The wind whipped through the clearing—a sharp, biting gust that pulled Deryn’s coat back from his body and sent dust swirling around him. Not touching us. Not touching our pack.
Only them.
Deryn tried to speak again, but the wind swallowed his voice.
Wolfe stepped forward. “You came here claiming dominion,” he said quietly. “Claiming authority. Claiming this was your territory to judge.” Deryn’s jaw clenched as his footing slipped once more. “It seems the Hollow disagrees.”
A final pulse swept through the ground—powerful enough to make the Council wolves step back three full paces. One more would push them beyond the boundary. One more would banish them completely.
They saw it and understood. For the first time since this started…they looked afraid.
Wolfe didn’t raise his voice. “You are not welcome here.”
Deryn looked at him, breath ragged, as the truth finallysank in. The Hollow was rejecting them. Publicly. Irrefutably. Symbolically.
He faltered again as the ground rolled a second time—sharper now, more insistent. Deryn tried to recover. “This territory’s instability is further evidence—” He took one step forward, and Wolfe was in front of him, his hand around his throat.
“You have betrayed every pack that trusted you. You have manipulated and conspired not just here at Blueridge Hollow Pack, but also at Emberfell Pack, Yellowrock, Four Winds, and Stonefang… How many others? How many packs have you destroyed for your greed and schemes?” Wolfe’s grip tightened. “You have killed, tortured, and?—”
“I have killed no one,” Deryn sputtered.
“You may not have delivered the physical blow, but their blood is on your hands.” Wolfe pulled him closer, their noses nearly touching. “Look at him,” he hissed. “Lookat him, and see what you’ve done.”
Deryn’s eyes fell on Brand, and he flinched, looking away quickly.
Wolfe looked as if he were carved from rock, he was so still, his grip so firm. “I would kill you a thousand times over, the same way he will suffer, but I don’t have that level of hate within me.” Every wolf sensed his pain, sorrow, and loss. “Your bones will be scattered on the Stone; the Fang is waiting for you,Alpha.”
He snapped his neck.
Silence echoed through the Hollow. Wolfe stepped over the boundary line and threw the body away from the Hollow. He turned toward the rest of the Pack Council, his eyes shining pale silver.
“The rest of you will be tried and held accountable by your peers, as is Pack Law.” He didn’t look behind him. “Every shifter here today knows what you have done; they all saw what you saw.” He saw their looks of surprise. “I am alpha of Blueridge Hollow,” Wolfe said simply. “This land is mine, the blood of the ancients is in my veins, and the daughter of the Hollow is my mate. Iamthat powerful, and I will see that you are destroyed by the Law of Shifters and under the grace of the Goddess.” He looked them over. “Now get the fuck off my land and don’t bother running, my allies are already waiting.”
Jaxson, Dex, and Tyler’s older brother, the alpha of Four Winds Pack, stepped forward. “Take them,” Wolfe murmured.
Every pack watching understood exactly what it meant.
This Pack Council’s rule had ended.
“Wait!” I called out, stepping forward. “Is there a cure?” I asked them. “For Brand. Can we help him?”
One of the older ones shook his head. “The only help for him now is a merciful death,” he said, and I could hear his honesty. “It was never meant for this,” he said. “That was not…” He shook his head in resignation. “He went too far.” They turned away, ready to be led out, not pleading for their life like some would.
Killian stood beside me. “I hope none of them get a merciful death,” he muttered. “Or a quick one.”
Wolfe walked over and gathered me into his arms. “Kill,” he said softly, “get ready to travel. We’ll take him home tomorrow.”
“Wolfe, you need to rest…”
“Not yet,” he whispered. “Not yet.” He walked away,already checking with the pack to make sure they were okay, liaising with Jaxson and others, and overseeing everything. He was everything an alpha should be, and I was so proud to call him my mate, but I also wanted him to listen to me and take a damn breath.
Thalia and Adair approached me, each standing on either side as if they knew I was ready to lean on them and they on me. “Hey, you okay?” Thalia asked, linking her arm through mine.
I did the same to Adair, pulling them both close to me. “No,” I admitted honestly. “I may never be okay again.” I squeezed Adair’s hand. “How are you?”
“I’m angry,” she admitted. “I really wanted to see him suffer.”
“Deryn?” I asked her in surprise.
