(Arthur’s POV)

    The cold stone floor of the lodge pressed against my back like a grave marker. I could feel the silver burning through my chest with eachbored breath, spreading its poison through my bloodstream like liquid fire.

    Six holes. Six pieces of silver embedded in my torso. Each one designed to kill werewolves efficiently.

    But I wasn’t thinking about the pain. I wasn’t thinking about death approaching on silent paws. All I could see was Audrey’s face above me, her emerald eyes wide with shock and terror.

    The irony wasn’t lost on me. For three years, I had tried to control her, possess her, bend her to my will. And now, in my final moments, I was finally doing something purely selfless for her.

    “Audrey,” I gasped, reaching toward her with a hand that felt impossibly heavy. “I’m sorry… for everything.”

    My voice came out as barely a whisper. Each word cost me precious breath I didn’t have to spare. But these words needed to be said. They should have been said years ago.

    Audrey dropped to her knees beside me, her hands immediately pressing against the worst of the wounds. Her tears fell onto my face like warm rain.

    “Don’t talk,” she whispered frantically. “Just hold on. We’ll get you to a healer. You’re going to be fine.”

    But we both knew it was a lie. A desperate, beautiful lie that I loved her for telling.

    I could already feel my wolf spirit beginning to fade. Logan was retreating deeper and deeper into the recesses of my consciousness, his strength bleeding out with my life force.

    Silver bullets were designed for one purpose. To kill our kind quickly and efficiently. And they were very, very good at their job.

    “Listen to me,” I struggled to form the words, fighting against the growing darkness at the edges of my vision. “The mate bond severance… it was real.”

    Audrey’s hands stilled on my chest. Her eyes searched my face desperately.

    “I was wrong to try to control you,” I continued, each syble a monumental effort. “You deserve… to choose your own path.” My gaze found Florian across the ruined lodge. He had subdued Nathan and was now approaching us slowly, his golden eyes filled with something I had never expected to see there.

    Respect.

    “Take care of her,” I managed to say to him. “Be better than I was.”

    Florian knelt beside us without hesitation. His earlier anger and rivalry had been reced by something deeper. Something honorable.

    “I will,” he promised solemnly. His voice was steady, certain. “I swear it on my pack’s honor.”

    I believed him. For all our conflicts, Florian Stormhowl was a wolf of his word.

    My hand found Audrey’s where it rested on my chest. I squeezed with what little strength remained, trying to pour everything I couldn’t say into that simple gesture.

    “I did love you,” I whispered, my voice barely audible now. “In my own broken way, I did love you.”

    The admission felt like a weight lifting from my chest. For too long, I had confused possession with love, control with caring. But in these final moments, I understood the difference.

    Love meant letting go. Love meant wanting her happiness above all else, even if that happiness didn’t include me.

    “Arthur, no,” Audrey sobbed, her tears falling faster now. “Please don’t leave. Not like this.”

    But the darkness was closing in. Logan’s presence in my mind grew fainter and fainter until I could barely sense him at all. “Be… happy,” I managed onest time.

    Then the world faded to ck.

    (Audrey’s POV)

    “Arthur!” I screamed as his eyes closed for the final time. “Arthur, no!”

    My heart shattered into a million pieces as I watched the life drain from his face. The proud, powerful Alpha who had dominated my existence for three years was gone.

    I pressed my hands harder against his wounds, desperately trying to channel what healing energy I could muster. But it was useless. The silver had done its work too well.

    “Come back,” I whispered brokenly. “Pleasee back.”

    But Arthur’s chest was still. His hand, which had been squeezing mine moments before, was already growing cold.

    A sound broke through my grief. Laughter. Harsh, maniacalughter that sent ice through my veins.

    I looked up to see Lyra stirring in the corner where Arthur’s power had thrown her. Blood trickled from her nose, but her eyes were bright with twisted satisfaction.

    “Audrey you bitch,” sheughed, the sound echoing off the stone walls. “Which Alpha do you love more now? Hahahahaha!”

    Rage exploded through my grief like a wildfire. I released Arthur’s hand and surged to my feet, my vision tunneling until all I could see was Lyra’s mocking face.

    “Too bad I didn’t kill Florian,” she continued gleefully. “I think you’d be more heartbroken if Florian was dead instead!”

    Something snapped inside me. All the pain, all the maniption, all the lies and betrayal that had led to this moment crashed together into pure, incandescent fury.

    I rushed at Lyra before anyone could stop me. My first punch caught her square in the face, snapping her head back. The second was a vicious p that left my palm stinging.

    “You killed him!” I screamed, raising my hand to strike again. “You murdered him!”

    But Florian’s arms wrapped around me from behind, pulling me back before I couldnd another blow.

    “Don’t be impulsive, Audrey,” he said firmly. “Murdering an Alpha will get her the death penalty when she goes to court.”

    His words prated the red haze of my rage. He was right. As satisfying as it would be to tear Lyra apart with my bare hands, she needed to face justice properly.

    But that didn’t stop the questions burning in my throat.

    “Why do you hate me so much?” I demanded, staring down at Lyra as she wiped blood from her nose. “What did I ever do to you?”

    Lyra’s eyes held nothing but pure malice. No remorse. No recognition of the harm she had caused.

    “Because I love him,” she spat, gesturing toward Nathan who sat slumped against the wall in silver restraints. “And you won’t even look at him! And you have such a wonderful mother!”

    Her gaze shifted to Nathan with desperate longing. But Nathan just sneered and turned away, refusing to meet her eyes.

    The rejection seemed to break something in Lyra. Sheughed again, the sound even more unhinged than before.

    “It doesn’t matter,” she said with savage glee. “Now Arthur stays between you forever. Audrey will always have him in her heart. Are you happy, Florian?”

    Her words were like poison darts, each one designed to cause maximum pain. But I turned away from her twisted satisfaction.

    I couldn’t bear to listen to another word from the wolf who had stolen Arthur’s life.

    Instead, I returned to Arthur’s side and knelt beside his still form. I took his cold hand in mine once more, memorizing the weight of it. The calluses on his palm. The strength that would never protect anyone again.

    Florian knelt beside me and ced a gentle hand on my shoulder. He didn’t speak. He simply offered his silent presence in my grief.

    The lodge fell into heavy silence. Outside, I could hear vehicles approaching. Beta Kael’s voice directing someone. The sound of official pack council enforcement arriving to secure the scene.

    But none of it felt real. Not with Arthur lying motionless beside me.

    Nathan was escorted past us in silver restraints, his head hanging in defeat. As the officers led him toward the door, he paused and looked back at me.

    “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I’m truly sorry, Audrey.”

    I met his eyes for a long moment. I saw genuine remorse there, buried beneath years of obsession and maniption. But it was too little, toote.

    “I know,” I replied simply. Then I turned back to Arthur and said nothing more.

    Nathan hung his head lower and allowed himself to be led away. Lyra followed shortly after, stillughing softly to herself as the officers struggled with her restraints.

    Soon, Florian and I were alone with Arthur’s body.

    “He saved my life,” I whispered, my voice hollow with shock and grief. “He took those bullets meant for me.”

    “He died protecting the woman he loved,” Florian replied gently. “Howeverplicated your rtionship was, he found honor in the end.”

    I nodded numbly. Arthur had hurt me the most, but in his final moments, he chose to let me go. To protect me… to ensure my happiness with another wolf.

    It was the most loving thing he had ever done for me.

    And now he was gone forever.