“It’s not what he did,” the alpha replied. “It’s what he is.”
Evelyne barely had time to register the words before she caught the gleam of metal—the blond man’s dagger, glinting in the light as it hovered dangerously close to Reuben’s throat. Her pulse roared in her ears.
“No! STOP!” Evelyne struggled against the ropes binding her wrists, digging her heels into the ground as she twisted and writhed.
Reuben remained calm as his empty eyes drifted to the tent’s roof. Like he had already accepted his fate. Why wasn’t he fighting back?
“Please, don’t do this!” she sobbed.
“Reuben!” Alaric yelled.
Reuben’s black eyes flashed toward the blond at the sound of his name. Fury twisted his features as he heaved against the ropes, so fiercely that the pillar bracing him began to splinter. Where had that strength come from?
“Now!” the alpha demanded.
In less than a heartbeat, Evelyne saw the blond’s dagger flash—and in one clean stroke, it cut across Reuben’s throat. Blood spilled to the ground as his head slumped.
“You wretched monsters,” Evelyne spat, rage tremoring through her limbs as her glare locked on the alpha with blistering intensity. “And you! You’re the worst of them all. Nothing more than a soulless beast playing at being a man.”
Alaric’s stare stayed locked on Reuben’s lifeless body.
The men didn’t hesitate. There was no remorse, no second thoughts. They dragged him outside, and moments later, the flickering glow of flames swallowed what remained.
Murdered. Burned. Erased.
***
Alaric was stunned, unable to move or speak. He could only watch as the three strangers dragged Reuben’s body from the tent and burned it. Evelyne shook uncontrollably against the pole across from him, and he couldn’t even attempt to comfort her.
Reuben had been his family’s carriage driver since he was a young teen. He had always been quiet, but kind and respectful. Alaric had never felt as helpless as he did at that moment, having already spent the last three hours, while Evelyne was unconscious, trying to escape from the rope.
“Why?” she said now, voice cracking. “Why would he just order them to kill him? What are they?”
Alaric barely registered her words. He was trapped in his thoughts, his mind spinning in a void of disbelief. How long had it been since they’d dragged Reuben’s body away? Since the fire had swallowed him whole? Minutes? Hours? He couldn’t tell anymore.
“Alaric!” Evelyne yelled, yanking him back to reality. “Look at me.”
His head snapped toward her, eyes finally focusing.
Her stare burned into him. “What. Are. They?”
Alaric cleared his dry throat. “They’re shifters,” he said quietly. “They can shift… from man to wolf.” He blinked hard, struggling to believe it himself. But he had seen the wolves shift into their human forms, and it was a terrifying, hideous sight. He was glad that Evelyne hadn’t been awake to witness it, but she would see soon enough. “We need to get the hell out of here.”
“Shifters?” She shook her head. “How could that be possible? Did you… see it?”
He couldn’t fault her for struggling to understand. Even after months of knowing, he was still trying to wrap his head around magic himself.
“Yes. They hauled us here, and then I watched them turn. One after another.” He grimaced, haunted by the memory of those monstrous creatures towering over him with their blood-red eyes, their hot breath searing his skin. Their saliva-slicked fangs hovering over Evelyne’s body, ready to strike.
These weren’t the gentle wolves of fables. No, these were ten-foot-tall beasts born to hunt and kill.
Alaric shook his head. “I never want to witness something that horrific again.” Yet seeing Reuben killed before his very eyes was, without question, the most haunting moment of his life.
The blond ripped open the tent flap. “You’re being moved to separate tents. Say your goodbyes.”
“What do you mean?” Alaric’s eyes darted back to Evelyne.
She appeared composed—shoulders squared, chin lifted just so. But he saw past it, past the mask meant to hide fear or fragility. And damn if he didn’t respect her all the more for it.
