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The Lone Wolf

Ever since Viktor and Kraven's trial had concluded in her absence, Selene had felt as though most of the coven were walking around her on eggshells after Viktor's true role in her families' deaths had been exposed. She still regretted just leaving the trial like that, worried that it made her look weak, but Kahn and Michael had each separately assured her that they understood why she had left when she did. Michael's fresh experience of losing his fiancé gave him at least some insight into her own feelings, and while Kahn had been a vampire almost as long as Selene herself he knew her well enough to understand how important her family had been to her.

The most sickening thing about Viktor's revelation was how Selene had been forced to face the fact that she actually knew basically nothing about her vampire sire. She had worked so hard to become a Death Dealer in the name of defending innocents from lycans because she believed that was what he had done for her, but that he had been the one to actually cause that carnage…

Still, it had been gratifying to see that it wasn't only her personal friends who had been angered to learn of Viktor's role in the deaths of her family. She was far from the only Death Dealer to become a vampire after suffering such a significant personal loss, which affirmed that she was far from the only vampire to understand the pain of losing a loved one and how it could drive someone to choose this life. Every vampire had struggled with the desire for blood at least once in their lives, but the idea that Viktor had basically ignored everything that they were meant to stand for just because he wanted a tasty snack had enraged so many that Selene was sure only Amelia's authority stopped them from even trying to vent their anger on him.

With all the focus on Viktor's execution, Selene liked how the coven weren't making as big a deal about the fact that Kraven's execution was scheduled for the same time. When Kraven had spent the last few decades since Viktor went to sleep establishing his hold on the coven, it was gratifying for her to see him treated as nothing but a relatively minor detail. Death was still a terrifying prospect for the former regent, but the way his death was being dismissed would hurt Kraven's ego far more.

Viktor had made a few attempts to escape, but in his current condition those attempts hadn't amounted to much. Kraven had made a more successful attempt to break out, exploiting his knowledge of the mansion's security upgrades, but he'd only made it to a phone before he was caught. Kahn had tried to trace the number dialled, but it appeared that Kraven had called a burner phone, and whoever he spoke to had disposed of the phone after the call had concluded.

There was some concern about who Kraven had spoken to before he had been caught, but Kahn had assured Selene and Amelia that he'd take all suitable precautions for the execution and otherwise chosen not to worry about it. Kraven had been an incompetent for years already, so the idea of him suddenly showing any kind of skill was disconcerting, but Selene was personally prepared to bet that the person at the other end of the line was the one who had actually been competent enough to stay in hiding. If Kraven had spoken with someone who might be a problem, Selene would deal with them when the time came, but until she knew more, her priority was to focus on making sure that Viktor and Kraven met their final fate.

On the topic of legal sentencing, Lucian's past experiments were still a contentious topic for both sides even after the trial itself had concluded. Lucian and Singe had confirmed that they had done their best to only take samples from some of their potential candidates, but as it became harder to access blood samples without attracting attention, the analysis involved taking the humans in question directly to their labs so that the lycans would have immediate access to the blood samples in the event of a successful test. Some subjects had been released after being given a heavy dose of some kind of drug that would blur their memory, but Lucian had admitted that a few subjects had been allowed to die if they had become ill during the lycans' experiments. A couple of lycans had come forward to confirm that they were survivors of the experiments who had been bitten and turned, but Amelia wasn't entirely prepared to rule in Lucian's favour on that ground since he couldn't have known they would survive when he'd bitten them.

At this point, the best option anyone had come up with was for Lucian to be demoted from his current role as alpha to a more minor position among the lycans. Symbolically, it would serve as a suitable punishment for him from a public perspective, but on a personal level Lucian would be fine giving up his current responsibilities in favour of ensuring the peace he had basically fought so hard to create. Michael had jokingly compared it to something in Star Trek when Selene mentioned that detail to him, but he hadn't elaborated on it at the time and Selene wasn't sure she was ready to discuss that in more detail until everything had been finalised. Amelia and Marcus agreed that the lycans should retain their freedom rather than return to their apparent original role as the vampires' slaves and daylight guardians, but it was hard to find a suitable potential leader for the pack who hadn't been involved in Lucian's plans.

The thing that surprised Selene the most was that Marcus hadn't shown much interest in everything. He had voted in favour of the execution and the peace process, and had obviously voiced his agreement with the plan to put another lycan in charge once Lucian was demoted, but even as he was restored to full health, he seemed to be more concerned with trying to find time to talk with Lucian and Singe in particular about their experiments. Selene wasn't sure if Marcus had some interest in science he hadn't been able to properly explore before now or if there was some ulterior motive she wasn't aware of, but with everything else going on in the coven right now Selene didn't feel that this was the time to properly analyse that question.

