It never came.

The impact that is.

I was standing there, and I closed my eyes just as Nate lunged for me. I waited for him to crush me, break every bone. I hoped it would be quick, and that Mason would be okay without me. And Christian too. They both deserved to be happy, even Christian, who could sometimes be the biggest jerk in the world.

But I wasn't smashed into a thousand pieces. A noise as deafening as thunder and a cry of pure pain rang throughout the air and I opened my eyes to see Mason tackling Nate and Christian lying broken at my feet.

He'd saved me.

He'd jumped in front, risked his own life, to save me.

I was having trouble comprehending this thought as I bent down to grab Christian's hand. He was in bad shape, bones broken from the collision, bleeding from where Nate's claws had sunk into him. He was staring up at me tiredly, as though ready to fall asleep after a long day.

"Why'd you do it?" I asked him through my clenched teeth.

"Because I –"

"Don't say it Christian."

"Because I love you."

He said it. Maybe he'd been lying when he'd said he only liked me. Or maybe now he realised he was dying and wanted me to know he would have grown to love me if he had more time.

"Don't say that just because you think you're gonna die. You're not going to die."

"Yeah I am. And at least it's for a good reason. Look, everyone will learn from this. They'll make peace and realise that we can both co-exist."

I looked up briefly and found that the fight had completely ceased and everyone was watching us. Well, at least some good might come of this whole mess.

"Shut up Christian, save your strength. You're not going to die." Mason had come over and knelt next to me, wrapping his arm around me.

Christian laughed weakly. "What do you care? Ever since I got back, I've annoyed the crap out of you and fallen in love with your girl."

"None of those things change the fact that you're my brother."

Christian smiled and faint tears rolled down his face. "You're a better man than I've ever been Mase."

Mason bent down to try to pick Christian up but his brother protested. "Leave me Mason. It'll be too late."

"Shut up Christian," Mason repeated though there was no malice in it, just frustration. He laid his brother back down and turned to me with a pleading look, as if to ask 'what do we do?'

"Justin, aren't there any spells that could fix him?" I questioned.

Justin shook his head sadly. "Werewolves are impervious to those kinds of spells."

I bent down and put my head on Christian's chest; his heartbeat was fading fast.

"C'mon Christian, don't die."

He smiled feebly at me. "Don't be sad. You'll still have Mason and after all, you love him."

"I love you too you idiot," I said, slapping him lightly on his cheek. "But you know not in that way."

He tried to shrug but winced when he moved. "Can't blame a wolf for trying."

He half-closed his eyes and the tears I had been holding back starting to track down my face.

This is it, I thought. All hope's gone. He's going to die.

"Maybe I can help."

A blond guy of no more than eighteen stepped out from the wizard crowd; I'd almost forgotten about everyone else until he'd spoken up.

"Daniel?" Alex said, stunned.

How did Alex know this guy? I'd never seen him before. But obviously he knew her since he smiled warmly and pulled a syringe out of his pocket which kind of freaked me out. What kind of dude carries around needles?

"This is the antidote we've been working on at the labs. I remembered what you said about there being good werewolves Alex so I thought I might bring this along for anyone who wanted the option."

Alex took the syringe hesitantly from Daniel and stared at it. "Does it work?"

"We're not really sure. If successful, it should turn him fully human."

"What if it's not?" I asked him.

He turned to look at me, his green eyes piercing. "What have you got to lose?"

I had to give him that one; he was right.

"Give it to me," I commanded Alex and she handed it over.

"Inject it into his heart," Daniel added helpfully.

I got onto my knees and ripped away the shreds of Christian's shirt. Through the slits of his eyes, he could see what I was doing.

"No, no, don't want to be human," he slurred.

"I'm not asking you," I said firmly to him.

I pushed him down, resisting his weak attempts to get up and jabbed the needle straight into his chest, penetrating his thick skin to get to his heart.

We waited with baited breath for something to happen. Then it did.

His breathing cut out, his heartbeat slowed to a definitive stop and his dark eyes closed, the last time we would probably ever see them again.