20
The aftermath of battle was always uglier than the fighting itself. By the time we returned to the Nightshade compound, our victory felt hollow beneath the weight of wounded warriors and grieving packmates. The main courtyard had been transformed into a field hospital, with healers moving between rows of injured wolves with grim efficiency.
I dismounted from my borrowed horse, my legs unsteady after hours of riding and fighting. The power that had blazed so brilliantly during combat now felt like dying embers, leaving me drained and hollow. My borrowed armor hung loose on my frame, stained with blood some mine, some from enemies I had struck down in silver fire.
"Selene." Moira appeared at my elbow, her healer's robes pristine despite the chaos around us. "You're wounded."
I looked down at myself, surprised to see cuts and bruises I didn't remember receiving. The adrenaline of battle must have masked the pain, but now it was returning with vengeance.
"It's nothing serious," I said, though the world wavered slightly around the edges.
"Let me be the judge of that." Her tone brooked no argument as she guided me toward one of the healing tents. "Power expenditure like yours leaves the body vulnerable to delayed trauma. You need immediate attention."
Inside the tent, the air was thick with the scent of herbs and healing poultices. Wounded Nightshade warriors occupied most of the available space, some unconscious, others gritting their teeth against pain as healers worked to save limbs and lives.
Moira directed me to a small alcove separated from the main treatment area by hanging curtains. "Remove the armor," she instructed, gathering supplies from nearby shelves.
As I struggled with unfamiliar buckles and straps, exhaustion hit me like a physical blow. My hands shook as I tried to work the fastenings, my vision blurring with fatigue.
"Here." Gentle hands replaced mine, working the buckles with practiced efficiency. I looked up to find Elena beside me, her kind face creased with concern.
"You shouldn't be here," I said weakly. "The kitchen duties "
"Can wait." She helped me out of the bloodstained leather, her movements careful around obvious injuries. "Half the pack saw what you did out there, Selene. Silver fire that could stop a charging Alpha, power that turned the tide when we were trapped. You're not kitchen staff anymore."
The armor finally came free, revealing the extent of damage I had sustained. Cuts from enemy blades crossed my arms and torso, some deep enough to require stitching. Bruises covered my ribs where I had rolled across rocky ground. But worse than the physical wounds was the bone-deep exhaustion that seemed to leach strength from my very soul.
"Impressive," Moira observed, examining a particularly nasty gash across my shoulder. "Most wolves would have collapsed from blood loss by now. Your supernatural abilities must be providing some protection."
"They're also causing problems," I admitted as she began cleaning the wound. The antiseptic burned, but it was nothing compared to the hollow ache in my chest where power used to flow.
"What kind of problems?"
"The more I use them, the more they want to be used. During the fighting, I could feel the energy demanding greater displays, pushing me toward more violence. If I hadn't maintained control..."
I trailed off, remembering the moment when Kael had appeared. The rage that had consumed me, the silver fire that had blazed with such intensity that warriors on both sides had stopped fighting to stare. For a few terrifying seconds, I had wanted to reduce everything around me to ash.
"Power without wisdom is dangerous," Moira agreed, beginning to stitch the shoulder wound. "But power with purpose can change the world. The question is what you intend to do with yours."
Before I could answer, commotion outside the tent announced new arrivals. Through the fabric walls, I could hear voices raised in urgent conference Darius, Marcus, Agatha, and others discussing the next phase of their defensive preparations.
" main force will reach our outer settlements by tomorrow afternoon "
" casualties from the ambush were higher than expected "
" need to evacuate the eastern villages before "
A hand pushed through the tent flap, revealing Darius himself. His armor had been removed, showing fresh bandages across his chest and arms, but his eyes held the alert intensity of a leader still deep in crisis mode.
"Selene," he said, his gaze taking in my injuries and the healer working over them. "How badly hurt are you?"
"Nothing that will prevent me from fighting," I replied, wincing as Moira tightened a particularly crucial stitch.
"That's not what I asked."
I met his stare directly, seeing concern there that went beyond tactical considerations. "I'll live. The power seems to enhance healing along with everything else."
