Hellfire filled her lungs, but she took that breath anyway. She took him in, her amber eyes wide with a noxious mix of horror and agony and hatred - hatred most of all. Though her breaths came only in tortuous gasps, she took in the white wolf in as he growled his curse in her ear: the scent of a murderer, the musk of the assassin who stole the only wolf packmate she had ever known from her very arms.

In the space of an instant, watching helplessly as the white wolf disappeared into the shade gate, Veti [i]knew.[/i] If Luna's kiss did not steal the days of her life today, if his blade had not done its work well enough, she was going to kill him. She would hunt the white wolf to the ends of the Earth, to the very end of her days if need be, for the unmatched, perfect pleasure of watching that arrogant, triumphant light dim from his eyes. It was a visceral need now, as vital to her as a heartbeat or breath, to feel the gristly crunch of his fur and flesh in her jaws, to taste the coppery sweetness of his lifeblood and meat over her tongue as she ripped his throat out. 

She would relinquish that right to Reginald Hoyle alone. Yes, only Aislinn's brother could take this claim from her... 

 [i]'Aislinn... '[/i]

What strength the silver-edged blade had not stolen, that one name resonating through her head undid utterly. Still clutching Aislinn's body, Veti fell to her knees, crumpling forward to lay her to the stone ground as gently as she could manage, her crimson maw finally falling over the elder wolf's shoulders. One tapering crimson ear rested against her wide chest, silent and still but for the rushing of the blood in her own head. 

There would not be another breath. Not one more heartbeat, and there never would be again. The certain knowledge crashed over her, a tidal wave of misery that dwarfed the pain that wracked her like the sun's merciless blaze to the flame of a lit match. The werewolf whined deep in her throat, great tears welling up in her eyes, coursing down her jaws to seep into Aislinn's mottled grey fur. Ebony-tipped claws reached for the elder wolf's face, shaking as she lovingly traced the lines that had once shown such sweet expression: mischief and laughter and puppyish curiosity and wonder. 

"I'm... [i]Sorry[/i]... " she panted as her tongue lolled from her jaws, every breath, every word a fiery torment. "So sorry... Not fast... Enough... Mis'r Hoyle... [i]Sorry[/i]... "

Veti relinquished the wolf within. In an instant, only the woman remained curled over Aislinn's body, her crimson hair blending hideously with the blood that covered them both. One sapphire eye turned sightlessly upward, toward the grey ceiling of the shade room. The edges of her vision began to darken and fade, only the faces of the ones she loved longest still bright in her mind's eye. Veti could not see if Siya had come, nor Daisy nor even Artie - but Thad had been there. Yes, he hurled the sorcerous fire that made the white wolf burn, and the hatred in her still stirred with a dark pleasure at the memory.

The claw turned hand that had caressed Aislinn's face reached toward where he might last have been, inching along the cold stone floor. "Thad... Can't... Can't [i]breathe[/i]... "