The cool water around me felt like a jumpstart I didn't know I needed.
For a second I just wanted to be there. Pretend I was anywhere but where I was now.
But that was kind of hard to do when my entire body was tense and I didn't know how much time I even had left.
I heard someone's feet shuffling outside. I huffed and closed the water.
"You okay in there?" Roman's voice greeted me.
"Do you really need to stand guard?" I called back in a dry tone.
"Do you want a strange man to do it instead?" He shot back casually.
I rolled my eyes knowing he had a point.
I grabbed the towel he had given me and wrapped it around myself, walking over to where I had set my clothes.
We were in a little shed not too far from the camp. It had a toilet and a shower. I hadn't stopped to think how the Shadow pack wolves catered to their... er bathroom needs seeing as to how most seemed to prefer their wolf forms.
But there were some buildings scattered around the region. Small sheds, nothing too fancy but solid enough for a small family to live I guess.
They seemed abandoned but I guess the pack had been utilising them for some time now.
They were sort of nomads according to my mum. Never truly having a place to settle, always on the move, it seemed sad, really.
I picked up my pants and felt something solid and smooth. I swallowed hard when I realised that it was the vial still stashed in the inner pocket.
I looked at the wooden door as if someone could burst in and catch me.
Even the smallest dose could make a difference.
For Raphael and Nia and the rest. For Tristan...
I just had no clue how I was going to get it into Ornyx.
But I had to find a plan. Or at least stall enough for the Calvary Mikey said I should expect.
"Crystal!" Roman pounded on the door causing me to jump and almost drop the vial. "We don't have all day."
"I'm coming! Geez!" I yelled back.
I started dressing up quickly, carefully slipping on my pants so as to not break the vial.
When I walked out of the bathroom.
I found Roman setting a bowl of cereal before me.
He had also set a bowl of berries, an apple and three protein bars stacked together on the small table in what I guess was both a living room and a bed room.
"Bon appetite." He announced.
I looked out the window. The guards who had been standing there was no longer around.
"They just took a walk. They're still close by." Roman explained.
I couldn't help but think about the soldiers who had been guarding me and my family when Roman had infiltrated the pack.
Gone and dead. Just like that.
I couldn't look at Roman and think of him as the same boy I knew because of that. So I eyed him with caution as I stepped towards the table.
My stomach was actually grumbling and I regretted not cleaning up my plate last out of defiance.
I spooned the cereal wasting no time.
Roman sat across from me and watched me eat.
"What? You're not hungry?" I asked.
He still seemed gloomy even today. His smile only a ghost on his face.
"I already ate. Thanks for the concern." He spoke. His tone was dry and I wondered if he was being sarcastic.
I focused on the food, feeling like I couldn't get enough.
And I guess it was easier to eat here under a roof and four walls with only Roman to see me.
It felt pretentious and treacherous to eat in front of my mother and her 'kids'.
"I'll get you some water." Roman spoke after I had gobbled down my food and started picking at the berries.
He hadn't spoken throughout the entire meal and it truly concerned me.
I stared at the protein bars and then at Roman's turned back. I quickly snatched one and stuffed it in my pocket.
"Does Tristan get food?" I asked going back to the berries.
I don't know where the question had come from or if I had even meant to say it out loud.
I saw Roman freeze by the sink.
He turned around with a cup full of water in his hand.
"Enough to keep him alive I guess." He spoke stiffly as he set the cup in front of me and returned to his chair.
I took a sip, my heart ripping apart as I thought of the torture he was still enduring right now.
"Can I-"
"No, you can't see him." Roman immediately spoke.
Suddenly, I didn't want anything in my stomach.
I sat back in the wooden chair. It freaked slightly.
I looked at Roman and he simply stared back, clearly not moved by my insistence to sulk.
He knew me better than I would like to admit. So I knew even trying to play mind games with him wouldn't work.
I let out a breath dropping the rough girl act.
Maybe if I asked nicely.
"Please, Ro, I just need -"
"No." He shut me down. He nodded at the bowl. "Wrap it up, I need to take you to see Ornyx."
A nervous jolt ran through my body as I remembered what I was being cleaned for.
"Why does he want to see me?" I tried to sound tough and not intimidated but on the inside I really was worried about what this twisted man had in store.
Roman shrugged. "Probably wants to say hey." He muttered not meeting my eyes.
"Ro."
