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097 | FOR HIM
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Despite my protests, I spent two nights recovering at the cabin. Nana Baspy and Grandpa Attie stayed with me, certain that they would not be missed while the Warrior Wolves prepared to march on the Winterpaw Warrior Pack.
I was restless, which my grandparents took as a good sign – as a sign that I was healing, that I was recovering from my most recent ordeal. Of course, they didn’t wake with me when nightmares pulled me from my sleep, or when the gleaming, clear surface of my bathwater suddenly became dark and rippled. I shoved these things down, preferring to focus on what I could do, on the future I could change, if only we hurried up and damn well left this lovely, warm, cosy cabin behind.
I’d not heard my grandparents mindlinking me – but I had heard Ares. I still had no idea if that had been my own subconscious trying to wake me, desperate for me to get a grip and swim to the surface, or if, somehow, Ares had found a way to communicate with
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‘So,’ I mindlinked to Dad, running beside him in his huge dark-furred wolf form, ‘tell me everything I need to know.’I relished in the steady thud thud thud of my paws against the hard soil. For the first time since I’d run with Annia, Cendres, and Ares, I felt like I was part of a team again – damn it, like I was part of a pack. Dad had cried when he'd first seen me - actually cried - and I was unashamed to admit that, well, damn it, I'd cried too. It had only been days since I'd last seen him, but it felt like months. Years. Decades. Everything was blurred, made hazy by the residual tang of fear tainting my mind and my memories of the last week.We were curving up around the western section of Blue Moon’s border, staying well off the path and using the trees to mask our journey. With Mum and her wolves a day ahead of us, a fact that still made my blood boil and my heart clench with fear, it was unlikely tha
Alpha Ares 099 | HONEYDEW
Darkness crested the horizon. It swelled within me, too, eclipsing all logical sense and plans when I heard Ares speak, his words drilling straight into my mind and leaving a gaping hole in their wake. He was too damned close. And, because he was too damned close, he was at risk. Every worry – every fear – I’d had while we’d been running bloomed anew, settling in my stomach like lead as I heard his beautiful, damning voice. ‘Haile! Haile, can you hear me? Shit, you’d better be able to hear me, you’d better be safe, damn it, please don't be dead–’ I cut him off. ‘Ares! Why can I hear you? We shouldn’t be close enough to mindlink, not yet–’ ‘I thought you were dead!’ He swore viciously, and I felt his emotions surging through the bond. There was shock and relief, heady and giddy, which made his head spin; that encompassed everything, save for the knot of worry that remained somewhere near the centre of his chest. ‘Why did you think I was dead?’ My own worries were replaced by con
Alpha Ares 100 | SKELETON
I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. I could feel it in my bones. My whole body shook with the force of it; blood pounded against my skin, threatening to break through if I didn’t move, and move now.‘No,’ I mindlinked to Ares. ‘No, she can’t be.’He didn’t answer. My stomach rolled.‘Ares?’Nothing. I twisted around, trusting my instincts to guide me forwards even as I locked eyes with my dad. ‘Mum’s found him,’ I mindlinked, sending the message to my grandparents as well. ‘She’s there.’‘Shit.’ Dad didn’t often swear. Hearing him curse made the reality of the situation sink in further. This was bad. Really bad. My muscles burned with exertion and my lungs strained against my ribcage, but the physical pain of running hard after being in that damned lake was nothing compared to the pain of knowing I might never hear that gravel and honey voice ever again.No. I couldn’t think like that. ‘Ares?’ I tried again, every part of me aching to hear from him, to know that he was okay.‘Do
Alpha Ares 101 | INTO A NIGHTMARE
‘I’m sorry, Haile,’ Etta mindlinked to me. ‘It’s for your own good.'I lunged in front of her, letting my own shift rip through me. ‘No, it isn’t. It’s revenge, Etta – misplaced revenge, damn it.’‘You'll see that I'm right soon enough. He killed Damon, Haile. He killed my mum. You can’t love him. You just can’t.’I slammed into Etta, sending her stumbling back – and away from Ares’s prone form. I wanted to mindlink him, to turn and check on him, but her paws were lifting off the ground, the pads of them dotted with dew, and they were reaching for me.I ducked under her blow. I knew how she fought; I’d stood at her side, defending her weaknesses and uplifting her strengths on the battlefield, time after time. And yet now here we were, opposite one another rather than standing shoulder to shoulder.Behind me, I could hear the tussles of another battle taking place. I had to ignore it; I had to ignore the fact that my parents and grandparents were fighting. Our once secure family unit h
