Chapter One: Blood And Fire

Helena’s POV 

The scent of blood was everywhere. It clung to my skin, thick and metallic, mixing with the stench of smoke and burnt flesh. The infirmary walls trembled from the force of battle outside, and my hands shook as I tightened the bandage around a warrior’s gashed chest.

“Hold still,” I whispered, my voice low and unsteady.

The man groaned, his face pale, but I didn’t stop working. I couldn’t. If I let myself think, if I let my mind drift beyond these walls, I’d break.

A deafening roar ripped through the night. The ground quaked beneath me.

I froze.

Through the shattered window, the sky was burning outside, chaos reigned. Women running to get their pups, our warriors fighting like their lives depended on it because It really depended on it.

Crescent Moon Pack had fought wars before. We had defended our lands against rival wolves, stood strong against shifting alliances. But this, this was not a war.

It was an onslaught.

From the infirmary window, I saw beasts of legend descend upon us.

Dragons.

Their scales shimmered like liquid gold beneath the moonlight, their molten eyes unfeeling. Some remained in their winged forms, raining fire down upon the village, while others shifted into terrifying half-human forms, their claws slicing through warriors as if they were nothing.

Swords clashed. Wolves howled. The scent of burning fur filled the air.

We were losing.

I pressed my palm against the nearest wooden pillar, my nails digging into the surface. I needed something solid, something real to hold onto. Because what I saw next would haunt me forever.

A loud cough pulled my attention back to the table.

The soldier I was tending to, a young man named Toren choked on his own breath, his skin slick with sweat.

I grabbed a damp cloth and pressed it to his forehead, my heart hammering.

“Stay with me, Toren,” I urged. “You’re going to be fine.”

A weak, bitter laugh rasped from his lips. “You’re a terrible liar, Helena.”

I swallowed hard, adjusting the bandages wrapped around his abdomen. His wound was deep, too deep. The blood soaked through faster than I could press it down.

Dain clenched his teeth, his golden eyes fluttering. “Tell me…the Alpha’s still alive?”

My fingers hesitated for a second before tightening the wrap. Lie. Give him hope.

“He’s fighting,” I said softly. “He’s strong.”

Toren gave a half-smirk. “That’s not an answer.”

I held his gaze for a long moment. What could I say? That I didn’t know? That I had seen our warriors fall faster than I could count? That I wasn’t sure if any of us would live to see the morning?

Instead, I squeezed his hand.

“You don’t need to worry about that. Just focus on breathing.”

Toren exhaled shakily, his body relaxing slightly beneath my touch.

Then, in a quiet, tired voice, he murmured, “Do you ever wonder… if this is how we were meant to die?”

A cold shiver crawled down my spine.

“Don’t talk like that.”

Toren gave a weak chuckle. “I always thought I’d die with a sword in my hand. Not in some infirmary. Not… like this.”

I shook my head. “You’re not going to die.”

His fingers curled slightly around mine.

“Helena…” His voice dropped lower. “If… if I don’t make it, tell my little sister I—”

The roof exploded above us.

A massive shockwave tore through the walls, sending splinters of wood and stone raining down. I barely had time to throw my body over Toren’s before the impact slammed into my back, knocking the breath from my lungs.

Through the dust and debris, I could just make out the glowing sky through the massive hole in the ceiling.

And outside were Liard and Rhider.

They were still standing. Still fighting. Still drenched in blood and fury.

Then I saw him, Alpha Stormbane. He was trapped.

My breath caught in my throat as I spotted him across the battlefield. Surrounded by dragon fire.

His wolf form, once majestic, once a symbol of Crescent Moon’s might was wounded, his silver fur matted with blood. He fought to break free, his fangs bared, but his movements were slowing.

No. No, no, no—

Above him, a dark-scaled dragon descended, its jaws parting, molten light glowing in its throat.

Liard turned, eyes widening, horror twisting his face.

“FATHER!”

The beast unleashed its flames.

The inferno swallowed everything.

A scream ripped from my throat, but it vanished beneath the sound of raging fire.

And just like that, Alpha Stormbane was gone.

*******

The next few moments were a blur. The battle raged on, but the fire inside us had died.

The dragons, as if sensing their victory, began to retreat into the skies. Their wings beat against the night, their roars fading into the distance.

They had won.

They had come not to conquer, but to destroy.

And they had succeeded.

By dawn, the battlefield was silent.

Crescent Moon, once a thriving home, was reduced to ashes, and the walls of a few of us that had survived. 

We gathered near the river’s edge, where the remains of our Alpha had been recovered. There wasn’t much left of him. The fire had burned away almost everything. But Liard had made sure his father would not be left forgotten.

The pack stood in eerie silence as we laid Alpha Stormbane to rest.

The warriors stood tall, their heads bowed. Mothers clutched their children to their chests. And in the center of it all, Liard knelt before his father’s remains.

His hands were covered in blood. His face, streaked with soot, was carved from stone.

His breaths were ragged. But his voice—his voice was ice.

“Love is a weakness.”

The words fell over us like a final death sentence.

Liard rose to his feet, his posture unyielding. The boy who had lost his father no longer existed.

Before us stood a man who had nothing left to lose.

His next words sealed his fate.

"I will never allow it to make me the same."

A shudder passed through the pack.

Rhider stepped forward, his golden eyes dark with unspoken grief. He clenched his fist, his jaw tightening.

Then, in a voice just as cold, just as broken, he spoke.

"Mates are a weakness. We will never take one."

We left the burial site in silence. No one dared to speak.

What words could be said?

Liard had been our Alpha’s son. Now, he was our Alpha.

A part of me wanted to reach out to him. To tell him that he didn’t have to do this. That he could grieve. That he was not alone.

But the moment I saw his face, the emptiness in his storm-gray eyes, I knew.

Liard had locked himself away.

And no one, not me, not Rhider, not the Moon Goddess herself—could bring him back.

The war was over.

But in its wake, it had left behind something far more dangerous.

A man who had nothing left to feel.

A leader who had no love left to give.

And an oath that would one day come back to haunt us all.