When they landed, the news was already out. Marco Cartona and his wife, Lana Kingson-Cartona, were found dead in their homes.

The story? Marco murdered his wife as she stabbed him.

No one believed it.

Riley thought it was far-fetched herself, but Brenton only shrugged.

“No one needs to believe it, except humans. And the police will not examine the bodies. They will be quietly buried in the Cartona family plot alongside Abel. The people who worked for them will be given jobs all over the world with other prides. And everyone will continue on with their business.”

“Yeah,” Riley snorted. “I figured.”

“You want to know what is next?” Brenton asked, looking over her face. She smiled at him.

“What?”

“We are going to check on the boys.” Brenton chuckled softly. “Oh… and I need to turn my phone back on and listen to it blow up.”

She watched him do just that. The moment the phone was back, she glanced at the screen.

Fifty text messages. All from Zachary.

“The brothers took a couple minor injuries,” Brenton whispered to her.

“Yeah, they sent me a text telling me.” Riley chuckled.

“Zachary is probably telling me to get to the hospital to kick their asses for getting hurt, but that’s actually not what I need to do next,” Brenton sighed. “I need to make a call, from the mansion.”

“Do you want any of us there for that?” She asked softly as they walked to their Range Rover.

“No. It’s nothing, really. A lot of people will be telling me how sorry they are. The truth is… there is no one else around who is brave enough to try what Lana did. Because no one was safe the way Lana was. And, in the end, not even she was safe.”

“It feels so easy,” Riley sighed. “All tied up in a bow. Lana played a game and if… if my dad didn’t help us, we would have lost.”

“I know,” Brenton whispered. “But we have something else to worry about.”

“Andrew,” Riley groaned. “We’ll get him back, right?”

She didn’t like how Brenton didn’t answer her, but there was no reason for them to lie to each other now.

“Let’s get to the hospital,” Brenton said, opening the passenger door for her. She climbed in and rode quietly, checking Brenton’s messages for him.

“Nothing really that important,” Riley chuckled softly. “Jessie sent you a text calling us ‘stupid, crazy motherfuckers’ but that’s about it.”

“We just assassinated two people, Riley,” Brenton chuckled. “We are kind of stupid, crazy motherfuckers.”

Well, he had a point, Riley thought.

They made it to the hospital and walked into the room. None of the wolves were on watch anymore. They found Zachary in his bed, whining about how Gabe and Troy got hurt. Riley pulled her jacket down further to cover the bruise on her wrist from Marco. Troy and Gabe somehow wedged themselves precariously on either side of him, and Riley held back a laugh.

“How long have they been like that?” Riley asked Thomas, watching Brenton go over and slap each brother on the stomach.

“About four hours.” Thomas laughed. “They told Zachary if he didn’t quit bitching, they were going to give him the cuddle he asked for. He didn’t stop bitching.”

“Weirdos,” Riley snorted.

“How do you feel?” Thomas asked her this time.

“Good,” Riley shrugged. “For the first time in a long time, I feel like it’s all over.”

“This is how wolves deal with things, we just fight and kill each other,” Thomas chuckled. “It does have a nice sense of finality to it, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Riley murmured, watching Troy fall off the bed, onto his back. Brenton howled with laughter, and Zachary laughed until he winced. Gabe was smart enough to get off the bed before he also fell.

At that moment, Doctor Tanaka walked in and smiled at all of them. Riley was surprised by the snarl Gabe and Troy both released. It made the doctor pale.

“You two have something to say?” Brenton asked them, ignoring the doctor for a moment.

“Tanaka used to be a member of the Kudo Pride,” Gabe hissed. “I didn’t think you would come back in here, today. I figured when we figured out who the assassins were, you would disappear.”

“I’m a doctor, Mr. Walker,” Tanaka growled, and Riley raised her eyebrows. She didn’t think the doctor had it in him. “I left the Kudo Pride fifty years ago and never looked back. Please don’t accuse of me that of nonsense ever again.”

“Sorry,” Gabe mumbled. “I’m a little… worked up.”

“That is completely understandable,” Doctor Tanaka acknowledged with a nod, calm again. “I was just getting in and figured we could try something, now that it has been a couple of days.”

“What is that?” Brenton asked softly.

“Smelling salts,” Tanaka chuckled. “He has normal brain activity, and we haven’t yet hit the point where I’m comfortable saying he’ll be comatose. He could just be resting deeply as he heals.”

“Why didn’t we try this sooner?” Brenton growled.

“I wanted to make sure you had a stable Pride for him to heal in,” Tanaka whispered, looking sad and a bit guilty.

Riley sucked in a breath. She looked over at Brenton, who looked murderous.

“Doctor Tanaka, please, proceed,” Riley told the shifter quickly. “Please.”

“I care for my patients, not just physically, but genuinely,” Tanaka continued, “and I didn’t want to wake him up, only for all of you to fail and be unable to protect him as he heals. But… well news has already reached this hospital. It seems Alpha Kingson has finally crossed the final line of his humanity and killed his most powerful enemy. I feel good trying this now.”

“For a neutral party, you really follow politics,” Brenton snarled. “Wake him up.”

Tanaka said nothing after that, only went to the bed and cracked open something. Riley edged closer, and felt Troy wrap his arms around her from behind.

She held her breath as Tanaka placed something under Andrew’s nose.

And she cried out as Andrew winced and shook his head, only to groan.

“Careful, Mr. Hicks. You were seriously injured and still have several injures to your head and abdomen.”

“Fuck,” Andrew groaned. Riley watched his good eye open and saw tears fill it. Her vision went blurry and she staggered forward. “Guys, it’s Slater and Abel is dead and-”

“We know,” Riley cried out, putting a hand on his good cheek. “Love, we know. It’s over.”

“It’s over?” Andrew groaned, looking over her face and then, turning his head gingerly towards Brenton to her left.

“Lana,” Brenton sighed. “I killed her.”

“I’m sorry,” Andrew whispered hoarsely.

“Nothing to be sorry for,” Brenton chuckled. “Not you.”

“Brenton?” Andrew grabbed Riley’s hand and held it to his good cheek, his eye closed again.

“Yeah, buddy?”

“I want my diner back,” Andrew moaned, “and only the diner. No more of this. I’m so done with all of this.”

Riley laughed softly as Brenton told Andrew he could have whatever he wanted. Riley watched Troy and Gabe slide up to Andrew’s other side, whispering their own thanks that he was back.

“When can we go home?” Zachary growled from his bed, and Andrew frowned.

“Zachary, why aren’t you over here?” Andrew seemed so confused.

“Because I was shot right after you got stabbed,” Zachary snarled. “Shit, I’m not mad at you. I’m just-”

“Cranky,” Riley finished. “Zachary is cranky.”

“Of course,” Andrew laughed and began to cough. Then he winced and groaned. She could only imagine how much his face hurt from the broken bones.

“Let’s go home,” Brenton whispered. And Riley agreed. In every part of her, she agreed.