Ellie let out a cry in pain as claws dug into the flesh of her shoulder blade.
Her words had fallen on deaf ears as he followed Kate's last words. She hadn't been able to reach him. To bring him back to himself. Her words had no effect. He was completely feral.
Ellie's eyes traveled over to where the sound of fighting was still taking place. She spotted Derek and Scott, both bleeding and sprawled across the grass. Scott was unmoving, but Derek locked eyes with her and he struggled to claw his way across the distance to her. His eyes wide and fearful.
The anguish and fear She felt from his side of the bond slammed into her core repeatedly.
She let her eyes drift away from her mate and towards Peter and let the tears fall as she watched him end the life of their tormentor.
Kate was dead. Ellie watched as Peter ripped her throat out with his own teeth.
His chest heaved as Kate's body fell to the dirt at his feet. He shifted back, his body shaking from the aftereffects of being shocked. He seemed to be faring better than the other wolves. She could see any physical wounds.
She watched helplessly as Peter spun around to face her, no doubt smelling her blood waft through the open air.
Her eyes darted back to Kaine. She had no doubt that Peter... That her Papa wouldn't think twice before killing Kaine to protect her, even if she tried to protest and stop him.
With Kate's hold over Kaine wavering, Ellie watched as Kaine shifted from full alpha to beta. His body taking a humanoid shape once more.
Kaine reared back one hand and hesitated for a moment, claws out to deliver a final blow, his other hand digging in deeper into her shoulder.
Ellie screamed his name, reaching up blindly. Her hands came to rest on either side of the collar around his neck, fingers digging between the metal and his skin, and she yanked.
At that moment, the collar shattered as something inside her snapped. Something that has been trying to free itself for far longer than she or anyone else had known.
A golden glow sprouts from her chest and bursts free, encasing both herself and Kaine in its radiance.
Kaine froze as both of their bodies are encased in the golden light, so bright it forced everyone to shield their eyes.
When they are able to see once more, Kaine and Ellie are nothing. Nothing but glowing silver and gold human silhouettes protected by a barrier. A shiny, sparkly golden transparent shield. One that would ensure that no one could penetrate and interrupt.
Peter slammed into the barrier, snarling and viscous. But he could not get through.
His eyes blazed red as he began to stalk around the outer edge of the bubble.
His cub was in danger. She needed him now more than ever.
~~~~~~
Ellie blinked in shock, head turning from side to side as she tried to get a good look at the area around her.
She was floating above a sheet of fluffy, white clouds. The sky was so blue... So vast that it left her in awe.
"You finally broke your chains."
She whirled around, the voice startling her. A disembodied voice that sounded as if multiple people were speaking at once.
The being she saw floating... No, it was hovering. It was unlike anything she had ever seen. Huge, giant even. She was roughly the size of one of its fingers.
A being that screamed otherworldly.
Three heads, no mouths, too many eyes... Wings. So many wings.
It's flesh was golden in color with what looked like scarves of white slung around it, though it had no distinct gender or sexual organs. It looked almost skeletal like.
The large crown-like decoration on its main head was beautiful. Multiple rings that spanned up in arches and spikes that made it look like a sun rising or sinking over the horizon.
The whole being was beyond any beauty she had known.
"What are you?" She whispered softly, staring at the being with wide eyes.
"I am everything, and yet nothing."
Ellie blinked owlishly at the being. It knelt down and moved its head closer. It's nose mere inches from her chest, eyes glowing a bright blue.
It's gazed felt as if it was seeing into her very soul, laying everything that she was, bare before them.
"Where are we? Why are we here? How are you everything but also nothing?" She didn't understand.
She should have been scared of this being. But... She wasn't. She felt at peace.
Protected.
Deep inside, she knew that this being wouldn't dare harm her.
"You have broken free from your chains."
"But I don't understand what that means! Who are you? What have you done to me? Where's Kaine and the others?!" She whimpered. Her lip wobbled as she tried not to cry.
