With Callum's mother in his arms, Beta Milo stopped in the middle of the lawn about to escape and turned around to face me. I struggled in Thiago's grip, desperately trying to get away even though I knew it was useless.

From the moment I woke up in the cell, I knew I wouldn't be able to leave.

Especially not this easily.

"Go!" I shouted at them, hearing the other warriors running down the steps toward us.

If they made it down here, then they would torture Milo and Callum's mother. And I couldn't live with myself to see them hurt or hurting. This was all my fault that they were here. This was my fault they were captured and in pain.

I couldn't let anyone else be punished for my wrongdoings.

Beta Milo placed Callum's mother down on the lawn, growling and about to shift. I balled my hands into fists, being dragged backward and further into the building by Thiago. "Don't fight!" I growled at him. "Leave! Get her to safety! Now!"

For a moment, Beta Milo tried to shift into his wolf but it almost looked like he couldn't or his wolf was fighting himself. I didn't quite understand what was happening. Beta Milo was stubborn as hell, almost as much as Callum.

If he wanted to shift into his wolf, he would've.

Still, he struggled against his wolf, finally succumbing to the thought that he couldn't, and scooped Callum's mother up into his arms, turning his back toward me and running through the woods before the other warriors could come out.

When he disappeared from my sight, I finally stopped struggling. Thiago held onto me for a moment longer, then finally let me go, his hands slipping from my waist and his intense gaze focused on me.

I didn't have to turn around to face him to see it. I could fucking feel it.

"You did good," he said to me. "That was believable."

My stomach turned, and I glanced down at my feet, feeling nothing but guilt running through my veins. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I lifted my head slightly to stare emptily into the woods.

The warriors continued to pour down the stairs until they surrounded Thiago and me. I raised my hand before they could run out into the woods and capture Milo and Callum's mother. Nobody else deserved to die.

"Promise me that they'll be safe," I said through gritted teeth, tears spilling down my cheeks. "Promise me that you'll put out the fire you started at their pack and use the medicine you have to heal their wolves, so none of them die."

"That was the deal," Thiago said to me. "But if they're already dead, then we ca—"

I twirled on my heel, glared up at Thiago, and poked a hard finger into his chest. "No, you're going to save them all. I know you have medicine here to save even the recently deceased. You will save them or you won't get anything from me."

Rage rushed through me, and Thiago's face paled.

"I know what you want from me. Holden was crystal clear during our chat in the library, where I knew you were watching. If you don't keep up your side of the bargain, we have no deal, Thiago."

"That deal was made before your mate murdered Holden."

I clenched my twitching jaw and snatched Thiago's throat in my hand, shoving him against the wall so hard that his body dented the stone. "You're going to heal them, and then you get everything you've been torturing me over for the past two years. No more deals with my family, you have a deal with me now."

And while I was doing this to save Callum and his pack, I still felt guilt deep in my bones, rushing through my veins, encapsulating my entire being. This wasn't how my life was meant to turn out, and if Callum knew...

He would hate me.

When I let go of his throat, he turned to the warriors behind him. "Send them supplies."

"But Alpha—"

"Now," he growled, rubbing his neck.

A couple warriors disappeared into another room and came out a few moments later with advanced supplies, heading toward Callum's pack. Before they could exit through the door, I placed my hand up to block them. "Put out the fire too."

They glanced at Thiago.

"Do it," Thiago ordered.

Once I pulled my arm away, they scurried out the back door to travel to Callum's property. I turned back to Thiago, loathing myself and what I had become since Callum marked me. I fucking loved being with him, I just hated being hunted like this.

I hated putting people in danger.

"That wasn't how we agreed it'd go down," I said through gritted teeth, pushing back the tears because I didn't want him to think I was weak. Thiago took advantage of the weak. "You promised me that nobody would get hurt."

"You didn't give us much of a choice, with your power."

"You have scientifically advanced wolves," I ground out to him. "You could've done it cleaner. You could've captured me without anyone getting hurt or dying in the process. But you wanted to show how much power you have."

But he didn't know true power. Yet.

He wouldn't know true power until I gave it to him.

That was the deal.

This power building inside me in exchange for never hunting me or Callum's pack again. And I had not wanted to be hunted or hurt for the majority of my life. It was a deal that I couldn't pass up, no matter how terrible the consequences were.

I wanted this endless torture to end.