Page 59 of The Reluctant Alpha

"You know who was attacked?" Phoenix questioned sharply.

Ivan shrugged with elegant disinterest. "We make it our business to know the important players in your territory. Kaylan is the Sierra Pride alpha heir, is he not? Or was, I should say, if you healed him."

The casual mention of Kaylan's changed status sent a spike of anger through me. "The message," I pressed, ignoring Ivan's baiting. "The revenant told Kaylan to tell me to 'expect to lose.' Care to explain that?"

Dimitri's expression remained carefully neutral. "As we told you, Rafael holds a grudge against bears specifically. He blames your kind for Alessandro's downfall."

"But why now?" Phoenix asked. "Alessandro fell months ago. Why wait until now to seek revenge?"

"Revenants aren't created instantly," Axel explained. His voice was colder than the others, with a slight accent I couldn't place. "The corruption takes time. The body must decay, the spirit must be called back, anchored to the remains." He smiled thinly. "It's quite an unpleasant process, from what I understand."

"But I thought this was just a result of being killed or buried in the wrong way?" Phoenix pressed.

“It is, but the corruption doesn't necessarily start immediately. Our bodies stay intact for much longer than other organic matter. The process might not have started for months.”

“Do you still think this is Rafael?” I asked.

“We have no others unaccounted for from the coven,” Ivan said.

“And there’s no way you missed one?”

“No,” Axel practically spat out.

"Revenants are unstable creatures," Ivan explained. "Powerful, but difficult to control. Alessandro would never deliberately create one in the coven because being of the blood, certain traits would be passed on. It is one of our oldest laws."

"But he fed," I said fairly obviously.

Dimitri nodded. "But to create he would have to drain to death, and in the unlikelihood that he would permit himself such a loss of self-control, he would ensure the proper burial rites. To be certain, it’s the reason all created ones are executed when a coven leader dies." Dimitri blinked once slowly, and it was noticeable. “I believe humans have a phrase to make something bulletproof? This is the same.”

"How do we kill it?" I asked bluntly, because this seemed to be the most important point.

"Not easily," Axel replied with a cold smile that didn't reach his eyes. "A revenant retains a silver-skin's strengths. Beheading works, but if this was indeed created by Alessandro, then it must be followed by burning both parts separately, then scattering the ashes across running water."

"Specific," Phoenix muttered.

"Necessarily so," Dimitri said. "The power that creates them is equally specific. Magic requires precision."

"And how do we find it?" Matthew asked from behind us, speaking for the first time.

Ivan turned his unsettling gaze toward the wolf. "It will need to feed regularly—more often than a normal silver-skin. It cannot go more than four or five days without fresh blood."

Dimitri nodded. "And it will hunt again soon. We can use that to track it."

"You're offering to help?" Phoenix's tone was skeptical.

"We're offering an alliance," Dimitri corrected. "As discussed before. Our expertise in exchange for limited feeding rights."

"And what exactly would this alliance entail?" I asked.

"Joint patrols," Dimitri proposed. "Our people working with yours to monitor likely hunting grounds. When the revenant feeds again, we'll be ready. Ivan or Axel can summon me faster to restrain and banish it."

"And the feeding rights?" Phoenix pressed.

"Volunteers only," Ivan assured us. "Non-lethal, of course. There are always humans willing to offer their veins for the...unique pleasure we can provide, even if they do not remember it afterwards."

I fought to keep my expression neutral, though the idea of allowing silver-skins to feed on our territory—even from volunteers—made my bear uneasy.

Phoenix folded his arms. “Why should we trust you? How do we know you’re not keeping anything else back?”