Falling For The Demon Wolf-Chapter 26: Blood And Ash

The sound of shattering glass woke me.

At first, I thought I was dreaming—caught in one of those hazy, half-conscious states where everything feels too loud, too sharp.

But then came the screams.

Real. Terrified.

I bolted upright in bed, the sheets tangled around my legs. The sharp scent of mental hit my nose before I even opened the door.

Blood.

Another scream.

Then a snarl. Followed by the unmistakable sound of splintering wood.

I threw the door open just in time to see a rogue wolf lunging down the corridor, its massive body knocking aside one of the pack guards like he was made of straw.

Panic surged through me, but training kicked in. My fingers curled around the knife I’d hidden beneath my pillow.

The hall was chaos—wolves in human form rushing to shift, younger members scrambling to find safety.

The rogue was wild-eyed, foam clinging to its lips as it snapped its jaws and lunged at anything that moved.

I ducked behind a broken cabinet, my breath ragged, heart pounding against my ribs. Just as the rogue turned my way, a blur of silver fur tackled it mid-air.

Selene.

She shifted mid-lunge, claws raking across the rogue’s back in a flash of crimson. The two rolled across the corridor in a snarling heap, colliding with the wall hard enough to crack stone.

Selene moved with terrifying precision, a predator in her element, carving deep lines into the rogue’s body with terrifying ease.

A second rogue came tearing down the hallway.

I didn’t think. I moved.

I threw myself at its side, plunging the dagger deep into the space just beneath its ribcage. It shrieked, swinging a clawed paw at me, but I twisted away just in time, dragging the blade across its exposed belly as I dropped low. Blood splattered my arms, warm and slick.

It collapsed.

Dead.

Another crash echoed from the west wing, followed by howls—dozens of them. We weren’t dealing with just one or two rogues this time.

This was coordinated.

It was an invasion.

"Get the children below!" someone yelled—Cian’s voice.

I turned just in time to see him sprinting into the fray, shirt torn, golden eyes wild with fury. He snapped a rogue’s neck like it was a twig and kept moving. His gaze found mine for a brief second, something feral in it.

"You better not die tonight," he growled as he passed.

I blinked.

"That’s the closest thing to affection I’ve ever gotten from you," I muttered under my breath, then ducked to avoid another wolf barreling past me.

The scent of smoke began to creep through the halls. Somewhere, a fire had started.

The pack was fighting back hard—Selene, Cian, the guards, even a few Omegas. But the rogues were relentless. Desperate.

Rabid.

One of them broke into the common room, where younger wolves were being herded toward the hidden stairwell that led to the safe tunnels. I followed, fast as I could, diving between the rogue and a young boy—no older than ten. I shoved him back just as the rogue’s claw grazed my shoulder, tearing through fabric and flesh.

I hissed in pain but didn’t stop.

I grabbed a fallen spear and drove it upward just as the rogue lunged again. It pierced clean through its jaw and out the back of its skull.

The rogue dropped like a stone.

The boy stared at me, wide-eyed.

"Go," I barked, pointing toward the stairwell.

He ran.

Blood ran down my arm in rivulets. I didn’t care.

Because another rogue was already charging.

I braced myself—until a flash of black fur slammed into the rogue from the side, sending it crashing into a support beam.

Zain.

He hadn’t shifted. But he didn’t need to.

He moved like shadow and thunder—fast, brutal, and absolutely merciless. His claws tore through the rogue’s throat, then its stomach, leaving nothing but a mangled heap behind.

He looked at me once—only once—before turning and leaping into the firestorm erupting through the central courtyard.

And just like that, he was gone again.

By the time the attack ended, the halls were painted red.

Blood soaked into the wooden floors. Bodies—some rogue, some pack—lay sprawled in unnatural positions. The scent of death clung to everything.

I didn’t sleep.

I sat by the window, knife still in my hand, the cut on my shoulder hastily wrapped.

Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled into the dying night. Not in victory.

But in grief.

And I knew—deep in my bones—that this was just the beginning.

