Chapter 7

'Oh, for fuck's sake,' Cassandra growled when she stumbled just taking the steps down off the deck. She was unused to the changes she just went through and her coordination was beyond lacking. Righting herself, she began to run. 'My life is crumbling around my ears and I'm stuck having to relearn everything now, when my family is threatened!'

It was a clumsy run for her due to the change in her legs. She felt like a fawn learning to walk for the first time but, in her case due to circumstances, she was forced to use her new legs while running. 'Damn it,' she grumbled when she almost careened into more than one tree. It took refocusing her thoughts from controlling her overactive senses to her new muscle and coordination to get back on track, and even then she was a train wreck on two feet.

Cassandra zipped through the mated couples and their families without pause. She barely spared them more than the thought of 'go to the house now' while she sped her way towards her family. The few seconds it took to telepathically speak to her charges was enough to send her shoulder glancing off of a tree and spinning out of control. 'This fucking sucks,' she straightened up, focusing on her path and tried again. 'Gift, my ass. I need to return this shit,' she scowled; frustration running through her in waves.

Her vision was off. Her hearing was too sensitive. Her damn body refused to cooperate. 'It's going to take me forever to get there.' All in all, it was exhausting shifting her focus to singular things that she used to have complete control over without any effort. Her growing aggravation and panic did little to help the situation.

'This is fucking ridiculous! I'm a centuries old woman stuck in a newborn's body getting accustomed to my damned skin! Get your shit together, Cassandra, or you'll be of no help to your mate! Find your center and focus.'

Finally getting some semblance of control over her more powerful legs, she found herself approaching the outer perimeter of the battle. Up ahead, she spotted Isaac; a wolf from one of the other packs, locked in battle with a Hunter. She rolled her eyes when the blade she threw flew past them, embedding deep in a tree. 'Okay, objects in mirror are obviously closer than they appear,' she growled low, continuing on towards them. On her way past, she stretched out her arm, clotheslining the Hunter with such force that it flipped him end over end a full 360 degrees before leaving him face down in the snow.

She didn't pause in her rush; trusting Isaac to handle him if he still lived.

Seth was close and in trouble. She saw that through his eyes while still in the house. The instant she thought of him he appeared like a bright light within her mind; her senses instantly latching on to him.

Veering towards his direction, but not without sliding out and losing her balance once, she directed her inner vision to her mate. He was holding his own; fighting off Hunters while in their midst. She smiled at her mate's ability before her sight was pulled to Roman. He was fine; directing the Shifters while fighting back to back with her mate.

The thing that disturbed Cass was that her sight went from Dean to Roman without her willing it. Snapping back to what was in front of her, she saw Seth ahead and put on a burst of speed when the Hunter pulled the hammer back on his pistol.

Seth thought this was it. The Hunters made a move to flank them and he took a few wolves to cut them off. It was effective but the other wolves drifted too far out of formation and left his back unprotected. He dropped the last one he was fighting but the one that remained had the draw on him. Turning to face death in the eye, he stood proudly, growling at his enemy until he vanished in a blur of black and white.

Cass barreled into the man at full speed, spinning a full circle as she stopped her forward momentum with a long skid, throwing her captive into a tree trunk some twenty odd feet away.

Seth shifted back to two feet, smirking as the look of rage on Cassandra's face morphed into an almost guilty pout when a loud crack split the air. He was surprised the man survived the impact and began to stir while Cass' gaze shifted upwards before returning to her enemy. She cocked her head to the side, shrugged her shoulders at the Hunter before jumping a few feet to the left just as the old oak crashed to the ground, flattening the Hunter beneath its great weight.

"Shit, I killed one of my trees."

"Even if you decide to use it as firewood, you'll still have to scrape dead Hunter off of it." Seth couldn't help the bark of raucous laughter that erupted from him. "You're alive!" He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off her feet and spun in a circle. "That was the ugliest kill I've ever seen from anyone, Princess, and I've never seen you kill ugly before but you saved my ass."

"Spike, I'm a damn menace. My eyes are off. Everything is off. I'm just moving forward like a fucking tank now until I get used to what changed in me," she pushed her hair back and turned her frustrated gaze up to his concerned chocolate.

