Asha’s POV“Asha! Watch out your words!” My brother scolded me with a narrowed gaze. I pursed my lips as I felt wronged by both my father and my brother. Ever since Astrid came into our lives, I’ve done nothing but wrong in their eyes. I was just concerned about them, that’s all. They are my family members, and it’s normal for me to worry about them. “What’s wrong with what I said?” I retorted, refusing to back down. My brother has to know what Astrid is up to. He was away from our Pack for a long time, and he had no idea what had happened to us while he was gone. He needs to know what that woman is up to. “You don’t know that person the way I do. I swear, I knew she was up to nothing when she and her friends arrived at our Pack. I’m sure you’ve heard the news about the Nightsong Pack. They are taking advantage of our father. She came here just to save their dying Pack!” I spoke fervently so he would see that this is not a simple matter that we should turn a blind eye to. Howe
Asha’s POVWith my brother’s convincing words, he was able to persuade me to meet with my father and make me admit my mistakes. If it wasn’t for my brother, I would never lower my pride, especially after how my father had hurt me. My heart softened when he mentioned how I used to ask him to forgive my father and do as he said before. Now that he is asking me to do the same thing, I should do what he asked, just like he had done before. “Miss Asha,” the Pack guard that is guarding the door to my father’s office was shocked when he saw me. His eyes widened, but he instantly lowered his head in reverence when he caught himself displaying an inappropriate reaction. I know it’s been so long since I left the room. All the faces I’ve seen on the way here felt like I haven’t seen them in forever. They probably felt the same way, too. “I need to speak to my father,” I uttered since he was blocking my Pack. “Alpha Theron is currently speaking with Beta Alek,” he answered in a low voice,
Astrid’s POV“W-What? Pardon me?” I blurted out, my tongue stumbling for words at the surprise that he gave me with his words. I was just resting in my room when suddenly, Alpha Theron summoned me to come to his office. I thought he just wanted to speak to me, but I was surprised when he suddenly assigned a task to me. “The Emberwood Pack was just attacked by rogues, Astrid. They had suffered a great disaster, and all their leaders were massacred. The remaining survivors needed all the support they could get, and that’s why I’m sending you to manage the relief efforts we will provide them,” Alpha Theron explained, proving to me that I heard him right the first time. He was genuinely assigning me the task of supervising Pack Affair. I don’t understand why he is doing this. I am not in any way affiliated with the Shadowfang Pack. I’m not even an official member. Why would he ask me to go and represent their Pack? My eyes blinked, taken aback by the weight of responsibility and bec
Astrid’s POVI stood in front of the bustling camp, my keen eyes sweeping over the sea of weary and haggard faces of the remaining survivors of the Emberwood Pack. My heart clenched tightly for them as I saw their pitiful situation. What happened to the Emberwood Pack was worse than what Alpha Theron had told me. Their Pack, which was once bustling with joy and life, was completely destroyed. All that was left were ruins and rubble.You wouldn’t think that a community filled with life used to stand there just a few days ago. Everything changed just within a single night. I could still feel the terror that all the remaining survivors had felt from the tragedy that overtook them. As I helped with distributing the food and the supplies that they needed, it did nothing to their faces, which had turned dim, and to their eyes, which had already lost the light in them. These were the remnants of the Emberwood Pack, the survivors of a tragedy that no one should ever have to endure. As I m
Astrid’s POVMy palms grew clammy as I drew nearer to the Silvermoon Pack’s relief brigade. My heart thundered in my ears as memories of the past that I had tried so desperately to outrun threatened to overwhelm me. Even though I knew that Killian would not be among them, the very sight of the Silvermoon Pack’s sigil filled me with dread that I thought I had long since buried. Steeling my nerves, I forced one foot in front of the other, willing my trembling limbs to obey. I was nervous because I was afraid that one of them would recognize me, and right now, I’m not in the right capacity to be reminded of the past.Alpha Theron sent me here to keep my mind busy and to stop me from living in the past, a thing that I could never change. I’m not recovering because I’m still stuck in the past. However, instead of finding my new sense of purpose, I ran into my past instead. How I longed to simply turn and flee, to hide my face away from them, but I know I cannot do that. As the leader o
Killian’s POVMy eyes were drawn to Astrid as she stood before me, explaining the procedure around the Emberwood Pack while also showing me the different stations they had set up around the Pack. As I listened to how she orchestrated their relief efforts, I was amazed by the plans she came up with and how fast she was able to set all these things up. Temporary camps had sprung up like blooming flowers, each one tailored to a specific purpose — shelters for the displaced, supply depots, and medical stations, all woven together in a seamless network under Astrid’s watchful gaze. She also assigned different roles to each of her men to have their own individual contributions. In that way, all the needs of the people were met. I’m not surprised that she came up with an organized plan to take the chaos that was left by the rogue attack and transform it into something orderly, something functional. It was that skill that I had always admired in her, this innate talent of organization an
Astrid’s POVI stared at Killian, my expression carefully neutral, revealing nothing of the turmoil raging within me. I could see the desperation in his eyes as he searched my face, seeking some crack in my icy demeanor for some glimmer of warmth that he had once known, but my features were set in an impenetrable mask. I watched as Killian’s hand, which was half-raised aiming to reach for me, suddenly fell back to his side as if scorched by the frost in my gaze. His eyes blinked with a look of longing written so plainly on his face, but I remained motionless, unwavering, unwilling to give in to the temptation. I crossed my arms as I waited for him to say a word. He is the one who pulled me out here. Is he just going to stare at me all day?“H-How have you been?” Killian finally spoke in a soft, unsure voice when he saw the impatience that crossed my features. Now that we are alone, he no longer looks like a powerful Alpha. In front of me, he looked like a man walking on eggshell
Killian’s POVIt has been a long day for everybody. We have just arrived at the Emberwood Pack after our long travel, and we are still trying to adjust to the work around this place.We weren’t able to help the Shadowfang Pack much because we had to settle everything. We had to settle our provisions and also build our camps. The night has long fallen, but not all camps have been built yet. As the Alpha, they had prioritized my camp first so I could have my temporary settlement and also so that I could have a good night’s sleep. However, I couldn’t sleep. My conversation with Astrid continued to trouble me. So, I sat on my makeshift desk and started to write so I could do something productive while Astrid kept me awake. In the middle of the night, only the sound of my pen scratching on paper could be heard while an omega shuffled around me, fixing my things and organizing them around the camp since we had only just arrived. I sighed as I turned to another page of the paper. “Alpha