The Intruder
1230 Words
Ashen
Because I didn’t have a full wolf, let alone a strong one to rule a kingdom alongside a princess
Because Moon deserved a mate who knew what he was.
Not a boy, still trying to decide whether he was real.
I said none of that.
Instead, I looked at the glowing ring on my finger until the light faded back into silver.
“I don’t know if I’m what you need,” I said.
Moon took one step toward me.
I took one back.
Pain flashed across her face.
Faint.
Quick.
But I felt it.
The thread between us carried it into my chest.
I hated myself for causing it.
“I’m sorry,” I said immediately.
She stopped.
Her expression softened, but that somehow made it worse.
“You don’t have to apologize for being honest.”
“I am not trying to be cruel.”
“I know.”
“I am not rejecting you either.”
The words came out rougher than I meant them to.
Moon went still.
“I just need time to wrap my head around what just happened between us.”
Honestly, I didn’t believe it to be real, but I didn’t say that.
My heartbeat pounded once.
Twice.
Too loud.
Her voice lowered. “Then what do you want to do?”
I swallowed.
“Trying not to ruin something I don’t understand.”
For a long moment, Moon only looked at me.
Then she nodded once.
It was not agreement.
Not exactly.
It was grace.
“I can give you time,” she said.
My throat tightened.
“You should not have to.”
“Maybe not.” Her smile was small and sad. “But I can.”
I did not know what to do with that kind of kindness.
Before I could answer, footsteps sounded on the stairs.
Nara appeared first, hair messy, eyes half-open but alert.
“What happened?”
Veyra floated behind her with far too much awareness in her face for someone pretending to yawn.
“I felt moonlight punch the wards,” she said.
Nara looked between us.
Then, at the scattered first-aid supplies.
Then at my shirt, which I had put on backward.
Her eyes widened.
“Oh.”
Moon turned red.
I pulled the shirt off and fixed it with as much dignity as a man could have while his younger sister silently judged him.
Veyra pressed her lips together.
Do not laugh, her expression said.
Unfortunately, Veyra’s expressions were liars.
She laughed.
I sighed. “There was a reaction.”
“A reaction,” Nara repeated.
Moon stared hard at the floor.
Veyra leaned against the wall. “Was this reaction medicinal?”
“Veyra.”
“Magical?”
“Veyra.”
“Romantic?”
“Go back upstairs.”
Nara’s sleepy face sharpened. “Wait. Your wolf—”
A sound cut through the cabin.
Not from the forest this time.
From the front porch.
One board creaked.
Everyone went silent.
The wards hummed so faintly I almost missed it.
My hand lifted slightly.
The cup on the table slid an inch toward me without being touched.
Moon noticed.
Veyra sighed.
Her face lost every trace of humor.
Nara moved closer to Moon.
Another creak.
Someone was outside the door.
Not a rogue.
A rogue would have smelled like blood, rot, and hunger.
This scent was different.
Male.
Royal maybe. A guard.
Moonlight-touched but not exactly like Moon’s.
Steel. pine. horse leather. Palace stone. Cold air from high towers.
I did not know it.
That was enough.
“Upstairs,” I said.
Moon looked at me. “Ashen—”
“Now.”
My voice came out quieter than I expected.
Not panicked.
Commanding.
Nara’s eyes widened slightly.
Veyra did not argue.
She grabbed Nara’s wrist. “Come.”
Nara resisted. “Ashen—”
“Take Moon,” I said.
Moon’s lips parted.
“No. Absolutely not”
I looked at her.
The porch creaked again.
“Moon.”
“I am not hiding while you face a stranger alone.”
“You are who they are searching for; remember the rogues.”
“And you're one person; what if there are more of them?”
The handle on the door shifted.
My patience vanished.
I looked at Veyra. “Get them upstairs.”
Veyra moved faster than Nara could argue, pulling her toward the stairs. Moon followed for three steps, then stopped.
I saw it.
I could feel her hesitation through the fragile new thread between us.
“Moon, please,” I warned.
She held my gaze.
Then, to my surprise, she turned and went up.
Only when her footsteps disappeared above me did I face the door.
The handle moved again.
Slow.
Careful.
The door opened.
A man stepped inside. He was entering as if he had the right.
Ice threaded through my fingers.
The cup on the table trembled.
The basin water rippled, then froze along the edges.
My breathing slowed.
He was tall.
Dark-haired.
Dressed for travel but carrying himself like court had been carved into his bones. Snow dusted his cloak. One hand was empty. The other rested near his side, close enough to a weapon that I did not bother wondering whether he knew how to use it.
His eyes swept the room.
The table.
The first-aid supplies.
The damp floor.
The stairs.
He saw too much.
Too quickly.
His gaze snapped back to me.
"Who are you and what do you want?"
He didn't answer, just stared, familiarity hit, but I brushed it off
I looked at him and asked again, "How did you find this place?"
I moved first.
My hand opened.
Still nothing.
Hand-raised from across the room.
The air between us tightened.
The man’s boots left the floor.
His body slammed back against nothing, suspended in the middle of the room as if invisible hands had caught him by the throat and ribs.
His eyes widened.
His fingers clawed at empty air.
The door swung shut behind him.
Hard.
The whole cabin shuddered.
Upstairs, Nara gasped.
Veyra cursed under her breath.
I stepped closer, one hand still lifted.
The man’s throat worked uselessly.
His face began to redden.
I had seen too many threats walk into rooms pretending they were not threats.
Callan smiled before he struck.
Seraphine softened her voice before punishment.
Torren wore authority like it excused cruelty.
Dorian had called himself noble while dragging Moon into darkness.
I would not wait to be hurt first.
Not here.
Not with Moon upstairs.
Not with Nara sleeping under my mother’s roof.
The man’s hand twitched toward his coat.
I clenched my fingers.
His body jerked higher.
A strangled breath escaped him.
“Ashen!”
Moon’s voice split the room.
I turned.
She stood at the bottom of the stairs, one hand gripping the railing, eyes wide with horror.
She had not listened.
Of course she had not listened.
Her gaze shot from me to the man hanging in the air.
Her face drained of color.
I did not understand why.
I only knew she looked terrified.
Not of him.
Of what I was doing to him.
The man’s boots hung a foot above the floor.
His face darkened.
My hand stayed raised.
And Moon stared at me like I had just crushed the breath from someone she loved.
- Writer
