Chapter 68: Deucalion

I don't know what you are, but I know what you were supposed to be.

You could cut the tense atmosphere in the room with one of the Chinese ring daggers Allison twirled around her fingers.

They were getting ready to implement Plan B in Allison's bedroom of all places, which had the same monochromatic color palette as the rest of the apartment. No pictures, no posters, nothing that looked like it held any sentimental value. A grown-up's bedroom, Joe figured, but for a seventeen years old girl.

Joe loaded up the eighteen-inch M1A-rifle with bullets as long as her index finger. Chris hadn't been kidding when this caliber could take out the African Big Five: lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and buffalo. She hoped that meant it could take out an Alpha's Alpha as well. At Joe's request, Allison had 'borrowed' the rifle from Chris's gun safe without his knowledge. That, along with the 9mm pistol, would be Joe's weapons of choice for the evening. She wore leggings as usual now, with a tight black sweater and a sports bra. Full movement, okay camouflage — GI Jane as Jimmy had called her once.

"You, uh, want a hair tie?" Allison asked, holding one out awkwardly. She'd pinned her own hair up to avoid it getting in the way.

Joe ran her hand over her short strands that barely reached her shoulder blades now, curling up so it was actually closer to her chin. "I think it's too short."

"I can braid it," Allison suggested brightly and then made a face. "Sorry, I don't mean- uh, I just, I had short hair before, so I know how to braid it so it doesn't get- you know what, I'm sorry, just forget it." She dropped the arm holding the hair tie and turned back to fastening a thick black coat with special cutouts to allow for full arm movement when she used her bow. "It's not that I'm suggesting we sit here and braid each other's hair and gossip."

Before Joe could say anything, Allison span around again.

"Actually, we've never really gotten a chance to talk-"

"No need for it now either," Joe tried to intercept, but Allison wasn't listening.

"I, uh...I'm really sorry for everything that my family's done to you."

"Please don't do this. I'm begging you."

Allison's voice shook, but she pushed through. "And I'm sorry for the part I played in Erica and Boyd's abduction. I know it's not an excuse, but I was so angry after what happened with my mom and-" Joe's worst fear came true when Allison pushed her fist up to her mouth, obviously holding in tears. She cleared her throat. "You have to believe me, I had no idea that Kate-"

As Joe physically flinched at the name, Allison finally stopped talking. For a few seconds at least. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Dad never told me what happened. I'm not sure if he even knows, but what did-"

"What happened?" Joe asked while tilting her head to the side, looking at Allison who resembled Kate in so many ways. Same jawline, same eyes. Except for the expression — Kate never looked nervous like that. "What is it with you guys and wanting to know what happened? It's not gonna change anything. It won't make me feel better to tell you, it won't make you feel better to know, so what's the deal? Why do you want to know?"

The girl at least had some backbone. With a slight shakiness to her voice, Allison held her chin up. "So that when she comes back, I'll remember she's a horrible person. So I won't let myself be manipulated by her again." Her lithe neck muscles worked as she swallowed. "But if you don't want to tell me, I understand. I'm sorry."

Manipulated. The words sent chills down Joe's spine. It was hard to remember — especially after Erica had explained exactly how they were captured by the Argents, not that Joe hadn't seen the clearing littered with arrows herself — but Allison was just seventeen years old. Young, impressionable, and taken advantage of by full-blown psychopaths like Kate and Gerard Argent.

After a moment's hesitation, Joe asked: "Scott didn't tell you anything?"

Allison shook her head.

"Fine. Short version? Your aunt Kate strung up my friend Jimmy in a cave," Joe kept stuffing bullets into the magazine, "tortured him for days," click click click, "shot him several times," Joe thumped the magazine to align the bullets, "lured me out there," she slammed the magazine into the rifle, "and tried to kill both of us."

Except that wasn't the worst part. Spilling all of Derek's dark secrets had been the worst part.

Rifle ready, she looked at Allison again. "And then Jimmy bit her and she ran away and no one lived happily ever after. Okay?"

"Okay." Allison nodded while her lips moved silently. "What do you think she's doing? I know Dad tracked her to Mexico, but-"

"Killed a bunch of people."

