21. Dishonor
CHAPTER 21
Dishonor
ALIA
T he glowing was a bit too close to the tribe for comfort. Grandma sent Graham, Brandt, and me out to see if it were a fire that could possibly become out of control. Freakin’ great timing, as Anna was coming home today and I wanted to be there. But nope. I had to go out on mission.
It wasn’t until we got closer that I realized where the fire was coming from. My chest clenched when I saw Doc’s barn in shambles, the fire still rising high in the night air and sending pinpricks of red and gold embers into the dark sky.
There were mostly children and elderly people huddled on the ground, staring at the flames as if in shock. Doc went from one to another, carrying water and remedies with a woman at his back I took to be his mate.
I breathed a silent sigh that they were safe. A woman was bent over a body lying on the ground, her need for her dead mother grating against my soul. Most of the remaining needs were not life-threatening.
“A large werewolf came through here recently,” Graham said when I returned to them, pushing aside brush to reveal a paw print the size of my hand. I stifled a sigh of annoyance.
“We’re just here for the fire. Nothing more,” I said.
“Shouldn’t we make sure the werewolves hurt no one else?” Brandt asked, his eyebrows raising on his forehead.
To say no would go against everything in my tribe. I trailed a fine line of staying within the tribe rules enough to be considered capable and outside enough to deal with my guilty conscience.
My shoulders slumped. I gestured for Graham to lead the way. He was our best tracker.
We found a trail of carnage. Elves—dark elves, by the look of their dark hair and scars in the place of eyebrows—were slain. It was a ruthless, calculated attacked. Most still had surprise in their eyes as they stared up at the sky with slit throats.
The pathway diverged. “You guys take that trail, I’ll take this one,” I said.
“Is it wise to split up with something like this on the loose?” Brandt asked, his eyes showing a hint of fear.
“Maybe, but I’m not going to risk losing the trail this time.”
Understanding dawned in Brandt’s eyes. “You think this is the work of Hood?”
“It screams of him. Now go, we can’t lose him again,” I said.
My heart rate picked up as I followed the trail made by a huge werewolf. A twig crunched beneath my foot and I winced. I hadn’t gone a hundred yards when I heard a strangled yell. I quickened my pace.
A bear-sized black werewolf was struggling with an elf. The werewolf had a white-tipped tail. Did it also have white on the haunches? I saw something that could’ve been, but then the werewolf turned and I lost sight of the white.
It was close enough. It had to be him.
I grinned, not caring that I showed my white teeth. I’d found him. And he was going to be mine this night.
He snarled as he bowled the elf over and snapped his fangs around the elf’s throat. He shook and the elf fell lifelessly to the ground at his paws.
I came into the clearing just as he turned from werewolf to man. But it was… painful. The bones broke and rebroke, sometimes reforming into human bones and other times going back to wolf. It was almost as if the wolf and human were fighting for dominance. I couldn’t say how long it took, but his harsh breaths filled with air and a hint of sympathy filled me at his plight. His shoulders were wide beneath the cloak. He turned his head and sniffed.
“Come out,” he said, his voice tired. I knew that voice.
“Who are you?” I whispered, standing at the edge of a precipice with no one to save me.
I knew him. But he wasn’t the one I expected.
He stood and turned slowly with his hands up as if he meant me no harm. I knew better. He was a killer. An assassin.
“You killed my grandpa, prepare to die—” I choked on my words as he turned fully. My blade nearly fell from my hand. “Fen?” I whispered. Shen’s friend who acted more like his brother? The one who was all smiles and laughter and looked as if he couldn’t hurt a fly? He was Hood?
He gave a tired smile and a tiny salute. “Hello again, Miss Alia. Miss me?”
I hissed out a breath. As I looked closer, though, I saw something else beneath the blood and dirt. I saw a boy who was in chains, his eyes hardened at the treatment of the Reds.
“Who are you?” I whispered, horror curdling my gut.
“I am the one you freed that night. And I will ever be in your debt because of it.”
“But you killed my grandpa?”
He shook his head, a wince crossing his face. “I’m sorry about your grandpa. Truly.”
