Finallll chapter. It is a little rushed I'm afraid, but enjoy it anyway :P

"Jo."

"Stay back!" she instructed, stepping forward.

"No . . . Jo, stop—"

"Dogs!" she roared, pointing her rifle towards the group. "Give yourselves up if you know what's good for you."

"James, you said she didn't know," Lucy hissed, eyes wide as she stumbled back. Suddenly Collins didn't matter anymore.

"I didn't tell her, she must have followed us!" James protested. He reached to grab her and she dodged out of the way.

"You weren't raised in this world, you don't know the danger!" she snapped.

"He doesn't know the danger?" Collins laughed. "Sweetheart, he is the danger." She raised her arm, shutting her eyes and speaking again. "Kanima."

His head started to spin and he groaned, shaking his head and trying to stop his fingernails from growing, from stretching. But he was changing too quickly, too suddenly.

"Kill them!" she roared, and the kanima snarled and arched his back. "Kill them all!"

James cried out, falling to the floor and curling up, hands pulling on his hair in the hopes that the pain might bring him back. Kendall . . . Kendall . . . it hurts— "Fuck, n-no! No—"

"James!" Kendall shouted, slamming his hands forward and pushing, feet sliding over the surface of the nemeton. "Fight it!"

"The full moon may be the time of wolves," Collins sneered, watching James writhe on the forest floor as his body began to change. "But the new moon is my time. Kanima!"

The kanima's head snapped up, yellow eyes aglow in the early morning light. "Attack," she ordered, pointing forward. "Attack to kill."

The kanima crawled forward and Kendall wailed, slamming against the barrier. "James, don't!" But he knew there was no chance, not when he was in that state. He remembered how it felt when he lost the feeling in his legs. That split second of terror when he had feared James would succumb to the control and kill him. And now he was in kill mode. "Stop controlling him!"

Collins picked up the blade and held it under the flame, teeth clenched. She withdrew the now shimmering blade and advanced towards him. He stumbled back until his back hit the barrier, but there was nowhere else to go. She was almost at the stump when she let out a screech of pain and dropped the blade, clutching her hand and groaning in pain. Stephanie strode forward, her own palm outstretched, and kicked the blade away. Collins roared and charged after her, hands raised as she uttered a rune. They fought in a vicious flurry of movements, screams and sparks flying until one fell, and failed to stand again.

The kanima darted forward, where Tad stumbled back, eyes blown wide, mouth trembling. When he stumbled and fell backwards, there was no saving him. Claws slashed forward and he fell with an open, silvered wound in his leg. He lay there and screamed as the kanima slashed at his side. Lucy and Heather sprinted forward and dragged the kanima away, using dual strength to swing him across the clearing and slam him against a tree. "Oh god . . ." Tad whimpered, clutching his side, legs lying weak and numb on the ground. Brunette Jennifer came into view above him, smirking as her hand raised, pointing towards him. It began to vibrate faintly as she chanted under her breath, and he felt the heat in his face and chest begin to rise. He felt his vision start to blur, his ears ringing. He couldn't breathe.

Eyes reaching Tad, Heather let Peggy take over facing off against the kanima. "Back off!" she shouted, grabbing Jennifer and tossing her aside, striding after her and slamming her head hard against a tree trunk, letting her lie dazed on the ground. As she fell, the sound of a three successive gunshots rang out with a cry of rage. Turning, she screamed as she saw Peggy fallen on the ground, bullets in her back.

"Jo!" Brooke shouted, striding towards her. "Stop!"

But all around her was chaos. Across the clearing Lucy was weakly twitching while she watched Jett rip Blonde Jennifer's throat out. She aimed her rifle at Brooke, at Jett. She aimed it at Collins, who mumbled something she didn't understand, something she didn't pick up as she pointed towards her and the kanima came running, bounding towards her. And she fired.

"NOOO!"

Kendall's roar rang across the clearing as the kanima fell, three gaping wounds in his body. Brooke fell to the floor, hands over her face, body trembling like a leaf. Jo stood still. Kendall's body heaved and trembled and shook and his hands began to burn, began to light.

Collins' eyes widened and she ducked to the ground as Kendall broke free in a burst of fire, hands outstretched as the mountain ash burst from around the stump. The forest floor burned as he stepped down, tendrils of fire spinning from around his arms, to his palms and bouncing back again. They cowered away from him and he felt as though he were floating. The druids' bonfire died to a flickering ember as he stepped over it.

"James," he urged, flames fading as he fell to his knees beside him. "James, James, look at me."

The kanima's eyes met his and he hissed, trying to pull from his grasp but Kendall held him tither, clutching him under the chin. "James, it's me," he whispered. "Look at me."

He growled faintly, weakening.

"James, please. James . . ." He let his hand brush gently over the beast's forehead. "I know you're in there. Come back to me." He sniffled. "Don't go like this."

The kanima cried feebly and his eyes shut – something they had never done before. His scales began to fade into paling skin. "There you go, come on," Kendall urged softly, stroking his cheeks. "Open your eyes, James."

James did, hand clutching one of his bullet wounds with what little strength he had left. "K-Kendall . . ."

"I knew you'd come back," Kendall choked, thumbs stroking the apples of his cheeks. "Stay with me, James."

"You broke free . . ."

"For you, I did. I found my fire."

His mouth managed to turn up into a weak smile. "I knew you could when you needed to." His eyes dropped shut.

