A Luna for Alpha Kieran
Chapter 29: For her

Chapter 29: For her

The first howl shattered the dusk.

It wasn’t like any ordinary wolf’s call...this was low, guttural, and soaked in an ancient kind of malice that chilled the spine.

Then came the second, then a third, until the very air around the hilltop camp quivered with their approach.

The Hounds had arrived.

Black shadows poured in from the treeline like smoke made flesh, monstrous creatures with eyes that glowed like burning coals and bodies that seemed to melt in and out of the darkness. They were canines in only the most basic form.

Each was at least twice the size of a regular wolf, with spiked ridges running down their backs and saliva that sizzled against the earth. They were the Council’s dogs of death, summoned only when exile or punishment wasn’t enough.

The screams came next...from the camp behind Autumn and Kieran.

"Run! Run!" a woman shrieked, clutching her toddler to her chest as she stumbled down a dirt path.

Men shouted. Children cried. Elders groaned in confusion. The sound of chaos exploded like a dam had broken open.

Autumn’s head snapped just as the first Hound lunged from the trees.

Chaos!!! Utter chaos!

Another leaped, tackling an old man who hadn’t even had time to stand. Its jaws clamped down on his shoulder, searing flesh with a hiss.

The Hounds didn’t kill.

They branded.

The brand...the mark of capture...burned deep into his skin with the shape of the Council’s crest...three interlocking fangs.

The old man let out one strangled cry.

Then he went still.He fell backward like a dropped puppet, his eyes vacant, limbs limp, mouth slightly agape as he stared into nothingness

Dead. But not dead.

Just...empty.

"NO!" Jeffrey roared, releasing Autumn and surging forward.

Too late.

The Hounds were everywhere now...pouring from the trees like a living flood, their growls vibrating the earth. Women screamed, children wailed, warriors shifted in desperation...but it didn’t matter.

"No!They are branding them left and right! " Autumn screamed, her legs refusing to move, her breath catching in her throat.

And once branded, you were gone.

Autumn’s breath came in ragged gasps, her body trembling as she took a step forward...

Kieran’s arm locked around her wrist, yanking her back.Her body went rigid,so he used his hand to clamp around her waist, dragging her back. "We have to go. Now."

Autumn stared ahead, eyes open wide with horror!

"Autumn!We are leaving." He repeated.His voice was steel.

She twisted in his grip, nails digging into his arm. "THEY ARE DYING!"

"Not our problem."

"Coward! " She spat the word like poison. "You are just afraid of the Council!"

His grip tightened, his wolf flashing in his eyes. "It is protocol, Autumn. Interfering is treason."

"FUCK PROTOCOL!" She thrashed, her voice raw. "Look at them! LOOK AT THEM, KIERAN!"

A child...no older than six...was sobbing as a Hound stalked closer. A woman threw herself in front, only to be branded in seconds. Her body locked up, her cries cutting off mid breath.

Just like the old man.

Autumn’s knees almost gave out. "Please..." Her voice cracked. "Please, Kieran. Please."

His jaw clenched. "We can’t save everyone in the world."

"I AM NOT ASKING YOU TO SAVE EVERYONE IN THE WORLD!" She screamed, tears streaming down her face. "I AM BEGGING YOU TO SAVE THEM!"

His nostrils flared, conflict raging behind his eyes. For a heartbeat, she thought he would listen. She struggled, squirming in his arms like a fucking eel. "You are still thinking,Kieran?Are you out of your goddamn mind?! They are innocent wolves! There are kids back there!"

"That’s the rule," Kieran repeated, his voice tight. "You don’t interfere with a Council hunt unless you want a target on your own back."

"Then let them come for me!" she cried, her voice cracking with fury. "You are just gonna stand here and watch?Alright! But I won’t!"

He turned her sharply toward him, eyes flaring with restrained emotion. "It’s not about what I want. You think I haven’t seen worse? You think this doesn’t haunt every soldier who’s forced to watch innocents get slaughtered? We can’t help them. You interfere...it’s treason."

Then suddenly a blood curdling shriek.

Autumn whipped around just in time to see Jeffrey shifting,towering, silver furred, proud,lunging toward a child to shield them.

A Hound collided with him mid air, its teeth sinking into his back. The mark blazed white hot into his fur.

"No!" Autumn’s scream tore out from somewhere deeper this time. She bit Kieran and sprinted, not caring about his calls anymore, not caring about the threat.

Kieran cursed, chasing after her.

"UNCLE JEFF!" Autumn’s voice echoed from her throat.

She lunged.

But she didn’t make it two steps before he caught her again, this time lifting her off the ground, her legs kicking wildly. He had caught her just before she crossed into the chaos.

"Let me go!" she screamed, beating her fists against his chest. "You bastard, let me go! I will never forgive you for this! Never!"

Kieran held her firm!

"PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN, YOU FUCKING COWARD!"

"ENOUGH!" Kieran snarled, shaking her once. "You want to die with them?! Is that it?!"

