The men who’d been holding his arms fell back.
“Change back!” Treffon shouted, and sent a wave of power at Voljaki. Violet felt it, and nearly fainted. Voljaki returned with an answering wave of almost equal strength; he must have some Reginar genes in him, she realized.
The two of them battled for maybe half a minute, and the men around them staggered back and clapped their hands over their ears. Finally, panting, Voljaki’s fur sank into his skin, and his bones cracked and reformed, and his tail shrank and vanished. He crouched on the ground, naked, in human form.
Treffon gestured at Tristao, who hurried over. “Voljaki and Zura will remain under guard while we investigate,” he said. “This is purely a precautionary measure; I do not believe that Zura would lie and betray our pack, even to protect her true mate. If we find that Voljaki is guilty, he will face death by combat,” Zura let out a threatening growl and her whole body covered in fur, but Treffon went on, “and if we find that he is innocent, then he will be free to go.”
Tristao nodded. “Sir, we should have the answer very soon. We installed security holos in the hallway outside your chambers. The person who entered your room was wearing a blur-suit, but we can retrace his steps. We will analyze the movements and location of every person in this castle and eliminate the suspects, one by one. By the end of the day, we will know.”
Reznik, who had been silent up until that moment, let out a shout of fury.
“Then I will die with honor!” he howled, and shifted.
He lunged through the air – at his sister.
Voljaki shifted in a flash, blocking Reznik. This time, when his true mate really needed his strength and protection, his transformation was much smoother. He turned in an almost balletic motion, transforming from man to wolf as he leaped, and intercepted Reznik’s desperate lunge.
Treffon did not interfere. Voljaki was fighting for his true mate, as was his right. And now that Reznik had just confessed, he was as good as dead anyway.
They became a snarling tangle of limbs and slavering jaws, Reznik’s reddish pelt making him look almost vulpine against Voljaki’s glossy black. And Reznik fought dirty. Instead of meeting the challenge beast to beast, his limbs and body lengthened, his rusty hair becoming sparse and pale skin showing through, and his paws lengthened into rudimentary clawed fingers. Still snapping and snarling like a wolf, he tried to use half-human hands to gouge at Voljaki’s eyes.
He was trying to take advantage of the strengths of both forms, but he was a fool. In this grotesque, half-shifted shape, he had neither the nimble dexterity of the man nor the sleek, savage power of the wolf.
Voljaki snapped at Reznik’s questing fingers, then went for his throat, biting down on his windpipe. Reznik half snarled, half sobbed, scrabbling at Voljaki’s jaws for a moment before the victorious wolf bit down, ending it.
Reznik’s half-shifted corpse lay on the floor, glassy-eyed and pallid, neither human nor wolf. His features were pushed out into a pale half-snout, his limbs looking oddly distorted and broken.
Treffon growled in disgust. It was not a noble end, but no worse than the cur had deserved.
Violet looked away and struggled not to vomit. The air stank of blood, and her heart hammered in her chest.
Zura stood with her fists clenched, tears streaming down her face, but she held her head high. Voljaki gave her a questioning glance, and she nodded her thanks and approval at him. “I had no choice,” Voljaki said to her.
“I know. You did well.” There was an undercurrent of grief in her words, but she looked at Voljaki with love. The moment he’d seen a threat to her, he’d done exactly what honor demanded – ended the threat.
Madok’s face was pale, and he stared at Voljaki with hatred radiating from every pore in his body.
“Wor-Lans,” he growled, and there was a world of contempt and disgust in that one word.
Voljaki turned to him. “Do you challenge my kill?”
Madok, instead of answering, spat on the ground and looked at Treffon. “First I lost my true mate to the Wor-Lans, and now both of my children. I am returning to my home and do not wish to be disturbed.”
