Chapter 13

After leaving my parting gift, I managed some sleep. I watched in the shadows to make sure she received it before returning to my room and falling into a dreamless sleep.

The normal fall of footsteps awoke me. I rubbed my eyes and made my way to the bathroom, taking a quick, thorough shower. I was getting better at this; no traces of blood were left today, and barely any when I got to my room last night.

I fidgeted in the seat before the mirror, waiting for an appropriate time to leave the room even though I had been fully dressed for what seemed like hours but was actually only a few minutes. Alice usually only attended to me or checked on me, spied on me, whatever she did, at night.

After the Omegas shuffling settled down and finally dissipated, I could leave.

I looked in the mirror and slipped on my mask.

The blood-soaked, fiery girl who demanded payment for her misery was gone in the blink of an eye. I stared back at the broken orphan who was too afraid to make eye contact or stand up for herself.

I walked out the door, forcing my feet to stay slow despite my excitement and need to know if anyone had discovered anything.

The dining room was back to its normal layout, but only the Alpha and Luna were present. I took my seat next to The Luna and grabbed my glass of water for something to do.

Neither of them spoke, avoiding eye contact. I think I came at the tail end of a heated argument, and I had no buffer. Great.

“I invited his mate to sit with us out of respect,” Luna Addison said after long moments of almost unbearable silence.

Alpha Raymond nodded.

An Omega opened the door, showing the woman in. Her bruises were faint whispers of what they were the night before, and she seemed to glow.

“Come sit.” Luna Addison motioned to the seat across from her. “You must be tired.” There was not an ounce of sympathy in her voice; she sounded more exasperated that she had to go through these motions.

“I slept okay, thank you,” Dalton’s mate responded and took a seat. She placed her hands on the table and quickly retracted one, but I didn’t miss the faint smudge of blood on her thumb.

The door was flung open, and an Omega took a step forward before stumbling and falling to her knees. I stood, not having to fake shock or confusion.

“What now?” Luna Addison rubbed her temples.

Another Omega burst in behind her and said, “It’s the uh warrior, the deceased uh warrior. Alpha, can you come?” She swallowed, looking visibly shaken.

Dalton’s mate helped herself to a portion of eggs and bacon, entirely ignoring the scene.

Luna Addison excused herself from the table, but just roamed around the dining room in a trance, demanding something red and alcoholic from an Omega.

“How are you feeling?” I asked her, my eyes downcast.

“Sad,” she said, shoveling food into her mouth. Her eyes said she felt anything but.

“Holy fuck!” someone shrieked. “His penis is gone. This wasn’t an accident.”

“If anyone finds a missing penis, please report it.”

I clamped down on my laugh; Luna Addison just waved to an Omega for a top-up, rubbing at her forehead ferociously.

Dalton’s mate's eyes seemed to dance.

“I have no idea where someone would stash that.” She frowned and went back to her breakfast without a care in the world.

I was happy that she appreciated my gift.

I knew I should have left it to look accidental, even at the moment, but I didn't regret it for a second. It pulled me back to myself in a way that I hadn’t felt in a while.

The rage was for me, not for some vague sort of justice so I could practice my skills on people who were better off, not on this earth.

That one was personal. That one was for me.

I felt a sense of energy I hadn’t felt in a while, a confidence that was now based on two found bodies, and so far, nothing pointing to me. The first two I killed and disposed of completely in the shadows.

Dalton’s mate excused herself before Alpha Raymond came back in, his face red and anger rolling off of him; he scanned the room and joined his mate, taking the drink from her and downing it.

Luna Addison scowled at him and waved to an Omega. “Should we postpone the trials?” Luna Addison almost whispered to Alpha Raymond.

“For what reason?” he asked her incredulously.

I was pretty much an Omega to them; they rarely ever stopped talking in my presence, and I felt it would be awkward to excuse myself now, so I just stayed at the table.

“No, we go on. Strong front.” Alpha Raymond dismissed her, rattling the ice in his glass. “We have nothing to hide from. This isn’t about us.” he hissed.

“It has happened on our land. It can’t be a coincidence,” she retorted.

“It was probably another warrior.” Alpha Raymond glared at his mate, indicating the conversation was over, dragging her back to the table.

Even though Alpha Raymond told everyone not to worry and pretended that he didn’t care, he was tense, and it came out in all of his words and actions.

“Where are they?” The Luna demanded, glaring at the empty seats across from me.

I stared at my plate, calculating the pros and cons of them possibly postponing the trials, even if it didn’t sound like they would.

Would it be better or worse to have them start soon? It would give me a time frame. I could finish the sons before the first trial and my shift. Or would it be better to wait? If I did get caught, I should wait to have my wolf so I had a better chance of escaping.

The nightmare brothers sauntered in. Hudson's eyes never moved from me as he pulled out his chair loudly across the table.

“Please be on time. We were waiting,” their mother chastised them.

“Sorry, Mom,” Nolan muttered, the other two ignoring her completely.

“Alpha, there is someone here to see you,” the lead Omega, Amelia, walked in; her hair was matted to her face, and she seemed frayed.

“What is it now,” Alpha Raymond barked.

“Should I show him in?” Amelia asked.

“Who is it?” he spat.

His emotions were out of hand, and breakfast wasn’t even technically over. Today would be horrible for us all, but I reveled in his anger.

“He wouldn’t say.” Amelia shifted on her feet. “He said he's from The Packless and has a contract with you.”

I glanced at Alpha Raymond, but he didn’t do anything to indicate that he knew his visitor.

“If he’s here for the trials, tell them the warriors have already been chosen.”

“Alpha, if you could just come speak to him,” Amelia almost pleaded.

“Just bring him in.” The Alpha waved his hand.

I looked at my hands in my lap, waiting to be excused.

There was a strange silence that settled in the dining room that I couldn’t place. I tried to avert my eyes, but curiosity got the best of me.

A tall man with an unearthly air of self-assured confidence strolled in. His dark hair was piled on his head, and the sides of his head were shaved. He stopped a few feet from the door frame; he was so silent and steady it unnerved me. His gaze surveyed the room was the only way to know that he was still alive.

The light scars on his face indicated that he was well trained, but in what?

His mismatched eyes settled on me. One blue and one brown eye seemed to see right through my carefully composed mask.

“The warriors have already been chosen,” Alpha Raymond said and waved him off, sounding bored.

“I’m not here for that,” the man responded in a voice that sounded like the end of a storm, not taking his eyes off mine. “I’ve been sent to find a killer.”