Karyme POV:
The rogues were gone.
I lay in a heap. My body, cursed with resilience, was already knitting itself back together. But the dirt inside wouldn't wash off.
The cell door was unlocked.
I walked out. Like a ghost. Through the service exit, into the rain.
I headed for Silver Cliff.
I looked at the black water crashing below. I typed one message to Jalen's foster mother. He is gone. I am sorry.
I dropped the phone.
"You took everything," I whispered to the moon.
I stepped off.
The fall was peaceful. The water hit like concrete. I let the ocean fill my lungs.
Jalen, Mama is coming.
Darkness.
Then, a hand. Strong fingers gripped my arm, yanking me up.
I broke the surface, coughing.
"Breathe!" a deep voice commanded.
I was dragged onto the rocky shore. A man loomed over me. Massive. Radiating power that smelled of storm clouds and hope.
He wrapped a jacket around me.
"Let me die," I chattered.
"No," he said, eyes the color of steel. "Death is easy, Little Wolf. Living? Living is how you get revenge."
Back at the Pack House, the celebration was in full swing.
Archie toasted the future heir. Suddenly, the screen behind him flickered.
Security footage. The dungeon.
The guests gasped. Archie watched, frozen. He saw the rogues. He saw me stop fighting.
Then, the cliff camera. A small figure stepping off.
Archie dropped his glass.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"
His howl tore through the night. He realized the punishment hadn't been justice. It was an execution of his own soul.