He set his hands on the table. "I don't know, Crystal. I'm not exactly in the loop." He spoke.
I frowned and sank back.
I bet my mum knew exactly what he wanted with me. Her and her crazy ideas that I could ever be part of all this. This place and these people.
Much less like I could ever be their leader some day.
"My best guess is he's gonna ask you to pledge allegiance. Choose a side." Roman spoke.
I looked up at him.
I clenched my fists at my side. I remember how Uncle Victor spoke about the Shadow pack. Everyone needed to bow down to Ornyx. They needed to become mindless zombies for him and follow him blindly.
Of course I would be expected to do that.
"I'm not bowing to him." I spoke.
He wasn't my alpha. My alpha was locked up somewhere in probably the greatest pain of his life, being broken and probably beaten. My allegiance was to him. And I needed to get him out.
Roman looked exhausted as he looked at me. He sat forward. "Okay, what's it gonna take to talk you out of walking in there and begging for a death sentence?" He asked.
"I'm not going to pretend to follow him." I spoke decisively.
Not even for a second.
Roman shut his eyes for a few seconds then opened them again.
"Listen." He spoke, using his hands when talking trying to get his point across. "We're in a game of life and death here. You're playing whether you like it or not. A new order is coming and soon what everyone will be trying to do is survive. Think about it this way, you're just getting a head start."
I couldn't put a finger on it but this Roman - he wasn't as held back as the one I knew. This one didn't have to pretend. This one could be who he really was.
And it never occurred to me how calculating Roman must have had to be his entire time in Woodfell.
I leaned forward, looking out for the guard.
"You don't believe his crap either. Do you?" It wasn't a question.
Roman might have known me but I knew him too.
Roman's face morphed into an emotionless one.
He looked me right in the eye as he spoke. "I serve Ornyx. I'll follow him to the end."
"He treats you like trash. You serve someone who thinks you're disposable?"
Roman smiled slyly.
I furrowed my brows at him. "What's so amusing?"
"Nothing you're just more confident now."
I was taken aback by the comment for a second but I quickly recovered.
I looked at him. "You're not happy. You're not you."
He scoffed, grinning again as he picked a berry and tossed it into his mouth. "Yeah? And who am I, Crystal?"
I knew what he meant by the question,
He had been a spy most of his life. It had been drilled into his mind to never be who he really was.
Identify wasn't something solid for him.
"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. Kurt Vonnegut." Roman muttered. He looked at me, his grey eyes, which I had once found so beautiful that o could stare into them for hours looked empty.
"Theresa had that drilled into our heads before we could walk."
"What? At spy school?" I asked.
I don't know if I actually cared. But it's the only slightest bit of emotion I had seen in him since last night.
"Camp actually." Roman spoke.
I couldn't quite imagine my mother harvesting some half human, half werewolf babies somewhere. Teaching them to be evil and sneaky.
"Do you think she's pretending? My mum - I mean?"
It just didn't make sense that this could be the same woman who had raised me.
"I think Theresa knows exactly who she is." Roman spoke. He leaned in. "And I know that disappoints you. But to really know a person - it's always going to be impossible. We all hide. The ugly parts, the weak parts, the parts we're embarrassed of."
I looked at him, hurt in my eyes.
"I never hid from you."
My voice was small. Strange considering how much anger was building up on me.
"I - I actually thought I could be myself when I was with you. I thought you and me... I thought we were a team." My voice cracked and I felt ridiculous and silly.
I was supposed to be angry and tough but I just felt hurt.
Roman looked away from me.
And for a second, I thought I saw him look just as emotional.
He looked like he was going to saw something but at that moment there was an aggressive pounding at the door.
I jumped but Roman didn't flinch. "It's time." Was all he said before getting up.
I did the same. It felt like something was stuck in my throat and for the first time, the choked up sensation along with the mixed feelings I had been experiencing when I saw Roman felt more clear than ever.
I felt like I was mourning. Someone in the body of a boy I thought I knew. Someone who could have been but actually never was.
At least yesterday he had tried to make some jokes. Today he was even more empty.
I mean, where was the boy I watched the moon with?
Had he too been a shell? A persona?
Roman took a step towards the door but he then stopped.
I saw him clench his fist. He looked like he was debating something.
He turned around and looked at me, his eyes harsh.
"I'm a soldier. I follow orders and I always have." He let out a breath. "Keeping you safe has always been my most important order So Crystal... survive. If not for yourself, for me."
