Okay. I want to quickly apologize if the Latin I used wasn't accurate. I don't speak Latin and I just used translation websites to get the words (they're single words, not sentences, I'd never do something like that.) Isn't there a rule with writing and using translation websites? Yes. Probably. It's only four words. Irresponsible writer. You're trying to drag this out. No idea what you're talking about. I'm going to edit this chapter now.

"Mom." Collin grabbed his sister's arm as she growled lowly at Vasilii when he spoke. The first sign that this was a bad idea was that he'd stopped her.

The original werewolf held his hands out, his eyes glowing faintly with a white shine in the dark room that had once been The Head Counsel's room. It was the three of them now. Just the three of them. The rest of them were fighting and probably dying to the werewolves.

Mary snapped. They shouldn't have been talking but they were. The plan was to kill him and end it all. "Explain it to me, Vasilii. Explain why you wouldn't tell me. Tell me why you would let me suffer for all this time." The fact that Mary was holding back and not going straight for the kill. The fact that she was talking spoke for how bad this situation was for them. Mary didn't want to kill her son; it was very possible she wouldn't be able to. Collin also was hesitating. If this went south…it wouldn't just be on her.

Vasilii glanced between them, his hands still up. "Let me tell my story. Don't interrupt and I'll explain everything. Swear you'll be quiet until I'm done." Collin glanced at Mary who nodded once and Collin followed suit, not liking the situation. He should've stayed out in the bloodbath rather than watch this.

The werewolf took a breath before he began, "I was buried twenty feet below the surface of the earth when I woke up. Well…when it woke up." Vasilii wrapped his arms around his torso and shut his eyes. "It was terrifying. I was dead then I wasn't and I wasn't me. I mean I was… It was all so disorienting, and I was still so angry with you. But I couldn't think about that. I wasn't just me anymore. There was this entire other thing. You talked about the bloodlust and told me about what Ak could do. It was still you. You both were still you. You were just you."

"When I woke up I wasn't that lucky. I was me, I was still there, but there was this other thing. This entire creature crawling beneath the surface of my skin. I wasn't just me. I had little control over it and all it wanted was to kill. I couldn't. Not like the thing wanted me to. It called to me to murder and I couldn't do that, so I hid. I hid in the mountains and lived off of innocent humans and vampires alike that were stupid enough to stumble onto me. More the vampires than the humans. Sometimes I let the humans escape. I wasn't as interested in them."

"I knew if I'd left my hiding. I would've killed you. I knew I could. That I was one of two things in existence that could do it. I wouldn't do that. Not to you. No matter how angry I was. I hid. Until one night I didn't kill my human victim. It didn't kill her. Sure I'd let humans escape before but what it did this night was different. That night I became the father of a species. That night I also realized something. You had your purpose, Ak had hers. What was mine? I spent a long time trying to piece together why. Why had I been brought back? Why had The Ancients done it? What was the reason? There had to be answers. There were always answers. I had a very long time to piece it together."

"While you had the self-appointed job of keeping the balance. Ak had the self-appointed job of wiping out humanity. What was my purpose? I questioned that every single day for many years. Until I realized something. It wasn't a self-appointed task. It was a fact. It was who the both of you were. When you were human you did what you could to keep the tribe intact, you even killed your sister to do it. Then when Ak decided killing select humans wasn't enough you turned on her and vowed to protect the balance. Even then she was already lost to her cause. Wiping out the planet."

"Ak was Interitus. You were Statera. After I realized that, I realized mine. It was obvious. So painstakingly obvious. Restitutio. Ak was the destruction, you were the balance, I was restitution. I was meant to return the world to its natural way. To cleanse the world of the unnatural. It is why werewolves are the only creature in existence that can kill vampires and shapeshifters with limited effort. Why we don't have to burn the remains of a vampire or ingest the flesh to kill. It's why when we're given the choice between human flesh and unnatural flesh we will always choose the latter. We are meant to restore the world to how it was when you were human. We are meant to rid the world of the unnatural."

"I spread my werewolves out across the planet, I looked and looked and looked for you. Finding Ak was simple the first time, killing her was hard but it had to be done. I tracked her down and I killed her. I thought it was done. Except…it didn't work. She was reborn. That was when I realized that despite everything, I wasn't her family. I couldn't kill her. I needed you to kill her." Vasilii whimpered softly, "I hated it. I had to wait. You were missing. No one had seen you in a very long time. I was forced to wait. The balance began breaking and I continued waiting. I watched the world through the eyes of my creations, biding my time until the day was right. I had begun suppressing natural transformations so that my children could spread out more, interlace themselves into different locations. Those terrible slaughterhouses, vampire cities, so many places. Then one of my daughters met Ak. Rather than having her killed I waited. It wasn't the Ak I knew of yet. Ak was still hidden away in the deep recesses of that Old Soul. At the time there was no reason to have her killed. Not when they were trapped away in that city."

