Part 5: House of Wolves and Thorns
They returned to Ironhorn the next evening.
No celebration.
Just blood, bruises, and the smell of new magic still clinging to their skin.
Yuji walked at the front, Sacha at his side. Sylvia shadowed his left flank, her expression unreadable. Amelia drifted behind like fog, quiet and smiling in a way that said she'd already read the ending and was only here for the tension.
Back in their inn room, Yuji dropped his pack and sat on the edge of the bed.
He didn't speak.
The silence did it for him.
Sacha kicked off her boots, flexed her shoulder, and immediately dropped to the floor near the hearth. She unrolled a small fur blanket and sat cross-legged on it, warhammer across her lap.
"This is home now?" she asked casually.
"No," Sylvia said flatly. "This is a den. You don't mark it yet."
Sacha grinned without looking at her. "Funny. That's what wolves say when they're scared of losing rank."
Sylvia's ears twitched.
Amelia walked past both of them and sat in Yuji's chair, legs folded neatly under her robe. She took a sip of tea she hadn't prepared.
"You both sound like underfed dogs fighting over a leash," she said. "It's embarrassing."
Sylvia turned. "You didn't fight her. You didn't fight him. You don't get to talk like you earned anything."
Amelia raised an eyebrow. "Didn't I, though? I'm still here. I drink his blood. I walk his dreams. And I didn't need to whimper once."
Sacha stood, slowly, warhammer still in hand.
"Do we settle this now, or are you going to keep monologuing like a drama queen in heat?"
Yuji stood.
The room froze.
He didn't shout. Didn't flare his magic.
He just looked at all of them in turn.
"I'm not running a kennel," he said. "You want to fight? Do it outside. You want to lead? Earn it. You want to stay? Listen."
The air thickened.
Sylvia looked down. Her tail flicked once. Then she nodded.
Amelia exhaled. "Fine. The floor's yours."
Sacha didn't move. Then, after a long beat, she smirked.
"I like it when you get mean," she said. "Keeps things wet."
Yuji sighed and sat back down.
"That's enough for one night."
The room slowly returned to motion.
Sylvia curled up on the bed's far edge, back to the wall.
Amelia vanished into shadow, likely into some private dreamspace.
Sacha stayed near the hearth.
When the fire dimmed and the silence stretched once more, she spoke without looking at him.
"Don't forget, alpha," she said. "You lead now. But if you ever lose that edge…"
She smiled into the flame.
"…I'm not the type to stay."