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.

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.