BloodMoon: Captivated by the Forbidden Lycan Alpha
Chapter 280: SIZZLING AND UNSETTLING POWER

Chapter 280: SIZZLING AND UNSETTLING POWER

{"Being a shifter isn’t a curse. It’s a reminder that power lies in embracing the beast within, not hiding from it."}

I did not answer right away, and my instinct was to say yes. "No," I admitted. "Not all the way. But I would still walk back into it with you. Even if the mountain swallowed us whole." Her breath hitched not with fear, but with the weight of knowing I meant it and she turned in my arms then, facing me, her hands pressed against my chest.

"I’m scared, Rou," she said softly." Last time you left for Bloodstone Mountain, and I barely survived being away from you, and this time we cannot be separated."

I cupped her face. "Then we break together."

She closed her eyes, leaned her forehead into mine. "We have only just found this. Found us. I do not want to lose it to something ancient and wild about a greedy moon goddess’s sister".

"You won’t." I kissed her brow. "We have earned this bond. The mountain gave us the power to protect it, and that is why we can feel whatever is rising. "

She smiled faintly, that hard edge in her finally softening. "I used to think love made you vulnerable," she whispered.

"It does," I said. "But so does courage." We stayed like that for a while, lovers wrapped in each other’s silence, heartbeats syncing in the dimming light, as if we could anchor each other against what was coming.

We retired to bed later in the night, and the dream found me just before dawn, not gentle, not slow. It pulled me under like a riptide. I was standing on black sand. The air smelled of salt and blood. Storm clouds churned over an obsidian sea, and the wind howled like something ancient was trying to claw its way into the world. I knew the place before my eyes could name it, and the beaches of it, it was Hanka Island. But now, I felt it unraveling, and the mountain’s voice reached me through the wind.

"She is not rising through stone. She seeks the sea, and Ashanai awakens beneath the tide."

Lightning struck the ocean, and for a split second, I saw her not fully formed, but writhing in shape and shadow. Feminine and monstrous. Beauty twisted into ruin. Her mouth opened, and the sea obeyed. The mountain showed me the vision of how she would come through water, and she had her eye set on Gerod, the slumbering dragon of the Hanka Island. The mountain revealed the sea, not a weapon, not a wall, but a binding rite, carved from earth and soul and anchored in blood willingly given.

"Three hearts must bind her: Guardian, Vampire Mira born, and Lycan Alpha."

I guessed right away, Me, Tor, and Frery.

"The seal can only be cast on the threshold of sea and storm and at the moment of her becoming."

I woke with a gasp, chest slick with sweat, the scent of saltwater still clinging to my skin. The room was quiet, moonlight cutting across the floorboards like blades. Elle stirred beside me but did not wake and I sat on the edge of the bed, breath ragged, heart hammering. I looked out the window toward the distant cliffs, and something inside me settled not with peace, but with purpose.

I slowly slid out of bed, dressed, and rushed over to Tor’s house. I shifted halfway to the outpost, not fully beast, not fully man, just enough to cover the distance between the den and Tor’s cabin in a blur of speed and shadow. The wind was sharp. The stars, wide-eyed above me, felt like they were watching.

The guards at Tor’s door stiffened as I approached, but they recognized the look on my face they did not question. The door yanked open, and Freyr stood on the other side.

"Tell me you didn’t drag death behind you again," he muttered

"It’s not behind me," I said. "It’s rising beneath the sea."

Tor emerged from the back room, shirtless, grey hair unbound. "What happened?"

I walked in and closed the door as we moved to the centre of the room. "Ashanai isn’t coming through the mountains," I said, pacing like the heat of the vision was still in my veins. "She’s going to rise at the shores of Hanka Island."

That got both their attention.

Freyr leaned forward. "We knew that."

"Gerod," I confirmed. "She is after him. Wants to corrupt the dragon while he still slumbers."

Tor’s jaw tightened. "That would be catastrophic, and if she binds herself to a guardian like Gerod..."

