Page 108 of The Reluctant Alpha

A small voice sounding suspiciously like my dad’s said no. That someone else—anyone else—would do a better job.

I glanced over to where Kaylan was standing close to but not with the mountain lions, and I eyed the rest of Kaylan’s pack. Seth, Kaylan’s uncle, had been in charge of the elders running the pack, and despite Kaylan reaching thirty and therefore by rights the alpha, they had yet to agree on a formal handover. It was a complete load of shit, but Kaylan was allowing it to happen. At any point he could have stepped forward and insisted, but he wasn’t pushing, and now, because Phoenix had made him pack, maybe he couldn’t. Maybe he didn’t want to be alpha either…

Although that wasn’t strictly true. Wanting something and doubting you were capable of it weren’t the same.

Phoenix stood in the center of the gathering circle, his commanding presence drawing the attention of every shifter present. The formal presentations had concluded and now came the heart of the matter—the threat that had brought us all together.

"We face an unprecedented danger," Phoenix began, his voice carrying clearly across the assembled groups. "A revenant that has already killed two of our people and demonstrates abilities we've never encountered before."

Seth, Kaylan's uncle, shifted dismissively where he stood with the mountain lion delegation. His silver hair caught the torchlight as he crossed his arms. "With respect, Alpha Colton, this sounds like your pack's problem, not a mountain lion concern."

A ripple of tension went through the gathering. I felt my jaw clench at the casual dismissal, but Phoenix remained calm.

"It becomes everyone's problem when the revenant doesn’t just stop at this pack, when it continues to kill in the human villages and brings attention none of us want."

“And what do the silver-skins say to this?” one of the elder bears shouted from the back.

“Honestly?” Phoenix rejoined. “They’ve been the most open of all my dealings with them, and I believe them to be as anxious as we are. A rogue silver-skin is as damaging to them as it is to us.” We'd agreed we weren't going to share that we knew who the revenant was or that it might have help. Not yet.

"If they're so concerned," Seth countered, "where are they now? Conveniently absent when we need answers."

I stepped forward, unable to remain silent any longer. "The silver-skins have provided what information they have. This isn't about politics or old grudges—it's about survival."

Seth's eyes narrowed at my interruption.

Before I could respond, a piercing scream cut through the night. All heads turned toward the sound—coming from the edge of the gathering circle where Elder Matilda, one of Phoenix's oldest pack members, had been sitting.

She was gone. In her place stood a pale, emaciated figure, its skin like cracked parchment stretched over bone. The revenant—Rafael—held the elder aloft by her throat, her feet dangling helplessly above the ground.

"Rafael," I breathed, recognizing the creature despite its grotesque transformation.

The gathering erupted into chaos. Wolves lunged forward to protect their elders, mountain lions scattered to defensive positions, and the jaguars melted into the shadows with practiced precision.

"HOLD!" Phoenix's voice cut through the panic. "Coordinated attack only!"

The revenant's head swiveled unnaturally toward the sound, its milky eyes fixing on Phoenix. Then, with terrible deliberation, it turned to me.

"Bear," it rasped, the word barely recognizable as human speech. "Bearer of cubs."

Ice flooded my veins. It knew about Danny. About our cubs.

With a howl that raised the hair on every shifter's neck, the revenant flung Elder Matilda aside like a rag doll and launched itself toward me. I shifted mid-leap, my bear meeting the creature's attack with a roar that shook the clearing.

We collided with bone-jarring force. The revenant was impossibly strong, its skeletal fingers digging into my fur, seeking purchase. I slashed with my claws, tearing through desiccated flesh that crumbled like ancient paper, yet the creature didn't falter.

Phoenix shifted beside me, his massive black wolf joining the fight. Around us, other shifters transformed—bears, wolves, mountain lions, even the elusive jaguars emerging from the shadows in their animal forms.

The revenant screamed, a sound like metal tearing, as multiple sets of claws and teeth tore into it. But it fought with unnatural vigor, throwing shifters aside with inhuman strength.

"The head!" someone shouted from the edge of the melee. "Take off the head!"

I lunged for the revenant's throat, my bear's jaws closing around its neck. The flesh tasted like ash and decay, making my bear recoil in disgust. Still, I held on, applying crushing pressure as Phoenix's wolf tore at its limbs.

The revenant thrashed wildly, its claws raking across my flank in burning lines of pain. I felt blood matting my fur but held on, my jaw locked around its throat. Phoenix's wolf darted in from the side, his powerful jaws clamping down on the creature's arm with a sickening crunch.

Other shifters circled us, looking for openings to strike without hitting their alphas. The revenant's struggles grew more frantic, its remaining free hand clawing desperately at my face. One skeletal finger caught my eye, sending stars exploding across my vision.

Phoenix snarled.