I let out a breath. "I don't want to die. But I don't want to live a lie either. And I don't want to live without him."
Roman stared at me for a second. I saw him tighten his jaw.
I knew that maybe I shouldn't have been too free with twisting the knife into his already hurt feelings. He was the only person I knew relatively here.
But I wasn't going to lie to him or try to manipulate his feelings for me.
"Why him?" He asked.
I could see the anger building in him.
I didn't know what to say. Truth was that there was no answer that would satisfy Roman.
Thankfully, the door swung open and one of the Shadow pack soldiers peeked in.
"General, the alpha doesn't like to be kept waiting. You know that."
"I'm coming." Roman spoke not tearing his eyes off me as if he still expected an answer.
I opened my mouth but faltered.
Roman simply nodded as if that's all he needed and turned around.
We walked through the camp again.
I looked around as people stopped to stare.
A mother held onto her son when we past as if she was scared of what I would do.
The Shadow pack wolves had tougher faces. And even if my mother gave all that talk about how this was my new home, I could tell most were skeptical about that.
But that aside? I also felt really bad.
They had been roaming the woods since the war, homeless. Packs like the shadow pack were known to like living off the wild. So you would think an eternal trek wouldn't be so bad.
But everyone needed to settle somewhere.
And werewolves were territorial beings. They were pretty much exiled by the werewolf union who pretty much inhabited and controlled all the woods on this part of the country.
If that were my fate, I would be angry too.
I stopped, abruptly, almost jumping out of my skin when something came zooming my way, stopping right by my foot.
It's only when it hit my foot lightly and stopped that I realised it was a makeshift ball made from what looked like plastic bags.
I looked up and saw a kid, maybe four years old with his thumb in his mouth. He was barefoot - like most of the kids were here and wore old clothes.
He gestured to the object. "Can I have my ball back?" He asked.
I looked up and saw that Roman and the soldiers had stopped as well because of me.
I bent over, picking up the ball.
I gently rolled it over to him.
His face lit up as he grabbed it. "Thank you Lady Valencia!" He called before running off.
I swallowed. For the first time I didn't feel sick by the name.
It just made me wonder who I would be if I had grown up like this. Among everyone here. I would have been like royalty being a Van Cliffe. Complete opposite from my ordinary life with my parents or my life as an outcast in Woodfell.
I would have also been a refugee. Wandering the woods looking for safety and revenge? Would I have inherited my father and grandfather's hatred and anger towards packs like Silvercrest?
I feared the answer to that.
It was easy to be angry and pledge allegiance to someone like Ornyx when this had been what you had to endure.
"Crystal." Roman spoke.
I realised that I hadn't moved, lost in my thoughts.
He appeared beside me, taking me by my arm and making me walk.
The soldiers walked behind us.
I looked around, the sights getting even sadder as I thought about how they didn't have clothes or running water or school or even a mall.
Simple things Woodfell inhabitants never had to worry about.
"What do you do for food?" I asked randomly as I thought about how our supper had been more than decent considering the circumstances.
Roman seemed taken aback by my question.
It didn't seem like he was going to respond at first but then he spoke.
"We have some ambassadors to the human regions. They have... an understanding."
I looked up at Roman. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Roman looked ahead not bothering to explain more on the matter. "It doesn't really matter either way. We keep some food in storage for when the hunt is weak. Otherwise everyone here learns to hunt after their first change."
I saw a toddler giggling as they rode on the back of a huge grey wolf.
"Family is priority here. All women and children are cared for. Ornyx knows they're our future." Roman spoke.
Future subjects to be indoctrinated?
"Hi General David!" A couple of girls - maybe around 12 ran towards Roman.
Roman grinned and took a protein bar out of his pocket, handing it to them.
"I'm a little busy girls. I'll talk to you later."
The two girls stared at me curiously before giggling and running off.
I looked up at Roman never even knowing he was good with kids like this.
I mean sure Hazel and Parker adored him. But he never really showed any interest in liking the other Silvercrest kids.
He was always tense and serious around them.
"Do you think you could have been happy here?" Roman asked out of no where as we kept walking.
I saw a woman lighting a fire.
Wasn't there supposed to be a war going on? Everyone here seemed so casual. Like they were just going about life as usual.
I looked at Roman. The cut on his face wasn't quite healing. Not like it was supposed to anyway. For a werewolf that is.
