Chapter 42

*Hazel*

  The decision was made before the sun reached its peak. We would return to the desert.

 The desert that had swallowed my parents’ hope.

  The desert that hid the rogues from every pack.

 The desert that would now expose their sins.

  My mother stood beside me as we prepared. She was quiet, but there was a fire in her eyes I had never seen before. Not grief. Not fear. Resolve.

  “They always passed through the southern ridge,” she finally said.

  Orion lifted his head. “You’re certain?”

  “Yes. If I saw the one who killed my husband. I would recognize him anywhere.”

  My chest tightened. The wound in my heart reopened — but this time, it bled purpose.

  We rode before nightfall.

  The desert air was heavy and cruel, but we pushed on. Wolves shifted when needed. The sand cut at our legs, the wind clawed at our faces, yet none of us slowed. We followed the route my mother remembered. Every turn… every ridge… until at last—

 “There,” she whispered.

  Her hand trembled as she pointed.

  Hidden between stone walls and broken cliffs stood the rogue settlement.

 Their packhouse.

 The place no one had ever been able to find.

 We hid beneath the bushes so they wouldn’t notice us. The potion Orion collected from the Queen Witch would cover our scent, making it impossible for them to smell or detect anything unusual.

 We had been concealed near the riverside when we spotted a rogue sharpening his blades against a rock.

 “He’s the one!” Mother shouted, pointing at him.

 I covered her mouth immediately, but it was too late. The rogue had already been alerted. He sprang to his feet abruptly.

 “Come out now, while I’m still being nice,” he said confidently.

 Beta Shane stayed with us while Orion circled around, slipping silently through the bushes behind him.

 *Orion*

 I moved quietly behind him through the brush. He kept turning around, hearing footsteps but unable to tell where they were coming from. He grew unsettled — that was the plan. Distract him until he lost focus.

 I attacked when he least expected it, throwing him hard to the ground. His knife flew from his hand. I grabbed him by the throat, forcing him to look at me.

 “You killed an innocent man!” I growled, tightening my grip.

“You shattered an entire family!”

 He struggled against my hold.

 “He wouldn’t let me touch his wife, so I killed him in exchange,” he said, laughing hysterically.

 Rage surged through me. I clenched my teeth.

 “How did you kill him?” I demanded, squeezing his neck harder.

 “I smashed a large stone on his head again and again until he was completely dead,” he replied, laughing like a beast.

 Hazel burst from her hiding place, sobbing in fury. She ran toward the murderer, striking him repeatedly.

 “You’re so wicked!” she cried through her tears.

 I signaled to Beta Shane to pull Hazel away, and he did.

 I kept my grip tight — just enough to keep him alive.

 “You will die the same way you killed him,” I said coldly.

 Before I could finish, Shane brought over a heavy stone. The rogue began screaming in terror, begging desperately.

“Please! I promise I’ll never do it again!”

 I glared at him.

 “Killing you twenty times wouldn’t make up for what you’ve done. You destroyed an entire family. Here stands his mate — condemned to live with his absence. You made his child fatherless, and you think you’ll walk away freely? Absolutely not.”

I turned to Hazel.

 “Close your eyes. Blood is about to spill.”

 The fear in his eyes deepened.

 “Smash!” I commanded.

 Beta Shane struck the stone against his head with brutal force. He screamed in agony as blood poured out. Shane struck again… and again… until the man finally went still, losing consciousness forever.

 With my power, I burned his body and cleared the area.