Bearclaw Valley eight seconds

Aventus had watched it all with a grim set to his jaw.

He'd stood high on a hillock in the trees, melding with the shadows, watching the sow waddling with her two cubs through the snow drifts. He'd seen Evien carry a bundle out of the den, had eyed the chocolate healer with a mixture of warmth and anxiety. He must kill Evien, but it was harder than he thought it would be, to kill a wolf who had ensured his health.

That was when Aventus began to pray, a quiet mantra under his breath, oh bear, mighty bear—

And the bear answered. Evien spotted the bear. The bear spotted Evien. Aventus watched it unfold with bated breath, all the while fervently repeating it in his head. He could not kill Evien himself, but he was prince of bears. He could will the bear to do it for him, and that was exactly what he did.

When it was over and Evien lay motionless in the snow, Aventus' heart grew heavy. He didn't know what purpose his sire had in mind for killing the healer, and he didn't know what punishment there might be in store for him for not landing the blow himself, as Merrick had surely wanted. But he had commanded the bear, and it was done. He had commanded the bear. That was surely worthy of celebration.

Avicus' howl split the air. Aventus lifted his ears, listening, and waited twenty heart beats before descended from his place atop the hill to where Evien lay in a winter scene painted macabre by the magnificent spray of blood. He came to rest some distance away, across from his sister, dropping into the snow with an impassive stare at the healer's mangled skull.