"Your eyes look amazing though and it makes me extremely happy to see that big ass hole in your chest gone. It messed with the perfection of your breasts," he smiled from ear to ear until an innocent swat to his gut sent the air rushing from his lungs. "My bad, I won't ever talk about your breasts again!" he coughed, trying to inhale.

"I'm sorry, Spike! I told you everything is off," she pouted, rubbing a hand over his tummy.

"Why do you keep calling me Spike?" he asked with a crooked smile.

"I'm surprised you aren't a TV nerd like your brother. Spike was this bad ass dog in the Tom & Jerry cartoon. The way you puffed up and strutted around like a big shit when we first met just made me think of it. Are you okay? And I'm not talking about the love pat I just gave you?" she palmed the side of his head while he drew his lips into a tight line and nodded his head. They were still in pain; mourning, but didn't have time to deal with it now and they both knew it. "I'm going to need you to do something for me."

"Anything," he said without hesitation.

"As you could clearly see, all I can manage is running with my hands out in front of me and steamrolling whatever is in my path. My coordination is shit. My senses are jacked up. I am not used to this body."

"Tell me what you need from me."

"I need you to shift and let me focus completely on you while you guide me through this. I'm running faster and harder than I ever have before and almost took out a few trees on the way here. I can't throw a blade accurately because my vision is fucked. I'm pretty sure I can use the steel just fine if I'm not moving at warp speed, I just need you to get me there," she clutched on to his hands, loosening her grip when he winced. "Sorry," she said timidly.

"I'll fight right beside you. Slow yourself down enough to run with me and I'll be your focus," he pulled her into a quick hug, kissing the top of her head. "Let's go kick some ass, Princess." They exchanged a small smile before Seth shifted and they took off running. 'You need to wait for my slow ass, Princess,' he chuckled when he heard her mental expletive.

Forcing herself to keep pace with him, Cass took out any opposition they came across while keeping her mind tightly linked with his. They were in the thick of it now, passing a few members of their pack and smiling with the knowledge that they were holding their own, but also helping out others as they passed. It was an easy thing to do once Cass had a solitary thing to concentrate on – that being Seth. His coordination is what kept her from tripping over her own feet.

Seth zipped along with Cass following along side his back left flank. They weaved between combatants with Seth glancing back to see her throw her arms out, taking everyone in her path out with neck and head shots.

'I see what you mean about being a tank,' he laughed, shaking his head before he sobered up. 'Cass, are you picking up Rome and Dean?'

"I'm picking up no one but Rome and Dean. They seem attached in my head whenever I try to focus on Dean. And if you ask me to talk through the bond right now, I'm liable to make a Cass impression in a tree," she grumbled softly while she concentrated on her running.

'I can explain that later but right now, I need you to tune into your senses since they are more fine tuned than mine. I smell Hunters around them but something else that is throwing me,' he shook his head, trying to keep himself from saying "it smells like you" to her.

"I don't know what I sense but I can see him move through their eyes and he's a fast prick," she furrowed her brow in confusion.

'We'll be coming up on them soon. Change your center to Dean when we get there.' Seth picked up his pace; feeling something off before he heard his brother whine in his head. 'Go, Cass! I'm right behind you!'

He watched his pack mate put on a burst of speed he couldn't hope to match and followed as fast as he could. Entering the clearing, he saw a huge Hunter with black hair to his shoulders; his back towards him with his large arms wrapped around Dean's neck. At first glance, he couldn't see Cass anywhere until she dropped from a tree behind the Hunter, clasped his throat and side-stepped as she threw him off of her mate. He briefly stopped to watch the man fly off into the foliage before turning his attention to his family.

"Are you alright, Pup?" she knelt before Dean when he slumped to the ground to catch his breath.

'I am now that I know you're okay,' he sighed in relief. 'Did you heal up okay?'

"I did but it was painful and I went through a lot of changes."

'So I see,' he huffed, running his tongue up her right cheek to her changed eye.

"This is a very small part of it, baby."

