She looked around the diner. Making sure no one was listening.
"The Thornwick Coven didn't just die," she said quietly. "I killed them. All twelve of them."
"Axel told me some of it. They were torturing you."
"They were trying to turn me into a weapon. Binding dark magic to my wolf blood." She touched one of her runes. "These scars? They're not tattoos. They're burn marks from the rituals."
I felt anger rise in my chest. "They hurt you."
"They broke me. Piece by piece. Until I wasn't human or wolf anymore. Just... rage."
"What happened the night they died?"
"I snapped. The magic I'd been holding back exploded outward. Flames and death." Her voice got smaller. "I burned down everything. The building. The people. Even the trees around it."
"And you've been running ever since."
"Unti
