so i'm pretty sure this is the last chapter.. i have a way this could become a sequal, but i have way too many othe fanfics in my head i have to work out.. so ENJOY.. thank you ALL of reviewing and reading. xoxoxo!

Chapter 23:

"Will you quit pacing? You're going to create a rut in the floor." Cashile mumbled, while running his fingers through his dark hair. He looked just about as anxious as I was. He was slouching against one of the red walls of the giant werewolf house. I've never really seen him slouch before; he usually carried himself in a professional manner.

"I'm sorry," I stopped midsentence and midstride. I didn't have to be sorry, but I said it anyway. "It's just…why can't I hear what's going on in there?" I whined. I started pacing anxiously again despite Cashile's orders.

"It's the cement in the walls." Nicole said. She was sitting on the bench outside of the meeting hall, next to Cashile. Her legs were crossed under her like a child's and she bit nervously at her nails. "When they built the room the put a special herb in the cement to keep any wolves from eavesdropping. I guess it works on vampires too."

"Wolfs bane." Cashile mumbled again.

"What?" I asked, arching a brown eyebrow.

Cashile looked up at me now. "The herb…the herb they put in the walls; it was wolfs bane. And yes, it works on both vampires and werewolves." Nicole and I shared a confused look at Cashile. "Viktor made me study that kind of stuff before I was turned."

"Well, whatever it is, it's pissing me off. I want to know what's going on. How long have they been in there?" I asked.

"Since the last time you asked?" Cashile looked at his device he used to talk to Viktor. He called it a 'phone' earlier. The screen glowed blue and lit up his face. "About ten minutes, making their total time: fifteen minutes."

I threw my head back in frustration. "Ugh, why is this taking so long?"

"It's going to take a lot longer than a couple of minutes for them to come to a decision, Allison." It was Cashile's time to sound tired. Or maybe it was anger I was hearing. He wanted to be in that meeting so badly, but they had kicked him out. This was what he had been working toward his whole life, and he was kicked out of it, left alone while other people make the next step for him.

"I need some air," I hastily walked over to the window and opened it. A blast of cool, night air blew through, making my hair fly back in strands. I took a deep breath of the fresh air, but it was mixed with something animalistic, something similar to a wet dog. It made my nose burn. In disgust, I wrinkled my nose and opened my eyes to see what the source of the smell was.

When I looked out the window saw hundreds—possibly more—werewolves. They were in groups; no, not groups: packs, I reminded were separated by packs. The sheer number of people waiting outside astounded me. Nicole must of her me gasp because she came to my side. She squealed in delight. "My pack! I'll be right back, is that okay?"

Cashile nodded and she left to go outside with a grin on her face.

"They like to be in packs. Something draws them to each other, and when they are apart they feel sick in ways we can't imagine." Cashile explained to me. He knows me well enough to know I was just about to ask about Nicole's behavior. I wonder if he knew I was going to ask because of the sire link we share.

"Another thing Viktor taught you?" I asked, sitting on the windowsill. I could feel that the wood was cold and a little damp, even through my jeans, but it didn't bother me that much.

Cashile mouth twitched up in one corner. "Yeah."

In the distance I heard thunder roll. Minutes later—which felt like hours—rain started pouring down in sheets. There was a knock on the door and I felt inclined to answer it. I looked to Cashile to see what he thought and he just shrugged 'why not?'

When I opened the giant wooden door a group of werewolves stood before me, hair plastered to their heads, soaked from rain. Nicole was at the head of the pack (in more ways than one).

"Can we come in?" she asked, a shy smile on her face, almost like we were strangers again. Her pale hair looked more white than blonde now.

"I don't see why I'm in charge of that," I muttered. "but yes," I stepped to the side. "Come on in." I smiled.

"Thanks." Nicole ringed out her hair and it left a little puddle on the steps. "Everyone else went to their respective houses, and since all of our Alphas are in there," she pointed to the meeting room. "we stayed, and then it started raining—"

"Nicole," I interrupted her. "It's fine. It's your compound housing, not mine. You don't have to ask my permission."

