Page 78 of Dawn Unearthed

We shifted. It was bear against bear, and I could hear Sage’s small gasp from behind me. My bones cracked, my magic flared, and I dropped to all fours, roaring. The ground shook beneath me, the trees reaching out in their effervescence.

I did not want to do this, but I would. I would kill Alden to protect my people. Protect my mate. Some part of me would die in the process.

Alden was the one who swiped first. I ducked. He was slightly smaller than me in bear form, the only difference between our nearly identical human halves. Alden bit and clawed, and I rose, slicing out. I gouged out part of his side, but he came back at me. Claws and fangs. Alden roared again, and this time, he pushed out with something that wasn’t his.

It tasted of magic. Of witch.

I knew whose it was. That’s when I noticed that while Alden might be in bear form, there was still an amulet around his neck.

Faith.

Coldness swept over me, and I understood. The circle was a distraction, one part of many. Alden was the one helping Faith get into the town. While I worked with witches through the coven, Alden had been using magic far more sinister.

He had betrayed us all.

I exploded, my heart ripping and rending as magic sliced into me, tearing holes in my body. I heard Sage yell, and Rowen curse under her breath.

“Alden has used magic,” Rowen called out. “He’s cheating.”

“Liar,” one of Alden’s people spat.

“No, your so-called bear is a traitor,” Ariel screamed.

People were shouting, yelling, as blood poured from my side from the magical wound Faith’s amulet had allowed Alden to give me.

I ignored the pain, the burn, and leaped. Alden’s eyes widened for just a moment, and in that, I saw the young boy he had once been. The one who had smiled and laughed and rolled around on the ground with Trace and me. The one who was part of us with Ash and Jaxton. Who had been sweet, if a little quiet. Who had always stood off to the side because he hadn’t known how to play well with others. But he still tried. When had I missed the change? Why had I forgotten that he was no longer that boy but a man who couldn’t fit in or fight for what he wanted in the ways of our people?

When had I lost my brother?

My fangs dug into Alden’s neck, and I bit down. It was quick, a bare moment, and then Alden shifted back to human, blood pouring from his throat, his breath coming in pants. I shifted back as well and caught my brother before he fell.

I didn’t cry, but my bear roared inside, and I clenched my fists as I held my triplet close.

“Why?” I asked, my voice a rasp.

“It was worth it,” Alden said, blood on his lips.

I frowned and then looked to where Alden’s gaze went, but I was too late. I couldn’t say anything.

Borrowed power that was not of the witch I had seen before filled the circle, and then Faith stood there, a dark dagger in her hand. She gripped Trace by the shoulder, and he slashed, trying to get her with his claws as he pushed Sage down to protect her.

But it was too late.

Faith took the dagger and stabbed Trace in the heart, twisting her wrist. The trees shuddered, and the pack howled and growled and yipped, and every other shifter around us made a noise that would forever echo in my dreams and haunt me.

Trace fell to his knees, blood pouring out of the wound and his mouth as others came through the woods, their stumbling grace not human. Revenants.

Trace stared at me, his mouth open, but the light in his eyes dimmed.

Alden lay dead at my feet as I screamed, and Trace lay dead at Sage’s as she did the same.

Faith smiled.

I threw back my head and roared, and the town answered my call.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Sage

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