"She could sweep the coast clean," I finished. "The vision showed her a shadow under the water, beautiful and cruel. The mountain gave me the seal to stop her, but it requires three hearts, and that means the three of us.

Freyr muttered. "You always manage to find the kind of trouble that sounds like prophecy."

"This isn’t prophecy," I said. "It is a warning. The moment Ashanai begins to rise, we must be there. On the threshold between sea and storm. That is when the seal must be cast."

Then Freyr stood, stretched, and grabbed his jacket. "We are going to Hanka Island, I suggest you come with us.

"I don’t want to waste time," I nodded. "Ashanai is already moving."

"Then move fast," Freyr said. "Go and get ready."

I nodded and turned toward the door, but Tor’s voice stopped me.

"Rou." I looked back. "Once again, we stand together to fight. "

"The Rogourau was born to serve the Lycan Alpha." And with that, I ran back to Elle to get ready for Hanka Island. But when I opened the door, the lantern was already lit. Elle stood near the window, her back to me, arms folded tight across her chest. The second the door clicked shut, she turned.

"You ran out of here like the world was burning," she said softly. "Did it?"

"In a way," I said, and stepped toward her.

Her eyes narrowed as she searched my face. "What happened?"

I nodded. "I had a vision, the mountains sent it. But it was not about the peaks. It was the sea, Elle. The beach of Hanka Island. That is where Ashanai plans to rise."

Her expression did not change, but I felt the shift in her pulse through the bond, a quiet spike of fear, quickly contained. "She’s not coming for the mountain?" she asked.

"No," I said, voice low. "She wants the Dragon Guardian—Gerod. She means to rise at the shore, twist him, and wear his power like armor."

Elle inhaled sharply. "If she binds herself to Gerod—"

"She won’t," I cut in. "Not if we get there first. The mountain gave me the means to stop her. A seal."

She took a step closer, gaze fixed on mine. "What kind of seal?"

"One forged between three hearts," I said. "Mine, Freyr and Tor"

Elle’s jaw tightened, and she reached out, slipping her fingers into mine.

"Then we move faster," she said. "I will pack what we need. When do we leave?"

"Now," I responded.

The earth swallowed the light behind us. We moved in silence, our boots and claws echoing against ancient stone, the air growing damper and salt-laced as we descended deeper into the mountain-rooted caverns. These were not paths made by mortals. These were the pulse lines of the earth, old and sacred, meant for those born of fang, fang, and fire.

I took the lead, the scent of the sea slowly weaving into the chilly air. Elle moved beside me, her wolf steady and close, luminous eyes sharp in the dark. Behind us came Freyr, quieter than usual, his vampire senses alert, the faint hum of blood-magic coiled under his skin. Tor, grave as ever, walked to our right, every step calculated, every sense stretched to its edge.

Our rear was guarded by General Tiger and Ralph, my son, beast, and beast-blood. Tiger’s low growl was constant, like a warning to the stone itself. Ralph was silent but present, his aura one of poised violence. Then came General Mortas, flanked by Enforcer Troy. I had expected friction and unease, but both had committed themselves fully to this path. Mortas’ eyes burned with a soldier’s purpose. The tunnels opened wide as we neared the cavern’s heart.

Freyr halted and inhaled sharply behind us. "You feel that?"

I did. A pressure. A thrum in my ribs that did not come from the mountain but from the thing stirring beneath the sea beyond it. "Ashanai," I muttered. "She knows we’re coming."

Tor moved forward; his voice low. "Then we don’t slow down."

We began again, shifting without words four-footed paws, taloned claws, and shadow-wreathed silence as our bodies flowed into forms meant for war. Our footfalls became whispers, and our hearts beat to the rhythm of what waited on the other side. An hour later, we arrived at Hanka Island, green cliffs rising from black sand, the ocean crashing like thunder, and a storm brewing on the horizon. We stood there, all of us, staring down at the place where fate would test its grip on us. The place where Ashanai would rise, the place where the world would shift or end.

Elle moved to my side, brushing her shoulder against mine.

"We’re here," she said.

"Yes," I murmured. "Now we ensure Ashanai does not rise."