"Things went out of control there and I lost the Old Soul. I lost Ak. I was forced to sit back and wait again. I was getting so tired of waiting. Then, lo and behold, a little shapeshifter shows up. It had to be hers. Those eyes gave it away. Somehow I knew who it was. It was Bur. I nudged the back of my daughter's mind and reminded her of her child. The abomination she had killed. I had two reasons. One was to keep him safe for you. The other was that I assumed that Ak would come back for him. She had to, right? Except she didn't. Not for years."

"While I waited for Ak I continued having my werewolves search. You had to come out soon. There was no reason you wouldn't. You had your responsibility. I waited and waited. When Ak finally returned, I sent my daughter to strike and kill her. There was too big of a mess and she was responsible for it. Ak was prepared that time. This incarnation knew how to defend herself. I was a bit shocked but then I decided that for the time being I should leave her alive. After all, you had to kill her and Ak was pushing to destroy humanity. She made her little abominations. It was inevitable that you would show up. Which you did."

"I actually wasn't watching that night. Not until you flipped that switch in her mind. Which stunned me. You'd touched my daughter in a way only I had ever been capable of. Then I realized she wasn't just mine. She was yours as well. It was a bit disconcerting but I didn't let that deter me. The tribe was left human by Ak's selfishness and when Bur arrived I returned her to her human form to protect him for you. I have never forgotten that you loved him. As I learned later, he was your soul brother. I waited that night out and intended on having Rosalie take you down long enough for me to arrive to kill you. Except she couldn't find you. My daughter didn't see you for a while following that."

"After the night that you killed Ak you disappeared. It was bothersome because we knew you were killing humans off in droves but no one could find you. Until two years later when you showed up at my daughter's home with Bella. It was confusing because my daughter wasn't surprised at the sight of you. I'd missed something important."

"I could've had her dismember you there so I could come to kill you. You were at ease with those people. You wouldn't have suspected anything until it was too late. Except…I couldn't. I could've killed Ak a hundred times over because I didn't know her. Killing you, actually killing you, the idea was easy in theory but in reality…you looked happy. I hadn't seen you happy since you first turned me. I couldn't do it. Not when you were happy."

"So I waited again. I waited a while. I let you restore the balance. I let you live with your family. I let you all be happy. It was worth it. I watched for your visits through my daughter's eyes until the day she died. Then I watched through the eyes of more of my children, got a vague idea of what was happening with you and your family. I let you create your Head Counsel, I noticed shapeshifters in Asia starting to whisper about rebelling against you. I started making my moves again after Bella died."

"I was careful, quiet about it, I visited The Head Counsel and learned from them how much they hated you. It was easy to convince them that I could help them kill you. I didn't bother telling them the end plan. The wiping out of all the unnatural. I also infiltrated the shapeshifters in Asia. Let that shifter act like she was going to be the successor to my aunt. Then I had them kidnap you. I told them how to do it. That psychotic shapeshifter decided to torture you since she couldn't kill you. I was supposed to go to you but I was having issues in England with vampires. They wiped out a massive chunk of my werewolves. I didn't make it there before they showed up, Kayden's idea apparently."

The werewolf's eyes flicked open to look at Collin before he shut them again. "If she hadn't taken initiative I would've been able to do what needed to be done. I tried to deter them. I wouldn't have let my werewolves kill Bur. Not ever. Instead I sent them out to scare them off. Then they fought and I panicked. I knew you wouldn't ever forgive the death of Bur but I really didn't want to hold another vampire prisoner."

"Then he killed my son. I was going to have my werewolf kill him but one of the shifters got to him first. I held back because this was your other brother. I had them take you both prisoner despite the fact that I didn't want either of them involved. By the time I made it there you had escaped."

"I was stuck. What else could I do but bide my time again? I wouldn't be able to find you again and Kayden told me to back off to protect her daughter. I couldn't just tell her that her daughter was terrified of me and would probably be happier wherever you took her so I returned to Vegas. I returned there and waited because I knew there would be enough loose ends that would lead you there."

