My honeymoon stage is over. It is back to work.
I am leaving the room when Ronan ambushes me; he is leaning against the pillar as he waits.
He doesn’t need to say anything. I already know why he is here.
He folds his arms across his chest. “You have to decide what to do with Kael and Cade.”
I groan softly, rubbing my temples. “Do I really have to?”
He raises an eyebrow. “You’re Alpha now, Talia. This isn’t about whether you want to. It’s about what the pack needs from you. They’re watching, every single one of them.”
I look up at him, searching for a hint of leniency, of understanding. But his gaze is steady. I forget how intense he is when he is in beta mode.
I swallow the lump in my throat. “Can’t you just… tell me what to do?”
“No,” he says gently but firmly. “I can’t. This is your decision to make. You’ve survived Kael. You rose from what he tried to destroy. Now you have to show everyone you can lead, even when it’s hard.”
I stand slowly, the weight of my title pressing harder than usual on my shoulders. “Fine,” I say quietly. “Let’s end this.”
The clearing has been transformed into a place of reckoning. A raised platform stands at the center, where I will deliver judgment. I walk up the steps with Ronan and Lucian flanking me on either side. Sabrina is already there, her expression thunderous.
Kael and Cade stand shackled together, bound in enchanted iron. The chains sizzle faintly with magic, courtesy of the witches present.
Kael’s face is blank, Cade’s even colder. It is like they are already bracing for the end, resigned to whatever punishment will fall from my lips.
Pack members gather on all sides, some glaring, some whispering, others simply watching with open anticipation. This isn’t just about punishment. This is about justice. Closure. The entire pack has been scarred by what both of them have done.
And no one carries more visible fury than Sabrina. She is the most excited to see him get executed today, after what he did to her.
She hasn’t taken her eyes off Kael since he was brought out. Her expression is sharp enough to cut through bone. Her fists clench at her sides, nails digging into her palms as she trembles with rage.
“You thought you could escape the consequences of your actions?” she spits suddenly, stepping forward. Her voice rings through the clearing like a whip. “How the mighty have fallen. Ruining lives because you wanted power. Power you couldn’t even hold without destroying everyone around you.”
Kael smirks at her. A slow, cruel twist of his lips.
“How’s your baby, Sabrina?”
The air snaps. The words hit like a lightning strike.
Sabrina lunges, fury blazing in her eyes. “You bastard! You killed your own son!”
The guards intercept her before she can reach him, holding her back as she screams. “You’re not a man! You’re a monster! He was your blood! How could you—how could you?!”
Kael shrugs, unbothered. “A useless thing is meant to be thrown away.”
Sabrina’s knees buckle as a sob tears from her throat. “You’ll rot for that,” she whispers. “You have to rot for that.”
I step forward, heart twisting at the sight of her. “Guards, take her back—let her calm down.”
“I don’t need to calm down!” she shouts through tears. “I want to see him die. I want to watch every breath leave his lungs!”
Her voice cracks at the end, her grief tangled with rage, and for a moment, the crowd murmurs in agreement. I nod to the guards again, and they gently lead her to the side. She fights them at first, but eventually gives in, sobbing quietly into her hands.
Lucian rests a hand on my back. “You can do this,” he whispers.
Ronan steps forward now, unrolling a parchment. “Let the record show that Kael, former Alpha, and Cade, former Beta, are here today to stand trial for their crimes against the Darkfang Pack and its allies.”
He lists them, one by one.
Betrayal of the Alpha code.
Assault, conspiracy, kidnapping.
Collusion with rogue forces.
Each word echoes like a drumbeat through the air. With every accusation, the crowd grows more restless. Whispers become voices. Voices become shouts.
When he finishes, Ronan turns to me.
“It is time for the Alpha to deliver the sentence.”
Kael smirks again, as if daring me to fail. Cade says nothing, his gaze fixed on the horizon.
Lucian’s hand leaves my back. This part, I have to do alone.
My voice isn’t loud, but it carries, slicing through the murmurs like a blade. I look at Kael, then Cade. The people who have nearly ruined everything. The men who have tried to break me.
I feel their weight, years of pain and betrayal. But I also feel something else. A strange, cold clarity.
“You may have wronged us,” I begin, my voice steady, “but death is not the answer.”
A gasp ripples through the crowd.
Sabrina looks up, mouth open in disbelief. Even Ronan’s brows lift slightly. Lucian doesn’t move—he watches me, eyes calm but alert.
“You think death is a punishment?” I continue. “It’s not. It’s an escape. A way out. I won’t give you the dignity of that.”
“You’ll rot in the dungeons, beneath the very soil of the land you tried to destroy. You’ll work every day, break rock, carry stone, clean waste—until your bones ache and your soul understands what you’ve done.”
Cade blinks, his first visible reaction.
I turn slightly to face the pack. “This is not mercy. This is justice. This is rebuilding what was broken—our way. With law. With order. With strength.”
Sabrina opens her mouth to protest, but I raise my hand again.
“This is my final decision. Take them away.”
The guards move swiftly, dragging Kael and Cade down the platform steps. For the first time, Cade looks shaken. Kael tries to speak, but no one listens.
The crowd is silent. Even the witches pause their whispers. Sabrina’s face is tight, her grief so obvious that it pains me to watch her.
Ronan watches them go, his expression unreadable.
When I step down from the platform, Lucian catches my hand.
“You were brilliant,” he murmurs. “They’ll never forget today.”
I squeeze his hand, my heart still thudding with the weight of it all.