Before he had a chance to say another word, Cass was yanked up to her feet by her hair; a hand grabbing her throat and slammed into a tree, pinned there by the iron grip.

"Cassandra, you've been a very naughty girl, sweetheart," the black-haired Hunter growled in her face. "If one of you make a move I will end her," he yelled back at the wolves, leaving them viciously snarling but maintaining their distance when his blade pressed into her chest. The Hunters ceased their fighting as well; darting their eyes between the Shifters and their leader with the "helpless" Huntress of this sanctuary. "You don't remember me, do you, dear one?" he asked his captive.

"I have no fucking clue who you are," Cass hissed, glaring at this man with her bi-colored eyes. She knew something changed around her heart during the transformation, and his threat was most likely an empty one but she let him continue out of sheer curiosity.

She had never had an acquaintance among her fellow Hunters; not once since birth, and she couldn't place this man's face among the council when she was summoned to war. She'd killed every Hunter she came across since then so if this man actually knew her then chances were he was a first gen.

"Watch your tone with me, young lady," he pulled her dangling body towards him before slamming her back against the bark. "Look at my face, Cassandra, my eyes. They were the same as yours before you let one of these mutts between your legs!" He stared at her scowling face, seeing zero recognition flare in her features. "I'm your father, Cassandra."

"Did you just go Empire Strikes Back on me?" she rolled her eyes with a huff of annoyance. "I call bullshit! My father has to be dead after all these centuries!"

"My name is Darius. Just look at me and remember," he said in a hypnotic tone; watching his child's eyes dart over his face before recognition lit. It didn't last long before it was tamped down in fury.

"I don't give a fuck who you are! You've brought war to my home! If those assholes standing down while you preen like a peacock are any indication, you are their leader which means you've been responsible for every battle I've ever had, every wound I've ever incurred! You ordered me shot earlier!" He continued to smile smugly while she searched her memory, coordinated her words and insults. "You lead them? You lead the traitors?" she narrowed her eyes on him, taking in his slow nod.

"I always have."

"You started the war," she gasped with horror stricken eyes. "Hundreds of thousands of us; even more of the Shifters, all dead. Why?"

"The prophecy, Cassandra; it was all about you and I couldn't let that happen," he brushed her hair back with one gentle hand while his other still kept her suspended off the ground.

"What are you talking about? The prophecy was written centuries before I was born. It made no mention of who it was focused on," she shook her head, tears gathering in her eyes. "I thought it meant all of us; that our generation was meant to mate Shifters if not our own."

"Do you seriously believe your Polar Bear Shifter would know more about our prophecy than us? They only knew what pertained to them and the gift they'd receive if it came to pass. They knew nothing of the actual text and how it described the black diamond eyes of the female with deadly efficient fighting prowess. 'The eyes, heart and skills of the soulless' is what it said and I knew the instant you were born that it was you. You never cried, Cassandra. Your mother and I thought you were still-born because you didn't make a sound but no, you just silently watched everything around you straight from the womb. You were born a predator. The two of us were the only ones among our kind with this eye color and you, my dearest, have always been our greatest killer; even as a child, you were lethal," he smiled proudly at his child, placing a kiss on the top of her head. "Don't get me wrong, my sweet. Any of our generation could breed with the beasts and our offspring would keep our gifts and live long lives but you – you were the only one destined to maintain your immortality and to create this new species."

"Are there anymore of us left?"

"No, you were the only one that escaped the genocide of our generation," Darius narrowed his eyes on his child, knowing what was coming next.

"And Mother? You let them kill her too?"

"No, I took care of your mother myself. I couldn't afford that she would bear another one like you," he sneered at her but guilt flashed through his eyes for an instant. "It was hard enough keeping track of your whereabouts but I couldn't very well shuttle daughters out to the farthest reaches of the globe and expect to keep an eye on them."

"That is why you exiled me to New Zealand," she stated the fact with her eyes lowered. She tried to ignore the comment about her mother and why she was killed, and still felt guilty over the death of a woman she couldn't even remember. "How did you know I wouldn't spread my legs for one of the Rams I was protecting?" she snapped while her deadly glare returned to her father.

