Crosshairs and Ash

POV SIENNA

When the enemy no longer lurks beyond the border but sits beside you in the classroom the danger is not something you see coming from far away. It is something that already breathes the same air as you do.

I walked out through the south gate barely feeling the biting cold cutting through my jacket and settling deep into my bones. The sidewalk along the side of the building stood completely empty at that hour while mist began curling down from the hills blurring the streetlights and softening the outlines of everything beyond the campus fence. Waiting there half‑hidden in the fog was the matte black Porsche Panamera its dipped headlights casting two warm beams across the damp asphalt. As soon as my fingers brushed the handle the lock clicked open. I slid inside pulled the door shut behind me and dropped my backpack and laptop onto the floor at my feet finally grateful for the shelter of that small space even though the air inside felt heavy enough to press against my chest.

Killian did not look at me right away. He kept his gaze fixed on the side mirror his right hand resting firmly on the gear stick while the engine rumbled low and restless beneath the floorboards. He wore a black leather jacket over his dark shirt collar open his hair wind‑tousled and the sharp line of his jaw looked chiselled from solid granite so rigid and unyielding that nothing in this world seemed capable of bending it.

"You came out alone," he said his voice rough as he pulled away sharply tyres whispering against the wet road before we merged onto the main avenue. "For your sake and his I hope that stays the only time you ever do that."

"You were right," I said and the words settled between us heavy yet strangely relieving.

Killian let out a short dry laugh as he shifted gears with sharp precise movements. "Right about what exactly? That your taste in people leaves something to be desired or that that boy was looking at you in ways that had nothing to do with film projects?"

"About Liam," I cut in steady and calm though the cabin went utterly silent around us. "You were right about everything. He is not just a classmate. He is not even a Beta. And he is definitely not what he pretends to be."

His knuckles whitened on the steering wheel instantly. "Tell me everything," he commanded and his voice shifted completely shedding every trace of casual conversation. This was the tone of an Alpha giving orders on a battlefield.

"There is a girl at the academy Chloe a lone wolf who does not belong to any pack. She warned me about him this morning before we went inside," I said leaning back against the seat my pulse quickening as I pictured that small soundproof room. "Then we were alone in the editing suite and I really looked at him. He has scars across his wrists the kind you get only from repeated combat training not from accidents. His palms are calloused in places that come from striking heavy bags or flesh not from holding cameras. And beneath that carefully layered scent of cherry tobacco and fresh rain I caught something sharper something bitter and chemical. He uses pheromone suppressors to hide what he really is and where he comes from. He spoke about Iron Ridge as though he knew every weakness within it. He told me Marcus believes his walls are unbreachable but a storm is gathering over this valley and nothing will stand in its path when it breaks."

Silence stretched long and heavy broken only by the faint whistle of the turbo as we climbed higher into the hills. Killian did not shout or slam his fist against the wheel but suddenly the air inside the car grew thick and oppressive flooded with pure Alpha pheromones dense as molten lead smelling of scorched cedarwood and live gunpowder strong enough to sting the back of my throat and bring unexpected tears to my eyes. His grey eyes darkened the pupils blowing wide until they swallowed the iris leaving only a ring of wild burning gold.

Instead of turning toward the familiar main drive up to the house he took a narrower gravel road that wound upward between towering dark pines until we reached an old stone viewpoint that overlooked the entire valley spread far below us. He killed the engine and mountain silence settled around us instantly. He turned slowly toward me and even without touching me I could feel the barely contained power thrumming beneath his skin every muscle coiled tight like a drawn bowstring.

"Did he touch you?" he asked so quietly I barely heard him yet every syllable carried the promise of absolute ruin if I said yes.

"He stood between me and the door blocking the way out for a little while," I answered clearly. "But as soon as your message came through he stepped back. Killian who is he really? What is coming for Iron Ridge?"

He ran both hands through his hair dragging them backward in pure frustration before letting his head fall back against the seat and releasing a harsh bitter laugh that held no humour at all.

"The Bloodmoon Pack," he said staring out across the lights of the city flickering far below. "The Eastern Range wolves. The ones everyone thought we destroyed seven years ago."

I frowned recalling the history lessons my father had insisted on. "I thought the Alpha Council wiped them out after the Blackwood territory fell."

"That is what Marcus told the diplomats and the pack news to keep business running smoothly," Killian said with sharp disdain. "We beat them in open battle yes. But their Alpha Vane did not die. He retreated into the shadows and rebuilt differently. Instead of gathering warriors in the woods he sent wolves into our cities into our universities into our businesses. Young ones without official records hidden behind fake identities and scent masks so no one ever suspects where they belong. Liam is one of them. A spy planted exactly where he could do the most damage."

Everything clicked into place with terrifying clarity.

"The perimeter breach last Sunday..." I breathed. "It was never a poacher."

"No," Killian said meeting my gaze his face hard and grim. "It was one of Vane’s scouts. I tracked him to the cliffs before he could send back coordinates for our blind spots. We knew they were probing the borders. We just never guessed they already had someone on the inside watching you every single day."

"He did not pick me as a partner because he liked my script," I realised cold dread settling in my stomach. "He was using me to test Marcus’s defences."

"You were chosen because you are the softest most visible point in all of this Sienna," Killian said and though his words were blunt there was fierce protective darkness woven through every one of them. "To Vane you and your mother are not warriors. You are outsiders without the pack bond living right inside the heart of Iron Ridge. He believes taking you or hurting you is the fastest way to bring Marcus Thorne to his knees and force him to surrender land and power."

I swallowed hard the reality sharp and sudden. Brutal pack politics something my father had always tried to shield me from had walked right into my film class without me ever noticing.

Killian leaned forward closing the space between us in one sharp movement. His hands came up to cup the back of my neck warm and firm drawing me gently yet irresistibly toward him until my forehead rested against his jacket. His scent wrapped around me scorched cedar leather and storm chasing away the fear leaving only that familiar electric pull between us bright and hungry.

"Listen to me very closely Hayes," he murmured his breath warm against my cheek. "Starting tomorrow you do not walk anywhere alone not on campus not off campus not one single step. And if that bastard Liam so much as breathes within a metre of you again if he looks at you wrong or tries to get you alone I will tear his throat out before he can call for backup. Do you understand me?"

I could feel his heart hammering wild and fast beneath my palm matching the frantic rhythm of my own. My wolf did not recoil from his intensity. She rose up inside me fierce and proud knowing she was seen claimed and guarded.

"I understand," I whispered my lips brushing his. "But I am not helpless Killian. My father made sure I could fight before he died. I know how to protect myself."

A dark dangerous smile touched his mouth. His thumb brushed along my jaw coming to rest at the corner of my lower lip heavy with possession.

"I know you can bite little wild thing," he rumbled low in his chest sending shivers straight through me. "You proved that quite thoroughly last night. But you will not face Vane and his wolves alone. Before a single one of them lays a hand on you I will burn this whole city down and watch them burn with it."