Chapter 87

Chapter 87
{Ryanna’s POV}

The atmosphere still lingered with the aroma of fire, long after the last blaze had died.

Char and blood. Fur and soot. And beneath it all, something sickly, like burnt bone marrow and scorched bile.

I stepped over a collapsed beam, my boots sank into something that might be the floor of a small dining hall. The walls were gone now. So were the wolves who once laughed inside it.

We were too late.

A decent number of the pack mates had been slaughtered before we arrived. And the remaining… most wished they hadn’t.

I felt my heart tight as I moved through the wreckage slowly, my jaw clenched, each breath felt like a weight pressing on my ribs.

A pup no older than seven winters lay twirled under his brother’s corpse, tiny arms frozen in place where they clutched him like a doll. The boy’s eyes were shut, but there was no peace in his face. Only fear, sealed in by fire.

I snapped my head away. Already recreating the image in my mind.

Casper reached him first. He didn’t alter a word or shout, just knelt and covered the boy’s body with the remains of a tent. Then moved on.

I stood besides Casper and the boy for a long time, watching smoke coil upward from still-burning wood.

“Why?” I mumbled, barely audible. “Why this?”

“Because we defied him,” Ophelia answered grimly from behind me.

The rest of the Council arrived a minute later, wounded and weary. We had intercepted some wolves on our way here. A mini battle ensued, but one no less grim than what these souls would have faced. 

Adolph’s arm was slashed crudely, and Magnus had blood in his beard. Their wolves weren’t in much better shape.

I searched, just to be sure, but Nyra wasn’t here yet.

She’d been on the frontlines on other battlefields. That was why this happened — Aurelius had waited, watched, then struck when her house was defenseless.

“Alpha incoming,” Basten muttered, eyes on the treeline.

Nyra emerged shortly after, followed by a dozen or so of her men. She didn’t even break stride when she stepped over a corpse. Her cloak whipped behind her as she approached me, her cheeks striped with dirt and soot, lips pressed tight against grief. But her eyes — her eyes burned with clarity.

“I heard the bell,” she said. “I heard when the attack started. I came as fast as I could… I…”

I didn’t respond. What could I say?

She glanced once toward the little pup beneath the tent cloth. Her throat bobbed.

Still, she didn’t cry.

An expression flashed across my face then.

“Don’t you dare blame yourself. This wasn’t you. This was him. You hear me?” she snapped at me.

“They were your people, Nyra—”

“And that bastard slaughtered them because I stood by you. Because I still do.”

Around us, some of her remaining wolves stirred uneasily. A younger one with fresh blood crusted across his snout stepped forward, tone sharp. “Alpha… is righteousness worth extinction? Your cousin died in this battle. He… he died protecting my sister…”

“Watch yourself,” she warned.

“Aurelius has monsters,” the wolf pushed.

“You see what happened. It's all around us! If we stay loyal—”

“We are loyal,” she said, cutting him off. “And if you think our dead would rather we cower and beg to the ones who did this… then you didn’t know them at all.”

The pup fell silent.

“I’ll hear no more of that talk,” she said to the others.

“Our children didn’t die for us to kneel.”

I finally looked up at her. “You still want to hold the line?”

“Damn right I do. Give me any line. I will protect it with my dying breath. Even if I need to return to my station soon.”

I considered. “You’ll need backup.”

She grunted.

I met her gaze. “Fine. But I’m fighting beside you.”

Her jaw ticked. Then she nodded once.

“Good. We can bleed together then.”

Casper approached, glancing between us. “What about Lestat?”

“Exactly what I was thinking. If Aurelius wants to pick us off piece by piece, we can’t afford to wait.”

“I’ll go,” Casper said immediately.

I didn’t argue.

Rather, I moved closer and placed my hand gently on his shoulder — a calm signal. He blinked once, then gave a subtle nod. He got the message.

The plan had begun.

“Ride fast. Don’t shift unless you must. You have to conserve energy and recover from the last shift.”

“I will.” He squeezed my hand once before disappearing with a couple of wolves we'd brought along.

Behind us, the Council gathered, bone-tired and battered.

“You need to fall back, all of you. Get to Snow Pack territory. Rest. Heal. You’ll be of no use to me here.” I told them. 

Adolph grunted. “You’ll be alone.”

“No,” Nyra said, staring in the direction of Silver Haven. “She’ll be with me.”

One by one, my Council gave me tired salutes, then slipped away into the deepening dusk. I waited until they were gone before breathing again.

Now it was just us.

And whatever darkness the night would bring.

Nyra didn’t speak for a while.

We stood atop a rocky ridge overlooking what used to be one of her gathering houses. The frame was all that remained. That, and a few hanging strips of tent that jingled when the wind passed through.

“Elders still haven’t spoken,” she said eventually.

“I know.”

“You think they’re waiting to see who wins?”

“I think they’ll pick the side that tips the scale.” I rubbed my temples. “It's something I expected.”

“If Aurelius gets them—”

“Then the gods help us.” I completed it for her.

Another quiet followed,  then she asked: “He’s not going to stop, is he?”

“No.”

She tilted her head toward me. “And neither are we.”

We both straightened. At first, it might’ve looked like we were settling down for the night. Getting warm. Easing aches.

But that wasn’t what this was.

We smelled it.

An overwhelming smell of death and decay carried by the wind.

Aurelius must have sent them to destroy what was left of the Redpine Pack. Maybe because his men didn't return. Maybe he wanted to kill anyone who knew he had attacked Redpine.

His reason didn’t matter.

My nails extended slowly as I flexed my fingers. While Nyra cracked her knuckles, then rolled her shoulders.

Down in the trees, the air thickened.

The echoes of footsteps multiplied. The night's silence was punctured with sounds that possibly could' have come from living creatures. 

Finally, the sound was followed by one-two-three pairs of gleaming, ever-changing eyes.

“Death Wraiths,” Nyra muttered, almost with glee.

“Looks like we don’t get to mourn after all,” I said.

She smirked. “Good.”

I dropped to all fours, letting my wolf come alive.

The wind howled.

And we howled with it.