Chapter 96 — Ashes Before Dawn
The moment came quietly. After all the noise, all the chaos, all the blood-soaked fear–silence crept in like a cautious guest.
One by one, the rogue wolves realized what we already knew. They were outnumbered.
Their growls turned frantic. Their attacks lost coordination. Then suddenly, as if a silent command had been given, they began to retreat. Wolves that moments ago had fought with wild desperation now ran–leaping over broken windows, disappearing into the dark forest beyond the mansion grounds.
They ran for their lives. For fear of being captured. For fear of what Edward would do to them if they stayed.
I stayed frozen in my corner, my arms wrapped tightly around myself, my body trembling as the danger finally pulled away. My ears rang with the ghost of growls long after they had faded.
The fight was over. But the cost lingered everywhere.
Slowly, the wolves of the Thorne mansion began to shift back into their human forms. The sound of bones settling, breath returning to human rhythm, filled the air. Injured wolves were helped up, some limping, some bleeding, some barely standing.
Two bodies lay still. Two lives lost.
I pressed my lips together, fighting back tears. I didn’t know them that much, but I felt the weight of their absence immediately. The mansion felt heavier. Quieter in a painful way.
Outside, Edward shifted back.
I didn’t see it, but I felt it–the powerful presence receding, the Alpha returning to flesh and bone. Titan was already moving, efficient and calm even after the storm. He brought Edward’s wheelchair and a thick robe, draping it over him as if this were any ordinary night.
But it wasn’t. As soon as Titan wheeled Edward back into the mansion, my knees nearly gave out.
Relief crashed through me so hard it felt like pain.
Ma’am Albright exhaled sharply beside me. “Thanks to the Moon Goddess,” she whispered.
Edward’s eyes found me immediately.
He didn’t say anything–didn’t need to. The look in his eyes told me everything. He was alive. He was here. And he had fought like hell to keep us safe.
“Ma’am Albright,” Edward said, his voice low but steady. “Make sure everyone and everything is taken care of. The dead… handle them with respect, we will reach out to their families tomorrow.”
She nodded, already moving. “I’ll see to it.”
He looked back at me one last time before turning his wheelchair toward his room.
“Get some rest,” he said gently. “You’re safe now.”
I nodded, though I wasn’t sure sleep would ever come again. Not after this.
It didn’t take long before reinforcements arrived. I was sitting quietly in the corner of the living room, wrapped in a blanket someone had placed around my shoulders, when I heard the familiar voices.
Kian and Damien.
They rushed in with extra security–more beta wolves from the pack, their presence heavy and commanding. Their eyes widened as they took in the state of the mansion.
Broken windows yawned open to the night air. Furniture lay overturned and shattered. Blood stained the floors and walls, dark and drying. The once-elegant mansion looked like a battlefield.
“What the hell happened here?” Kian muttered, running a hand through his hair.
Damien’s jaw clenched. His eyes were dark, sharp, scanning every detail. He didn’t say a word, but I could feel his anger from where I sat.
They met Edward in his study.
I didn’t mean to listen–but my senses were still too sharp and I was very close to Edward’s room.
“This was an attack,” Edward said, his voice cold with fury. “On my home.”
There was a pause.
“How dare they?” he continued, his control cracking just enough to reveal the rage beneath. “How dare they come to my mansion–my house–without fear?”
I imagined his hands gripping the armrests of his wheelchair.
“They think I’m weak now,” he said bitterly. “Because I can’t walk. That’s the only explanation. No one would have had the guts otherwise.”
Kian spoke next, his tone thoughtful but tense. “This wasn’t random, Edward. Someone had to give them information. The number of guards. The timing. I believe this was planned by someone in this mansion.”
An insider.
The word echoed in my mind, cold and heavy.
Damien fell silent beside them, his jaw tightening. His eyes darkened as a single name surfaced in his thoughts.
There’s only one person reckless enough to try this. Damien’s hands slowly curled into fists. “Nobody wants to die by Edward’s hand”, he thought grimly. “Nobody… except someone who believes she’s untouchable, and that is Vivian”.
A sharp breath escaped him before he could stop it. His anger slipped through the cracks of his usually controlled expression.
Damien fell silent beside them, his jaw tightening. His eyes darkened as a single name surfaced in his thoughts.
“This was reckless”.
His fingers slowly curled into fists at his sides. “If she was going to do something this insane, she should have thought it through or informed me about it”. A sharp pulse of anger cut through him.
The words stayed locked inside his mind, heavy and burning.
Edward’s voice hardened. “The question now is–why did they come? Who was the target?”
Another pause.
“When Elara and Ma’am Albright came downstairs,” Edward said, “every rogue turned toward them. Every single one. They rushed them.”
My chest tightened.
“So it was one of them,” Kian said. “Or both.”
Silence followed. Heavy. Final.
Kian sighed. “For tonight, everyone needs rest. We’ve doubled security. Damien and I will stay here tonight and by tomorrow-we will start a proper investigation.”
“I need to know everything about this attack by tomorrow,” Edward said, his voice like steel.
After hearing some part of their conversation, I left for my room in the guest wing. Later, alone in my room, I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at my hands.
They wouldn’t stop shaking.
Earlier, I had gone to sleep happy. Peaceful. Certain before this attack. Now the mansion felt haunted by what almost happened.
I thought of Edward–how he had fought with everything he had. How he had protected me without hesitation. How close I had come to losing him before I ever said yes.
Tomorrow, I will give him my answer. I know this is not the time but I will accept his proposal to be his girlfriend.
Outside, the moon still hung high in the sky–silent, watchful, unchanged.