They surrounded Abaddon in a circle, stepping into the pond of blood that was forever spewing. How much could an angel bleed? Ravi handed his baby girl to a human servant that had followed them, a loyal supporter of the pack members. He joined the circle. Liam stayed separate because of his pregnancy, unable to participate. Teru and Liam touched foreheads.

Thank you, Liam purred.

Teru nodded and backed away. He walked past Abaddon, wanting to see his pathetic state one final time. His abuser coughed when noticing him.

"Wait," he moaned.

Teru paused and rolled his eyes. He assumed Abaddon would beg for mercy and ask for his heart back. "What?"

"Tell me, Ryoma's son, tell me your real scent."

Well, that was unexpected! Their gazes met. Abaddon had believed Teru's scent was cinnamon, which was kinda true. The wind was loud in his ears. Teru contemplated if he should say or not to this defective alpha who couldn't smell pheromones.

In a way, this could be my way of showing sympathy.

"It...is cinnamon when I'm in heat. My normal scent is brown sugar."

"Release your pheromones for me. Please."

They stared at each other longer. This was uncomfortable! Teru released a wave of his scent, overly sweet with hormones. An alpha could smell this from afar.

"Oh my," Ashantee piqued with interest. Sofia hummed curiously. Some of the deadly sins were not aware of the pregnancy. The omegas gasped. He could not look at Lucas, knowing his friend was staring intensely at his belly. The cat was out of the bag now. Kieran wasn't happy that Teru unwisely exposed their secret to possible dangers. This news would spread like wildfire.

Abaddon did not react, and he was the closest person to him. "I cannot smell it, but I can imagine. It's a shame that your pheromones aren't fully cinnamon. Spices are the rarest scent, like Ryoma's winter clove pheromones."

T-this bastard! Even until the end, he can't let his obsession go! Teru thought in disbelief.

He found his mate waiting for him near the car. Kieran held out his arms, beckoning him to come. Without giving Abaddon another second of his precious time, Teru told him, "Never say my mother's name again. May the heavens have mercy on your soul, if you have one. You are not a true alpha and never have been." With that, Teru turned his back on him.

Abaddon snarled and stood up without his heart! What a monster! Was this because he was an angel?! A creature made by the stars?! He stumbled and lashed at Teru's belly with his sharp nails-

But his hands grabbed air. Kieran had Teru in his arms, using his vampire speed to retrieve him and be next to Blaise. Teru trembled, horrified that he had almost been disemboweled. He touched his stomach to double-check. The bump was okay. He was okay. Kieran kissed his temple. Their hearts pounded like crazy, syncing as one.

"All of you!" Abaddon roared, wobbling back and forth like a drunkard. "You are whores! Slaves! Traitors!" The last word referred to Lilith. He saw Liam with his heart.

"Liam! Give that to me! Now!"

Liam didn't move, glowering at his prior master. He wrung the heart in defiance like a wet towel. Abaddon doubled over and threw up more blood. The surrounding omegas barred their fangs and growled. Their eyes blazed with pent-up anger: years of assault, forced births, bruises, chained, isolated, gangbang participations, multiple markings by random alphas during their heats, their mortalities stripped...

This chance was too good to give up. Ravi led the group, pouncing on Abaddon. His fangs ripped into the good side of his face, popping out an eye. The second omega went for Abaddon's hair, tearing off his scalp. A third female joined,m. She bent his knee the opposite way where it shouldn't go. All the while, Liam waited, looking down wickedly at the bastard who had made their lives a living hell.

Teru couldn't watch when the entire pack participated in tearing him apart, limb by limb, organ by organ. The squishy sounds were gruesome. The omegas' growls changed into feral grunts. Abaddon's wails would give him nightmares later.

Everyone was doing their own thing during the pack's violence.

Kieran watched. He'd never miss the show.

Lilith observed the sky, deep in thought.

Blaise licked at Lucas's throat to help heal the cut.

