River:
The coppery stench of blood lingered in the dungeon like a curse. Ethan's shallow breaths rasped against the stone floor. His face was mangled, his body a patchwork of bruises and torn flesh.
Every part of me screamed to end it. To finish him. To drive my claws through his chest so he could never again draw breath, never again taint this world with his existence.
He had already destroyed too much - my mate's innocence, her trust, her sense of worth. For that alone, he deserved to die.
My claws flexed at my sides. My wolf ready to come out and handle the matter. It would be so easy. One strike. One heartbeat, and this would be over.
But not yet.
I forced myself to step back, my chest heaving with the effort of restraint. "No." My voice echoed in the stone chamber, rough and unyielding.
