LOGINHighbranch burned slowly.Not all at once, and somehow that made it worse.Smoke rolled upward in thick black pillars while distant screams carried through the forest valleys long after the gates fell. The great reinforced walls that once made people feel untouchable now stood broken inward, splintered beneath Embermoon rams and fire. By dawn the mountain winds carried ash instead of dry leaves. The war lasted four hours, four hours of fighting through cliffs, woodland trenches, and narrow settlement roads while Highbranch warriors dropped one after another beneath Embermoon numbers.The Blood Moon led the second breach personally.People recognized him immediately.Tall, broad shouldered, dark armor streaked with old dried blood. The lower half of his face carried a jagged scar running from beneath his jaw into his throat like something once tried tearing his neck apart. Silver threaded through parts of his hair thoug
They had been named Snow and Forrest. Two little Enigmas with dark hair, pale eyes and faces that looked too much like the Bane of Moons for comfort. Not Alphas. Enigmas. Which was not incorrect anyway. Omega referred to those capable of carrying life regardless of gender while Enigmas referred to those capable of giving it. Commonbloods stood between both designations untouched by either dominance trait but there were more Commonbloods close to Omegas than Commonbloods close to being Enigmas. Alpha however was different. Alpha was not biological. It was political. A throne title. A position of rulership. All Alphas were Enigmas but not all Enigmas became Alphas. And perhaps no Enigma in history carried the word Alpha heavier than Evren Moonreign. Embermoon no longer stretched only across n
While Eira screamed through labor and war raged outside Highbranch’s walls, AJ began quietly preparing for escape.He moved through the sheds first collecting dried meat, water skins, blankets, travel packs, anything light enough to carry quickly through forest routes. Horses would be useless beneath heavy tree cover, too loud and too visible, so he focused on supplies instead.When Boo caught him stuffing grain into sacks, he frowned. “What are you doing?”AJ ignored him completely.Clayton noticed next while AJ shoved hunting knives into one of the packs. “Why are you packing weapons?”Still no answer.Even Helena narrowed her eyes eventually from beside Eira’s bed. “AJ.”But he kept moving anyway, in and out of rooms checking doors, checking routes, checking the rear fencing leading toward the lower tree line while every scream Eira made only pushed him faster.By morning the invasion had failed.Bar
In the past three months, four packs had fallen quietly.The kinds everyone assumed would be overlooked and survive.Until suddenly, they didn't.Every pack along the main trade route now answered to Embermoon. Caravan taxes changed. Border markings changed. New soldiers guarded old roads.Even the desert passage south of Highbranch had already been taken.People started measuring distance in how many days Embermoon remained away from them.The Bane of Moons moved fast.Too fast.Conquered packs lost their Alphas immediately. Evren removed them publicly and placed his own representatives over the territories before resistance could stabilize. Taxes rose. Resources moved northward. Strong warriors disappeared into Embermoon ranks.And when rebellions happened, his commander handled them.The Blood Moon.Entire villages burned after failed uprisings. Men disappeared overnight. Rebels hun
If Eira did not have a suitor, something was wrong.Because she was beautiful in a way that intrigued people. She had soft eyes, a calm voice, graceful hands, and the kind of patience that made others lower theirs without realizing it. She knew when silence was wiser, though she would never stand there and let someone trample over her.Men noticed that.Back in Featherwaters they had noticed too, they had simply stayed away because Evren existed. Who would dare openly pursue the woman constantly scented by one of Featherwaters’ most feared commanders?Later, after mating, it became truly hopeless. Vanilla wrapped permanently with deep cocoa. Claimed, owned, finished. No sane man touched what belonged to Commander Evren.Highbranch apparently had less sense.These men saw a single omega with a swollen stomach and somehow became more determined instead of less. Maybe widowed. Maybe abandoned. Maybe escaped from somewhere
Rain had started before dawn and never properly stopped.It sat over Highbranch in a steady gray sheet, turning the wooden walkways slick and dark with moisture. Water dripped constantly from the thick canopy overhead, sliding from leaf to leaf before finally hitting the ground below. The paths between buildings had turned soft near the edges where boots kept sinking into the same spots, and the lower platforms creaked whenever too many people crossed at once.The forest smelled stronger after rain.Wet bark. Moss. Mud. Pack scent soaked deep into wood and cloth and skin.Eira stood beneath the slanted roof outside Helena's house, rubbing dampness from her sleeves while smoke curled lazily from the chimney above. Somewhere deeper in the trees, she could hear axes striking wood in uneven rhythm.The house itself sat high along the cliffside, raised slightly on thick timber supports driven into the slope. Rainwater streamed throug
They moved like that for a few seconds too long.Then he clicked his tongue at the mule, straightening the cart."Suit yourself."But he didn't leave immediately. He stayed just ahead, slow, close enough that she could still hear the wheel dragging, close enough that sh
Eira hadn’t left in any clear direction. She thought she had, at the very beginning, when everything still felt sharp and immediate, like if she just kept moving forward it would mean something. That feeling didn’t last. After a while she stopped trying to keep track of where
A few days passed.That was all it took.Evren Moonreign moved out of the room without saying anything about it.No argument.No announcement.One day he was there, the next he wasn’t.Eira noticed the absence the same way you notice a missing wall. Not all at once, just in the way everything sudde
It was one of those days. A meaningfully boring one. Eira had been awake for nearly an hour already.Interestingly enough, she hadn't done anything. Her day was just starting unlike the others who had been running around. She had been awake because she couldn't find sleep. Her mind wasn't at res







