The Aftermath of Ashes

The silence that followed the battle was worse than the noise of it.

Bodies littered the border clearing, the copper tang of blood mixing with the acrid sting of smoke. Wolves limped among the fallen, dragging the wounded out of the carnage. Cries of pain pierced the night, some muffled, some raw, while others would never speak again.

Lena sat in the dirt, her breath still jagged, her hands trembling in her lap. They looked normal now—pale, human, streaked with blood and ash. But she knew what they had done. She could still feel the hum beneath her skin, a thrumming energy that refused to die down.

Kade crouched in front of her, his chest heaving, blood streaming from the gash at his shoulder. His golden eyes locked on hers, fierce and unrelenting.

“You felt her, didn’t you?” His voice was rough, low enough that only she could hear. “Your wolf.”

Lena swallowed hard, her throat burning. “I didn’t just feel her. I—I was her. For a moment I wasn’t me. I was… fire.”

Kade’s jaw tightened. “Not fire. Power. She’s always been there, waiting. Tonight, Cassian forced her hand.” His gaze flicked to the trees, where the rogues had vanished. “And he saw it. That was the point. He wanted to see what you could do.”

The thought made her chest tighten. “He was smiling, Kade. Even after I—” She broke off, her stomach twisting at the memory of the rogue crumpling in flames at her feet. “He didn’t look afraid.”

Kade cupped her face, ignoring the blood on his palms. “Then let him smile. Cassian smiles before he kills, before he plays his little games. But he won’t be laughing for long.” His thumb brushed her cheek, grounding her. “Because now we know too. You’re not helpless. Not anymore.”

A sharp cry rang out from the far side of the clearing. Both their heads snapped toward it. One of the young wolves—barely more than a boy—was on the ground, his leg torn open. His older sister knelt beside him, pressing her hands to the wound as blood soaked the earth.

Kade rose instantly, his Alpha presence commanding attention even without words. He strode toward them, his voice booming. “Get him to the healers—now. And the others. I want the wounded carried back. No one is left behind.”

Wolves surged to obey, rallying despite their injuries. The clearing became a grim procession—wolves carrying bodies, human forms dragging comrades, the pack closing ranks in quiet grief.

Lena stood shakily, her knees threatening to buckle. She wanted to help, but every step she tried to take sent waves of exhaustion crashing through her. The power she’d unleashed had drained her, left her hollow and buzzing all at once.

Kade was suddenly at her side again, his arm sliding firmly around her waist. “You’re done for tonight,” he said, his tone brooking no argument.

She bristled. “I can walk.”

His mouth curved, but there was no humor in it. “I know you can. But you won’t. Not while you’re shaking like a newborn pup.”

She opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again. He was right. Her body felt like glass, fragile and sharp all at once.

As he half-carried her through the carnage, wolves bowed their heads in respect. Not just to Kade—but to her. She caught their eyes, saw the recognition there, the fear and awe mingled together. They’d seen her burn. They’d seen her wolf rise.

And word would spread.

By the time they reached the border camp, makeshift fires were lit, torches casting an orange glow across the wounded. Healers worked in frantic silence, bandaging, stitching, whispering prayers to the Moon Goddess.

Kade lowered Lena onto a fallen log at the edge of the camp. “Stay here.”

Her hand shot out, gripping his wrist. “Don’t go back out there.”

His gaze softened for the briefest moment. “I’m not. I’ll be here. But they need me.”

She released him reluctantly, watching as he moved through the camp with commanding ease, issuing orders, steadying wolves with nothing more than a touch to the shoulder or a word spoken low. He was bloodied, battered, but unbroken.

Her chest ached. She’d always known he was Alpha. Tonight, she saw what that truly meant.

Her wolf stirred again, restless beneath her skin. He is ours. Ours to protect. Ours to fight beside.

Lena pressed a hand to her chest, her breath catching. “Who are you?” she whispered.

The answer came not in words but in a pulse of fierce heat through her veins. You. Always you.

Tears pricked her eyes, but she blinked them away. She couldn’t fall apart. Not now.

“Lena.”

She looked up to see Maren approaching, her face streaked with dirt and blood, but her hands steady as she carried a bundle of herbs. “Drink this,” Maren said, pressing a steaming cup into her hands. “It’ll steady you.”

Lena accepted it, the bitter brew burning down her throat. “How bad?”

Maren’s eyes darkened. “Too many dead. More wounded. Cassian knew where to hit us. This wasn’t about numbers. It was about a message.” She glanced toward Kade, who was bent over one of the wounded, his voice calm but commanding. “He wanted to rattle us. And he did.”

Lena’s stomach twisted. “He rattled me.”

Maren’s gaze sharpened. “No. He woke you. There’s a difference.”

Lena swallowed, staring into the fire. She wasn’t sure she believed that.

But one thing was certain. Nothing would ever be the same again.

The camp quieted as the hours dragged on.

The dead had been laid in rows, shrouded in furs. Torches burned at their heads, the flames hissing and spitting as if protesting the weight of loss. Wolves kept vigil in silence, their eyes reflecting the firelight like shards of amber and steel.