Allison's eyes flared up wide. "What?"

"Most likely at least. There were some hunters following her, but somewhere along the line she managed to shake them off and they picked up Cora's trail instead. Because, you know, going after innocent teenagers is kinda your thing, isn't it?"

"Uh..." Momentary speechless, it unfortunately didn't last long this time either. "What hunters?"

"I don't care," Joe interrupted, which was a blatant lie, but she could not afford to care about Kate right now. "She'll be back eventually unless the feds don't get her first. Now, if you want to prove you're one of the good guys, help me stop the Alphas instead of having a heart-to-heart right now. Don't take it personally, but you and I aren't friends. We have a mutual enemy and a mutual goal, that's it."

Because if Joe had to be honest, just working together with Allison felt insulting to Erica's memory. Still, if Joe had to be honest, she needed backup and Allison was a decent shot.

"When we get there," Joe kept her voice flat, "stay out of sight as long as possible. Long-range attacks only. You can not take these guys hand-to-hand. Keep at a distance at all times so you have a headstart if you need to run."

Something had obviously struck a nerve with Allison as she squared her chin again. "I can take care of myself. Besides, I thought you said we weren't friends."

"Yeah, but your dad's a nice guy, so if you even think about getting too close, I'll dropkick you through the fucking ceiling. Understood?"

They stared at each other for a few seconds, but Joe knew her glare held some weight.

Joe raised her eyebrows. "Remember the plan?"

With a grim nod, Allison returned her focus to preparing her bow, a heavy compound device made for hunting. Appropriate at least. According to her, Chris was adamant about staying out of this, so they could not count on him for help. In fact, she would prefer he wouldn't be told of their plans at all.

To her credit, Allison never asked about Jimmy either. It tugged on Joe's heartstrings to lie, but Jimmy-boy, who had not been able to turn off his werewolf-eyes for weeks now, was not fit for combat. Oh, he snarled and acted tough, but she doubted he would be able to fight the Alphas at the moment.

Besides, if things went as they planned, they would not need his help. If things did not go as planned, they were all dead either way.

Joe hefted the rifle up to her shoulder, getting acquainted with the optic scope and general weight. For the bullet size, it felt kind of light. Allison was not that interested in guns — she stuck with her bows — but had mentioned the range of the rifle was around 200 yards. Their destination would not allow for such distances though, and Joe hoped she would be able to make the shot at a closer range.

It was one thing firing a gun in anger or desperation — now she would have to take aim, make a decision, and then shoot to kill. Premeditation versus crime of passion or heat of the moment. You think you're ready? Joe flexed her fingers, hoping to keep her hands steady. She would only get one shot, and she was lucky to even get that.

"Uh, do you want a headband?" Allison offered before they left. She smiled awkwardly again. "I just- it would kind of suck for you to miss a shot because your hair's in the way. It's, uh, happened to me before, so..."

"Fine," Joe said and accepted the elastic black strip of fabric she used to push her hair out of her face. It beat having Allison braid her hair back. "Ready?"

With a quiver full of flash bolts, Allison announced that she was. They snuck out of the apartment and Joe could hear Chris on the phone with someone in his office — an overseas client according to Allison.

It was a calculated risk, but Derek had mentioned a secondary location and the only secondary location Joe knew the Alphas used was the abandoned mall. If she'd been local, she might have recognized it the first time she was taken there to 'train', but she wasn't and had never connected the dots that it was technically in Beacon Hills. Until she had mentioned it to Allison, she hadn't known Beacon Hills even had an abandoned mall.

It had all the makings of a perfect spot for an ambush. The mall laid conveniently out in the middle of nowhere, part of a suburb that died before it was ever fully realized and the investors ran out of money. She and Allison had consulted a layout plan for it earlier — malls had several entrances, a fact that would serve them well. They parked Allison's car by the main road and went the rest of the way on foot.

Abandoned warehouses were creepy, but abandoned buildings intended for a lot of people were worse. Like empty lecture halls, it gave Joe the sensation of unfulfillment. This one had been built in the 80s by the looks of it when a lot of curved angles and edgy details were popular.

