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“Explain,” he growled.

“I—I had to take a tonic for my magic,” I said quickly. “It suppresses it. Sometimes… sometimes my magic bursts from me without warning. It’s uncontrollable.”

His pupils flared. “So, you did do something to me. What was it? Tell me!” He gripped my arms so tightly that pain shot through me.

“I don't know!” I screeched. “That's why I ran in here to take the tonic to stop whatever was happening. I swear I didn't mean to hurt you!”

This wasn’t completely true—when I’d entered the cabin, I had intended to hurt them.

But in this moment, with the Wolven looking like he was going to kill me, I would say whatever I had to to survive.

“You bewitched me!” he roared. He lifted an arm and pinned my neck to the wall with one muscled forearm. Pressure built in my throat, and I couldn’t breathe. I choked and gagged, fingers clawing at his huge hand.

“Alaric!” said the other Wolven. “She can’t answer any questions if you choke her.” Despite his protest, he didn’t seem too upset about my situation.

The one called Alaric gritted his teeth, his nostrils flaring. Then, with a loud curse, he released me. I slumped over, coughing and sputtering as I drew in several ragged breaths. Alaric inhaled deeply, as if he, too, had nearly been suffocated. His eyes bored into mine. The rage and heat burning in them made it obvious he had intended to choke the life out of me without remorse.

If his companion hadn’t been here, I was certain he would have.

My eyes crammed shut as I expected him to do just that—to ignore his friend and kill me, consequences be damned.

But, ever so slowly, I sensed him withdrawing.

“Follow me,” he said roughly.

My eyes flew open. “What?”

Instead of answering me, Alaric turned away and exited the room. The other Wolven followed close behind.

Sputtering in indignation, I charged after them, emerging into the sitting room. Alaric had his back to me, revealing a large tattoo of a wolf head running from his shoulder blades to the small of his back. He half turned, gesturing to my grandmother's body. My throat closed up as my eyes shifted to her once more. I didn’t want to look at her, to see her with her organs ripped out. It was a horrific sight that was forever burned into my brain.

But I couldn’t look away. Her face was completely motionless. Her eyes were closed, her skin wrinkled and gray. Flecks of blood stained her cheeks.

In a way, she looked like she could be sleeping. But in truth, she looked more like a statue, foreign and unfamiliar. The pallor of her skin was wrong, as was the smoothness of her brow and the stillness of her body.

This was not my grandmother. Not anymore.

“We need answers,” Alaric said, startling me from my disparaging thoughts. “Answers as to why she had this.” He pulled something from a pocket in his trousers and lifted it for me to see.

I frowned at the object. It was a gold trinket on a necklace. The emblem on the trinket resembled the face of a wolf.

“What is that?” I asked.

Alaric’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t recognize it?”

“No. I’ve never seen it before.”

A muscle feathered in his jaw as he slid the trinket back into his pocket. “I don’t know if I believe you. You’re not fae, so I know you can lie.”

“Why do you think I know what that is? It has a wolf on it.”

“I found it in her hand.” He gestured to Gran’s body.

A hard lump formed in my throat as my eyes flicked down to her corpse. Blood and organs spilled everywhere, her powerful essence gone, gone, gone…

“Is that why you killed her?” I asked in a broken voice. Heat climbed up my throat, making it difficult to swallow. More tears spilled down my face. Storms, why couldn’t I stop crying? I didn’t want to appear weak in front of these deadly Wolven.

Alaric crossed his arms and exchanged a look with the other Wolven.