BloodMoon: Captivated by the Forbidden Lycan Alpha
Chapter 174: IN BETWEEN US

Chapter 174: IN BETWEEN US

{ "Real intimacy is a sacred experience. Real intimacy is of the soul, and the soul is reserved."}

GENERAL TIGERS’ POV

The moon was high by the time we left Alpha Tor’s office, and yet the weight of the meeting clung to my shoulders like chainmail. The air outside the stronghold was cooler than I expected, sharp, quiet, too still for a night like this. Even the wind held its breath. Beside me, Ralph walked with purpose, but I could see the gears turning behind his steady eyes. My mate was many things- calm, clever, maddeningly composed- but tonight, there was a fire building under his skin. I knew that look. It meant war was close.

"You’re quiet," I said, keeping my voice low. "Too quiet. Start talking."

Ralph glanced at me, lips twitching, but his tone stayed serious. "I’ve been thinking. About Alpha Tor’s command."

I raised a brow. "You disagree?"

"No," he replied. "Not with the goal. But we need to be sharper. Faster. You know how vampires move. They don’t just march; they swarm. They’ll test every border, every entrance. If we spread our forces too thin—"

"We lose ground." I finished the thought for him.

He nodded. "Exactly. That’s why I think we put the Rogourau in the forefront."

I blinked at him. "You want the Rogourau holding the line at the borders?"

"All of them," he confirmed, stopping at the overlook that gave us a view of Bay Shifter land stretched out below, dark and alive, forest and river shimmering under moonlight. "Every known entrance. Caverns, cliff passes, beach trails, mountain breaks. No one gets in or out unless they go through them first."

I leaned on the rail, arms crossed. "You think Rou will agree?"

He met my gaze. "Rou wants peace."

"And the shifter wolves?" I asked.

"On standby," Ralph said. "Agile, quiet, fast response. They know the terrain better than anyone. If something breaches past the Rogourau, the wolves clean it up before it gets near the heart of the Bay."

I nodded slowly, letting the weight of his plan settle into place. It was brutal but effective. That’s what I admired about him. He saw the bigger picture without losing the edge of the blade.

"You’ve been thinking like a general," I said.

He turned to me with a smirk. "You’ve been rubbing off on me."

I grunted, though it sounded more like a laugh. "Alright. "

"Already ahead of you," he said. "I sent word to the scouts before we left the stronghold."

I watched him for a moment, this man who carried both strategy and serenity like they were forged from the same steel. My mate. My partner is more than a name. And as the wind finally moved, rustling through the trees with a distant, hungry howl, I realized something deeper.

"The southern bend by the river needs more attention," Ralph was saying, voice low and sure. "If the vampire scouts make it past the cliffs—"

"They won’t," I interrupted, though not with arrogance. "But what does Rou say about this?’

At the sound of his name, the shadows shifted, and he stepped through from behind us. The energy around him always arrived first, dense, commanding, pulsing with the quiet, feral power that never fully left his form. His eyes, amber and sharp, locked on both of us as he joined the firelight.

"Good," he said simply, not wasting time. "I was looking for you both." Ralph moved aside to make space without a word. I straightened, already reading the tension in Rou’s frame. He wasn’t here for pleasantries. "I’ve been feeling it in the ground," Rou said, gaze flickering toward the northern sky. "In the wind. In the quiet. Something’s shifting near Bay Shifter land—and I don’t like it."

"You think they’ll attack sooner than expected?" I asked.

"I think they’re already circling," Rou replied, jaw clenched. "Waiting for a weakness. A single opening. We can’t afford to relent. Not for a breath. Not for a moment."

His words weren’t dramatic. They were grounded. Heavy with the weight of instinct and legacy. I felt Ralph stiffen beside me, listening just as closely.

"It’s good that the Rogourau are holding the entrances," Rou continued, folding his arms. "We were made for it. Let them come, we’ll tear through them like before." His voice hardened, and his next words came with fire behind them.

"But whatever happens," he said, "Ragar and Sagstone Mountain must be protected. If they fall, if those sacred grounds are breached, it won’t just be the Bay that suffers. It’ll be all of us."

