"Explain," I said, my blade steady despite the chaos still raging around us. "What does it do?"
Bren only smiled, turning the carved stone slowly in his hands. "Ask your Elara. Her blood already answered that question once tonight, whether she understood it or not."
Elara's grip tightened on her own blade. "Do not speak like you know anything about me."
"I know exactly what you are," Bren said. "A vessel this pack has been waiting generations to fill, without ever telling you the truth of what that means."
Around us, the fighting slowed as more of Bren's men fell back or surrendered, sensing the tide turning firmly against them. Ronan pressed forward, cutting a path closer to where we stood.
"Alpha," he called. "The pit. There is something else down there."
Bren's expression flickere
