Chapter 62 New Abilities Manifest
Ryder POV
The blizzard hits like a freight train.One minute, we're watching the ridge where enemy scouts gathered. The next, the world turns white. Snow whips sideways, so thick I can barely see Knox standing three feet away.
"Elena wasn't kidding about the storm!" Knox shouts over the howling wind.
"Position yourselves!" I point to the defensive spots we marked. "They'll push through anyway. The storm just slows them down."
Doc disappears into the cabin to set up his medical station. Knox melts into the forest on the left. I take position behind a fallen log with clear sight lines to the main approach.
Jolie stands in the center of the clearing, completely still. Snow swirls around her but doesn't touch her—like she's wrapped in an invisible bubble.
"Get to cover!" I yell.
She doesn't move. Doesn't even acknowledge she heard me.
Silver light pulses beneath her skin, brighter with each passing second. Her eyes glow like twin moons.
Then I feel it through the mate bond. She's not just standing there. She's reaching out with her power, mapping every living thing within miles.
"Ryder." Her voice carries clearly despite the storm. "Eighteen wolves approaching from three directions. Six from the north. Seven from the east. Five from the west."
"How can you."
"I can feel them." She turns to look at me, and her eyes are completely silver now. No pupils. No iris. Just moonlight. "Their heartbeats. Their pack bonds. Even their intentions. Gio leads the eastern group. He's terrified but too proud to retreat."
The mate bond floods with her awareness. For a second, I see what she sees—a web connecting every wolf in the territory. Our pack bonds glow bright white. The approaching hunters pulse with sickly red light.
"They're entering the trap zones," Knox's voice crackles through the radio. "First line of defense activated."
Screams echo through the blizzard. Wolves yelping as they hit the silver-laced snares.
"Three down." Jolie tilts her head, listening to something I can't hear. "Four. Five. They're regrouping, trying to find safe paths."
"How are you doing this?" I move closer to her.
"Luna's showing me." She blinks, and her eyes return to normal for a moment. "I can see through her sight now. Every wolf on sacred ground is visible to me."
A huge gray wolf bursts through the tree line, limping heavily. Blood stains the snow behind him.
"Hold your fire!" Jolie raises her hand. "He's hurt, not hostile."
"He's with them!" I aim my rifle.
"Please." The wolf shifts mid-stride, becoming a young man barely twenty. He collapses in the snow, clutching a silver-burned leg. "I didn't want to come. Alpha Thorne forced us. Please, I just want to go home."
Jolie walks toward him. I move to intercept, but she waves me off.
"It's okay." She kneels beside the injured wolf. "I can feel his truth. He's not our enemy."
"Jolie, don't"
Too late. She presses her hands to his burned leg.
Silver light explodes outward. The wolf gasps as his flesh knits back together, silver burns fading like they were never there.
But Jolie staggers. I catch her before she falls.
"That took too much." She leans heavily on me. "Healing is so much harder than attacking."
"Then don't heal them!" I support her weight. "Let the enemy suffer."
"He's not the enemy." She straightens with effort. "He's a victim. There's a difference."
The healed wolf stares at his leg in shock. "You're the moonfire wolf. The one Alpha Thorne wants to capture."
"Tell him he can't have me." Jolie's voice hardens. "Now run before my mate changes his mind about letting you live."
The wolf doesn't need to be told twice. He shifts and bolts into the storm.
"You're too soft," I mutter.
"And you're too hard." She touches my face. "That's why we balance each other."
More wolves pour into the clearing. These ones don't hesitate. They charge straight at us, weapons drawn.
Jolie raises both hands. Moonfire erupts from her palms, forming a wall of silver flames between us and the attackers.
"Stay back!" Her voice echoes with divine authority. "Turn around and live. Continue forward and burn."
Two wolves try to push through the flames. Their screams are cut short as the moonfire consumes them, leaving nothing but ash.
The others skid to a stop, suddenly reconsidering their life choices.
"The little ash has teeth now." Gio's voice carries across the clearing. "How disappointing. I preferred you weak and useful."
He steps into view, flanked by four massive warriors. My brother-in-law looks different from the last time I saw him—older, harder, with a line on his face that weren't there before.
"Hello, brother." Jolie's voice stays calm, but I feel her rage through the bond. "Come to trade me away again?"
"Come to bring you home." Gio smiles, but there's no warmth in it. "Father wants to apologize. The pack needs you. We need your power now that we understand what you are."
"What I am?" Jolie laughs, cold and sharp. "You mean now that I'm useful? Now that you can profit from me?"
"Don't be dramatic." Gio takes a step forward. The moonfire wall flares, and he stops. "You're still pack. Still family. Come home where you belong."
"I am home." She reaches back and takes my hand. "With wolves who valued me before I had power. Who loved me when I was still the weakest."
"Him?" Gio sneers at me. "A rogue? You'd choose him over your own blood?"
"Every single time." She squeezes my hand. "Blood means nothing without loyalty. You taught me that when you almost sold me to Thorne."
"That was business!" Gio's mask slips, showing genuine anger. "Father's decision mostly!"
"You didn't stop him." light flickers in Jolie's free hand. "You celebrated. I heard you laughing about finally being rid of the pack shame."
The words hit Gio. "That's not—I didn't"
"I can see your memories now." Jolie's voice softens with pity. "Luna grants me that gift. I see you convincing Father to trade me. I see you negotiating the price. I see you lying to Mother about where I went."
"You're lying." But Gio's voice wavers.
"Am I?" Jolie takes a step forward, passing through her own moonfire wall like it's not even there. "Touch me. Let me show you what I see."
"Stay back!" One of Gio's warriors moves to protect him.
Too late. Jolie's hand brushes the warrior's arm as he passes.
The man's eyes go wide. His mouth opens in a silent scream. He drops his weapon and falls to his knees, tears streaming down his face.
"I'm sorry." The warrior sobs. "Gods, I'm so sorry. The things I've done. The wolves I've hurt."
"What did you do to him?" Gio backs away.
"I showed him the truth." Jolie releases the warrior, who collapses in the snow, still weeping. "I made him feel every moment of pain he's inflicted on others. Every cruel word. Every violent act. All of it from the victim's perspective."
She looks at her hand like it's a stranger. "I didn't know I could do that until I touched him. Luna's gifts keep manifesting."
The clearing goes silent. Even the storm seems to quiet.
"You're a monster." Gio's voice shakes. "That's torture."
"Is it?" Jolie tilts her head. "Or is it justice? He hurt people and felt nothing. Now he understands. Now he can choose to be better."
"You've lost your mind." Gio signals his remaining warriors. "Take her. Try not to damage her too much."
They charge as one.
Jolie doesn't move. Doesn't even raise her hands.
She just looks at them.
Silver light erupts from every wolf simultaneously. They scream and drop, writhing in the snow as memories flood through them. Memories of every person they've wronged. Every wolf they've beaten. Every omega they've abused.
"Stop!" Gio falls to his knees. "Gods, please stop! I can feel it all! The fear. The pain. Little Ash, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
Jolie blinks, and the light fades.
The wolves lay gasping in the snow, broken and weeping. Not physically harmed. But changed. Fundamentally altered by experiencing the consequences of their actions.
"I didn't mean to do that." Jolie stares at her hands. "I just wanted them to understand. I just wanted"
She collapses.
I catch her before she hits the ground. Her skin burns with fever, and her eyes roll back in her head.
"Doc!" I carry her toward the cabin. "Doc, I need you now!"
Knox emerges from the tree line, staring at the crying wolves scattered across the clearing. "What in the hell just happened?"
"Jolie happened." I kick the cabin door open. "And I think she scared herself more than she scared them."