"Because they aren't feral," he growled in her ear before shifting his gaze back to run over Roman and Seth, and settled on Dean's large form. "No, my precious, I knew the species that was destined to breed with you would have to match your ferocity. You had to be tamed to be taken. It is the main reason I had my people focus on exterminating the wolves first."

Cassandra's tear-filled eyes darted to Seth first; shaking in her father's grasp with the knowledge that she was the reason he and his family were tortured and killed. Seth felt her guilt slam into his chest like a freight train.

'Don't even go there, Princess. I don't blame you!' Seth shouted into her mind when she began to shake her head miserably.

'Listen to him, baby girl,' Roman hastily added, feeling his pack mate withdraw into herself. 'It wasn't your fault! That asshole is fucking insane, and insane people do insane shit! This is on him, not you!'

'I love you, darlin. Think of how we met and ask yourself if that was the act of a soulless predator,' Dean focused his feelings into his mate; filling her heart with every ounce of love he carried for her. 'You are the most giving, selfless person I know. Do you remember our talk? All these years and you've never taken anything for yourself…except my heart.'

"I'm not soulless," she whispered shakily while liquid sadness rolled down her tan cheeks. "I've protected these people; stayed true to our oath, since the day I vowed to do so. I'm not soulless," she shook her head. "Why didn't you just kill me too?"

"No, you aren't soulless but you were an empty vessel awaiting orders like a good little soldier, my precious. If the council didn't get a hold of you first to sway you to their side of the war, I would have had you by my side in your rightful place as my child," Darius smoothed his hand over her head while he whispered seductively in her ear. "The Shifters wouldn't exist right now if our legendary killer was on the right side. That abomination wouldn't be alive now to rut and knot you like the dog he is," he spat towards Dean who stomped his front paws at him with a snarl before turning loving eyes on his bound mate.

'I didn't knot you. You had passed out by then and I didn't want to force children on you until you were comfortable with our mating. I held back on tying up with you so we could discuss it first. Please believe that I love you and would never do anything to you against your wishes,' he pleaded into her mind but his mate remained suspiciously silent.

"Well that is a relief! He just rutted you but didn't impregnate you with his spawn. Oh did you forget that I'm a first gen and like my daughter, I can hear your thoughts, mutt?" Darius smirked at Dean before glancing into his daughter's sad eyes. "This can all be fixed, my dear one. I can sense that the black wolf was involved with your mating in some way so your bond with your mate isn't sealed. You can renounce your bond with that creature by killing him and finally come home. Don't you want to come home, Cassandra? Don't you want to be with your kind; your family?"

And just like that, Darius said the one thing that brought his bid for domination to a complete stop.

His daughter's tears ceased, her demeanor went cold, and her dual-colored eyes held death.

Their "legendary killer' was now before him and she was pissed.

"I am with my family," she said in an even tone, gripping both his hand that held her neck and the one with the knife pressed to her chest. "I've killed my kind for centuries upon centuries, keeping my oath fulfilled until my mate was born." Through her newfound strength, she tightened her grip on her father's wrists; the sound of bones cracking as she backed him up from her, her feet finally touching the ground. "And make no mistake, father," she growled low in her throat, "I am home," and drove two fists into his chest, sending the first gen several yards back to crash into a rock outcropping.

"He lied to you," Roman shouted at the gathered Hunters once he shifted while Cassandra slid her predatory gaze among them, waiting for any of them to make a move. As much as he despised the Hunters, he could sense that the Huntress was teetering on feral, and he chose to be the voice of reason. It was his hope to end this without anymore bloodshed. "You heard it straight from his mouth! The prophecy had nothing to do with any of you. It wasn't a threat to your ancestors and isn't one to you. It was always about his daughter," he pointed at Cassandra when she approached a shifted Dean. "All these centuries of slaughter on both sides was based on the lies of a prejudiced father trying to control his child's future, to reshape the world as he saw fit, using her to do it," he smiled when Cass gently gripped Dean's hair, pulled his head to the side and sank her teeth into his neck, completing their mating bond.

