Jason couldn’t believe the hand he had been dealt. One day he was living a normal life, and now he was standing in a creepy old werewolf’s hut, surrounded by dried body parts, watching a half-dead elf get stitched up by someone who clearly had zero moral compass.

But he was glad his intuition had been on point. The elder werewolf knew with utmost certainty that Jason would attack her if she tried anything funny. He could see it in the way her metallic fangs gleamed when she smiled, the way her old hands moved just a little too carefully around Thalion’s unconscious body. She was testing him, and she had already figured out he wasn’t the type to back down easily.

Jason watched her observe Thalion’s body with glee. She had a disgusting grin on her face, her cloudy eyes trailing over his muscles, his stance. It made his skin crawl.

But then Jason noticed her face change. Even for a second. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Her grin faltered. Her eyes widened just slightly, and her nostrils flared like she had caught a scent she didn’t expect.

Jason didn’t hesitate. He quickly stood up and shoved her aside, nearly sending the old werewolf stumbling into the table of herbs behind her.

"Hey!" Ylva barked. "What the hell, Jason?"

He ignored her. His eyes were locked on Thalion’s body, scanning every inch of the elf’s pale, wounded flesh.

Then he saw it.

A small mark on Thalion’s neck, just below his jawline. It wasn’t a wound like the rest. No blood, no torn skin. It looked like a brand—small, intricate, almost beautiful in a terrible way. The skin around it was discolored, a sickly purple that spread outward like veins of poison.

"What is that?" Jason asked, his voice low and dangerous.

He turned to look at the elder werewolf, and for the first time since they had entered the hut, she looked shaken. Her old hands trembled slightly, and her metallic fangs clicked together as she clenched her jaw.

"Answer me," Jason pressed.

The elder didn’t speak. Instead, she scrambled toward a small wooden shelf against the wall, knocking over jars and dried herbs in her haste. Her claws scraped against the wood until she found what she was looking for—a small glass vial filled with a dark, viscous liquid.

She quickly retrieved the antidote and poured it all into Thalion’s mouth, tilting his head back to make him swallow.

Jason was confused. A second ago, she had been smirking, enjoying the power she held over them. Now she was working frantically, her movements desperate.

"Why are you helping him now?" Ylva asked, stepping closer to inspect the mark on Thalion’s neck. Her brow furrowed. "What is that thing?"

Ylva inspected it too, but the fact that she was new to this world and had been sheltered all her life meant she was just as confused as Jason. Her ears twitched, her nose sniffed the air around the mark, but she clearly had no idea what she was looking at.

"It’s a death mark," the elder muttered, not looking up from Thalion’s pale face. "One of the elves’ highest forms of control. If he dies with that mark active, it sends a signal to every single one of them within a hundred miles. They’ll know exactly where he was, who was with him, and what killed him."

Jason’s blood ran cold because what was this sickening thing. "So if you let him die on that table..."

"They would have come for all of us," the elder finished, her voice hollow. "Not just me. You too. Everyone in this hut."

Ylva’s claws extended. "And you were just going to let that happen?"

The elder finally looked up, her old face twisted with something between fear and annoyance. "I wasn’t going to let him die. I was going to stabilize him, then send you on your way. But your mate here got too curious for his own good."

Jason ignored the "mate" comment. "Take him and get out!" the elder werewolf instructed, waving her clawed hand toward the door. "Now! Before anyone else senses that mark!"

But this only made Jason more curious. His feet stayed planted on the wooden floor.

"No," he said simply.

The elder’s eyes narrowed. "No?"

"You are going to answer my questions," Jason barked at her, stepping closer despite every survival instinct screaming at him to run.

"What else do you know about the elves? Why are they keeping male elves locked up in dungeons? And what the hell is Thalion to them?"

The elder’s lips curled back, revealing her full set of metallic fangs. They gleamed under the dim light, sharp enough to tear through flesh like paper.

"Or else what?" she asked him, her voice dripping with condescension.

Jason saw her sharp teeth. He saw the way her old muscles tensed, the way her claws flexed against the table. Even in her old age, she was a werewolf. She would fuck him up in seconds if she decided to attack.

Jason nodded his head in acceptance.

"I apologize for my outburst," he said, raising his hands in mock surrender.

"My bad. Got carried away there for a second."

Ylva looked at Jason and just shook her head, ears flat against her skull. She had thought he was going to fight, thought he was finally going to show his strength and stand his ground. But of course, he found a way to wriggle out of it. Again.

"Unbelievable," Ylva muttered under her breath.

Jason shot her a quick look. "Not now."

He turned back to the elder, forcing a calm smile onto his face despite the fact that his heart was pounding so hard he was sure she could hear it.

"Also," Jason said, his voice steady, "a bit of warning. I am only leaving you alive because I know I would have use for you in the future."

The elder raised a bushy eyebrow. "Is that so?"

Ylva jerked her head back a bit and nodded slowly, crossing her arms.

"Of course! That is why," Ylva muttered, but her tone made it clear she didn’t believe him for a second.

Jason did everything to maintain his cool despite almost pissing himself. His hands were shaking slightly behind his back, and his broken nose was throbbing with every heartbeat. But he kept his face neutral, his eyes locked on the elder’s.

"Help us get him somewhere safe," Jason said. "And we’ll call it even. No more questions. No more threats. Deal?"

The elder stared at him for a long moment, her metallic fangs still visible through her wrinkled lips. Then she let out a rasping laugh.

"You’re either very brave or very stupid," she said. "But fine. Deal. There’s a cellar beneath the floorboards. Hide him there until nightfall, then get out of my city."

Jason nodded. "That’s all I needed to hear."