A Vow Of Embers Novels & Stories

“No secrets.” “Never.” “And our child chooses their own future.” Dante kissed her forehead. “I swear it.” Alessia looked across the city their families had nearly destroyed. Their love had been written in vengeance, sealed through blood and tested by truth. But their future belonged to them. The vow had been kept. And this time, it promised life.

"To keep my enemies away, the world must believe we are fated mates. We have to live together. We have to be seen together. You will be my Luna in name, and I will be your shield in blood." I looked at his hand. If I took it, there was no going back. I would be leaving my old life forever. I would be entering a world of shadows and war. I reached out and gripped his hand. "Deal." The moment our palms met, a shockwave of energy exploded from us. The rain around us turned to steam. I felt a surge of power in my veins that I had never felt before. The "Void" Zade talked about wasn't a hole; it was a flood.

She warned, and I nodded. "Okay. I think I can manage." I told her. "Do not do anything foolish until then. If his ring is not crushed during the highest peak of the supermoon, then Ares can bring him back to life. It will not matter if you can crush his heart or not. Keep your mates by your side. You must gather all of your pack fighters and prepare for war. Anyone with power in league with your pack as well. War will be fighting with the ability to raise dead warriors, so he must always remain your target in the coming battle. Do you understand this, Ember", she said to me. She looked in my eyes, wanting me to understand the importance of this. Did she know something I didn't?

And when the final match was lit, and the fire roared to life, Emilia watched the flames eat history with something like peace behind her eyes. Alessio stood beside her, breathing heavy. “I didn’t think you had this in you.” She turned to him. “You married the wrong woman for peace,” she said. “But the right one for war.” And he kissed her. This time not with need, or fury, or strategy. But with truth. Because in that moment, surrounded by bodies, fire, and betrayal, they finally understood something simple: The real vow was survival. ---

Ironically, there was no love to be found in this arrangement. The priest turned to us. "Do you, Tatum, take Arden Voss to be your lawfully wedded spouse, to love and cherish till death do you part?" "I do," I answered softly. The priest nodded before turning to Arden. "And do you, Arden Voss, take Tatum to be your lawfully wedded spouse, to love and cherish till death do you part?" Silence. My breath caught. One second. Two. The air suddenly felt too thick to breathe.

And now it didn’t seem like he even believed in that anymore. “There’s always another way.” I kept my voice even, staring down at her Hope. “She came into this world fighting. Just like her brother. Just like me. I’m not giving up on either of them.” Damon studied me for a long moment. Something in his shoulders loosened, just slightly. “You’re amazing, you know that?” “I know.” I smiled. “Now stop worrying. She’s going to be a match. I can feel it.” He didn’t answer.

If war erupted before the eclipse, the prophecy’s shadow might fall early, and nothing would hold back the Hollow’s echo. Maxim stepped forward. “Name the oath.” The emissary’s voice carried like a blade drawn from its sheath. “You will swear by fang and flame that the Vale shall remain free of conquest, that moon-silver will be mined only for the good of all packs, and that your life will stand as guarantee. Should you betray this, your blood will return to the earth that bore it.” Gasps rustled through the chamber. A vow older than crowns, older even than the Hollow’s rise. To swear it was to surrender every claim of dominion, to become servant to the Vale itself.

Carla and Travis watched from the sidelines, hands clasped. “We did it,” Carla said, her voice steady. Travis nodded. “And we’re just getting started.” The scars remained, but they were no longer wounds. Dave, Carla, and the other victims were healing, not just surviving but thriving, their journeys a testament to resilience, love, and the unyielding power of talent reclaimed. ----- This marks the end of the Burning Embers: Scorching Tales of Desire. Compiled short story arcs now made their way to their ends.

Expensive cologne, smoke, leather. My heart starts slamming painfully against my ribs. "No," he says softly. "You didn’t." His gaze drops briefly to my mouth again, then lower, a full sweep across me and I feel it everywhere. Heat crawls beneath my skin. "But I helped you anyway." He reaches into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. Instead of a weapon, he pulls out a black card, completely plain except for a silver moth embossed into the center, the same moth tattooed across his throat. He holds it out toward me.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN – “The Kiss That Burns” The Emberfall garden lay hushed in the night, its roses glowing faintly with emberlight. Moonlight spilled in fractured streams across the stone paths, but even the pale glow of the sky seemed dull compared to the restless shimmer of the fire-roses. Their petals pulsed faintly, ember veins flickering as if they, too, were listening for something.