"No!" Darius snarled in the distance, watching his daughter's mate glance from his fists to her eyes with a smile on his face.

The unnatural tether to Roman snapped and only their pack connection remained within Cass' mind. Her focus was entirely on her mate while they felt a subtle shift within themselves.

By claiming him with her mark, her body accepted the changes she recently went through. She felt her former control over her body and senses snap back into place, no longer struggling to assimilate her new abilities. Her final gift to Dean came with the mark as well; he shifted to a male/wolf hybrid, standing on two feet with his claws and sharpened canines the only outward appearance of his true nature. His added strength and senses remained while in his new form. He matched his mate to perfection.

Seth padded forward to get a closer look at the couple but jolted to a halt when Cassandra turned a murderous look in his direction. His body tensed and he cowed down when she leapt at him, wrapping her arms around his body and rolled until she covered him; protecting him within her frame. He shifted when she slumped on top of him, hearing her hiss when Dean pulled the knife from her back before colliding into her father's chest.

"You son of a bitch!" Dean bellowed while throwing punches.

"Why isn't she dead?" Darius shouted in rage in between blows. "That was in the heart!"

"You didn't pay attention to the rest of the prophecy. She's a true Immortal now with none of your weaknesses," Dean growled out of clenched teeth before raking his claws across Darius' face.

"Baby girl! Are you okay?" Roman rolled her over to check on her but she sat up, surprising the both of them.

"It is already healing," she shrugged, watching her mate taunt her father. "Bet you're glad I got over that tank thing, huh? I would have crushed you otherwise," she ruffled Seth's hair before shooting to her feet and joining Dean. "Do you regret coming here yet, father?" she let her claws lengthen an instant before slashing from his shoulder to his hip.

"Not if it prevents my blood from mixing with this dog!" he yelled back, spinning towards Dean when he left slashes across his back.

"All the people that have died because of your prejudice and hatred," Dean growled, raking his claws through Darius' flesh faster than he could anticipate. Cassandra stood back and just watched her mate dominate her father. "We are capable of love, you know. And I love her more than life. I'm still a man despite being a Shifter but now I get to love her and our cubs for an eternity." He finally took a step back, panting heavily before he glanced at his mate. "I can't do it, darlin. I can't kill your father. He's a murderous, psychotic prick but I won't risk you holding it against me at some point," he gazed at her imploringly until she gave him a quick nod.

"I've policed my people for centuries, my love. I don't expect you to, and I will remember this man as only an enemy until the end of time," she walked up, brushing the back of her hand along his cheek while softly kissing his lips.

"Cassandra!" Darius grabbed his daughter's shoulder and she spun with the contact, delivering a right uppercut that sent him hurtling back. She was on him before he caught his breath from impacting the ground.

"You started a civil war amongst our kind over a prophecy that affected one of our numbers. You betrayed our sworn oath; our purpose on this planet, and slaughtered countless of our charges," she rained a torrent of punches down on his face before grasping his shirt, tossing him a few feet straight up, pulled two blades from her belt and embedded them in his shoulders, pinning him to the nearest tree; all in a blink of an eye. "I've seriously considered letting my mate knot me right here in front of you just to rub your failure in your face," she said offhandedly while spinning another blade between her fingers.

"Cassss…" Darius gasped when the knife pierced his heart and stared into his daughter's hate-filled eyes.

"And then I remember you skinned my best friend and his family alive, and I just want you dead," she hissed in his face, watching as the light faded from his obsidian orbs. Cass glanced over her shoulder; her gaze darting over all the gathered Hunters before she turned, pulling two more blades from her belt. "It would be like your standing still. You won't even know I've killed you until you hit the ground and your last breath leaves you," she smirked when some began to lower their weapons before her right arm whipped out to her side; a blade flipping end over end and taking one of their own off his feet. "Do you want to end up like him?" she asked before the Hunter or his rifle hit the ground. "Who speaks for you now that this piece of shit is dead?" she screamed out in rage while gesturing at Darius' corpse.