"I'd planned on killing you when you arrived, until I learned something interesting. I heard whispers about his gift." This time when the werewolf opened his eyes he kept his gaze fixed on Collin. "Whispers from a werewolf pack about things they had no possible way of knowing. Unless they did. An Old Soul. That was my first thoughts. The Ancients. It was human child born as an Old Soul. Something that wasn't possible. Unless The Ancients had their reasons for it."

"I kidnapped her and I interrogated her. No, not like you're thinking. She was more than willing to answer my questions. Through her I learned the truth. The oldest truth in the universe. I wasn't Restitutio. I was Purgo. I was meant to cleanse the earth. I wasn't meant to restore anything. He's Restitutio. He holds the one gift in existence that will allow us to return the power each of the first hold to its origin."

The door behind the werewolf opened a crack and Collin looked towards it just in time to see Emma step through it, her gaze glued to the floor as she joined Vasilii's side.

"They won't believe it. Not until I tell them the truth."

Collin felt Mary stiffening under his hold, prepared to launch herself, however she didn't move. He was thinking over every word Vasilii had spoken. Every word he had said rang through him to his very core. This werewolf had been there for a very long time. Playing in the background of their lives from the day Rosalie had met Dol. The idea was unsettling to say the least, he'd been watching. Biding his time until the day he could kill Mary.

He'd said Collin was restitution. It didn't make sense. None of the details made sense.

Why would Emma know something about him that they didn't? Unless…

It should've clicked with him a long time ago. Him piecing together her being Emmett hadn't been perfectly accurate. It was something he should've seen the but he'd been caught up in the appearance. It hadn't even occurred to him that the eyes were the important detail. Her eyes. Her eyes were brown. Emmett's eyes had been blue.

This wasn't Emmett.

There was only one being on the face of the planet that knew more about him than he did at any given time. That girl had died many years ago. There was no realistic reason that she'd have been able to be reborn. That girl wasn't from a special line of shapeshifter and had no real significant meaning to anyone. Except Collin.

"Leah."

The girl smiled weakly, "Hey, Collin."

Mary finally moved, lifting herself completely, Collin's gaze flicked over as she moved his hand from her. "You can't wipe out the unnatural, Vasilii. You can't kill us all off."

"You seem to think you have an option. I'm sorry, Red. Truly. He is restitution and I am the cleanser. Either you give it up willingly or I will kill you. I can do it. I've had a lot of time to prepare for that. You can't kill me. I want to end this without your death. I want to give you everything you've wanted for millions of years. An out. Freedom. Seventy or more years of a human life."

"That can't happen, Vasilii."

"It will happen, Mary." Leah spoke softly, not letting Vasilii respond her gaze flicking between the two vampires. "Collin doesn't tell me which choice you make. Said it was a choice you have to make on your own. It will happen. Either you'll choose death or humanity." Leah stared at the ground, tears filling her eyes. "Vasilii will hand over his power and Collin will have to return to Dol's grave to get hers. He will have the power of two of the three firsts in hand when he meets me the first time. It will be so very beautiful and that will make it all the more terrifying."

Collin stayed quiet, still unsure how to accept the situation. His mind was still reeling from the information that Emma was Leah. Is Leah. Mary hadn't batted an eyelash at the information which left Collin to assume she had known for a while, why hadn't he pieced it together?

Mary stepped forward and Vasilii stepped back, grabbing Leah as he moved and pulling her so that she was half behind him. "You can't kill her, mom. She holds the truth. He visited her in her youth. The only being on the planet he could visit before their death. He told her everything we would need to know this day. You can't run from the past."

"It isn't the past." Mary growled out.

"Time is set in stone. Time is a fact. You can't change anything. No matter how much you want to." Leah looked at Collin when she said this, her eyes pleading for his acceptance. For him to agree with her. The same thing she'd been telling him from the start. Nothing could be changed. He loved her but at that moment he hated who she was standing with. The first werewolf stood there. He was threatening the life of his sister. Mary would never kill Vasilii. A choice had to be made.

"There has to be more, Leah." The words felt foreign, he knew he was talking, somewhere in the back of his mind he realized he was unconsciously dragging the conversation out.

Leah looked away, faintly Collin caught the scent of blood and he suspected she'd bitten through her tongue or cheek. "You will take the power from the three originals. That action will make both Vasilii and Mary human. After that you will travel back and meet me as well as visit each of them after their deaths and deliver the power."

