"Where could he have kept love?"
I took her hand and pulled her close.
"We won't become that," I said, resting my chin on her head. "I won't let hate and the past destroy us."
"We won't," Layla leaned into my chest, voice muffled. "We won't."
"Daddy... Mommy..."
Kai's voice came from nearby, choked with tears. I released Layla and turned around. A warrior was holding Kai. His face still pale, the fingerprints on his neck vivid. But he stretched out his little hands toward us.
I strode over, took him, and held him tight. Layla came close. I wrapped my other arm around her.
The three of us held each other.
"It's over," I whispered in Kai's ear. His small body was still trembling. "Baby, it's all over."
"Daddy's here. Mommy too."
"We're both here."
Kai cried harder, arms tight around my neck, his other hand clutching Layla's shirt.
"So... so scary..." he sobbed. "That... that bad man..."
"He's dead," Layla said softly, kissing his forehead. "He can't hurt you anymore."
"Really?"
"Really."
Kai's cries faded into hiccupping sobs.
I held them both and felt my heartbeat finally slow.
It was over. Finn was dead. The war was over.
Footsteps came from the trees. The other warriors arrived, Marcus leading them.
"Alpha." He jogged over. "The border's secured. Enemy forces retreated."
"Casualties?"
"Thirteen critical. Twenty wounded," Marcus said. "Seven dead."
"Reorganize the pack by protocol."
"Vampires and traitors cleared out," Marcus continued. "Three prisoners. Already taken back for interrogation."
"And..."
He glanced at Finn's body.
"What about him?"
I looked at Finn, at the bracelet on his wrist.
"Cremate him," I said. "Scatter the ashes in the river."
