Chapter 58: Chapter 58

Jeremy's POV

Dawn broke gray and cold, the sky threatening rain. Fitting weather for an execution.

I stood beside Emma in the observation area, separated from the execution grounds by a thick pane of reinforced glass. My father stood on Emma's other side, with Beta Marcus just behind us. As future Alpha and the primary victim, we were required to witness.

Emma's hand found mine as they led Vanessa out. She was in restraints, flanked by four guards, but she walked with her head high. Defiant to the end.

"You okay?" I asked Emma quietly.

"No," she admitted. "But I need to see this. Need to know she can't hurt anyone else."

The execution detail lined up-six wolves with silver-loaded rifles. Silver to ensure a quick death, even for someone as strong as Vanessa. Beta Marcus stood at attention, his face impassive as he prepared to give the order.

They secured Vanessa to the posts, her arms spread, her body exposed to the firing squad. She should have looked vulnerable. Instead, she looked furious.

Her eyes found Emma through the glass, and her expression twisted into something hateful.

"This is all your fault!" Vanessa screamed, her voice carrying even through the barrier. "You stole him from me! You ruined everything!"

Emma flinched beside me. I squeezed her hand.

"He was never yours!" Vanessa continued, struggling against her restraints. "Jeremy loved me! He wanted me! You were just an inconvenient mistake that the Moon Goddess forced on him!"

"Don't listen to her," I said quietly to Emma. "She's just trying to hurt you one last time."

But Vanessa wasn't done. "You think this ends anything? You think killing me stops what I started?" Her laugh was manic. "The rogues I hired-they're not done! I paid them for six months of attacks! They'll keep coming until you're dead, Emma! Until you're bleeding in the dirt where you belong!"

Emma went rigid beside me. "What?"

"I left instructions!" Vanessa's eyes were wild now. "If I die, they intensify the attacks! Every rogue pack within three states has been paid to target you specifically! You'll never be safe! Never!"

"She's lying," my father said firmly. "Trying to terrorize you in her final moments."

But something about Vanessa's expression made my blood run cold. The certainty in her eyes. The savage satisfaction.

"Am I lying?" Vanessa called out. "Ask your precious mate! Ask Jeremy how much money I had access to through my family! Ask him how many connections I made while traveling to other packs!"

I had to admit, she'd had significant resources. Her family was wealthy, and as my supposed future Luna, she'd attended countless inter-pack meetings. Made connections with wolves all over the region.

"Even if it's true," Emma said, her voice shaking but firm, "we'll deal with it. We'll strengthen patrols, increase security. We'll protect the pack."

"You can't protect everyone!" Vanessa shrieked. "The attacks will be random! Unpredictable! Your pack will live in fear because of you! Because you stole what was mine!"

"Ready!" Beta Marcus's command cut through Vanessa's ranting.

"Jeremy!" Vanessa's eyes found mine now. "You're making a mistake! She'll never forgive you! Never trust you! You'll spend your whole life trying to earn back what you destroyed, and it will never be enough! I'm the one who understood you! I'm the one who-"

"Aim!"

"-loved you! Really loved you! Not her! She's just-"

"Fire!"

Six rifles discharged simultaneously. The sound was deafening even through the glass.

Vanessa's body jerked as the silver bullets struck-chest, heart, head. Precision shots that ensured instant death.

She was dead before her body slumped forward in the restraints.

Silence fell over the execution grounds. Even the birds seemed to have stopped singing.

Emma was trembling beside me, her hand crushing mine. "Is it over?"

"It's over," I confirmed, though Vanessa's threats still echoed in my head. "She's gone."

My father immediately turned to one of his advisors. "Get me intel on every rogue pack Vanessa had contact with. I want to know if there's any truth to her claims about ongoing attacks."

"Yes, Alpha."

"And double all patrol rotations. Increase security around Emma specifically. If there are rogues coming, we'll be ready." Emma pulled her hand from mine and wrapped her arms around herself. "She hated me that much. Even at the end, all she wanted was to make sure I suffered."

"She was unhinged," I said. "Obsessed. Her love for me if you can even call it love-twisted into something toxic and dangerous."

"Love shouldn't do that," Emma said quietly. "Real love shouldn't make you want to destroy someone."

"No. It shouldn't." I wanted to touch her, to comfort her, but I wasn't sure if it would be welcome. "Emma-"

"I need to go." She was already moving toward the exit. "I can't-I need to process this. Alone."