"Don't do that, no, open your eyes," Kendall cried, shaking him. "James, James, don't—"

James' head fell against his shoulder and Kendall began to sob, face pressed against his body. Blood smeared his face and hair and he wiped his tears on the back of his hand. One stray tear slipped down the back of his hand, shimmering against his skin. He frowned, wiping his eyes again and seeing the same thing; tears that seemed to glow. Sniffling, he looked down at James' gaping wounds. Trembling, he pressed the back of his hand to the first wound, brushing lightly against it and praying, pleading with whoever was listening that something would happen.

He gasped as he saw the wound begin to glow, the skin beginning to draw together and heal as though it has never been broken. But before it did, the bullet raised up into his hand, trickling away into dust. "Oh my god," he breathed, hand swiping at his cheek and gathering his remaining tears, pressing them to James' remaining wounds. "How am I doing this . . . James? James."

James' eyes slowly fluttered open, meeting his and flashing in arctic blue. Kendall gasped, eyes squeezing shut for a moment as the sunlight filtered through the trees, shining on his face. He felt a hand touch his face lightly, soft with dark fur and opened his eyes, seeing his flattened nose and lengthened teeth. "You're a werewolf . . ."

James let out a shaky laugh, sitting up and holding him close. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he sniffled. He looked up and saw Collins cowering towards the nemeton, hands reaching out as though to protect it. Curly-haired Jennifer followed suit and Kendall stood, James standing with him and joining Jett and Carlos.

"If I were you," Kendall said slowly, raising his hands, palms upturned. "I would step away from that withered old stump." His voice echoed all around. "Before I burn you along with it."

Collins, hands trembling, stood in front of it and held out her arms, while Jennifer ducked and dived to the ground. So Kendall cracked his knuckles, and chanted, "Kenaz," firing a long tendril of flame straight at Collins and the nemeton. Screaming and fanning at her flaming clothes she dived to the floor, scampering away as the wolf pack chased her. Kendall burned the nemeton black, watched it crumble, the charcoal hue spreading into the ground around it. He heard Collins scream a rune, and another heard her scream as the pack cornered her, pinned her, and silenced her for good.

Jo, horror-struck, turned her rifle towards them, trying to aim away from James but not knowing how she could avoid missing him. But Gustavo was too quick and grabbed her by the neck. "Not this time," he growled. "Not again." In an instant, her neck was broken and she was lying in a heap on the ground.

James stopped, turning to see his mother trembling, bow dropped from her hands, shaking with sobs. He hurried over to her, his human features returning. "Mom . . ." he touched her shoulder. "Mom, I'm so sorry . . ."

"Shh," she mumbled, holding his hand. "Shh, love. I . . . I know that in this life, fatalities have to be expected. And I'm never going to forget who she shot before she died."

"What?" Brooke looked up at him, and he realised, dropping her hand with a shaky sigh. "O-Oh . . ."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." Sniffling, she stood and brought him into her arms. "You know how proud I am of you, right?"

"I know, Mom . . ."

"A hunter with a werewolf for a son. Who would've thought? But . . ." She looked around, at where Jett was picking Lucy up and Carlos was running to where Logan had just emerged from the trees, lifting him into his arms and surprising him with a long, passionate kiss. "You look like you've got yourself a strong pack."

"I love them."

"I know you do." She released him from her arms. "Go . . ."

"What?" He looked around, seeing Kendall standing and watching him, the two remaining Jennifers crouched at his feet. Gustavo stood beside him, speaking to them both in low voices. They bowed their heads and nodded quickly. He imagined, as Kendall looked up and saw him, that they were negotiating their surrender.

Kendall left them and walked over, James following suit and meeting him hallway. "Gustavo told me," he said softly, "that your eyes are blue because you've taken an innocent life. But I want you to know that I think they're beautiful. And that you're more than that."

"Thank you," James smiled, touching his waist and holding him closer. "You're my hero."

"You're mine, too. I would be dead if you hadn't come."

"You can thank Logan . . . but we all heard your scream. I didn't know you could do that."

"Neither did I," Kendall chuckled. "But it was all I could think of. And it worked out, I guess. As best as it could have." And he leaned in, letting their foreheads gently press together. James closed the gap between them and gave him a soft kiss, squinting as the morning sun forced his eyes shut. But there was something magical about the warmth on his face, and the warmth of Kendall in his arms.

"We'll have to bury them," Heather mumbled to Tad, face pressed to his shoulder. "Alone. Give them a send-off."

"When you do," Gustavo said to them, in a voice that was surprisingly gentle. "You know that if you want to stay, you have a home with our pack. Which one of you was the alpha?"

"Actually," Tad sighed. "Dak was. We never chose a successor . . . I guess that made us pretty dysfunctional."

"Well." He smiled. "You know here to find us."

"I feel different," Kendall said to James, looking at his hands and glancing at his palms, then at the back. "I don't know . . . I think that my power might have faded with a nemeton. I guess with time I'll find out." He smirked and poked James in the chest. "Right now, you've gotta figure out how to be a werewolf."

"He'll make a good one!" Carlos called to them, chuckling as he stood with Logan in his arms. "He's got the puppy eyes down, that's all he looks like whenever he checks you out."

"Shut up," Logan laughed, smacking his shoulder.

"We'll take our injured back to Kelly and Camille," Gustavo said to them. "And we'll return for the bodies and pay our respects . . ."

Glancing down at his hands, James walked alongside Kendall, remarkably relieved that he had come through unscathed. He was a werewolf now, a beta of a pack that had grown in both strength and numbers. He had no idea what their future held; nor what would happen with Logan, or Kendall. But after what they had just been through, after what they'd accomplished, they could get through anything.

And they would, whatever else came to Sherwood. It was theirs to protect now.