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"Bowen is dead." Blaidd's voice broke. "Dead by one of your creatures. His life sucked out of him. He was a husk when we found him." He took a breath, his control snapped. "And Eira? She is a child, just like Bowen. Do your kind prey on children alone?"

The leader's head tilted again.

The expression on her wooden face did not change, but something in the air did.

"Returning Eira to us will be the end," she said slowly, as if he had not spoken. "The creature is reluctant to let go. She has tasted your flesh and is drunk on its power. She thinks to build her own nest...the one that calls itself Ro...weeeeenaaaa."

Before Blaidd could respond, the trees behind the oak stirred.

Another figure separated from the woods, stepping out of shadow, and all the inhabitants of the Great Oak turned as one.

Lyda's father, Eris. Father of the girl whose body had been found used and discarded by the changeling.

His face was gaunt with grief, his eyes crazed and single minded in its thirst for revenge.. He carried a torch in one hand, the flame guttering in the unnatural stillness around the oak. He had soaked himself in oil, and they could see he planned to set himself on fire and rush for the tree.

"Creatures of the dark...why my Lyra? Why did you take her?" he said hoarsely. "I will end it... You won't hurt anyone again."

The changelings did not move, but there was a strange tension in the air. The smell of sap in the air.

Blaidd stepped forward, intercepting him. "Eris, don't do it. Give it to me…give me the torch."

"She is dead!" the man roared. "They drained her like an animal!"

He lunged toward the roots.

Fae moved as well, catching his arm. "If you burn this tree," she said urgently, "you will not avenge her. She is not going to come back. Instead, they will come after your own, even if one survives. You will only lose more."

His breath came in ragged pulls. "What more can they take?"

"Think of your mate. Your two boys… Your mate won't survive this," Blaidd said quietly.

The words seemed to wake him up.

Lyda's father trembled, the torch shaking in his grip before slipping to the ground and catching on the dry grass. Blaidd rushed to stomp out the flame.

"Let us speak," Fae said softly, taking Eris' hand. "If there is truth here, we need it. The pack… We have to save the pack "

After a long, tortured moment, the man seemed to lose all strength. He dropped to the ground, sobbing, while a hundred eerie eyes watched him with interest.

The changeling leader's vine-hair stirred faintly.

The changeling leader's vine-hair stirred faintly. "You have not chosen violence. You wolflings surprise us," she said, her voice echoing through the branches, making them sway and drop loose leaves and flowers.

"So, we will grant you a boon."

The clearing grew colder.

"It was not us who took the lives of your packmates."

Blaidd's eyes narrowed.

The bark-forms along the trunk shifted uneasily.

"It was the one I spoke of. She has separated from the hive," the leader continued. "She who wishes to establish her own nest."

Whispers seemed to ripple through the leaves.

"The cursed one..."