I nodded slowly. I knew what lay beneath those peaks: old power, ancient resting spirits, some still slumbering, some always watching. Rou stepped closer, gaze direct. "Send Flora and Rita to the mountains," he said. "Take an army. Small but ruthless. Have them dig into the stone and make camp inside the old tunnels if they have to. Let no one pass without blood."

"Are you certain?" I asked.

"Rita is a skill that everyone underestimates, and I trust her more than anyone to watch over the mountains," Rou said without hesitation. "She’ll know what to do if the ground speaks."

"Then it’s done," I said. "Flora, Rita, and the army will deploy at dawn.

Rou nodded once, the firelight catching the edge of his jaw. "Good. Because the land is watching, and we need to protect as it protects us."

There was a silence between us then, thick with unspoken fears and silent promises. The kind of quiet that settles between warriors before the storm, and when Rou turned to leave, his final words drifted back over his shoulder like prophecy.

"Guard the mountain... or there won’t be anything left to fight for."

After Rou had turned and vanished into the trees, the air around us shifted, just slightly. The sharp edge of strategy and command dulled, leaving behind the thrum of everything unsaid. I stayed still for a moment, staring into the night and listening to his last words. Guard the mountain... or there won’t be anything left to fight for.

It sat heavy in my gut like prophecy, and then I felt Ralph move.

He didn’t speak right away, just walked around us, the way he always did when he was watching me too closely. I looked up when he reached me, his eyes soft in a way only I ever got to see. He laced his fingers through mine without a word.

The rough of his calluses met the rough of mine, and it grounded me in a way strategy never could.

"Come on," he said, voice low and warm. "Let’s go in."

I nodded once, letting him lead. Because for all my rank, my titles, my blood-soaked armour—this was the one place I didn’t have to be General Tiger.

Hours later, as we lay in bed, the room was dark, save for the soft silver wash of moonlight bleeding in through the curtains. Outside, the wind murmured through the trees, low and restless, like it, too, could feel the tension in the land. Ralph lay beside me, one arm draped across my chest, his breathing steady but not deep enough for sleep. I knew him too well. His silence wasn’t the peaceful kind, it was the kind that held thoughts sharper than any blade.

I stared at the ceiling, tracing invisible battle lines in my mind. Border defences, supply rotations, fallback points. Every scenario played on repeat behind my eyes, each ending in blood, fire, or worse. The vampires wouldn’t strike blindly. No, they were patient predators. They’d wait until we grew tired, until we slipped, until someone forgot to check the back trail or assumed the mountain pass was too steep to cross. They’d go for the heart of the realm. The Bay, yes. But more than that, they’d want the mountains.

Ragar. Sagstone.

If those ancient grounds fell... if whatever slept beneath them woke in the wrong hands, and then beside me, Ralph shifted slightly, his fingers tightening just enough to let me know he was still here. Still thinking the same dark thoughts.

"You’re not asleep," I murmured, my voice just above a whisper.

"No," he said, just as quietly.

"What is it?" I asked, even though I already knew. I wanted to hear it from him.

He hesitated, then replied, "I keep running through it. Every plan. Every path they might take. But there’s always a hole. A risk. And the worst part is, we can’t afford even one mistake." His words were laced with that quiet kind of dread, the kind a soldier carries when they know something is coming, but not when, or where, or how.

I turned my head to look at him. His eyes were open, reflecting faint silver, jaw clenched in thought. I reached over, brushing my thumb along his knuckles.

"We’ll find the holes," I said. "We always do. But I worry because the mountains are the key," I went on, more to myself than to him. "If we keep Ragar and Sagstone protected, if we hold the old paths and don’t let fear scatter us, we can make it through this."

"We have to," Ralph said quietly. "There’s too much at stake."

He turned into me slightly, head against my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around him, grounding us both. The room remained quiet, the night ticking on and though sleep eluded me, I closed my eyes and let myself breathe. Just for a little while and because when dawn came, we would no longer be lovers but the army that was needed to protect the Bay shifter pack.