EPISODE 4: RAGGING BATTLES
1012 Words
The silence after battle is never quiet.
It breathes.
It lingers in the spaces between heartbeats, heavy with things left unsaid and blood is not yet dry. Wolves moved through the clearing in low, efficient motions, tending wounds, counting heads. No one celebrated. No one mourned openly.
This wasn’t a victory.
It was a warning.
I stood at the edge of the compound, bare feet pressed into damp earth, my wolf still too close to the surface. The shift had left my body buzzing, nerves alive in a way that felt dangerous. Exhilarating. Terrifying.
I’d never felt so whole.
And I’d never felt so alone.
Rowan approached without a sound. He stopped a few steps away, giving me space, like he wasn’t sure what I’d do if he came closer. Moonlight traced the sharp lines of his face, caught in the silver of his eyes.
“That was your first full shift,” he said.
I nodded. My throat felt tight. “It didn’t hurt like they said it would.”
“They lied,” he replied quietly. “Or she didn’t want to hurt you.”
I frowned. “she?”
“Your wolf,” he said. “She knows you.”
That landed deeper than I expected.
Mara joined us, blood drying on her knuckles. Her gaze lingered on me longer this time, more careful than hostile.
“Grayridge won’t stop,” she said. “Riven doesn’t retreat unless he’s planning something worse.”
“I know,” I answered.
She studied my face. “You didn’t kill Liam.”
It wasn’t a question.
“No,” I said. “I could have.”
“But you didn’t.”
I looked away, jaw tightening. “Mercy isn’t weakness.”
Mara’s expression softened, just a fraction. “Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn’t.”
She turned to Rowan. “We need to move patrols. Tighten borders.”
Rowan nodded. “Do it.”
As she walked off, Rowan’s attention returned to me, heavier now. “You put my pack at risk by staying.”
I met his gaze. “You knew that when you brought me here.”
“Yes,” he said. “I just didn’t know how much.”
I laughed softly, without humor. “You can still send me away.”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he stepped closer.
The air between us shifted. My wolf lifted her head, alert, curious. Something unfamiliar tugged at my chest, subtle but insistent.
Rowan stopped an arm’s length away.
“If I send you away,” he said slowly, “Grayridge will hunt you. The coyotes will hunt you. And eventually, so will others.”
“Others?” I asked.
“There are packs that don’t announce themselves,” he replied. “They collect power.”
A chill slid down my spine.
“And you?” I asked. “Will you hunt me too?”
His jaw tightened. “No.”
The certainty in his voice made my breath hitch.
“Then I’ll stay,” I said.
His eyes darkened. “That choice has consequences.”
“I’m done being afraid of those.”
For a moment, neither of us moved. The night pressed in around us, thick with unspoken things. If I stepped closer, I knew something would change.
I didn’t.
Rowan exhaled slowly and turned away. “You’ll train with me at dawn.”
_______________________________________
Training hurt.
Not in the crude, punishing way Grayridge had favored, but in a precise, relentless manner that stripped away every weakness I didn’t know I had. Rowan didn’t go easy on me. He didn’t praise me either.
He corrected.
Again and again.
“Your balance is off,” he said, circling me. “You’re thinking too much.”
I lunged anyway. He sidestepped effortlessly, sweeping my legs out from under me. I hit the ground hard, breath exploding from my lungs.
“Again,” he said.
I got up.
Sweat soaked through my clothes. My muscles screamed. My wolf paced inside me, impatient.
“Stop holding her back,” Rowan said quietly.
I froze. “I’m not.”
“You are,” he replied. “You’re afraid of what happens when you don’t.”
I swallowed. He wasn’t wrong.
I closed my eyes.
And let go.
The world sharpened instantly. My movements flowed instead of forcing themselves into place. When I attacked this time, Rowan actually had to block.
His eyes flashed.
“There,” he murmured. “That’s it.”
We collided, bodies too close, breath tangled. For a split second, neither of us moved. My hands were braced against his chest. I could feel his heartbeat. Steady. Strong.
Dangerously steady.
Something sparked between us. Not heat.
Recognition.
Rowan pulled back abruptly. “Enough for today.”
I watched him walk away, pulse racing.
My wolf was very quiet.
That night, the dreams returned.
This time, I wasn’t alone.
Rowan stood beside me in the burning forest, his wolf massive and bloodied. Silver chains wrapped around us both, tightening with every breath.
Choose, a voice whispered.
I woke gasping.
The bond snapped into place like a pulled wire.
I felt him.
Not nearby.
Connected.
I staggered to my feet, heart hammering.
No, I thought. That’s not possible.
Bonds didn’t form without consent. Without ceremony. Without intention.
And yet… my wolf stirred, uneasy but certain.
Rowan was in danger.
I didn’t hesitate.
I ran.
I found him at the eastern border, surrounded.
Not by Grayridge.
By wolves, I didn’t recognize.
They moved differently. Spoke softly. Smiled too easily.
Collectors.
A woman stepped forward, eyes pale and calculating. “So this is her.”
Rowan stood rigid, restrained but unbroken. His gaze met mine instantly.
“Don’t,” he said sharply.
Too late.
Power surged through me like a living thing.
“You should’ve stayed hidden,” the woman said calmly. “Now we’ll take you both.”
I smiled.
They’d made the same mistake everyone else had.
They thought power was something you owned.
They never understood what it meant to become one.
- Writer
