The Alpha’s Challenge

Dawn broke heavy and gray, the kind of morning where the sun seemed reluctant to rise.

The pack gathered in silence at the clearing’s edge, where the shrouded bodies lay in neat rows. Torches burned low, smoke curling skyward in ribbons that carried the scent of pine, ash, and loss.

Lena stood among them, her breath misting in the cold air, her hands clasped so tightly the knuckles ached. Maren had braided her hair back from her face, but strands had slipped free, tangling in the wind. She didn’t care. All she could see were the furs, the stillness beneath them.

One by one, the wolves stepped forward. Some whispered prayers. Others left tokens—a pendant, a sprig of rosemary, a carved bone charm. Small pieces of love laid down for the dead.

Kade was last. He strode to the front, his broad shoulders unbowed though his eyes burned with something deeper than rage. Grief. Resolve. A vow already written in blood.

He dropped to one knee, pressing his palm flat to the earth. His voice carried through the clearing, rough and resonant.

“Moon Goddess, take them home. They were ours in life. They remain ours in death. We honor their courage, we honor their sacrifice, and we swear their blood will not be spilled in vain.”

A ripple passed through the pack. Wolves lowered their heads, some shifting fully, voices rising in a mournful howl that seemed to split the sky. Lena’s chest clenched, the sound tearing at her, ancient and raw.

When the last echoes faded, silence returned—thicker than before.

The first shovel struck earth.

The burials began. Wolves dug side by side, their hands and claws blistered, their bodies exhausted, but none stopped. Lena joined them, dirt caking her nails, sweat burning her eyes. Every shovelful felt like a penance she hadn’t earned but couldn’t refuse.

By the time the last body was laid to rest, the sun had burned weakly through the clouds, turning the smoke into a hazy veil. Wolves stood shoulder to shoulder around the fresh graves, the earth still damp and raw.

It was then the rider came.

The sound of hooves shattered the silence, sharp against the earth. Heads snapped toward the treeline. A single black horse emerged, its rider cloaked in crimson leather, Cassian’s crest burned into the chestpiece.

The pack tensed instantly, growls rumbling, wolves bristling. The rider didn’t flinch. He rode straight into the clearing, his horse snorting, hooves trampling the loose earth of the graves.

Lena’s stomach lurched. Rage rippled through the pack, wolves surging forward. But Kade’s growl cut through them all.

“Hold.”

The wolves froze, though their hackles stayed raised.

The rider dismounted slowly, his movements deliberate, his expression carved into smugness. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a scroll sealed in black wax.

With a sneer, he dropped it onto the nearest grave.

Gasps and snarls erupted, but the rider only said, “From Alpha Cassian. His challenge.”

Kade stepped forward, his body radiating command. He didn’t look at the scroll, not yet. He looked at the rider.

“You ride into our mourning ground,” he said, his voice like steel dragged over stone. “You trample our dead. If you were not messenger, you’d already be ash beneath my claws.”

The rider’s smirk faltered, but only for a moment. “Cassian knew you’d say that. He said to tell you—” He paused, his voice shifting to a mockery of reverence. “He said to tell you he’ll make room in his graveyard for more of yours.”

A growl ripped from Lena’s throat before she could stop it. Heat flared under her skin, her wolf pressing forward. The rider’s eyes flicked to her, widening just slightly, before snapping back to Kade.

Kade didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He only stared until the rider shifted uneasily, sweat beading at his temple. Finally, Kade said, “Go back to your master.” His voice was soft. Deadly. “Tell him the Alpha of Blackwood accepts.”

The rider paled but mounted quickly, spurring his horse into the trees.

Silence fell again, heavier than before. The scroll lay in the dirt, dark wax glinting in the weak sun.

Lena’s heart pounded. Slowly, she stepped forward, but Kade’s hand shot out, catching her wrist. His grip was tight, his golden eyes fierce.

“This is mine,” he said.

She searched his face, her throat dry. “What does it mean?”

He bent, lifting the scroll. The seal cracked beneath his thumb. His eyes flicked over the words, hardening with each line.

Finally, he spoke. “Cassian calls for blood. One moon from tonight. Alpha against Alpha. Winner claims territory. Loser dies.”

Gasps echoed. Wolves growled, some pacing, others snarling, their grief transforming into fury.

Lena’s blood chilled. A moon. Thirty nights. Thirty nights until Kade faced Cassian. Thirty nights until everything shattered—or was remade.