They paused at the sight of a familiar dirtbike resting near the main entrance. Scott was already here. Joe tried to remember her breathing — just like the night of the full moon, the building laid dark and forbidding ahead of her. She wiggled her toes, almost wanting to take off her shoes for better balance.

Allison gave Joe the sign to keep low and right, flush to the building so they could make their way to the back. Joe could at least appreciate someone else knowing tactical hand signals, even if she did not like taking orders. She never got Jimmy to use them and Erica kept mixing them up.

Not much had changed since the full moon when they'd pitted Erica and Joe against each other. The broken lock still hung on the rusted chain from where they had burst out into the woods. Running. Running and running and running. Joe suppressed the memories. She had to focus.

A heavy layer of dust and crumbling concrete covered every surface inside. Joe noticed both of her and Allison walking in the same manner, rolling from heel to toe, trying to keep quiet. They shouldn't have bothered.

The sound of echoed fighting reached them soon enough and Joe swore under her breath, as much at the timing and the small jabs of pain. Derek was keeping most of it to himself, but some leaked through.

She picked up the pace, not registering that Allison failed to keep up.

One shot.

The words went on repeat. One shot, she got one shot. If she missed, she was dead. If she missed, they were all dead. Scott, Derek, Cora, Boyd — all of them, the whole pack. Judging by the sounds, Deucalion had not come alone.

Aware of her heavy breathing, aware of her aching shoulder just from carrying the rifle, she followed the sounds of snarls, crashes, and grunts. Breathe, just breathe. Don't panic. Panic is your enemy. No, those jacked-up werewolves down there was her enemy.

Parts of the floor had fallen down or never finished construction, and she came out on a landing overlooking the whole scene.

In the middle of a pair of escalators stood the ringmaster himself, surveying what was happening with whatever senses he used without his vision. Joe's stomach knotted just at the sight of him and she flung herself behind a rusted metallic bench that looked like it had once been part of a cafeteria.

Breathe, just breathe.

The loud echoes of the fight overpowered the sound of her own heartbeat. Peering out, she took stock. Everyone was fighting except Deucalion.

The twins had conjoined into the Mega Wolf and were fighting off what looked like Isaac and Scott with ease. Don't panic. Cora and Boyd worked together to take down Ennis, a futile match if she ever saw one, and that left Derek alone to handle Kali. Don't panic. She'd kill him. Don't panic. No sign of Peter, not that she was surprised. Joe winced at a harsh sting in her cheek — Kali's foot claws hitting Derek in a roundhouse kick. She'd kill him. Don't panic.

One shot. She had one shot.

Hefting the rifle to her shoulder as she laid down, she tried to focus, tried to achieve the same tunnel vision she had trained on. Seeing everything through the optic scope with a small red dot in the middle made that easier.

Steady. Keep steady. Find target. The red dot replaced Deucalion's head where he stood with his hands on his white cane, like a knight holding his sword. Completely unmoving.

One shot. Breathe, just breathe. Don't panic.

How long had it been since she fired a rifle? She'd been sixteen, right, when her dad took her out to the range in New York? It had been heavy and she'd involuntarily squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath when she fired, afraid of the kickback and the noise. Breathe. In and out. In and out. Slow it down. Don't panic.

They were losing! Two versus one in most cases and they were losing even before Deucalion joined in on the fight. Did not like to get his hands dirty, that one. He would if necessary and they'd definitely lose.

Derek was losing. No, don't think of him. Focus, Sefina! Make the hard call. Focus focus focus.

Breathe!

The red dot went up and down with each in- and exhale. Trick was to fire between natural breaths. Squeeze the trigger, don't pull it, you'll shift the aim if you pull it. Squeeze the trigger after you exhale, but before the next inhale. Natural respiratory pause, you know this, kid. Just keep focus, Josie. Hold your breath too long and your heartbeat goes faster, makes your pulse jump, causes the gun to move. Don't want that. If you hold your breath, start again. Come on, breathe, kid.

Inhale. Dot going over Deucalion's head.

Exhale. Dot replacing his head.

Inhale. Dot up and over.

Exhale and squeeze.

The gunshot blasted out, for a split millisecond drowning out the noise of the fighting werewolves.

