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081 | AN IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56
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Alpha Ares 082 | ROSEMARY AND CINNAMON
“So,” I asked, around a huge mouthful of bread, “how did you start the fire?” Nana Baspy grinned, looking up at me as she ladled spoonful after spoonful of extra stew into Ares’s bowl. “Nobody has seen my shifted form in quite some time, little wolf. When I heard the commotion outside, and I realised what was going on, it was easy enough to blend in with the fight – and grab an oil lamp in my mouth, and smash it against the Pack House in the midst of the brawl.” She shrugged like it was nothing, finally putting the ladle down when Ares’s bowl started to overflow. “And then I ran here, following a more direct route than you. I sent your Grandpa Attie over as soon as the fight started, in case I couldn’t make it back in time.” She beamed, proud of herself. “But I did.” I grinned back at her, swallowing a burning spoonful of stew. “I’m not surprised he’s so tired, then,” I said, looking over at Grandpa Attie and raising my eyebrows. She shook her head fondly, nudging him beneath the ta
Alpha Ares 083 | LIGHT FLARE
We spent two weeks in the cabin. Two blissful weeks of good, hearty food and comfortable mattresses – and the creeping feeling that I should be doing something else, anything else, other than waiting around for something bad to happen.The dawn sky was paling outside; misty, ethereal light spilled into the cabin, hitting the warm wood of the small dining table, casting everything it touched in its ghostly pallor. It gave everything a strange, dreamlike quality. That was all this had been: a dream. Make believe. Pretend.“You need to relax,” said Cendres, knocking his elbow against mine. His cheeks were round, full of food like a hamster’s, and crumbs flew from his lips as he spoke. “Alpha Blare is dead. Naz is… Well…” He trailed off, and his eyes suddenly found the floor incredibly interesting.My leg bounced under the table. “I am relaxed.”Annia rolled her eyes at me as she reached for a cinnamon roll. “You really look it.”“Doesn’t she?” joined in Ares. “The very picture of serenit
Alpha Ares 084 | ETHEREAL
With Ares gone, I tried to pull myself together. I tried to be the Young Luna I had once been. I’d been born for this; I was a fighter, a survivor.And yet every part of me had crumbled. I ate and slept and trained and planned, but a part of me was missing. My heart was lost, taken from me the moment I’d made the decision that had changed everything.Without Ares, I was alive – but I wasn’t living.“You’ll be all right, little wolf,” murmured Nana Baspy, taking my hand and squeezing it. “You did the right thing.” Only she and Grandpa Attie knew the truth. I bit down on my lip. Hard.Mum nodded her assent. “Absolutely. He couldn’t be trusted, sweetheart.” Her hard expression softened somewhat, and she leant over the table towards me. Our relationship had changed, perhaps irrevocably; I knew now what she was truly capable of, and I understood the lengths she would go to in order to protect her pack from any perceived harm.But what I had done to Ares… Maybe it wasn’t what she’d done tha
Alpha Ares 085 | MIDNIGHT
‘Stars, Ares – I’ve missed you. So damn much.’That didn’t cover the half of it. I’d moped around so much that I was sure nobody back in Blue Moon doubted he was dead.‘I’ve missed you too.’His voice sounded… Throaty. I frowned. ‘Are you crying?’‘No.’ He definitely was. ‘It’s just – having to tell everyone that I killed you, and having them applaud me for it… It’s fucking hard, beautiful.’‘Yeah. I know the feeling.’ It was easier to force down the negative emotions battling for my attention when I could hear Ares’s voice. I didn’t know when I’d see him next, but I knew he was safe. I knew he was okay. ‘Are you all right?’ I asked, needing to be sure.‘Other than that?’ I could hear t
Alpha Ares 086 | GHOST
