We all stand there in that gravel lot, staring at each other in stony silence. One breath. Two heartbeats. Three moments seemingly frozen in time. In the distance the sound of a soft engine whines, growing closer, getting louder, providing a strange soundtrack to this moment.
Whatever happens next, I know I’ll never forget it. This is one of life’s many tipping points, but which direction will it go?
“Go check that out,” Vette grunts to Reyes, the same man who broke into Drakewood and used the bunnies as leverage to lure me out.
Reyes nods and takes off in a jog.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Mother scrambles back a foot, trying to close the space to her supposed bodyguards.
“Fucking do something!” Mother barks at the gathered goons from Pack Fernando. She swivels, darting her gaze to the empty spot Reyes left behind like she plans to run. She knows this is over. Vette didn’t accept her lies. “I pay you for protection, and right now you’re not earning your paycheck. He’s got a gun for chrissakes. Deal with it.”
Edward and Red both take cautious steps toward the Vega pack leader.
Vette shifts his weapon’s aim. “One more step,” he growls. “Just give me a fucking reason.”
“This is well past the point of ridiculous,” Mother says, striding toward the enraged alpha. She darts her hand out, grabbing onto Vette. “Give me the gun. We can all just say we’re sorry and go ho—”
BANG!
My ears ring as I stand in shock. I can’t move. I can’t think. All I can do is watch my mother’s body buckle and crumple to the ground. My head pounds in rhythm with my heart, and I finally manage to cover my ears, trying to silence the blast of the gunshot. Despite my effort, it doesn’t change anything.
Vette shot my mother without hesitation. Her eyes stare glassily at the sky, her lifeless body bent at odd angles on the ground. She’s gone. Really, truly gone.
“You shot her,” I yell stupidly, waves of shock rippling through my body. My eyelids flutter, and I vainly hope the oozing bullet hole in Mother’s forehead vanishes. Again, nothing changes.
“It’s what she fucking deserved.” Vette paces toward my mother and stares down at her prone corpse. This is it. She’s really dead. It’s hard to grasp that it’s over. She can’t hurt me anymore. She can’t hurt my pack or family. She finally paid the price for all of her wrongdoings as Vette played the judge, jury, and executioner.
It’s a strange feeling, to have relief and sadness coursing through my body in equal measures. I hadn’t expected that. Just because this woman made my life a living hell doesn’t change the fact that she was still my mother. A part of me died with her just now, but I know it’s the part that needed to die. The vile, dark part of me that craved to inflict the revenge I deserved. The justice I needed.
I don’t cry. I don’t rush over to her body.
I just stand in place, letting the scene unfold around me.
Pack Fernando scatters. But with their employer dead, they have no reason to stick around and endanger themselves any further. They were always just employees, after all. Nothing more than a pack in need of a paycheck.
Good fucking riddance.
And then I hear that gravel crunching again. I shift just in time to see Reyes from Pack Vega driving a dark SUV. It hasn’t even fully stopped before Beau jumps from the passenger seat and runs toward me. Theoden and Gabe follow a second later.
I gasp a relieved breath, opening my arms, my body finally relaxing as my mind spins and everything settles at once. But I don’t fall to the ground. My men envelop me in their embraces. “Amber,” Gabe murmurs, holding my face between his hands and kissing me again and again. “We heard the shot and thought—Oh god!—we thought we were too late.”
“You should know my kitten has claws,” Beau quips, grabbing me from his friend and giving me a deep and searching kiss. “Such a badass fighter.”
Theoden snuggles in close, inhaling a deep breath as if he is drinking in my scent to assure himself I’m truly okay. “I love you, Amber. I love you so much. It would have killed me if we’d lost you.” He holds me tight and sobs softly into my hair.
“I’m right here,” I tell them, the whisper of a smile threatening to bloom amid all this bloodshed. “I’ll always be right here.”
Reyes and Vette stand together near Mother’s body, watching my emotional reunion from a measured distance.
I break free from my guys and take slow steps toward the two members of Pack Vega. The three of them shadow me, staying close but not overbearing. I’m certain they might never leave my side again, though I don’t mind. “Thank you for believing me. I know it was hard. I know how much you loved my sister, and I can’t fault you for acting in desperation. I’m just so sorry you were ever put in this position.”
Vette shakes his head and drops his gaze toward his victim once again. A tear slips on his cheek but he wipes it away so quickly I might’ve imagined it. “And I’m just sorry it took so long. All this time we were focused on revenge. We couldn’t see past the hate. We just—we want to bring Jade home. A proper burial is all we ask for,” Reyes speaks up when Vette remains quiet.
“I’ll do whatever I can to help you get her body,” I choke out. “It’s what she’d want.” Happy tears rim my eyes for what my sister had, even if it was only for a little while. I guess even the darkest hearts can love.
Both men nod glumly, as if verbally confirming Jade’s fate still hurts too much for them.
I wish I could bring my sister back, same as I have wished for many times over the past weeks. But I can’t change the past. I can only do better in the future.