BloodMoon: Captivated by the Forbidden Lycan Alpha
Chapter 198: TIDE AND ASHES

Chapter 198: TIDE AND ASHES

{"Dust to dust, ashes to ashes"}

The water swallowed the sound, but not the fury. Down here, everything moved like a dream, slow, shadowed, pulsing with danger. But the Rogourau beasts cut through it like fire in oil, fast and furious. The vampires never saw it coming. I hovered behind a reef spine, heartbeat thumping in my ears, my eyes fixed on the deep scar of the Blood Stone nest ahead. It writhed now alive, sensing us, or fearing us.

Then Ralph struck, and he was magnificent in the water, his Rogourau form all black flame and golden fury, eyes blazing even down here in the murk. He lunged through the shadows like a spear, slamming into the side of the nest with a snarl that seemed to vibrate through the sea itself.

The vampires scattered, too slow to react, their sleek forms twisting in confusion.

They were not prepared for a shifter invasion, nor a beast in fury like Ralph. The rest of the Rogourau followed his lead, tearing into the blood-slick tendrils of the nest, claws shredding bug husks before they could hatch. One let loose a burst of tidal fire from its throat, the flames spiralling through the water in a way that should have been impossible but was not, not with our magic. Not with their bloodline.

The sea lit up like a second sun. Orange. Gold. Red. My breath hitched. Not from fear. From awe and pride that my mate is leading a storm. I surged forward, slashing through a cluster of stunned vampires with my blades. "Push forward!" I yelled through the water ward in my throat. Kill all the vampires.

A scream echoed muffled and high from a blood bug as Ralph ripped it off the side of the nest and crushed it in his jaws. His flames curled out around him like a mane, boiling the sea in pulses. He turned to me, eyes locking through the chaos. I nodded, and he dove deeper, heading straight for the heart of the hive.

The nest began to split, cracking down the middle like a rotted bone. The remaining vampires scrambled to protect it, but they were no match. Not tonight. Not against beasts made of fire and vengeance. I swam to Ralph’s side, the heat from his body searing even through the cold. "You burn brighter than the sun," I muttered, just for him.

He growled in return, deep and low. A promise. The ocean suddenly heated up, and at the centre of it was Zarn, the head of the Rogourau beast army, loomed like a titan carved from volcanic stone, his fur blackened with soot, eyes lit with ancient, glowing fury. He moved with purpose, rage wound tightly through every massive muscle as he waded through the carnage of what used to be the vampires’ sacred underwater nest.

I floated just above the scorched ridge, my chest heaving against the spell that let me breathe below. Around me, the other Rogourau circled like war spirits, embers trailing from their fur, the water itself struggling to hold its form under the pressure of our magic. Ralph swam to my side, his beast form slick with battle ash, and growled low, something primal and satisfied.

Then Zarn opened his mouth, and the fire did not just pour out; it erupted. From his throat came a stream of pure molten wrath, not golden like Ralph’s, not orange like the other,s but a deep, blinding white-hot blaze that cut through the sea like it did not care it was not supposed to burn here.

The blood nest did not stand a chance, and it cracked, split, and crumbled in seconds. Every inch of it, every pulsing red egg sack, every vampire bug, every twisted cocoon holding stolen life was erased in that breath. The water churned, hissed, and creamed as steam and ash swallowed the ocean floor.

The vampires tried to scatter, but the Rogourau were already on them. Fire met flesh. Claws met bone. I did not blink, I would not give the enemy that dignity. One by one, they burned. Some turned to nothing but shadows in the firelight before they even had the chance to scream. Others clawed uselessly at the sea as the flames devoured them from within. It was over in seconds.

Ash floated like snow in the water, falling soft across the battlefield. The blood nest was gone. The vampires were gone. All that remained was scorched stone, drifting bone, and the heat still radiating from Zarn’s breath.

I exhaled slowly and turned my gaze back to the towering monster who led their kind, Zarn, flame-forged and fury-born, and felt something rare bloom in my chest.

"Remind me never to piss him off," I pushed the words through our mind link with Ralph and he in turn huffed a low laugh, then bumped his large beast shoulder against mine.

As we rose through the settling ash, the sea still burning behind us, I knew one thing for certain:

Tonight, we did not just survive an impending attack, we ended it.

We swam through smoke back to the shower, the water should have been cool again by now, but it was not. It clung to us, thick with soot, heavy with memory. Behind us, the ocean still glowed. Patches of steam drifted in lazy spirals to the surface, carrying the last ashes of the vampires’ nest with them.

