Page 23 of Red Hood, Bad Wolf

The implications hit Rowan like a physical blow. "Alder's mother..."

"Wolfsbane and silver, carefully measured. Just enough to make her seem feral." Mae's eyes glittered with dark pride. "The Red Hoods did exactly what I knew they would. So efficient, so quick to eliminate a threat. And Richard?" Her smile turned cruel. "He figured it out too late. Became another trophy for my collection."

"You killed your own son." Rowan's voice shook with horror and rage.

"I protected my territory." Mae's facade cracked, showing the monster beneath. "He would have exposed me, would have destroyed everything I've built. This is my land, my hunting ground." She bared her fangs fully now. "And you, little Red Hood, have wandered right into my trap."

"What a big mistake you've made." Rowan drew her blade in one smooth motion, silver gleaming in the late morning light.

Mae's laugh turned to a growl. "Have I? Poor Alder, losing another loved one to the Red Hoods. He'll never trust your kind again after I'm done with you." She flexed her fingers, claws extending. "What big eyes you have, little Red. The better to see your death coming."

Mae struck with supernatural speed, but Rowan's magic flared, throwing up a shield of crimson energy. The protective barrier sizzled where Mae's claws raked across it, leaving smoking gouges deeper than they should have been.

"Did you really think you were the first to suspect?" Mae circled, her movements fluid and precise. "Others came before you. Red Hood witches who noticed too much, who thought their magic would save them." Her smile was all fang now. "They all died screaming."

Rowan gathered her power and sent a blast of binding magic toward Mae. The spell that should have locked a werewolf in place barely slowed her.She’s wrong, Rowan's training screamed.The binding should have held.

"Surprised?" Mae's laugh echoed with dark triumph. "Decades of exposure build resistance, little Red. Did you think I gathered wolfsbane just for my daughter-in-law?" She shrugged off another spell like it was mist. "I've spent years studying Red Hood magic. Every spell. Every ward. Every weakness."

The next attack shattered Rowan's shield, sending her stumbling back. She pulled power from the earth, weaving it into a counter-strike, but Mae was toying with her now, each move showing centuries of accumulated knowledge about fighting witch-kind.

"I watched you all." Mae's voice was conversational, as if they were still sharing tea. "The witches, the rangers, my own son. Learned their patterns. Their defenses." She batted aside a fire spell like swatting a fly. "Just like I learned yours. So confident in your magic, your training. Never thinking the grandmother might be the monster until it was too late."

Rowan's strongest binding spell dissipated against Mae's skin like water on hot steel. "You won't get away with this."

"I already have. For decades." Mae's next strike broke through Rowan's magical defenses, her claws raking flesh. It burned like fire. "And when they find your body, torn apart despite your magic, who will they blame? The sweet old grandmother?" Her laugh was razor-edged. "Or the dangerous pack that already lost one member to moon madness?"

Rowan tried to gather more power, but Mae's hand closed around her throat, disrupting her concentration. "Poor Alder, losing another love to 'feral' wolves. At least this time he'll have his pack rally behind him. Good riddance to a bad witch."

Through the pain, through the mate bond's desperate keening, Rowan suddenly understood. "You've been controlling him since he was a child. Killing anyone who might take him away from you."

"He's mine." The words erupted in a growl. "My territory, my pack, my grandson." Mae's claws dug deeper, and Rowan felt her magic flickering, weakening. "I won't let some Red Hood witch steal what's mine."

Rowan struggled, but Mae's power was overwhelming, centuries of accumulated resistance making her nearly immune to magical attacks. Black spots danced at the edges of her vision as her claws raked across the forearm she managed to get up to save her throat. The mate bond howled in her mind, but it was too late. Too late to warn Alder, too late to save herself, too late—

Glass shattered above them in an explosive cascade.

Alder crashed through the window in a spray of glass, his wolf form massive and dark with fury. He slammed into Mae, ripping her away from Rowan with a force that sent them both rolling across the ground.

Rowan gasped for air, magic surging back as her concentration returned. The mate bond exploded into full awareness, carrying Alder's rage and horror and love—so much love—it nearly brought her to her knees.

Mae recovered impossibly fast, facing her grandson with teeth bared. "You don't understand," she said, her voice still carrying that deceptive honey tone. "The territory has to be protected. Humans encroaching, Red Hoods interfering—I did what was necessary."

"You killed my mother." Alder's words came out in a growl as he shifted back to human form, his eyes blazing alpha red. "My father. You've been killing innocent people for years."

"Innocent?" Mae's laugh held an edge of madness now. "They were trespassers. Threats. Your mother would have exposed us to the humans. Your father would have destroyed everything I built." Her claws flexed. "Every death made our territory safer."

Raw power exploded from Alder, his Alpha authority filling the clearing. But Mae didn't submit, didn't even flinch.

"You think being Alpha protects you?" Her smile showed too many teeth. "I've spent decades preparing for this. Who do you think they'll blame when they find another Red Hood dead on our territory?"

She lunged for Rowan again, but this time Rowan was ready. Her magic burst forth in crimson ribbons, wrapping around Mae's legs. Alder struck from the other side, his claws raking across his grandmother's back. Mae howled—not in pain, but in fury.

But she'd forgotten something crucial. Something even decades of studying Red Hood magic couldn't prepare her for.

The mate bond.

Power surged between Rowan and Alder, their magics linking, amplifying. Red Hood witch and Alpha werewolf, their strengths combining into something Mae had never encountered in all her years of hunting.

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