I nearly dropped the orb. Garret caught it and swept it into his pocket while drumming his fingers along the wall.

Th-thats… No…

But if it was true; somebody wanted Elias dead.

Pack!

Pack didn't matter if one of our own sought to sabotage the hunt.

Pack!

That word was useless! Somebody set Elias up.

P-pack… Pack!

Shut up! Pack killed him! Just, shut up!

And I felt the voice scurry away, fading from the forefront of my mind.

"I…" I tried. "But this means that…"

"Someone betrayed the pack? A Grimm killed Elias?" Garret snarled.

The information created a pit in my stomach that brought me low. It made no sense, but it couldn't have been wrong.

Wait. No. Need to confirm with Devon. Garret could be mistaken.

I turned to the door, but Garret yanked me toward him, spinning me around. My foot swung for his leg and smacked his thigh.

"Aaargh!" Garret yelped. "Quit it, pup!"

My breathing turned heavy, and I reluctantly lowered my hands. "We need to tell Devon."

Garret rubbed his leg and glared. "You're forgetting something."

"What? He needs to know."

"Are you sure Devon doesn't already know? Huh! He's stronger than I am, been a Grimm longer than I have. He's hunted Reds before; that wasn't the first raid he's taken us on. He already knows!"

No.

I shook my head. "He's many things. But there's no way he'd sit idle if he knew."

"Look at you. Defending him so easily. How about you use your head for a second and think! Elias meant a hell of a lot more to me than he ever did to you. So shut it!"

My jaw opened and then closed.

Garret was fighting a shift. His claws were out, his muscles in his leg rippled as he shook in place. Crimson eyes stared back, anger, fury, sorrow. They reminded me of when I first saw him in the woods and at the public speech in front of the others.

No. There's no way.

But that feeling didn't leave. I remembered being told that Reds cancel out Grimms' regeneration, and we canceled their magic. I didn't want him to be right, but I couldn't refute it.

The other hunter snorted. "Whatever you're feeling, I have been dealing with it since the moment you got on that stage. Tell Devon if you want. But I don't trust him. I don't even trust you. But at least you couldn't have been the one behind this."

Sharp nails cut into the skin of my palms, my fists turning white. I couldn't say anything.

Garret chuckled mirthlessly and strode to the door. He yanked it open and stopped before crossing through the frame.

"It'd be in your best interest to keep this from Alice. She's…" he shook his head. "Hurt her, and I hurt you."

"I'd never."

"Maybe not intentionally," he retorted. "And Cain?"

"What?" I growled.

"If you are somehow behind Elias' death in any way, despite what the orb says," he said before metal screeched throughout the room. He removed his hand from the ruined doorknob. "I'll kill you."

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

He slammed the door shut and walked away. The door sat crooked in its frame, but I ignored it and approached the bed. Its soft sheets felt cold and flat. Not even the pillows felt right behind my head.

Freki poked me with his nose, and I knocked my head into his. He whimpered and settled around me.

"Wuuulf."

My thoughts raced and crashed together. It was a flurry of emotions and different scenarios. Each new idea morphed into something twisted and paranoid. As the tried to start anew, I squuezed my head and embraced the pain. The whirlwind finally settled enough for me to push it out of the way and sink into the blanket of nothing I conjured in my mind.

I turned and buried my head into the pillow, letting the material rub against my skin. I had a moment of peace, but it was fragile.

"I think I need some rest. Wake me if anyone else decides to visit?"

He licked me and snuggled in.

***

Pack, many. I hunt, I gather. I sire new pups.

My mission is theirs. My hunt is ours.

But poison kills slow. Wound brings rot; rot brings death.

My hunt is new, for it does not seek prey.

Tonight. I hunt a hunter.

I sat up. My heart thumped erratically and my fingers creaked. I looked down and stared at pigment returning to my skin. Slowly, the pounding calmed to a steady rhythm. Freki rubbed his nose against my arm, and I scratched his head.

The dream had faded, leaving only scraps of all-too-real images behind. Unlike the others, waking up accompanied a new emotion. There wasn't excitement for the hunt or the thrill of the coming feast, only a deep-rooted sorrow from whoever I was supposed to be inside the dream. But I pushed that aside and stared at the ceiling. Sunlight bathed half the room in a golden glow while the smell of morning dew wafted in. On any other day, I'd enjoy the ambiance.