Nicole bit her lip and gave me a guilty expression. At this time most of the wolves had filed in and were sitting in the living room, kitchen and even the stairs. A buzz of whispery conversations echoed against the walls. "I just… I'll make sure no one gives you or Cashile a hard time." She said quickly and then walked into a group.

I watched her squish away and I couldn't help but notice a male next to her with the same pale hair. He was wearing a blue sweatshirt and his hands we in his pockets. His back was facing me, but I could still tell Nicole and him weren't related. She had a small frame, while he had broad shoulders, yet they were both small for werewolves. If they weren't related, then why did he seem so familiar to me?

It wasn't until he stepped to the side for someone to walk by that I recognized him: Danny.

My heart sunk and my legs felt weak. I flashed back to the night he came and saw me in the vampire compound. As soon as he found out I liked Cashile, he had spoke to me like something you scrape out of a fry pan. Once Danny realized I liked parts of the vampire world, he was disgusted with me.

Some werewolves were keeping their gazes trained on me, but Danny's wasn't—thank god. He was talking to Nicole about something and, with all of the talking echoing against the walls, I couldn't hear what he was saying.

I turned to Cashile. "Can we get out of here?" I asked. More werewolves glared in my direction, obviously able to hear what I just said.

Cashile looked a little take aback. "Sure…where—?"

"Anywhere but here." I cut him off. I need to get away from Danny. I can't stand him hating me. I can't stand the way he would look at me now—fully vampire. I need to get away.

I grabbed his wrist and exited through the first door I saw. The arched doorway was framed with dark wood and led into a circular dome-like room filled with books. The sound of the door slamming shut boomed around, and then, silence.

"What was all of that about?" Cashile asked quietly. He came up behind me and grabbed my elbows and then wrapped his arm around my waist in an embrace. I spun around to face him, letting his arms comfort me. My chest was touching his and his two-toned eyes bore into mine with concern.

"Nothing…I just saw someone I knew when I was human. Someone I grew up with." I looked away from him and at the thousands of books instead.

"Don't you want to say hello?"

"No. For reasons you can understand." I pointed at his chest and he gave me a sheepish smile. He liked keeping his human and vampire life separate; so do I.

He sucked in air like he was going to say something, but he walked over to the books instead. His long fingers traced the spines of the books. "I spent so much time in libraries." He looked back at me over his shoulder. "Viktor snuck me into the vampire compound to study. He had me study fighting styles, military techniques, sociology, werewolf studies, supernatural theories, and vampirism."

"It was pretty lonely wasn't it?" I asked.

"Not all the time," his voice wandered and he stiffened. "Are you hungry?" he asked abruptly.

"No,"

"I'm going to look around. I doubt they having anything, but I'm going to check, just in case."

"But," I reached out for him. Before I could get anything else out, before I could question his odd behavior, he left. I didn't want him to leave me alone. Not now; not here.

I huffed out air and walked over to the massive book self. One book stood out in particular. It was leather bound and had texture on the cover like a snake's skin. I pulled it out. For some reason, this one book spoke to me; it stood out. Its pages were yellow with age and some were crinkled from moisture. When I opened it, it crackled. On the pages were scrawled, hand written lines of black ink.

I sunk down to the floor and leaned against the books and I engulfed myself in the book—no, not book, journal.

I opened to the first page. It was blank except for on line in the upper right corner: William J. Pierson

This was the head Alpha's journal. I should have stopped reading. I should have put the book back on the shelf. I should have put it away and gone to look for Cashile, but I couldn't. I turned the next page instead.

. . .

July 21, 2005

I don't know why I bought this infernal thing. I figured it might be therapeutic, that it might help with the nightmares. It has only been a week and I'm already going mad.

I remember walking home from Frank's party, down Lakeshore Drive. It was his 21st birthday and he told me to come and have a drink, even though I was only 20.

It was dark and I was buzzed.

I remember a growl and then hands grabbing my shoulders. I thought I was hearing things—if only that were true. Either the alcohol kicked in or I was hit—I can't remember—but I blacked out.

