39. The Ending

**Bianca**

Her blood tasted sweet on my tongue. Not because of the flavor, but the thrill biting into her flesh gave me.

Jasmine’s wolfish scream was like a shockwave. It pierced my ears. Her claws dug into my upper arm, pulling me off her as she threw me to the ground.

I landed next to a stack of covered cement bags. Little did she know I took a piece of her with me. Out of spite, I got on all fours and looked directly into her eyes as I chewed on her flesh and swallowed it with a large gulp.

She released a mind-numbing howl into the night, strong enough to ruffle the brains of any normal werewolf.

Avery shielded his eardrums, his ears switching constantly between wolf and human.

Conroy pushed himself off the ground, watching in horror. Regardless of how strong his desire to keep Jasmine safe was, Conroy and Avery knew better than to interfere in a fight between two Lycans. Jasmine headed straight for me.

I hit her in her stomach with a fist. It should have been enough to make her fall a few steps back, despite not being fully transformed. She didn’t budge.

Jasmine took that opportunity to grab a hold of my face with two hairy hands. The claws of her thumb poked my eyelids.

That’s when I heard a bark. She let me go. I was ready to attack her again but my eyes widened at the scene before me.

Avery was in his wolf form. His sharp teeth sunk into the heel of her foot. He twisted his head feverishly with every intention of breaking a bone. She tried to pull him off. He only let go to try his hand at biting her elbow.

Jasmine was superior, being both stronger and faster than him. However, Avery was more resilient. He managed to escape Jasmine’s grip more than once.

What a strange sight it was watching a bleeding beast attempt to catch a smaller shifter half its size. It’s like seeing a frustrated animal trainer continuously being evaded by a wild dog.

Her dark fur did a good job at hiding the wounds, but the blood seeping into the fur exposed where Avery got her. When Avery slashed the side of her waist, she had finally had enough.

Jasmine stayed completely still. When Avery landed on the ground once again, she kicked him. She went on, kicking him over and over again until Avery could do nothing but whimper. Then she reverted to stomping on him.

The pain became too much. He couldn’t bear it and ended up changing back into a human form, leaving him more vulnerable. Jasmine stomped on his head. Avery spat out blood.

“Avery! Jasmine, stop it!” Conroy screamed.

Before she could step on his neck, my fully transformed arm pierced her stomach.

She stopped, her foot hovering over his neck. My breath hit the back of hers. She hit me in the face with her elbow. I fell to the ground. She got on top of me. Some of the blood coming from her mouth dropped onto my cheek. By that time, my arm slipped out of her body.

“I should have killed you when I had the chance!” She said. “You’re a thorn in my side. I should have slit your throat on your wedding night.”

She wrapped her fingers around my throat and squeezed.

In the corner of my eyes, Conroy had pulled Avery’s limb body into his lap and held his head close to his body. Tears pooled in his eyes. He called out Avery’s name but didn’t get a response.

“You know what? We can correct that. I can feel the wound you gave me healing. I will live while you die here. Isn’t that swell, you damn bitch?”

I could also spot a metal rod not far away. And the ground here felt loose. It became hard to breathe. If I reached out starting now, I could get what I needed.

“Imagining you all made up in your wedding dress becomes more bearable when it’s stained red.”

I couldn’t breathe. I grabbed the first thing I could touch.

I threw a handful of rubble and dirt into her eyes. She loosened her grip. Some of it got into my eyes too. But that didn’t stop me from taking the opportunity to sink the steel rod into her throat.

Her hands fell from my neck, head rolled back as she struggled to speak and take in air.

“You hurt the loves of my life,” I growled. “Twice!”

I pushed the rod further. It came out on the other side. During this time, I didn’t hear a single protest from Conroy’s mouth.

Jasmine was dead, and I killed her.

________

I remembered every day that came afterward.

Conroy took care of Jasmine’s body. He felt like it was his responsibility to clean up the scene. As for whether the people he hired were allowed to touch her body or he did it himself, I might never find out.

We haven’t talked in the slightest. The only times we somewhat communicated was when we took turns staying with Avery in a shifter hospital. We simply nodded at each other, something I very much preferred. I wasn’t ready to talk to him after all that happened, not yet.

Thankfully, Avery’s injuries weren’t serious enough that his wolf couldn’t heal them. It seemed like he would recover without any lasting issues. On the day he was finally discharged, I helped him get his clothes on.

Avery pouted. “You know I can move on my own, right? I feel completely fine.”

I shook my head, bending one of his arms so that I could put it through the sleeve hole. “That doesn’t mean you should move much. The doctor said you should still be careful. Your ribs haven’t fully healed yet.”

“Does that mean you’ll babysit me every day?”

“Yes, whether or not you dislike it.”

“I don’t mind. Just so you know, I’m breastfed.”

I giggled. “Whatever.”

As I fixed the hem of his white sweater, I felt him stiffen.

“Bianca, we need to talk,” he muttered. “It’s about what you said that night, how you knew that Jasmine was the one who put you in the hospital.”

I snaked my arms around his torso and rested my head against his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I wanted to tell you but I didn’t know how. I saw all that you were doing and thought, ‘Wow. He really meant what he said’. I had no proof and honestly… I was afraid that if I told you, you might have found it to be ridiculous and leave me forever like Conroy did. Whether or not I wanted to admit it, I needed you.”