Chapter Sixty: Storm on the Horizon
Chapter Sixty: Storm on the Horizon
Night came early, cloaking Rainfall in the kind of quiet that only meant trouble. The east gate stood braced but not whole, the repairs solid enough for now, though every wolf who passed it glanced at the timbers like they expected them to fail at the first touch of an enemy’s claws.
Faith stood atop the northern watchtower, the wind cutting across her face. The sky was swollen with clouds, and somewhere beyond them, the Blood Moon was rising. Its pull thrummed through her veins not gentle, but sharp, like the promise of coming violence.
Below, David paced the yard with two of his senior warriors, their low voices carrying snatches of words to her ears. Scouts spotted movement… more than a dozen… Orell colors.
It had been three days since the attack at the gate, the pack was moving with a new kind of unity now but unity could shatter just as quickly as it formed. And Divine Orell would strike at that fault line if she could.
Footsteps climbed the watchtower ladder, steady and unhurried. David emerged from the shadows, the scar along his jaw stark in the moonlight.
“She’s coming,” he said without preamble.
Faith didn’t ask how he knew. David’s instincts for war were as reliable as any prophecy.
“Our scouts saw her banners on the eastern ridge,” he continued. “Too many to count from a distance. They’re not probing this time they’re preparing to end it.”
Faith’s fingers tightened on the wooden rail. “Under the Blood Moon.”
He gave a single, grim nod. “She’ll want the omen on her side. Blood Moon battles are remembered for generations.”
Faith turned to face him fully. The wind carried his scent, tangled with smoke and iron and something that was only David. “Then we make sure it’s remembered for the right reasons.”
His mouth quirked, not in amusement but in approval. “You’ve been in the mud with them. They’ll follow you now. But Faith…” His gaze locked with hers. “Once this begins, there’s no pulling you back. You’ll be in the thick of it.”
“I already was,” she reminded him. “And I’m still standing.”
For a moment, the air between them was thick with more than just strategy it was the unspoken truth that their bond had changed everything. If either of them fell, the other wouldn’t survive it whole.
From the ridge beyond the forest, the faint sound of a war horn cut through the night. It was distant, but it was moving closer.
Faith felt her wolf surge beneath her skin, the pulse of the moon dragging her toward the inevitable.
“They’ll be here by dawn,” David said, his voice low. “We hold the gates, force them into the choke points. And when they break through…”
“We break them back,” she finished.
He reached for her, his palm warm against the side of her face. “No matter what happens tomorrow, you are my Luna. They’ll have to kill me to take you.”
Faith leaned into his touch for a breath before pulling back, her eyes on the treeline where shadows shifted in the moonlight.
The Blood Moon climbed higher, staining the clouds red. Somewhere out there, Divine was gathering her wolves, sharpening her blades, and marking the hours until she struck.
Faith tightened her grip on the rail. “Let her come.”
The wind carried the scent of coming rain and war.