My heart beat hard in my chest. “How did you find me?” “It wasn’t hard.” Her scowl deepened. “The Greyhide Canyon Pack have weakened the defences your idle little pack have on their eastern side.” She stepped closer, jabbing her finger into my chest. Her nail was sharp; my brow furrowed and my upper lip curled back from my teeth. “It was easy enough to bypass the Warrior Wolves patrolling the line between Blue Moon’s and Winterpaw’s land.” “Careful,” I snarled, though I was more angry that my parents were still trusting Greyhide’s nonsense letter over my word and leaving this side of our territory weak. “You may have found your way into Blue Moon’s territory, but you won’t be getting out.” Her glassy blue eyes widened; her nostrils flared. “At last,” she said, with no fear in her nasal voice, “you’re starting to sound like a Winterpaw Warrior wolf. It’s a shame you won’t live long enough to make it back there.” “Stop posturing, Omega,” I snapped. “Why are you here?” “Isn’t it obvi
Alpha Ares 087 | THE ALPHA KING
I was true to my word. I spared Luezza’s life – but I didn’t let her run back to Nazte or Scillian.Ares and I had agreed to meet again in a week. In that time, he would press Aliana for information about her father, while I focused on cracking Luezza. She knew their motives, their desires, and I thought she would prove a more useful informant than the once-Beta’s daughter.“Stars,” Luezza snapped, wrenching her arm free. “You walk too fast.”“You walk too slowly,” I retorted, pulling her close once more. “I want to reach the Pack House before nightfall.”We were trudging across the expanse of land so slowly that I thought she might be trying to give a Greyhide or Winterpaw wolf the opportunity to attack me. Just because a sharp-tongued Omega didn’t scare me, it didn’t mean that I wasn’t being cautious as we neared the outskirts of Blue Moon’s central territory. The trees were sparse here, small groves dotted across the meadows, and I pulled her from one to the next, hurrying her acr
Alpha Ares 088 | SCAR
“Tell me what Nazte and Scillian are planning,” I said flatly, “and this – all of this – is yours.”My method of torture was exactly the opposite. I gestured broadly to the table before us, upon which were a myriad of foods, drinks, and clothes. Luezza’s scowl didn’t once let up, but her eyes, usually like hard chips of blue ice, seemed to melt at the sight of the steaming buns and herbal tea.Her hands were knotted tightly to the chair I’d sat her on. Her fingers, which had not once stopped writhing in an attempt to shake off her bonds, at last stilled. She sighed. “Fine.”I frowned at her. Was it really so easy to break her? I remembered what she had been like when I’d first met her, with a scowl that never faltered and eyes full of hatred. Even her sugared words had come out sour.Then again… I had seen the way the Winterpaw Warrior wolves lived. Such a spread had o
Alpha Ares 089 | ROWAN AND OAK
Waiting a week to speak to Ares was torture. The knowledge I now had burned a hole through my heart, and fear gripped me tight through every waking and sleeping hour.I went down to speak to Luezza every day, swapping out with the Warrior Wolf on guard for a few hours each afternoon after lunch, just to be near someone who knew Ares. Being so far from him, in a place that revelled in his supposed death, made my mate start to take on an unreal quality. Rather than letting myself wonder if I’d imagined everything that had happened between us, I spoke to Luezza. She was tangible proof that Alpha Ares had been real. That he was real.She didn’t give much away, and she alternated between spitting at my boots and begging for my forgiveness, but I took it all the same. Anything to remember that this half-life I was now living wouldn’t be my life forever. Getting away for a second time would likely arouse suspicion, so I had to go about my exploits with more caution when the time finally cam
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Alpha Ares 141 | EPILOGUE
One year later I smoothed my hands down over my thick cloak. Nerves swarmed in my belly: not the dizzying kind that made me feel faint, but the sort that cast a hazy glow over everything as I walked along the winding woodland pathway. Torches flickered every few feet; orange roses of light bloomed across the mossy, dew-damp earth beneath my boots. “Nervous?” asked Dad. “A little.” I worried my bottom lip between my teeth. “It’s silly, I know. There’s nothing to be nervous about. I’ve been his Luna for the last year – longer, really – but this feels…” I trailed off, unsure how to word exactly how it felt. Official? Real? “It’s been such a long time coming, sweetheart.” “Yeah. Part of me wishes we’d done this straight after the battle, but it made sense to wait until the pack was remade.” Unable to help myself, a grin pushed hard at my cheeks. Everything looked beautiful today, I thought, the pine trees bottle-green beneath the golden setting sun. Everything was glazed with the
