The admission hung between us like a death sentence. My entire body started shaking with rage as three years of manipulation and lies crashed down un me all at once
My hand moved before I could think, the slap echoing through the medical center lobby.
Ophelia stumbled backward, real fear fl
her toward the parking garage.
flashing in her eyes for the first time since I’d known her. She tried to run, but I grabbed her hair and dragged
“Soren, please!” she sobbed, clawing at my hands. I’m sorry! I know I messed up, but please don’t-“]
I threw her into the trunk of my car and slammed it shut
Twenty minutes later, I was standing in the ruins of the Duskrend pack house, watching Alpha and Luna Duskrend grovel at my feet as I pulled Ophelia out of the trunk. The three of them huddled together, finally understanding that their pack’s protection meant nothing against Blackvein authority.
You love fire so much?” I said, my voice deadly calm as I doused the remaining structure with gasoline. “Let’s see how much you enjoy it when you’re the ones burning.”
The ancient pack laws were clear–betrayal of this magnitude warranted death. As the injured party’s former mate, I had the right to exact blood justice.
I didn’t stay to watch. Just lit the match, tossed it, and walked away while they screamed behind me.
From my car, I filmed the execution and sent the video to Kaela. She deserved to know that pack justice had finally been served.]]
Kaela’s POV
I was at the airport, about to board my flight to the European pack territories, when the video came through.
My hands went numb as I watched the Duskrend pack house burn, with the family that had destroyed my childhood trapped inside. They were crying, begging for forgiveness that would never come, apologizing for things that could never be undone
The strangest part was that I felt… nothing. No satisfaction, no grief, just a cold emptiness where my anger used to be. By pack law, Soren had every right to claim blood justice for what they’d done to me. But seeing it carried out felt surreal
reall
“Kaela?” Nikolai’s arms came around me from behind, his warmth cutting through the chill. “What’s wrong?”
I showed him the video, and his expression hardened immediately.
“He’s completely lost it.” Nikolai said quietly. “Are you okay?”
“I think so.” I said, surprising myself. “They’re g gone. It’s finally over.”
I turned off my phone and took Nikolai’s hand as we walked toward our gate. The past was literally burning behind me, and for the first time in my life, I could truly move forward
Three Months Later
Life at the Lycan Institute was everything I’d dreamed it would be. The coursework was challenging–Pack Governance, Inter–Terrory Relations, Hybrid Integration Studies–and my professors were brilliant wolves from across the European territories ||
For the first time in my life, I was among wolves who saw education as a privilege rather than a waste of time. My fellow students included future Alphas, pack andassadurs, and territory administrators I finally belonged somewhere
But Soren had somehow tracked me down
Pack security had tried to keep him off campus, but the Blackvein family’s influence reached even here. He’d been following me around for weeks now, showing up outside my lectures with elaborate meals he’d prepared himself. Always my actual favorite foods–not the things Ophelia had claimed I like
Apparently, he’d finally bothered to learn who I really was
Not that it mattered.
Every day, I threw his offerings directly into the trash without even looking at them. Every day, he’d watch with those devastated eyes and then show up the next morning to try again
Today. I’d finally had enough.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I snapped, turning to face him outside the Pack Diplomacy building. “Are you seriously so narcissistic that you can‘ accept rejection? I’ve told you a hundred times–I don’t want you in my life!”
He looked like I’d physically struck him, but he didn’t back down
“I know I hurt you,” he said, veice breaking. “I know I was blind and stupid and cruel. But I’ve eliminated the threats now, Kaela. I invoked blood justice–everyone who hurt you paid with their lives. The pack courts recognized my claim. We can start fresh-“]
“Start fresh?” I laughed, but there was no humor in it. “You think invoking ancient pack laws makes up for three years of torture? You think burning down park houses erases what you put me through?”
I reached into my bag and pulled out the ultrasound photo I’d gotten the previous week. Without ceremony, I threw it at his chest.
It’s too late, Soren. I’m carrying Nikolai’s pup. We’re building a life together–a real pack band, with someone who actually loves me. Not the idea of he, not some fantasy version he created in his head, but me.”
The paper fluttered to the ground between us, and I watched his face crumble as he stared at the sonogram image.
“From the moment you put that wolf bone bracelet on my wrist, you severed any mate hand we might have had.” I said softly. “You chose to believe lies. about me instead of trusting your supposed mate. You chose Ophelia over me, again and again, until there was nothing left of us to salvage.”
I started walking away, then paused and looked back one last time.
“I hope you find peace someday, Soren. But you’ll have to find it without me.”
When I reached the corner, I could hear him crying behind me. For the first time, I felt genuinely sorry
But not sorry enough to turn around.
My future was waiting, and it was more beautiful than I’d ever dared to imagine