Lena sat apart, the furs Maren had draped over her shoulders doing little to chase away the chill that had settled into her bones. She watched the healers move from body to body, their hands steady, their whispers soft. Each life they saved felt like a miracle. Each one they couldn’t—another stone added to the weight pressing against her chest.

She should have felt relief at still being alive. Instead, guilt gnawed at her. Wolves had died tonight. And somehow, she knew, their deaths had been tied to her. To what she carried inside her veins.

“You’ll eat.”

Kade’s voice broke through her thoughts. He stood before her, a plate of roasted meat and bread in his hands. Blood still streaked his chest, though his wound was bound now with fresh linen. His eyes glowed faintly, sharp even in exhaustion.

Lena shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”

His mouth curved, humorless. “Eat, or I’ll feed you myself.”

Her brow arched. “You wouldn’t dare.”

He crouched, setting the plate on her lap. “Try me.”

She huffed, tearing a piece of bread with trembling fingers. It stuck in her throat, but she forced herself to swallow. Only then did Kade sink down beside her, his presence filling the night like a wall of heat.

For a while, they said nothing. Only the crackle of fire and the low murmur of wolves nearby filled the silence.

Finally, Lena whispered, “You knew this was coming.”

Kade’s gaze remained fixed on the flames. “Cassian’s been circling for weeks. Waiting. Testing our borders. Tonight, he struck where it would hurt most—close enough to rattle us, not enough to cripple. It was calculated.” His jaw flexed. “He wanted to see you.”

Lena’s chest tightened. “And now he has.”

Kade’s head turned sharply, his golden eyes pinning her. “And now he knows you’re more than he imagined.”

She swallowed hard. “You think he’ll come again.”

“I know he will. And next time, he won’t bring a handful of rogues. He’ll bring an army.”

The words landed heavy, final. Lena gripped the edge of the plate to stop her hands from shaking.

Kade studied her, his expression unreadable. “You’re afraid.”

She let out a sharp laugh, bitter and thin. “Of course I’m afraid. I set a wolf on fire tonight, Kade. I didn’t even know what I was doing. I didn’t choose it—it just happened. What if next time, I can’t stop it? What if next time, it’s one of ours?”

His hand shot out, gripping her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. His touch wasn’t gentle, but it wasn’t cruel either—it was grounding, unyielding.

“Listen to me,” he said, his voice low, fierce. “That wolf would have torn your throat out if you hadn’t acted. You didn’t lose control. You survived. There’s a difference.”

Her eyes stung. “I don’t feel like a survivor. I feel like—” She broke off, shaking her head. “Like something’s inside me. Something I can’t contain.”

Kade’s thumb brushed her jaw, lingering. “That something is your wolf. And she is yours. Not the other way around.”

Lena’s breath hitched, the heat of his touch colliding with the burn in her veins. “You say that like it’s simple.”

His mouth curved in a shadow of a smile. “It won’t be simple. But you’ll learn. I’ll make sure of it.”

Silence stretched, heavy with the promise in his words. Then Kade pulled back, his gaze flicking to the shrouded bodies at the far edge of the camp. His face hardened.

“We bury them at dawn,” he said. “Then we prepare.”

Lena frowned. “Prepare for what?”

He stood, towering over her, the firelight gilding the sharp planes of his face. “For the challenge.”

Her heart stumbled. “Challenge?”

Kade’s eyes glowed, molten and dangerous. “Cassian won’t wait long before he calls for it. And when he does, I’ll meet him. Alpha to Alpha. Blood to blood.”

The words struck like a blow. “You mean—you’ll fight him? To the death?”

Kade’s silence was answer enough.

“No.” Lena rose, furs slipping from her shoulders. “No, there has to be another way. You can’t just—”

His hand shot out, catching hers, pulling her flush against him. His scent—pine, smoke, wild earth—wrapped around her, dizzying.

“There is no other way,” he growled. “Cassian won’t stop until he has your blood and my territory. He’ll tear through this pack to get both. The only way to end it is to put him in the ground.”

Her pulse thundered. “And if he puts you there first?”

His grip tightened, his voice a low rasp against her ear. “Then you’ll rise. With or without me. Because you’re not just mine anymore, Lena. You’re theirs. The pack saw it tonight. They felt it. You burned for them.”

Tears pricked her eyes, hot and unwanted. “I didn’t ask for this.”

His lips brushed her temple, soft where his words were not. “Neither did I. But the Goddess doesn’t care what we ask for. She gives. She takes. And she leaves us to bleed with the choice.”

Her heart ached. She wanted to shove him away, to scream at him for being so certain, so willing to gamble his life. But her body betrayed her, leaning into his heat, her wolf humming with the fierce, unshakable truth of his words.

“Sleep,” Kade murmured, releasing her at last. “Tomorrow, the real fight begins.”

Lena sank back onto the log as he strode away, his shoulders broad, his presence undeniable even in the dark.

She pressed her hands to her face, her breath shaking. The fire crackled. Wolves howled softly in the distance, a mourning song for the fallen.

And inside her chest, her wolf whispered again, steady and unyielding.

Ours. We’ll fight. We’ll burn. But we will not break.

Lena lifted her head, eyes on the horizon where dawn threatened to rise. For the first time, she believed it.