"Ah!" Even though Joe had pushed the rifle stock so far into her shoulder it hurt, the kickback still burst into her joint, near throwing it out of the socket. This caliber was no joke.

No joke. The recoil was enough to realign her aim — it would still have hit, at least partially, but Deucalion dodged with inhuman speed. The bullet tore through the handrail of the escalator instead, leaving a large head-sized hole.

It also gave away her location as too many pairs of glowing eyes looked her way. Not all of them. Where was Kali?

"Shit."

With frantic movements, Joe reloaded, remembered it was semi-automatic and she didn't need to reload, and slammed down on her back, rifle up to her shoulder again.

The same second, an avenging spirit in the form of a pissed-off Alpha werewolf flew through the dim light. Joe fired. This shot went into thin air, too hurried as Kali crashed onto the platform next to her.

"I wondered where you were," Kali snarled with glee and Joe tried to reload again without needing to before just firing.

Too slow. Shot missed by a mile and with a quick swipe of her long leg, Kali knocked the gun out of Joe's arms. It clattered to the side, out of reach.

"Shit," Joe swore again and somersaulted backward to avoid the next strike. Too slow again. She dodged the foot claws that raked across the concrete, but Kali spun around and hurled her other heel into Joe's stomach.

The impact knocked her breath out and sent her flying out from the platform.

Crushed concrete dust erupted around her body, pushing up her nostrils and down her lungs when Joe plowed into the floor below. Bones breaking, shifting, already healing — pain excruciating, but numbed by the adrenaline. At least some of it.

The impact shook up her thoughts, going momentarily cross-eyes as she tried to get her bearing. Through the haze of confusion, she still thought of Derek. Are you watching? See how much pain I can take? Because he wasn't feeling a thing from her.

Focus!

With a harsh cry, Joe got up. Too slow again.

Kali leaped down from the platform and landed heavily next to her, one foot hammering into Joe's chest, holding her down. Joe automatically tried to push the foot off with both hands, tried to keep the claws from tearing into her exposed neck, but Kali only grinned above her, showing a wide row of glittering white teeth.

"That's the best you got?" she asked, dark red eyes glowing. Different from Derek's, not like Derek's. "Come on now. Where's that strength?"

"Aaah!" Joe shrieked as Kali pushed her foot down and dug her claws through Joe's shirt, into her skin, blood welling up, hot and wet, spreading over Joe's chest.

Kali turned her head and snarled at an approaching figure.

"Ah ah ah!" she tutted and judging by the infuriated grunting, like a buffalo getting ready to charge, she was keeping Derek at bay. "Watch your step, loverboy." Another snarl, another direction. "You too, little sister."

Breathe. Just breathe. Easier said than done. Joe choked and groaned, both of the pressure and the blood running down inside her throat from where Kali's sharp claws pierced her esophagus. Breathe. Don't panic. To her side, she saw how Ennis had Boyd down too on the floor. The Mega Wolf held Scott and Isaac.

Defeated. It was over. Because she'd missed!

"Hmm." Kali made a pleased sound, bending over Joe to push her claws in further. "Is that all? Come on."

Kali's dark eyes flickered to the side, to Derek. He was fully wolfed out, snarling at Kali, but keeping back. The red in Kali's eyes disappeared briefly as she rolled them in disappointment — Joe was holding onto her pain like a lifeline, leaving Derek unaffected.

"Let it go."

"Bite me," Joe croaked slowly, still pushing with everything she had on the foot. Bloodloss leaving her dizzy. At least her words made Kali grin.

Deucalion's strong voice rang out in the mall: "Go easy on the girl, Kali."

"She can take it," Kali retorted without even looking at Deucalion. "She's stronger than she looks. Although," Joe grunted when the heel of Kali's foot pushed down, "I thought she'd be stronger by now. What's wrong? Didn't we make your bond to the little blondie strong enough?"

"Kali..."

"She can take it!" Kali snarled over her shoulder, eyes returning to Joe instantly as if challenging Joe to prove her wrong.

"I trust your judgment on that," Deucalion said in a dry tone. "As for you," he addressed Derek, "kill him."

