Chapter 6: Blood and Ash

Kaelen's face went very still.

"When?"

"few hours ago. The Ironclaw compound is about a day's journey from here." The wolf swayed on his feet. "I found the bodies. I—"

"Get him to the healer," Kaelen ordered, and two other wolves rushed to help the young man. "I want scouts sent immediately. I need to know where Atlas is heading next."

The room cleared, leaving Raven and Kaelen alone.

"He killed them," Raven whispered. "All of them."

"Yes."

"He's my brother. I should—"

"You should what? Stop him?" Kaelen turned to face her, his eyes blazing. "Atlas is a Primordial Lycan, Raven. The same as you. But he's corrupted. He's consumed by the dark power. You can't reason with him. You can't save him."

"I have to try."

"You can't." Kaelen crossed to her, tightly holding her shoulders. "I know what you're feeling. I know you think there's still good in him. But the brother you remember is gone. The only thing left is the monster."

Raven shook her head. "I don't believe that."

"You have to. For your own survival." His grip gentled. "I'm not saying this to be cruel. I'm saying it because I've seen what happens when a Primordial falls. They don't come back. They can't."

"You don't know that."

"I know it because I watched it happen to my own sister."

Raven froze. "What?"

Kaelen's face twisted. "I had a sister. Her name was Lyra. She was a Primordial—the first in our family line to awaken in three centuries. She was beautiful and powerful and everything we had hoped for." He paused, his voice raw. "Then Vesper found her. Turned her. Corrupted her from the inside out. And when Lyra finally lost herself to the dark power, I was the one who had to put her down."

Raven's chest tightened, sober, "Kaelen—"

"She begged me to do it." His eyes were wet. "Right before the end, she surfaced for a moment. She looked at me and she said, 'Kill me. Please. Before I hurt anyone else.'" He swallowed hard. "So I did."

The silence stretched between them, thick with grief.

"I'm sorry," Raven whispered.

"I'm not telling you this for sympathy." Kaelen released her shoulders, stepping back. "I'm telling you so you understand. Your brother is not coming back. And if you hesitate when the moment comes—if you think of him as family instead of what he's become—he'll kill you like another threatening enemy"

Raven wanted to argue. Wanted to believe that Atlas was still in there somewhere.

But she remembered his silver eyes. The coldness in them. The hunger.

You're going to be by my side when I do.

"I understand," she said.

Kaelen studied her for a long moment. Then he nodded.

"Well. Now let's go. We have a war to prepare for."

The next three days were a blur of training and preparation.

Raven sparred with the Marrow warriors from dawn until dusk, learning to fight in both human and wolf forms. She was faster than she had expected, stronger, more instinctive. The Primordial blood that ran through her veins made her a natural predator—her senses were sharper, her reflexes quicker, her wolf more powerful than any she had seen. Obvious of Primordial.

But she was untrained. Raw. And the Marrow wolves didn't hold back.

"You're leaving your left side open," Dorian said, knocking her to the ground for the seventh time "Again."

Raven spat dirt from her mouth and rose. "I know."

"Then fix it."

She lunged, and he blocked her easily, twisting her arm behind her back.

"Dead," he said.

Raven growled. "I'm trying."

"You're not trying hard enough." Dorian released her, his face grim. "Your brother won't give you time to learn. He'll kill you on the first mistake. Is that what you want?"

"No."

"Then focus."

She did. For the next hour, she focused on nothing but the fight—the shift of weight, the angle of attack, the motion of combat. By the end, she was bruised and exhausted, but she had landed three solid hits.

"Better," Dorian admitted.

"Thanks."

He studied her, something shifting in his expression. "You're not what I expected."

"What did you expect?"

"A pampered princess. A liability." He shrugged. "You're not."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should." He turned to leave, then paused. "For what it's worth, I think the Alpha chose well. You have fire. That's more than most."

He walked away, and Raven allowed herself a small smile.

That night, she found Kaelen in the war room, gazing over maps.

"You should sleep," she said.

"So should you." He didn't look up.

She crossed to stand beside him, studying the map. Red marks indicated where Atlas had struck—three packs so far, each one wiped out. He was moving north, toward the Marrow compound.

"He's coming for us," she said.

"Yes."

"How long?"

"Two days. Maybe three." He finally looked at her, and she saw the exhaustion in his eyes. "The scouts say he has gathered an army. Rogues, outcasts, Dark Ones. More than hundred wolves."

"And we have?"

"Fifty. Maybe sixty, if the Red Ridge pack sends reinforcements."

Raven's stomach clenched. "Those aren't good odds."

"No." He straightened, his eyes meeting hers. "They're not."

She reached for his hand, threading her fingers through his. The bond hummed between them, a steady warmth.

"We'll find a way," she said.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I have to." She squeezed his hand. "Because giving up isn't an option."

Kaelen looked at her for a long moment. Then, slowly, he smiled.

"You're something else, Raven"

"I'm your mate."

"You're more than that." He pulled her close, his forehead resting against hers. "You're the reason I'm still fighting."

She kissed him then—soft, slow, full of everything she couldn't say. He responded in kind, his hands sliding up her back, pulling her closer.

"Kaelen," she breathed.

"I know." He kissed her neck, her jaw, the corner of her mouth. "I know."

They didn't make it to the bed. They barely made it to the wall.