I remember waking up in a jail cell with iron bars at the door and ceiling. Only a few slivers of silver moonlight dripped through, which made it hard to see. My head pounded, and that made standing and focusing difficult. I walked around the room and pulled on the iron bars, hoping to loosen them when I heard shuffling behind me. Paired with the shuffling was clinking metal—chains. As I looked over my shoulder I saw a hunched figure in the corner, naked. He hung his head low, his hands chained behind him. I walked over to him to ask if he was all right. His head snapped up and that's the moment I realized I was going to die.

His eyes were glowing yellow and his irises were bigger than normal, almost covering the whites of his eyes. From his throat, a deep, animalistic growl erupted. He bared his teeth and pointed canines protruded from his upper and lower jaw.

I remember scrambling to the opposite wall, making myself small so he wouldn't attack.

I remember the sound of him Turning. God, that was awful. He howled as his body contorted, folded, and transformed. I could hear his bones snapping. Copper colored fur grew down his back and his ears became pointed. Claws replaced his fingers. His spine and hips were no longer upright like a human. He transformed into a wolf and the chains no loner held his paws. He was free to attack.

I remember looking at the moon, full and high, just as he lunged at me.

He made contact with my face first and then his claw ripped down to my shoulder. I screamed in agony. I knew I was going to die. I was either going to die from blood loss or whatever disease that creature carried.

I remember curling in on myself as I tried to stop the bleeding and then the strangest thing happened. The wolf didn't attack me. He looked like he was going to tear me limb by limb and have me for dinner before, but now he waited.

I don't remember what happened after that.

August 19, 2005

I Turned last night, like the man in the cell. It was excruciating. It felt like every bone in my body broke, healed, and then broke again. There was a hot sensation that burned through me. As soon as I was fully changed, the pain went away, and I ran on four legs instead of two. I ran away from home. I ran away from my old life. Something is still pulling me, even though I'm in my human form. I don't know where I'm headed, but something's pulling me, calling me.

. . .

I kept reading, skimming the pages. He explained about meeting the man who turned him, his pack, why they chose him, and why his scar never healed—because it was how he was Turned. I flipped through pages, engorged in his story. I scanned over words like "vampire", "werewolf", "war" and so on. I read deeper.

. . .

January 4, 2009

I spoke to my father today—the first time in years. I told him what I was for the first time. He told me about the human force and what they were planning. A war was coming; not over religion or land, but species. He told me vampires were involved too and I dug my fingers into the wooden table, leaving ruts. I told him to stay out of it. My Alpha had predicted what was going to happen, and I didn't want him to get involved. Hell, I don't want to get involved.

. . .

The sound of a door clicking into place made my head snap up instantly. All of my muscles tensed and my senses were working over time. Everything screamed: enemy, intruder, attack!

By the arched door stood Danny—the absolute last person I wanted to see.

"Hey," he said, straightening up.

I glared at him as I cautiously stood up.

"I heard that vamp you were with leave and I thought I should come in and see you, but I couldn't work up the courage. He even came out and told me to go in and see you, but I couldn't. I was out in the hall for 15 minutes…" he rambled nervously. He always had that habit. As much of a joker he was, he was always at a loss for words when he was nervous. He centered himself and started again. "I'm sorry," he hung his head and leaned again the doorframe. "I lied when I came to see you,"

"What?" I spat. Danny seemed surprised to see I even spoke.

"When I came to see you, at the vampire compound, I said I was waiting to be turned. I lied. I was turned earlier that week."

"Why the hell should I care?"

"My emotions were out of whack. Anger was fury; happiness was ecstasy; sadness was depression. I wasn't me, Aly." Danny explained as he pointed at his chest. I remembered reading William's first hand experience and he said he felt like he was going mad—not being able to control himself.

"Then why didn't you come and apologize after you cooled off?" I asked, more softly this time.

"I…" Danny struggled for words. When he finally spoke he met my eyes. "Things were put into perspective.

"So you feel the same way? You hate me? Well if you hate me then I hate you!" I began to storm off, but Danny was in front of me. I looked up to him in surprise.

