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Panic grips my chest as Skylar remains silent and Monte continues.
“The answer was there all along, but he was too stupid to see it. We ally with the bears and go against the Whitlocks,” Monte says, brimming with excitement. “We’d be the dominant wolf pack in Endcliffe again while Aldric can take over their enterprises. It’s a win-win.”
Still nothing. Her expression doesn’t change, neither cutting him off nor agreeing with him.
“And now that you know he killed your father, can’t you see? I was right, I was right, and you were wrong, your father was wrong, and they sure as hell were wrong for thinking they could hide what they’ve done.”
That’s enough. I can’t take this anymore. I can’t let him paint these pictures in her mind, can’t have her thinking for a second that any of this is true.
“You fucking lying piece of shit,” I growl, gritting my teeth as I hold myself back, unsure what the plan is now. We have Isabella in the room with us. I could snap free and go after Monte, but with his gun in play, I can’t risk him shooting anyone in this room.
“I’ll kill him, Sky,” Monte says, an unhinged gleam in his eyes as he points his pistol at me. “You say the word, and I will shoot him right now, and we can be together like we always planned.”
My chest tightens as I look between them, my brows furrowing as I attempt to read her expression. There’s nothing though. Her face betrays none of the thoughts whirring through her mind as she stares at the screen.
“It’s a lie, firecracker,” Arsenio pleads. “I don’t know how he did it, but Everett didn’t kill your father.”
“Babe?” Zeke asks, his tone hesitant as he tries to meet her eyes. My jaw ticks, waiting for him to say more, but he doesn’t, just watching her instead, waiting for her to betray any hint of emotion—just like me.
“No,” she breathes, looking up at Monte. “No, I don’t want you to kill him.”
“Sky—”
“I want to be the one to do it,” she declares. The vehemence in her tone sends shivers up my spine as I stare between them, unsure if I’m actually hallucinating right now or what. “He killed my father—I should be the one to kill him.”
Monte stares back at her, his lips pressing into a thin line as indecision wars on his face. Finally, a grin unfurls on his lips, his eyes glinting with delight as he pulls a pocketknife from his back pocket.
This can’t be happening. She can’t really believe this, can she?
My question is answered when she grins in answer, the embers of unclaimed vengeance sparking in her eyes, turning my blood to ice.
Monte slips the knife under the zip tie and cuts her free with one swift move.
“We can be together now,” he breathes, flipping the knife closed and sliding it back into his pocket. As he does so, he brushes the edge of his sweater, revealing a smaller pistol holstered at his side.
Fuck, I hadn’t even seen that there.
“Not yet. First, I have to kill my father’s murderer,” she says cooly, her eyes flicking towards me, burning with a hatred I’ve never seen before.
This has to be a sick nightmare. This can’t be real.
“Of course,” he says, nodding as he hands the gun over to her.
I’m honestly not sure what I expect in the next moment, but when she takes the gun and locks her sights on me, contempt gleaming in her golden gaze, my heart cracks into a million tiny pieces.
My eyes flick between hers as she stands and strides over to me, trying to glimpse some sort of sign that this is all a ruse. The last shred of hope I was clinging to vanishes at the disgust and hatred that shines back at me as she stops in front of me. I swallow thickly, trying to rack my brain for the moment everything went so wrong. I was so sure I could get us out of this, so sure we’d all get out of here alive, but now it seems like that is a long shot at best.
“I love you, Skylar. I’ve loved you since the second that first photo landed on my desk. I would never hurt you, I would never deceive you, and I would never kill anyone you care for,” I say, refusing to beg or plead, yet I want her—no, I need her to know the truth. “Know that the only thing I’ve ever kept from you is that I was entirely yours and only yours before we ever even met.”
“Video doesn’t lie, Everett, but people do,” she says, her tone soft yet lethal. Determination and resolve shine back at me in her golden eyes. She’s my judge, jury, and executioner, and she’s made her verdict. Guilty.
“You’ve made your choice,” I breathe, acceptance washing over me as I watch my mate for the last time. “I understand. I forgive you, and I still love you.”
I close my eyes, filtering my friends’ pleas as she flicks the safety off. My mind flashes to the last memory I have of her, where she looked at me like she finally saw me for the man I am, the man I’ve always wanted to be. I picture her eyes as they were in that moment, soft and understanding before they fogged over with lust when I had her on that desk, so close to making her mine.
She was my dream, and now it’s all about to come crumbling down around me. I can get out, I can break free, but what’s the point? If she believes him and that video more than me, is there really any chance to come back from this? I don’t want to live in a world where she looks at me with hatred in her heart. If this is the goddess’ plan, then so be it. I’ll die with my dignity intact, hoping someday she’ll find the truth, because I’ll never raise a hand against her.
“Firecracker,” Arsenio says in warning. “Don’t do this. You’ll regret this when you see reason. You’re too blinded by your grief right now to see clearly.”
A flicker in the back of my mind begs me not to believe it, but I can’t hold on to false hope.
“My only regret is ever being foolish enough to have trusted you in the first place,” Skylar says, the room growing quiet around us in anticipation as the trigger clicks and a gunshot rings through the small concrete room, and I know death will shortly follow.
