RAMON’S POV

Chaos roared around us. The clash of fangs and claws filled the air like thunder, but I knew the truth in my bones. We were deep in MoonRay territory, outnumbered and surrounded by their wolves. Victory wasn’t ours tonight. Not in the way that mattered. But damage? That we could deliver in spades.

My eyes scanned the battlefield, blood and fur flying everywhere, and that was when I saw it—Jack slipping away like the coward he was. One second he was there, directing his pathetic pack with snarls and gestures, and the next, he vanished into the shadows beyond the main fray.

Not today.

I wasn’t letting that bastard escape. He had taken too much. Stolen too many breaths that didn’t belong to him. Sonia’s face flashed in my mind, her scent, her fire, the way she looked at me even when she hated me. He would pay for every second she’d suffered because of him.

"Go!" Liam’s voice cut through the noise, raw and fierce. "I’ll cover you! End him!"

I didn’t need to be told twice. I tore through the line of hungry wolves lunging at me, my claws ripping into flesh, my jaws snapping bones. Blood sprayed hot across my muzzle, but I didn’t stop.

I followed the faint trail he’d left, a snapped branch here, a disturbed patch of earth there. The entrance to the main pack house was jammed with fighters, so he hadn’t gone that way. Smart. Or so he thought.

I pushed deeper into the trees, relying on my senses. The metallic tang of blood faded behind me, replaced by the wet earth and the distant rush of water.

His scent grew stronger, sweat, fear masked by arrogance, and that underlying rot that always clung to him. He was running full speed, but I was faster. My wolf surged beneath my skin, hungry for the kill.

The sound of rushing water grew louder, a constant whoosh that vibrated through the ground. Riverine area. Perfect. No hiding there. My paws pounded the dirt as I closed the distance. Low branches whipped at my face, but I barely felt them. All I could think about was wrapping my hands around his throat and watching the life drain from his eyes.

I burst through the treeline and there he was standing near the riverbank, chest heaving.

Jack suddenly stopped and spun around, his eyes gleaming with that same manic light I’d come to despise.

"You fool!" He threw his head back and laughed, the sound jagged and ugly, echoing over the water. "Running after me like a lost pup. How predictable."

I slowed to a walk, every muscle coiled tight. The air smelled of wet stone and pine, mixed with the sharp edge of his fear-sweat. "I’m tired of your games, Jack. This ends tonight."

He grinned, teeth flashing—yellowed and crooked, like everything else about him. "Come closer then, big bad Alpha. You want somebody? Come take it!"

With a growl that rattled his chest, he ripped his shirt off, muscles flexing under scarred skin. He thought he was ready. He had no idea.

I wanted to rip him apart right then, but questions burned hotter than my rage. Sonia. I needed to know. "Where is she?" I demanded, stepping closer, the river’s spray cool against my heated skin. "Where the hell is Sonia?"

"Where she rightfully belongs," he sneered, that sinister smile stretching wider. Even from here, I could see the rot on his teeth, the madness in his eyes. "Why do you care? You treated her like dirt, didn’t you? Tested her. Broke her spirit. Or tried to."

My wolf snarled inside me, claws itching to burst free. I kept moving forward, slow and deliberate, the gravel crunching under my boots. "She belongs with her mate. She belongs to me."

Jack laughed again, rolling his head like a puppet with cut strings. The sound grated on my nerves, making my blood boil hotter. "Belongs to you? Please. I’ve had eyes on you this whole time, Ramon. A wolf in your precious pack, closer than you’d ever guess. Watching every move. Every weak moment. They don’t respect you as much as you think if they can be bought so easily."

The words hit like a slap, but I swallowed the fury. My fists clenched at my sides. "You think finding a spy makes you clever? I did the same, Jack. Honorable, unlike your filth. Those wolves you sent to attack me? They weren’t all returned. I kept one. What do you think he’s whispered to me already?"

For a flicker of a second, uncertainty crossed his face. Then the glint returned, sharper. "Doesn’t matter. I’ll tell you myself. My spy doesn’t work for me anymore. He works for Ferins now. Alpha Ferins of Silverpaw. Your father’s sworn enemy and yours by blood. He’ll kill you just like he killed that coward you called a father. I was there, Ramon. I saw it all. You don’t know what you’re messing with."

The pieces slammed together. Not Jack. Ferins. Sonia’s father had slipped into my pack like a shadow and taken her back. The same way I’d once taken her. The battle lines were redrawn, bloodier than before.

Rage ignited in my veins. I growled low, the sound vibrating through my chest, and lunged.

Jack tried to dodge, twisting aside with surprising speed for an old bastard. But I leaped, twisting mid-air, and came down hard. My hand clamped around his throat like iron. The impact drove us both toward the river’s edge.

"You’re old," I hissed, squeezing until I felt his windpipe buckle under my fingers. His pulse hammered wildly against my palm. "Close to your deathbed already. I should spare you. But mercy? You don’t deserve a single drop."

He thrashed, nails digging into my forearm, legs kicking desperately. His face turned red, then purple, eyes bulging with panic. For an Alpha, he was pathetically weak. MoonRay had always thrived on lies and shadows, not real strength. Deceit was a weak man’s weapon, and tonight it failed him completely.

I flung him into the river with all my force. He hit the water with a splash that sent waves crashing against the banks. I waded in after him, the cold current biting at my legs, soaking my clothes. Before he could surface fully, I grabbed the back of his head and slammed his face down into the rocky shallows.

Water exploded around us. He bucked and flailed, arms swinging wildly, but I held him firm. Bubbles burst up as he tried to scream, nothing but gurgling, choking sounds.

I pushed harder, grinding his face against the stones beneath the surface. His body convulsed, legs kicking up sprays of water that caught the moonlight like diamonds. The river roared around us, indifferent to the life it was about to claim.

I leaned in close, my voice a low, vicious growl only he could hear between struggles. "Feel that, Jack? That’s your pack dying behind us. That’s every betrayal coming back to drown you. You took what was mine. You hurt her. Now you pay."

His hands clawed at my wrist, weaker now. Nails broke against my skin. His chest heaved, desperate for air that would never come. I held him there, savoring every frantic twitch, every dying kick.

The water turned darker around his head as blood mixed with the current from the cuts on his face. His struggles slowed, became jerky, pathetic twitches.

I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the music of it wash over me—the desperate bubbles, the fading thrum of his heartbeat under my grip, the cold river claiming him inch by inch. Satisfaction burned hot in my chest, a merciless fire. This wasn’t quick. It wasn’t clean. It was exactly what he deserved.

His body went limp. No more fight. No more laughter. Just dead weight in my hands.

I held him under for a few seconds longer, making sure. Then I released him. His body floated up slightly before the current dragged it downstream, face-down, arms spread like a broken offering to the moon. The river carried him away, red trails fading into the black water.

I stood there in the shallows, chest heaving, water dripping from my hair and clothes. The sounds of distant battle still echoed, but inside me, a savage calm settled. Jack was gone.

The news would spread through the seven packs like wildfire. Alpha Ramon didn’t forgive. Alpha Ramon didn’t forget. Anyone who touched what was his would end the same way, broken, drowned in their own arrogance.

Ferins was next. And Sonia... I would find her. I would tear through Silverpaw if I had to. No one kept my mate from me.

I turned back toward the fight, my wolf howling in triumph. The night was far from over.