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CHAPTER13
Dannika didn’t want to feel sorry for Maddock. The power-hungry wolf clan leader had turned her world upside down. But she’d seen firsthand what the loss of a wife or child could cause. So many of the shelter patrons had suffered significant losses in their lives and had never recovered. A shadow shifter didn’t have the option of walking away from their responsibilities. Their only option was to turn reaper. To escape the never-ending void of shadow life. To kill, creating a temporary high, and gain immortality.
“That’s a pretty good reason to hate the reapers. Is it possible he is so focused on revenge he can’t see the damage he is doing to himself and the clans?”
Raine put his hand on her thigh, the action both comforting and possessive. “I was young when it happened. Maddock felt the urge to reproduce. He found a human female and left the clan for two years. When he came back, he was different. He told us what happened and for a while, he focused on my training. I didn’t know I was an alpha then, but Maddock must’ve known. Soon after his return, my training became more intense than the other fledglings.”
Steele turned to look out his large picture window. The branches swayed in the wind. Moonlight flickered over the walls like a black and white movie.
“I realized Colton was an alpha when he reached his twenty-second birthday. Young by our standards. I don’t doubt that Maddock realized he had a successor before you did.”
Colton’s eyes remained on Steele. “Having Raine would’ve eased Maddock’s need to find his successor, and though I can’t agree with his actions, I understand his motivation to unite the shadow clans and annihilate the reapers. I am still confused about yours.”
Steele’s head snapped up. “Are you questioning my loyalty to this clan?”
The air stilled as Dannika held her breath. She didn’t know Steele well enough to feel betrayed, but the wrong answer would devastate Colton. The instinct to protect him continued to strengthen. She didn’t look forward to the conversation she needed to have with Raine.
Colton appeared frozen in time. Dannika doubted he realized it, but for the first time since meeting him, he appeared vulnerable. “Tell me how you and Killian became shadows. The story I believe is obviously a lie.”
Steele shook his head. “I would never lie to you, son. The story I told you is the truth. The reapers attacked our family home. My parents’ home. Reid had never married and still lived with our parents. I owned a small home a few miles away, but I stayed at my parents’ house that night.”
Colton’s face twitched. “The reapers attacked and killed your parents. You and Kilian—I mean Reid—were bitten before the shadow cougars arrived.”
The pain of recalling those terrible memories played on Steele’s face. “Yes. Reid and I were more than brothers. We were best friends. That night, we had one too many glasses of our father’s moonshine. My decision to drink with my brother instead of returning to my family changed the course of my life and made my Theresa a widow. The reaper that attacked us that night was the former reaper leader, Lazarus. His blood was powerful, which is likely why we both survived the transition.”
Colton glanced down. “I’m sorry for making you revisit these memories, but we need the truth. When did Reid turn reaper and change his name to Killian?”
“You deserve the truth, and I will give it to you. Reid was a good shadow, but I didn’t see him much in those first fifty years. He felt the urge to mate and entered the human world. After ten years, I searched for him but found no trace. Later, I discovered he had found a mate. He fell in love as many shadows do and refused to leave his wife.”
“Shit,” Colton said.
Dannika glanced at him. “Why do I have the feeling you know how this ends?”
“You were appalled when you found out about our mating habits, but you don’t understand the pain of leaving your mate and taking what she loves the most with you,” Steele told Dannika, before turning back to Colton. “Reid couldn’t do it. He hid from the reapers and the shadows for thirteen years. His wife was pregnant with their second child when Lazarus found them.”
She rubbed her eyes. “They died? How did Reid last with his mate for so long? I thought humans went crazy after a few years.”
“We investigated after the attack, but we never discovered how Reid kept his mate sane. Reid turned reaper that night and killed Lazarus. He changed his name to Killian and took over the clan, but his oldest son was twelve and survived the transition. His son never got a chance to be a shadow. Killian ensured he made his first human kill before his thirteenth birthday.”
She frowned. “If you were close, why didn’t you see Reid much the first fifty years? Do you segregate the fledglings in the cougar clan?”
Steele smiled sadly. “Reid wasn’t a cougar. He was a panther.”
Raine leaned forward. “What? There hasn’t been panther clan in hundreds of years.”
“That isn’t true. Several panthers have emerged, but Ryder and I hid them. The clan was small but growing. I hoped Reid would lead them one day. Like me, he was an alpha.”
Raine rubbed his forehead. “Does Maddock know about the Panthers?”
“No. We didn’t trust him. He is set in the old ways, and the resurgence of a lost species was unheard of.”
Raine growled. “The Panthers’ return was the first change in our evolution. Dannika was the second. Maddock may have been more accepting of her if you had informed him the Panthers existed again.”
“No point now. They are all dead.”
Dannika sucked in a breath. “What happened?”
“Killian returned to his clan as leader of the reapers. He orchestrated the destruction. A few turned reaper and joined him, but most died that day.”
