They have me pinned to the bed, my arms wrenched behind my back. Pain shoots through my shoulders but I barely feel it. All I can see is Sorin on the floor, three wolves around him. Blood pools beneath his silver fur, turning it dark and wet.
"Sorin!" I scream his name again, thrashing against my captors.
A fist connects with my face. My lip splits. Blood fills my mouth.
"Stop fighting, bitch," one of them snarls in my ear.
I don't stop. I can't.
Footsteps approach through the shattered doorway. Calm. Measured. Someone who has all the time in the world.
Varek steps into the firelight.
He surveys the scene with cold satisfaction, his gray fur immaculate despite the chaos around him. His eyes meet mine without flinching.
"What is this?" I spit blood at his feet. "What are you doing?"
"This is about restoring order to our pack." His voice is eerily calm. "Your husband thought he could change centuries of tradition. He thought he could make you an Alpha."
The way he says the last word makes it sound like a curse.
"The tribe accepted it," I snarl. "Hardik himself blessed our rule."
Bracken, the brown-furred brute holding my left arm, laughs harshly. "Accepted it? They are terrified of you both. Too afraid to speak the truth." He leans closer, his breath hot against my ear. "A female Alpha? An insult to everything our ancestors built."
I try to twist free. Fail. "You're all cowards. Hiding behind tradition because you're too weak to earn respect on your own merit."
Bracken's fist slams into my ribs. I gasp, tasting more blood.
"Watch your tongue, huntress," Ashwyn says from my right. The white-furred fanatic's eyes gleam with religious fervor. "You've perverted the natural order. The Moon Goddess herself weeps at what you've done."
"The Moon Goddess doesn't care about your small-minded traditions," I shoot back.
Another hit. My tooth loosens. I don't care.
"You think the goddess blesses weakness?" I continue through the pain. "You think she wants her children cowering behind ancient rules instead of growing stronger?"
Ashwyn's face contorts with rage. "Blasphemy! You dare speak for the goddess?"
"I dare speak the truth. Something none of you have the spine to do. You're a failure, Varek," I continue, my words slurred but vicious. "Your own father lost leadership because he was incompetent. Hardik took power because your bloodline couldn't hold it."
Something flickers in Varek's eyes. His composure cracks for just a moment.
"My bloodline built this pack," he says quietly. Too quietly. "And I will restore it to glory. Starting with erasing the mistake Hardik made when he let that boy lead us into disgrace."
He gestures dismissively at Sorin, like my mate is nothing. Less than nothing.
Sorin's struggles are growing weaker. Each kick, each strike draws less response. His breathing comes in wet, rattling gasps.
"Varek, stop it." My voice brakes. "Whatever grudge you have, it's with me. Let him go. Take me instead."
"Take you?" Varek laughs. "You're not worth trading for. You're just the symbol of everything wrong with this pack. He's the one who broke our laws."
"He gave me equality! He gave me respect!"
"He gave you delusions. And now you both pay for them."
"Please," I beg, abandoning pride. "Please let him go. I'll do anything. Just let me—"
"No." Varek's voice is ice. "Let this be a lesson. Tradition exists for a reason. Those who defy it pay the price."
"You're going to kill us for trying to change things? For trying to make the pack stronger?"
"For trying to destroy what our ancestors died to protect."
Sorin lifts his head. It seems to take all his remaining strength. His brown eyes find mine across the blood-soaked floor.
His lips move.
"Arida."
My name. Just my name. But it holds everything. Love. Goodbye. Forgiveness.
Then he goes still.
Something inside me brakes. Not my heart. Something deeper. Something that has kept me human, kept me civilized, kept me bound by rules and mercy.
I stop struggling. Stop fighting. The silence is so complete that even my captors notice.
Bracken's grip loosens slightly. "Finally gave up, did you?"
I drive my head backward into his face. Bone crunches. His nose shatters. Blood sprays hot across the back of my neck.
Before he can recover, I twist. Ashwyn lunges to restrain me but I am already moving. My claws find his chest, raking deep. He crashes backward into the wall with a scream.
Korr, one of the black-furred twins, tries to grab me. I snatch the knife from Ashwyn's belt as I move past him. The blade sinks into Korr's shoulder. He howls, staggering back.
"Stop her!" Varek shouts.
But I am water. I am wind. I am death given form.
Another attacker comes at me. I use his momentum against him, redirecting his charge straight through the broken window. Glass and wood tear at both of us. I don't care.
"Find her!" Varek's voice is frantic now. "She doesn't leave this forest alive!"
I hit the ground outside running. Blood streams from a dozen cuts. My ribs scream with each breath. Doesn't matter.
Behind me, wolves pour from the hut. Their howls split the night.
I run deeper into the forest, into the darkness between trees I've known my entire life. My body begs me to stop. To rest. To give up.
I run anyway.
Minutes or hours later, I can't tell which, I finally collapse against a tree trunk. My lungs burn. Blood soaks my fur. Everything hurts.
The forest is quiet now. Either I've lost them or they are close enough that silence means death.
I tilt my head back. Look up at the stars through the canopy.
Sorin is dead.
My mate. My partner. My Alpha.
Dead.
The sound that comes out of me isn't human. It is pure anguish given voice. A howl that echoes through the night, bouncing off trees, carrying my grief to every corner of the forest.
When it finally ends, I am empty. Hollow. Nothing but rage and loss wrapped in bloodied fur.
Varek wants me dead.
Good.
Let him try.