He still looked pretty much drained of life but when he spoke, there was some hope in his voice and it broke my heart.
"What? You mean with the Shadow pack? Here?"
He nodded. "Here with your mum... with me. I mean, if Theresa had brought us both here instead of Woodfell. Do you think things would have been different?"
My heart ached for a time before this. But I realised that the beginning of my problems - real ones anyway begun with finding out I was a werewolf.
Coming to Silvercrest and leaving my father.
But that was also before I met Roman. Before I fell in love with him.
And then there was Tristan, my mate. Who I couldn't even fathom living without now.
There were the Bensons, whom I loved so much.
Kat and Chris, my best friends.
If I could erase Woodfell from my life, I would have to erase all that too.
"Do you think we would still have been - you know something if we met here?" I countered Roman's question.
I remembered how much it hurt when he had told me that the only reason he had gotten involved with me is because my mother had told him to keep me safe.
I thought about all the times I had spent with Roman, just the two of us. Feeling safer than ever because he was there.
My partner in outcast crime.
Strong and brave Roman.
My friend and someone I could say I had loved.
Sitting together in parks. Staring at nothing and everything at the same time.
But he wasn't my Roman anymore after what I had learnt
And that hurt more than he knew. More than I could ever even explain to him.
Roman looked away from me, staring ahead.
"I'd like to think it could always be us. You and me. Ornyx would probably think I'm not good enough for you. The halfling spy soldier and the future Van Cliffe alpha. I would have had a lot of proving to do." I saw the humour on Roman's face and knew what he was thinking. When had he not had to prove himself?
"Maybe - maybe if you had ended up here, you would have never looked my way. Or maybe..." This time he looked at me, right into my eyes. "Or maybe I would have found a way to get to you still. I don't know much about this soulmate stuff. Or if it even applies to halflings. But - I think it's kind of a messed up deal that Tristan should have a claim to you like that... I think - I think fate is for fairytales. But if it is a thing, I believe you and me? We were never just a coincidence."
Roman stopped walking.
I did too.
I realised we were in front of a tent.
It was much bigger than the others so that was the first indication that it must have been of some importance.
Roman got serious again as if he wasn't the same person who had just said all these things.
He nodded at me before he led the way in, I saw about half a dozen men scattered around tables and chairs on the inside.
Ornyx sat in a chair in the centre. Looking as ever as the evil king he was supposed to be.
Scrolls and paper were scattered around as well. Plans and lists pinned onto walls.
All the activity seemed to stop at my appearance.
The men stopped to stare.
I froze feeling self conscious immediately.
"This is her?" A tall and burly man with a thick beard spoke.
Ornyx nodded as he looked at me lazily.
Roman bowed. "Alpha."
Ornyx waved him off. "You may leave, boy."
I saw Roman tense up.
He cleared his throat. "I thought I was on planning duty. Given my insight of the Silvercrest pack."
Ornyx turned to look at Roman.
Even I could sense the tension in the room.
"You think you still have your privileges after what you let that boy alpha do to you?" He asked coldly.
Roman was still. I couldn't see his face as he stared straight ahead at Ornyx not saying a word.
"You're lucky I didn't feed you to the children." Ornyx growled. "Now go. Help Theresa with the women and children. Seems to be your league."
Some of the men chuckled.
Roman turned.
His eyes met mine and I knew he didn't want to leave me here.
I wondered if I should have been more afraid. But right now all that burned was my anger for Ornyx and what he had done to Tristan.
I wasn't afraid of him.
I wanted him to hurt.
Roman hesitated for a second.
But his fear of Ornyx must have won through.
I nodded at him trying to encourage him to leave.
I didn't understand how things worked here but I knew Ornyx probably wasn't joking about feeding Roman to children.
He didn't seem happy with him.
So unhappy Roman had been scared enough to run. If he hadn't found me, he would have been far away from here escaping whatever punishment had been in store.
Something told me, Roman trying to protect me would only make things worse for him.
Roman left.
The men continued to stare. It made me uncomfortable.
"Come forth, Valencia." Ornyx spoke.
I swallowed. My voice to say how that wasn't my name disappeared.
I stepped forward stopping a few feet away from Ornyx.
Another huge man at the table closest to him stopped what he was doing to look me up and down.
He had a small knife in his hand and spun it around casually.
Ornyx noticed my eyes turn to him in concern.
He grinned. "See something you like, Ross?"
The scary man, who I guess was named Ross smirked.
