Chapter 63 The Test of Leadership
Jolie POV
I wake up to Elena's face hovering over mine.
"Three hours." She presses a cool cloth to my forehead. "You've been unconscious for three hours. Your body can't handle that much power output yet."
"The hunters?" My voice comes out rough.
"Scattered. Broken. Some fled into the storm. Others are still in the clearing, processing what you showed them." Elena helps me sit up. "What you did was extraordinary. And terrifying."
"I didn't mean to." I remember the feeling of touching all those minds at once, forcing them to experience their own cruelty. "It just happened."
"That's what concerns me." Elena's ancient eyes search mine. "Power without control is dangerous. Luna granted you these abilities, but you must learn when to use them and when to show mercy."
The cabin door opens. Ryder enters carrying a man over his shoulder—bound, bleeding, and unconscious.
"Found him trying to sneak around the back." Ryder drops the man on the floor. "Thorne Blackwater himself. The bastard came personally."
My blood runs cold. Alpha Thorne. The wolf my brother tried to sell me to.
Even unconscious, he looks cruel. Scars cover his face and arms—trophies from wolves he's killed. His pack symbol is tattooed on his neck. A blood moon dripping red.
"He's dying." Doc kneels beside Thorne, checking his pulse. "Silver poisoning from the traps. Maybe two hours before organ failure."
"Good." Ryder crosses his arms. "Let the monster die."
"Wait." Elena stands, watching me carefully. "This is a test."
"A test?" I stare at the dying alpha. "He's a sadist. A murderer. He's done terrible things to omegas and weaker wolves. Everyone knows it."
"I know." Elena's voice is gentle. "Which is why this matters. You have the power to save him. The question is—should you?"
"No." The word comes out immediately. "Why would I save someone who's caused so much suffering?"
"That's your anger talking." Elena gestures to Thorne. "As Luna's vessel, you are judge, healer, and warrior. You must decide—does justice mean death? Or does it mean forcing him to live with the weight of his crimes?"
I look at Ryder. "What do you think?"
"I think he deserves to suffer." Ryder's jaw tightens. "But I also know that's not what you're about. You see the best in people, even when they don't deserve it."
"This isn't about what he deserves." I kneel beside Thorne's body. "It's about what I'm willing to become. If I let him die out of revenge, what makes me different from him?"
"Plenty of things," Knox says from the doorway. "You don't torture omegas for fun, for starters."
"But if I have the power to save him and choose not to..." I touch Thorne's arm, and images flood my mind. Terrible images. Wolves screaming. Blood. Pain. An omega girl not much older than me, begging for mercy she never received.
I jerk my hand back, nauseated.
"You see it now." Elena nods. "The full scope of his crimes. Luna shows you the truth of every soul you touch. So I ask again—will you save him?"
My hands shake. Part of me wants to walk away. Let nature take its course. He's earned this death a hundred times over.
But Luna's words echo in my memory. You are the bridge between wolf and divine. You are my voice in the mortal world.
"I'll save him." I place both hands on Thorne's chest. "But not for him. For the wolves he'll never hurt again."
Silver light floods through me into him. I feel his organs repairing, silver burns fading, poison evaporating from his blood.
But I don't stop there.
I push deeper, into his mind, into his memories. I grab every terrible thing he's ever done and force him to experience it from the victim's perspective.
His eyes snap open. He screams.
"What are you—stop! Gods, please stop!"
"You wanted me." I lean close so he can see my eyes glowing. "You wanted to claim the weakest wolf. Own me. Break me. Here I am, Thorne. And I'm breaking you instead."
His body convulses as I flood him with empathy he's never felt. Every omega he tortured. Every weak wolf he killed for sport. Every person whose suffering entertained him.
Now he feels it all.
"I'm sorry!" Tears stream down his face. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Make it stop, please!"
"They begged too." My voice stays cold. "Did you stop when they begged?"
"No! Gods, no, I didn't! I should have! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
I release him. He collapses on the floor, sobbing like a child.
The room is silent.
"Well." Elena's voice holds approval. "That was one solution."
"He's alive." I stand on shaking legs. "He'll live to see what he's become. Every time he closes his eyes, he'll remember. Every victim. Every moment of pain. He'll carry that forever."
"That's worse than death," Knox mutters.
"That's justice." I look down at Thorne, who's curled into a ball, still weeping. "Death would be mercy. He doesn't get mercy. He gets to live with the weight of his crimes and decide what to do with it."
Ryder pulls me close. "You scared me for a second there."
"Why?" I lean into him.
"Thought you might kill him with kindness." He kisses my forehead. "But that? That was perfect. Brutal and merciful at the same time."
"Now you understand." Elena touches my shoulder. "True power lies not in what you can do, but in choosing what you should do. Any fool with strength can kill. But it takes wisdom to give someone the chance to change."
Thorne pushes himself up slowly, his whole body trembling. "I can feel them. All of them. Their fear. Their pain. How do you live with this?"
"You learn." I meet his eyes. "Or you don't. That's your choice now. But if you ever hurt another wolf again, I'll know. And I'll come for you. This time, I won't be merciful."
"I won't." He crawls toward the door. "I swear on Luna herself. I won't. I can't. Not after feeling..." He breaks into sobs again.
"Get him out of here." Ryder opens the door. "Tell your pack that Alpha Thorne is dead. The man who crawls out of this cabin isn't him anymore."
Knox helps Thorne to his feet and guides him outside. Through the open door, I see the clearing. The storm has passed. The sun breaks through clouds, making the snow sparkle like diamonds.
Most of the hunters are gone. But a few remain, sitting in the snow, staring at nothing.
"What do we do with the rest of them?" I ask.
"Let them go." Elena moves to the window. "They'll spread word of what happened here. Of the moonfire wolf who judges without killing. Some will fear you. Others will respect you. All will remember."
"I don't want to be feared."
"Too late for that." Ryder's arm tightens around me. "But better they fear you than hunt you. Fear keeps wolves alive."