Staring through the line of trees, a noise from behind made him jump, and he turned slowly to find a woman wearing a thick fur coat, leather pants, and hiking boots. A rifle was in her arms, aimed in his direction. She was sniffing the air as she sized him up, her rich brown eyes taking him in as her warm breath steamed in the air.

“Put your arms up where I can see them.”

He dared not move too fast. If he knew one thing about people carrying weapons like that, it was that moving too fast either gained you an advantage over them or got you killed. The way she held the rifle told him she knew how to use it and wouldn’t hesitate to do so. He raised his arms up and folded them behind his head as slowly as possible. She’d been silent approaching him, and he felt momentarily foolish for letting her get the best of him. He was, after all, a trained assassin. He should have heard her breathing from hundreds of feet away.

“Listen, I’m not looking for trouble,” he said as she gestured for him to turn around and face away from her. It sounded cliché, but he wasn’t looking to fight. Any hope the woman would take his word for it swam in his chest as he waited for her to answer. At least she hadn’t pulled the trigger yet.

She scoffed, apparently finding his statement amusing. “Now, I’d like to say that I believe you, but if I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that line, I wouldn’t be out here in this godforsaken forest in the middle of winter freezing my ass off, if you get what I mean.”

He began to nod, but she raised her rifle. “Unholster and drop that sidearm, nice and easy.”

Hayden did as he was told. He heard her come up behind him and pick up the gun. He was about to speak again when she poked him in the back with the rifle barrel, forcing him to take a step forward.

“Start moving if you know what’s good for you.” She poked him again, and he took another step forward and kept going until they reached a camp. He’d heard the voices in the distance and had hoped for rescue, but his heart sank as he realized that these were her people. There were a few men and women walking around a great bonfire in the middle of what turned out to be less of a camp and more of a small village. Three rings of cabins were arranged around the fire: large ones, small ones, and one enormous main lodge at one end of the main square of this small settlement. The woman kept poking his back to keep him moving. She marched him right through the middle of the square so everyone in the cabins could take a good long look at him. He was being paraded through the village like a prisoner being led to his hanging. The thought made his already frozen throat harden.

“Is this really necessary?” he asked. He tried to turn, wanting to get a better look at the woman, but all he got was a nice, snappy jab in the back with her rifle. She dug it in further than previously. He almost yelped in pain but clamped his mouth shut before he cursed her out.

“Everything is necessary, but you don’t have to like it,” the woman stated.

Hayden heard her sniff again and wondered if she had a cold, but then he realized the few people standing outside with them were also sniffing the air like they were taking in his scent. The disgusted looks on their faces made them appear as though they smelled something rancid and rotting in their midst. It was odd, amateurish, and awkward behavior, but he ignored it and kept on. He realized there was something strange about the entire group as he peered about, narrowing his eyes at them.

Their eyes reflected the moonlight, causing them to look feral. He could see their retinas reflecting the light in a most unnatural way. There was nothing normal about these people, especially the low, resonating growls coming from their throats as he made his way toward the lodge.

People didn’t growl. Not like that, like they had a fierce beast about to pop out of their mouths. These people were not human, but if they weren’t, what were they? His rational mind pushed back against the obvious answer, but his gut knew the truth. He swallowed the cold hard lump of coal stuck in his throat as best he could without turning his head. The woman would surely give him another sharp jab in the back if he tried anything or spat an insult back at these wild people.

His heart raced. She was taking him to meet their leader, he was sure of it. What would happen then? Would he get his chance for revenge, or would it be the end of him?

As they approached the main lodge, he continued to wonder what the next step would be. The more they sniffed at him, the more he was sure this was some sort of shifter group, but he couldn’t confirm they were the wolves who’d attacked him. They could be any kind of shifter: cat, bird, bear… it didn’t matter. He was in trouble.

There was no back up here, no one to call who’d fight at his side. Nobody would come or even know where to find him. He was all alone in this.

He dropped his eyes to the ground and made out paw prints. They looked like the prints of the wolves who’d attacked his group earlier, and he now knew for certain that he had found the wolf pack he’d been searching for. Now he just had to find the wolf who’d bit him and make him pay. From the looks of this place and the malice each wolf was tossing his way as he approached the main building, it wasn’t going to be an easy task.

Another poke.

“Up the stairs and inside. They are waiting for us.”

 

***

 

“He’s been bitten,” the woman at his back announced to the council seated before them. A man and woman sat in the center on throne-like chairs, with others lined up next to them. Hayden had read enough about wolf packs to know that these were the pack leaders. Beside them on each side were their seconds in command and so on, leading down the hierarchy, with a total of eight people. Hayden puffed his chest and jutted out his chin in defiance, digging his eyes into each one, hoping to smoke out the culprit. If this was the how judgement in a werewolf court functioned, he had no choice but to do it their way.