"What about us?" He loved Leah. He'd fallen in love with the girl he could never have. The Imprint that never was. Their family was cursed. None of them were ever fortunate enough for things to work out. This wouldn't be any different. There was a catch and getting Leah back was going to break his heart in some form.

Leah's words were choked and Collin saw as a few tears slipped down her nose, hitting the dusty stone beneath her. "I will never keep anything from you again. Not now that you know. I will love you until the end of time. Even now, I still feel that god forsaken Imprint, and I still love you. Despite everything. There can't be an 'us'. You have to remain a vampire to transfer the powers. Once Mary is rendered human there will be nothing left that can turn you back into a human. You will be forever trapped as a vampire unless you take your own life."

Collin shut his eyes, her words hitting him like a tidal wave.

Unlike Mary who had a choice, he knew what he would end up choosing. Leah had told him. Knowing what he would eventually choose didn't stop him from thinking what would happen if he chose to refuse.

Mary would die. Vasilii came here with the intentions to kill Mary and he had already made it clear that he would if he had to. Just like Mary and Ak he had his reason for existing. He believed he was meant to destroy the unnatural.

Something about that didn't add up.

"That action will make both Vasilii and Mary human…" If he took the powers, Vasilii wouldn't be able to lead his quest on wiping out the races. That was the final missing detail. Vasilii wasn't wiping out the species'. He was wiping out the originals.

"Vasilii, what happens when you become human? What happens when there's no one to enforce your 'wipe out the unnatural' plan."

"I don't need to enforce it." Vasilii replied easily, "They'll do it because it's what I have them brainwashed to do. Every werewolf you've met recently, have you noticed the change? The packs, the cooperation, I can't be everywhere at once but I can easily rewire their minds to do exactly what I need them to. Before I hand over my power I will tell them exactly what they will do. They will wipe out the vampires, they will wipe out the shapeshifters, all the hybrids and abominations. Once that's complete they will kill each other off. The last standing werewolf will find you and you will choose what to do with it. Or it'll kill itself."

"What's to stop me from making more vampires?"

"Nothing. Except the absence of the power. Once the powers from the originals are gone you won't be able to make more." Vasilii looked directly to Collin's side and Mary flinched under him. "Right, Mary?"

"I can feel it… he's right." Mary sounded…hopeful.

"No more stalling. It's time to make your choice, Red. Please make the right one."

Mary slumped and stared at the floor, "A human life. The life that was stolen from me all those years ago." Out of the corner of his eye Collin saw Mary nod. "Okay."

Now it was Collin's turn to agree. He was supposed to take the power back. Nothing he could do would change that. That didn't mean he had to agree easily. "I want to talk to Leah. Alone."

Leah froze for a moment, staring at him with uncertainty as she searched his expression. Mary shifted uncomfortably next to him and Vasilii shrugged, turning on his heels and strolling to the door Leah had come through.

"Leave them. They need to talk. I know you can't kill me again and I have no plans on killing you as long as things to smoothly. Come on." Mary swallowed audibly from next to him before trailing after her son.

Leah took a step back as Collin wasted no time stalking towards her. Her back hit the wall and it took every ounce of Collin's willpower not to grab her by her throat and pin her there. If she was a vampire, he would've done it just to prove his point. He was angry, angry and upset and a hundred other emotions. Mostly he was hurt, she'd kept it from him. They could've had a brief span of happiness.

"Why?" Leah ignored the question, staring at the ground and biting her lip. She was trembling under his stare and, with as much care as he could muster, he wrapped his hand around her wrist, putting enough pressure to make her jump and look at him. "Why, Leah?"

"You told me not to. Please." She pulled against his grip slightly, trying to get loose.

"That isn't good enough. I had to have a reason for telling you that. Why?"

"I'm not you! Stop asking me for answers! Why would you tell me not to tell you! Do you have any idea how much it hurt! You were so damned close and…" She pulled against his hold and this time he did let go, without a thought she launched herself into him, wrapping her arms around his neck and sobbing. "I wanted it. I wanted the illusion of happiness. I wanted to pretend for a while that it was all okay. I wanted to act like we could have the rest of our lives together but you told me you couldn't know. You told me I would never have that with you. You told me I'd be reborn and I'd hate you. And I do. I hate you so damned much because I fucking love you. You made me love you and now you're going to rip my heart out and stomp on it."

Collin opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out, Leah was shaking and sobbing into his shoulder. Everything she said had rendered him speechless. Why would he tell her that? Why would he tell her he couldn't know?

This.

This god forsaken conversation.

That was why he told her. He had no choice. The fucking cycle.