He smiled from the corner of his mouth, like he had always done. "What, you thought vampires were the only ones that have supernatural speed?" His joking faced turned serious. "Look, I'm trying to apologize and you're just ignoring me."

"For good reasons," I muttered.

"Yeah, I was a jerk and I can't even come up with a good enough excuse to why I didn't come to apologize. I was afraid. But when I saw you here—"

"You tried to kill Cashile,"

Danny hung his head again, continuing like I hadn't even spoken. "When I saw you, I knew I was given a second chance. You don't have to forgive me, you have every right not to, but I'm just trying to make things right, and maybe I'll finally sleep at night. I just needed to clear my conscious. I could never hate you Aly Cat, no matter what species." He turned on his heels and walked to the door.

"Wait," my voice cracked a little. Danny stopped, but did not turn around. "I'm sorry. I just want everything to back to the way it was." My eyes became blurry from my oncoming tears.

I could see his shoulders bounce as he laughed. When he turned around he had a smile on his face. "You know that will never happen. Even if they decide to end this, things will never truly be the same."

I cringed a little. "I know." For the first time since Danny had come in, I remembered I had William's journal in my hands. "Have you ever read about what life was like before the sectors?"

Danny shrugged. "Just what we learned in school."

I held up the journal. "This William's, like your Alpha William. This was written over a hundred years ago. How is that even possible? He looks like he's only 60."

Danny corner-smiled again. "You really don't know anything about werewolves do you?" I arched an eyebrow at him and he continued. "We age two times slower, sometimes even longer, like in William's case. He's an Alpha, so he is powerful."

"What's in here… is it true? The turning process?" I asked.

Danny was quiet for a moment. "It was the most painful thing that I ever experienced."

"That awful, huh? I know the feeling." Cashile leaned his elbow against the open door. Danny looked at the floor and bit his lip. His mom taught him that—if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

"Glad you two could catch up, but are you almost done in here?" Cashile said curtly. Neither of us said anything. Cashile grabbed my hand and made it as noticeable as possible. Danny lingered behind us and we walked back to the entry room.

Back in the entrance the werewolves stood stiffly instead of relaxed and sitting like they were earlier. The silence in the room was eerie and the rain pounded on the roof.

The door opened. Entering the room was Viktor, he came and stood by us, Shane followed, then William and the other Alphas. William stepped inside the circle we had created.

His voice boomed with power. "Today, we have made a decision," William paused. "No longer will there be sectors separating us." I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding in. "As part of our agreement the vampires will stay underground for precautionary measures, but to those who have proven themselves," William looked around, but his eyes landed on Cashile, Viktor, and me. "Will be allowed to roam freely wherever they please. As for the werewolf sector, the gate will be torn down, no longer segregating our species with the humans."

"Sir," someone spoke up respectively. It took me a moment to realize that it was Danny. "How will this help. I mean, the werewolves are going to stay with our packs, the vampires are going to stay underground, and the humans will still cower in their homes. Tearing down the gate won't make much of a difference."

William gave a knowing smile, so did Viktor. "You will find with age, young werewolf, that once people are given the opportunity to change, they will, no matter what the circumstances." Viktor spoke with his hands behind his back; it reminded me of Cashile when we were in training.

"Things will go back to the way they were, but it may not go smoothly." One of the Alpha's spoke up.

"And there will be consequences. If anyone steps out, public execution will be the answer. It is the only way we can send a message to the public." William's voice was serious. "Also, Turning will no longer be annual. If anyone wishes to Turn a human, there will be a council meeting first—for population control, of course—but mandatory Turning will cease to exist."

There was a long moment of silence, as if no one was sure what to say or what to do. Hell, I didn't know what to do. The sectors are gone. No one knows what life will be like. This is the first time that I actually had control over what my life would turn out to be. The first time any of us could choose our future. It was like a door opened to a whole new world full of endless possibilities.

For the first time in a long time, I smiled.

THE END

review PLEASE, let me know what you thought. also, i have several ideas for fanfics one is vampire related, one is angel related.. but i don't know what category to put it in any help? if you know please let me know!

xoxo review xoxo