Charles bit at his nails, likely smelling his sin from the omegas, and was concentrating on controlling himself from eliminating them.

The twins were fixing each other's hair.

Sofia crossed her arms.

Tristan was lost, not knowing his next step-

"Tristan!" Abaddon gurgled while Ravi worked on beheading him with his nails and teeth. "It's Lilith! She killed your destined mate! Your virtue!"

Both Teru and Kieran whipped their heads to a stunned Tristan, frozen by the reveal. They all did, except an indifferent Sofia. A growing fury blackened Tristan's expression. He glared at their mother, questioning what Abaddon had said. Lilith's eye twitched with annoyance. This was her spouse's revenge, to cause a rift before he died.

POP. RIP.

Abaddon's head flew and landed near Teru, face still twitching. Ravi shouted loudly in anguish to the stars that were still visible in the early morning. The omegas stopped and hugged Ravi. They needed to heal and recover, find themselves as individuals and not as an incubator. Liam finally decided enough was enough, threw the heart on the ground, and stomped on it. They each had a turn, trampling on the one organ that would officially end him for good.

The eyeless head ceased to move, mouth gaping open.

The sunlight flashed. Abaddon's body, dismembered wings, and severed head became blurry like a heat mirage, making you wonder if it was real. The mirage-like effect dissolved his limbs and blood into white sparkles, then carried by the wind as if the glitters were dust. The ocean gusts blew the pure sparkles towards the clouds, disappearing into the unknown.

Abaddon was gone.

The locusts flew elsewhere and the earth stopped shaking. The stillness was eerie, like the calm before the storm; a record-shattering hurricane about to make landfall.

Lilith also watched her husband's glistening ashes fade. She listened to the wind, which somehow whistled like a screaming man from far away. The queen was at peace. "He's in the heavens. They are punishing him accordingly."

That was all fine and dandy. A fitting ending to a bad guy that should feel everything he had caused tenfold. Rather than cheering, the deadly sins were still reminiscing about the fact that she apparently murdered a virtue.

Tristan's destined mate.

A human omega.

A vampire alpha.

A supposedly impossible pair.

Destroyed in one night.

Teru remembered what Dr. Charles said to him:

Dr. Charles wrote up a storm on Teru's paperwork. "Good grief, you two always keep me on my toes. Do you mind if I tell you this patient's story?" He tapped on the other file. "It occurred long ago, I'd say right before the hunters caught Pride. I also told it to Kieran when he came to me, concerned for you. This is my third theory."

Teru listened intently to the old tale of a human omega and dominant alpha who were destined partners, fated to be together, a picture-perfect match, a one in a million chance of crossing paths. The omega begged to be marked, while the alpha wasn't ready, so he made him wait, and wait, and wait. Both suffered imbalances in their hormones, but still, he didn't mark him. The alpha had waited too long, finding his omega dead and dismembered. Justice was never served because the killer wasn't arrested. He never went to therapy for his loss, forever blaming himself.

Teru's heart sank so low, he couldn't breathe.

"What did he mean about Yuka?" Tristan fumed softly, trying to keep his voice steady. It wasn't working.

Charles went to him and put a hand on his shoulder, sensing Tristan's wrath. He knew all about his sibling's case, how his omega's body was discovered by Tristan. It was unrecognizable from the savage mutilation. The only unknown detail was the murderer's identification. "Tristan, brother-"

"WHAT DID HE MEAN ABOUT YUKA?!" Tristan roared, spit flying. Tears threatened to fall. Envy half transformed his face, thick fangs protruding over his lips. His words echoed in the city. "Was he lying about his death? Tell me it is a cruel lie. Was Abaddon lying about who killed him? Mother?"

"No," Lilith said nonchalantly. She did not even look at her son, who had grieved for centuries and endured the separation symptoms daily. "Abaddon was not lying to you. I am responsible for eliminating the omega who was fated to be your virtue, your Kindness."