Chapter 36- Before The Last Battle
Blackridge and Moonfall moved like one army by dusk.
Emily saw it from the ridge above the valley as wolves took position along the darkening tree lines-rows of Blackridge warriors slipping through the northern woods while Moonfall archers climbed the southern rock faces in silence. No confusion. No hesitation. No pack friction left to smooth over.
Marcus had done that.
He had forged them together by trying to tear them apart.
The irony would have been satisfying if the stakes weren't so high.
The sky turned bruised purple overhead as sunset gave way to evening. Wind moved through the valley below, carrying the scents of pine, damp stone, smoke, and the faint bitterness of Bloodfang wolves somewhere ahead.
Emily stood near the front line, dressed for battle in dark leathers that fit close enough not to hinder a shift. Silver energy hummed quietly beneath her skin, calmer than before. More controlled. It had not stopped feeling powerful, but now it also felt familiar.
Like a blade she'd finally learned how to hold by the right end.
Liam approached first, looking like he'd spent the past hour pretending not to check on her repeatedly.
"Still with us?" he asked.
Emily snorted softly. "Barely."
He looked her over anyway. Big-brother habit. Probably permanent.
"You don't have to say yes to any of this."
Emily raised a brow. "We're doing this now?"
"Yes."
Something in his voice made her soften.
Liam had spent most of her life trying to keep danger away from her because he thought that was what love looked like. He was still learning, as she was, that protecting someone and respecting their strength were not the same thing.
Emily touched his arm lightly. "I know."
His jaw flexed. "Good."
Owen appeared a second later and ruined the emotion immediately by saying, "If either of you starts crying, I'm leaving."
Emily rolled her eyes.
Liam looked like he might actually throw him off the ridge.
Jay came through the trees before that could happen.
Conversation stopped around them without needing command. Wolves made way. Not out of fear, though some of that lived in any room or battlefield he entered.
Out of trust.
His bandaged flank from Marcus's strike had been rewrapped tightly, and the dark armor-like leather across his torso hid most of the healing underneath. He looked composed. Focused. Unreadable to anyone who didn't know better.
Emily knew better.
The bond told her enough.
Ready. Angry. Protective. Certain.
And beneath all of it, a thread of something quieter and more dangerous.
Need.
Jay stopped in front of her.
For one second, the valley and the lines and the war all blurred at the edges.
"Final scouts are in position," he said.
Emily nodded. "Good."
He looked at Liam and Owen. "Moonfall's southern line stays above the rock break until my signal."
Liam nodded once. Owen too.
Then both brothers left-deliberately, suspiciously quickly-as if they'd decided not to be present for whatever passed between Alpha and mate before battle.
Cowards.
Emily looked back toward the valley. "Everyone keeps leaving us alone."
"Yes."
"That seems suspicious."
"It is."
She nearly smiled.
Jay stepped closer, lowering his voice. "Marcus has the main camp in the basin. Lower guards at the fire line. Secondary wolves hidden in the west timber. If he sees you first, he'll commit faster."
Emily looked at him. "You say that like it's a good thing."
"It is."
"Because it means the trap closes."
"Yes."
Her wolf stirred beneath her skin.
This was different from the decoy road.
Different from the quarry.
This wasn't a lure to test him.
This was the kill field.
Emily drew in a slow breath. "And if he goes for me before the lines close?"
Jay's expression darkened.
"He won't get far."
The answer should have sounded possessive.
Instead, it sounded like a vow.
Emily looked away first because she still had not figured out how to stand under the full weight of his devotion without letting it shake her.
The last of the light drained from the sky.
Below them, faint firelight flickered through the Bloodfang basin.
Jay's hand brushed hers.
Not accidentally.
A question.
Emily let her fingers curl around his.
Just once.
Just long enough.
The bond surged so hot it almost hurt.
For a second, neither of them moved.
Then Jay said, voice rough and low, "When this is over..."
Emily looked up.
He didn't finish.
Didn't need to.
The promise lived in the unfinished shape of it.
When this is over.
When Marcus is dead.
When both packs are safe.
When they are no longer speaking around war and blood and strategy maps.
Emily's heart beat too hard.
"Then survive it," she said quietly.
His eyes burned gold in the dark.
"Yes."
Then he stepped back, and the moment was gone because it had to be.
Rowan's signal came from the north line.
Moonfall's answering call followed from the south.
Everything was in place.
Jay looked toward the valley, then shifted.
The black wolf emerged like night given teeth.
Emily shifted a heartbeat later.
Silver light flashed through the dark as her wolf rose beside him.
Together, they descended toward Bloodfang.
Toward the last battle.