Him? Shit. Boyd. Downtrodden Boyd. Coughing up blood on the floor, grunting in pain. Instead of turning towards them, Joe kept her focus on Kali, anchoring down to keep her pain from paralyzing Derek. He had to be strong. Stronger than her.

"The others can go. You're beaten. Do it, Derek. Take the first step, as your mate has already done."

At that, Joe squeezed her eyes shut. Erica. They made her kill Erica and now they were making Derek kill Boyd. Why? For what? What did Deucalion gain?

"Are we serious with this kid?" Kali spat, not taking her pressure off Joe's chest. "Look at him. He's an Alpha? To what? A couple of useless teenagers?"

Calm as ever, Deucalion answered: "Some have more promise than others."

"Let him rise to the occasion then. What'll it be, Derek?" Kali's fangs distorted her words somewhat, but the smile remained. "Pack," she turned to grin at Cora, "or family?" Joe let out a grunt of pain as Kali leaned over her again, cooing: "Or maybe Josefina here?"

"Kali," Deucalioned warned, but the woman did not pay him any attention. He sounded mildly annoyed, like someone had gotten his orders mixed up at a restaurant. "We did not spend three months on her for you to kill her now."

Only eyes for Kali, whose long hair hung around her face, Joe didn't know what anyone, least of all Derek, was doing. Apparently taking too long as Kali dug her claws in even deeper into Joe's throat.

"Let it go," Kali sneered and Joe's arms shook from the effort of holding the foot away from crashing through her collar bones completely. "Let it go or let it out, Sefina." Biting her lips together, Joe tried to shift the weight, tried to get loose. "Let - it - go! Come on, it's so easy, just let him take some of it. Come on, let the pain go!"

Never.

Eyes rolled back in Joe's head. It was too much. Just like the night of the full moon, when it was Derek's pain, it was getting too much. Ears filling with the roar of her own heartbeat. The long-haired being over her was no longer Kali, it was Kate.

Kate, down in the dungeon, holding her down with her foot. Pressing down on her chest, making it hard to breathe after just kicking through Joe's ribs. "Is that not downright romantic?"

"Let it go or let it out!"

Kate. Kate Kate Kate. Always Kate. Only Kate. "Aww, would you look at that? Is that not downright romantic? The innocent schoolgirl coming to the rescue! There you are, babe, I've missed you!"

Tied up, helpless, and gagged. Joe bared her teeth as Kate leaned down. The blonde hair hung around her face like a halo, beautiful like Lucifer himself. Evil malice in her smile. A deranged look in her eyes, happy now that she had Joe where she wanted her. "I gotta say though, I'm impressed. Where'd ya learn to fight, Berkeley?"

Juvie hall, thought Joe wildly and reached back for the 9mm.

The loud bang snapped her out of her delusions just so she could see the bullet graze Kali's cheek, leaving a wide stripe of burnt and bleeding flesh.

The pressure lifted from Joe and Kali roared with pain and anger. Gurgling from the pierced throat, Joe pulled her knees back almost to her shoulders and kicked herself up to her feet. Turn, aim, and fire. She shot at Kali again, who staggered back. Another ear-piercing roar told her she had hit something.

Instincts took over. Ennis still stood over Boyd — her Boyd — and Joe span around to face them.

His large bald head made the pointed ears more prominent as Ennis grinned — or bared his teeth at her. A large foot pressed Boyd's face into the floor, the younger werewolf grunting in pain. The grunt skipped Joe's ears completely, went straight to the primal part of the brain, the part that made her blood boil hot at someone attacking someone in her pack. They dared? They fucking dared?!

"Nice try, kid." Ennis laughed, a low and guttural sound. "You think you got the ball-"

Bam bam bam bam bam

Not thinking, no room for thoughts — the bullets tore into Ennis' chest, some lodging into his muscles, other exiting out his back in a juicy spurt of red blood. It was enough to make him stumble backward, but not fall.

With gritted teeth, Joe kept squeezing the trigger until the magazine clicked empty.

Rivers of blood ran down Ennis' shirt; the shots stitching inky red stains across his chest. And yet, Ennis grinned again when the gunshots stopped.

Thank God for Allison.

