The world didn't go quiet.
It collapsed.
When Bloodmoon disappeared into the trees, the battlefield was nothing but wreckage — split earth, broken branches, unconscious or injured wolves, the stench of blood thick in the cold air.
But Ronan didn't see any of it.
His entire focus was on the girl trembling in his arms.
Evelyn wasn't unconscious — not fully — but her eyes were unfocused, her breathing thin, her body limp against him. The shadows that moments ago obeyed her every thought now flickered weakly around her like dying embers.
"Evie," he whispered, voice cracking in a way he hadn't allowed anyone to hear in years."You need to look at me. Keep your eyes open."
Her lashes fluttered, barely lifting.
"…I'm tired."
Panic slammed into Ronan's chest so hard his breath shuddered.Not fear of the Bloodmoon alpha.Not fear of losing power.Not fear of prophecy.
Fear of losing her.
"No," he rasped, arms tightening around her."You don't get to say that. You don't get to leave me."
Her head lulled against his shoulder as if she didn't hear him.
The shadows at her feet flickered — weak, unstable — then disappeared entirely.
"No," Ronan breathed, voice thickening."No, no, no— stay with me."
Ash, bleeding from his own injuries, staggered forward."Alpha— we need to get her home. Now."
Ronan lifted his head, and for the first time, his warriors saw it:
Terror.
Raw.Unmasked.Not for himself.For her.
"MOVE!" he barked, voice breaking on the word.
Warriors scrambled aside as Ronan lifted Evelyn into his arms, holding her against his chest like she was something fragile — something precious — something he had already lost once.
The memory of her collapsing after the rejection flashed in his mind like a blade.
Not again.
Never again.
***************************************************************************************
Ronan shifted partially, fur bristling along his arms, paws replacing his feet, but he didn't fully transform — he wouldn't risk hurting her with his claws.
He ran.
Through trees.Through smoke.Through the shadows that still shivered at the edges of the forest.
He didn't stop until Moonfall's borders glowed with the warm torches of home.
Evelyn stirred weakly.
Her fingers curled into his shirt.
"R… Ronan…?"
"I'm here," he breathed, almost stumbling in relief."I'm right here. I'm not letting you go."
Her lips trembled.
"I… feel weird."
He swallowed hard, voice dropping low.
"You used too much power. Too fast. Your body isn't ready."
"…Sorry…"
That word broke him.
"Don't apologize," he whispered fiercely."You did nothing wrong. You hear me? Nothing."
Her eyes drifted closed again.
He ran faster.
***************************************************************************************
He kicked the doors open.
He didn't care who saw the fear on his face.He didn't care about status, strength, pride.
He carried Evelyn straight to his own room — the safest place in the territory — and laid her on his bed, brushing hair from her forehead with trembling hands.
Sweat dampened her skin.Her breathing was shaky.Her pulse… too slow.
Ronan's jaw clenched.
His wolf snarled.
"This is my fault," he whispered to her limp form.
Ash entered quietly."Alpha—"
Ronan spun on him, voice trembling with fury.
"GET THE HEALERS. NOW."
Ash nodded and ran.
As soon as he was gone, Ronan turned back to Evelyn.
His expression crumpled.
He sank to his knees beside the bed, hands buried in his hair, breath shaking uncontrollably.
He hadn't knelt for anything in years.
Not for kings.Not for enemies.Not for gods.
But he knelt for her.
Because something inside him was breaking open, spilling into the cold air.
"It was supposed to be me," he whispered."I was supposed to protect you. Not this. Not this again."
Evelyn didn't answer.
Her eyes stayed closed.
Her lips parted shallowly as she breathed.
Ronan bowed his head against the mattress.
"I can fight a hundred packs. I can kill an alpha. I can face a prophecy."His voice broke."But I can't lose you. I can't— I can't—"
His fingers curled into the blanket beside her.
"I tried to push the bond away," he whispered."I tried to reject it. Reject you."
He swallowed painfully.
"It was a mistake."
Another breath.Another tremor.
"The biggest mistake of my life."
He leaned forward, forehead pressing into her arm.
He didn't sob.He didn't cry.
But his shoulders shook with something worse.
Silent grief.Silent fear.Silent love.
The truth he had been running from since the moon ceremony.
"I need you," he whispered softly into her skin, voice raw."I need you in a way I don't know how to survive."
The healers rushed in, but they froze at the doorway — because the Alpha of Moonfall, the strongest wolf in the region, was on his knees beside a human girl, voice low, shaking with a confession no one was meant to hear.
"Please wake up," Ronan choked."You can tear apart the world, Evie. But don't tear me apart."
His hand covered hers.
Cold.
Too cold.
He closed his eyes, breathing her name like a broken prayer.
"Evelyn…"