The chief’s smile faded instantly as he heard the word alliance. His eyes had a sharp glint to them, exactly like a predator’s.

"What kind of alliance? Surely you don’t expect skinwalkers and werewolves to work together."

"That is exactly what I’m suggesting. With the two of us working together, we can finally rid ourselves of the Nyx pack once and for all."

The chief said nothing, only stared at us. He then rubbed his fingers against his beardless chin as if thinking of something.

"That woman beside you is extraordinarily beautiful," he finally said. "Some of my men were asking about her. I can see why. Sadly, she has dog blood inside her, so she must die alongside you."

It seemed as if he didn’t even give it a thought. I expected it to be honest, but still, it was disappointing.

Without wasting another second, the chief then turned to the guards.

"Open them up. Let’s rid ourselves of them as soon as possible."

The metal bars to the pit swung open, and we were led out by the guards. As we marched out of the pit, I felt Selthia’s eyes on me. She was clearly wanting to know what we would do, but I ignored her for now.

"Chieftain Floki, how are we going to execute them?" one of the guards asked the chief.

"Um... Er..." Floki scratched his chin as he tried to figure out the best execution method. After a while, a cruel smile appeared on his face, which told me he had thought of something. "Bring them to the snake pit. Lucile and Jor haven’t eaten anything in a while."

The villagers watched as if they were about to witness a circus act as we were cruelly marched over to the snake pit. Selthia’s eyes still remained sharp. She looked as if she was questioning every choice she made.

Meanwhile, I still wasn’t ready to deal with the situation at hand, which meant I would have to stall somehow.

"Would you reconsider the offer? You will never beat the moon princess on your own," I said.

"I won’t reconsider. Though, I’m a little curious about something. Who are you to offer such a deal? I’m guessing you’re from the Lycann pack, since most of the werewolf packs have been wiped out around here. Don’t you have to speak with your alpha? What’s his name..."

"Roran."

"Roran! Yes, that’s it. I imagine he would sever your head for coming up with such a bold idea."

"Roran is dead. He was killed by the alpha of the Nyx pack, Danzo."

Immediately, as he heard my words, Floki’s face went unreadable, and he froze for a second.

"Now I know you’re lying. The mighty Roran wouldn’t be killed so easily. That Danzo is just an ambitious fool who lets his daughter do all his fighting for him. You expect me to believe such a coward has managed to defeat the man who has kept this very territory in check for years? My very own father is said to be one of the most powerful skinwalkers to exist for centuries, and even he could stand up to Roran."

"Well, Danzo did," I said. "He took Roran’s head in a one-on-one battle. I was there."

Suddenly, Floki’s hand reached out and grabbed me by the throat. His hand moved as if it had the body of a snake, as if he didn’t have any bones and his entire body was made of jelly. His bloodlust was dripping with malice as his skin began to take on a reptilian form.

"I don’t appreciate being lied to. If such a thing were to happen, I would be the first to hear of it."

"I have proof."

Floki looked at me suspiciously, and his hand tightened around my neck.

"What proof?"

"Your men took something from me when they captured us. That is the proof."

Floki immediately turned to the leader of the men who captured us. The man’s face immediately turned pale as Floki’s sharp eyes turned to him.

"It was a piece of cloth. It looked like it had something wrapped inside it, but we didn’t check," the man hastily said.

"Well, go get it then," Floki said coldly.

The man didn’t waste a second before rushing off. While he was gone, Floki returned his attention back to me.

"If you’re lying, then you’re going to experience a far more painful death than what I had planned before," he said as his smile grew abnormally wide and his tongue flickered in and out of his mouth, tasting the air.

The villagers watched what was happening with fear in their eyes. I glanced at them for just a second and realized that a lot of them seemed unusually malnourished. They were starved, battered, and beaten.

I got the feeling Floki wasn’t taking much care of them.

"Something caught your eye," Floki asked, noticing my gaze.

"Your people seem to be starving."

"They do?" For some reason, Floki looked a little confused. He then turned to the group of guards and villagers and shouted, "Catori!"

Immediately, a frail young girl came forth. She looked a little younger than me. If I had to guess, I would say 14 years old. She had beautiful brown skin and short black hair, but the feature that caught my attention most about her were her eyes. They were milky white.

"She’s blind," Sylthia whispered beside me.

The girl moved shyly as everyone’s gazes turned to her. She stopped directly in front of Floki. She was trembling ever so slightly.

"Umm... do you need my help with something, big brother?" she said meekly.

Big brother? Were they related? Something told me there was something special about this girl.

"Explain to me, Catori, why do my people look as if they are starving? Didn’t I give you food rations to hand out? Don’t tell me you have taken it all to yourself."

Immediately, as the girl heard the accusation, tears filled her eyes.

"No, master! I haven’t! I couldn’t possibly," she cried.

I wasn’t a detective, but given how small this girl was, I would say it was unlikely that she had eaten the food rations for the entire village.

"Hmm, then why?" Floki questioned again, causing the girl named Catori to let out a small squeal.

She looked like a timid mouse facing off against a hungry snake. Her heart was beating through her chest. It looked as if she wanted to speak but was hesitating for some reason.

"The villagers are refusing to eat, my lord. Because they are scared."

Floki didn’t look pleased by her explanation, causing the girl to explain further.

"The reason they are scared is because my lord has taken up a rather strange habit recently," the girl’s voice quivered as she spoke. She looked as if she might faint at any moment.

"Oh, and what strange habit have I taken up?"

"C-Cannibalism," she sputtered. "They are afraid that if they eat, they might get fat and draw your attention."

Hearing this explanation, Floki’s face began to change into an angry scowl.

"You’re saying it’s my fault," he spat.

He raised his hand, as if to strike the girl down, but just then, he was interrupted.

"Here is the item we took off the prisoner."

The skinwalker that went to fetch the item they had taken off of me had returned. Floki forgot about Catori right then and there and took the item from the skinwalker’s hand. He stared at the cloth hesitantly before finally unwrapping it. The moment he saw what lay beneath, his pupils dilated.

"This is..."

"It can’t be...

"It’s really him..."

Suddenly, his grip tightened, and his look of confusion morphed into a massive grin.

"This is really him. The mighty Roran has fallen," he shouted.

"This is really why I asked for an alliance. This is the perfect time for us to join together."

"No, it’s quite the opposite. Roran has fallen, but his pack hasn’t. This is the perfect time to wipe out the Nyx pack once and for all," he covered his face and began laughing hysterically. "The two of you will be the first people we kill. Execute them!"

Seeing Roran’s severed head only seemed to lift Floki’s mood as Selthia and I were marched over to our death. Selthia kept her eyes on me, hoping I would do something or at the very least order her to act, but instead I did nothing. I bided my time. Waiting.

Waiting for death...

And death came with a power that rocked everyone present to the core.