Mated To The Twin Alphas

15: Ashes And Oaths

Dawn came grey and soundless. The forest that had howled all night now lay still, heavy with smoke and the scent of rain. Ash drifted through the air like snow, settling on everything — the trees, the packhouse roof, the bloodstained ground.

No birds sang. No wind moved. It was as if the world itself was holding its breath.

I stood in the courtyard where the spiral had burned itself into the earth. The mark was gone, but the shape of it was still etched into my mind. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw that flash of silver fire, heard that last, broken howl.

Damon’s voice reached me quietly from behind.

“He isn’t dead.”

I turned, not sure if I believed it or if he was trying to make me. He looked older somehow — shadows under his eyes, his hands trembling even though he kept them clenched tight.

“The bond hasn’t gone silent,” he said. “I can still feel him, somewhere far, but faint.”

I looked down at my wrist. The mark there had changed — no longer silver, but threaded through with a faint line of black, pulsing like a heartbeat. “Then he’s trapped,” I said. “Somewhere between the light and the shadow.”

Damon didn’t answer. His silence told me I was right.

We walked through what was left of the training field. The pack moved like ghosts — tending the wounded, burying the dead, avoiding our eyes. They’d seen what happened under the eclipse, seen the rogues kneel before me as if I were something divine.

And that terrified them more than the battle ever had.

When we reached the council hall, the elders were waiting. They rose when we entered, but none bowed. The eldest among them spoke first.

“The Moon chose her,” he said simply. “We all saw it.”

Damon’s jaw tightened. “The Moon cursed her.”

The elder’s eyes flicked between us. “Either way, the pack needs to understand who leads them now.”

“I’m not your Luna,” I said quickly.

He smiled faintly. “Try telling that to the ones who survived because of you.”

The words hit harder than they should have. I wanted to argue, to run, to undo everything the Moon had written in blood and light. But deep inside, something had already shifted. The mark pulsed once more, slow and steady — a reminder of what still bound us.

That night, the pack built a pyre for those we’d lost. Damon stood beside me, silent, the flames painting his face gold.

“What happens now?” I asked.

He looked toward the dark line of the forest. “We find Darius. Wherever he is, whatever he’s become… he’s still my brother.”

“And if the shadow’s taken him completely?”

His voice was steady, but his eyes weren’t. “Then I’ll bring him back. Or I’ll end it.”

The fire cracked, throwing sparks into the sky. I thought of the Moon’s voice, of the prophecy’s last words — Only blood will seal the bond.

The wind carried the ashes upward, and for a heartbeat, they glowed silver before vanishing into the dark.

Somewhere far beyond the trees, a single howl answered — low, hollow, and not entirely human.

Damon froze.

“He’s alive.”

And deep inside me, the bond thrummed again — colder this time, darker.

The curse hadn’t ended.

It had only begun.