The Warning at the Border

The first alarm sounded just after sunset.

Lyra was returning from the kitchen when a sharp horn echoed across the compound. Conversations stopped. Warriors abandoned their meals and hurried towards the main gate.

A second horn followed.

This time, people began shouting.

Lyra stepped aside as several armed wolves rushed past her.

“What happened?” she asked a passing woman.

“Western patrol. They're back, but something has happened.”

Before Lyra could ask anything else, she heard someone calling for the healer.

A wounded warrior was being carried into the courtyard.

His clothes were torn, and blood covered one side of his tunic. Two warriors struggled to keep him upright.

“Get Sera!” someone shouted.

Lyra moved closer.

The injured man tried to speak, but a cough interrupted him.

“Three of them,” he managed. “They came through the trees.”

“Who?” a warrior demanded.

“I couldn't see their faces.”

Lyra looked at the man's boots. Thick mud covered them, along with several strands of pale grass.

“Where did this happen?” she asked.

A warrior turned sharply. “Stay back.”

“I only asked where.”

“You weren't asked to get involved.”

“Then stop shouting questions at a man who can barely breathe.”

The warrior looked ready to argue, but Sera arrived with her medical bag.

“Move him inside.”

Lyra stepped back to let them pass.

As the group carried the injured man away, she noticed something caught in the torn fabric near his waist.

A narrow strip of dark blue cloth.

She stared at it.

She had seen something similar before.

Not in Nightfang.

In Ashen Moon.

Kael arrived in the courtyard minutes later, accompanied by Darius and Beta Ronan.

“What do we know?” he demanded.

Ronan stepped forward. “The patrol was attacked near the western boundary. One warrior is injured. Two others haven't returned.”

“Did they see the attackers?”

“Not clearly. The surviving warrior says there were at least three.”

Darius folded his arms. “This is the second incident in less than a week.”

Kael's expression darkened. “Have the western paths been searched?”

“Ronan is organising another patrol,” Darius replied. “But we should consider closing the border until we know who is responsible.”

“That would leave two settlements without their regular supply route.”

“Better inconvenienced than attacked.”

Kael turned to Ronan. “Take six warriors. Search the area, but do not cross into Ashen Moon territory without my order.”

Ronan nodded and hurried away.

Lyra remained near the edge of the courtyard, listening.

She knew she should leave. Darius had already made it clear that he did not want her near pack matters.

But the strip of cloth troubled her.

She approached cautiously.

“Alpha?”

Kael turned. His gaze settled on her.

“What is it?”

“I saw something on the injured warrior's clothes.”

Darius immediately stepped between them.

“This does not concern you.”

“I haven't said it does.”

“Then return to your quarters.”

Kael raised a hand. “Let her speak.”

Lyra looked at the Alpha.

“There was a strip of dark blue cloth caught in his torn tunic. I recognised it.”

“From where?” Kael asked.

“Ash​en Moon.”

Darius let out a short, humourless laugh. “Convenient.”

Lyra ignored him.

“I don't know who the attackers were. But the cloth looked like the kind worn by some of Garrick's border patrols.”

Kael's eyes narrowed. “Are you sure?”

“I'm sure I have seen it before. I cannot tell you who it belongs to.”

Darius seized on her words.

“So you recognise Ashen Moon clothing, and now our western patrol has been attacked. Do you expect us to believe that's a coincidence?”

“I expect you to understand that recognising something doesn't mean I caused it.”

“Perhaps you are trying to direct our attention towards your former pack.”

“Perhaps you should investigate before deciding who to blame.”

“Enough,” Kael said.

Both fell silent.

He looked at Lyra. “Did you touch the cloth?”

“No.”

“Good. Stay here.”

He turned to Ronan, who had returned to the courtyard.

“Have someone retrieve it without damaging it. I want it examined.”

Ronan nodded.

Darius's expression remained displeased, but he said nothing.

Later that night, Lyra sat on the edge of her bed, unable to sleep.

She kept thinking about the wounded warrior and the missing patrol members.

If Ashen Moon was involved, why?

Garrick had never cared enough about her to send anyone after her. She had no reason to believe he suddenly would.

A knock interrupted her thoughts.

She opened the door to find Seth standing outside.

“Master Toren said you should come to the training hall tomorrow,” he said. “But there's something else.”

“What?”

He glanced down the corridor before lowering his voice.

“One of the missing warriors has returned.”

Lyra felt a small wave of relief. “Is he injured?”

“I don't know. But he asked to speak to the Alpha.”

“Why?”

Seth hesitated.

“He said he recognised one of the attackers.”

Lyra waited.

Seth's next words made her stomach tighten.

“He said the man was wearing Nightfang colours.”

For several seconds, she could not respond.

The attack had happened near the western border. The injured warrior had carried a piece of cloth that looked like Ashen Moon's.

But now someone was claiming the attackers wore Nightfang colours.

If both reports were true, someone was deliberately making the two packs look guilty.

And if that was the case, the danger was already inside their borders.