Chapter 232
Chapter 232
Nolan POV
By the time I reached Moonstone, dusk had already begun to settle-made darker by the storm that was beating overhead, threatening rain at any moment.
Every shadow between the trees felt like it might move. Even the birds had quieted, their silence threading into the trunks like a warning The calm before the storm,
Moonstone’s outer patrol station sat just beyond the ward line, a low stone structure half-dámed by most A cluster of warriors waited there, armor muted by the settling dark
Cassian stood at the center of them, broad-shouldered and rigid, his usual easy confidence replaced by a prim focus I rarely saw from him. It was only natural. This was the first time I could ever remember Moonstone being targetted directly. At least, in our lifetimes.
I made my way directly toward him. There was no time to waste.
Cassian looked up as I approached, the faintest hint of relief flashing in his eyes. “You got my message fast,” he muttered, strapping a dagger to his thigh with movements that were all business.
“I didn’t plan to sit around waiting for confirmation.” My gaze swept the gathered warriors, counting heads, reading their tension. There weren’t enough, but any more would draw attention in the city and cause a panic.” How many sightings p>
“Three. All along the southern ridge.” Cassian’s tone was clipped, professional, but something tight coiled beneath his words. “They’re staying low, but my scouts caught scent trails looping toward the river. Feels like they’re testing our perimeter p>
I nodded, jaw tightening “Rogues don’t organize like this without incentive p>
Cassian’s eyes flicked toward me. “You think this is Felicity p>
I didn’t answer immediately, but the weight of my silence said enough. I saw the tension rise in Cassian’s stance.” I think,” I finally said, “it’s too damn coincidental not to be”
Cassian didn’t argue. I just exhaled, long and slow, then motioned for the warriors to move out.
They slipped into formation with quiet precision, their steps soft on the pine-littered ground. The forest greeted them with a colder air than before – sharp enough to sting the lungs with every inhale.
They moved in silence for several minutes, each step measured, each sense tuned to the smallest shift. I led the group instinctively, something deep in me tugging toward the ridge like a magnetic pull.
This was Cassian’s mission to command, but he let me take the lead without a word. I was grateful. The trust that had grown between us over the past year allowed us to trust each other without blowing our cover with verbal commands or questions.
The forest floor sloped downward, the light thinning to gray shadows between gnarled roots. Far overhead, clouds caught the last threads of daylight and strangled them.
Cassian’s voice was low behind me. “I’ve been feeling something off for days. Patrols coming back uneasy. The air’s… wrong p>
“Yeah.” I gave a quiet grunt. “You’re not imagining it p>
It was the same uneasy feeling that the warriors back in Silver Fang had reported before the rogue attack at our
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Chapter 2
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border.
A branch snapped somewhere ahead faint, but deliberate I paused, raising my hand. The warriors froze instantly, vanishing into the surrounding trees like they had been born from them. The underbrush rustled with a breath of wind, the kind that carried warnings rather than leaves.
My wolf growled softly in my head, ready to jump into action at a second’s notice. I could feel him pawing at me, all instincts screaming that there was danger.
We crested a small hill, overlooking a clearing where the tree line broke open into a shallow ravine. The distant river murmured beneath the wind. Everything seemed still too still. It was the kind of silence that came before storms, or battles, or worse. “Hold,” I murmured, holding my hand up to signal them.
Cassian crouched beside me, eyes tracking the clearing. “You see something p>
“Movement. Left flank.” My voice dropped, barely audible.
We listened. The forest seemed to listen back.
My pulse thundered in my ears, filling the uneasy silence.
Then a rustle cut through the quiet – soft at first, then another, louder, purposeful.
“Positions!” I barked.
The first rogue burst from the trees like a shadow unbound Then another. And another. Four in total, moving fast, coordinated nothing like the frenzied chaos of typical wild rogues. These ones fought like they’d trained for
this moment.
Steel met flesh. The clash of blades rang through the clearing.
I shifted to my wolf form in a breath, black fur bristling, the transformation fueled by
instinct and adrenaline. The world sharpened – scents, sounds, motion. I met a
rogue mid-leap, our bodies colliding with bone-rattling force. I twisted, heaving the attacker into a tree so hard the bark splintered.
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