Finally, the day came for the scheduled execution of Viktor and Kraven. Lucian's fate remained a question-mark, but for the moment all parties agreed that the lycan leader could 'officially' remain in charge so long as he didn't actually try to give any significant orders. Even if his final fate was open-ended right now, Lucian's presence at the execution of the man who killed his lover was important for reasons of its own. The actual execution was being recorded to be sent on to other sources so that everyone present could see justice done, but for the final execution, only a few key people were to be present. Selene had been surprised that she and Michael were on that list, but Amelia said that Michael's role as a key catalyst in inspiring this treaty merited such a response, and they seemed to treat him and Selene as a package deal at this point. Lucian had been allowed to bring Raze and Singe as his companions, and Kahn had picked out a few key Death Dealers to act as security for this event, but Amelia and Marcus would be the ones to deliver the final sentence to Viktor in particular given his position and the scale of his crimes.

Standing around the large chamber that had been set aside for the execution, looking solemnly at the chair set up in the middle of the room, Selene wished she could be sure how she should feel about this particular mess. She had spent so long basically priding herself on her self-control when in the middle of intense situations, but it took meeting Michael to realise that there could be situations where it was acceptable to feel, and now she was lost for how to feel in one of the most emotionally difficult moments it seemed as though anyone should experience.

When Viktor and Kraven were led into the chamber, Selene could at least be satisfied at the sight of Kraven in tattered clothing and scraggy hair, his previously immaculate appearance ruined by just a few days in captivity. Viktor looked less corpse-like than he had when Amelia woke him and Marcus, but he clearly wasn't at his physical peak, looking around the room in a manner that made it clear he was still weak. Kraven, by contrast, was just a mess, his hair looking scraggy and his clothes a mess as he hadn't been able to change for the last few days. Looking around, Selene was satisfied to see how the assembled witnesses for the execution were a mixture of lycans and vampires, including herself and Michael. It was a small thing, but it was a good step in their efforts to unite the two species, as they both watched the execution of the man who had started the war.

Granted, Kraven's main crime had been against the vampires rather than the lycans, but he'd only formed his original alliance with Lucian for his own benefit rather than any sense of wider altruism, so nobody was bothered about what happened to him. When deliberating the methods of execution, it had been considered to use a firing squad armed with the lycans' ultraviolet ammunition, but when a major element of Viktor's conviction had been the manner of death he had subjected Sonja to, anything involving exposure to sunlight felt too extreme. Selene appreciated that starving Viktor was still a potential extreme response, but when dealing with an Elder, there was no other way to keep him weak enough that he wouldn't escape while ensuring he'd survive long enough for his sentence to be carried out.

In the name of giving Viktor and Kraven a quick death, it had ultimately been decided to have them both killed through decapitation, with Angelo, one of the older Death Dealers, delivering the blow. Angelo wasn't one of the most experienced Death Dealers, as he was a large man who didn't blend in well in crowds, but he was certainly one of the most physically powerful, which meant that he would be able to finish it quickly.

"Welcome," Amelia said, once the last attendee had arrived. "We are gathered here to witness the execution of Viktor of Hungary and Kraven of Leicester for crimes against the immortals. For their role in initiating and prolonging the war between vampire and lycan for no greater purpose than their own hatred and desire for power, they will now have their heads severed from their bodies and their lives ended."

Here Amelia paused to indicate where Angelo stood near the centre of the room alongside a simple wooden block, suitably carved so that the heads of the accused could be placed on the block before the moment of decapitation. The block hadn't been used for an execution for some time as far as Selene could remember, but one benefit of immortality was that you learned to never throw anything away in case it could be useful later.

"Sentence will be carried out immediately," Amelia said as she sat back in her throne alongside Marcus. "The accused will be given an opportunity to make their final statement before sentence is carried out."

"You can't do this to me!" Kraven yelled, the sheer terror on his face reinforcing the already low opinion Selene had of him. "I was your leader-!"

"Regent," Amelia corrected. "You were only ever the leader because other people gave you the authority rather than earning it on your own."

"And that was a position you only earned for killing me, which obviously never happened," Lucian added with a grin of his own. "If you're going to claim that you deserve to be spared, at least argue that you should be let off for something you actually did."

