CHAPTER 4

I was numb, or maybe I felt too much, to the point where my body could no longer process it.

As I was dragged out, the sounds hit me all at once, shouts, screams, the echo of things breaking. I didn’t need to look to know who was behind the destruction. Aries. I didn’t blame him, not one bit. I brought this upon myself. It had always been selfish of me not to realize how deeply my actions would affect others. But was it really so wrong to be selfish, just this once?

My life had already been hellish, tainted by guilt and burdened by choices I couldn’t undo. Did I really have the luxury of worrying about others anymore?

Even with the chaos raging behind me, no one stepped out of the packhouse. It was as if they’d all been instructed to stay away to treat me like the contagion I’d become. I guess the isolation I feared had already begun, long before I realized it.

The guards’ grips tightened with each step, as if I’d try to escape. But I didn’t. I wasn’t thinking of freedom. My mind was stuck replaying one thing—the last look I shared with Robin.

My heart tore every time the image flashed, looping endlessly like some cruel punishment. I didn’t know what he was feeling now, anger, disappointment, disgust. Maybe all of it. But what I did know was that I couldn’t live knowing he hated me. So maybe being kept in the dark this way was mercy… a small grace I didn’t deserve.

I wasn’t a bad person. I still believed that. The lives I took would have benefited everyone someday—or so I told myself. But none of that mattered now. Going against protocol, killing at the command of the Men of Shadows—there was no justice left to claim in that. So I kept quiet.

We crossed the border of our territory after a while, my eyes never leaving the ground. I knew there would be no trial. I’d already confessed. My punishment was decided long before they dragged me out of that room.

Maybe this was mercy, or maybe it was just a different kind of torture.

The transit was silent, heavy with fear. No one dared to speak. The Founding Elders eventually peeled off somewhere along the way, probably content that their murderer had been captured. All that remained were Alpha Levon and the guards.

When we reached that familiar gate, the entrance to the prison carved by the Moon itself—my chest tightened.

“Get the Alpha of this pack,” Levon ordered sharply. “We need him to grant us entrance.”

The warrior beside him nodded and vanished into the shadows. I stared at the gates, feeling an emptiness settle deeper inside me. This was it, my end. And yet, somehow, it felt like I was about to walk into even more chaos.

The warrior returned not long after, the local Alpha walking behind him.

“What floor are you throwing him on?” the Alpha asked immediately, not even sparing me a glance.

“That’s one way to say hello,” Alpha Levon muttered dryly, stepping forward. “He threw my pack into chaos the moment those bodies were found.” His gaze cut to me sharp, accusing but I held it. I had nothing left to lose. Fear couldn’t touch me anymore.

“You shouldn’t be sparing him,” the Alpha said. “You don’t know this prison like I do, Levon. It can free him the moment it senses repentance—repentance that might only be temporary. That’s the flaw in this punishment.”

Levon’s tone was calm, almost detached. “You don’t have to worry. He doesn’t regret his actions. Repentance is a long way off for him.” His eyes lingered on me before he added, “Open the same floor the dead Elders were kept in. Nothing drives a man insane faster than confinement among the ghosts of his own crimes.”

The solitude would be both confinement and torture Beta he said as he started toward me as the enormous gate groaned open.

“Drop the formality, Alpha,” I rasped, forcing my head up to meet his eyes. “I’m no Beta anymore. Haven’t been one for months. Just throw me in and get it over with.”

My head throbbed; I was close to breaking apart completely. I wanted them to be done with it—to lock me away so I could drown in my own thoughts without an audience.

“Throw him in the cell at the corner,” the Alpha said, stepping closer. His voice dropped to a low whisper as he stood beside me. “It’s about time you pay for your arrogance. Who here didn’t want them dead? But no one acted because we knew what would follow. You were the only one arrogant enough to try.” He tilted his head slightly, sneering. “I hope you got what you were looking for.”

“Throw him in,” he barked.

I stood tall, giving them one last look, a look the old Julian would never have dared. “Cowards,” I spat before stepping inside on my own.

The darkness swallowed us. The only light came from the dim lamps lining the corridor.

My heartbeat quickened the deeper we went, every echoing step bringing me closer to that cell—the place where everything had changed because of me. My breathing grew heavy, labored. Something was wrong.

I tried to stop, but the guards dragged me along, my boots scraping the cold cement. My chest burned, the air thinning. I struggled to clutch it, desperate for relief, but the bindings around my wrists stopped me. So I just gasped , deep, ragged breaths that did nothing to ease the pain.

Sweat clung to my forehead. My heart pounded against my ribs. When the cell finally came into view, my legs gave out. I dropped to my knees, trembling. The sound of the gate rattling filled my ears before I was yanked up and thrown inside hard.

My wrists were unbound, and my hands instantly flew to my chest, clutching at the pain. The door clanged shut, the footsteps faded, and silence swallowed everything.

I was alone again.

I fell onto my side, breath coming in uneven gasps. The cold floor bit into my skin, offering no comfort. A single tear slipped free, tracing down my cheek. With each breath, each sting of pain, one thought echoed in my head quiet, cruel, inevitable.

Would I survive the night… or was this truly the end of me?