The forest clearing was shrouded in twilight when I arrived, the air charged with the electric promise of violence. The trees stood still, silent observers to what was about to unfold. My warriors stood behind me, each prepared to fight and die if necessary. Ronan flanked me, unreadable, yet the tension in his shoulders betrayed his anticipation.
We had crossed into Bloodmoon territory with a clear objective: subjugate or destroy. A she-wolf had taken over the Bloodmoon Pack. A wolf who dared to challenge the order of things. She would either kneel... or fall.
But when I saw her, everything shifted.
She stood atop a raised stone platform in the center of the clearing, her presence arresting. Her long black hair rippled in the breeze like silk, her posture proud, eyes gleaming with power. But it was her wolf—shimmering with a dark, shadowy aura even in human form—that tugged at something deep within me.
Then she began to speak.
"I am Heather Blackstone," she said, her voice steady and resounding. "Alpha of the Bloodmoon Pack by blood and by right. I did not steal this title. I bled for it. I clawed my way through hell to claim what was always mine."
Her voice carried across the crowd, a melody wrapped in steel.
"You stand on sacred ground—my ancestors walked this soil long before you came. And I will not submit. I will not kneel to power built on dominance and bloodlust. I command loyalty not through fear, but through strength, justice, and sacrifice."
She stepped forward, her bare feet silent against the grass, her chin raised.
"You seek war? I offer peace—if you can understand it. You seek dominance? I offer alliance—if you can value it. But if all you know is violence, if the only thing you hear is the roar of power, then I will answer you in kind. With the fury of every scar burned into my skin. With the fire of every betrayal I've survived. With the vengeance of every wolf who has suffered at the hands of tyrants."
I felt something stir behind me. Ronan's posture eased. My warriors glanced at one another. One by one, they knelt.
Black Fang wolves—my wolves—lowered themselves to the ground in a rare gesture of respect.
Even Ronan bent the knee.
But I did not.
My chest burned. Something primal raged inside me. I didn't understand it. Her words had unsettled something buried deep, something I couldn't name. I hated the feeling of uncertainty. I hated what her voice did to me—this echo of something lost.
She met my gaze.
"Alpha," she said, the word not a greeting but a challenge.
I shifted.
The familiar pain tore through my body as my bones restructured, muscles stretching, fur bursting from my skin. In seconds, my massive black wolf stood in my place, teeth bared, eyes blazing with fury.
A hush fell across the field.
Heather didn't flinch. She stood still as my growl rumbled through the ground. Then, with a calmness that sent chills down my spine, she let her body begin to change.
Bones cracked. Muscles snapped and reformed. Her figure grew, towering and sleek. But it was her wolf that stole the breath from every throat in the clearing.
A massive obsidian beast emerged, taller than any wolf I'd seen before, her fur dark as midnight, eyes glacial blue and glowing. Her presence radiated power, ancient and fierce.
We faced each other, nose to nose, silence thick between us.
The packs dared not move.
This wasn't their fight anymore.
It was ours.
Alpha against Alpha.
The last thing I saw before the world narrowed to instinct was her eyes—unafraid, unwavering.
The battle had not begun, but the war of wills already raged.
I leapt.
She met me midair.
Fury and dominance clashed as we collided, a whirlwind of fang and fury. I bit down on her shoulder, but she twisted, raking claws across my ribs. We rolled, tearing into each other, two storms locked in combat. She was relentless. Every movement she made was precise, powerful, instinctual.
I should've had the upper hand. I was larger.
Stronger.
But something in her burned hotter.
She threw me off, panting, and before I could lunge again, she launched herself forward. Her fangs caught the scruff of my neck and slammed me into the ground with a force I didn't think she possessed.
I snarled and thrashed, but her paw was at my throat before I could recover.
Pinning me.
Defeating me.
My wolf growled with rage, but deep beneath it… there was a flicker of something else.
Recognition.
She stood over me, her chest heaving. Her voice once more filled my head.
"I offered peace. You chose war. You lose."
And for the first time in my life, I didn't know what to say.
For a heartbeat, I lay beneath her, teeth bared, my pride bleeding more than my wounds. My pack was watching. Her pack was watching. I would not lose.
With a roar, I surged up, throwing her off. She skidded across the ground, but landed with grace. My muscles coiled, ready to attack again—
And then the sky split.
A blinding light descended from the moon above, casting everything in silver. The air turned thick, electric, as the figure appeared before us.
The Moon Goddess.
My wolf whimpered. Heather's black wolf bowed.
She didn't speak at first. Her gaze swept over the clearing, over the packs, over me. Over Heather.
Then her voice echoed—not just through the clearing but into our very minds, into our souls.
"What are you doing?"
The air trembled.
I couldn't answer. None of us could.
"You stand here, teeth bared, hearts closed. Alpha to Alpha, wolf to wolf. But what is it you truly fight for? Power? Pride? Pain?"
I lowered my head, unable to hold her gaze.
"Darrian Blackfang," she said, voice both kind and unyielding. "You search for strength in blood. You think if you conquer one more enemy, if you strike down one more rival, your pack will be safe. That you will be whole. But tell me—has it worked?"
My throat closed. I thought of all I'd lost. All I'd buried.
"You have lived as a warrior," she continued, stepping toward me. "But you forget—you were born as a mate. A protector. A part of something greater. You severed your own soul to survive. And in doing so, you forgot her."
She turned to Heather then, and the silver glow around her grew brighter.
"And you, Heather Bloodmoon. You rose from the ashes of your tormentor's cruelty. You led with grace. You inspired loyalty, not through fear but through compassion. But you, too, have locked away the truth. You carry your pain like armor."
Heather's wolf bowed lower, silent.
"The two of you are not strangers."
The words cut through me like a blade.
"You were mated once," she said gently. "Bound by my hand. Torn apart by darkness. You fought. You bled. You died for each other."
Heather's head snapped up, eyes wide.
A flash of memory surged through me. A forest. Her smile. My hand in hers. Pain. Rage. Love.
My knees buckled.
She looked at me too, stunned. Her wolf shimmered—and behind it, her human form flickered in and out of view.
I took a step toward her. "Heather…?"
She flinched. "Darrian…?"
The goddess raised her hands, and a silver thread emerged between us. A tether—faint, broken, yet pulsing with life.
"Our bond," I whispered.
"You must choose," the Moon Goddess said, her voice suddenly solemn.
"What choice?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
"Acceptance," she said simply. "Or destruction."
She stepped back.
"If you reject the bond once more—if you choose war over love—you will forget again. And this time, the bond will not recover. You will live your lives apart. Lost. Alone. And your packs will suffer."
My jaw tightened. I looked at Heather.
She was trembling, tears on her cheeks.
"I don't remember everything," she said, voice cracking. "But I remember feeling. I remember you."
My heart shattered.
"I remember dying," I murmured. "And I remember it being for you."
Silence.
Then, as if pulled by gravity, we stepped toward each other. Our hands touched.
A burst of silver light surrounded us. The tether mended. The bond sealed.
Warmth flooded me. Memories surged—of our first kiss, our first battle, the laughter, the pain. Everything we'd buried.
It was all back.
"I never stopped loving you," I whispered.
"I never stopped waiting," she said.
The Moon Goddess smiled, her form beginning to fade.
"Then go," she said. "Lead together. Rule wisely. And never again forget what you are."
As her light vanished, the clearing brightened with dawn.
Heather and I stood hand in hand.
Mates.
Again.
At last.