Chapter 34 - Rosa

I'm halfway to Aris's house, where I assume Olivia, Linnea, and Kaila are, when I reach into my pocket and feel a second vial there. I pull it out and stare at it.

Warm to the touch. Glinting silver in the light.

I realize that earlier, I hit my father with the antidote. Not the serum.

If the antidote is applied before the serum, does it negate the effects? I stand in the middle of the alleyway, holding the vial, staring at it, wondering if it's worth turning around and returning to the fight. To use it against my father.

I think about everything he's done—every advantage he's used against me, my mother, and everyone for his entire reign as alpha. He's ruined my life in more ways than one. He tore Bigby and me apart, took away my ability to finish my education, forced me and Olivia to spend years of our lives holed up in a shack, everything on pause.

Grasping the vial tightly in my hand, I turn around, stalking back toward the fight.

I'm tired of running away while other people do the fighting for me. I'm tired of letting my father control my life. And I know what that kiss was from Bigby—his last goodbye. His assumption is that he and the Rosecreek pack will not survive my father's attack.

Picking up speed, I run as fast as I can toward the town square, my breath coming fast. It could already be over. My father could have already bested Bigby and Aris, but I still need to do this.

When I come to the square again, Bigby and my father are both shifted, their massive wolf forms grappling with each other, rolling and snapping and growling. Many of the shifters who had been fighting before stopped, instead choosing to stare and watch the fight.

Whoever wins controls the narrative. Many of these shifters don't see a reason to continue risking their lives until Amon comes out on top and commands them to keep going. If Bigby wins, they'll serve him just as readily.

I nearly trip over a dead shifter on my way in but catch myself just in time. When I look down at his limp form, I see a knife on the cobblestone next to him. I scoop it up, my heart hammering in my chest as I continue my sprint toward Bigby and my father.

As soon as I get the chance, I'm going to hit him with the serum.

It's not ethical, but my father has never done an ethical thing in his life. He doesn't deserve my better moral judgment.

My father has Bigby pinned to the ground and is snapping, trying to get his maw around Bigby's neck, but Bigby is writhing, attempting to get a foothold. I want to scream but can't draw attention to myself, or I'll give away that I came back.

Bigby gets his hind legs on my father, launching him off and getting the upper hand. I watch, transfixed, as my father lands on his side, hard, and Bigby crowds over him, burying his teeth in my father's neck.

There's a moment of silence in the courtyard as everyone stares, wondering if he's alive. Did Bigby just kill my father?

Did he just become the alpha of the Northern California pack?

My father groans, squirming, and shifts back to his human form, naked and open on the ground. I meet his eyes, daring him to try and feel superior to me now.

Bigby shifts back as well, his arms wrapped around my father's, holding him in place.

"Rosa," Bigby rasps, his chest still rising and falling quickly. "It's your blow. Your final hit. You deserve it after everything this asshole has done to you."

I step forward slowly. I can feel Aris, Ado, Percy, and all of the other shifters in the courtyard watching me. I grip the vial tightly in my hand.

Bigby, the love of my life, is offering me up the final blow to my father, because that's the kind of man he is. So huge, yet so careful not to tread on others. Gentle, kind, thoughtful.

The man I'm in love with.

The father of my daughter.

I stare down at my father, his limp, pale body in front of me, and he slowly lifts his head. There's a trail of blood from the corner of his mouth to his chin. His breaths are coming ragged, far apart.

With the serum in my hand, I could subject him to a life of suffering, like he's done to so many people. I could dose him, and Maisie could patch him up, and I could keep him in one of those glass cages forever so he could atone for his sins.

"You don't have the spine for it," my father says, his bloodshot eyes meeting mine, a tiny piece of bloody spittle flying out of his mouth and landing on my shirt.

If anyone deserves to suffer at the hands of the serum, it's him. He's the worst man I've ever known.

And I want to be nothing like him.

I lean down to him, whispering in his ear so only he can hear me.

"My spine is made for better things than you," I say, the words hissing through my teeth. Then, I take a step back, shaking my head at Bigby. I won't use the serum. I'll stop this trend of chemical warfare in its tracks.

I'm not the kind of person who poisons others. I'm the kind of person who makes antidotes. I heal people. I help people.

I'll never allow my spite and grief to turn me into my father.

"I knew you couldn't do it," my father spits, his laugh bloody, "you're too much of a little—"

His words are cut off when Hector steps forward, taking the knife from my hand.

"Maybe Rosa chooses not to," he says, his eyes as sharp as steel. "But I have no reservations."

With that, Hector swings the blade, cutting cleanly through my father's jugular. I cover my mouth, turning my head to stop from screaming. More than anything, I'm glad Kaila isn't here, that she'll never have to witness the things I have in my lifetime.

I grew up with gory, horrific scenes like the one before me, my father's blood pouring out, far too much of it. But the cycle stops here.

My father's body drops to the cobblestone with a heavy thud when Bigby releases it, and though Bigby is covered in blood and gore when he steps forward, I allow him to wrap his arms around me. I settle against his chest, breathing in his scent.

I'm so proud of you, sweetheart.

I look up at him, my eyes wide, something whole and complete filling my chest as our mating bond snaps firmly into place. The shifters around us cheer, and Aris greets Hector officially as the new head of the Northern California pack.