"She's ripe for the picking, huh, Ornyx?"
I chill ran down my spine.
He did not just -
Ornyx chuckled. "Relax, son. My Valencia is more precious than rubies. She will continue my line. Only the most worthy will call themselves her husband. Besides, something tells me you'll need to face young David and handle Theresa if you want to stand a chance."
The man shrugged. "I can take the kid. Theresa? Now her, I don't know."
The other men in the room chuckled including Ornyx.
I didn't like being here, standing while they spoke about me like that.
"Hear that, my dear?" Ornyx asked as he leaned forward. "I believe a thousand werewolves would tear each other limb from limb to wed a Van Cliffe."
"How charming." I muttered. "But I already have a mate."
The chatter in the room immediately died down as everyone grew serious.
"She sympathises with the disgrace boy alpha." A way older man spat in disgust.
I held my chin up. Roman's words of playing the ally played in my mind but I swatted them away.
I wouldn't - couldn't pretend to be okay with anyone who would dare hurt Tristan.
Tristan had once called me his heartbeat with fierce emotion and at the time I hadn't understood how he could possibly be that devoted to me. It seemed unjust and unfair.
But now I understood. Taking off that necklace had given me more clarity and now my feelings for Tristan was as clear as day. He was mine and I was his.
And anyone who hurt what was mine was the enemy.
Ornyx's face darkened.
"Leave us." He instructed.
The men didn't seem like they were expecting the order. Like it was out of the ordinary for Ornyx.
But they begun to vacate. Each sending me a glare as they walked out.
When it was just Ornyx and I, I didn't dare move. I just stared at him head on.
He got up to his feet.
I thought he would march right up to me and bash my head into the ground or something but he just walked over to the closest table.
"Did you learn much about war fate in that day care of a pack?" He asked in a conversational tone.
I stared in confusion.
He looked up slowly. "You would do well to answer me, my dear." He spoke, venom dripping from his words.
I swallowed. "No. Not much." I spoke.
Other than the AAP, warfare wasn't exactky a high yield SAT topic. Even at a werewolf high school.
"Of course." Ornyx spoke as if he expected no less from Silvercrest.
"When you get comfortable, you get lazy. Back in the day, an alpha would make sure all his pack members were all equipped to defend what was theirs. The union, they ganged up on my father and his father simply because he followed the rules of nature. He was stronger than them all. Power breeds fear."
I looked at him in outrage. "Only weak men like you aspire to enslave and subdue everyone to prove your 'power'."
Ornyx looked at me in amusement.
"That tongue is sharp. That, you get from your mother."
He started walking towards me.
I didn't flinch.
"I wonder..." he strolled over, his eyes studying me. "What did you get from my son?"
I hardly had time to react as his fist came flying towards me, landing squarely on my jaw, hitting me so had, I fell to the ground.
"Not his reflexes." I heard Ornyx mutter.
For a few seconds, my head spun.
I immediately tasted blood on my lips.
Anger and shock built within me, the pain shooting through like hell.
I quickly picked myself up.
I wobbled slightly but my rage fuelled my actions more than my brain as I went charioting towards Ornyx.
He caught me by the throat.
I coughed. He tightened his grip around my neck and started to lift me.
I clawed at his hands, growing weak quickly as I was being starved of oxygen.
Ornyx suddenly let go of me.
I fell hard onto the ground, coughing and gasping for breath as I clutched at my throat.
He let out a tsk sound as he shook his head at me like I had disappointed him.
"Not very quick. Or strong. Well, I do suppose you haven't had an opportunity at training. But you did charge at me. So there is a fighter in you. I guess I can work with that."
He turned around. I thought that was it, that he would turn and walk away. But last minute he spun and kicked me, landing my chin.
I fell backwards, hitting my head on the ground.
I tasted blood and realised I had bit my tongue hard.
"Ornyx!"
I recognised my mother's voice immediately.
"Weakness has no place in Van Cliffe blood." I heard him speak.
I fought the urge to whimper as I forced myself up into a sitting position.
My mother stood not too far away frowning at me.
"Mum." I whispered, my voice a plea.
She looked like she was fighting back tears as she looked away and focused on Ornyx.
"I came to report that the Silvercrest troops progress, alpha. We need to evacua-"
"No!" Ornyx barked. "We stand our ground and fight. Those weaklings do not understand the might of the Shadow pack. We are never running again."