The beings' eyes narrowed. "Do not cry, little one. All will become clear soon enough."
The being reached out and softly swiped under one of her eyes with the tip of one of its wings.
Ellie nearly melted at the soft, warm touch. She sniffled wetly. The rustling of feathers could be heard as the massive wings shifted.
Ellie couldn't help but let her eyes drift across the vast wall of yellows, golds, silvers and whites. They were beautiful. All six of the massive wings were curling in around her, forming a ring that left her feeling safe and secure.
"What can you tell me then?"
The beings' cheeks rose as if it were smiling, eyes wrinkling along the corners.
"I will continue to show you as I always have. What has been, what is to be, what could be."
The words made no sense to Ellie. "How you always have? How have you been telling me things?" She tilted her head in curiosity as well as frustration. This being was very cryptic. Nothing it said made a lick of sense.
"You have suffered much, seen much and will have done even more. Soon, you will understand. Your destiny has been written long ago."
Ellie let out a gasp as the being let its wing tip brush against her temple.
"You are no longer alone."
Ellies eyes start to feel heavy and her body sags, and it caught her easily, shifting her into its palm and holding her form close to the blue glow radiating in its chest.
"All you have to do, is call on me."
~~~~~~
The bubble around Ellie and Kaine shattered, gold light shot out in every direction.
Peter raised his arm as the rays shot through him. It was so blinding, that even trying to shield his face wasn't working.
As the light settled, Peter lowered his arm. He had expected to feel the pain of being pierced, but he felt unbelievably warm. His body tingled as his aches and pains disappeared.
He gazed around at the scattered remains of his pack, watching as Derek shifted to his feet and staggered closer to him.
Peter's eyes furrowed as he watched each and every cut and bruise vanish from his nephew's skin. The maiming wounds to his thighs, stitch closed faster than he had ever seen any alpha inflicted wound close.
Derek was openly gaping at something just in front of Peter.
Peter turned back to face Ellie and fell to his knees at the scene before him. The sight alone sent him to kneel in awe.
Ellie was gone. In her place was something he had never seen before. The golden figure set an unconscious, blonde man down at Peter's feet.
The figure stood towering over him.
"Peter Hale. Guardian. Protector. Father."
The voice sent shivers down each and every one of their spines. It was unlike anything any of them had ever heard.
It stepped forward and started towards Peter.
Peter wanted to raise his clawed hands, ready to fight but his every instinct fought against him.
The figure before him was suddenly behind him, kneeling before Kate's body. Peter spun around and he froze.
It came to a stop near her feet. It's head... Heads? Tilted down as it gazed upon the bloody body of the woman.
"Kate Argent. Murderer. Predator. Abomination."
It reached down and could feel her essence still clinging to this world.
"Defeated. Lost. Destroyed."
Its hands dug into her chest; fingers sharpened into points as it tore open her sternum.
Stiles, who had been anxiously watching and cradling his still unconscious boyfriend, turned away and emptied his stomach out all over the grass beside his fallen mate.
The sight of the heart that was torn from Kate's chest and crushed within its talons made Allison curl against her father's chest. Chris had to close his eyes and turn away, holding his daughter even closer.
"Free from her chains."
The being practically purred.
It stood up once more and made its way toward Derek, who was struggling to stand.
"Derek Hale. Home. Life. Mate." It brough one of its wings forward, brushing up against the back of Derek's head, leaning forward to lock eyes.
"Protect."
It demanded before its body began to shrink rapidly, leaving a swaying Ellie in its place.
Derek threw his newly revitalized body forward, catching her as she fell, her eyes rolling into the back of her skull.
It was silent for a few moments as everyone tried to wrap their heads around what had just happened.
Derek buried his face into the joint between his mate's neck and shoulder, pressing a soft kiss to his mating bite as he waited. He basked in the feel of her warm skin and the sound of her steadily beating heart. She was here. In his arms. Alive and safe.
As the tension and shock wore off, chaos erupted around the two as everyone rushed toward them.