After a full month of relentless tracking, Carmen finally locked onto the scent trail of those two beaut

    bA /bmonth of breathing while Riley’s blood still cried out from the earth was far too long. Tonight, bthey /bwould payb. /b

    The following dawn, sunlight spilled over the towers of Ashmoor Academy. Duke himself drove Carmen to the gates, watching as she slipped into the campus halls before pulling away. He thought she would spend her day buried in lectures. He thought wrong.

    As soon as his car vanished from view, Carmen turned on her heel and quietly left the grounds.

    By nightfall, the city glowed with neon and steel. Duke returned to the Ashmoor Academy gate, waiting at the curb in his car. He checked the time again and again, each minute wing at his nerves. bHalf /ban hour passed. Still, no Carmen. He dialed her number–no signal, no answer.

    Something in his chest tightened like a wolf sensing a kill gone wrong.

    But Carmen was nowhere near Ashmoor. She had already crossed into another city, stalking her prey to a run–down housing block that reeked of mildew and old iron. The stairwell was poorly lit, shadows clinging like wolves to the corners. She stopped before a weather–worn door, lifting her hand. Three sharp knocks split the silence.

    Inside, Elira and Caden were speaking quietly. The sound stilled them both. They shared a wary nce.

    “Who is it?” Caden growled, voice cautious, wolf–tinged.

    “Your delivery,” came the muffled reply, soft and neutral.

    They exhaled, shoulders loosening.

    “Didn’t expect dinner toe this quickly,” Elira muttered.

    “I’ll get it,” Caden said, padding to the door. He swung it open to find a slim figure standing in the gloom, face hidden by a mask, carrying a bag. Judging from the outline, it was a woman.

    He rxedpletely, lips parting to speak—

    And froze.

    Carmen’s eyes snapped up, silver–bright and brimming with hatred. “I finally found you.”

    Steel hissed through the air. The de in her hand drove straight into his gut with a wet crunch.

    “You-” His eyes bulged wide in shock, blood bubbling on his lips.

    “What about me?” Carmen snarled, ripping off her mask to reveal a face twisted by grief and rage, wolf- fire burning in her gaze. “You love hurting my Riley? Then let me hurt you. Tell me how it feels.”

    She wrenched the knife free and drove it in again, and again. Each strike a howl of vengeance, each thrust fueled by memory of Riley’s suffering.

    Chapter b307 /b

    bWith /bba /bbsavage /bkick, she sent Caden sprawling backward into bthe /bbroom/bb, /bbblood /bbsttering /bacross the waits bShe /bbshut /bbthe /bdoor behind her with a deliberate click, sealing them bin/b.

    bElira /bbcame /brushing at the sound, only to freeze at the sight of her mate crumpled in his bown /bbiblood /i/bband /bCarmen standing there, de dripping red, her clothes already spattered.

    bA /bscream ripped from Elira’s throat. She turned to flee, but Carmen was faster. In a blur she seized Elira by the hair and mmed her against the wall, then threw her to the ground like prey beneath a predator’s pawb. /b

    “You two vermin destroyed Riley,” Carmen hissed, voice colder than a moonless night. “Tonight, you die.”

    Elira scrambled, crawling, blood matting her hair, tears streaking her face. “Please… mercy! We know we were wrong!

    “Wrong?” Carmen crouched low, pressing the edge of her knife to Elira’s throat. “Toote.”

    With a vicious flick, she shed–not deep enough to kill, but enough to sever. Tendons parted. Elira shrieked, body jerking violently as pain racked her frame.

    Caden, half–conscious on the floor, groaned and stirred. His eyes flicked open just enough to see Carmen looming above them, her de glowing with reflected light. Recognition dawned, and terror consumed him.

    “You… it’s you,” he rasped, pupils dting in fear.

    Carmen smiled, a slow, merciless curve. “You’re so cruel. I wonder-” she tilted her head, gaze glittering- “is your heart as ck as your soul? Or will it bleed red when I tear it out?”

    “No! Please! Don’t!” Caden beggedi, /ivoice cracking as panic shredded his pride.

    Elira sobbed, bloodied hands wing at the floor. “We repent! We’ll pay! Just spare us-

    Carmen’s wolf was already prowling beneath her skin, ws scratching, fangs aching to rip. She no longer saw them as people, only as prey, the ones who had brought Riley to ruin.

    She raised her de higher. Steel caught the dull light of the stairwell. Then, with deliberate slowness, she dragged it across Caden’s abdomen. Flesh parted. Blood welled, hot and dark.

    His scream echoed down the narrow hall, sharp and raw, the sound of a man being unmade.

    Carmen’s face was calm, almost serene. “This is only the beginning.”

    And in that moment, predator and prey were clear. Carmen was the wolf, and the ckthorns were nothing more than meat.