His Killer, His Mate

The First Clue

Sable

I barely remembered leaving Darius's study.

One moment, I was standing there, furious enough to forget every reason I should have been afraid of him.

The next, Xavier was dragging me down the hallway.

"Let go of me."

"No."

"I can walk."

"I know."

"Then let go."

"I'm choosing not to."

I glared at him.

He glanced at me. "You were about three seconds away from either punching the Alpha or saying something that would get you punched by the Alpha."

"I wasn't going to punch him."

"You absolutely were."

"I was considering it."

"See?"

I rolled my eyes and pulled my arm free.

Xavier let me go then.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

I continued walking.

My mind was still stuck in Darius's study.

You ran.

His words wouldn't leave me alone.

I had spent years telling myself the same thing.

I killed him.

I had no reason to question it.

Until now.

Until I saw him alive.

Until he looked at me like he remembered everything.

And worst of all, until I realized that there were pieces of that night I couldn't remember.

Not clearly.

Not completely.

I stopped walking.

Xavier almost walked into me.

"Why did you stop?"

"I don't know."

He frowned.

I shook my head.

"Never mind."

I started walking again.

We had barely made it around the corner when I heard a woman's voice.

"Xavier?"

He looked up.

A woman was walking toward us.

She was beautiful.

Not the beautiful that demanded attention.

The kind that naturally received it.

Her black hair fell neatly around her shoulders, and she carried herself with the quiet confidence of someone who knew exactly where she belonged.

She smiled at Xavier.

Then her eyes moved to me.

The smile remained.

"You're Sable."

I said nothing.

She stopped a few feet away.

"I've heard a lot about you."

That should have been an ordinary sentence.

It wasn't.

Because the moment she spoke, something inside my head shifted.

A sound.

A voice.

Not here.

Somewhere else.

Somewhere dark.

"Don't make this difficult".

My breath caught.

The hallway disappeared.

For a second, I wasn't standing in Shadowfen.

I was somewhere cold.

Dark.

My wrists hurt.

Something was digging into my skin.

I tried to move.

I couldn't.

A man's voice came from somewhere behind me.

"She's awake."

My heart slammed against my ribs.

Then another voice.

A woman's.

Calm.

Controlled.

"Good."

I couldn't see her.

I couldn't see anyone.

Only darkness.

"Who are you?" I remembered asking.

No answer.

"Where is he?"

The woman's voice came again.

"That depends on you."

My stomach twisted.

"Let me go."

"You're not in a position to make demands."

The male voice moved closer.

I felt someone grab my arm.

I struggled.

"Get off me!"

"Hold her."

The grip around my arm tightened.

The woman's voice remained eerily calm.

"She won't cooperate."

"Then what?"

A pause.

Then-

"Make her drink it."

My entire body went cold.

"No."

Something touched my mouth.

I turned my head away.

"Don't."

The male voice cursed.

The woman spoke again.

"Hold her still."

I fought harder.

Someone forced my jaw open.

A bitter taste flooded my mouth.

I gagged.

"No-"

The world tilted.

My limbs suddenly felt too heavy.

My vision blurred.

And the woman's voice was the last thing I heard.

"Everything will be easier when you stop fighting."

My eyes snapped open.

I stumbled backward.

Someone caught my shoulders.

"Sable?"

Xavier.

I stared at him.

He was standing right in front of me.

The hallway was back.

The walls.

The lights.

The pack house.

Everything.

Except my heart was pounding as if I had just escaped something.

"What happened?"

I couldn't answer.

The woman was still there.

Watching me.

Her expression had changed.

"Are you alright?"

Her voice.

My stomach dropped.

That voice.

I knew that voice.

Or-

I thought I did.

I stared at her.

She frowned slightly.

"Sable?"

I swallowed.

"Who are you?"

Xavier looked between us.

The woman seemed surprised by the question.

"I'm-"

She gave her name.

I heard it.

But I barely registered it.

My attention was fixed on her voice.

It was different now.

Softer.

Almost concerned.

But underneath it...

There was something.

Something familiar.

Something that made my skin crawl.

"You've met before," Xavier said.

I looked at him.

"Have we?"

He nodded.

"Briefly."

I looked back at her.

She offered me a small smile.

"I don't think you remember."

No.

I didn't.

But my body did.

My pulse was still racing.

My head had started throbbing.

Not badly.

Just enough to remind me that something had happened.

Something I couldn't explain.

I looked away from her.

"I need some air."

Xavier immediately stepped toward me.

"I'll-"

"I'm fine."

I walked past him.

One step.

Two.

Three.

Then I heard her speak again.

"I hope you're feeling better soon."

I froze.

The headache exploded.

A sharp pain tore through my skull.

I grabbed the wall.

"Sable?"

I couldn't breathe.

The hallway blurred.

The woman's voice echoed inside my head.

"Make her drink it."

"Hold her still."

"Everything will be easier when you stop fighting."

"No..."

My knees buckled.

Xavier caught me before I hit the floor.

"Sable!"

I heard voices around me.

Someone shouting.

Someone running.

But everything sounded far away.

My vision darkened at the edges.

And just before consciousness slipped away completely, one final memory surfaced.

Not the man's voice.

Not the woman's.

Darius.

Bleeding.

On the ground.

Looking at me.

And then-

A voice whispered beside my ear.

Not his.

"You need to believe you killed him."

My eyes widened.

Then everything went black.