Fifty Nine: Blades in the Moonlight
Mara’s POV
Steel clashed against claws. Shadows darted between the trees, howling and snarling, their eyes glinting feral crimson. The scent of blood thickened the air, iron and smoke and fury.
Ronald was a storm at the center of it, his wolf tearing through the rogues with brutal precision.
His growls reverberated through my bones, and every time he struck, I felt the echo of it, like it was my own blood singing for battle.
My wolf surged up, answering his call before I could stop her.
Not now, I hissed in my mind, but she was already slipping free, her strength weaving into my limbs, her hunger a reflection of his.
Every movement felt amplified, the air sharper, the earth more alive.
Two rogues lunged from the left. I spun, ducking low, my claws slashing across one’s throat before sinking into the other’s chest.
Hot blood sprayed, staining my hands.
Ronald’s voice roared through the chaos. “Behind you!”
I twisted just as another attacker’s blade gleamed in the moonlight. Too slow, but Ronald was faster.
He slammed into the rogue, his claws ripping the man’s arm clean from his shoulder.
The body fell.
I met Ronald’s eyes through the smoke and shadows, gold meeting silver.
For a heartbeat, neither of us breathed. The world narrowed to the bond that cursed, burning tether that refused to break.
My pulse stuttered.
His lips curled,the faintest trace of relief flickering in his gaze. “You’re welcome.”
I glared, forcing my shaking hands to steady. “Don’t flatter yourself, Bloodfang, I don’t need saving.”
His smirk faded, replaced by something darker, heavier. “You would’ve been dead.”
I stepped closer, claws still glinting. “Maybe that would’ve been easier than standing beside you.”
That made him flinch, and for some reason, it hurt me too.
But before the thought could settle, another wave of rogues broke through the tree line, dozens of them, moving in perfect, unnatural rhythm.
My wolf snarled inside me. Something’s wrong. They don’t move like rogues.
I saw it too. Their eyes weren’t wild, they were cold, calculating.
Ronald noticed it as well, his stance shifting. “These aren’t ordinary strays. Someone trained them.”
“Or sent them,” I snapped, circling to his right. “We’re not their targets, I am.”
He glanced at me, brows furrowed. “And you think I’d let them touch you?”
I bared my teeth. “I don’t need your protection.”
“Too bad,” he growled. “You have it.”
Then he moved, faster than I’d ever seen him, shifting mid-stride, fur bursting across his skin, his body transforming into the massive black wolf I’d seen only once before.
Power radiated from him, ancient and lethal. My own wolf rose in answer, a silver blur in my veins, pushing to the surface. I didn’t resist this time.
The shift came like lightning, bones reshaping, skin splitting, fur catching the moonlight until I stood beside him, my wolf glowing pale against his darkness.
The rogues hesitated. Just for a moment. That was all we needed.
We attacked as one.
The bond between us flared so hot it burned. Every instinct, every strike, every breath, mirrored. His growl vibrated through my chest; my leap matched his.
It was as if we were two halves of the same heartbeat.
He’s yours, my wolf whispered. Yours as you are his.
No! I snapped, slashing through a rogue’s throat. He’s the reason they died. The reason we’re alone.
But even as I said it, my body betrayed me. Every time he moved, I followed.
Every time he was hit, pain flashed through me like fire under my skin. The bond didn’t care for hatred, it only knew connection.
A blade whistled through the air, catching Ronald’s side. He stumbled, blood spilling black against his fur.
I didn’t think so. I moved.
Before the rogue could strike again, I slammed into him, knocking him off balance. The silver dagger in his hand fell into the dirt as I tore into his throat, ripping until he stopped moving.
The world went still for a second, and I stood there panting, blood dripping from my jaws.
Ronald shifted back, his hand pressing to his wound. His chest heaved. “You…”
“Don’t thank me,” I snapped, forcing my wolf back into human form. My voice shook, but not from exhaustion. “I only saved you so I could kill you myself one day.”
He stared at me, golden eyes glowing faintly in the moonlight. Then, instead of arguing, he laughed, a low, broken sound that made my stomach twist.
“Then you’ll have to keep saving me,” he said. “Because I’m not dying here.”
Before I could answer, something strange rippled through the clearing. A hum and a vibration.
The remaining rogues froze, heads twitching like they were hearing something we couldn’t.
Ronald stiffened. “Do you hear that?”
I nodded slowly. “It’s… coming from them.”
Their eyes rolled white, bodies convulsing. Then one of them, half-dead already, bleeding from the throat, crawled toward us.
His mask hung loose, revealing pale skin branded with a symbol I didn’t recognize.
Ronald crouched low, claws half-formed again. “Stay back.”
But I knelt first, grabbing the dying man by the collar. “Who sent you?”
He choked on blood, a wheezing grin twisting his face. “You don’t know?” His eyes flicked between us, fever-bright. “The Council… wants the heir’s heart.”
My blood ran cold.
Ronald’s growl rumbled behind me, deep and murderous. “What did you say?”
The rogue coughed, smiling wider even as his life faded. “You can’t protect her… Alpha. The Council already knows she lives.”
Then his body went limp.
Silence crashed down, broken only by the whispering wind and the rustle of trees.
Ronald’s hand came to rest on my shoulder, hesitant, almost gentle. “Mara…”
I shook him off and stood, heart pounding. The Council. My father’s killers. The same people who had ordered my bloodline erased.
“They know,” I whispered. “They know who I am.”
Ronald’s gaze locked with mine. His jaw tightened, the weight of realization heavy in his eyes. “Then they’ll come for you.”
I met his stare, my wolf snarling inside me. “Let them try.”
He stepped closer, close enough that I could feel his breath, smell the blood drying on his skin. “You’re not facing them alone.”
I wanted to argue. To tell him that his pack had already destroyed mine. That his promises meant nothing. But the bond pulsed again, fierce and alive, and my voice failed me.
Instead, I said quietly, “Then you’d better keep up, Bloodfang. Because this time, I’m not running.”
His lips curved, not in triumph, but something like respect. “Good.”
We turned together toward the dark line of the trees, where the night waited, full of danger and destiny.
The moon hung above us like an omen, its light painting our blood-streaked skin silver.
The Council wanted the heir’s heart.
But before they could take it, they’d have to go through both of us and gods help them when they try.