Now, he needed to show strength if he was going to convince them he was the person they thought he was pretending to be.

His revelation to May and Kay that his brother and the other clan Alphas had been poisoned was precisely the explanation he needed.

Death did not claim Ron as he stepped out on the street, much to his disappointment.

"He's gone, Ron. Our Alpha's gone." The words were spoken gently, but they slapped Ron in the face.

Wiping his eyes. Ron's rage was replaced by sadness. Looking at his hands, he saw they were bloody where his nails had shifted

"The veil will be at its thinnest in five days, and the passage between this world and Origin will be possible."

Ron's grassy bonds loosened slightly, allowing him to twist and look where the voice was coming from.

"Strategy over strength, my sons. That is how we defeat our enemies."

"Watch out, Gary!" The first punch landed squarely in Gary's stomach, doubling him over.

The cavernous room looked and felt just as Ron remembered it, wrong. The scene before him was chaos.

Ron quickly closed the door of the Inn and leaned heavily against it, ready for the person chasing him to break it down.

In the span of eight slices of pizza, Ron learned more about the world than he had in all his seventeen years.

Mary motioned Ron to follow her to the dining room table. "This is a singing chalice; Children Beyond the Veil use it to communicate, or to

Look human, act human, be human. The words rang in Ron's head.

"The blood is yours, Ron." You were still very agitated when we got you here." May then pointed to a brick wall by the front door;

The light burned, and the hammering got louder. Ron realized whatever was being built was probably located in a cozy cul-de-sac inside his..

Ron might have been short for a werewolf, but he felt ten feet tall with May and Kay on each arm. All his previous feelings of inadequacy...

He was about to start running again when he stopped himself, mentally slapping his forehead. Look Human. Act Human.

"Why are we whispering?" Ron whispered. It felt like they were doing something elicit, which excited Ron as it confused him.

Ron felt strange as he passed through the doorway to - wherever this was. His heightened senses could measure temperature and air quality