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Unfortunately, Faith had the last laugh in the end; her spells to kill the cubs had in fact activated the moment we'd shown up on her doorstep, and I felt like throwing up when I saw the tiny bodies, stilled before they'd begun tasting life. It was a bitter blow, and James was fit to be tied, as was Roger, and all the other bereaved parents. Faith, however, was seen as the ultimate perpetrator, and once I'd moved back to my own body, I broke the loop holding her mind prisoner. She blinked as she regained her sense of self, only to go sheet white when she found herself confronted by an entire pack of very angry wolves. "Don't hurt me," she pleaded, all the fight drained out of her. "I didn't want to kill them, but you gave me no choice! They would have been the perfect weapon I needed so I could continue Father's legacy..."
I stepped forward and slapped her across the face. "Shut up," I snapped. "You're a mena, cold, callous bitch, and I don't believe for one second your father would have used toddlers in his so-called mission."
Faith shut up, her face white save for the red handprint on her cheek. Lindsay stepped forward. "You deserve death for what you've done," she said. "But you don't deserve death. So this is what's going to happen. You're going to be sent back into the trap Mercedes placed on you. But your wolf will be withrawn and given to Mercedes to replace Gambit. You, on the other hand, will live out the rest of your days as a slave to our pack. You will not speak or do anything without our approval. You will have no thoughts of your own, and your hands will be given over to the service we deem you fit to perform. You will live as long as we desire you to, and if we want you to live until the end of time, our descendants will make damn sure you live until a second Big Bang takes out the universe. But don't think it'll be over for you then; we might just keep you chained to this side of the Wheel until time itself comes to a halt."
Faith looked like she wanted to be sick, but Lindsay snapped her fingers, and Faith's eyes widened as the green tinge left her skin. "Just a little trick," Lindsay told her. "Your emotions are ours to control. If we want you to be happy, you'll smile until your cheeks fall off. Don't make the mistake of thinking you can get away with faking it either; we'll make sure you feel it right down to the last miserable little cell in your body." She grunted. "Ugh. I'm sick of the sight of you already. Mercedes, send her in."71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDzX02lRJo
I started to do the process of trapping Faith's mind again, but she screamed and lunged at me, hands extended as she sought to grab me around the throat. I dodged, grabbed her by the hair and slammed her to the ground. Without thinking I shapeshifted for the first time, instinctively choosing Gambit's form to rip Faith's throat out. The blood was bitter on my tongue as I returned to human form, but I felt that no victory was half so bittersweet as the one we'd finally achieved.
And it was probably just as well I'd finally removed Faith from the picture; keeping her alive would have been a liability sooner or later. Lindsay seemed to agree as I wiped my mouth. "That's likely for the best," she said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "It won't bring our cubs back, but at least future cubs will have a safer world to grow up in."
"Most likely yes," I agreed. Faith's remaining allies had folded like a house of cards upon her defeat, and they'd all agreed to come to the negotiating table to sort out the minor differences Faith had turned into full blown issus upon her parents' death. "Me, I'm just glad it's over."
"Agreed," James said.
"Let's go home," Roger said. "The trash is dealt with, and we've all got long years ahead of us in which to fuck like bunnies and have loads more cubs to make up for the ones Faith decided were better off dead rather than being raised to be decent beings."
I was in full agreement, but as we left the packhouse to the care of the authorities, I knew we all had wounds from this encounter that would take a very long time to heal. However, future cubs would have a much safer world to grow up in, and I was looking forward to a long life with cubs, grandcubs, and great-grandcubs running around and enjoying a childhood I'd never been allowed to experience. And that, I decided, was worth the pain. 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiNKWUDbPmF
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