The Letter and the Blood Moon
The war room burned with noise — chairs scraping, maps spread wide, voices overlapping like growls in the dark. Amber stood at the head of the long stone table, her amber eyes fixed on the territory lines that cut through the map like scars.
"Elbon, I want all patrols doubled along the eastern border," she said. "If the vampires are bold enough to enter Starfire territory, then they've forgotten who rules here."
"Yes, Alpha."
"Adonis," she continued, turning to her Beta. "Have your team reinforce the outer ridges. No one sleeps until those leeches are driven back underground."
Her tone brooked no argument. Every werewolf in the room straightened, the scent of iron discipline thick in the air. Eight of her top wolves — four under Adonis, four under Elbon — awaited her next command.
The war drums of Starfire had begun to beat again.
Then, a sound — the door creaked open. A young messenger stumbled in, his fur-lined tunic streaked with mud. "Forgive me, Alpha," he gasped, clutching a sealed letter. "It's urgent. From the north."
Elbon took it, eyes flicking briefly to Amber. He waited, silent, until her orders ended and her tone softened.
Amber exhaled, rolling her shoulders. "That's all for now. You know what to do."
The wolves bowed and filed out, their heavy steps echoing against the stone. When the room finally stilled, Elbon stepped forward and handed her the letter.
"It bears Stefan's seal," he said quietly.
Amber froze.
For a long moment, the war map blurred before her eyes.
Then scent of pine wax and parchment filled her senses as she broke the seal and unfolded the paper. Stefan's handwriting — steady, deliberate — curved across the page. For a short while she thought she might be dizzy as everything swam before her.
She took the letter in both hands and read it like a person hungry, hungry for time, truth, or even love. The word caught in the mental fibers of her brain and began singing lost songs that always seemed so complicated, so inane, but now the caused her heart to thump and twist.
The letter read:
> Amber,
I've read your last letter more times than I'll admit. You speak of love for me, a lack of certainty in our bond, and our twins. First let me beg your forgiveness, I run and hide as you stand and fight.
You carry the life inside you that has been defined by you and I, and you hold strong while I sneak off to make sure obscure borders are held, and booty is kept.
I have failed you as a mate and I want to beg your forgiveness. Do not become insecure because my legs wobble when you are not beside me, but hold strong and tall when you are in eye shot.
As you know, this is the way of the Alpha, but you and I are on equal footing and I should have bared my shame long ago, laid my head on your shoulder and asked you to help ease my pain.
Forgive me.
I wish I was strong enough to be there now — to see you fight, to see you lead, to know your glow as you carry my children. You were born for it all, even if the stars test you for it.
Place a kissed finger to your belly for me and Tell the pack to hold the line. I'll be by your side soon.
— S.
Amber stared at certain lines that made her heart flutter and her chest ache. Every fiber of her being strained in an odd way, as if there was an entanglement of emotion, with each individual emotion fighting to have sway over her. She pressed the letter to her chest, as if she wanted to burn its every meaning into her flesh.
She had so much to tell him, and yet… so much she didn't understand. The truth was, where actually would she begin?
The door creaked again.
Adonis stepped in, his scent familiar and grounding. "The warriors are ready," he said, then paused. His gaze softened as he studied her. "You don't have to be this strong all the time, Amber. Everyone sees what you're carrying — and not just the weight of the war. You're carrying two lives. That has to be harder than you admit."
Her head lifted sharply, fire flashing in her eyes. "I am an Alpha, Adonis. I was made for this."
"Even Alphas bleed," he murmured.
"Then I'll bleed standing, not sitting at a desk, not cringing in the keep" her every word became more and more lethal. The edge in her voice cut the air. "I have a strong mate. If I can't stand as his equal, then what am I? How can he look at me and see a partner worthy of him, if all I do is complain or find excuses?"
Adonis hesitated, but she was already moving past him, the letter folded and already slipping into an inner hidden pocket. "There's no weakness in me. Not for them to see. Not for anyone."
He sighed softly. "And that's why they follow you."
Outside, the moon had turned the battlefield silver.
Amber shifted — bones cracking, fur rippling through her skin as her form took its true shape. She stood tall in her full werewolf form, eyes burning gold beneath the blood-red light of the moon.
The vampires came fast — shadows with fangs. She met them faster.
Claws tore through flesh. Her growl split the night.
Adonis fought beside her, and Elbon joined — the three of them a storm of motion and fury. Blood sprayed across the snow. Screams echoed through the trees.
A vampire lunged; Amber caught it midair, jaws locking around its throat. She ripped, twisted, and let it fall lifeless at her feet. She spat the blood out of her mouth like the filth that it was, anger roiling through her like a storm. Her clawed hand gently slid over her bulging abdomen, she couldn't have them exposed to vampire taint.
When the last of the horde fled into the forest, she stood over the carnage, chest heaving. Blood dripped from her claws and her teeth, her body steaming in the cold.
Above her, the moon burned brighter — like a cruel witness.
Amber lifted her head, the letter's words echoing in her mind:
"Sometimes I wonder which of us will remain when the smoke clears."
She bared her teeth to the night.
"We'll both remain," she whispered. "Even if I have to tear the world apart to make it so."