The Hunters glanced among each other and their opposition, trying to decide their course of action until growls approached them from behind. The mated males led by Phil, flanked them until they were completely surrounded. More than half of them dropped their weapons when Darius died, and more followed suit now that the odds were against them.

"I guess I do," a man stepped forward, tossing his weapons to the ground and held up his hands. "It's over! Put your weapons down!" he yelled to his people before turning back in Cassandra's direction only to find her inches from his face. "My name is William and I was Darius' right hand," he darted his eyes to his dead leader before looking his killer in her eyes.

"You will leave this land," Roman stepped forward, letting his deep voice carry his commands to their captives while he settled a calming hand on Cassandra's shoulder. "If you never hunt a Shifter again, we will allow you to live out your mortal lives in peace. If a single one comes to harm by any of your numbers, we will hunt you all down and kill every one of you motherfuckers. So do we have a truce, William?"

"And who am I making this truce with?"

"My name is Roman and I am her Alpha," he growled low in his throat, glaring down into William's face, smirking when he darted his frightened eyes to Cass and back to him.

"He's the only reason you aren't dead," Cass jerked her head in Roman's direction with a smirk on her face.

"We have a truce," he held out his hand for Roman to shake on it.

"Make sure you spread the word, William," Roman jerked him closer with his grip. "It would be a shame if someone that isn't here killed one of us and brings about your species' extermination." The Hunter nodded his head shakily, stepping back when Roman released him. "You'll be escorted off the property now," he mentally instructed some of the wolves to step forward. "Leave your weapons and get the fuck out of here before she decides to disobey my orders," he jerked his head to get them moving before running his hand over Cass' cheek.

"Stop!" Cass barked out of clenched teeth. She heard Roman's question and subtly shook her head no when he asked if she was overriding his decision. "There is something I want before you leave," she leveled her gaze on William when the fighters from the Bear sleuths stepped forward. "You will hand over every person that took part in the slaughter of the Polar Bear sleuth – now," she crossed the distance in a flash and cocked her head at her father's second-in-command. "They don't get to walk away from that. Make no mistake, William, you are being tested on the oath you just swore to Roman. I can scent each of them among you, and you're surrounded by Shifters that can do the same. We could pick them out ourselves and pass judgment on them but I want you to do it. Prove you can be trusted and hand them over," she gave him a sly smirk, knowing he could read the unspoken "or none of you will leave here alive".

"You're asking me to hand over my people to be slaughtered," he said in a hushed tone.

"I'm teaching you a lesson, boy. That sometimes you need to make hard choices to protect your people, and then there is that test I mentioned," she shrugged her shoulders, seemingly indifferent of whichever decision he made. "Tick tock, William," she wandered away from him, stopping to run a hand up Erik's snout to his forehead. "Shame on you for leaving your mate and cubs to come here but I understand," she glanced over the collected Brown, Black and Grizzly Bear, "you will have your justice and so will Malakai's son," she whispered while she leaned her forehead to rest between Erik's eyes.

There were a lot of panicked, raised voices coming from the gathered Hunters; some begging for their lives and others shouting that this was wrong. Cass just held a soft smile on her face while she mentally exchanged words with the Grizzly. 'That didn't take as long as I thought,' Erik growled softly, glancing beyond Cass.

'William is smarter than we thought. He knew if he didn't do it, they'd all die. For once in my long years, I will stand down from policing their kind. They are yours,' she stepped back and held a hand out towards the sacrificed men. 'And Erik,' she added as an afterthought, 'take them elsewhere to dispose of them. It must be this fucking heat I'm still going through because I can't bring myself to make them watch.'

'As you wish, Cassandra, and do give Dean your best,' he gave a huff before he converged with his fellow Bear and herded the men away.

"After some time goes by and wounds heal, do you think she might be willing to speak with some of us that are interested in our history?" William asked a few minutes after a handful of his men were led away; turning back towards Roman when Cassandra returned to his side.

"You won't be alive by the time I get over it," Cass snapped at the man while Dean held on to her shoulders. "We were never the same species by the time you were born, William; breeding with Humans through the centuries has left all of you Human with enhanced senses, but still very mortal. Now leave and appreciate the fact that my Alpha is allowing you to live out your short lives. If it was up to me, I'd kill you all now and not have to worry about you ever again," she shrugged her shoulders before turning into her mate's chest.

