"You did it for yourself," I cut in, my voice low and deadly. "And you burned everything else to the ground."


    Around us, the battle had faltered. The sounds of fighting were muted. I could hear Kieran''s voice from downstairs, giving orders as the remaining rogues started to panic.


    The rogues were breaking now, fear finally taking hold as the unnatural force that had driven them vanished. Some fled. Some dropped their weapons and surrendered.


    None of it mattered.


    This was no longer a battle.


    This was an execution.


    I lifted my de again, holding it to her throat. It felt heavier in my hand than it ever had before.


    Felicity''s eyes followed it, wide and ssy.


    "You loved me once," she whispered.


    The words didn''t touch me.


    "I loved the woman you pretended to be," I said. "She''s been gone a long time."


    "Nn-"


    "Your sentence is death."


    There was no sh of magic. Nost scream.


    Just a sharp inhale.


    Then nothing.


    Her body went ck beneath my hands, thest remnants of her power bleeding harmlessly into the stone.


    The storm outside fell silentpletely.


    I stayed there for a moment longer than necessary, chest heaving, blood dripping from my hands to the floor.


    When I finally stood, the world felt... different.


    Quieter.


    Heavier.


    The cost of it all pressed in around me.


    I turned.


    Ellie was still kneeling beside ric, her hands stained red as she clutched at him like she could somehow pull him back through sheer will alone. Cassian sat beside her now, one arm wrapped around her shoulders, his face carved from grief.


    Rae stood just behind them, hollow-eyed and shaking, one hand pressed over her mouth as if she were afraid she might scream if she didn''t hold herself together.


    Kieran appeared at the top of the stairs. I saw the moment he realized who was on the ground. He shook his head, his expression stripped bare-no ambition, no calction left. Only the weight of what this night had cost all of us.


    "Go to the front," I said softly. "Tell Lance I need him."


    “Right,” Kieran replied. He hesitated just for a moment before descending the stairs again.


    I crossed the space between us slowly.


    Every step felt like penance.


    Ellie didn''t look up when I stopped beside her. Her grief radiated off her in waves, so raw it hurt to stand near


    her.


    "I''m sorry," I said quietly.


    The words felt pitifully inadequate.


    She didn''t respond.


    Cassian did.


    He looked up at me, eyes red and burning, and for a moment I thought he might strike me. I would have taken it.


    I deserved it-for every time I''d hurt her, for every choice that had led us here.


    But he didn''t.


    Instead, he nodded once.


    A small, devastating gesture of trust.


    I swallowed hard.


    ric had trusted Ellie''s judgment of me.


    I would honor that.


    No matter what it cost.


    Ellie didn''t look at me. When she spoke, her voice was soft, almost inaudible.


    "The boys."


    I stood and walked past them, leaving the siblings to process their grief together for the time being.


    Rae was still frozen in the broken doorway, but I easily slipped past her and stepped over the corpses in the panic room.


    The rogues that Rae and Cassian had killed to protect the twins.


    The moment I came into view,n gave an indignant cry and August pulled himself up on the railing of the crib,


    trying his best to climb out.


    I scooped them both into my arms and kissed each of them on their foreheads. They fussed and fidgeted, but settled quickly.


    I was injured, covered in blood, and emotionally drained, but my sons were safe in my arms. I knew that this was, at least in part, what ric had given his life to protect. These two boys, his grandsons, who deserved a chance to grow in a pack where the kind of violence that nearly took them today could be prevented.


    As I held them against my chest, I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer to ric, wherever he might be.


    I''ll protect them. The blood of Moonstone. No matter what it costs from this moment on, I''ll watch over them


    all.


    Outside, horns sounded-the signal that the fight was over, that the rogues were being driven back across the border atst.


    The war was finished.


    But the silence it left behind was louder than any battle.


    ricy still at the heart of the packhouse, blood of Moonstone soaking into


    ancient stone, the price of the prophecy finally paid.


    And nothing-


    Not victory.


    Not vengeance.


    Not the end of the storm-


    Could ever bring him back.


    Cede is a passionate storyteller known for her bold romantic and spicy novels that keep readers hooked from the very first chapter. With a ir for crafting emotionally intense plots and unforgettable characters, she blends love, desire, and drama into every story she writes. Cede''s storytelling style is immersive and addictive—perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.