. He wanted her to tell him she was going to be all right.

But she never turned around.

Roy heard the laboured breathing from her lungs, heard the blood rushing up her throat and out her mouth as she coughed. When she fell to the ground, it seemed as though all hope was lost. He felt tears fall down his face, but couldn't feel the pressure behind his eyes. His whole body was numb. He couldn't even feel the grass beneath his hands.

He tried again, calling out to her once more. But again, no response.

As she slid onto her back, her chest raising with each ragged breath, Roy felt as if he himself were slowly dying with Riza. All the light left his life as he watched her choking on the cold ground. There was no one to comfort her. No one to hold her hand and tell her everything would be all right.

Most importantly, Roy wasn't by her side. He had vowed to himself he would protect her, that he would do everything in his power to prevent another event like her last run in with the Hunters.

And he had failed.

"Please," he pleaded. "Please, no. Riza…"

"Roy," Rebecca called, jolting him back to reality and out of his head. "You still with us?" She sounds as bad as I feel.

"Yeah." His reply was curt, but full of emotion. Rebecca knew this was tearing him up inside. Hell, it was doing the same to her. To think Riza was actually… Gone… Rebecca had to swallow the lump in her throat.

"Uh, what… What do we do now?" she asked.

Roy was lost. He didn't know how to answer that question.

"We follow Jean," Maes told them, his voice firm. When both werewolves looked at him like he was crazy, he elaborated. "Look, Riza clearly had a plan here. Let us put our trust in her, like she did with Jean."

"How can we put our trust in her when she is dead?" Roy watched with twisted satisfaction as Maes' face fell in reaction to his cold tone. Despite his emotionless tone, the words he spoke tore at his insides.

Silence reigned once more as the journey continued.