Chapter 10: “The First Storm”
1190 Words
The storm came at dusk.
Not rain. Wolves.
Kael heard them first. He was at the edge of our half-built wall, sharpening the axe the staff gave us.
“Three,” he said quietly. “Moving slow. Trying not to be heard.”
I stood up from where I was stacking stones. The staff was beside me. It pulsed once.
Lina dropped her shovel. Toren grabbed the hammer.
“Spies,” Kael said. “Blackstone colors.”
Darius didn’t wait long.
“Everyone inside the wall,” I said. “No one runs.”
We moved fast. Lina, Toren, and I stood in the center of our circle. Kael took the front.
The trees parted.
Three wolves. Black fur. Grey eyes. Scouts.
They stopped at the edge of our new stone wall. Low, but real.
One shifted. A man, mid-30s. Scar across his cheek.
“You’re trespassing on Blackstone land,” he said.
“This is Ashford land,” I said. I stepped forward. The staff in my hand. “Old law. Old borders.”
The scout laughed. “Ashford’s been dead for 500 years, girl.”
“Not anymore,” Lina said. Her voice was small, but firm.
The scout’s eyes went to her. Then Toren. Then back to me.
“Four rejects,” he said. “Darius will pay good silver for you.”
Kael didn’t move. “Leave. Now.”
The scout looked at him. “You’re the rogue. Kael Ashford.”
Kael’s jaw tightened. He didn’t deny it.
“So it’s true,” the scout said. “You’re hiding her.”
“I’m not hiding,” I said. “I’m building.”
The scout’s hand went to his knife. “Alpha’s orders. Bring her in. Alive.”
“Try,” Kael said.
The other two scouts shifted.
I raised the staff.
“Stop,” I said.
Silver light.
All three wolves froze mid-step.
The scout who was human dropped his knife. His eyes were wide. “Command…”
“Yes,” I said. “And I command you to listen.”
Sweat broke out on my forehead. Holding three wolves was heavy.
Lina came to stand beside me. “Don’t hurt them,” she whispered.
“I won’t,” I said.
I looked at the lead scout. “What’s your name?”
He couldn’t speak. But his eyes flicked down.
“Rook,” Kael said. “That’s Rook. He was at the Ball.”
Rook’s eyes widened. He remembered me.
“Rook,” I said. “I’m not your enemy. Darius is. He threw away a Luna because she was ‘useless’. How many others has he thrown away?”
Rook’s face changed. Just a little.
“Let him go, Ella,” Kael said quietly. “He’s not the threat.”
I nodded.
“Rook,” I said. “You can go. Tell Darius this: Ashford is under Neutral Law. You can’t take us by force. And if you come back with blood, you’ll leave with none of yours.”
I released the command.
The light faded.
Rook stumbled back a step. He rubbed his head.
The other two scouts shifted back, breathing hard.
“You’re… you’re not going to kill us?” one asked.
“No,” I said. “We’re not Darius.”
Rook picked up his knife. He looked at me. At Lina. At Toren.
Then he turned.
“Let’s go,” he said to the others.
They left. No fight. No blood.
Silence.
Toren let out a breath. “You… you didn’t hurt them.”
“No,” I said. My legs were shaking. Kael caught my arm.
“Sit,” he said.
I sat on a stone. My hands were cold.
“Using Command on three wolves at once,” Kael said. “That’s a lot for a first time.”
“I know,” I said. “But I didn’t want to be like him.”
Lina handed me water. “You weren’t. You were better.”
I drank.
Toren was staring at his hands. “I… I felt something. When you did it.”
I looked up. “What?”
“Heat,” he said. “In my chest. Like… like something was waking up.”
Kael went still.
Toren looked at me, scared. “Ella… I think…”
Pain hit him. He doubled over.
“Toren!” Lina grabbed him.
His back arched. He gasped.
“Kael,” I said fast. “What’s happening?”
“Shift,” Kael said. “He’s shifting.”
“But he’s wolfless,” Lina said.
“Was,” Kael corrected. “He’s not anymore.”
Light.
Silver light came from Toren’s skin.
He cried out. Then went still.
And in his place… a wolf.
Grey fur. Small. Young. But whole.
Toren’s wolf.
Lina gasped. “He has one!”
Toren’s wolf looked around, confused. Then he saw me.
He didn’t run. He walked forward. Slow.
He sat in front of me. And he bowed his head.
I put my hand on his fur. Warm. Real.
“Hello, Toren,” I whispered.
The wolf’s tail thumped once.
Then he shifted back. Naked. Shaking.
Lina threw him my spare shirt.
“I… I have a wolf,” Toren said. He was crying. “I have a wolf.”
Kael clapped his shoulder. “You do.”
Toren looked at me. “It was you. Your Command. It woke him.”
I shook my head. “No. You woke him. I just… asked.”
Toren hugged me. Fast. Then pulled back, embarrassed.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” I said, smiling.
Lina was bouncing on her feet. “Does this mean I can too?”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “But we’ll try.”
Kael looked at the tree line. “They’ll be back. With more. Rook will tell Darius what happened.”
“Then we build faster,” I said. “Before they return.”
That night, we didn’t sleep.
We worked.
Toren, now with a wolf, could lift stones we couldn’t. Lina was faster. Kael cut wood.
I used the staff to set the stones. To shape them.
By dawn, the walls were waist-high.
And we had a roof frame.
We were tired. Dirty. Sore.
But we were laughing.
“Look,” Lina said. She pointed at the sky.
Clouds were gathering. Dark.
“The real storm,” Kael said.
Rain started. Light at first. Then heavy.
We ran into the half-built house. No walls yet, but the roof kept us dry.
We huddled together.
Toren leaned against me. Asleep in minutes. Lina too.
Kael sat by the entrance, watching the rain.
I sat beside him.
“You did good today,” he said.
“So did you,” I said. “You didn’t kill them.”
He looked at me. “You taught me that.”
The rain hit the roof.
Inside, it was warm.
Four people. One Pack.
And a wolf who just found himself.
The storm passed by morning.
When the sun came up, our walls were still standing.
Wet. But standing.
Just like us.
- Writer
