Go read the other chapters or whatever, doesn't really matter to me either way.

Dinner was awkward, to say in the least. I felt unnerved by the way visions of Ares holding the bloody heart continued to flash through my mind.

That is the Alpha that wolves cower at the mere mention of. I had seen glimpses of her visciousness before, but never so brutal. So... gruesome.

"So, when will you two lovebirds have your Mating Ceremony?" Axel asked casually, breaking the silence.

I looked at my plate, that was the last thing on my mind. "Soon," Thane answered shortly, and I was glad he didn't seem keen on talking about it.

"He's here," Ares suddenly says, standing up. Cain is by her side in an instant, wrapping his tattooed arms around her protectively. "Who's here?" He asked calmly, but I could sense his trepidation.

"The invisible fucker that attacked me in the woods," Ares hissed, and my heart almost dropped to the bottom of my stomach as Cain shouted, "THE WHAT?"

"The invisible rogue?" I question. No, no, no. It couldn't be. I hadn't seen him in months.

Ares sprints outside, all of us following her. I see her summon a whip, randomly lashing out. Suddenly, I see Greyson's body on the ground, deep cuts throughout his body.

"Ha! Got you, you stupid little son of a-" Ares begins to say, but my eyes meet his.

"Grey?" I whisper in disbelief.

"You know this clown?" Axel asks me in surprise.

I nod desperately. "He's my best friend, I-We were rogues together."

Thane's grip around my waste tightens as Cain calmly states, "If he harmed my mate, he will die."

My mouth drops open. "You can't kill him! He's basically my brother... You can't kill him... It was just a misunderstanding I'm sure." I promise.

Ares laughs, but it contains no humor and her eyes are pitch black, something I hadn't seen from her before, and to be honest, it rattled me. "He told me to rot in Hell, I don't think there's much to misconstrue about that."

I take a step towards Ares, to explain, to make amends. Cain shifts Ares behind him, and Lucas and Axel are instantly at his sides, their eyes blank. "Please, Ares. If you attacked him, then he was just defending himself. He wouldn't just attack you for no reason," I plead, begging her to see it from my point of view. Greyson had been my only friend for many years, my only confidant after my Grandmother died.

Ares raises an eyebrow, and I can see Greyson struggle in the whip's hold. "Actually, I was just minding my business when he stabbed me. Unprovoked, might I add. Oh, sorry, both times he stabbed me, unprovoked," Ares clarifies, and Cain snarls.

"It was not unprovoked," Grey roared. "You killed my mate."

My mouth dropped open. Greyson never mentioned that he had a mate, much less that she was dead. "Onyx, Ares isn't who you think she is. She's the Reaper!" Grey hissed.

I gasp as I look at Ares, who looks indifferent, bored almost. She was the wolf who rogues told horror stories about, the boogeyman parents used to scare their children into behaving.

And she had been under the same roof as me for the last month.

"Is... Is that true," I ask, hoping she denies his accusations. "You're the one who kills all of the rogues, innocent or not?"

Ares gives a half-hearted shrug, completely apathetic to the implications. "You saw her rip the heart out of the she-wolf that challenged you!" Grey insisted. "She has submitted, and the Reaper still ruthlessly slayed her. How can you be friends with someone like that?"

I wince as I look at Ares, who looks unconcerned. "You didn't have to kill Brenna. She had already submitted, there was no reason to take a life."

Ares gives me a patronizing smile that makes me feel two inches tall. "Onyx, there's a lot you don't understand."

I scoff. I can't believe her. She pointlessly took someone's life, just because she could, and I was the unreasonable one? "What, because I'm not a murderous brute, I couldn't possibly understand?"

Cain growls venomously at me. "Watch it, little wolf," he warns.

Thane raised one of his hands. "I think we should all take a step back here. There's no need to escalate this. Let's calm down before making any hasty decisions."

How could he so calmly refer to them killing Grey as a hasty decision? "I'm not going to let them kill Greyson. You know how important he is to me," I glare at him. I didn't doubt that had I never met Grey, another rogue probably would have killed me, or worse.

My words unknowingly infuriate Ares. "You knew he was the one who did this to me?" She pulls open her cloak, and I gasp when I see a nasty gash over her chest. "And you didn't tell me?"

"I wasn't sure," Thane muttered.

And that was when all Hell broke loose.

Cain yelled at Thane before he shifted into his wolf, and Thane pushed me back out of the crossfire as I cry out, launching himself into the air, shifting into his own wolf.

Cain and Thane clash, and my brain can't even make sense of how fast their attacks are, a flurry of snarls and snaps. They were attacking with such brutality, one misplaced bite could easily kill the other.

I take a step towards Ares, all I want to do is end the fighting, end all of the pointless violence in which no one wins. I'm surprised when Axel snarls at me, shifting into his wolf. Leo launches himself at Axel, letting his wolf side take over.

Soon, everyone is fighting, even Lucas, who I had grown to see as a close friend, was snapping his canines at Jason like he wanted to murder him.

I hadn't wanted this, all I wanted was to stop the violence, stop the death. But I couldn't just let Ares kill the only family I had left, the person who had filled the gap in my whole left by my Grandmother.

I see Ares and Grey fight, and I know he's no match for the brutal female, whether she was injured or not, her attacks were too precise, too clean.

"No!" I cry out, but the sound is lost in all of the snarls and growls. I desperately try to use my Gift, to no avail.

I see Ares pin Grey to the ground, drawing a knife with a smile that fills me with profound rage. Rage so deep, so intense, it's like something inside of me snaps.

I can feel power course through my veins as I raise my hand, instantly blackening the ground underneath our feet. In a desperate attempt to save my only true friend, I use every ounce of energy to form a black ball of energy, launching it at Ares.

It hits her in the side, and she's thrown of Grey with a scream that breaks through the chaos. Immediately, the fighting ceases.

Everyone turns into their human form, and Cain is the first to Ares, picking her up in his arms effortlessly as she examines her side, so dark from the bruise it looked black.

The Blood Lake wolves looked at me in rightful accusation.

"Leave," Thane commands, his voice booming in the night.

"Not without the rogue," Cain growls animalistically.

Thane turned to look at me, and all I can do is hope, hope that he understands that I have to protect the only aspect of my former life.

"Not an option. You're on my territory, he's my prisoner. This isn't a fight you'll win, Cain. Don't make me call my warriors," Thane says, and despite his aggressive tone, I can sense underlying pleading.

Everyone holds their breath, waiting for an order, for an attack.

"Don't do this. We can all go our separate ways, unharmed," Thane says, and Ares scoffs. I wince, feeling guilty for her wound, but not guilty enough to abandon my friend.

"You're lucky we're on your territory," Cain finally hisses. "You're even luckier you were my family." I cringe at his use of the past tense.

Thane gives a curt nod, an understanding. "Jason, go get their belongings and bring them to their cars."

I exhale in relief as they finally pile into the cars, not a single word said, only hard glares passed among us.

When they're gone, Thane tells Leo and Jason to take Greyson to the prison and lock him up. I flinch, but I know that it's where Grey is safest for now.

"Thank you," I say to Thane gratefully. I know that he has given up a lot in order for me to keep Greyson, and that meant the world to me.

He didn't look at me for the rest of the night.

END OF PART ONE