"Alpha Voren…" Madison started, but Voren lifted a hand and cut her off gently.
"Please call me Voren. I'm your son now." His voice, though soft, still commanded presence.
Madison swallowed hard. Hearing him claim her as family still felt strange and new, so she softened her words.
"Son, that's it, but there are some bigger ones. They took my mother, and I've lived in hiding ever since."
The truth settled over the room like a sheet of ice, cold and heavy.
Seraphine slowly shook her head, disbelief written across her face. "So, all along, we've had Lycans in our midst?"
The idea sat wrong in her chest. What made Lycans so dangerous to their kind was simple. They were stronger, bigger, and faster than any werewolf. Now Seraphine felt like she needed to go back to their history books to read more about this Lycans.
"Not just that," Athaliah went on, still unsure whether Voren would keep listening after everything she'd already spilled. "They thrive on sorcery."