His next action was instinctive, because he'd be damned if he didn't give her something for the hell he put her through.

When he gently pushed her off him she protested but that protest vanished quickly when he leaned in and kissed her.

Collin had never kissed anyone, the kiss was awkward and uncoordinated and Leah took the lead. Collin refused to think about why she knew what to do when in her old life she'd been a mute completely incapable of proper communication. It didn't matter at that moment. All that mattered in that moment was making the most of the contact.

They were both in the bodies of children, things couldn't really pass the kissing, there was no comfort in that thought. Collin wasn't a child. He was so much older. For the first time in his life he wanted more than his family. He wanted everything he couldn't have. He wanted what Mary had made a point of changing him before he could have.

He hated her for it. He hated the world for what he had to do. He didn't want to leave Leah. He didn't want to let her go.

Leah was the one who broke apart from him, gasping for breath and burying her face in his shoulder. At some point he'd lifted her into his arms and she had wrapped her legs wrapped around his waist. He held her close. It was all he could do.

He was muttering apologies so quiet he wasn't sure Leah could hear him, it was all so unfair. Everything. For the first time in a long time he hated Mary for turning him. Truly hated her. He wanted to go in the other room and rip her head off just on principle.

"I'm sorry, Collin. You need to let go. You have to do this. I'm so sorry." She carefully moved out of his hold and despite everything he let her go. "I'm so sorry." She muttered again.

It wasn't her fault. It wasn't any of their faults. It was just the misfortune of their lives. That didn't stop Collin from wanting to blame Mary. If she'd never turned him he wouldn't have been here to suffer through this…

Unless he would've been.

Even if he hadn't been turned, he had been born a quarter vampire. He still had that damned piece of immortality. It didn't matter if he'd been bitten or not because unless he'd been unfortunate he would've lived to this point in time anyway.

"We need to do this." He took Leah's hand and led her towards the doorway where Mary and Vasilii had gone.

.-~*~-.

Everything following that was kind of a blur. Nothing felt real to Collin. Not really. They made their final trip to that shapeshifter encampment in Colorado. No one commented on the bodies of the dead shapeshifter pack there or the residual stink of werewolves.

It was easier than facing what Vasilii was about to do; what Collin was about to be left with.

"Collin, I'm sorry."

"No you aren't." Mary's words weren't comforting in any way, shape, or form. Leah sat on the edge of the grave that they'd dug up again. It hurt. They were a few inches from Dol's corpse and nothing. No sudden visions, strange memories, nothing. Silence. It all felt so foreign. So wrong.

Things were about to change.

Taking a deep breath, Collin dropped down into the hole, digging away the dirt over the top of her coffin.

This was so wrong. Everything about this was wrong. He was in his aunt's grave. The woman who'd sacrificed herself to protect humanity.

He was about to rob her corpse of one of the most powerful things on the planet.

Touching the edge of the coffin he shut his eyes, praying to whatever might be out there that he wouldn't have to touch her.

He would never be able to forgive himself for this.

By the grace of God or The Ancients, which part of him was become overly aware of the nonexistence of, a powerful energy touched his skin and it was as though his entire being had been plugged into the most powerful power system on the planet. His senses soared out and beyond as something flooded into his being. He could feel everything and nothing at all. He could see everything yet there was nothing to see. It was all so overwhelming. He cried out in shock, then it was gone. Just like that, it was all gone. Collin could still feel that power crawling beneath his skin, begging for him to use it, how exactly to do that he was unsure.

One of the oldest powers on the Earth. The power of Ak. That power skated along under the surface of his skin, he could feel it. Being able to feel it scared him. The way it called to him to use it. It wanted him to destroy. End everything.

Collin swallowed heavily, forcing himself to think of anything that wasn't that. Anything that wasn't that power. Leah. Lifting his gaze from the coffin he caught sight of Leah who was still sitting on the edge of the hole, she was watching him closely with brown eyes that he should've recognized the moment he met the real her.

Taking a breath, he launched himself out of the hole, landing behind her and shutting his eyes.

"You alright, Collin?"

"Peachy." He muttered, his eyes flickering open to rest on Mary and Vasilii who were sitting next to a tree.

"I've handed out my orders. Mary, you have to hand over your power first. It's not that I don't trust you but…" Vasilii let that trail off and Mary sighed heavily, shaking slightly before she stood up and stepped towards her brother. A hand rested on Collin's shoulder from behind and he leaned into the contact from Leah, savoring that moment.

