Kratos Before Ashes Novels & Stories

My chest felt heavy, like every heartbeat was dragging me closer to a choice I didn’t want to make. Then Knox stepped forward. “We can’t wait. They’re laughing at us and we won't have that.” His gaze slid to me. “Unless someone here wants to talk peace.” I met his eyes. “I want to think before I bury another brother.” “Thinking doesn’t stop bullets,” he shot back. “You gonna write them a letter, Ash? Ask them nicely not to kill us?” A few brothers snickered, uneasy laughter mixing with anger. Griff slammed his fist down. “Enough! Ash, you in or out?”

I have not even completed what I want to say. “No!!!” He punches the wall to the extent the whole room quivers. The echo is overwhelming. “I am Asher Feathers, and war has begun! Whoever is doing this, has bitten more than he can chew. I will not rest until I find those behind this and drink their blood from their skull. I am Asher Feathers, and this is my promise to you!!”

He spits the blue eyeball out of his mouth. “Kneel!” Asher growls, holding up Grizz’s tattered and beaten body. Darius and Brickland’s wolves stand over Foster’s dead body, licking the blood off the jowls. Asher stands over Grizz, letting the claws from his free hand extend. In a swift swiping motion, the front of Grizz’s throat is now held in Asher’s hand. Asher then shoves Grizz’s dead body away, as if touching Grizz burns his skin.

“Few things about your martyr were erased from history. My forefather, the Alpha of your time was the one who ordered you killed, so the real history was passed down to me. He was known to be the only Alpha who was able to conquer you, but in his doings, he did not completely erase you. He couldn't at all. A prophecy was made that era that in another lifetime, a descendant of your lover’s bloodline shall be the one to free you.” Lucan rose up to his feet slowly, wincing with pains as he did. He pointed to Rose, “Emmett, this is the person you seek for, the one who by fate broke the spell on your ashes."

I whispered softly. He exhaled slowly, exhaustion finally showing beneath the steel in his expression. “No more Chevaliers, I burnt that building to the ground.” The morning air fell eerily quiet around us. Then Sasha reached for my hand carefully, intertwining his bandaged fingers with mine before murmuring lowly. “Let’s go inside, kratoska…” And just like that, it felt like a new morning for the both of us. A new beginning…

Her pocket sagged with the vial’s weight, that damn glass nagging her, and Ezra’s laugh still rang in her head—his smug ass waving the key like a prize. “Grab something!” Roman shouted, voice torn over the rush, his other hand scrabbling at the wall’s edge, now just a crumbled lip of concrete. The water was winning, surging up her ribs, tugging at her soaked jacket. She gagged on it, tasting mud and salt, her arm screaming where the knife had cut—blood swirling red in the dark churn.

The crack blazed brighter than ever. For a long moment no one moved. The clearing was silent except for the hiss of the crack in the marker and the distant retreat of paws through underbrush. Mist drifted back in to fill the space where the pack had stood. Ava pulled herself upright against the stone. Her hands trembled. The silver glow had withdrawn into the token but left a faint shimmer under her skin, like moonlight trapped in her veins. She could still hear the echo of the whisper, softer now but insistent: Daughter of ash…

Cracks formed on the ground, and the impact of the collision sent dust and debris flying everywhere. "That should be enough to kill you, Ashton Gray!" Clay yelled as he tried to catch his breath. He was laughing like a bloodthirsty specter, and the air around him was in complete disarray. However, before he could deal his killing blow, Ashton got back up in one swift motion. Ashton's black coat was flapping audibly in the wind. With a cold and unfeeling gaze, he spat, "Was that your so-called power of the semi-divine realm? Is this all you've got?"

He jerked out of Katherine's arms, stumbling backwards, his hand flying to his mouth. He doubled over and vomited. But it wasn't bile that came up. It was ash. Black, thick, like the remnants of a fire—the Ashvein that was meant to kill him, now being purged from his system in violent, choking waves. He vomited again. And again. Ash poured from his mouth, and everyone stared in horrified fascination. Finally, it stopped. Killian straightened, gasping for air, his chest heaving. And then his face twisted in pain.

She turned, her eyes wide with excitement, just as the earth crumbled beneath her small feet, sending shards of rock tumbling into the abyss. Kael didn’t pause to think. He leapt, propelled by a surge of adrenaline that made everything around him feel as if it had slowed to a crawl. In that brief moment, fire coursed through his veins, ancient and wild, igniting his senses. His skin tingled as if kissed by heat, and he felt a powerful crack in the fabric of his being. It was then that wings burst forth from his back, unfurling like shadows in the light, and he roared—not in agony, but in a primal expression of strength.