Karyme POV:

They dragged me to the Main Hall. Archie sat on the obsidian throne, looking like a king of the underworld.

"We found them," the Head Warrior said.

Two warriors dragged in a sobbing Faustina. She looked disheveled, but unharmed.

"Oh, Archie! The rogues... they said the Luna paid them!"

Archie's eyes snapped to me.

Another warrior walked in carrying a burlap sack. It was stained with mud and reeked of sulfur and something sharp-industrial solvent. The sack moved.

"A rogue pup," Archie said, voice dead. "Used to distract the guards. Is this your accomplice?"

"No!" I crawled forward. "Don't touch him!"

Archie picked up a heavy iron fire tong, the tip glowing red.

"Tell me the truth."

"I didn't! That's not a rogue!" I sobbed. "Archie, look! That is your blood! That is our son!"

Archie froze. He sniffed the air, but Faustina had done her work well. The chemical stench masked everything. All he smelled was the solvent and the faint, underlying scent of a trespasser.

"Our son?" He laughed darkly. "We have no son. The curse kills them all. You're lying to save a filthy rogue mongrel."

"His name is Jalen! Please!"

"You are insane."

He raised the iron tongs.

He swung.

The iron struck the sack with a wet crunch.

The scream wasn't human. It was a child in agony.

I vomited blood onto the marble. The mother-child bond shattered in my chest.

"Stop!" I gargled.

Archie stared at the sack. Doubt flickered in his eyes.

"Alpha... the heir is scared," Faustina whispered.

Archie's face hardened. "Just a rogue."

He raised his boot.

Karyme POV:

Time slowed.

"Archie, don't."

He brought his boot down. Hard.

I heard ribs snap.

From inside the burlap, a tiny, wheezing voice emerged. Barely audible.

"Pa... pa..."

Archie froze mid-stomp. His foot hovered. His face went slack.

"Did you hear that?" he whispered.

"Hear what?" the Head Warrior asked.

"It's a trick!" Faustina shrieked. "Rogues mimic voices! Kill it before it calls the pack!"

Archie's jaw tightened. Paranoia won.

"Die," he growled.

He stomped one last time.

The sack flattened. Movement stopped.

My Inner Wolf let out a soundless howl and died.

"Take it away," Archie said, voice shaking. "Throw it to the wild rogues at the border."

"No..." I whispered.

A warrior kicked me over.

"Get her out of my sight," Archie ordered, turning to embrace Faustina. "Lock her in the dungeon."

"I curse you," I whispered, the words heavy with dying magic. "I curse you, Archie Hatfield. May the silence of this hall haunt you until you rot."

He flinched.

The doors slammed shut.

Karyme POV:

The dungeon dripped water. I lay in the dark, my wolf gone.

Jalen. Crushed by the father he wanted to meet.

The door opened. Archie stood there with Faustina.

"Where is my son's body?" I rasped.

"Scavengers have it," Archie said cold. "Stop the delusions. It was a rogue dog."

"It was your flesh."

"Enough!" Archie roared. "Faustina told me everything. The rogues confessed. You paid them to defile her."

"You are a fool, Archie."

"An eye for an eye," Archie muttered.

He stepped aside. Four prisoners stepped into the light. Feral rogues, eyes wild with hunger.

"She is yours," Archie said.

"Archie? No! I am your Luna!"

"Not anymore."

He walked out. The bars slammed shut.

I backed into the corner. When the first hand grabbed me, I didn't fight. I disconnected.

I stared at a crack in the ceiling.

One. Two. Three.

I imagined Jalen holding my hand.

I severed my connection to the Goddess. I was just a shell.