Alpha Of Ashes

Alpha Of Ashes

The milk under the cabin was rising and Zane's new heart was beating too loud.

I am Kira Storm. Twenty one when my pack was massacred on my mating night. Zane Crowe found me dying, dragged me to the Black Forest, put his dagger in my hand, pointed at my heart, whispered die as my Luna so you can live as my revenge, made me stab myself, buried me alive. I lived because Mara found me. My wolf went silent, scar never healed. Three years as human doctor. Came back as Mira, mute Omega maid, because Winter Fang was about to be destroyed same as Ash and Zane was about to marry Selene, daughter of Victor Kane, who ordered my m******e. Zane looked across the hall and said he never saw me before and lied.

He did not kill from hate. He killed to fake my death. Prophecy says Ash bloodline must die before it can awaken. If I lived that night as Alpha, Victor would have executed me publicly and taken power. He broke our bond to hide my bloodline. My wolf went dormant. I am Phoenix, must die to become stronger.

Now I am Ash Queen. I let him stab me again in the bunker under the altar where I was supposed to marry him. I did not die. Phoenix woke and burned ten of Victor's wolves. I reclaimed Ash. My mother Kara, who faked death with potion while in labor with Lyra and Lorn, was alive. Hundred crowns woke. Yara Frost, who rejected Kane's father, was alive in milk under floor for a hundred years and told Zane through root to bury me. War started between Winter Fang and Blood Stone. Frost snow forced a truce, forced us into the hunter cabin, one bed, enemies to lovers, still not forgiven.

Then Selene revealed she knew I was alive and let Victor use her. Victor's plan was to kill Zane and use my Phoenix blood to become immortal. Future me, ten years older, eyes dead, came with our son, ten years old, black hair, void white scar, holding a black beating heart, and said I must give Zane my Phoenix heart to resurrect him, then I become pregnant and Phoenix pregnancy kills mother.

Now Zane was dying on the cabin floor. Victor stabbed him with the same dagger. Selene bit Victor to stop him stealing my heart. The floor cracked and a newborn hand grabbed my ankle from the milk, covered in white, reaching for all of us.

I pushed my Phoenix heart into Zane's chest. White fire entered black heart. He gasped, sat up, resurrected. Silver eyes alive, dead wolf howling alive now.

I fell back, chest empty like Lorn, Void that gives without dying. I felt a kick inside, hard. Baby. Phoenix twins. Ember whispered, one of us must die.

Future me knelt, touched my belly, said now you are there. Feel it.

I did. But this time the kick was not inside me. It was outside. The newborn hand grabbing my ankle pulled, and a second baby came out of the milk, not from me, from the floor, from North and South roots entwined white and black, One.

The baby was Selene.

Not adult Selene torn white dress half Frost half Kane who wants to be only female Alpha. Baby Selene, newborn, grey eyes like ash like mine, scar like mine, holding a tiny dagger.

Adult Selene saw baby Selene and went white.

Victor, choking on fertile milk and wolfsbane poison from his own daughter's wedding dress lining, laughed through blood. "You did not know? Selene was never my daughter. Yara hid a daughter, my father had a daughter with Yara before she rejected him. Selene is my sister, not daughter. I raised her as daughter to control her. She is half Frost half Kane. She bleeds white sometimes. That baby in milk is her when she was buried alive at birth because I wanted ground sterile for generations so no daughter ever lead again. I buried her alive at birth, Yara saved her in milk."

That was the hot twist. Selene was buried alive at birth by Victor, same as me on wedding day. Same dagger. Same words.

Baby Selene opened eyes and looked at adult Selene and said, "You let father use you because you thought you were Kane wanting to be Frost. You are Frost wanting to be Kane wanting to be only female Alpha. You knew Kira was alive and let father use you to kill her so you could take North after both die. That was last betrayal. Now I betray you. I choose Ash."

Baby Selene crawled to me, empty chest alive, and placed tiny dagger in my empty chest.

The milk rose faster, flooding cabin, one bed, one fire. Outside, both armies, Winter Fang white wolves led by Jonn my Beta who thought I was dead, Blood Stone black wolves led by Victor's Beta who thought Selene betrayed, plus human doctors with warrants saying female Alpha pregnancy illegal, plus mother Kara frost tears holding twins Lyra crown too big black eyes white star Void turned Ash and Lorn empty chest alive, plus Yara hundred years buried alive alive again, plus hundred crowns, plus Mara with medicine kit, plus pups who called me Miss Mira, all sinking in white that burns that remembers that makes ground fertile where Victor wanted sterile.

