Small comfort against the losses, but something.
“Gather our wounded,” I order. “We need to?—”
“Alpha Blackthorn?” A trembling voice interrupts. A settler woman approaches, holding one of the cubs Ember saved. “I... we... thank you. Both of you. We thought all wild shifters were like them. But you proved different.”
Ember steps forward, still naked, still blood-streaked, still magnificent. “We’re all shifters. Wild or civilized, we protect our own.”
The woman nods, tears streaming. “The council needs to know. They need to understand—not all wild clans are the enemy.”
“They will,” Ember promises. She glances at me.We need to get word to Haven’s Heart. Tonight.
Agreed. But first?—
First, we tend to our dead. Honor our wounded. Show this settlement that Shadow Wolves grieve their losses, that we’re more than the savages Stormcrow represents.
As dawn breaks over River’s Edge, I stand with my mate among the ruins, our bond still raw and new but already tested in blood and fire. We saved some. Lost others. Proved something that might matter more than either.
But Stormcrow will return. And next time, twenty wolves and one fire panther won’t be enough.
We’ll find a way,Ember says through the bond, her determination blazing as bright as her flames.Together.
Together. The word settles in my chest like a promise. Like a prayer.
Like the future neither of our peoples expected, but both might desperately need.
16
EMBER
Dawn bleeds across the sky as I kneel beside a young settler girl, dabbing a cloth against her forehead. She can’t be more than ten, her eyes wide with shock, a jagged cut across her cheek where bear claws barely missed taking her eye. She doesn’t flinch from my touch despite the blood crusting my hands, despite witnessing my shift from fire-wreathed monster back to woman.
“You’re the fire lady,” she whispers, reaching to touch my hair. “You saved my brother.”
I manage a smile despite the bone-deep exhaustion that makes every movement an effort. The fragile bond between Zane and me pulses with shared pain, physical and emotional.
“Try to sleep,” I tell her, tucking a blanket around her shoulders. “Your aunt will be back soon.”
All around us, the River’s Edge settlement has transformed into a makeshift field hospital. The meetinghouse, once a gathering place for celebrations, now holds rows of wounded. Settlers with medical training work alongsideShadow Wolf healers, their former suspicions temporarily suspended in the wake of shared trauma.
I feel Zane before I see him—our bond transmitting his approach like heat lightning across my skin. He enters the meetinghouse, ducking beneath the doorframe, his massive frame making the space feel suddenly smaller. Fresh bandages wrap his torso, already spotted with blood from wounds that should have had days to heal.
The bond trembles between us, raw and unsettled. The ritual should have continued through the third night, our bodies and minds gradually acclimating to the connection. Stormcrow’s attack interrupted that process, leaving us with a bond that’s strong but unstable, like newly forged metal pulled from the fire too soon.
Every settler goes still as Zane approaches, watching him with expressions that range from open gratitude to lingering fear. Even half-broken, he carries himself with alpha authority, silver eyes scanning the wounded with calm assessment.
“Marcus has arranged transport for your injured,” he tells the settlement’s lead healer. “The northern caves offer better protection than open buildings.”
The healer—a stocky badger shifter named Thorne—hesitates. “Our people are exhausted. Moving them?—”
“Stormcrow will return,” Zane interrupts quietly. “This settlement is indefensible.”
Through our bond, I feel the weight of his certainty—the absolute knowledge that the bear clan won’t accept defeat. I stand, touching Thorne’s arm.
“He’s right,” I say. “I know these caves. They’re secure, with fresh water and multiple exits. Your wounded will be safer there.”
Thorne looks between us, noticing something in ourshared stance, our unconscious mirroring of each other’s posture. His eyes widen slightly.
“You’re bonded,” he says, the words half accusation, half wonder. “Haven’s Heart ambassador and wild wolf alpha.”
