relived of pack ties

“He’s here,” I whispered to Ezra. “I’m going to find him.”

He grabbed my elbow as I turned, placing a palm on my face. His forehead lowered to mine, and he said, “Go get him.” He placed a hungry kiss against my lips before releasing me.

I left knowing that he had everything else covered, that Miles would not leave this packland either by me or contained by his brothers.

This was what true partnership must be like. I smiled at that. Once this was over, to whatever end after the certain death I would inflict on Miles, I knew I had him and his support.

I wasn’t doing it alone anymore.

I let that knowledge of safety and trust wash over me as I sunk into that place I had learned as a child. As I descended deep into that well I let myself hear the voices that I spent so much time trying to suppress.

Instinct and logic. Emotions can fuel you, but they do not decide your course—my dad told me, helping me up.

She’s a natural - my mother’s worried yet proud face came into view.

That means that she can develop into something unparalleled - my dad told her, kissing her brow warmed by the rare summer sun.

Eagerness does not equate to victory. Only strike first if you are confident that you can strike last - Gamma Drew told me, motioning me to get back into position again.

Each move must mean something. Move to cover, move to block, move to engage - my dad’s best friend, his most trusted ally, my uncle Miles instructed.

I opened my eyes when I hit the bottom of that well. I was engulfed in a cool, calculated state where the only language recongized was made of blood and sweat and steel.

I could picture all of the outcomes. None of them were favorable for him.

I carried my pack and my ancestors with me.

They may not be here in body, but every training, every encouragement, their friendship and love, and the very essence of themselves had molded me.

I was a product of the blood of all of those who had come before me, shaped by all of those I knew and grown with on this very land.

I would keep them with me always. I would lay them to rest, and somehow… somehow, I would have to move on to hold them dear but let them go.

But right now, it was time to remember what they had helped create. Not the person molded by molten anger and hatred, but the one fostered by love.

Those two pieces of me clashed, but they were both as much a part of me as each other. I needed them in different ways. I was equally made of them and they could exist together.

I was a product of it all, and I was damn proud of that.

It was time for his atonement. His reckoning. And if The Goddess didn’t want to tip the scales to favor justice, justice would be my burden to carry. A sentence I would gladly enact.

Uncle Miles - I called, trying the pack mindlink for the first time.

I felt the link go through. I could only link him, the final two of Blood Moon. There was no response, and I wasn’t expecting there to be.

I followed that trace of thrumming magic. I did not recoil from it anymore. The shock was gone. I now realized it wasn’t dark magic; the ringing disturbance I felt the first time was a calling and a warning.

It was searching for me, reaching for me. It needed to be removed from the vessel it was never intended for.

I did not know why our lands were blessed or how. I did not need to know the details to understand that he had taken what was never meant to be his. I knew deep in my bones that he had taken it from the land itself.

Aksala stayed quiet. She growled along with my thoughts. It was everything I needed from her to help me focus.

This power… It was mine, just twisted.

I would restore it.

Nothing? It has been years. I thought you would have a few things to fill me in on.

I waited for a few moments.

I know you can hear me - I taunted - I’ll give you a moment to collect your thoughts before I find you.

The link pulsed between us, along with the magic. It called to me but was shackled against a cage that was not meant to contain it. It was as if what he stole was reaching for me, directing me to him.

He was inside the packhouse. It was a buzzing feeling, a cloying, gnawing, yearning sense that made my stomach turn to molten ash. It was painful to be close to, but I kept moving toward it.

My hand came to my thigh, and I strummed the edge of my dagger. It was ready and waiting, almost as eager as I was.

I pushed the eagerness away. It would do no good.

I knew myself well enough to know that I could not suppress all my emotions while facing him, but I could choose when I let them out.

This was for them all.

I would not let them down.

The last time I saw you, you -

I stumbled on the steps as the memory I let escape hit me. He handed everyone their cups that night. Was that why... Was that how?

Stay calm. It does not matter now. We know what he is, we know what he is capable of, and we know that we can end him - Aksala purred, but her disgust and hatred could not be hidden. They mirrored my own.

I took a few deep breaths and sunk back into that cool well. I envisioned those that trained me looking down above me. I was surprised to find that in my mind, Ezra, Sam, and even Tia appeared in that vision.

I smiled at them all, and I re-focused.

I stood, feeling the cool stone of my packhouse, my home, under my fingers. I wrapped my hand around the dagger for comfort. I did not have to surprise him, nor did I want to.

I followed that stolen power, and it led me outside my father's office. The bones of my father’s Gamma and his mate still lay there.

My stomach churned, and it wasn’t because they were now bones. But because those very bones seemed kicked aside, scattered, as if they were in the way.

They died, reaching for each other.

I tucked those sharp emotions away. For now. And opened the doors where that twisted power was concentrated.

The wooden doors echoed off the stone walls as I stood in the entranceway.

“Forget how to use a mindlink after you slaughtered your pack?” I asked him.

Miles scampered up, standing from where he was sitting…. Behind my father's desk.

He rubbed the back of his head. His eyes darted everywhere but me.

“Don’t worry about it.” I waved my hand before crossing it over my other. “I’ll relieve you of the burden. In a few moments, you will have no tie to my pack or of this life or the next, you traitorous swine.”