Page 65 of Empowering the Wolf's Heart

Grandma had always been… different. Where Mom and Dad showered their kids with all they could afford and spent time training us in the ways of battle and survival, Grandma threw you headfirst in a river and told you to swim. And with her being the Red matriarch, there wasn’t much Mom and Dad could do about it.

A sound made me pause. I froze, gently easing a blade from my thigh. A rabbit scampered out, a horn on its head gleaming. A horned rabbit. It opened its mouth and hissed. I hissed back. It paused, cocking its head as if I were the creature with serrated teeth and a killer horn that only ate veggies. Yes. The rabbit with the teeth that can rip out a throat eats no meat. My world was weird.

It scampered into the underbrush as I sheathed the blade. The back of my neck itched. I refrained from scratching, instead thinking about what I would do when not on patrol. I should be home, gathering eggs for Mom and sparring with Jacob. And with Anna home, they would need me more than ever.

But since Grandma had punished me with the Mark of Dishonor, I was supposed to stay doing inane work around the tribe for at least a week. It was a way to show off my newest mark.

When in the tribe, I couldn’t wear a bracer on that arm nor was I allowed to hide the bandage until the wound healed. Thankfully I could cover it when out on patrol. Only one mark was allowed per arm. A third mark meant death.

Grandma liked her Reds on point and well-disciplined, but if she knew what I had done... If she knew about me letting the horned rabbit and another werewolf go or about me bonding with a unicorn, I’d get a much harder rap than a mark of pain. I shook my head. It was good she didn’t know. It would be terrible for her to kill the grandchild who was supposed to take over the tribe.

Today wasn’t about killing magic. It was about discipline. Grandma’s last words rang in my ears: “Bring me his pelt in one month.” Theor elsewas explicitly implied.

One month. And two weeks of that would be stuck meandering around the village on patrol. On the positive side, I’d be home for my family during this time. A slight smile crossed my face.

It fell when I remembered who I’d have to kill.

Shen’s best friend.

I couldn’t do it in front of Doc. It had to be while he was on a mission so I could pin it on his target.

Pain pierced my soul. I had to kill the werewolf. He’d killed my grandpa, but he was no longer an empty hood with killing intent. He was Shen’s friend. Doc’s adopted son. Aperson.

Something skittered across my mind, aneedcoming across my soul.

A form stepped out of the shadows of a tree. I blinked and blinked again, but he didn’t disappear.

“Shen?” I asked.

“Alia,” he said, his voice soft.

“What… what are you here for?”

“My Alpha has sent me for your matriarch. I have come to warn you. And bring you Fenbutt.”

The little puppy scampered from the bushes. I caught him in my arms, a warm laugh escaping me as he licked my chin and face. I grunted, sitting down on a log. "You've gotten so big, wittle one. You'll outgrow me soon," I said. He woofed as if agreeing.

“Why?” I asked Shen.

"I brought him because he keeps escaping to look for you. He's stubborn." He tickled the pup under the chin and the puppy thumped his feet.

"And why the warning?"

He ran a hand through his hair. His eyes were creased with regret, and there was a pain in the jagged lines of his face I hadn’t seen before. “Because I am tired of killing.”

“You wish me to stop you?”

He shook his head, but then paused. “I do not know. I just do not?—”

“You don’t wish to kill. I understand. You need to be free, Shen. Free of your Alpha. Free of her commands.”

Shen sat beside me, hanging his head. “I don’t know how,” he whispered. He turned and took a good look at me. “How do you know so much about people?”

I wanted to trust him. “It’s my Gift. And my Curse. I know other people’sneeds.”

He nodded, looking off to the shrubbery when a twig snapped. A horned rabbit leapt from the brush a moment later and froze before scampering off. “That must be a hard burden. Do you know who I am?”

I nearly winced at the abrupt change, but went with it.“No.”

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