Alpha Samuel was leaning against the kitchen counter with a steaming mug of coffee, staring absently out the window. When he saw me slip into the room with hesitant steps, he turned his gaze toward me; there was a profound sorrow in his slanted eyes.
"If you're looking for him, don't bother, child," Samuel said, his voice echoing in the morning silence. "He went out to hunt before dawn. He needs to shed blood, to silence that beast inside him. He won't return for days; he'll run until he loses himself in the highest peaks of the mountains."
I froze where I stood. "For days?" I whispered.
In that instant, the rich scent of the kitchen and the grandeur of the manor dissolved. I found myself transported back years ago, to those damp, cold corridors of the orphanage.
