4
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K O E N
Trying to survive in Avril’s absence was brutal. I let her go once, and I deeply regretted it. Then, destiny brought her to my door - I thought it was the Moon Goddess offering me a second chance. I made the most of it. For over a month, I’d had her, and it seemed like she would finally be mine again. But when I woke up, she was gone, along with my dreams.
At first, I was terrified that someone might have taken her from me. That she might get hurt. But it wasn’t long before I realized the truth - she had left out of her own free will, abandoning me without explanations.
The betrayal was worse than anything I’d ever known. She had deceived me, used me to get what she wanted, and vanished without a trace. I’d let my guard down, let myself believe that maybe, just maybe, there was a chance for us. But instead, I was left alone in the wreckage of her deception, grappling with the emptiness she’d left behind. The hurt was a relentless storm, tearing through me. Every touch, every word we’d shared now felt tainted, like a cruel illusion that mocked my pain.
Oftentimes, I caught myself wondering if this was how I’d made her feel when I rejected her. It was a bitter irony that the anguish I felt could be a reflection of what I had once inflicted. Did she suffer the same depth of betrayal and confusion when I pushed her away? If so, I would accept the punishment.
But it also made me realize that there was too much wrong between us to ever make it right again.
While I tried to cope with my emotions, I distracted myself by reading and researching. The only thing that could put my mind at ease was learning about the urn Avril stole, hoping it would shed light on why she had left. Unfortunately, the scant information I could gather on the centuries-old artifact made it hard to piece together the full story.
All I could find was that the urn, which contained the ashes of an ancient tree, was linked to some myth, as I already knew. Apparently, it might have been a sacred item to a fantastical race of wolf shifters long extinct - the Ashen Wolves. Legend had it they were once royal guardians of our ancestors, the lycans, when they still roamed the earth.
The item had been in my family’s collection for generations, but there were barely any records about it. I had no idea how it even ended up in our possession. My grandfather used to treat it like a trophy, displaying it prominently in the main hall of the packhouse, but I never knew why he was so proud of it. Whatever its significance, my father didn’t share the same sentiment. Perhaps, like me, he didn’t know much about it, so he simply tucked it away on a random shelf in his room and forgot about it.
Soon enough, I’d hit a dead end, ending up with more questions than I had started with. Why would Avril want such a forgotten artifact? Was she working for someone? Should I even believe that she was who she claimed to be?
Then, just as mysteriously as she had vanished, she was suddenly in front of me again. I couldn’t believe it as Kea stood on top of Columbus, having surprised us during our patrol. At first, I was overjoyed. She was here again, impossibly close to me. I remembered the moments we shared, and all I wanted was to wrap her in my arms and kiss her.
But it wasn’t long before questions popped up in my head. How could I have missed her scent when it was so strong and alluring? And why hadn’t I heard her approaching me? These thoughts triggered the negative emotions I had felt in her absence, and the ultimate conclusion I had gotten to - everything that happened between me and Avril was a lie.
Anger surged through me, and I pushed her away. I deserve this , I kept telling myself. You have no right to feel mad when you started this . Yet, I knew there was nothing I could do to fix us. If anything, Avril’s betrayal made me realize that our relationship had too many cracks to mend. For both of our sakes, we should disappear from each other’s lives before any more damage is done.
It was hard to turn around to leave, especially when my wolf craved to be near her. Every step I took away from her was a fight as Columbus tried to force me to run back to her, but I persevered. We had enough on our plates as it was; I couldn’t afford to be distracted by her games.
Since Avril left, the tension between Whispering Hills and Opal Moon had grown thicker. Hostility now dominated the territorial border we shared, with numerous conflicts arising between our sentinels, mostly initiated by them. It felt like a bomb ready to explode, and when I wasn’t mired in my own misery, I was restlessly working with my gamma, preparing for war, knowing it was inevitable. Perhaps it was time for me to focus entirely on protecting my pack.
Yet, when the pack alarm sounded the moment I made it back to the town square, I knew it was too late to do anything.
The war had arrived.
My body reacted before my mind did, muscles tensing as I launched myself toward the border. Mid-run, I mindlinked my gamma, instructing him to get the non-combatants to the safety bunkers while I assembled our warriors. The sentinels should have already been on the front line, slowing down the enemy, but there was no time to waste. By the time the first group of warriors caught up to me, I was ready to lead them.
“Form up!” I ordered, hearing a chorus of ‘Yes, Alpha’ in response.
We shifted almost as one, the sound of bones cracking filling the air, only to be replaced by the drumming of paws a moment later. In animal form, we marched into battle. Whatever came our way, we were ready to defend our home.