Kade crushed the scroll in his fist, the parchment splintering into ash. He turned to the pack, his voice a roar.

“You hear him. You know what he wants. But we are Blackwood. We do not break. We do not bow. And when the challenge comes, Cassian will bleed on our soil.”

The pack howled, their voices fierce, defiant, rising above the graves.

Lena stood in the middle of them, her skin burning, her wolf stirring. Cassian had made his move. And now the moon counted down.

The sound of the pack’s howl carried into the forest, rattling the treetops and scattering the ravens perched along the boundary oaks. It was more than a call of loyalty; it was a declaration, a warning carried on the wind: Blackwood stood unbroken.

But Lena’s chest felt tight, her heartbeat tripping over itself as she glanced at Kade. His jaw was set like stone, his eyes molten with fury, yet beneath that fire she caught the flicker of something else—fear, or perhaps the bone-deep weight of inevitability.

Cassian had forced his hand.

Kade stepped down from the rise, the firelight licking across his shoulders as he descended into the pack’s circle. Wolves pressed forward, desperate for his touch, his reassurance. He gave it freely—firm grips on shoulders, rough embraces, a steady look that burned conviction into their marrow.

But when his gaze landed on her, the world stilled.

“Lena.” His voice was low, meant for her alone, though every wolf near them hushed to listen. “He wants me, but he’ll come for you first. That’s how he plays. He’ll seek your fear. Your blood.”

Her throat tightened. She remembered the vision—the crimson moon, the endless howls, Kade’s body broken in the dirt. Her wolf stirred again, restless, snarling against the bars of her chest.

“I won’t let him touch me,” she whispered, and though her words trembled, there was steel threaded through them. “Not while I still breathe.”

Kade’s eyes softened—if only for a heartbeat. Then his hand cupped the back of her neck, his thumb brushing her pulse. “You are mine to protect. My Luna. My mate. My claim.” His voice dropped further, more primal. “And if Cassian dares lay a hand on you, I will rip him apart bone by bone, until the soil remembers his screams.”

The pack roared their approval. Yet Lena felt the weight of his vow like a brand pressed into her skin.

The Beta, Garrick, stepped forward, bowing his head. “Alpha, the terms are clear. Cassian invokes the Rite of Challenge. By moonrise three nights from now, he’ll expect you at the border. Alone, or with your pack behind you—it makes no difference. This is a battle for blood.”

Kade’s gaze cut toward the tree line, where shadows of the rival territory loomed. “Then blood he’ll have.”

A hush fell over them. Lena felt it too—that tremor in the earth, the way fate itself seemed to shift, pointing toward the inevitable clash.

The night pressed on, heavy with preparation. Wolves sharpened blades, oiled leather armor, and whispered oaths by the fire. Every ember that rose into the sky felt like a prayer—or a warning.

But Lena could not sleep. She stood at the edge of the clearing, staring at the border Cassian would cross. Her wolf pressed harder now, pacing inside her, urging her to shift, to release, to prepare for what was coming.

Behind her, she sensed Kade’s presence before she heard him. His heat brushed her back, his breath stirring her hair.

“You saw something,” he murmured, his tone softer now, stripped of the Alpha’s roar. “Not just the challenge. You’ve been hiding it from me.”

Her heart lurched. She turned to face him, the fire casting gold over his features, making him look every bit the Alpha carved from legend.

“Yes,” she admitted, her voice raw. “I saw the fight. I saw you fall, Kade. And I saw the moon dripping red.”

His eyes narrowed, not in anger, but in recognition—as though he too had dreamed that blood-stained moon.

“And what did you see after?” he asked, his voice barely above a growl.

She shook her head, tears stinging. “Nothing. Just silence.”

The words hung between them like a noose.

Kade stepped closer, his hand lifting her chin until she met his gaze. “Then hear me now, Lena. That vision is not our fate. Cassian thinks he can end me with this challenge. He thinks fear will break us. But he’s forgotten one thing.” His lips brushed her ear, his voice rough as claws against stone. “I don’t fight alone anymore. I have you. And the wolf within you is far stronger than you realize.”

Lena shivered, not from fear but from the truth of it. Her wolf clawed at her ribs, aching to be unleashed.

Somewhere in the darkness beyond the border, a howl split the night. Low, guttural, taunting. Cassian’s call.

The challenge had already begun.