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“I cannot save your son, Sharon.” I abruptly cut her off. Cruel of me, but….

I told myself the flinch my words elicited didn’t affect me.

“I didn’t cause his wounds, and if you’ll remember, I’m the one who broke the curse,” I reminded her.

“And I’ll be forever grateful to you for that, Hadley,” she replied quietly.

“You may curse me for it.” I propped my shoulder against the wall, kicking my left ankle across my extended leg. “When you don’t get your son back. He’ll never be the golden boy again. He’ll always be tortured. By his nature. By the lies. The blood he believes is on his hands.”

I watched Sharon pale, sickened by the pure agony on the woman’s face. I felt no victory in her pain. “He has us. His pack.” She tilted her chin upward.

I wanted to laugh at that, but even I wasn’t that big of a bitch. “Yeah, I think he’s a while away from howling at the moon with y’all.” I folded my arms in front of me. “I’m not here for a goodbye. I’m here to tell you that if Colton cannot control the beast inside him, if he can’t fight his nature, you need to put him down. You need to summon the strength to do what you didn’t do for years. Because you are not saving your son by keeping him beholden to a beast. You’re damning him further.”

I’d done a lot of thinking about Colton while I was getting ready to leave. Chiefly because that meant I wasn’t thinking about myself.

Shay wasn’t lying when she said Colton possessed a darkness. And I’d talked to my witch friend. She told me that curses like the one he was under were only that powerful when anchored to genuine wickedness inside a person. A true darkness. You couldn’t create evil. But you could magnify it. Let it grow.

It existed, whether inside him or in his beast.

Even though I believed Colton to be an honorable man, I knew the worst of villains came from the noblest of places.

I’d expected Sharon’s pushback. But she simply nodded sadly, heavily, as if her thoughts mirrored mine.

“I know.” Her eyes cleared. “But he won’t get to that point. He’ll get through this.”

“He better,” I warned her. “Because I came here to kill the werewolf that murdered my parents. I don’t want to have to follow that vengeance back here.”

It was true. I didn’t want to come back to Dreadwood Falls. Especially not to kill Colton. But I would if I had to. Even if it killed something inside of me too.

“Will you call sometimes?” Sharon leaned forward to squeeze my hand. “So I know you’re safe?”

Again, the urge to laugh in her face was overwhelming. The mere thought of checking in with someone, a mother figure, was asinine to me.

“I’m never safe, Sharon.” I yanked my hand back. “It’s part of the job.”

I watched her face fall, a brick dropping to the bottom of my stomach.

“But I’ll check in.” I straightened, ready to get out of there. “If only to ensure that Colton hasn’t wolfed out and killed the whole town.”

She smiled sadly and pulled me into her arms. It was a risky move. I could’ve hurt her. Not just with the various weapons upon my person but with my new powers.

Sharon knew that. But she hugged me anyway.

And even though I should’ve known better, I let her.

She let me go, only to cup my jaw in her soft palm, her eyes glittering. “I am exceptionally proud of who you have become, Hadley Harris.”

I tilted my head. “Hunter or monster?” I tried to make it a joke, yet my voice was thin.

“A person,” she replied firmly, squeezing me tighter. “A strong one. A fantastic one.” She cradled my face in her palms a moment more. “Be safe, my darling,” she whispered, then she let me go.

I didn’t let myself speak. Just nodded, not meeting her eyes.

Then I left.

Without saying another word.

Because I couldn’t.