Closer
1062 Words
🌒 Chapter Five: Closer
Raven's POV
Dawn broke, a pale wash of light creeping over the pines as frost clung to branches like crystal tears.
Raven stood in the forest clearing, boots crunching on frozen grass, the cold biting at her cheeks, but her golden eyes were distant, scanning the tree line.
The bond was pulling again.
She hated it.
She needed to stay focused, needed to lead, needed to remain untouchable.
Shadow paced inside her, restless, golden eyes seeing the world in sharper hues. The scent was faint on the wind sandalwood, rain, human.
Him.
A branch snapped.
“Alpha.” Luca’s voice was soft as he approached, dark hair tied back, the tattoo on his neck partially hidden by his collar.
She turned, forcing the tension from her shoulders. “Report.”
“Loki and the others swept the ridge last night. Carla’s team caught two scouts on the east. Rogues, half-starved, desperate. We took them down.”
Raven’s jaw clenched. “And the borders?”
“Holding.” His dark eyes softened for a moment. “You should rest, Raven.”
She glared at him. “You think I can rest with rogues clawing at our territory?”
“No,” he said, a small smile ghosting across his face, “but you should still try.”
She turned away, boots sinking into the frost, her eyes scanning the forest.
In the distance, Levi and Andre’s laughter rang out as they sparred, shifting seamlessly between human and wolf, Devdas and Spiro colliding with controlled power.
Carla’s clear voice cut through the crisp air as she led Freya, Camilla, and Louise through stealth drills, shifting from wolf to human form.
Harvey and Archer practiced archery while in wolf form, shifting back to human in a blur to fire arrows, then leaping forward, shifting mid-air to close the distance on their imaginary enemies.
They were ready.
She hoped it would be enough.
Ragnar's POV
The river was icy as Ragnar crossed it, boots slipping on mossy stones, water seeping into the edges, numbing his feet.
He didn’t care.
The pull in his chest was stronger, relentless, like a rope around his ribs, dragging him forward.
Toward her.
Every night, he saw her in his dreams amber eyes, black hair that somehow shone in the moonlight and a voice that made her sound powerful and strong all at once, she truly was captivating.
A promise and a threat at the same time.
He pressed a hand to his chest as the bond pulsed, stopping him in his tracks.
“Wolf,” he whispered into the forest as he didn’t yet know her name.
And for a moment, he swore he felt her turn toward him, even miles away.
Raven's POV
Shadow surged as the bond flared, nearly dropping her to her knees.
“Alpha Raven!” Loki’s voice snapped her back, his hand gripping her arm.
She sucked in a breath, golden eyes narrowing, forcing the bond back into the shadows.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not,” he said, helping her up, but didn’t push any further.
The air shifted, the scent of rogues brushing past them, rank and feral.
“Positions!” Raven ordered, mind-link snapping through the pack.
Levi, Andre, Archer, Harvey, Carla, Freya, Camilla, Louise, and the rest of the warriors and patrol got ready.
They moved like ghosts, wolves slipping between trees, low growls rumbling in the mist as the rogues approached.
“Four of them,” Loki said, eyes flashing.
“Hold,” Raven ordered, her hand tightening on her blade.
The rogues crashed through the underbrush, foam at their jaws, madness in their red eyes.
One lunged for Levi, but he quickly shifted as Devdas met it head on, teeth tearing into the rogue’s throat.
Spiro darted around another, biting deep into its flank before leaping away, forcing it into the path of Gunnar, who slammed it to the ground.
Oren and Misty worked in tandem, weaving around each other, taking down the third with brutal efficiency.
The last rogue turned, snarling, eyes locking onto Raven.
She stepped forward, her wolf rising, golden light flickering in her eyes.
“Don’t even think about it,” she warned softly.
But It lunged.
Shadow erupted, the shift clean and powerful, black fur gleaming in the dawn light as she met the rogue mid-air, jaws closing around its throat, snapping it in a single, brutal twist.
Blood splattered across the frost, steam rising from the warm corpse.
Shadow lifted her head, howling once before shifting back and throwing on clothes as she stood as Raven over the body, her breathing steady, and amber eyes cold.
“Alpha,” Carla’s voice came through the mind-link, calm and sure. “All clear.”
Raven nodded, wiping blood from her cheek, her hand trembling before she clenched it into a fist.
The bond pulsed again, reminding her of the storm approaching.
Ragnar's POV
He felt it, all of it.
The kill, the shift, the thrill.
The roar of her wolf, the taste of blood that wasn’t his but somehow was.
His knees hit the forest floor as the bond raged, fire and lightning threading through his veins.
“Wolf,” he gasped, clutching the soil, feeling her strength, her fury, her loneliness.
His vision blurred, the carved wolf figurine warm in his pocket, the storm inside him matching the cold wind rustling the pines above.
He stood, wiping tears he didn’t remember crying, and took another step forward.
Towards her.
I must find her, I must see her and learn her name.
Raven's POV
That night, Raven stood on the balcony, overlooking her warriors as they prepared the perimeter.
Torches flickered against the darkness, the scent of pine smoke mixing with the crisp air.
Luca moved among the warriors, checking gear, offering nods of approval. Levi and Andre were already patrolling the west, while Archer and Harvey set up sentries near the ridge.
Carla’s team practiced formations near the east wall, their wolves flickering in and out of view as they shifted to test the new patrol drills.
Raven watched them all, her heart aching with the pride.
They were hers.
They were ready.
The bond pulsed again.
She closed her eyes, gripping the railing until her knuckles whitened.
Human.
She could feel him.
Getting closer.
And it terrified her.
- Writer
