Three years ago...

Noah POV

It seemed like my breath was knocked out of my lungs as I stared at the shrunken, severed head of Tanner in the wooden chest. My heart was pounding so fast and loud that I feared Xavier and Kurtis would hear it. The figure in the chest was unmistakably, Tanner. 

For one, he had the hidden mark of a Lycan King carved on his left ear and then my eyes spotted a hand that had the royal seal and ring of a Lycan that glues on our skin from the day we take our oath until the day we hand over to our successor. For the ring to still be in his hand and possession, meant that he didn't hand it over to anyone.