Alpha Ares 102 | HOUNDS OF LOVE
The sun climbed steadily overhead as we sprinted through the woods. Determination, driven by terror over Ares’s condition, led the way. Birdsong and the chirping of crickets swirled through the air like dust motes, undaunted and uninhibited by our presence in their woodland home. They sounded too sweet, too jolly, for the sour mood that clung to us as we ran. A perpetual cloud hovered over me, casting the pale winter sunlight in shades of grey.I had to keep blinking to make sure my vision wasn’t truly returning to the grey scale I had once known. Between the shadows and my sadness, it was hard to tell. The claw marks on my arm, sliced there by Mum by accident, had already healed, but they still hurt somewhere deeper, somewhere darker, within my soul. If I’d been in my human body, I would’ve rubbed at the healed wound, irritated by the force of my emotions.I had bigger things to worry about, but I couldn’t get it out of my head. The way my mum had looked when she’d seen what she’d d
Alpha Ares 103 | HOURGLASS
My legs shook as I stepped out of our cover. With my right ear irreparably damaged, my hearing still wasn’t as good as it had been before. I tried to pick out the number of wolves approaching, but all I could hear was the dull rush of water and the steady thud, thud, thud of an indiscernible number of paws.Pale winter sunlight fractured over the mossy ground. I moved slowly, avoiding dry twigs and rotten logs that might snap or crumble beneath my paws. There was no grey to my vision anymore – thank the stars – but misty shadows coiled around the base of every tree and silhouetted every curling vine.‘Haile!’ Dad’s voice rang out, clear as a bell, in my mind. I tensed; was this an update from a battlefield, a cry for help, or – please, please, please – would it be good news?‘Dad?’‘Medic Flora is with us. We’re almost back. I just wanted you to know it was us.’I risked stepping out further into the small clearing. Across from me were four wolves – four wolves that I recognised as Da
Alpha Ares 104 | NIGHT-BLOOMING WILDRUSH
Mist swirled around my ankles. My brain felt heavy and slow as I looked down, tracing the way it coiled, snake-like, up my legs. There was something ominous about it. Something I didn’t like.I tried to kick it away. It didn’t move; it just kept coiling, around and around, up and up, until it reached my thighs.Huffing out a sigh, I pushed myself onwards. Forcing my legs to march, darting through the undergrowth in the dense patch of woodland we’d set up camp in – if it weren’t too rudimentary to be called a camp, with nothing more than a couple of cloaks scattered across the ground to keep the damp and the frosty winter’s chill from settling into our bones – I curved away from the tree line and the clearing, where I’d be too exposed, and ducked under strands of ivy as I began my hunt.Dawn light painted the horizon in sweeping brush strokes. I squinted at it through the thick foliage; it took on an unreal quality the longer I tried to watch the colours shift with the sunrise. Shaking
Alpha Ares 105 | REDWOOD
We stayed in the woods for two nights. Part of me was glad for the respite from the horrors we had faced, and those I knew we were still yet to face, but a larger part of me just felt on edge. Like we were wasting time. Like we’d been here too long. Like… Like we were being watched.But I needed Ares to heal, so I tried to tell myself that it was okay to wait. That we’d come back stronger after two nights of good rest. And I tried to tell him that, too – but he was even more restless than I was.He cracked his knuckles on the second evening. Dad had taken Nana Baspy out to hunt with him, and Grandpa Attie was curled up a few feet away, sleeping in his wolf form.Leant with his back against the broad trunk of a redwood tree, a cloak draped over his shoulders, and a beard starting to grow in past the point of stubble for the first time since I’d known him, Ares looked rugged and handsome and utterly, entirely fearsome. My stomach did a flip. With only Medic Flora for company, I shuffled
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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