Alpha Ares 140 | COME TOGETHER
As everyone took their seats, Ares and I remained standing. I clutched at his hand: it was a physical reminder to everyone there that we were joined, that Winterpaw Warrior and Blue Moon were enemies no longer.I glanced at Ares, letting him take the lead. He swallowed, straightened his shoulders, and then smiled hesitantly around at everyone. The expression looked strange, uncertain, and it took me a moment to realise why. Ares never smiled at people when he addressed them. He led through fear and control. Not anymore, it seemed. My heart swelled.“Thank you all for coming,” he said, projecting his voice clearly and confidently across the room. “Luna Sienna and Alpha Rodriguez, of the Firepaw Pack.” He inclined his head at the dark-skinned woman my dad had been talking to before, and the bald-headed, well-muscled man sat beside her. They were both older than us by about fifteen years.The Alpha and Luna of the Storm Guardian Pack were older still, well into their fifties, their face
Alpha Ares 139 | KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE
Ares had given Dad the nicest of the Warrior Wolves’ cabins to stay in. When we arrived, Ares’s arm still latched securely around my waist as it had been every single step of the way, I saw two other familiar faces peering out at us through the window, their creased faces crinkling with smiles so wide I half feared their tissue paper skin might tear.The wind whipped between the cabins, making my eyes and cheeks sting. Dawn had long since settled across the horizon, pale pink fading into the usual white-grey cloud cover. Everything looked strange out here, unreal in a way I couldn’t quite process. I clutched at Ares, suddenly apprehensive as dad moved to let us in.My nerves dissolved as soon as set foot inside. We were both pulled into an embrace on all sides, many arms winding around us and holding us close.“You did it,” Nana Baspy whispered.I scoffed and, after another long moment, I pulled away. “I don’t think I can take any of the credit, Nana. I wasn’t even conscious for half
Alpha Ares 138 | SURRENDER AND SACRIFICE
The world shattered. For a time, it was nothing more than a series of fragmented images and distant, distorted sounds. I heard screaming, felt the tell-tale burning in my throat, but I couldn’t connect the noise to me. I was weightless, without a body, and then there was nothing but silent darkness.Words I couldn’t understand split apart the quiet. “It’s the other packs,” someone said excitedly. I recognised the voice, familiar enough but not someone I was close to. A hazy, half-formed image of a missing hand and foot beneath determined eyes and wispy blonde hair floated just out of reach, and I gave up trying to identify the mystery voice as they spoke. “Firepaw and Storm Guardian. They made it just in time. We did it! We survived.”No, we didn’t, I thought bitterly. Not all of us.“It’s not over yet.” That growl, gravel and honey – that was Ares. Something in me settled. But why had he shifted into his human body? That thought, along with all my others, drifted away, becoming nothi
Alpha Ares 137 | BATTLE OF THE MOUNTAIN
We were all so focused on Aliana that none of us heard the quiet tap-tap-tap of claws pacing the stone hallways of the Pack House behind us.And then Scillian smiled. Behind him, the Sable Stalker Alpha and Luna smirked, too, a cruel hook of their lips that made my blood boil; off to the side slightly, Bloodpelt Prowler’s Alpha grinned toothily. They were all so smug, so sure of themselves. So sure that they’d won.“What is this?” Dad asked flatly.“Oh, this?” Scillian brightened impossibly further as he gestured to Aliana. “A game.”“You wouldn’t hurt your own daughter.” Dad sounded less convinced about that than he had a minute ago. “Let her go, and let the battle recommence.”“My daughter is a traitor. And, worse than that: she was running from a fight.” Scillian scoffed. I watched his face closely as he walked, every stride slow and purposeful, towards Aliana. He caressed her cheek, but I looked beyond that. I searched out his eyes through the snowfall, and I found only adoration
