Chapter 52

My teeth ground together, an instinctive reaction to the storm of emotions swirling inside me. The urge to unleash my fury upon her surged like an uncontrollable tide, a primal force begging to be released. The power coursed through my veins, my wolf howling for retribution against her for the pain she had inflicted. But then, as if struck by a sudden wave of clarity, reality crashed down upon me. I stumbled backward, my grip loosening, my legs trembling as an overwhelming tide of exhaustion and helplessness swept over me, threatening to drown me in despair.

I squeezed my eyes shut, desperate to ward off the encroaching grief that threatened to engulf my very being.

Kate is gone.

And Sophia? She wasn’t worth the turmoil. She wasn’t worth the peril of losing everything I held dear for a fleeting moment of vengeance.

I turned my gaze toward her, a tightness coiling around my chest. Lana needed me; she was my priority. If I allowed myself to be thrown back into the darkness of prison, what would become of her? She would be left with nothing—no mother, no one to protect or nurture her.

Sophia would face consequences, but I couldn’t let Lana bear the brunt of my decisions. She couldn’t lose her mother.

I gasped for breath, the weight of the situation pressing down on me like a heavy shroud. Sophia stumbled back, her hands clutching her throat, eyes wide with fear as she instinctively distanced herself from me.