chapter 41

chapter 41
Louisa’s POV
The steering wheel felt slick under my sweating palms. I glanced in the rearview mirror at the empty back seat, though I could hear the muffled, rhythmic thumping from the trunk. Thud. Thud. Thud.
It was the heartbeat of the girl who had ruined everything.
"Shut up," I hissed at the dashboard, my eyes wide and bloodshot. "Just shut up, Libby."
I had spent a year watching from the shadows, a ghost in my own pack. I had watched Libby play the martyr, the "merciful" Luna-to-be, while she paraded around the Packhouse like she already wore the crown. Every time I saw her leaning into Blake, whispering about the life they were building, I felt the bile rise in my throat. She walked around like she owned the very air my mother used to breathe. She thought she was so righteous, "gracing" my mother with a life in a mountain cage instead of a grave.
She didn't know what mercy was. Mercy would have been letting me say goodbye. Mercy would have been leaving my family whole.
I veered the sedan off the main road, the tires screaming as I hit the gravel of the old logging trails. I knew the warriors would be coming. I could feel the vibration in the ground, the collective roar of the pack mind-link that I had severed myself from months ago. Blake would be a monster right now. He would be tearing up the earth for his precious mate, terrified he’d lose his happy ending before they could even say their vows.
But he wouldn't look here. Not at the old, collapsed ranger station near the border.
I slammed the car into park and killed the engine. The silence that followed was deafening. I climbed out, my legs shaking with a mix of terror and exhilaration. I popped the trunk.
Libby lay there, curled in a ball, her eyes fluttering as the wolfsbane fought her system. She looked small. She looked pathetic.
"Time to wake up, Princess," I sneered, grabbing her by the hair and dragging her out. She hit the dirt with a groan, her limbs still twitching. "You wanted to send my mother to a prison? You wanted to play house with the Alpha? I'm going to send you to the hell you deserve before you ever get that ring on your finger."