“Do you still hunt Reds?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Only those who deserve it.”
“Why did you not kill me that night?” I finally asked. The night I spoke of was soon after I’d bonded with Ran, and I’d let every single creature held by the Reds for training go because I couldn’t handle more pain. He didn’t kill me when he had the chance, despite there being every reason to take blood for blood.
Fen ran a hand through his hair, his eyes sad and weary. “There was too much killing. I was done.”
I bowed my head. “A life for a life.” My voice was hard and unyielding as I told him what would happen when I saw him again. “Go,” I hissed out through clenched teeth.
Fen nodded, nearly bowed, then disappeared into the underbrush.
Something rustled in the brush behind me. I turned with blades outstretched. Graham and Brandt stood there with wide eyes, watching where the werewolf had disappeared.
“What have you done?” Graham asked, his voice cracking.
Anna was settled in a bed beside my own. She was smiling, her voice lighter than it had been in a long time. I had to shove back tears. Her fingers still shook with exertion; she couldn’t walk herself to the chamber pot, so she needed it directly at her bedside; and her eyes and cheeks were still sunken—but she was alive. And she was talking.
For months, it was hard for her to speak as her energy ran out even just attempting to pass words from her lips.
Now she was smiling.
A bittersweet joy filled my heart as I watched her, even as I knew what was coming today.
Graham had turned me in for letting Hood get away. He spun it a bit better than what happened, but it was still a terrible failure for the Second Blade. It would bring a public reckoning. I tried not to let what was coming affect this time I had with my sister. My sister who was doing well.
"What’re you thinking so hard on, sis?" she asked, looking up from darning my Red hood from where it'd snagged on a rock going down that dratted river.
No heckin' way was I telling her what I was actually thinking, so I just said the first thing that came to mind. "There's a werewolf—" I slapped my hands over my mouth.
Anna stared at me. "What?"
I stared back, my cheeks growing warm.
"You... met a werewolf... and you like him?"
I groaned, falling back on my straw bed, picking at a mole on my arm with the black-and-silver swirled blade. His blade. "No... yes... I don't know!"
"Is he good to you?”
I rolled my head over to stare at her. "Have you lost your ever-loving mind?"
She shrugged, her eyes darting between me and the hood. "Can't say all the killing ever fully set right with me. I wanted to do more to bring honor... but killing..."
I sat up, crossing my legs. "What do you mean, do more?" This was my sister we were talking about. She had first married her childhood crush, built an empire by darning red cloaks—her employees were still making money, but she had to sell out when her sickness came—and she was so strong that a ravaging sickness didn't steal her kindness nor her love. It had changed her, yes, but she was still strong. No other person I knew could've survived what she's come through, and she wanted to do more ?
"I have done so little for our family's honor. I'm sick. You take care of everyone's needs. Mom and Dad were run ragged trying to support us through this sickness. Jacob babysits and misses Red training to help look after Jess and Fin. What do I do? Sit around and darn dragon's breath cloaks ." She slapped my Red hood, her breath coming in sharp gasps.
I walked over and sat beside her. "I feel the same way," I said, twirling a thread from my tunic.
She side-eyed me. "You?"
I chuckled. “You don't have to sound so dratted doubtful. I feel like if I were better, Grandma would’ve already chosen me as heir. Instead, I'm being called before the Reds today to see if I’m to be punished for not bringing back Hood's head."
"There’s no reason to stab an already dead werewolf," she said.
Part of me agreed with her. It was a saying that meant let the past lay where it would. I shrugged. "But still. You created an empire. You gave birth to two adorable little baby girls and raised them while you were unwell. You have survived something horrendous. What have I done? I can kill things really well."
Anna snorted a laugh. "Maybe everyone's pains and fears are just that... pains and fears."
I shrugged. "Maybe. But I get it. Seriously. I have a feeling you’ll find your purpose. For now, know that it’s coming and sometimes breaking out of a cocoon takes time. But you’ll find your wings, sis. I know it. I can feel it, in here," I whispered, patting my heart.
Anna's eyes grew misty. She put her forehead to mine. "We both will, little sis. We both will."