Now, staring at the mangled remains of the man who had saved my life and raised me as his own pup, I was still calm. Somewhere deep below my ribs, in the hollow space where my wolf usually stirred, there was only silence. Not grief. Not rage. Just silence, vast and flat and wrong.
"Matron, did Master agree to this willingly?"
Her eyes reddened instantly.
"Fenris Voss is the last Primordial Alpha in existence. What he says goes. We never had a choice."
I gave a quiet "oh."
"If Master didn't agree to it willingly, then Fenris Voss deserves to die."
The Matron seized my arm, her voice tight with worry. "Lynara, before your master drew his last breath, he told all of you to take care of yourselves. Don't throw your life away picking a fight with a Primordial Alpha."
I pulled my wrist free, lifted my gaze toward the Sovereign Grounds far above the mountain line, and smiled faintly.
"Matron, Master said not to fight a Primordial Alpha. He never said anything about killing one."
——