Chapter 4 The Night Before

The gathering place was silent except for the steady beat of hearts and the soft whisper of the wind threading through the trees.

Five hundred fighters stood shoulder to shoulder, their faces lit by torches and the rising moon. Some wore leather armour patched and worn from old battles. Others stood bare-chested, their bodies marked by scars and stories.

Jason stood before them, powerful, steady, his arctic blue eyes sharp in the torchlight. His voice, when it came, was steady. Unshaken.

“Tomorrow, we fight.”

No one flinched.

“We don’t do this for pride. Not for territory. Not for revenge.”

His gaze swept across them, searching for their eyes, anchoring them with his own.

“We fight for what we are. For our mates. Our pups. Our elders. We fight for every pup yet to be born who deserves to run these hills without fear of rogues tearing at their throats.”

A ripple of snarls rose from the fighters, restrained but fierce.

Jason let them have that moment before continuing.

“Tonight, I want you to go home. To your mates, your friends, your pups. Say what you need to say. Touch them. Hold them. Smell their scent like it might be the last thing you ever breathe.”

No one moved. They just stood there, listening. Some clenched fists. Others fought back tears.

“To the fighters, eat well. Rest. Tomorrow, we gather on the training grounds at four sharp.”

His voice dropped, quieter but sharper than any blade.

“Tomorrow, we show the world what it means to be Moon Swept.”

Nathan and Mia’s Night

The moon hung high as Nathan closed the door to their home, the weight of the world still pressing on his shoulders, but here, with Mia, that weight lessened.

Mia met him halfway across the living room, her eyes already glassy with emotion, and she wasn’t bothering to hide.

“Don’t give me speeches,” she whispered. “Not now. Just you.”

Nathan’s response wasn’t words, it was his mouth crashing onto hers, fierce and needing. Hands tangling in her chestnut hair, hers curling into the fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer.

This wasn’t delicate. It wasn’t patient. It was urgent. Two souls clinging to each other as if by touch alone they could stop the storm outside.

He backed her toward the bedroom, breath ragged against her throat as she pressed heated kisses along his jawline, her fingernails trailing down his sides with purpose.

Clothes came off in uneven bursts between kisses, urgency turning to desperation. Nathan’s breath trembled when he finally broke away to meet her gaze.

“You’re everything,” he rasped.

“And I’ll be here when you come back,” she promised fiercely, though her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

Their bodies met with a hunger born not of lust alone, but of survival, of belonging. Every movement between them was a promise written in flesh and breath: come back to me.

They made love like people standing at the edge of a cliff wild, consuming, a tangle of limbs and whispered devotion. No hesitation. No restraint. Just need.

Afterward, tangled together beneath the sheets, Mia rested her head over his heart, listening to the beat.

“You come back to me, Nathan. Or I’ll hunt you down myself.”

He kissed her temple, his lips trembling. “I’ll come back.”

Outside their window, the Moon watched in silence, knowing tomorrow’s dawn would bring blood.

But tonight belonged to them.