Chapter 15 up
The howling didn’t stop all night.
I woke even before the sun touched the tops of the pine trees at Dravaryn’s border. Not because of the sound anymore—my body was already used to danger signals—but because the bond at my neck pulsed stronger than usual.
My wolf was restless.
Not afraid.
Ready.
I sat on the edge of the bed and drew a slow breath. Kael’s scent still clung to the sheets—warm, cedarwood, and something wilder beneath it. He wasn’t in the room. Of course he wasn’t.
An Alpha never sleeps long when a threat is near.
I stood, pulled on training clothes, and stepped outside without calling for guards. If my family wanted to erase my name from their bloodline, then I wouldn’t walk like a shadow that needed protecting.
I would walk like a Luna.
The training field was already alive. Warriors stood in rows, some in partial wolf form. The air smelled of sweat, metal, and tension.
Kael stood at the center.
Straight. Calm. Like a mountain that knew a storm was coming but had no intention of moving.
His gaze found me almost instantly.
Not surprised.
As if he always knew where I was.
“I didn’t order you to be awake this early,” he said when I approached.
“I wasn’t waiting for an order,” I replied.
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
Not a sweet smile.
An acknowledgment.
“New reports?” I asked.
“Second border village attacked,” he said plainly. “The wild pack didn’t take territory. They tested.”
“Testing our response,” I murmured.
He nodded.
I looked at the warriors. They were ready to fight. But beneath their discipline, I could feel the unease.
They knew war was no longer a possibility.
It was only a matter of time.
“I want to join the border patrol,” I said.
Several heads turned immediately.
Kael didn’t answer at once.
“I am Dravaryn’s Luna,” I continued before he could refuse. “If I hide behind walls while our villages are attacked, then my family is right. I’m only a symbol.”
Silence fell.
The morning wind brushed my hair, carrying the scent of wet soil—and something sharper.
Blood.
Far to the east.
Kael stepped closer, close enough that only I could hear him.
“If something happens to you—”
“It will happen to you too,” I cut in softly. “We can’t protect each other by standing apart.”
His eyes darkened.
Not anger.
Fear.
And that made my heart tremble harder than any threat.
“I’m not afraid of dying,” he whispered. “I’m afraid of losing you.”
Those words struck harder than claws.
I touched his chest.
“Then let me stand beside you. Not behind you.”
Several seconds passed.
Then he nodded once.
“Prepare a small unit. We move now.”
The border forest was different from the heartland.
Wilder.
Quieter.
Every snapping twig sounded like a warning.
I ran in wolf form beside Kael. My body merged with the earth, my breath syncing with nature’s rhythm. The wind carried a foreign scent—wolves without a pack.
Rogues.
Unbound by Moon law. Loyal to no Alpha.
They didn’t want land.
They wanted chaos.
We found the first sign near a narrow river. Soil torn up. Deep claw marks. And—
Blood.
Not much.
But enough to make my wolf growl.
Kael sniffed the ground, then looked at me.
Three.
The message was clear in his eyes.
Three attackers.
Not a large force.
Bait.
I nodded.
We moved silently, following the scent trail toward a rocky hill.
And there we found him.
A young Dravaryn warrior lay on the ground, still alive but badly wounded.
My chest tightened.
I shifted back to human form first and dropped beside him.
“Stay with me,” I whispered.
He opened his eyes with effort.
“Luna…” his voice rasped. “They’re… not like before…”
“How many?” Kael asked sharply.
“More than you see…”
Not comforting.
I pressed cloth to the wound on his shoulder, trying to slow the bleeding.
And that was when I felt it.
Not from the front.
From behind.
An aura.
Dark.
Heavy.
Kael turned a split second before the attack came.
Four wolves leapt from behind the rocks, larger than ordinary rogues. Their eyes weren’t just wild—
They were empty.
Controlled.
Someone was leading them.
The fight erupted without warning.
I stood, shoving the wounded soldier back before shifting again.
Claws struck earth. Teeth clashed. Roars shook the air.
I didn’t think.
My body moved on its own.
One lunged from the right—I twisted, bit its leg, slammed it down before it could rise.
The second aimed for my back—Kael was faster, crashing into it with brutal force.
The ground shook.
But the third—
Didn’t attack.
It ran.
Retreated.
As if it had only come to confirm something.
Kael growled low.
“They’re testing our strength,” I panted after two lay motionless.
“No,” he said. “They’re measuring you.”
My blood turned cold.
Me.
My wolf felt the truth of it.
This attack happened when I joined patrol.
When I left the walls.
This wasn’t coincidence.
Someone wanted to see how Dravaryn’s Luna fought.
How strong I was.
How worth defending.
I stared into the forest where the third wolf vanished.
And for the first time, I felt it—
It wasn’t just my family who wanted my name erased.
Someone in the east was writing it on a target list.
We returned to the fortress by dusk.
The wounded warrior survived.
But the mood had shifted.
News of the attack spread quickly.
And with it—whispers.
“The attack happened when the Luna joined.”
“They might be hunting her.”
I heard everything.
I wasn’t angry.
I understood their fear.
That night, I stood near the hearth as Kael spoke with his commanders. Strategies tightened. Guards doubled.
But my mind wasn’t there.
I kept seeing the empty gaze of those rogue wolves.
That wasn’t ordinary madness.
That was obedience.
And obedience required a leader.
When the meeting ended, Kael approached me.
“You blame yourself,” he said, not asking.
“I triggered something,” I replied.
He gripped my shoulder.
“You’re not the cause of war.”
“But I could be its target.”
Silence stretched between us.
“If they aim for me to weaken you,” I continued quietly, “then my family and our enemies want the same thing.”
His eyes burned dark.
“I won’t let anyone turn you into a weapon.”
I smiled faintly.
“Kael… I’ve been a weapon for too long.”
His hand rose to my face, gentler this time.
“Not anymore.”
I wanted to believe him.
I did believe him.
But love doesn’t stop strategy.
And I knew something.
If the enemy wanted to measure me—
Then I would make sure they saw more than a Luna loved by her Alpha.
I would make them see a threat.
I stepped closer.
“Tomorrow,” I said softly, “we send a message east.”
“What message?”
I looked at the flames dancing in the hearth.
“That Dravaryn’s Luna doesn’t hide.”
Kael watched me for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
And in his gaze, there was no hesitation left.
Only decision.
The war might not have officially begun.
Ardhavarna might be preparing to erase my name from their history.
But if the world wanted to make me the center of the storm—
Then I wouldn’t break inside it.
I would become the eye of the storm itself.