"Good. Because we have a problem."
Darius stepped fully into the alcove, his presence somehow making the small space feel even more cramped. "The ambush was more successful than we hoped Bloodfang's elite force is effectively destroyed, and their flanking strategy is ruined. But it came at a cost."
I waited for him to continue, dreading what I was about to hear.
"Kael isn't withdrawing," he said grimly. "Intelligence from our remaining scouts suggests he's accelerating his main assault instead. Whatever you showed him out there, whatever power you displayed it's made him more determined, not less."
My stomach clenched. "He sees me as a prize to be won rather than an enemy to be defeated."
"Exactly. Which means he'll throw everything he has at our defenses to reach you." Darius ran a hand through his dark hair, exhaustion finally showing around the edges of his composure. "Three hundred Bloodfang warriors, backed by siege equipment, will hit our walls within hours."
The numbers were devastating. Even with the tactical advantage of defensive positions, Nightshade couldn't hold against those odds for long.
"What are you thinking?" I asked, though I suspected I already knew.
"I'm thinking we need to change the rules of engagement completely." His gray eyes held mine with uncomfortable intensity. "Your power turned a hopeless battle into a victory tonight. If we could find a way to amplify that effect, to use your abilities on a larger scale..."
"You want me to become a weapon."
"I want you to become our salvation." He leaned forward, his voice dropping to an urgent whisper. "This isn't just about pack survival anymore, Selene. If Kael wins here, if he absorbs Nightshade territory and resources, he'll become unstoppable. Other packs will fall in line or be destroyed. The entire region will be under his control."
The implications were staggering. Kael's ambitions had always been large, but I had assumed they were limited to traditional territorial expansion. If he was truly seeking regional dominance...
"There's something else," Darius continued. "During the fighting, when your power was at its peak, some of my warriors reported feeling... different. Stronger, faster, more coordinated. As though your energy was somehow enhancing their abilities."
I stared at him in shock. "That's impossible."
"Is it? You've already demonstrated abilities that shouldn't exist. Perhaps pack bonds work differently for someone like you."
Moira finished her stitching and stepped back, her obsidian eyes thoughtful. "There are old stories," she said quietly. "Legends about wolves who could channel the moon's power directly, sharing it with their packmates in times of great need. The Eclipse Covenant was said to possess such abilities."
"Eclipse Covenant?" I sat up straighter, ignoring the pull of fresh stitches. "I've heard that name before. In my visions, in dreams "
"Of course you have." Moira's expression was unreadable. "Because that's what you are, child. The last heir of a bloodline that was thought extinct."
The tent fell silent except for the distant sounds of wounded warriors and ongoing preparations. I felt as though the ground had shifted beneath me, reality rearranging itself around this revelation.
"That's impossible," I whispered. "I'm just... I'm nobody. An orphan raised by a foster family, barely tolerated even there."
"The most powerful bloodlines are often hidden," Moira replied. "Especially when their enemies believe they've been exterminated. Your parents likely concealed your heritage to protect you."
Darius was studying me with new intensity, as though seeing me clearly for the first time. "If this is true, if you truly carry Eclipse Covenant blood, then tonight was just the beginning of what you're capable of."
I thought of the silver fire that had blazed from my hands, the ease with which I had thrown seasoned warriors aside, the moment when raw power had demanded I burn everything to ash. If that was just the beginning...
"I need time to understand this," I said shakily. "Time to learn control, to figure out what these abilities really are."
"Time we don't have," Darius replied grimly. "Kael's forces will be here soon, and when they arrive, you'll be forced to use every scrap of power at your disposal."
Through the tent walls, I could hear the compound coming alive with desperate activity. Weapons being sharpened, defenses reinforced, civilians evacuated to deeper shelters. All of it centered around the coming battle that would determine the fate of everyone I had begun to care about.
"Then I guess I'll have to learn fast," I said.
But even as the words left my mouth, I wondered if anyone could master power that seemed older than time itself in the few hours before war arrived at our doorstep.