Saving Tragedy Chapter 119

**Ashton's POV**

Jacob was already dead — he just hadn't hit the ground yet.

I took my time stepping down the staircase, my boots making slow, deliberate sounds against the wood. Each step was measured, each breath controlled. The rifle in my hands was steady, my finger resting just shy of the trigger. I wanted him to see it. To feel the weight of it. To know that his fate had been sealed the second he dragged Sawyer and his family through that door.

Jacob was frozen, his lips slightly parted, his hands twitching like they couldn't decide whether to reach for a weapon or to surrender entirely. I could see the sweat beading along his temple, the rapid rise and fall of his chest as his gaze flickered wildly between me and the door behind him.

Poor bastard thought he still had an out for a second there... 

"You really do look like shit, Jacob," I said, tilting my head slightly to observe him, my tone light, almost amused. "I'd say the weight of leadership has finally caught up with you, but we both know you were never much of an Alpha to begin with."

His throat bobbed as he swallowed thickly. "You think you've fucking won?" His voice cracked, but he straightened his shoulders, trying to mask the fear bleeding into his expression. "My men are still out there and Derrick—"

"DERRICK?!" I scoff, my head falling backwards to laugh. "What the fuck is Derrick going to do from the floor of his cell? I had him killed hours ago with concern that just somehow... he might have escaped like you had! I couldn't have two squealing pigs out on the run now could I?" I click my tongue at him, my tone always teasing. 

"Your men are all nearly dead now anyway," I added, letting the words sink in. "Or running away. But either way, they're not coming back to help you - that's for sure." 

Jacob flinched, just slightly, but I caught it. The tiniest break in his mask. He was unraveling, grasping for control, but it was all gone.

I took another step forward, lowering the rifle just enough to make him think — just for a second — that he had a chance of keeping his life. 

A small, flickering hope that he could reach for the knife at his belt, lunge, do something to stop the inevitable.

I wanted him to at least try.

To make this somewhat entertaining for me. 

Because that way I would take more joy in finally getting to break him.

"You're not walking out of here you know," I told him, my voice lowering to something closer to a growl. "Not after everything you've done this time around. Not after messing up Sawyer. Not after terrifying Millie. Not after you dragged a newborn child into your little petty excuse of a fucking war."

Behind him, Sawyer and Millie were bound together, but their eyes — Sawyer's remained sharp, Millie's wide with tear-streaked desperation — both locked onto me. 

Millie was still shaking, Elsie clutched tight against her chest, but Sawyer... Sawyer looked at me like he already knew how this would end.

He trusted me fully to take care of this now. 

"If you know what's good for you, then you'll untie them!" I bark out to two of the remaining rogues, knowing that the other who had gone off to fetch the petrol had now been killed. 

Seeming to hesitate, not wanting to obey me as an Alpha wolf, I shake my head before raising my gun- 

BANG! 

A wailing squeal comes from one of their throats, having landed himself a silver bullet straight to the knee. With that, the other bounces to action, beginning to cut through the thick ropes with a pocket knife - freeing Sawyer just enough before he swings a clawed hand up and rips out the guys throat. 

I knew he still had some fight left in him! 

Jacob took a step back, bumping into the table behind him, his breath coming out in ragged pants as he witnessed the lengths I was willing to take this. 

His fingers twitched at his sides, his legs tensing.

There it was.

The moment a dying man realised he had nothing left to lose.

I saw it before he even moved. The way his eyes darted, his hand shifting ever so slightly toward his belt. A final, desperate act from a man who knew the Reaper was already breathing down his neck.

And the second he lunged for me—

I used the back of the gun to send him tumbling across the floor - landing a heavy hit to the side of his head.

He landed with a grunt, as I couldn't help but laugh loudly at how pathetic he was. 

This man used to be a respected Alpha... key words: used to be! 

"Ash..." I turn from a grumbling Jacob, trying to recover on the floorboards to find Sawyer now up on his feet.  

"You mind if I do the honours with him?" He tests, his frame weak and in need of desperate medical attention. 

But I knew that look... 

The look of never being able to forgive yourself for not doing more to protect your pack, to protect the ones you love... 

The only thing that would help to settle his soul would be to end the life of the man who caused all of his pain.

I met Sawyer's gaze, weighing his words. He was barely standing, his body torn up, his strength hanging on by a thread — yet his eyes burned with something undeniable. A need. A fire that no injury could put out.

I understood that fire.

Jacob wasn't just another enemy to him. This wasn't just another battle. This was personal.

So I nodded once, flipping the rifle in my grip and holding it out to him.

"Finish it." I stated, giving up my control. 

Sawyer hesitated only for a second before taking the weapon from my hands. His fingers curled around it, steady despite the way his body swayed. He took a slow breath, grounding himself, forcing the pain in his limbs to submit to his sheer fucking will.

Millie turned her back with Elsie tucked in tight, choosing to look away... 

Jacob groaned from the floor, dragging himself up onto his elbows, his fingers slipping in the pool of blood spreading beneath him coming from his head. His breaths were shallow, ragged. His face was a mess of sweat and pain, his once-proud posture crumpled into something pathetic.

Sawyer took a step forward, towering over him, the barrel of the rifle aimed directly at his head.

Jacob let out a wet, breathless laugh. "You think this fixes anything?" His voice was hoarse, but his lips curled in to something that might have once been a smirk. "You kill me, and then what? You think that erases everything I've already took from you?"

Sawyer didn't answer.

"You'll never fix what I did to you boy," Jacob continued, his head tilting slightly. "You'll never undo it. You'll never stop hearing my voice in the back of your head, never stop wondering if it could've gone differently. You'll never be free of me."

The words were a snake's final rattle, a last-ditch effort to sink his fangs into Sawyer's mind before the final end.

I watched as Sawyer's grip on the rifle tightened, his jaw clenching.

Jacob saw it too, and his smile widened just slightly, teeth bloodied. "Go ahead, Alpha. Pull the trigger. See if it changes a damn thing."

Sawyer exhaled slowly through his nose. 

"Rot in hell." Sawyer spat, and then—

BANG.

Jacob's body jerked as the bullet tore through his brain landing him in a heap.

Sawyer lowered the rifle slightly, watching as Jacob's muscles spasm and twitch, his body seizing up as a final confirmation of his death. 

A strange, heavy silence settled over the room.

It was finally over.

Sawyer didn't move for a long moment. Just stood there, staring down at the body, his chest rising and falling with slow, deliberate breaths.

Then, finally, he let out a shuddering exhale and passed the rifle back to me without a word.

I took it, gripping it in one hand as I studied him. "Feel better?"

Sawyer let out a breath of something that was almost — almost — a laugh. He wiped a hand across his face, smearing the blood on his cheek, then turned toward Millie and Elsie.

Millie was already sobbing, holding Elsie close as she buried her face against her daughter's tiny head. Relief. Pure, unfiltered relief.

Sawyer hobbled towards them, his hands shaking slightly as he reached out to touch Elsie's back. Millie reached for him, pulling him close, and for a long moment, they just held onto each other.

I glanced back at Jacob's lifeless body as more of my own warriors clambered in to the room. 

"Clean this up," I ordered a group of them. "I want him chopped up in to tiny pieces and disposed of." I state firmly. 

I turned back to Sawyer, watching as he pressed a kiss to Elsie's forehead, his shoulders sagging, exhaustion finally catching up to him.

It was finally done.

Jacob was dead - like he should have been a long time ago. 

"Get these three to the hospital!" I demand loudly, as another group begin to guide an unstable Sawyer and his family towards the exit. 

We did it... everyone's still alive...