A faint whistling noise distracted Ennis enough for Derek to leap at him, knocking him off Boyd, while another slimmer figure slammed into Joe.

The first flashbolt struck in the center of the Mega Wolf and intense light erupted in the mall. A werewolf, not sure who, shrieked at the next arrow hitting the floor. And they kept coming!

"Your eyes," roared Deucalion somewhere in the confusion. "Cover your eyes!"

Too late for Joe and she was forced to fight Kali blindly, eyes running with tears. The empty gun scattered across the concrete, giving her no chance to reload.

Through the haze, she saw the red eyes approaching along with the Cheshire Cat-grin. By sheer muscle memory, Joe dodged the first swipe of Kali's clawed foot. Eyesight was the only point they were halfway equal — Kali's other enhanced senses made her impossible to fight like this.

"Ah!"

The fist struck Joe in her chest while Allison kept raining flash bolts down on them. Around them. Everywhere. Shock and scatter-tactic, deploying nonlethal missiles to saturate all the photoreceptors of their eyes, stun them and make them run.

Except Kali was not running. Through the roaring and bangs, Joe heard her laugh. "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."

Shooting Ennis had probably not been a good idea, Joe had time to think.

Kali accompanied her statement with a heel to Joe's temple. It was called a spinning hook kick and that knowledge did not deter from the nauseating flare of pain exploding from the impact. She'd follow up with a front kick and that knowledge was enough to allow Joe time to dodge it.

Side-stepping, Kali's foot went flying into the air instead of Joe's chest.

"There you are," Kali said appreciatively and now Joe knew Kali was just toying with her.

It had been the same out in that desert, where Kali first took her to train in the shining light of a half-moon.

The freezing air biting Joe's exposed feet, the harsh sand digging into her toes — no shoes for combat training. Joe had resisted at first, just to spite these lunatics. After getting knocked to the ground too many times to count, half-exhausted just by keeping all the pain in herself, she'd had enough.

"There you are," Kali had said when Joe parried one of her hits, forearm against forearm with a mindnumbing brunt shock. "Feel that?" Kali repeated the motion, slow enough for Joe to parry again, bone threatening to break at the impact, the alternative being getting the full punch in her face. "Feel how strong you are?" Once more and Joe bit in a cry. "That's it. Come on. Let it out."

When Joe finally gave in — abandoning her foolhardy attempt at resistance even though she had practically surrendered weeks ago when they threatened to starve the betas, her betas — Kali slowed things down and took Joe through it step-by-step.

The older werewolf fought in a kick-heavy mixture of different martial arts, utilizing her hidden advantage in the deadly sharp claws on her feet. Some of the moves were from the Israeli style of krav maga she explained, some from the Korean tae kwon do. The common denominator was offense, attack — block and parry when you have to, dodge to avoid hits, but attack! Not self-defense, not survival, but defeat and victory.

As an Alpha, you're supposed to be strong!

Read your opponent's eyes, watch for clues to their next move — a missed hit costs twice as much as one that lands. Joe learned that her best chance came from dodging Kali's spinning kicks, a brief half-second where she had to reorient herself if she missed and Joe could sidekick into her chest. Speed is more important than strength, but when you strike, hit with all you have. Stay on your feet. If you want to stop the fight, you have to fight back, Sefina!

Endless repetitions. Endless slashes and jabs and hits to Joe's body. At least until she learned to fight back.

Back at the mall, present-day, Joe's vision had cleared just enough to see Kali slashing her foot down. Joe somersaulted backward and kicked out, getting Kali in the jaw. True to her nature, Kali laughed.

"There you are!" she snarled again; wilder, ready for a real fight. "Let's go!"

Their movements blurred. Joe only really saw Kali's dark red eyes, but it was not enough. High-velocity kicks and jabs, most of them dodged, some of them landing hard. Joe caught the next high kick with her shoulder, swept at Kali's other foot with her leg, but missed. Spinning around to plant her shin into Kali's side, it was blocked by a strong arm.

"Aaah!" Kali roared, in anger and not pain, and she grabbed onto Joe's leg. She threw Joe around like it weighed nothing so she landed hard on her back, bones cracking at the pressure. Illuminated by the dim light of the mall, Kali's silhouette flew around with a long mane of hair behind her and her heel hit the concrete with an ear-deafening crack — Joe flipped over at the last possible moment.

