All Chapters of Ashes of Six: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The forest breathed with us. Our paws pounded against the earth, each heartbeat in tune with the moonrise overhead. The Hunter’s Moon. Bright. Demanding. Ancient. It blazed silver down upon the trees, and our pack ran wild beneath it, the strength of it coursing through fur and bone, instinct rising like a second skin. In this form, we were home. We were free of names and titles. But then it changed. The moment the moon crested, it hit me. The scent. My body went rigid. I clawed deep grooves into the dirt as I skidded to a stop, chest heaving. Spiced heat. Wild honey. Crushed firelight and something ancient and older than us all. I recognized it before I even turned to look. Mate. My heart slammed against my chest, every instinct of me coming to the surface like a tsunami. My vision went hazy around the edges, heat pulsing through my veins. I didn’t need to see her. I didn’t need to touch her. I knew. I knew it was Nora. Mate echoed through me with a primeval finality, and I gro

The gardens were awash in red. Every leaf, every petal glistened as if the Hunter’s Moon had come down and set itself there. Caelum filled my senses, his heat flooding around me, leaving no space within my lungs that was not his. The magnetism between us was strong and base, and I had no capacity to deny it. His hands cupped my face, rough and warm, and then his mouth was on mine, marking me with an urgency that stole my breath. I didn’t think. I couldn’t. I willed my fingers to dig into the fabric of his uniform coat, then beneath it, where they met the heat and hardness of his skin. His back flexed under my palm, spine curving at the touch of my nails. He rumbled against my mouth, low, like the growl of an animal. The vibration crawled up my jaw, startling something electric alive in my veins. My magic sparked under my skin, faint as ashes on the wind, but burning. I had never known anything so vibrant and so desired. So fearless. It was instinct. It was surrender to something olde

I hadn’t had a second to myself since the gardens. The Hunter’s Moon had faded, but the pull of it lingered still, thrumming in my veins. Every rustle in the halls yanked me tight, every echo in the stone hallways made my skin twitch. Every scent in the corridors threatened to be hers, and when it was, my body responded before my mind could catch up, and I was caught between instinct and the fact that she had backed away. The gardens played in bright flashes in my head, her breath hot on my cheek, her fingers under my shirt, her magic curling into mine with no hesitation. She had met me with the same fire I had carried, the same hunger between my ribs until she stopped. I’d convinced myself it was the moon, too fast, too powerful for her. It was like wildfire. She was a wildfire. My wildfire. But the truth gnawed at me. She had stopped herself, and I had no idea why. My wolf hated not knowing. I felt wound too tight now, edges too sharp. Every whisper of cloth against cloth, every

Sleep didn’t come easily. When it finally did, it wasn’t the calm, dreamless kind I usually sank into. Heat coiled low in my stomach, tugging me through restless shadows until I was no longer in my bed at all. I was in the gardens again, the Hunter’s Moon burning red above me. The air was thick, humid with magic, and the sound of my breathing was louder than the wind through the leaves. Caelum stepped out from between the trees first. His eyes were storm-dark, locked on me like I was prey. He closed the distance in slow, deliberate strides, his hand sliding to the back of my neck. His mouth claimed mine in a kiss that was nothing but possession and heat, his body pressing into mine until I felt every inch of him. His other hand found my hip, pulling me flush against the hard ridge straining his pants. When I gasped into his mouth, he growled low in his chest, the sound vibrating through me. Then Lucien was there, his cool fingers sliding down my arm before his palm covered mine, pull

I had been pacing the edge of the old Aurelian gardens, half in shadow, half in moonlight, waiting for her to come. The note was simple, direct, and unsigned. Meet me when the moon rises. I knew she would hesitate, but I also knew she wouldn’t ignore it forever. The mate bond had been pulling at both of us since the gardens on the Hunter’s Moon, and tonight it felt even tighter, like a rope wound between our hearts. Then it hit. The shift in the air came first, a faint hum that made my teeth ache, and then the scent rolled in on the wind. Foreign. Wrong. Metallic like blood left too long in the sun. It cut through every other smell in the night, slicing straight into my instincts. My wolf rose before my mind caught up, claws and teeth pressing against my skin as if it could break free without my consent. Nora. I could smell her beyond the wards, her scent bright and alive, tangled with something else. The realization hit hard enough to lock my chest. She was outside. Exposed. Vulne