Zane, resurrected with my Phoenix heart inside black heart beating white orange blue black, held me, empty chest, and shouted over rising milk, "We decide together even if we die together was promise from this cabin when we were fourteen. Now decide, Kira, who lives?"

Meaningful core struggle hit here. I came back to warn, to get revenge, to find why he buried me alive. Now I know. Prophecy, Yara, fear, love. Now I gave my heart, now I am pregnant, Phoenix pregnancy kills mother, now I feel kick and wolf whispers one of us must die. Now I have choice that no Alpha ever had: save mother or daughter, North or South, past or future, me or baby.

I touched my belly where kick was. It kicked again, but not inside, from outside, baby Selene kicking from milk.

Future me, ten years older scar healed eyes dead, who died giving birth, said, "I died giving birth to Lyra and Lorn and to this boy. Our son. Black hair void white scar Phoenix blue eyes frost empty chest alive holding black beating heart. He holds heart you gave Zane. If you die now, he lives. If you live now, he dies. He is Void that gives without dying, but Void still dies once."

Our son, ten years old, knelt beside Zane and me, held black beating heart out, and said, "Mother past, father present, I am from future where mother dies pregnant and father lives with Phoenix heart and becomes cruel Alpha who kills Luna myth again, everyone thinks he killed his Luna again. Only he knows he visits two empty graves every night, yours and mine. If you do not break cycle now, I become you."

Zane looked at son, at boy with his silver eyes and my grey ash eyes, at black beating heart, and said, "You are me when I thought I was monster."

I looked at Selene adult torn dress, at Selene baby newborn dagger in my empty chest, at Victor white veins blackening, at Yara in milk, at mother Kara, at Lyra and Lorn, at hundred crowns, at armies, at human doctors, at future me dead eyes, at milk rising.

Then I did what ruthless brilliant strategist only Alpha who leads without needing to shift would do. I did not choose mother or daughter.

I chose neither.

I grabbed tiny dagger baby Selene placed in my empty chest and stabbed the root, North and South entwined white and black One, first female Alpha buried alive for saying North should be one and first male Alpha buried alive for saying only sons should lead, both reaching up from under altar, from under bunker, from under empty grave on hill.

Root screamed, not pain, release.

Milk exploded, not flooding, burning, fertile, and every female Alpha buried alive for saying no over hundred years, hundred crowns, screamed as one, and ground that Victor wanted sterile for generations cracked and became fertile instantly.

Victor screamed as fertile ground entered his mouth, his nose, his white veins, making him remember every daughter he buried.

Selene adult screamed as baby Selene dissolved into milk and entered her, making her whole, Frost and Kane not half, whole, only female Alpha but not only, one of many.

Future me screamed as dead eyes became alive, because fertile ground means Phoenix pregnancy does not have to kill mother if mother gives heart first.

And Zane, resurrected, black heart beating white orange blue black with my Phoenix heart inside, pulled me out of milk, out of cabin, onto altar where I was supposed to marry him at twenty one, where pack was massacred, where he found me dying and dragged me to forest and buried me alive.

Both armies saw us, Ash Queen empty chest alive and Winter Fang Alpha resurrected with Phoenix heart, standing on altar in milk that burns that remembers, holding tiny dagger and black beating heart and baby kick.

Jonn my Beta fell to knees. "Alpha of Ashes."

Victor's Beta fell to knees. "Alpha of Ashes."

Mother Kara, twins, Yara, hundred crowns, Mara, pups, human doctors, future me, boy, all fell to knees.

Only Selene adult stood, whole now, grey eyes ash, scar like mine, holding Victor choking fertile, and she said, hot, new, not repeated, "Kira Storm, you gave your Phoenix heart to resurrect Zane, you are pregnant and Phoenix pregnancy kills mother, but you stabbed root and made ground fertile, so now pregnancy does not kill mother, it kills father. One of us must die, but not mother, father. So who dies, Zane or Victor? You have his heart beating inside his black heart. Pull it out and Victor dies immortal dream dies, leave it and Zane dies and you become cruel Alpha myth again. Choose now, Alpha of Ashes, because I am not letting you choose neither again, and I have your baby's tiny dagger in my hand, and I am the only one who knows where Lyra and Lorn really were for three years, not in bunker, in my womb, because I am not Selene Kane, I am Kara's daughter, your sister."

The milk stopped rising. Silence. Zane's new heart beat too loud, white orange blue black, my empty chest, baby kicking inside, outside, baby Selene gone into adult Selene, future me alive eyes, boy holding black heart, Victor choking, hundred crowns kneeling, armies kneeling, altar, dagger, one bed cabin burning behind us.

Selene held tiny dagger to Victor's throat and to my belly at same time and whispered, "Welcome home, sister."