The woman on the highest chair leaned forward, drilling her eyes into Hayden with harsh curiosity. Her gaze was powerful enough to make him shift his weight from one leg to the other. She was a pretty thing, with long blonde hair down to her waist threaded through with small braids looped in an intricate pattern. A classic beauty, with sharp hazel eyes that reflected the light like glass, translucent yet calculating, with unabashed intelligence. “What makes you think any of our wolves turned him, my dear sister Tully?”

Hayden liked her immediately. She was the voice of reason, that much he could already gather.

“I caught scent of him following us from the direction of the recent battle with the human assassins,” Tully said.

Ah, so they’d met the Wicked Grove Supernatural Regulatory Agency before and knew what it was. Great.

“I let him follow to see if he was pursuing our pack and to evaluate the threat. So I circled out behind him for capture, which I did quite easily, and now present him for judgement.”

The Alpha queen leaned back in her chair, her expression largely unchanged but looking slightly amused at Tully’s account. She sniffed his scent as she pondered. Hayden wasn’t going to risk a judgement even from their queen. If he was going to challenge any of them, he had to do it now. Before he could open his mouth, the queen spoke again.

“Has anyone admitted to turning this man? It’s strictly forbidden, and they will be punished.” She stared down at him with amusement, but her mate glared at him like he was a pile of rotting garbage. His eyes shone, telling Hayden everything he needed to know about the ruling Alpha king. This was the wolf who had bitten Hayden. As a bonus, he was also the Alpha.

Just perfect, thought Hayden. He was the last person on this council he wanted to fight, but if that was what was going to have to happen, so be it. He didn’t have to like it, but it had to be done.

“You’re the leader, right?” Hayden asked. The council fidgeted, snarling low, threatening growls at him. “You’re the one who bit me, aren’t you? I challenge you to a duel. I deserve retribution for what you’ve done.”

The entire assembly gasped at the request. Hayden was looking straight at the Alpha without regret. If the guy was too chicken to admit to biting a human, then this was the only way to get the Alpha to fight him.

The Alpha smirked, finding the challenge hilarious. “I don’t know what you speak of. That is not our way.”

His smile rose to his eyes with a genuine, contagious laugh which filtered its way through the court. His chuckle rang out, echoing in the cavernous lodge, and Hayden felt a chill run through his body as cold as the icicles forming outside. He clenched his fists at his sides and prepared to ambush the Alpha even if it meant certain death at the hands of his underlings. The woman who’d captured him slipped her hand over his elbow and squeezed it, turning toward him while leaning in so that he was the only one to hear her whisper.

“Don’t. Not here.”

Those three words were all it took to quell the angry beast inside, clawing to get out. He’d never felt such hatred toward another individual before now and suddenly found himself feeling lost and disoriented. Did Tully have some sort of magic in her voice? How had she done that? A moment before, he was ready to pounce onto the throne, shove the Alpha out of his seat and rip his head from his shoulders. One touch from the woman next to him had calmed the rage storming inside him. He turned and got a better look at Tully, surprised to find her looking almost exactly like the Alpha queen in front of him; they could have been twins.

Maybe they were twins. It would be interesting if they were. But he could see that the blonde hair of the woman next to him was slightly darker than the platinum tresses of the queen. There was a spray of freckles across Tully’s nose and under her eyes, while the queen’s skin was flawless. Tully’s eyes were even a shade darker, more ocean blue in color rather than light hazel, and Tully’s lips were also slightly fuller than the thin, pressed mouth of the queen. They were related all right, but he now doubted that they were twins. Still, they were so close in age and so incredibly similar in appearance they could probably make themselves up to look like one another and fool the entire court.

 Tully didn’t seem to care for the king’s mirth. She rolled her eyes while everyone laughed. She was the only one not laughing.

“Take it off,” she demanded, tugging hard at his jacket. “Drop it in front of you.”

He peered at her curiously, but he didn’t wait long to comply. He slipped off his winter jacket and let it drop to the ground. His sweater was still soaked with blood along the left side. Without warning, she grabbed the sleeve and tore it off where the shoulder met his chest, exposing the entire arm and ripping off the handkerchief he’d applied earlier.

He sucked in a sharp breath, waiting for the pain to hit as she ripped off his sleeve but it never came. Instead, he now stared in horror at the dry, crusted blood smudged along the hair of his arm where the wound had been. The deep puncture wounds should have still been seeping blood, but there was nothing there. Nothing but smooth skin, hair and dry blood along his tanned arm. He’d spent a lot of time in the sun during the summer, and the color still lingered. Staring hard at the nonexistent wound, he swallowed. He knew what the rapid healing meant.