I broke through first, dragging myself out onto the sand with a grunt. My body felt like stone, wet, bruised, aching, but my spirit? Lighter than it had been in weeks.One by one, the others emerged, and Ralph surfaced next, shifting as he rose from the waves, claws retracting, fur sinking into skin until my mate stood beside me, bare-chested and breathing hard, eyes trained on the sea. The Rogourau followed behind him, still in beast form, fire licking from their shoulders as they lumbered up the beach like gods returned from war.

The rest of the Bay Shifter pack army was already waiting, silent, alert as they watched us come out of the sea like we were ghosts.

I turned back toward the water, and even now... it was still burning. Glowing beneath the surface in strange, haunting colours. Reds, golds, deep-blood orange. The nest was gone, but it had left a scar. A reminder.

"Look at it," I murmured.

Ralph’s voice was rough beside me. "I see it."

The others gathered behind us. Mortas. Troy. Belle. Spark. Wave. Even Zarn stepped to the edge of the waves, his massive Rogourau form casting a long, smoking shadow across the sand.

No one spoke for a while, and we just stood there, watching the tide burn.

All our power, all our fury, and this was what it came to. Fire on water. Ash on air. A war that ended not with fanfare, but silence.

"They thought they could hide under our bay. Feed off our people. Take without consequence."

I looked over my shoulder at the soldiers behind me. "Let this be the last time they think that."

Zarn rumbled low, the sound deep enough to shake the sand.

And then Ralph, still staring at the horizon, said quietly, "They’ll remember this night. I wonder where the female vampire who was watching us went, but I know for now she is nowhere near, as I can’t sense her presence. "

I nodded, my voice like stone. "Everyone will. We shall stay alert for any intruders."

The sun had already risen by the time the last flickers of fire gave out. The beach was quiet, the kind of quiet that hums after something sacred or terrible. Our war was over, but the weight of it had not left our bones yet.

The tide had started to rise, inch by inch, reclaiming the blackened sand, washing over the edges where vampire ash still clung like soot. The smoke had thinned, curling upward like ghosts giving up. And the sea gods, the sea looked tired too, and I stood at the shoreline, boots buried in wet sand, arms crossed over my chest. Behind me, the army stayed still. Rows of shifters, warriors, Rogourau beasts, silent, shoulder to shoulder. Watching with the same expression, I felt a twisting in my gut.

"Think the sea will forgive us?" I asked, voice low.

He did not look at me, just breathed slowly. "Maybe. Eventually."

The waves lapped higher, calmer now. Cleaner. Zarn let out a deep rumble behind us, a kind of final exhale from the beast ranks. A few of them shifted back, fur retracting, skin steaming in the morning light. Some stayed in form, too shaken or too proud to let the beast go just yet.

"Stand down," I said quietly, turning toward the army. "But stay sharp. This peace is earned for now, but it is never guaranteed."

They all nodded, and I could tell everyone was in deep thought.

Ralph leaned slightly into me. "We should rest."

"Soon," I murmured, eyes still on the waves. "I want to see it just a little longer."

An hour later, I was about to tell Ralph we could finally head back when I heard pounding footsteps on wet sand.

"General Tiger! General—!"

A young guard, breathless and wide-eyed, tore down the dunes and sprinted toward us. His boots left clumsy impressions in the tide-packed shore, and his Armor clanked as he stumbled to a stop in front of Beta Spark.

"Report," Spark barked, already stepping forward, jaw tense. I shifted slightly to face the boy, and Ralph moved with me, instinctively on guard. The kid saluted, barely catching his breath. "Flora and Rita—they caught them, sir. They got them!"

"Who?" I asked, voice low but sharp.

He turned to me, eyes bright with urgency. "Fennel and Amos Cobalt. Caught them up in Sagstone Mountain."

Ralph’s eyes narrowed. "They’re alive?"

The guard nodded. "Yeah. The guards are escorting them to the Jail cell as we speak."

I exchanged a long look with Spark, then with Ralph. The names settled like stones in my chest.

Fennel. Amos. Traitors who were hiding in Sagstone Mountain had finally been caught. "Well, look at that," I muttered. "The mountain coughed up its secrets."

Ralph growled under his breath. "Too bad it didn’t bury them."

Spark did not smile, but there was something coldly satisfied in his stare. "We’ll be ready for them."

"Send word to the camp," I told the guard. "Make sure a cell is cleared. Reinforce it."

"Yes, General!"

As the guard ran back up the hill, I turned to the others. "Looks like the fire’s not done smouldering yet."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.