Page 20 of The Reluctant Alpha

The room went silent. I glanced around, seeing shock on everyone's faces except mine and Emery's. Whatever a revenant was, it clearly wasn't good news.

“I’m assuming we’re not talking about a Leonardo DiCaprio film here?” Emery asked with a sigh, rolling his eyes at all the blank looks he got.

"That's not possible," Draven said, his voice rough with disbelief. "There hasn't been a revenant in these territories for over three centuries."

"What's a revenant?" I asked, unable to contain my curiosity despite feeling like an intruder in their conversation.

Esther turned to me, her expression grave. "A revenant is a silver-skin who was buried improperly. Without the proper rituals, sometimes they...come back wrong."

"Wrong how?" Emery asked.

"Revenants are...abominations," Rhys said, his voice tight with disgust. "When a silver-skin dies, there are rituals that must be performed. The body must be burned completely, or the head removed and buried separately from the body. If this isn't done..."

"They come back," Estrelle whispered, "but not as themselves. They return with no conscience, no restraint. Just hunger and rage."

"And they're stronger than regular silver-skins," Rhys added, his usual exuberance subdued. "Much stronger."

I felt a chill run down my spine. "So, we're talking what—vampire zombies?"

Bayer's eyes flicked to mine briefly in exasperation before returning to the table.

"No,” Rhys continued. “They retain their intelligence, their memories. But they're driven by an insatiable bloodlust and a desire for vengeance against whoever they believe wronged them."

"Alessandro," Emery breathed, realization dawning on his face. "When we killed him, everything happened so fast. Did anyone make sure...?"

Rhys shook his head. “Impossible, but sorry, I should have clarified. This can only happen to a turned silver-skin. My fa—Alessandro—would have become the dust of the earth and returned to the ancestors.”

"But why target bears specifically?" Isla asked, gesturing to the wooden carving that still sat on the table like a malevolent totem.

All eyes turned to Bayer, who remained silent in his corner, expression unreadable. The weight of the moment seemed to press down on him, and I felt another pang of guilt for what I'd said earlier.

"Your father," Draven said finally, breaking the silence. "Could this be connected to Micah?"

Bayer's jaw tightened. "My father made plenty of enemies before he died."

"Including Alessandro," Phoenix added, his expression thoughtful. "Who ultimately punished him."

"Micah ran guns," Isla explained, glancing at me. "Among other things. He also made deals with humans that put our entire pack at risk, but more importantly, told humans about us, which broke the treaty with the silver-skins."

I blinked, taking in this new information. I knew the vamps had murdered Micah and the other males working with him, but not exactly why. Although I'd been there when Em had explained to Gemma the history of the race wars hundreds of years ago, and that the condition of the truce the vamps insisted on was that shifters and vamps stayed a secret from humans. Emery had mentioned Bayer's father was cruel, and I’d been present while the rest was discussed, but in my usual selfish way, I’d only thought about how that would impact me. "So, you think a revenant connected to your father's past is targeting bears?" I asked, trying to piece it all together.

Bayer shrugged one massive shoulder. "It's possible. My father betrayed just about everyone he ever dealt with."

"But how would a revenant know to target that specific campground?" Phoenix asked. "It's almost like it wanted us to find it."

"That's exactly what it wanted," Bayer said quietly. Every head turned toward him. "It's a challenge. A declaration of intent."

Estrelle nodded. "Revenants retain all their memories, all their grudges. But they're consumed by them, twisted by them, until vengeance becomes their only purpose."

"So, we have a super-powered vampire zombie with a vendetta against bears," I summarized, earning an eye-roll from Ben. "Sorry, silver-skin zombie. Whatever. How do we stop it?"

"We find it," Phoenix said grimly. "And we end it. Permanently this time."

"And how exactly do we do that?" Emery asked. "If it's stronger than a regular silver-skin and doesn't leave a scent..."

"We draw it out," Bayer said, straightening from his corner. For a moment, I caught a glimpse of the alpha he could be—confident, strategic, powerful. "It wants bears. I'm a bear." Everyone started objecting, but I couldn’t even form words. Fear had completely dried my mouth.

Bayer held his hand up and everyone fell silent. “It’s about time I stepped up as alpha.” He looked at Phoenix. “You know only I can do this.”