Moonlight In Ash

CHAPTER 5

The first sound I heard was the alarm.

It wasn’t the polite, fire-drill type of alarm either…it was the old, bone-deep howl of the pack’s sirens, shaking the windows and rattling my heartbeat right out of rhythm. I shot upright in bed, hair a tangled mess, half-expecting to see Nathan at my window again. But this wasn’t a dream or another late-night visit. This was war.

“Mom?” I yelled, scrambling out of bed.

She was already at the front door, pale, clutching the radio with both hands. Outside, wolves raced through the streets, their shouts overlapping in chaos. “They’ve hit the border.” She said, breathless. “Smoke…lots of it.”

Of course there was smoke. Of course Nathan couldn’t just send a text message like a normal person.

“Stay inside, Margot!” She snapped.

“Yeah.” I muttered, shoving on my boots, “because that always works out great in horror movies.”

Before she could grab me, I was out the door, sprinting toward the rising plumes in the distance. The air was thick with the smell of ash and adrenaline. Wolves, some in human form, some not, rushed past while forming loose defensive lines. The sound of growls echoed like thunder through the trees.

I found Felix and Leah at the lookout point near the ridge, trying to calm the younger wolves. Felix looked furious. Leah looked like she was trying not to cry.

“What the hell is happening?” I gasped.

Felix handed me the binoculars, jaw clenched. “See for yourself.”

I pressed them to my eyes…and froze.

At the edge of the woods stood an army. Dozens, no, hundreds of wolves and rogues, perfectly still, watching us. Their eyes glowed the same eerie silver, like mirrors catching moonlight. Too uniform, too silent. This wasn’t chaos. This was control.

And at the front of it all was Nathan.

Tall. Calm. Dressed in black. The wind tugged his hair into his eyes as he scanned the field, and even from this distance, I could feel it. That pulse, that impossible pull under my skin. My stomach twisted, half fear, half… something else.

He looked up, right where I stood. And smiled.

“Oh great.” I muttered, lowering the binoculars. “He’s smiling. That’s never good.”

Leah’s voice was small. “Is that…?”

“Yeah.” I said. “That’s him.”

The Alpha arrived minutes later, barking orders, his presence commanding but brittle. He’d been struggling since Nathan’s appearance in our pack, everyone knew it. Nathan had left cracks in this pack…and now he was back to split them open.

The Alpha stepped to the border, his guards flanking him. Nathan, ever dramatic, shifted into human form and strode forward across the clearing like it was a catwalk.

“You took what was mine!” Nathan shouted, voice carrying across the open air. “I’m here to take it back!”

Gasps rippled through our ranks. My pulse stopped cold.

Felix muttered, “He’s talking about the territory.”

But when Nathan’s eyes met mine, I knew he wasn’t.

His gaze locked on me, steady and unflinching, and suddenly the whole world felt too small. The pull inside me surged…heat and static and gravity all at once.

Beside me, Leah whispered, “Um… Margot? I think he means you.”

I groaned. “Of course he does. Because my life wasn’t complicated enough.”

The Alpha tried to speak, his voice strained. “This land is not yours to claim, Nathan. Leave now before we…”

Nathan cut him off with a bitter laugh. “You really think I want your land? You think this is about dirt and titles? You have no idea what’s coming.”

Felix tensed beside me. “What does that mean?”

“It means.” I said, “Our psycho rival alpha has upgraded from creepy to cryptic.”

The air thickened, charged with something wild. Wolves on both sides began to pace, low growls rolling through the ranks like thunder. My skin prickled. The mate bond thrummed like a second heartbeat.

Felix moved closer, trying to shield me. “You shouldn’t even be here.”

“Relax.” I said, trying for a smirk. “He’s just glaring at me like I insulted his wolf shampoo.”

Felix shot me a look. “This isn’t funny, Margot.”

“I know.” I said softly. “That’s what makes it terrifying.”

Nathan tilted his head, studying me. I felt him before I saw him move…like an echo inside my chest. Anger and betrayal. And something deeper and darker. The kind of emotion that could tear the world in half.

He looked at me like I was both his salvation and his curse.

And for one awful second, I wondered if maybe… both were true.

The Alpha raised his hand. “Stand down, Nathan. This is your only warning.”

Nathan smiled that slow, dangerous smile. “Warning noted.”

He lifted his hand.

The first wave hit like a storm.

Wolves burst from the treeline, claws flashing, teeth bared. The sound was deafening…snarls, screams, the clash of bodies hitting the ground. Smoke rolled over the field, turning daylight to shadow.

Felix grabbed my arm. “We have to get you out of here!”

“Like hell you do!” I shouted, jerking free. “This is my pack too!”

Leah appeared at my other side, dragging two frightened pups toward safety. “Margot, go! Please!”

But I couldn’t move. My eyes locked on the chaos below. The world had become a blur of fur and blood and firelight. I could barely tell who was winning, only that we were losing ground fast.

My dad’s voice cut through the noise, loud and fierce. “Hold the line! Keep formation!”

I saw him then…charging through the fray, blood streaking down his arm, fighting off three rogues at once. Pride flared in my chest. That was my dad…our Beta, unbreakable.

Until he wasn’t.

Because in the next breath, Nathan shifted…black fur, silver eyes…and lunged straight for the Alpha. The impact shook the ground. The Alpha’s scream tore through the air, ending as quickly as it began.

“No!” I screamed, my voice swallowed by chaos.

Dad turned, eyes wide, sprinting toward the fight. I wanted to yell for him to stop, but it was too late. Nathan spun, claws flashing, and my father fell…crumpled in the dirt like the world had lost its center.

Time stopped.

Everything in me broke open. The air, the ground, my chest. I couldn’t hear anything but my own heartbeat slamming against my ribs.

Nathan stood over them both, his chest heaving, blood splattered across his fur. For a moment, he looked like a monster.

Then he looked at me.

Our eyes locked across the battlefield, and everything around us slowed.

The growls, the screams, the fire…it all fell away until there was only him.

And then I heard him.

Not with my ears, but inside my mind, deep and quiet and certain.

You can’t run from this, Margot.

The words struck like lightning, flooding through me until my knees buckled. I dropped to the ground, clutching at my chest. The connection burned. Raw and consuming.

Felix’s voice was distant, shouting my name. I reached for him but couldn’t move. My body wasn’t mine anymore. It was all Nathan’s voice and the bond roaring through my blood.

Across the field, Nathan’s eyes flashed brighter. Silver fire swallowing his pupils. He raised his hand again, and for one suspended second, the entire world held its breath.

Then the explosion hit.

Light and fire burst outward, a wave of heat so intense it threw wolves into the air. The ground split. Trees splintered. The shockwave sent me tumbling backward, my ears ringing.

Felix caught me just before I hit the ground. “Margot! Stay with me!”

Through the smoke and chaos, I saw him, Nathan, standing at the center of it all. The fire didn’t touch him. His eyes glowed like molten silver, his body pulsing with power I couldn’t even begin to understand.

And then I heard his voice again. Softer this time, like a whisper against my skin.

You were never theirs to keep.

My vision blurred. The last thing I saw was his silhouette turning toward me, framed in firelight, before the darkness swallowed everything whole.