Thomas's PoV, 27th December: There was no escape from the task. Did I want there to be? My mind was in a shambles, I was so confused -- I didn't want the mutt to cause any more problems, but did that mean that I wanted her dead? Yes, I told myself, the mutt is a danger to us all. I found it hard to believe myself, though, when I could still see the mutt's scared, child-like eyes as I bit into her, as though she was begging me to stop. There was no way to avoid it, though, she had to die. Maybe it didn't have to be me that killed her. The council of elders and the other Alphas wanted her dead, sure, and they wanted me to do it to show a lack of tolerance, I supposed, since she had been my mate, but there was no specific mandate that said it had to be me. If one of the other wolves got to