"YES! I WOULD RATHER DIE THAN WATCH!" Kieran held her tight, face taut with rage...not quite at her, but at the entire God damned world. He set her down gently, gripped her arms.

His expression darkened. For a second, she thought he would hit her.

Instead, his voice dropped...low, dangerous. "How do you know him,by the way?"

She froze. She hiccupped, breath shallow, eyes swollen with tears. Then finally she let it go. Her best kept secret...well no more.

"He...he was like an uncle. My Beta father’s right hand man. He... he was the only one who ever looked after me. Even when my father did not. Even when I was treated like I was nothing, he taught me how to fight. How to track. He cared."

The Hounds howled. The camp burned. The branded stood like statues, their souls erased.

And Kieran...was staring at her like he already knew but needed confirmation!

Silent.

Another sob ripped from her chest. "The Curzon Pack... it was once my home. My father’s pack. I...I was never his daughter to him, but they were still my people. And I can’t... I can’t just..."

Her voice broke.

Kieran’s expression shifted.

A Hound lunged at them.

Kieran moved.

One second, he was holding her.

The next...The Hound’s skull caved in under his fist.

The beast dropped, twitching.

Autumn gasped.

Kieran’s chest heaved, his eyes glowing gold.

The stench of burnt and branded flesh filled Kieran’s nostrils as he stepped into the center of the field.

"Gods damn me," he muttered under his breath, his boots sinking into the muddy earth. "What the fuck am I doing..."

Autumn watched from the edge of the chaos, her breath caught in her throat as Kieran clenched his fists and cursed again, louder this time, as if trying to exorcise the very logic from his mind.

Then he did something she never expected.

He shrugged off his clothes, his back muscles rippling . And then, he roared.

It was not a sound of pain or rage...it was pure dominance. A thunderous, soul shaking roar that seemed to rip straight from the marrow of the earth and pierce the heavens.

Every single Hound froze mid lunge, jaws unhinged, muscles rigid. The screeching stopped. The night stilled.

His fangs gleamed!

He was no ordinary Alpha .

He was a born Alpha, bred in the bloodlines older than most could remember, and in that moment, he summoned the legacy he carried!

He began to circle the remaining Curzons,frightened, shivering, wide eyed.

He did not touch them.

But his aura spread like wildfire, sinking into the bones of those who remained. He made no threats, no promises.

Then he raised his head and howled.

A claim.

A declaration.

Autumn’s knees nearly buckled.

She might have grown up a rogue, but she knew what this meant.

He was taking them in.

He was making them his.

The Hounds twitched, their bodies flickering like a bad connection. Their programming glitched...conflicted. Their orders were clear...Brand the Curzon traitors.

But now, the Curzons were no longer Curzons.

They were Blackmoon.He was claiming them. Not as captives.

But as his pack.

And the Council’s Hounds could not touch allied packs.

One by one, the beasts began to dissolve, their forms unraveling into smoke, vanishing into the storm.

Silence fell.

The survivors stared, wide eyed, disbelieving. A child whimpered, pressing into her mother’s side.

Then...

Hooves.

Dax and his unit burst through the trees, weapons drawn, faces pale with horror.Dax dismounted before his horse had even stopped moving.

The survivors...children, mothers, the last few warriors...huddled close, tears staining dirt covered faces. They clung to each other but did not dare speak. Some collapsed onto their knees. Others simply stared at Kieran in awe and confusion.

Dax’s eyes landed on the field. On the branded corpses. On the survivors. And finally on Kieran.

Kieran had shifted back, his body still steaming from the transformation. He stood, bare chested, his breathing heavy but even.

"Alpha," he gasped, rushing over, his voice trembling, "what have you done?"

Kieran did not answer.

"You claimed them!" Dax hissed. "The Curzons were under the Council’s order for cleansing. And you just..." he lowered his voice, his eyes darting around, "...you made them ours. The Council’s going to be fucking delighted! You just handed them the perfect excuse to come after our entire pack!"

"They were unarmed, women and children... "

" Alpha, this clearly gives them the heads up for war! "

" Then let them come for me! " His eyes locked with Autumn.

Dax stared at him, torn between awe and horror.

Autumn stood a few paces away, her lips parted, unsure whether to move towards him or shrink away. Her heart pounded in her chest. He used her words!

Then he turned away.

"Dax," he said, voice cool, clipped, "get them inside our borders. Set up temporary camps by the lake. Give them food. Blankets. I want no harm to come to them, do you understand?"

Dax blinked. "Yes, Alpha... but..."

"I will deal with the Council in the morning."

And with that, Kieran took off, his stride long and furious, his form vanishing into the woods without so much as a glance back.

Autumn stood there, rooted.

Her hands were trembling.

He left her...just like that?

She just stared at the spot where Kieran had vanished, her fists clenched.

A hand touched her shoulder.

She turned.

Dax’s expression was grim. "You know he will have to answer for this...and pay a heavy prize...quite heavy..."

"Autumn," one of the Curzon survivors whispered, reaching for her arm.