Darrian's POV
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The moon hung low, heavy and blood-tinged, casting long shadows over the Black Fang camp. I stood alone on the hill overlooking the eastern border, my hands clasped behind my back, the wind tugging at the dark cloak around my shoulders.
This war shouldn't have mattered. She shouldn't have mattered.
And yet she did.
The she-wolf of Bloodmoon.
A mystery, a threat—and something else I couldn't name. No one knew her face, not even my spies. She had risen from nothing, from ash and ruin, to become Alpha of one of the most cursed packs in the territory. And now she stood between me and total dominance of the eastern border.
I should've seen this as another conquest. Another opponent to crush. But something about this fight didn't sit right.
"You're out here late," Ronan said, approaching from the path below. His presence was quiet, but not unnoticed.
"I couldn't sleep."
He stood beside me, staring out over the tree line that separated us from Bloodmoon territory. "You think she'll surrender?"
"No." I clenched my jaw. "She's too smart for that. And too proud."
Ronan crossed his arms. "Then tomorrow we fight."
I didn't answer. The scent of pine and ash drifted through the air. Even in silence, something gnawed at me.
"She's different," I said quietly.
Ronan gave me a side glance. "Different how?"
"I don't know." I exhaled slowly, trying to put words to the feeling. "It's like I've… seen her. Not with my eyes. With something else. A feeling in my chest I can't explain. Like I've lost something important and I don't know what."
Ronan was quiet for a moment. "You sound like you're grieving someone who's not even dead."
"Maybe I am."
"You think it's the bond?"
I turned toward him sharply. "There is no bond. I'd know."
Wouldn't I?
My wolf stirred restlessly in the back of my mind. Unsettled. Silent.
That was the worst part.
He hadn't spoken a word in days. Not since we received word that the Bloodmoon Alpha was a she-wolf. Not since I read her name in that brief report… and felt my chest tighten for no reason.
I didn't even remember her name now. It had slipped my mind like smoke through fingers.
"You sure you're ready for this?" Ronan asked.
I scoffed. "I've fought worse than a stubborn female Alpha and her newborn pack."
"Not like this," Ronan muttered, then caught himself. "You're distracted, Darrian. That's all I'm saying. Just… tomorrow, don't let whatever this is get in the way."
I didn't answer him.
Instead, I looked back at the moon. It felt wrong somehow, like it was watching me. Judging me.
As if the goddess herself were waiting for me to make a choice I didn't understand.
When Ronan left, I remained.
The wind whispered through the trees. Distant howls echoed from patrols. But still, I felt that emptiness in my chest—like something vital had been torn away and I hadn't even realized until now.
She was the enemy. A name. A title.
So why did I feel like killing her would kill something in me?
I closed my eyes.
For a moment, just a moment, I swore I could feel her heartbeat. Distant. Wild. Strong.
And I remembered something.
A voice.
A scent.
A laugh.
Gone before I could grab hold.
I growled and turned away from the cliff. I had a war to win. I had a pack to protect. And nothing—not even ghosts of forgotten feelings—would stand in my way.
Tomorrow, she would kneel.
Or she would fall.
The fire crackled low in the center of the war tent, casting flickering shadows across the faces of my inner circle. Maps stretched across the table in front of us, marked with red for our forces and black for the enemy.
For her.
The she-wolf Alpha of Bloodmoon.
Still nameless. Still faceless, though scouts whispered of a woman who walked like power itself.
I hadn't seen her yet—not truly—but I couldn't stop thinking about her. Not in strategy. Not in strength.
But in some odd, aching place in my chest that refused to be silent.
"She's fortified her pack lands well," Ronan said, circling the ridge with a thick black marker. "They've got scouts on the western trail, and she's set up barricades along the southern rise. She's expecting us from the front."
"She's smart," I muttered.
"She's dangerous," Ronan countered, narrowing his eyes. "And if she wins—"
"She won't," I snapped.
The tent went still. I exhaled slowly and pressed a hand to my brow.
"I didn't build Black Fang from ash to lose it to a she-wolf with something to prove," I said, softer now. "But this isn't just another battle. You all feel it. Don't deny it."
Ronan stayed quiet. The others nodded grimly.
I could feel it in my bones too. An energy that curled around my ribs like a vice. My wolf paced beneath my skin, not snarling for blood—but restless. Unsettled.
"She's more than she appears," I said into the silence.
"Are you saying you're… afraid of her?" Ronan asked carefully.
"No." I looked him dead in the eye. "I'm saying I don't understand what I'm about to face. And I don't like that."
I stepped away from the table and out into the night. The cold air bit at my skin, sharp and clean. The stars were brilliant overhead, no moon in sight—only darkness, like the sky was holding its breath.
My tent sat at the edge of the hill. From here, I could almost see the boundary of our lands—just beyond the treeline where she waited with her warriors. I knew we outnumbered them.
But something didn't feel like victory.
It felt like fate.
I didn't believe in destiny. Not since… not since her.
Whoever she had been.
That ache in my chest twisted again. I placed a hand over my sternum, instinctive.
The bond had been gone for months.
Snapped.
Forgotten.
Or… buried.
I tried to conjure her face, the mate I'd once lost. The woman whose death had nearly shattered me.
But I couldn't.
I only saw that nameless Alpha now. The one I was marching to war against at first light.
Something about that felt wrong. As if the universe had made a mistake.
As if I had.
I turned sharply when footsteps approached. Ronan stood beside me, arms crossed, face unreadable.
"We ride at dawn," I said, voice low.
Ronan nodded. "They'll be ready."
"So will we."
"Do you want her alive?" he asked after a beat. "This Alpha?"
I hesitated.
Everything in me screamed yes.
But my lips said, "Only if she kneels."
He nodded and left.
I stood alone for a long time, staring at the woods beyond. Wondering why my wolf wouldn't stop pacing.
Wondering why, for the first time in years, I was afraid I'd already lost something I didn't know I had.
And that tomorrow, I might destroy it for good.