When we reached the outskirts of the territory, all of our sentinels had been defeated. Seeing their motionless bodies torn up on the ground, their blood dying the grass red, hit me like a punch to the stomach. I shook my head to regain my focus. There would be time to grieve later, when this was over - first, I had to ensure their sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain.
There was no time to think. The first impact came like thunder - Opal Moon charged from the east, a dark, snarling wave of teeth and claws. They hit us hard. I met them head-on, jumping into battle and sinking my teeth into the neck of the first wolf who dared come too close. The taste of blood filled my mouth, warm and metallic, bitter as ever.
Chaos erupted around me. Wolves crashed into each other, snarls of pain and fury blending into a brutal symphony. My pack fought relentlessly - Whispering Hills had always been strong - but Opal Moon had come prepared. They wouldn’t have launched an attack unless their odds were favorable. Their numbers overwhelmed us, driving us back inch by inch toward the heart of our territory, yet we kept fighting with all our might.
While I was trying to protect my men, I didn’t realize I had marched a bit too far forward. Before I noticed it, three enemies had surrounded me.
“Do they think they can take me down just because they outnumbered me?” Col scoffed, baring his fangs. “They’ll pay for this stupid mistake with their lives!”
In an attempt to synchronize their attack, all three beasts lunged at Col at the same time. If they thought my counterpart would just stand and wait for them to come closer, they were wrong. Locking eyes with the creature right in front of him, my wolf sped toward him, avoiding the other two, who almost collided behind us. With a head movement, Col easily pushed the opponent back, destabilizing him and using his paws to throw him to the ground. Not wasting a second, he snapped his jaws around the adversary’s stomach, tearing a hole through it.
While the first one bled out, Col tore into another wolf, his fangs sinking into its leg, ripping muscle and bone. The creature howled and collapsed, but as my counterpart shook him off, the last one appeared in front of us.
Col easily took care of the third opponent, but before we could catch a break, another one took his place. It seemed the more enemies we defeated, the more appeared. My own breath began coming harder, my muscles burning, but there were no breaks in battles, nor was there room for weakness. Either you fought, or you died.
As the battle stretched on into the night, Col entered autopilot mode. I couldn’t tell how long we had been fighting - minutes, hours - it all blurred together. The more injuries I collected, the less I felt them, my body slowly going numb with adrenaline.
When another wolf came at Col, he didn’t think. He just clamped his jaws around the creature’s throat at the first opening he saw, feeling the enemy’s pulse against his teeth, and he bit down hard. The beast’s body shuddered, then went still.
As the creature gasped for air one last time, I finally snapped out of my trance. Col dropped him, panting, his blurry vision gradually regaining focus. Shock washed over me as I realized that the wolf I had just defeated was actually the alpha of Opal Moon. It was over, I thought to myself, feeling a pinch of relief.
Then, suddenly, it was quiet. Too quiet.
Taking a look around, I realized what had happened. Whispering Hills was destroyed. The scent of death was everywhere, thick and suffocating. Corpses of pack members, both allies and enemies, littered the ground, forming a pool of crimson. Even the bunkers had been attacked. There was no one left - neither from Whispering Hills nor from Opal Moon. Just bodies, scattered and broken.
My heart sank, and I fell to my knees, the weight of it all crashing down on me at once. Whispering Hills was gone. My pack - my family - was gone.
And I was the only one left.
“Koen…” an angelic voice sounded from behind me.
At first, I thought I had died and that a servant of the Moon Goddess had come to collect my soul. There was no way I could have been the only survivor of this massacre. But then, a hand rested on my shoulder, the familiar soothing touch too strong not to be real.
When I glanced over my shoulder, Avril was standing right behind me.
“Koen, let me help you,” she pleaded, reaching out for me.
“No!” I dodged her, my body shaking as I stared at the fallout of the bloodbath. “What have I done? How…how could I let this happen?”
“It’s not your fault,” she told me calmly. “You’re lucky you’re alive.”
Lucky? The word echoed in my mind. It sounded bizarrely macabre. What luck was there in being the last one standing - the alpha of a fallen pack?
“Come on, Koen, we’ve gotta go,” she continued, grabbing my arm. “You’re injured. We need to leave before more enemies come to finish you off.”
“Let them!” I roared, pain echoing in my voice as I shook her off me. “I’ll die here, with the rest of my pack.”
“Fine,” she sighed, stepping back. I thought she would grant my wish and leave me alone. But then her voice sounded again. “We’re doing this the hard way, huh?” Before I could process her words, she added, “This is for your own good.”
The next thing I knew, something hit me on the head, and I immediately passed out.