In the midst of getting up, Joe lost her footing at a hard punch landing on her face. Derek's face. So focused on Kali, she'd forgotten the rest of them were also fighting.

Blinking her eyes, Joe tried to take stock, saw Derek and Ennis engaged in a rough fistfight. Ennis was a good boxer and Joe grunted when he landed another hit on Derek. "Shit!"

"Let it go, Sefina!" Kali snarled and kicked out sideways at Joe's chest, slamming her back into the concrete. "Look at him, he's doing it! He doesn't care if you get hurt," again her long toenails cut through the air just where Joe's face had been, "because of him!"

Already on the ground, Joe swept out and kicked Kali's feet from under her before pushing herself up. Kali caught herself too fast and flipped back, ready to block Joe's two hard hits to her face — Joe swung wildly just to get space, to get distance, but it left her open for another front kick that struck her solar plexus with a lightening of pain and she staggered back.

The kicks and hits kept coming, relentless, endless, and Joe ducked the fist heading for her face. It left her off balance, not helped by claws raking into Derek's chest.

"Mmmh!"

Joe tried to bite in the scream, to not distract, but she doubled over. Clutching at her unscathed chest, knowing it should have been torn wide open, she limped around trying to find Derek. Her heart threatened to stop altogether at the sight.

Two large figures that had to be Derek and Ennis were locked in a power struggle with only the empty space of the floors below behind them. On the ground, Scott stumbled forwards and struck at Ennis' calf with his claws.

In a few shallow heartbeats, Ennis tumbled off the platform and dragged Derek along.

"Noooo!"

Not even aware of where the harsh scream came from, not realizing it was her own body emitting the heartbreaking wail, Joe reacted on instincts. She dashed forwards, leaping after Derek, stopping midair when something caught around her midriff.

It was a long way down and she did not even see the pair land.

An awful scream pushed out her lungs, overpowering the echoed crash when she felt the impact in her own body. Bones shattering when two hundred pounds of werewolf crashed into the escalator steps several floors down, the groves left from sharp claws still digging into her flesh — Joe buckled and fought to get loose, just to escape the pain and she hit around blindly.

Screaming and shrieking like a rabid animal. She dug her blunt fingernails into the arm holding her, slipping uselessly over thick leather instead of skin, but the force was enough to make her assailant grunt in pain.

"Joe!" someone roared into her face, a flash of red eyes.

She wanted to roar back, but her throat was stuffed full of another scream, the pain unbearable. Striking out, anyone with red eyes was an enemy, and Scott let out a howl of pain when the heel of her hand broke his nose.

"Damn it! Come on, we have to go!"

"Scott! A hand here?"

Through a foggy haze of pain and hurt and anguish, she recognized Isaac's desperate voice and he yelped as she struggled to break his hold on her. Derek, she had to get to Derek!

"Joe!" Scott yelled again with yellow eyes flashing. Yellow, not red. "We have to go!"

Another set of hands joined Isaac's — the higher-pitched growls from Cora, shouting at her in Spanish that they had to go — now!

Whimpering, as much from the ache in her heart as in her body, Joe fell limp in Isaac's arms.

Function. She had to function. She had a function. As Isaac carried her, she focused on pulling on all the pain she could from Derek. As long as she could feel it, he was alive, right? He had to be alive.

Please let him be alive.

Action chapter! Looks like the Alphas did more than just torture Joe for three months, they trained her too.

Not much more to say. Next chapter's gonna be a bit heavy.

As always, I find it hard writing fighting sequences, so please let me know what you guys think. Tried to make it come across that Joe's fighting style has changed since her brawls with Kate, she's more in-tune with her instincts now and actually has some technique. Did that come across? Yeah, anyway, please tell me what you think!

Thank you guys for reading! Have a nice weekend!

(And Moonys, I tried to respond via PM, but it didn't work. Anyway, there is A LOT of fluff planned for Halegado after they get through this last round of angst. Don't worry. There will be communication and cuddling and general canoodling ❤❤❤ And some awkwardness, but the adorable kind)