EPISODE 3: ASHFOLD
975 Words
A Pack Is Not a Home. It’s a Battlefield.
Rowan’s territory didn’t announce itself with borders or warnings.
It announced itself with silence.
The forest swallowed sound the deeper we went. No birds. No insects. Just the soft crunch of leaves beneath our feet and the steady rhythm of two heartbeats moving in sync without trying.
I stayed alert, every nerve tight. Packs didn’t survive by being careless. Neither did exiles.
“Your wolf is unusually calm,” Rowan said after a while.
I glanced at him. “Is that a problem?”
“It’s unusual,” he corrected. “Most newly awakened wolves are loud. Reckless. Yours is… watching.”
I didn’t know whether to feel proud or afraid.
“She waited eighteen years,” I said. “I think she’s learned patience.”
Rowan slowed near a ridge overlooking a stretch of land dotted with scattered lights. Cabins. Old warehouses. A converted factory half hidden by trees.
His pack.
They felt us before they saw us.
I sensed them the way pressure changes before a storm. Wolves emerged quietly from the shadows, eyes glowing softly, bodies relaxed but ready. No open hostility. Not welcome either.
Rowan raised a hand.
“She’s under my protection,” he said.
A tall woman stepped forward. Dark skin. Braided hair pulled back tightly. Her gaze cut straight through me.
“Since when do you bring strays home?” she asked.
Rowan didn’t flinch. “Since tonight.”
Her eyes narrowed. “She smells different.”
“She's a Grayridge,” someone else muttered.
A ripple of tension passed through the group.
I straightened my spine. “I’m not here to replace anyone.”
The woman studied me more closely now. “What are you?”
I met her gaze. “Exiled.”
That earned me a few looks of surprise.
Rowan turned to me. “This is Mara. My beta.”
Her jaw tightened slightly at the word.
“She decides whether you stay,” he added.
Mara stepped closer until we were almost chest to chest. Her wolf pressed against mine, testing. Probing.
My wolf didn’t retreat.
She didn’t attack either.
She endured.
Mara’s eyes flickered with something like unease.
“You broke silver,” she said quietly.
Rowan stiffened.
“I saw it,” Mara continued. “Coyotes don’t lie about power. Not when it scares them.”
I exhaled slowly. “I didn’t know I could.”
“No wolf should,” she replied.
Silence stretched.
Finally, Mara stepped back. “She stays for the night.”
Not acceptance.
A trial.
They gave me a room at the edge of the compound. Bare walls. Narrow bed. A lock on the outside.
I didn’t comment.
Trust was earned. Safety was temporary.
I cleaned myself in the small bathroom, washing blood from my skin, scrubbing until my hands shook. When I looked in the mirror, I barely recognized the woman staring back.
My eyes seemed darker now. Sharper.
Stronger.
This is only the beginning, my wolf murmured.
I lay on the bed fully clothed, exhaustion pulling me under despite my instincts screaming to stay awake.
Sleep came anyway.
And with it… memories.
Not mine.
I stood in a forest burning under moonlight. Wolves howled in agony as silver chains wrapped around their bodies, dragging them to the ground. A woman screamed my name—
Nyra.
I woke with a gasp.
The door opened immediately.
Rowan stood there, eyes alert. “You screamed.”
“I dreamed,” I said hoarsely. “Of chains. And fire.”
His expression darkened.
“You’re seeing echoes.”
“Of what?”
He hesitated.
“Of what your power comes from.”
Before I could ask more, a howl ripped through the compound.
Alarm.
Real. Immediate.
Rowan was already moving. “Stay here.”
I didn’t.
I followed him outside into chaos.
Wolves shifted mid-stride. Shouts echoed as figures burst from the treeline.
Grayridge.
My old pack.
At their front stood Alpha Riven.
And beside him—
Liam.
My chest tightened painfully.
Riven’s gaze locked onto me instantly. “There you are.”
Rowan stepped in front of me, power rolling off him in waves. “You’re trespassing.”
“This is pack business,” Riven replied. “She belongs to us.”
I laughed bitterly. “You exiled me.”
“You were mistaken,” Riven said smoothly. “You belong to the pack.”
“You want my power,” I snapped.
“And you want protection,” he countered.
Liam stepped forward. His eyes flicked to Rowan, then back to me.
“Come home,” he said. “Please.”
The word home felt like a blade.
Rowan glanced at me. “Your choice.”
My wolf growled softly.
I stepped forward.
“Grayridge broke me,” I said clearly. “You don’t get to reclaim what you threw away.”
Riven’s eyes burned gold. “You’ll regret this.”
“So will you.”
The air snapped.
Wolves collided in a blur of claws and teeth. Rowan shifted instantly, massive and lethal. I felt my wolf rise, bones aching as the change tore through me—
My first full shift.
Power surged through me, uncontrollable and magnificent.
I lunged straight toward Liam.
He froze when he saw me.
Not in fear.
In awe.
That hesitation cost him.
I slammed him to the ground, claws pinning his shoulders. His eyes widened.
“I never meant to hurt you,” he whispered.
“You already did,” I replied.
I released him and turned away.
Behind me, Grayridge began to retreat.
Riven’s final glance promised war.
As silence settled once more, Rowan shifted back, blood streaking his skin.
He looks at me differently now.
Not like a liability.
Like a threat.
And maybe…like something he should never do.
- Writer
