Chapter 166: Stranger in His Own Skin

The beam of light danced from wall to wall in the wet cave beneath, casting ominous shadows on Alpha Lleus' face. Pinned up against ice-hard rock, handcuffed like a prisoner of war taken captive. The cuffs did not wear him raw—it was the nauseating doubt seething within his mind. Viktor paced back and forth. "This doesn't compute. You can't not transform. Your wolf is probably ripping itself to pieces by now, screaming to get out of there." Lleus tightened his fists. "I don't know, Viktor. Do you think I enjoy being a ghost in my own body?" Daisy sat on the floor by the door, worrying. "Perhaps it is just because you were in a coma. Perhaps your wolf is just behind. " Viktor shook his head. "That would not explain the color change in his eyes. Lleus' eyes were always red, a mark of an Alpha. Now they are blue. That is not the effect of sleep—that is something. else." Alfonso, who had been quiet up until this point, exploded. "We must leave. If they find out you're not what you say you are, they'll kill us all." Lleus looked at his fingers, folding and unfolding them as though he was trying to summon something from a vast distance. His wolf was still inside him—he could feel it, far back in the marrow of his bones—but it was far away, quiet. The gate of iron creaked as it opened, and the leader of the Desert Wolves entered, followed by two guards. The leader folded his arms and looked at Lleus with interest and suspicion. "We've discussed it," he said. "And we've concluded you're a liar or a fool." Lleus met his gaze evenly. "I am neither." The leader laughed once more. "We'll see. If you want to prove yourself, you will go through the trial by fire." Viktor snorted. "Trial by fire?" The leader nodded. "Fight our best warriors. If you're really Alpha Lleus, then you win. If not, then you die." Daisy's eyes grew wide. "You'd get him killed in trial?! The leader said nothing. "You will fight at dawn." He started to turn away but halted in the doorway. "One way or another, the truth will come out." As soon as he was out of sight, Viktor swore. "This is a setup for death. They'll try every trick in the book on you." Alfonso cracked his knuckles. "We'll just have to do something about it for him." Lleus took a breath. "No. I'll fight." Daisy stared at him in dismay. "But you can't even shift!" Lleus raised his head, his face determined. "Then I'll win as I am." The next morning at sunrise, villagers stood at the battle pit—a massive arena of rock desert. Desert Wolves circled the pit, eyes that shone bright with anticipation. Sweat, blood, and dust hung in the air. Lleus was at the pit center, heaving chest bare, coiled muscles. Before him was his opponent—a great warrior scarred body and golden-eyed veteran killer. The leader gestured with a hand. "Fight." The warrior rushed in. Lleus sidestepped fractions, dodging as the warrior's fist passed by his ear. He tossed in a quick jab to the ribcage, but the warrior did not flinch by a fraction. The audience erupted into cheers as the fight continued. Lleus fought with all he had—his strength, his speed, his reflexes—without the wolf, he was in weakness, slower. His attacker knocked him out with a jaw-breaking knockout punch, and he fell to the ground. Blood gushed from Lleus' body. Viktor bellowed from the stands. "Get up!" Lleus swiped at the blood, grunting mightily. His body ached, but something inside of him refused to submit. The warrior smirked. 'You're no Alpha." Something inside Lleus snapped. A flood of heat coursed through his veins. The ground trembled beneath his feet, and in an instant, his vision sharpened—colors intensified, sounds clarified. His assailant attacked once more, but now Lleus observed every motion prior to performing it. He sidestepped and smote the warrior on the stomach with atheist quickness. The man flew backward. The onlookers were quiet in astonishment. The leader's face twisted. "What.are you?" Lleus himself did not know. But he had had enough of the questioning. He faced the leader. "Do you believe me now?" The leader paused, then nodded. "Possibly you do not lie. But you are not the Alpha Lleus we knew." Lleus clenched his teeth. "Then I'll find out who I am." And in doing that, he had won their grudging respect. But there were questions. What was changed about him? And at what unspecified cost had he done it? Chapter 167: A Price Unknown Night fell over the desert community, and Lleus sat beside the fire, watching the way the flames danced. The win would have been welcome, but it served only to exacerbate his nervousness. Daisy settled beside him, legs pressed together. "Something shifted in you today," she told him. Lleus nodded. "I sensed that myself. It was not my wolf. it was something else." Viktor sat down among them on the ground, arms folded across his knees. "We require answers. If your wolf has passed on, then what are you?" Lleus let out a breath. "I don't know." The Desert Wolves' leader loomed over them, his face still empty. "You survived today. You can be our guests for a while now." Lleus's gaze moved up to him. "That is not why you have come." The leader grinned. "No. I've come to tell you a story." Lleus scrunched his brows. "A story?" The chief settled himself across from him. "Many years and years ago, there was a tale about an Alpha who returned from the dead. But he wasn't the same. His wolf was lost, and something. ancient. took its place." Lleus' heart was pounding. "And what did he do?" The leader's expression darkened. "He transformed into something else. Something not of this world." There was a thick silence between them. Alfonso broke it. "What are you getting at?" The leader turned to Lleus. "I'm saying, Alpha Lleus, you may not be the man you believe you are." Daisy was finding it hard to breathe. "You're saying he's not human?" Lleus stared into the flames. If he was not human, if he was not even a werewolf at all anymore, then what was he? And, more terrifying—what had brought him back?