Chapter 11 The Living Dead
LISA'S POV
My father's ring gleamed gold in Viktor's scarred hand, and the sight of it made my blood freeze in my veins. That ring had never left my father's finger, not in twenty years of leadership, not through battles or ceremonies or quiet moments at home. Seeing it in a stranger's grip felt like watching someone desecrate a grave.
Viktor Ashford was massive, his frame built from decades of violence and survival. Scars crisscrossed his exposed forearms like a roadmap of every fight he had won, every wolf who'd underestimated him and paid the price. His eyes were pale gray, the color of winter ice, and they held the emptiness of someone who had seen too much death to fear it anymore.
He bowed toward Sophia with exaggerated courtesy. "Temporary Alpha," he said, the title dripping from his mouth like poison disguised as honey. "Thank you for your gracious invitation. It's not often rogues are welcomed into pack lands with such hospitality."
Sophia's smile was plastic, stretched too tight across her perfect face. "We believe in progress, Viktor. In moving past old hatreds toward a better future for all wolves."
"How enlightened." Viktor's attention shifted to the ring in his hand, turning it slowly so the fading sunlight caught the Alpha symbol engraved on its surface. "I found this in the forest, about three miles northeast of your territory line. Your Alpha must have escaped the fire but died in the woods. Tragic, really. I brought it as a gesture of goodwill, hoping it might provide closure for your pack."
What the hell!! Pure lies. No one survived a fire that consumed half our pack house only to die conveniently in the forest with their Alpha ring perfectly preserved. No one believed Viktor's story, but saying so would mean calling him a liar to his face while a hundred rogues stood behind him, watching for any excuse to attack so we let that slide.
Daniel stepped forward, his body language saying something he dreaded to do withwords, more dangerous than I had seen from my brother before. He faced Viktor without flinching, without showing the fear that must have been screaming through every memory of his years in captivity.
"Viktor," Daniel said quietly. Just the name. Nothing more.
Viktor's grin was all teeth, sharp and predatory. "Daniel Marcus. My greatest investment. You're looking well for a dead man." He turned to address the gathered pack. "Did you know your precious Alpha's son has been living with rogues for a decade? That he fights in our pits, kills for our entertainment, bleeds for our profit?"
The pack erupted in whispers, shock rippling through the crowd like a stone thrown into still water. I wanted to defend Daniel, to explain the contracts and the betrayal, but Viktor's revelation had stolen our narrative before we could shape it.
"I'm here to negotiate a treaty," Viktor continued, his voice cutting through the chaos with practiced ease. "Rogues want what every wolf wants. A territory to call our own, recognition from the established packs, a chance to build something permanent instead of always running." His pale eyes swept across the pack lands, calculating and cold. "Moonstone Pack is weakened now, vulnerable. It seems the perfect place to start building bridges between our communities."
"I think that's a conversation worth having," Sophia said quickly, too quickly. The elders' faces went white with horror.
I stepped forward before I could think better of it, my wolf pushing me toward confrontation. "You don't speak for this pack, Sophia. Not yet. Not ever if I have anything to say about it." I locked eyes with Viktor, refusing to look away from that winter-ice stare. "I'm Lisa Marcus, daughter of Alpha Marcus and true heir to this pack. I reject any negotiation with rogues on our territory. This meeting is over."
Viktor's expression changed into something almost like respect. "The silver wolf from the challenge. I've heard stories about you." He tilted his head, studying me with an intensity that made my skin crawl. "Tell me, Lisa Marcus, do you know what you really are? Has anyone explained why your fur runs silver when your parents were both brown-pelted? Why you're stronger than you should be, faster than genetics would allow?"
My mouth went dry. "What are you talking about?"
"Your mother—"
A commotion at the edge of the crowd cut off whatever revelation Viktor had been about to make. Wolves scattered, their shocked gasps creating a wave of sound that rolled toward us. Someone screamed. Others shouted for a healer.
A figure stumbled through the parting crowd, each step a visible agony. Burns covered most of his body, the skin angry red and black in places where fire had consumed flesh down to muscle. His clothes were charred rags that barely clung to his frame. But his eyes—oh I knew those eyes.
"Dad?" The word came out broken, disbelieving.
Alpha Marcus collapsed at my feet, his burned hands grasping weakly at my ankles. His breathing was labored, each inhale rattling in his chest like he was drowning from the inside. How was he alive? How had he survived injuries that should have killed him days ago?
I dropped to my knees beside him, my hands hovering over his ruined body without knowing where I could touch without causing more pain. "Get a healer! Someone get Dr. Morrison now!"
Ryan was there suddenly, kneeling on my father's other side. Daniel pushed through the crowd, his face a mask of emotions I couldn't read. Even Sophia moved closer, her perfect composure cracking slightly at the edges.
"Lisa." My father's voice was barely a whisper, each word clearly causing him agony. "Listen... carefully."
"Don't talk. Save your strength. The healer is coming—"
"No time." His hand tightened on my ankle with surprising strength. "Viktor... didn't save me. I escaped... the fire. Made it to the forest." He coughed, blood flecking his lips. "But someone... followed me. Finished... what the fire started."
"Who?" I demanded, even though dread was already pooling in my stomach. "Who did this to you?"
My father's eyes found Sophia in the crowd. She stood frozen, her face carefully blank but her hands clenched into fists at her sides. When he spoke again, every wolf in the pack lands could hear him despite the weakness in his voice.
"Sophia tried to finish what the fire started."