I saw my mum falter.
I knew that look on her face. I knew her.
She wanted to say more but she was holding back.
"At least the women and children, alpha. I can get them somewhere safe." She offered.
Ornyx turned, not to her but to me.
He rose his brows. "What do you say, Valencia?"
I spat out some blood.
I looked at my mother desperately.
The vial felt hot in my pocket and I wondered if it had broken with the way I had been thrown around.
I wanted to panic knowing the risk. What had Raphael said? Even a drop was enough.
He looked at me expectantly.
"Mum." I spoke again.
Where was the woman who never let anything hurt me?
She fought to keep a straight face.
Ornyx scoffed. "Pathetic." He spat.
"She's a defect. A disgrace." He yelled at Theresa. "Are you sure she was Xavier's and not just some random human's?"
"She is Xavier's daughter." My mum insisted. She looked at me desperately.
"Crystal. Your grandfather asked you a question."
I shouldn't have been still getting surprised by betrayal but excuse me for this one. A mother should never betray their own child.
Not when they need them. Not when they're hurt.
Again I told myself to throw away all my emotions.
It wasn't just my life I had to fight for. It was Tristan's too.
I had to get him back to his home, to his brothers.
My mum had said that Silvercrest was advancing.
I hoped that meant they were winning. I hoped that meant a rescue party would be here for Tristan soon.
"Screw you!" I screamed at Ornyx.
Ornyx's face darkened.
He marched up to me but this time my mother rushed to intercept.
She was breathing heavily as he stared down at her.
"She's a child." She begged. "She doesn't know what she's saying. H-her time with the Silvercrest, they brain washed her. A-and this mating bond. You know what it's like. She's not thinking straight." My mum insisted.
I looked at Ornyx.
His features softened. "The mating bond." He muttered as if things were finally adding up.
He seemed to relax, which in turn made my mother do the same.
She turned to me and offered a hand.
For a second I just stared at it but then I accepted it and let her help me up.
"I guess her time in Woodfell has made her soft." Ornyx mused.
"Yes." My mother agreed as she pulled me to my feet, frowning at the blood on my face. "I will train her harder than any of the others. Give me a month and she'll be perfect." She spoke.
"Perfect." Ornyx repeated the word as if it carried all the more weight.
A mischievous grin took over his face. "Perfect he spoke again."
He walked over to a table and grabbed something.
I realised it was the knife that man had been fiddling around with.
My mum turned and saw what was in his hands.
Her eyes widened. "Ornyx -"
"Silence." He told her.
He turned to me.
"I will not have weakness or treachery be associated with my name."
He took a step closer. My guard went up.
Should I shift? I'll be way stronger but he was clearly faster and more equipped.
I stumbled back but Ornyx caught my hand.
Then he did something shocking.
He placed the knife in my hand.
I stared at him wide eyed.
He grinned. "It's laced with wolfsbane. A dagger straight to the heart of the werewolf means instant death."
I gulped.
Was this sadist going to make me kill myself?
"This is your last chance, Valencia. Prove that you can be of worth to me."
The next thing that happened was so fast, I barely registered that it was happening to me.
Ornyx slammed the elbow of the hand that wasn't still holding the knife in mine onto my forearm.
I heard a crack and my eyes widened.
The pain made me let out a piercing scream as I felt the bone of my hand crack like a twig.
"Crystal." My mum rushed over to me.
Ornyx walked away casually letting my mother tend to me.
I dropped the dagger as I tried not to cry at the pain shooting through my arm.
My mum turned to Ornyx. "Why!" She screamed.
He was casually strolling back to his chair and sat down like he hadn't just broken my bone!
"Oh please, Theresa, it's nothing we don't normally do to our pups. Valencia needs to become tougher." He spoke.
"Hold still." My mother told me gently as she supported my arm.
"Get her to the medics." Ornyx spoke. "Let her get a splint. Nothing else. She must heal naturally and endure the pain."
Ornyx got up. "I'm going to the front lines, these Silvercrest need to see a real werewolf in action."
He looked at me casually. "When I get back," Ornyx nodded at the dagger. "I want alpha Tristan's heart in my tent. Delivered by my heir."
My heart dropped as I realised what he had meant earlier.
The dagger wasn't for me to use on myself. It was for me to use on Tristan.
The ultimate show of allegiance.
"If I don't find it," he continued, his tone getting lower and more scary, "I'll take them both."