"You don't trust me not to take advantage of your humanity. I've got it." Mary pressed her lips together as she looked Collin over, "I never wanted this for you."

"This is exactly what you wanted." He responded harshly, "You wanted a brother who would never age. A brother you could control. A brother who would never want more than you. A brother who would die for you."

Mary flinched at the bitterness of his words. She didn't bother trying to defend herself. It was true.

"I'm going to break my curse. I won't spend eternity on Earth. Maybe you won't suffer through your family's curse of no happy endings. Maybe when you take the powers out of this point it will turn you human."

A thread of hope, the last thing Collin could've ever wanted. Hope was cruel. Hope was the most destructive force in existence. It would pick up whatever it had in its grasp and beat it around until there was nothing left.

He couldn't answer her because if he did he would say something he'd regret. Swallowing uneasily, he held out his hand and Mary took it without saying another word.

Mary's power was different, it was tame and fell into him with ease. It slipped across her skin and it burned every inch of him ever so slightly. The burn didn't hurt. The burn comforted him. Just sharp enough to grab his attention without truly hurting. It glazed across his entire being and settled into his core, at that moment Collin knew it was content. It was happy with how things were. The world was balanced.

The power reflected their beliefs. It was clear now. Vasilii had been right. They had their ideals because of the power. The power had driven each of them.

Once all of the power was gone from Mary she slumped to her knees, his quick action the only thing keeping her from hitting her head on the ground as she slipped into unconsciousness.

With Mary curled into his arms Collin looked over at Vasilii who was staring at his mom with worried eyes.

Part of Collin needed to know. He had to ask. At this point it didn't matter. He needed to know the truth. "Could you have done it? Killed her?"

Vasilii smiled sadly, shaking his head, "Would you have been able to kill your mother?" Without waiting for Collin's answer of 'Never', the werewolf pushed himself to his feet in one singular movement and stepped forward into Collin and touched his arm.

The power rushed in from Vasilii and Collin's entire body went rigid as something infiltrated him. Something dark and cruel and knowing.

Collin understood what Rosalie and Vasilii had meant by an entire other being existing. Another creature in the dark corners of their minds. For Rosalie it had been simple, she'd only had to deal with it during the full moon. This was different. Vasilii had mentioned it standing there in his mind, telling him to kill, to destroy.

The hand on his shoulder tightened its grip and he let out a shaky breath as he blinked rapidly, forcing that mentality back. It wasn't interested in the beings surrounding him. Not really. They were human. All of them.

When Collin was capable of focusing on his surroundings again he looked down at the ground where Vasilii had slumped down to his knees and shut his eyes.

"The cabins." Leah's voice filled his ears and without a thought he rose to his feet, holding Mary delicately and making his way back towards the camp. He heard the scurrying feet of Leah and the slower movements of Vasilii. Once they were at the core part of the camp Collin carried Mary into the cave where his mother had been nursed back to health all those years ago. Despite their abandonment of the camp years ago no one had lived in the cave since Rosalie. The limited furniture was dusty and the beds were unkept.

That didn't matter.

Collin set Mary down into the old bed and she curled in on herself, never waking, her heart pounding loudly for him to hear.

When Collin turned around Leah was waiting at the entrance, Vasilii making his way into the room to lay down next to Mary. Collin didn't stop him. He was focused on Leah. The girl he loved.

It wasn't fair. None of it was. She smiled sadly at him and pushed out of the entrance, Collin trailed after her without a thought.

Yes. It was Leah. I know, I know. Very shocking. Completely predictable. Thanks for the support. Well, to be fair, you made it kind of obvious. Fine, I did make it very obvious. Sue me. Would if I could. Unfortunately, I'm dead, thanks to you. Are we going to have this conversation again? Yes. You shouldn't have killed me off. I am a huggable ball of violent rage. I thought the violent rage was more Ak? I am talking to Dol, right? Wouldn't that be surprising? Finding out you've been talking to Ak all this time? You aren't Ak and you aren't a 'huggable ball of violent rage.' Fine. I'm not extremely violent. Definitely not as violent as my nephew. Have you seen the things that kid can do to werewolves? Yeah, I wouldn't want to get caught in a dark corner with him. Well, you're human, so he would probably kill you for the fun of it. Weren't we supposed to discuss the chapter? We did that. Emma is Leah, blah, blah, blah. My nephew robbed my corpse. Now I'm going to assume this goes into a sappy conversation between Leah and Collin. Okay, I'm moving on. You do that. And don't give us sappy fluff! I demand less sappiness!