Wren’s POV

My grip on Kilian’s fur is tight, but not as much as my jaw. He’s speedrunning across thunderbolts, his legs sharp barreling to the left, then to the right.
I can see the dunes defining themselves neater and neater, the sun’s light dimming at each of his racing steps.
Something is wrong.
Galathena has no clouds.
It can’t be more than noon....
There’s a growl under me, Kilian suddenly jerking on the left.
“Kilian!” He took a shot! Where!?
“Stop!” I shout. But Kilian keeps running like he always has.
For me.
The way I feel. I don’t know where we’re going with this war, but solo sé que quiero ir contigo, Kilian*... And only you.
I lay my head in this peaceful place between his shoulder blades and neck and being rocked, close my eyes. My leg doesn’t hurt so much.
I don’t feel it much. Does it really matter?
Kilian’s strides slow down. As much as I want to raise myself, my heaviness only allows me to open my eyes.
It’s dark.
And then, Kilian breaks for good.
We’re behind a dune, the wind blowing a bad omen toward us.
And as I manage to heave myself up, this fight in me dies. The horizon is darkened. Thousands of Spaceships veiling the sun.
From the color of those flashing lights blinking in the sky, there’s as much blue as red. Blue... Pallamir’s crest. The Blue Star I’ve been fighting for all my life...
A loud cutting sound strikes the air as two jets flash above us like furious rockets. These skim the desert, low enough that I recognize Rio and Joy’s spaceships. They are scanning the area... readying bombs at the intended target.
My spine stiffens. We are about to die. It’s a matter of seconds now.
Under me, skin tightens amongst growls. Kilian’s body is shrinking. It does it until there’s nothing between Kilian and me but human flesh.
The man flips me over, probing my leg. “The blood’s clotting, little wolf.”
Kilian’s orange eyes stare down at me, my head warming to his strokes. “Forgive me, Spades. I should’ve listened to you...”
My hands shake, and these only stop when they cradle his cheeks, fear scalding my heart to see Kilian’s bleeding body. “Your Faith Kilian... I need it,” my lips tremble, anger sowing through me.
“It bought me to you, little wolf. And that’s all that matters,” he rasps.
Withering, his caging arms vibrate from the overstraining effort. Having lost his strength, Kilian drops in the sand. “I’m ok. Don't worry about me.”
Don't worry, he says...
Something in me suddenly ignites.
It is true.
I did die today.
Hope or not, my instincts are out of control. I’m ready to face it all for Kilian. He’s outrun my fears, so why couldn’t I outrun his?
This pain thundering in me won’t stop me.
My hands thrust in the sand as I push myself up. I gotta keep running! Keep his faith alive.
“Spades!” Killian shouts.
Spades?..
“Spades! Please, stay hidden against this dune!”
Spades...
“Ina!!” This name?!..
I turn to face him, childhood memories bursting out of my eyes. “Kilian, tú eres la historia más bella que el destino escribió en mi vida.”*
I won’t run from my mistakes anymore.
Leaping up the highest of dunes, I then uncover this wild skin I’ve been hiding for so long. White fur awakens from a long sleep, paws touching a desert it hadn’t in years.
I howl like never before.
I want Alpha Hayden, my-my father, to see who I am—my true self.
I want him to watch me stand proud on the Dune, watch me howl at the three Moons of Galathena, how my fur and claws will never tire, for I am Ina, Luna of the Sand Rose pack.
My mind is whirling. A thirteen-year-old self... This song we used to listen while watching the sun rise... Images of a blurred teenage boy as I opened my eyes under the water. My first kiss...
...My mate.
Kilian’s wolf joins me, his head stroking against mine. “Ina... I missed you so much.”
“Te amo más que a mi propia piel, Kilian...*”
“Ina.”
Our heads cradle against each other, knowing too well our Fate.
The first laser beams blast across the sky, hitting the desert, a mile from us.
It works.
My father sees me...
The sun is long gone, obscured by this ominous dark mass that spreads for miles on end, but it won’t change how I feel—proud.
A quiver of air escapes me as I take a peek above Kilians’ back. Pallamir’s ships are breaching King Daryl’s perfect front line.
Silently these hover over the desert, above our heads as slow as the tear falling down my fur. And when this squadron flies over us, beyond the Tilmer mountain, and turns their ships’ noses to face King Daryl’s fleet, do I remember who raised me.
Smoke’em and gas’em, Winnie... I chuckle internally at my father’s last words. My father smoked King Daryl alright. My old man must have known the communication lines were compromised. And this poor Bret must have been sent to localize me.
As I piece everything together, I start to see the big picture. My father’s intentions were never wrong...
A father goes beyond blood ties.
It goes beyond progeny.
To think love is the key.
I was right.
It isn’t the end. It's only the beginning. The battle has yet to come, and no matter the outcome, my faith in it has never been so strong.
I am Galathean. I am Alpha Hayden’s daughter, a Chimera, but beyond all, I am found.
Besides me is my Alpha, and together, we will win it all.
Some words I was once whispered at, erupt in me. Kilian’s younger voice stroking my ear with sweet nothings... I remember them well. But this time, these words are not sweet nothings, they are my everything.
Because he is the wind in my fur.
The earth below my claws.
And the moonlight in my eyes.
And as my head rests against Kilian’s, I know nothing, and no one can stop us...
My wolf tongue laps over his snout, and as I receive as many licks, I channel, “It’s in your two suns that I rise, in them stars that I shine, and in your heart that I grow...
Reclaim me.”
The end.

To my father.
May he never read chapters 6 and 16.
(If you enjoyed this story, please drop a review in the first book. It’s part of a contest. I appreciate your kind support 💋)

*The only thing I know is that I want to go with you.
**You’re the most beautiful story that destiny has written in my life.
***I love you more than my own skin.