Not today, not now.

I scooched off the bed and stood up. Freki hopped off and dived into my shadow while I adjusted my cloak.

Just in case, I lightly tugged on the front flaps.

You alive?

No response, but I didn't expect any.

You're stalling, Cain.

It wasn't wrong. Everything from last night's encounter circled my thoughts even as I crammed them in the recesses of my mind.

With a sigh, I made it to the door and paused. The wood was packed into the doorframe, and the doorknob had seen better days. I yanked, but it didn't budge.

Damnit Garret.

Speaking of the man, he confused me. From wanting to rip my throat out to taunting and almost cordial, he switched approaches too many times. It was hard to wrap my head around him. But with his reveal and the truth orb, maybe he considered me less of a threat.

I groaned and banged my head against the wall. I'd deal with him later; for now, I wanted some food. I studied the door, I didn't know if it would work, but I called to the fire incantation and conjured a flame into my right hand. As I wrapped my fingers around the doorknob, I controlled the flame to avoid the wood and let my manaflow increase.

The flames grew hotter. It took a minute, but I slowly massaged the heated metal until the bent angles were smoothed away. I couldn't do anything about the broken mechanism inside, but at least the knob looked somewhat decent. Mana stopped flowing, and the flames died as I turned the knob.

Still stuck.

I let the metal cool before yanking the door free. It creaked, but I gently closed the door as I stepped into the hallway. Now that I was out, I didn't want to talk to Devon or Alice. So, instead of dealing with potentially life-altering news and upcoming conflicts, I chose to ignore it and search for food.

The kitchen wasn't hard to find as the smell of breakfast drew me toward the dining hall. As I entered, I noticed Krenlow eating a small feast while Neyenna and Haldeena ate beside him. Odenn was there, but she stood away from the Ashtons with her back to the wall. My eyes narrowed, but she met my gaze and nodded.

Alright then. I guess that means she's okay.

“Cain!” Krenlow shouted.

Neyenna and Haldeena turned. The girl's face brightened but her smile dimmed once she realized I was alone. Neyenna politely dipped her head while Haldeena returned to her plate of…Blue-yolk eggs.

Right. Different world, different chickens.

"Good morning," I greeted as I sat opposite the Ashton patriarch.

Krenlow smiled, but his hand clutched his fork tightly, and he became pensive once I turned toward him.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Ashton?" I asked.

He returned a half smile before placing the fork on the table. "Not so much a problem but curiosity if you wouldn't mind sating it."

Odenn slipped away and disappeared into another room, but I returned my focus to Krenlow.

"I don't mind."

"Well, there was a lot of noise yesterday," he began. He shared a look with his wife, who slipped a hand on his arm before lowering it. Krenlow exhaled and grew serious. "Will we be expecting any problems between you and the other Grimm? It's not a problem! I promise. But if there's anything we can do to minimize our house being torn down, that'd be considerate."

I chuckled and repressed a frown. "I can't promise about the others, but there shouldn't be a issue. But ahhh. The table and chair in my room and the door have suffered some damage. Sorry."

Neyenna's smile dropped some while Krenlow sighed. Haldeena, of course, didn't care for decorum and shoved a bite of eggs into her mouth.

"Do Grimms fight a lot?" she said between chews. Some bread crumbs splattered the table and Neyenna frowned disapprovingly, making Haldeena sheepish. She swallowed and squared her shoulders. "If you do, can I watch?"

"Haldeena!" Neyenna rebuked.

I laughed. "No, I don't think you can watch. But if there's more sparring between Alice and me, I'm sure she'll let you observe if you ask. I don't mind. But no eavesdropping on important conversations, okay?"

"Okay!"

As the nobles returned to eating, Alice and Devon both walked in at the same time. Alice smiled at Haldeena and sat down herself while Devon took a chair near the far end. The implications were clear and not even the child noble tried bothering him.

The conversation restarted with Haldeena pestering Alice, but eventually, our food arrived, as well as a guard wearing imperial-looking armor. He had a scroll in his hands capped with gold. The Ashtons tensed, and the cozy atmosphere disappeared. The guard stood with his back straight and chest out.

And so our royal escort is here.