Ididn’t sleep that night.

Not after what I saw.

Not after the rogue looked at me like I was the center of something I didn’t ask to be part of.

I sat by the window as the sky shifted from black to gray, watching the thin line of trees where he had vanished. The wind whistled through the branches, and for a moment, it sounded like a whisper.

You’re marked now.

The knock came just after dawn, hard and precise.

I expected Isla. Maybe even Cian again.

But it wasn’t either of them.

It was Selene, arms crossed, her dark hair wind-swept and tangled from the night before. There was blood on her boots. Not hers, I guessed.

"You’re up," she said, eyeing me like I was something she couldn’t quite figure out.

"Good. We leave in fifteen."

"Where?"

She smirked. "Zain wants you back at the stronghold. Your little debut out there didn’t go unnoticed."

I swallowed. Of course it didn’t. I’d stabbed a rogue clean through the ribs.

"Is this where he chains me up for

disobedience?" I asked dryly.

Selene didn’t answer. She simply turned on her heel. "Put on something that doesn’t smell like fear, would you? You’re going to need your pride more than your claws today."

By the time we reached the main pack house, the others were already waiting. The courtyard bustled with wolves in human form, preparing for patrols, bandaging wounds, exchanging quiet words with tense faces.

Inara spotted me before I made it to the stairs. She broke from the group of healers and rushed over.

"You’re okay," she breathed, grabbing my arms. Her eyes scanned me from head to toe like she expected me to be bleeding. "We heard the rogues hit the outer patrols."

"They did," I said. "But I hit back."

A slow, proud smile curved her lips. "Damn right you did."

She hesitated. "You were brave, Violet. But... that rogue leader. He’s dangerous. If he’s after you—"

"Why would he be after me? I’m not a part if all this" I cut in, voice low.

Inara frowned. "What does Alpha Zain say about it?"

I didn’t answer.

Because I hadn’t seen him yet.

But I could feel him. His presence lingered in the air like smoke after a fire.

I was halfway down the corridor when I turned a corner and nearly slammed into Cian.

He caught me by the shoulders to steady me, brows raised.

"You move like a deer about to bolt," he muttered.

"I’ve had a long night."

He eyed me for a moment. "You did good out there, for a week human. That rogue would’ve gutted anyone else."

I studied him. "Are you complimenting me and also insulting me?"

A ghost of a smile tugged at his lips. "Don’t get used to it."

There was something new in his gaze—something guarded, but not hostile. Like he was beginning to understand that I wasn’t just a liability.

But I was tired of being measured. Weighed. Watched.

I took a step back. "I’ll take that as a thank-you."

He nodded once, then gestured down the hallway. "You’re wanted in the Alpha’s chambers."

My stomach dropped.

"Of course I am," I muttered.

The door to Zain’s chambers was already open when I arrived.

He was standing by the window, back turned, shirt half-unbuttoned and streaked with dried blood that didn’t look like his.

"You shouldn’t have been there last night," he said without looking at me.

I stepped inside slowly. "And yet I was."

He turned.

His eyes—those molten silver eyes—locked onto mine, unreadable.

"You killed a rogue."

"Yes."

"You disobeyed orders." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"No one told me to stand still. I saw an opportunity to help me the children and I took it."

He crossed the room in two strides, his presence crashing into me like a tidal wave.

"You were supposed to be protected, not draw a target on your back."

"I didn’t ask for protection," I snapped, "and I sure as hell didn’t ask to be part of this pack or whatever you guys call it."

Something flickered in his expression.

Hurt?

No. Not Zain.

"I told you not to tempt me," he growled.

I lifted my chin. "What are you going to do?

Lock me away again? Strip me of my pride?"

His gaze dropped to my mouth for a heartbeat too long.

"No," he murmured. "But I will remind you exactly where you stand."

Then he turned away before I could read what that meant.

But I could feel the walls shifting.

The war wasn’t just outside the pack borders anymore.

It was in this room.

Between him.

And me.

And the lines we kept crossing.

Lines I’m very sure my father would want me to speak about.