Dragoncrest Cliffs dead men tell no tales

a stalemate was proclaimed, but pepper persisted—and lafayette watched in slack-jawed horror as the old man was torn apart. his friend, his packmate, his mentor.

he had seen death before. . .but not like this. death to him had been still, silent, colorless.

but pepper's demise came in violent red torrent, his flesh ripped asunder, his blood seeping into sapphique ground. 

lafayette felt forever changed upon this sight, as he writhed and screamed against nox's grip.

and they took the women away—

he did not cease crying out, even after the pirates had taken their quarry over the horizon. he ran as far as he could, then felt his breath catch fast in his throat. he looked upon the retreating party with a rage unknown to him until now. 

only when they'd disappeared did he return to the tattered man who'd given his life for a pack not of his blood;

knelt in said blood;

and wept.