Page 53 of Howl About That

Poppy's lioness met Sander's charge with devastating force, their collision echoing across the clearing like thunder. She was magnificent in her fury—every inch the Alpha she'd proven herself to be. Sander was larger, but Poppy was smarter, faster, and driven by righteous anger. She danced around his clumsy attacks with lethal grace, landing precise strikes that slowly wore him down.

Then through their telepathic link, Keiro heard her voice, tight with rage:Sander just admitted to killing my father.

Her words hit him like lightning. Eleven years of her wondering, of her carrying that unresolved grief, and now the truth was finally revealed in the worst moment.

It's your choice,he projected back.Kill him or punish him another way. I'll support whatever you decide.

Poppy's response came not in words but in an explosion of fury that made the air itself seem to vibrate. Eleven years of suppressed grief and rage erupted outward like a dam bursting, and she lunged for Sander with the focused violence of a natural disaster. Her powerful jaws clamped around Sander's throat with the finality of justice long delayed. Keiro watched as the lifedrained from his enemy's eyes, feeling nothing but satisfaction that his mate had finally claimed the vengeance she deserved.

When Poppy's lioness finally released Sander's lifeless body, she stood motionless for a long moment, processing the magnitude of everything. Keiro's wolf approached slowly, giving her the space she needed to absorb this pivotal moment.

Finally, he stepped close enough to nuzzle her neck, offering the comfort of his presence without words. She nuzzled him back, and through their bond, he felt her grief, her relief, and her profound sense of closure.

The threat was eliminated. Now they could truly focus on building their beautiful future together.

TWENTY-ONE

POPPY

Aweek had passed since Poppy's jaws had found Sander's throat and justice had finally been served with violent finality at the groundbreaking ceremony. Even now, sitting in Keiro's Bentley as it purred along the familiar road toward their land, she could hardly process the words Sander had spoken through their pride link in those final moments of battle.

I killed your father, cousin. Just like I'm going to kill you.

The memory sent a shiver down her spine. Sander had probably thought that confession would shatter her resolve, make her collapse into grief and let him finish what he'd started eleven years ago. Instead, it had ignited something primal and devastating inside her—eleven years of suppressed rage erupting like a volcano, giving her the strength to finally claim the justice her father deserved.

The day after the battle, she and Keiro had entered Sander's house like investigators walking into a crime scene. What they'd found there still made her stomach turn. Evidence. Records. Recordings that painted a picture of systematic blackmail and manipulation stretching back years before her father's murder.Her twisted cousin had documented everything with the meticulous care of a predator savoring his victories.

But the worst discovery had been the final recording—the one where Sander murdered her father.

Poppy had forced herself to watch it, though every instinct screamed at her to look away. She'd needed to see it, needed to witness her father's last moments and understand exactly what kind of monster Sander had been. The footage was amateur and handheld, clearly shot on Sander's phone as he confronted her father in the estate's study. She'd watched her father refuse Sander's final ultimatum with quiet dignity, watched him speak his last words with unwavering resolve.

Tell Poppy I love her and believe in her. She's going to make a magnificent Alpha.

Then Sander had pulled the trigger and her father was gone, the recording ending abruptly afterward, leaving Poppy feeling hollow and raw to the bone.

"You're thinking about it again," Keiro said softly, his deep voice pulling her from the dark spiral of memory.

Through their bond, he could surely feel her emotions—the grief and rage and satisfaction all tangled together in a knot she was still learning to untie. She turned to look at him as he navigated the winding road with practiced ease. He wore casual clothes today, but there was something in his bearing. A tension she couldn't quite identify.

"Hard not to think about it," she admitted, smoothing her hands over the teal dress she'd chosen for whatever surprise he had planned. "But I don't regret it. Any of it."

"Good," he said, his voice carrying that Alpha authority that never failed to send heat spiraling through her. "Sander got exactly what he deserved. Your father can finally rest in peace."

They crested the familiar hill, and Poppy felt her breath catch as their land spread out before them. Construction crewsmoved like industrious ants across the property, the skeletal framework of the main lodge already rising toward the sky. Heavy machinery carved paths through the forest with surgical precision, preserving the natural beauty while making space for their shared vision.

Keiro had somehow managed to expedite every permit, grease every bureaucratic wheel, and compress a normally years-long process into months. Within a year, their retreat would stand complete—a testament to what wolves and lions could accomplish when they worked together instead of maintaining the old divisions.

"I still can't believe how fast this is happening," Poppy murmured as Keiro parked the Bentley near the construction site's temporary office.

He turned to her with that devastating smile. "Money talks, and I happen to speak the language fluently."

She laughed, the sound lighter than it had been in weeks.

When they climbed out of the car, Keiro immediately took her hand, his fingers intertwining with hers in a gesture that had become as natural as breathing. He guided her past the construction zones, nodding to workers who paused in their tasks to offer respectful greetings to the project's owners.

"Careful around the main lodge area," called out the foreman, a grizzled wolf shifter whose crew had been working with supernatural efficiency. "We're pouring concrete for the foundation today."

"Understood," Keiro replied, adjusting their path to avoid the bustle of activity.