Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Libby’s POV

The floorboards creaked under Louisa’s boots as she paced, the silver knife trembling in her grip. Outside, Blake’s voice cut through the air, and for a moment, the sheer power of it made the wolfsbane in my system retreat. My wolf, Mya, let out a faint, pained whimper in the back of my mind.

"He's here," Louisa whispered, a frantic, jagged smile stretching across her face. "He’s here to watch."

She grabbed me by the hair, hauling me up so that I was kneeling in front of the window. She pressed the cold, stinging edge of the silver blade against my jugular.

"Louisa!" Blake shouted, his voice echoing off the trees. "Let her go, and I might let you live long enough to reach the border."

"Look at him, Libby!" she hissed. "Look at your Alpha. Look at the man who thinks he can save you."

I looked out the cracked glass. Blake was standing in the clearing, looking like a god of war carved from shadow and fury. He wasn't moving, but I could see the way his muscles were coiled, ready to snap.

"Louisa, listen to me," I rasped, trying to keep my voice steady despite the silver burning my skin. "We aren't even married. You can still stop this. You don't have to be like her. You don't have to carry her cage."

"But I do!" Louisa screamed, her voice breaking. "Because she's all I had! You took the fated mate bond from her, you took her sanity, and then you took her freedom! You didn't even give her the dignity of a trial!"

"She didn't give my mother the dignity of a life!" I countered, a flash of my own fire returning. "She kept her in a hole for sixteen years, Louisa! She fed her poison and watched her rot! Is that the woman you’re dying for?"

Louisa’s grip faltered for a fraction of a second. Her eyes flickered, the certainty in them wavering as the weight of her mother’s true nature brushed against her conscience.

"She... she said it was for love," Louisa whispered.

"It wasn't love," I said, leaning into the blade, ignoring the sting. "It was a sickness. Don't let it be yours too."

."You took my mother's life," Louisa whispered, her voice cracking. "You didn't kill her, but you took her life. You put her in a cage three territories away. You made my stepfather, the only Dad i ever had, a human. And for what? So you could play Luna? So you could have your perfect little wedding?"

I tried to find my voice, my throat clicking as I swallowed. "She... she was a monster, Louisa. She kept my mother in a cage for sixteen years. She stole sixteen years of my life."

"SHE LOVED ME!" Louisa screamed, the knife plunging through the air to hover inches from my throat. "She did everything for us! And you destroyed it all. So I am going to destroy you. Look at your Mate. He’s already howling for you. I want him to see what happens when you take everything from someone who has nothing left to lose."

Blake’s voice crashed through the room, steady and terrifying. I saw Louisa flinch, the knife trembling in her hand. She looked toward the window, her eyes wide and wild.

"He thinks he can talk his way out of this," she muttered to herself, her grip tightening on my hair as she hauled me up. She pressed the edge of the silver blade against my neck. "He thinks he's the hero."

She dragged me to the window, forcing me to look out at him. Blake stood in the center of the clearing, looking like an ancient god of vengeance.

"Look at him, Libby," she hissed in my ear. "The last thing you’ll ever see is the look on his face when I cut your throat. No wedding. No 'forever.' Just blood on the floor."

I looked at Blake, and for a second, our eyes met through the glass. I didn't see fear in him. I saw a promise.

"Louisa," I whispered, the silver beginning to sting my skin as she pressed harder. "Look at him. He’s not coming for revenge. He’s coming for me. That’s what real love looks like. Not the sickness your mother had. Don't die for a lie."

"SHUT UP!" Louisa shrieked, but her hand was shaking so hard the knife clattered against my collarbone.

Outside, Blake took another step. "Drop the knife, Louisa! It’s over! Don't let Julianne take you down with her!"

For a heartbeat, the world stood still. Louisa looked at the knife, then at me, then out at the man who would tear the world apart to save me. The weight of sixteen years of lies and one year of hatred finally seemed to crush her. The knife slipped from her fingers, hitting the floor with a hollow thud. I didn't even wait for her to move. I slumped to the ground as Louisa fell to her knees, burying her face in her hands and sobbing. The door to the shack didn't just open; it exploded inward.

Blake was there in an instant, his arms wrapping around me, his heat chasing away the chill of the wolfsbane. He didn't say a word; he just pulled me into his chest, his heart hammering against mine like a trapped bird.

"I've got you," he rasped into my hair, his voice thick with a relief so deep it sounded like a sob. "I've got you, Libby. Never again. I swear to you, never again."

I closed my eyes, breathing him in, the nightmare finally, truly over. Behind us, the warriors were moving in to take Louisa away, but I didn't look back. I just held onto the man who was my past, my present, and finally, my future.