Tessa POVThe air was crisp and sharp with pine when we left the estate grounds behind. The first rays of sunlight spilled between the trees like golden threads pulled from the heavens, illuminating a forest that had seen too much blood in recent days.I walked in silence beside Rylan, the two of us cloaked, weapons hidden but ready, footsteps careful on the damp undergrowth. The estate had faded into shadows behind us. Ahead was the unknown.Somewhere out here was the beginning of our resistance.The woods felt older the deeper we went. Wilder. Like something watched from the corners of the trees, testing the strength of our stride, the certainty in our breath. Even the birds seemed to hush as we passed.Rylan kept a steady pace, one hand resting lightly on the hilt of the blade strapped across his back. He hadn’t said much since we left. I didn’t press him. There was something sacred about silence in the woods. Something necessary.Instead, I turned inward.The forest gave me space
Tessa POVThe sky was still dark when I woke, that indigo hush before the world breathed again.Dorian lay beside me, half turned toward where I’d been curled against him. One arm flung across the space I’d vacated, brow drawn faintly even in sleep - as if part of him still stood watch, even now.Gods, he was beautiful like this. Unarmored. Raw. His lashes fanned against his cheeks, lips parted slightly as he exhaled a soft, steady breath. The moonlight from the open window bathed him in silver, turning the scars on his shoulder to stardust and shadow.I stayed there a moment, watching him. Letting it all soak in.His presence. His scent. The quiet hum of our bond, still warm and golden, threaded between us like an invisible promise.My chest ached with it. Not with sadness. Not even fear. Just depth - the weight of what we’d become. What we were walking into.“You’re restless,” Sable murmured from deep within me, her voice a low echo of moonlight and smoke. “You always get like this
Tessa POVThe moon was high by the time I slipped into our room. The heavy oak door clicked softly behind me.The windows were open, letting in cold mountain air, and the scent of war clung to everything. Blood. Smoke. Fear. But beneath it, there was something else. The scent of him.Dorian stood at the far edge of the room, shirt half undone, staring out at the darkness as if it might speak back. His shoulders were tense. Still wearing the weight of too many choices.I didn’t say anything at first. Just walked toward him until he turned and saw me.His eyes locked on mine.Something unspoken passed between us.A thousand words. A thousand aches.I moved first, hands reaching for the buttons of his shirt, and he let me. Wordless. Breathing harder now. When I pressed my lips to the center of his chest, he trembled.And then he broke.His mouth crashed against mine, hungry, desperate, full of every unshed fear he couldn’t say aloud. His hands gripped my hips, pulled me against him, and
Dorian POVThe war room emptied slowly, like breath leaving a tired body. Only a few remained now - Victor, Galen, Meris, Luca, and Jenna. The ones I trusted when blood began to spill and the gods stopped watching.I closed the heavy door and turned the lock.Victor raised an eyebrow. “Something more than defense planning?”“Yes,” I said. “It’s time to stop playing by the Council’s rules.”Galen stepped closer to the map table, his voice low. “You’re thinking offense.”“I’m thinking disruption,” I replied, flipping over the top map to reveal a second - drawn by hand, laced with faint ink notations, supply routes, unguarded transport lines, weak points.“These are the Council’s secondary supply chains,” I explained. “Unmarked on any public maps. Used only for internal transfers and strategic movements. We take out these lines… we won’t just hurt them. We’ll expose how dependent they’ve become on silence and order.”Luca let out a slow whistle. “This’ll bleed them before we even meet on
Dorian POVThe door sealed shut behind the last arriving Alpha. The night outside was cold and silent, but in here, the air burned with the friction of power, urgency, and exhaustion.We had three days.Three days to prepare for a war that had already begun.The large oak table in the center of the war room was covered in maps - territory lines, known Council sympathizers, communication routes, and stronghold locations. Pack flags were pinned like war banners over each region. Some were old, some fading. Others, like Tessa’s, had only just begun to rise.I leaned over the table, palms planted hard against the wood.“Let’s break it down,” I said, voice calm but edged with steel. “We need numbers. We need clarity. And we need to move fast.”Victor stepped forward, eyes sharp. “As of now, we’ve confirmed eleven packs solidly aligned with us - Red Hollow, Frost Hills, Shadow Pines, and the loner clans from the Northern Ice Verge among them. That gives us roughly four to five thousand wolv
Dorian POVThe message came at dusk - sealed with the Council’s ancient black crest, distributed across every major pack network.I watched it play on the comms screen in the strategy room, every word like poison spilling into the blood of the world.“Luna Tessa of the Nightshade Pack has become a threat to the balance of our kind. Her powers are unstable, her actions violent and unsanctioned. She has awakened forces we do not understand. For the safety of all packs, she must be eliminated.”“Alpha Dorian, for treason against the Council and harboring an unstable power, is also sentenced to death.”“All Alphas are hereby summoned to Council grounds within three days, bringing their elite warriors. Obedience will prove loyalty. Refusal will be considered rebellion.”The video cut out.Silence followed. A heavy, cold silence that pressed against my ribs like a blade.Victor stood at my side, face grim. “They just declared war.”Rylan cursed under his breath. “And they’re trying to make