"So it must be a humanoid demon, or one that has taken over a human body and distorted it."
Diaval shifts his hand back and looks around, studying things closer. A tuft of fur is stuck in the rail leading up to the porch.
"Look..."
My blood runs cold.
"Shit. Is that what I think it is?"
The sinking feeling of dread fills me. It's the same type of fur the wendigo had—the one that was chasing Feray's wolf.
"It is." Diaval stares at it, then back at Easton. "Is it the same one? Besides Feray, you got the best look at it."
Easton's chick wiggles out of my shirt and glides to the rail, hopping up to get closer to the fur. His small bird head flips left and right, tilting as he studies it.
Suddenly, he picks his head up and stares at Diaval.
"He says no. This fur is different and darker. The fur was from a bear. The one he torched was from a cougar." Diaval extends his arm, and Easton hops on, climbing up to his shoulder. "Speed versus strength. Which means the one that went on the rampage here still exists."
"Shit. She's out there?—"
I turn to leave, and Diaval wraps a hand around my wrist, stopping me. A deep growl escapes my lips as I bare my teeth at him.
My bear wants its mate in his line of sightnow, and Diaval is standing in the way.
"She's riding a thirty-foot-long basilisk with stone gaze and venom. She's as safe as she's going to get unless she was on my dragon's back." His irritated tone grates on my nerves. As if he expects me and my bear to not get overprotective of our mate.
I force myself to breathe.
"Let's agree on a few things here." Diaval releases my wrist. "Feray has probably been hunted since before birth."
Both ancients nod.
"If we're correct, whoever is doing it has a lot of money or power."
"Or both. And don't forget connections to someone willing to work in the dark arts and necromancy."
Easton squawks in response.
"No, it's not my ex. The attacks—especially this one—happened long before she knew I took Feray as a mate."
"To what end would someone hunt a Luna and Alpha to this point?" I shrug. I don't understand what there is to gain by their deaths.
"They weren't ordinary. If they are who we suspect, Feray is the last true Luna. The last that can unite all the packs as one." Diaval lowers his head. "The alpha's gift is lost because he didn't have anyone to pass it to before his death."
The weight of that settles over me. My mate isn't just special. She's the last of her kind.
"You think they're dead?"
I look at the state the house is in, then back at Diaval.
He reaches out, tugs me closer to the stairs, and angles me to see inside what's left of the house.
At the foot of the stairs, the white of a skull can be seen sticking out from under a burned board.
My stomach drops.
"The fire didn't burn anything structural, apparently." Diaval's voice is quiet. "What it looks like is that someone burned this place to hide the bodies. Or it was done to bury them. Running on the assumption that maybe Fi's parents knew Feray's..."