Kraven opened and closed his mouth for a few moments, but soon fell silent, as it became clear that he couldn't present any argument that would follow the point that had just been made.

"You will regret this," Viktor said, standing up to his full height despite the tremble in his weakened limbs. "Everything I have done has been in the name of protecting the purity of our species. If you allow the lycans to mix with us, you will destroy our way of life-!"

"Everything changes," Michael pointed out. "It's not always for the best, but if things just stayed the same… well, how would anything get better?"

"Michael Corvin is correct," Amelia nodded at the young lycan before she turned her attention back to Viktor. "You have never allowed yourself to grow beyond the warlord you were when you became immortal, and as a result your actions have become stagnant. You have been a good leader in war, but we are no longer at war; even if you had not instigated this conflict, your own skills will soon be… surplus to requirements."

Viktor glared around the room in rage, but his gaze finally softened as he looked at Selene, his expression shifting to a pleading one.

"Please, Selene…" Viktor said, the once-proud Elder unable to do more than weakly beg for his life. "You cannot let them do this… I have given you so much…"

"And none of the things I appreciate about that are what you wanted me to enjoy," Selene countered. She was still proud of her reasons for joining the Death Dealers, and she was at least satisfied that most of the lycans she had killed had been about to kill people if she hadn't interfered, but everything she had learnt about the origin of the war made it clear that the vampire in front of her had been the real cause of all her pain. "Whatever you wanted me to become, I will spend the rest of my life defying those expectations and working for something better than war."

"You… would do this?" Viktor said, apparently gaining new confidence as his pleading gaze shifted to a cooler glare. "You betray me… for an animal-"

"Who is a better man than you ever were," Selene cut him off. She might still be working out exactly how to define how she felt about Michael, but she knew that she was grateful for the chance to explore those feelings in greater depth now that they didn't have to hide. "You chose to kill your own family and condemn an entire species simply because you didn't approve of your daughter's choice of mate; if you still can't see that you were in the wrong, you were clearly never the person I thought you were."

That said, she walked away from Viktor, pausing only to deliver a firm punch to Kraven's face.

"What-?" he sputtered, clutching at his now-bleeding nose.

"I've just always wanted to do that," Selene observed with a slight smile before her gaze shifted to a cold stare of contempt. "Goodbye Kraven… and for what it's worth, you never had a chance even before I knew you were lying."

Satisfied that she had done everything she wanted to say and do, Selene walked back to join the observers, smiling over at Michael as she settled into position beside him.

"Just one of those things you've got to do, huh?" he whispered to her.

"After getting on my nerves for the last few centuries?" Selene observed. "It might be petty to do it when he's about to die, but he had that blow coming for centuries; I just had no justifiable reason to do it."

"The sentence will now be passed," Amelia declared, standing from her throne and nodding over at Angelo. "Begin the execution."

The tall vampire gave a solemn nod and turned his attention to his assigned task, picking up the axe that had previously been set aside for the execution. Viktor still tried to struggle against it, but the limited blood rations had left him without the strength to fight back. Kraven seemed to have resigned himself to his fate, simply slumping over the block and letting his body go limp as he waited for the final blow.

As she stood and watched the execution take place, Selene found herself reflecting on everything that had happened over the months since she had met Michael. She had come so far from the Death Dealer who had only thought of Michael Corvin as a potential asset in the conflict, but even if she could never have imagined rejecting Viktor like this, she had no doubt that this was how everything had to be.

Peace was a concept that she could never have imagined without victory, but looking around, as she saw vampires and lycans gathered together, neither side even trying to attack the other, she found herself looking forward to exploring the future. She allowed herself a moment of regret when Angelo's axe severed Viktor's head from his body, but even with her limited emotional experience, she knew that she only regretted the loss of what Viktor had been to her before she learned the truth rather than mourning the man she now knew that he was. Kraven's execution immediately afterwards was almost anticlimactic, the former regent so broken at the knowledge that his centuries of planning had come to nothing that he couldn't even bring himself to struggle as he was made to kneel on the block. Once the sword was swung, as far as Selene was concerned other people could worry about Viktor and Kraven's remains; she was just satisfied to have them both out of her life.

When she felt Michael's hand reach out to caress her own in a small gesture of comfort, Selene knew that, no matter what happened next, she would have the kind of support she'd never really had before. Viktor had helped her become a warrior, but after the last few months in his company, she had faith that Michael could essentially help her learn how to be human again.