Chapter 168 CHAPTER 168

Chapter 168 CHAPTER 168

I went downstairs and the main hall was full.

Wolves packed into every corner, sitting on the floor, leaning against walls, most standing because there wasn't enough furniture for everyone. They went quiet when I appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

Hunter was by the entrance. He'd cleaned up and changed into fresh clothes. His eyes traced every bandage on me before he nodded once.

A man stood from the front. Tall, lean, a scar running from his temple to his jaw. His eyes carried the kind of tiredness that sleep couldn't fix.

Maybe a total reset, the one I was bringing to this Pack.

"Alpha Cassandra,” be greeted, “I'm Beta Orion."

Naa, nothing can heal this man except I developed the ability to raise the dead.

"Orion,” I pulled him into a quick hug that was more for me than him. It did nothing for the guilt I was overwhelmed with. “Katie told me about Anna. I'm sorry."

His jaw worked but he held steady.

"That was a long time ago."

It wasn't. Not really. But I let him have it, he deserved everything peaceful and calm on the day everyone takes a deep breath.

I looked around the hall and my guilt worsened. They all looked worse for wear. A boy who couldn't be older than fourteen sat near the wall, his left arm ending at the elbow in a badly healed stump. Just skin stretched tight over bone.

"What happened to him?" I asked Orion quietly.

"Micheal's wolves caught him stealing bread from the kitchen for his younger siblings. They made an example of him."

The boy noticed me looking and tucked the stump behind his back like he was ashamed of it.

I walked over to him. The wolves between us parted.

"What's your name?"

"Thomas, Alpha." He wouldn't meet my eyes.

"How old were you?"

"Eleven."

Three years ago. A child lost his arm for stealing bread to feed his family in a Pack my parents built to take care of everyone.

I crouched in front of him so he had to look at me.

"You were brave. Don't ever hide that from anyone."

His lip trembled but he nodded.

I stood and faced the room.

"I should have come sooner." The words scraped my throat raw. "I found out who I was months ago and I didn't come. I was scared, I was fighting my own battles, and I told myself it could wait. It couldn't. Every day I waited was another day you suffered under people who had no right to lead you. That's on me."

"Alpha, you were—"

"Let me finish." I swallowed. "I can't undo what happened. I can't give Thomas his arm back. I can't bring back Anna or anyone else they took from you. But I can promise you that this Pack will never be run like that again. Not while I'm breathing."

A woman near the middle stood up. She had a toddler on her hip and fresh tears on her face.

"We tried to kill you," she said, her voice breaking. "That battle was the first time we found out you were alive. The second one, our warriors were all forced to go. My husband was one of them. He didn't want to go but Micheal said he'd take our daughter if he refused."

"Where's your husband now?"

"He didn't come back."

"I'm sorry about your husband," I said. "And I understand why he went. I'm not holding it against anyone who was forced."

She sat back down, clutching her daughter tighter.

I turned to Orion.

"You're staying as Beta. This Pack knows you, trusts you, and you've kept them alive when no one else could. Report directly to me. Anything you need, supplies, warriors, medicine, you call and it's done."

"Yes, Alpha."

"Blood Moon will reinforce the borders. I'll be sending two hundred warriors here when I get back to Red Moon. They will help you train your wolves, feed your people, and rebuild what you can."

"And you, Alpha?" Orion asked, concern in his eyes.

"I'm going back to Red Moon to prepare for war. When the time comes, I'll need every wolf who can fight."

"You'll have them, Alpha."

I gave the hall one last look. These people had been broken for twenty years and they were still here. Still standing, still breathing, still raising children in a place that tried to crush them.

The strength of the Full Moon might wane but it will always prevail.

I walked out into the evening air, the heavy weight lifting off my chest.
I'd done it; I'd avenged my parents.

Hunter was waiting by the car, talking with two of our warriors.

"Ready?" he asked when he saw me approaching.

"Yes, we have to send back two hundred men to stay and help them out. We're leaving ten of our escorts now and the rest will join them later. We leave in twenty minutes so we can be back at Red Moon by sunrise.”

He raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Alpha."

"Don't start,” I smiled reluctantly.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he grinned, already moving.

The convoy pulled out of Full Moon territory as the last light faded.

I held a small carved wooden wolf in my hand. An old woman had pressed it into my palm before we left.

"Your father carved this for your mother when they were courting," she'd said, tears in her eyes. "She kept it on her nightstand. I hid it before Micheal could take it."

My fingers traced the grooves in the wood. Smooth from years of being held. My mother held this. My father made this.

I closed my fist around it and pressed it to my chest.

Hunter drove in silence, his hand on my thigh. The road stretched out in front of us, dark and long.

We hit Red Moon territory as the last traces of night disappeared. The gates opened and Stephan was there, waiting at the Pack house entrance, arms folded, scanning me the second the headlights found him.

I was out of the car before Hunter fully stopped.

"Kitten," he breathed, pulling me in. “How did it go?”
"I won."

"Really? You killed him?”

“He left me no choice. Even his father tried to kill me afterwards, attacking from the back like the coward he was but Hunter stopped him.”

“I'm glad you're back home and in one piece. Ohh I can already feel the change in your aura, delicious.”

“Eww, don't lick my ears, I need to shower.”

“You're my mate and I'll lick you every chance I get. You smell fine to me anyways.”

He held me tighter and I let him because I was so tired my bones ached.

Hunter appeared behind us, stretching his back. "Can we move? I've been driving for six hours and I'm too old for this."

"You're not old," I said.

"My spine disagrees."

We walked inside together with a grin. The Pack house was louder than when I left, fuller. Blood Moon wolves everywhere, mixed in with Red Moon, the merger happening in real time.

I made it to the stairs when it hit me.

Not exhaustion. Not relief.

Red's ears went flat. Her hackles rose so hard my skin prickled.

"Cassie?" Stephan felt it through the bond. "What's wrong?"

I turned to the window at the top of the stairs. The sky was black now, the tree line barely visible.

But something was moving through those trees. A darkness that was darker than the night, spreading like a stain across the border.

The perimeter alarm erupted. One howl, then five, then dozens, rolling across the territory like thunder.

"No," I whispered. "We just got back."

Stephan was already shifting, Thane ripping through his clothes. Hunter spun for the door.

"ALL WARRIORS TO THE BORDERS!" Stephan's Alpha command shook the walls. "NOW!"

Through the trees they came. Not a hundred like the southern road.

Thousands.

And behind them, walking through the carnage like she had all the time in the world, was Zyrell.