Alpha Ares 136 | THE END OF US
I knew, deep down, that this was my last hurrah. I knew, deep down, that if it were not, I would’ve let the pain and the shock hold me back from fighting one last time. My body was weak, but I would not succumb to its needs. This was no ordinary battle, and I had never been one to give up.I felt the pain and let it make me stronger. Adrenaline surged through my veins. I would fight by my mate’s side, and I would try to make it mean something. That was all I could do, now.We neared the Pack House. The tension surrounding it was thick with foreboding; the stillness of the battlefield was somehow worse than when the air had been metallic with spilled blood and the snow melting from the heat of the felled bodies upon it. Now, fresh snow dusted the blood soaked fur of the dead, masking the worst of the atrocities that had been marked upon the land in stark pools of red.Everything was calm. Everything was quiet. Some dark premonition made the back of my neck crawl with the sense that, at
Alpha Ares 135 | BE AMONGST THE STARS
I was numb, inside and out, as I watched. My mind struggled to break free of the overwhelming melancholy, the agony so strong that the only way I could deal with it was to feel nothing at all.The cold helped. A bitter wind whipped between the boulders, sending snowflakes into a flurry. They turned my vision blurry: everything was black and white and grey again, as it had been in the time before Ares. Everything, that was, except for the blood.And there was so much blood.It was start against the pale backdrop of the mist and snow. A physical mark of violence, marring the purity of the white beneath. And, atop its own puddle of red, sat my ear. I shuddered every time my gaze drifted over it; it was the sort of thing I didn’t want to look at but also couldn’t look away from. It was grotesque, torn at a ragged angle, the flesh pink within – My lip curled. It looked so alien to me now, that missing piece of me. I couldn’t imagine how I looked, bloodied and battered, one ear gone. A sn
Alpha Ares 134 | HAUNTED
Claws ripped into me on both sides. I flung Elena off easily enough; she was so small that, even exhausted as I was from hours of adrenaline-fuelled fighting, it didn’t take much effort on my part to dislodge her. Distantly, I heard her pull herself to her paws again. But in this fight, both physically and in the heart of it, she didn’t matter. This was between Etta and I.I winced as Etta’s claws ripped free of my fur and flesh. Blood spat from the wound, hitting the snow and melting the ice surrounding it. I wrenched myself backwards, darting behind the nearest boulder and peering out around it. ‘Why are you doing this?’ I asked – no, I begged.‘I promised myself.’ Her mental voice was nothing like the one I remembered. Etta was often sarcastic and teasing, but there had been a warmth beneath even her cruellest of jokes that had dissipated after Damon’s death. ‘After you left, and after the attacks began. I had to do something for him.’‘Damon and I were friends.’ I edged backwards
Alpha Ares 133 | ON THE WINGS OF FATE
I’d made my choice when Ares mindlinked me. He sounded weak and weary, but very much alive. My heart leapt at the familiar sound of his voice, of gravel and honey, loosening the knot that had been pulling my chest taut ever since the battle had begun.‘I had to run, beautiful. There were too many of them, but I managed to get away.’That was all I needed to hear. I turned and shifted into my wolf form, preparing to race across the empty stretch of battlefield that had been left behind the attacking armies as they approached.‘Are you okay?’ I asked. There was one other thing I needed to hear, it turned out.‘I’m fine.’ I was pretty sure he was lying, but if he was well enough to lie then I didn’t have to worry about my mate too much. ‘Are you? What happened with Nazte?’‘Nothing. It was weird.’ I fell forwards, landing on paws and snapping my jaws. ‘He wanted to know how Cendres was. We just… Talked.’The cabin’s front door banged open behind me. I twisted around, catching sight of Na
