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She burst into laughter, and I joined in. It felt good to laugh so hard, to feel the happiness bubbling up from my stomach and spreading like warmth around my heart.
“A fox, huh?” she asked, carefully wiping a tear from the corner of her eye so as not to smudge her eye makeup. “Oh, my dear heart, there used to be one of those in my life, but he has been gone a long, long time.”
I sobered. My mom had once had a lover, but she lost him. The reminder upset me more than I’d have thought. I watched her twirl one of the free tendrils around her finger to put more of a curl in it. I loved her fiercely, and it didn’t matter that we didn’t share a drop of blood. I had always admired Mom for her protectiveness and her bravery. When she had taken me in, not a soul in the pack supported her—though Gregor, who hated humans the most, didn’t seem to care as long as she kept me out of his way.
That said, I was never formally accepted into the pack. This meant that I was condemned to being an outsider, and Mom, who used to exist higher up in the pack hierarchy because of her gardening skills and knowledge of the mystic, was brought down to my level.
Mom had to make do with much less now, but she insisted that she didn’t care what her former friends or the larger community said. “You were mine,” she had said to me, “I knew the moment I saw you.”
That story always made me tear up. I wished I were the kind of woman who could stand up to those who ridiculed me. I wished I could rise above the bullying and the bullshit that Troy and his lackeys put me through. But I was weak. Female wolves had few rights and very little power in the pack already, and I had even less.
A woman like Mom deserved every good thing that life had to offer, not ostracization and second-hand goods. For all the respect and kindness that Mom showed the others in the pack and for how hard she worked to grow delicious crops for the community, shouldn’t she enjoy an easier life?
Looking at her, I felt the deep bond we shared travel like a root down my spine and spread like vines through my veins. Something inside me stirred. The feeling was strange, causing me to step back from Mom and put my hand on my chest. There was something else, something like a whine in the back of my mind. Was there a wolf somewhere nearby?
Mom noticed my stiff expression in the mirror. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just have some jitters, I guess.” I forced a chuckle. But the tug I’d felt in my chest was nothing like the nervousness that spiked in my gut when Trish or Troy were nearby. I had never felt anything like that. What’s more, Mom was the only shifter in the house. Where had that whine come from?
I tried to shake it off and looped my arm through Mom’s. “Let’s get going. The faster we get there, the faster we can be done with this.”
She gave me a sympathetic smile and let me tow her downstairs. “That’s one way to think about it, sweetie.”
The entire pack had gathered on the eastern corner of the territory to say goodbye to Alpha Gregor. At our backs, the sky was ablaze with the colors of the setting sun. The compound’s infirmary was nearby, and those who were recovering from injuries, ailments, or births were pressed against the windows, staring down at the proceedings.
In the middle of the crowd was a circle of people, and in the middle of that circle, a wood coffin lay without a lid. Gregor’s lifeless body was inside. He’d rarely eat with the rest of the pack in the mess hall and often avoided interactions with me or Mom. From the occasional glimpse I’d caught of him around the camp, I’d only known him to be stern and unfriendly, with a permanent scowl darkening his features. It was surreal to see him look so peaceful.
His straight, auburn-brown hair was carefully styled around his face, and his large beard was combed and coifed. Though he had been dead for days already, he was handsome even in his casket; the only thing marring his face was the old scar on his right cheek. He looked like he could wake up any second, and his dark emerald eyes would survey the crowd. The coffin was made to suit his body, but his large shoulders pressed awkwardly against the walls.
Women sniffled and dabbed at their eyes while men stood statue-still, ready to show their respect. Though the atmosphere was heavy, no one was as sorrowful as Gregor’s mate, Nora. Her dark eyes stared dolefully at the coffin, tears pouring silently down her face and dripping from her chin. I couldn’t help but stare at the sad, beautiful woman. It’s hard to believe that even someone like Gregor could be loved so much. So much for a fair world.
A few minutes later, the pack Elder parted from the crowd. Forsythe, an old, bald man who used a cane to walk, stood near the body and waited for a raised platform to be wheeled over. Once it had arrived, he mounted the platform, and a woman brought him a burning torch, which he held aloft over Gregor’s body. The orange flame danced and crackled in the cool wind.
The ceremony was about to start, so I tried to dissolve into the crowd behind my mom and a few other women. Then something made me stop, a shiver passing between my shoulder blades—it felt as though I was being watched. My eyes darted around the crowd until they finally settled in the direction of Gregor’s mate again. But I wasn’t looking at the mourning woman anymore—I was looking at Troy.
Troy stood at his mother’s side, dressed head to toe in an expensive-looking black tuxedo. His auburn-brown hair was tied back in a bun at the base of his skull, and his square jaw was clean-shaven. He had no scars, unlike the wolves who stood at his side, which was evidence of his high standing. The moment his gaze met mine, he snarled. I stopped breathing as a chill spread across my skin. Those eyes were like two black holes, pulling me into their path of destruction, sucking my air away, making me feel small and compressed.
It had been days since I’d last seen Troy, but he was no less intimidating even at the site of his father’s funeral. That one look made it clear that he had his sights set on destroying me. I shivered and watched as he peeled away from his mother’s side to stand on the platform by the Elders, keeping his eyes on me the whole time.
“We have gathered to celebrate and mourn the life of Alpha Gregor Redwolf,” the Elder’s powerful voice carried over the crowd, silencing the murmurs and the sniffles. “Alpha Gregor was a strong and incredibly steadfast man. He was tough, but he was fair, and he made sure that no one in his pack went cold or hungry.”
Murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd, but Mom and I remained silent. It’s so weird that none of them seem to remember how arrogant he could be, I thought. The fact that he refused to eat with them was certainly something people used to grumble and complain about when they thought no one was listening.
“His absence will undoubtedly be felt and remembered by all of us, but we of the Kings’ pack are fortunate that his mantle will be passed to his son, Troy Redwolf.” The Elder turned to Troy and offered the torch.
Troy finally released me from his terrible stare to accept the torch. I wrapped my arms around myself and blinked back tears.
Troy held the torch over Gregor’s body. “My father really was a great man, but I promise all of you that I will do everything I can to continue leading the Kings into prosperity. It will be as if my father never left us.”
The Elder nodded. “Please, Troy, repeat after me—With this flame, I release my father, Alpha Gregor Redwolf, to the spirits of the forest. Please accept his soul and allow him to enjoy the afterlife that he so rightly deserves.”
Troy repeated the words and then closed his eyes for a few moments. When he opened them, he dropped the torch onto his father. The flames licked across Gregor’s body and ignited the coffin. Sparks and embers drifted up toward the darkening sky. It was almost beautiful, but I couldn’t enjoy it. My eyes were riveted on Troy. The flames cast terrible shadows across the sharp lines of his face, making him look like an avenging demon from my worst nightmares.
As if he sensed my gaze on him, he looked at me again. Even the pyre didn’t cast enough light to reflect in his black eyes. There was a dark promise in those eyes that shook me to my core. He was out for blood.
When the fire stopped burning, people began to move around and talk amongst themselves. I wanted nothing more than to go home, a desire that Mom seemed to share, though she wasn’t aware of the expression on Troy’s face.
“I thought it would never end. All that talk about Gregor and his valor…” She shook her head. “It’s not wrong to remember a man for the good qualities he showed his friends, but it’s shameful to lie to the spirits. Most of us only know him for his hatefulness.”