"We missed the whole thing?" Phil said with a pout before grinning at his pack mates.

"You are in so much trouble for coming here," Cass advanced on him, glaring up into his eyes before his grin became infectious.

"Hey now, we waited until the shit passed the fan and settled on the ground before we rolled up," he chuckled; elbowing Xavier in the side when he snorted. "Besides you are FINALLY mated to Dean properly and both of you were in the thick of it. Who the fuck knew it would be so damn hard to mate your immortal ass? Unless he did your ass because that would explain the problem," he laughed, fending off her swats.

"Tell me about it," Seth said with a chuckle. "Usually it takes fucking and a love bite but you two had to make it so damn difficult. For a while there, you had Rome as a sort of mate since he completed the claiming mark."

"Uh okay, as enticing as two gorgeous wolves may sound, I am just this side of no longer virginal that it freaks me out to contemplate that," Cass cleared her throat, edging away from Roman and into Dean while her friends chuckled at her discomfort. "Being taken by one wolf makes me nervous enough but two? Hell no," she mumbled into Dean's bicep, feeling his laughter bubble up inside of him.

"No need to worry anymore, baby. I can knot you just fine in my new form even though I know you won't deny the wolf no matter what you tell everyone else," Dean pulled her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her. "You claimed me and now we know what our kids need to do to claim their mates when the time comes. How do you feel about working on that now?" he rasped seductively in her ear, pulling her pelvis flush to him.

Cassandra went silent; allowing her eyes to drift to her dead father before she pulled from Dean's arms and ran a few steps towards the departing Hunters. "William!"

The man turned back, running through his men to stop a few feet away from her. "Cassandra?" he cocked his head when he saw how distraught she appeared.

"Am I done?" The adrenaline of the battle wearing off, Cassandra just seemed drained and maybe a little lost. "How old are you, William? How long have you been doing this?"

"I'm thirty-one and actively hunting since I was eleven," he lowered his eyes to the ground, kicking at the snow.

"Hunting for twenty years, huh?" She nodded her head while biting her bottom lip; contemplating her thoughts before putting them to words. "I can't remember how long I've been alive anymore but I've been protecting them for over six thousand years," she heard a few gasps around her as well as one from the man before her. "That is a long time to be alone. Do you have a family?"

"I do."

"Due to the goodwill of my Alpha, you get to go home to your family and I would like to do the same. I just got a family for the first time in over six thousand years and I want to know if I'm done. Can I go home to my family and call it a day?"

"Yes," he nodded solemnly. "I'd say it is long overdue."

"Damn Dean, I don't think Cougar applies to a six thousand year old woman," Seth mock whispered to his brother. "Maybe Sabertooth? Ow!"

William cracked a small smile when Roman and Dean both swatted Seth on the back of his head. "You have an interesting family, Cassandra. I can see the love you all hold for each other. It isn't any different than the love I have for mine."

"A lot of pain and death could have been avoided if you would have taken the time to actually look at them and see that instead of just butchering them," she snapped while she paced back and forth before him. William kept his head down; almost submissive in stance, while her family watched her flip between wanting him dead and obeying Roman's order. "Darius might have called me 'our legendary killer' but I'll have you know that I never killed anyone that didn't deserve it. I killed in defense of my charges, myself and during the war. Make no mistake that will all change, William," she stalked up into his personal space, glaring at him while he kept his eyes on the ground. "If one Shifter dies at the hands of a Hunter, I will not only kill every single one of you but I will wipe out your entire family line. There will be no survivors to avenge your deaths. So I ask one last time – am I done?" Her voice broke on the last three words, tears welling in her dual-colored eyes.

William could see her long years of service to her oath hanging over her like a heavy shroud. This Immortal woman had over six thousand years of loneliness and death weighing her down, and she was tired. She just wanted it over so she could start anew with the first people that ever accepted her as family and not an object or means to an end.

"Enjoy your eternity, Cassandra," he bowed his head before following his people.