They didn't tell me what was happening until we were nestled into one of the office compartments of the building. Where we couldn't be heard. As soon as the man with glowing eyes let go of my arm, leaving me to sit in a dusty leather chair, I hissed at them.
"Who are you?"
Glowing eyes took the seat across from me and his friend stood by the door with his arms folded. I felt almost giddy. These were other survivors. How many of us were left? At the same time, I knew not to trust anyone and especially someone with freaky eyeballs. Something was wrong with him.
"My name is Peter," he told me in a deep, steady voice. It was full of confidence and yet comforting. Pointing over his shoulder, he said, "That is Nathan."
The man nodded at me, his features illuminated from the moonlight shining in. He was young and muscled unlike Peter, who looked older and short.
"What's your name?"
Peter's eyes no longer shimmered like molten silver as I turned back to him. "Anna Barnhart."
"German," he murmured absentmindedly under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Hmm? Oh." Smiling, Peter sat up and gestured around with his meaty hands. "Your surname is German. I note these things when I meet people. Even so, I could tell by looking at you what you are. Tall and muscular for a woman. Black hair, pale and blue eyes. Broad nose. Tell-tale German."
I must have looked utterly bewildered because Nathan chuckled in the background, "Just ignore him."
"Right..." I cleared my throat. "How did you even get in here? The werewolves have been prowling around these blocks on an hourly basis."
"The wolves can't tell the difference between a lycan's scent and their own," Peter remarked with an eye roll.
My chest tightened. "A lycan? You're a lycan?"
"Yes, but I am not who you think I am. Silly girl." He leaned forward to press his elbows against his legs. I could smell the meat he'd eaten hours earlier on his breath. "If I was Basileus, you would be dead."
"I thought Basileus was the only Lycan?"
"Most who know nothing would think that," he replied. "You're a human, so I wouldn't expect you to know any better."
I touched my chest in shock and surprise. Was I just insulted for my genes? Granted, most wolves treated us like dirt since their precious leader ordered them to decimate us, but I wasn't used to personal attacks. Damn.
"Why are you here?" I asked firmly. Let's cut to the shit, I thought irritably. It was easier to get mad than let my fear rule.
"Here with you? Well, that is merely accidental, Anna Barnhart. But I am here in this city because Basileus will be here come mid-morning."
"You're here to rally with him?"
"Ah, not exactly." Peter drew in a breath and straightened up again. "I was once Basileus' Beta. Do you know what that means?"
I shook my head.
"It means I was his left-hand man. There are ranks in a wolf pack. Alpha is at the top. Basileus believes himself to be the Alpha of all Alphas—a king. But then there is his Beta. Which was once me and is now some disbanded wolf who never had any leadership in any pack," he huffed, somehow personally offended. "Then the Alpha has other lackeys. Gammas and Deltas. Anyway, Basileus and I are the last lycans. All the others are long dead."
"What happened to the others?"
An annoyed look was directed at me. "They went extinct. Evolution and all that. Lycans couldn't shift. They didn't have inner humans. So Nature evolved lycans to the current wolf, which now has two facets of himself. His human and his wolf."
"And I somehow descended from that?" I asked, clearly disbelieving.
"No. You came from a hairy, smelly, shit-eating ape, darling."
Nathan started chuckling again. I squinted at both of them and then resigned myself to a sigh.
"Okay," I started up again, "why aren't you Basileus' Alpha anymore?"
"Beta. And I disagreed with what he was doing. He's become disillusioned from his time in the celestial realm. I thi—"
"Celestial...I heard you say that on the roof," I said.
Peter nodded. "Yes, I was referring to the space where Basileus was while dead. It is some spiritual realm we can't comprehend here. All lycans and wolves go there when dead, and I suspect even you shit-eating ape descendants do too."
My brain was spinning out of control, unable to comprehend all of this. "Wait. What? How is he here if he died?"
"Long story for another night. All you need to know for now is that I left Basileus to counter his global revolution. I am for protecting humans and he is for slaughtering them. Obviously. And you may be the last human alive in this area. You will be coming with us."
"But the wolves—"
"Will does not smell you," he cut me off. "You will ride on me. Nathan is used to walking beside me, as my scent usually overpowers his. You will be safe, Anna Barnhart."
There was no arguing with this strange lycan man who had left me full of so many unanswered questions. I could stow them away until a better time. One, however, was too important to wait.
"Shouldn't you be fleeing from him, instead of coming to the city he'll be in?" I asked.
A strange kind of smile crossed his face. "Not for the plan I am following, naive human. I intend to end this all tonight."
I knew he was expecting some dramatic moment but I was still dumbfounded. "And how the hell do you expect to do that? It's not like we can magically reverse all the damage that's been done."
"That's true, but we can prevent others from dying."
"How? You kill Basileus and all the wolves under him are going to continue hunting humans for revenge. You can't just steal the damn throne and expect everyone to listen to you."
Peter paused for the first time since this conversation began. Smiling again, he leaned back in his chair. "Passionate. I like you, Anna Barnhart."
"It's just Anna."
"Anna, there is a reason you are alive and everyone else is dead. You know this, I presume?"
My brows furrowed as I said, "Luck."
He clucked his tongue. "No, no. Luck doesn't keep you alive. Intelligence, spells, and Nature keep you alive. Unless you know a powerful oracle, I'm going to assume it isn't a spell that has allowed you to make it this far." His lips stretched up to reveal his gleaming white teeth while he stood up. "You must be at least decently intelligent and, more importantly, have won the favor of Nature. This is very good."
Without further explaining his nonsensical rambling, Peter headed for the door.
"Wait!" I rushed up to my feet after him. "Where are you going?"
He stopped beside Nathan at the office door to look back at me. "We are going to kidnap the only thing in this world that truly matters to Basileus. Come along now, Anna the human."