Garith just turned back to Rowan. “Now…what are we going to do with you?”

Verity smirked as she slid into Rowan’s lap. “There now…doesn’t that feel better? You could have had me, you know…if you had just played ball, we could have kept you alive.” She patted his cheek, ignoring his growl. “You are so big and strong, aren’t ya?” She laughed as she stood and then swung.

Her slap echoed throughout the makeshift room. “Verity, that’s enough.”

“Actually, I don’t think it is. You don’t know what he fucking did to me. How fucking embarrassing it’s been.” She slapped Rowan again. Both of my wolves started to growl, low and menacing.

You two are making it hard to keep my composure. I can manage the magic for a minute. Go see your mate and calm down. I sent them both to Rowan. They needed to see Erubus was fine, and I needed a minute to collect my fraying nerves so that when they escalated, as I knew the father and daughter pair would, I wouldn’t blow our cover.

Lynn laughed, causing Verity to whirl. “What’s so funny?” She screamed into the gamma’s face.

“You are.” Lynn laughed louder. “Just look at you. You are just like Shannon.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to look at Lynn. Verity took a step closer and grabbed Lynn’s face. “What did you say?”

Lynn smirked. “I said you are just like Shannon.” I watched her eyes dart towards the girl on the ground at Brandon’s feet.

Verity squeezed her face. “What do you mean by that?”

Lynn’s eyes darted between the two women. “Look at her. She is frozen at Brandon’s feet, begging him to notice her, chasing after a mate that isn’t hers.”

“What does that have to do with me?” Verity bared her teeth as she leaned closer to Lynn.

Lynn snorted. “You can play dumb all you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that you are the same. You might not be begging on the ground for Rowan to notice you, and you might have more power than Shannon does. But you are still chasing after a mate that isn’t yours.”

Verity scoffed. “It was all a part of the plan we had in place.”

Lynn puffed out a breath. “And when you say it like that, I could almost believe you. But I was close enough to see how hurt you got when you saw the king’s mate mark, when you realized he was too far out of your reach now.”

“Shut up.”

“I think you convinced yourself that if you managed to mate the king that you could turn him, never mind that you killed his father, hunted his kind to extinction, and then manipulated him into scenarios that he would have never done.” Lynn laughed low.

“Shut up.” Verity squeezed more until Lynn’s lips were puckered. “You don’t know what the fuck you are talking about.”

Lynn looked at Verity for a second. “I pity you.” Verity dropped her hand as if she had burned herself.

“You what?”

“Pity you…because I might be insane, but I can still see that you had no chance in hell of convincing Rowan to mate you, never mind being able to convince him to switch sides.”

“SHUT UP!” she screamed again as she whirled on Rowan. “We could still do it. We have him surrounded.”

Rowan chuckled, his voice a deep rasp. “The council? Will be disbanded and executed. The traitorous royal guard? Will be handled as well. I have already set it all in motion. Dead or not, you won’t have any leverage to use against my Luna.”

Verity made a choking noise. “Your Luna?”

Rowan looked over at Garith. “You really settled for the dumb ones, eh? At least Gavin knows what he is doing.”

Garith just smiled. Then he turned to look around the room. “You.” His finger pointed at someone. “I need you to bring me my implements.”

“Your implements?” A guard pointed at himself, but Garith shook his head.

“Omega…the bag I left on the last pew. Bring them to me.” I felt the command in his words, but I stayed still. He rolled his eyes. “You.”

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, I see.” Rowan coughed out a laugh. “Your spell has her frozen like the rest of us, dumbass. She can’t move, no matter what command you give the girl.”

Garith growled. “Itsi blugh dor not ihnas.” He pointed at me, and I could feel the spell release me. “Now, bring me the tools on the bench.”

I stumbled and caught myself on the back of a pew before hurrying over to the tool kit. I could smell the silver before I grabbed it. I walked with shaky steps to the front of the room, all eyes watching me until Lynn started to laugh again. All eyes shifted to her as I stopped next to Garith.

“He’s dead.” Lynn’s laughter turned to heartbreaking sobs. “He’s dead, and he can never touch another wolf ever again.”