He was one of them now. No longer human but a freak.

He turned toward Tully and found her studying him with deep, scrutinizing eyes. She pulled his arm up to her face and gave it a long sniff. Once was all it took to capture the scent of the perpetrator, and her eyes widened as she knowingly looked up at Hayden. The secret between them told of the sins of an Alpha who thought nothing of breaking their sacred rules. It was the last thing she’d expected, and the fear flickering on her face told him this was the start of something terrible.

Tully turned back toward her sister, meeting her eyes as though they were silently speaking to one another. Her sister pressed her lips together and threw her the slightest of nods before leaning back in her chair, looking pensive. The Alpha king stared down at them as their chuckles faded away and took a swig of whatever alcoholic beverage sat in front of him. The others of his council followed suit.

Robots, Hayden thought. All but Tully, her sister and Hayden were brainwashed to follow their leader with blind and pure devotion. They’d disturbed dinner, but neither he nor Tully cared. His stomach didn’t rumble, but his spirit hungered for revenge. He drew in a breath, about to speak, when Tully took his arm and squeezed it once more. He glanced her way again, and her widened eyes told him to be silent as she gave him the slightest shake of head. Whatever Tully feared, he had to take that into consideration, especially when it was obviously not a custom to challenge an Alpha outright. He knew a bit about shifters from his studies, but the specific rules of this pack were unknown to him. He sensed a crash course heading his way.

 “What is your name, stranger?” the queen inquired.

“Hayden Night.”

“Welcome to the pack, Hayden. You have much to learn before you can challenge an Alpha of any pack and must wait one full cycle of the moon before doing so. Your captor, Tully, will show you around.”

“I did not agree to this, Talia,” Tully snapped.

Queen Talia narrowed her eyes at her sister. “You must do as you’re told. You know this more than anyone. Hayden will remain with you at all times while in the village; otherwise we cannot guarantee his safety.”

“Oh, she’ll tuck you in tonight, so be sure to obey her,” the Alpha king interjected, snickering at Hayden. “And if you get any bright ideas about sneaking out to kill me, know that she is duty bound to protect her leaders and won’t allow you to attack us in any way. She’ll sacrifice her life to stop you. All the members of my pack would do the same.”

He waved them away without another glance as he turned jovially toward his queen and began chatting. Tully gripped onto his arm even more tightly and gave him a good, swift tug in the direction of the door.

“Come on,” she hissed, already fed up with all the politics and probably annoyed with the fact that she had to babysit him. He complied, knowing from the looks of all those wolves on the council that he’d never ever be able to get through all of them to tackle the Alpha and get the revenge he sought. He was going to have to play this idiotic game their way. It would start with Tully.

So she had to show Hayden the ways of the pack. How convenient. As long as he was patient, he could challenge the Alpha with no interference from anyone else. Besides, he had all the time in the world now that he was banished from the Agency. He was contaminated; they would not welcome him back for being so careless and allowing himself to be converted to a wild thing. A werewolf. A wolf shifter. Whatever you wanted to call them, there was no turning back now.

Fortunately, he was more than likely presumed dead. The Agency would not look for his body. Not in this deep snow and violent weather. The risk was too high, especially in a notoriously dangerous forest after a violent attack on one of their teams. His body would be left to freeze beneath the drifts of snow. Maybe they might search for it come spring. Maybe.

That was fine. Hayden felt at peace with his decision to stay here. There would be no attempt to return. He was dead to the world.

He looked about as they exited the lodge, taking in everything. Tully continued to pull him along, dragging him out into the snow, through the center of town, again parading him past the rest of the pack. It allowed him to get a better look at them as they lined up along the pathway to study the new “pup” and greet him with growls rumbling in their throats. The cold bit into him since he’d lost his jacket and sweater, exposing his skin to the biting frost.

She led him to the outermost ring of the village, and they soon came upon one of the smaller cabins located at the edge of the forest. Hayden was relieved to be far from the center of activity; it was a small comfort. He didn’t want to escape, but if he had to, it would be easy to overpower Tully and run off into the woods.

As though she could hear his thoughts, Tully glanced his way now and then, daring him to act out. Did she know what he was thinking? He had never heard of a clairvoyant person or werewolf before, but anything was possible. Nevertheless, he would have to try to clear his mind so she wouldn’t have anything to be suspicious about. He was here to stay, and he had to accept his fate. Revenge would be so damn sweet when it did come after a long, cold month of waiting.

Patience, Hayden. All in good time.