I Forgot I Loved You Alpha (Ellie and Nolan) novel Chapter 326

Chapter 326

Third Person POV

The battle was turning.

Not cleanly. Not easily. But unmistakably.

The rogues were being pushed back now, forced into retreating arcs instead of relentless advance. Their formations frayed under sustained pressure, discipline breaking as exhaustion set in.

Where they had surged with brutal confidence before, now they reacted-scrambling to counter maneuvers instead of dictating them.

Alaric stood at the heart of it, cloak dark with rain and blood, issuing commands with sharp, economical precision.

“Second flank, tighten-don’t chase them. Hold the line.”

A group of Moonstone warriors shifted instantly, locking shields and adjusting spacing without question.

“Third rotation, swap out the injured. You-yes, you-fall back before you collapse.”

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The young warrior hesitated only a heartbeat before obeying, relief flickering across his face as a healer caught his arm and dragged him clear.

Alaric didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to.

Authority radiated from him like gravity-calm, unyielding, absolute. Even in chaos, the battlefield bent around his presence. The rogues felt it too; their attacks avoided his position instinctively, skirting the edge of something they didn’t want to test.

The Pine Ridge forces had made all the difference.

Their arrival had broken the stalemate, splitting the rogue advance and relieving pressure on Silver Fang’s inner defenses. Lance had seized the opening instantly, coordinating with Pine Ridge generals as if they’d trained together for years.

The storm still raged overhead, thunder cracking the sky open in violent punctuation—but on the ground, order was asserting itself again.

Victory was no longer impossible.

It was within reach.

And yet-

Alaric felt it.

A tightening in his chest that had nothing to do with exertion. A wrongness that prickled along his spine, cold and unmistakable.

Time was running out.

Not for the battle.

For something else.

The knowledge came to him in a flash, as it often did for him. Unlike Ellie’s vision, Alaric had always gotten his messages from the goddess in flashes of intuition.

Cassian felt it the moment something shifted.

There was no vision. No voice. No clear explanation. Not for Cassian.

He had never been blessed with that aspect of Moonstone lineage. He didn’t share the strong connection to the goddess that the rest of his family did.

For him, it was just a sudden, sickening sense of imbalance-like the ground beneath his feet had shifted a

fraction too far.

His hands shook as he parried a blow, blade skidding off a rogue’s armor. He corrected automatically, movements sharp and practiced, but unease coiled tighter in his gut with every breath.

Something was wrong.

Not here not the battle itself. That was turning. He could see it, feel it in the renewed strength of their lines, the way the rogues faltered now instead of pressing.

This was different.

Personal.

“Cassian!” Lance’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Focus, man!”

Cassian obeyed, forcing his focus back into the present as they cut down another cluster of retreating rogues. Still, the feeling lingered-heavy and insistent.

He searched the battlefield instinctively.

Found Alaric.

Their eyes met across the chaos.

For just a second, Alaric’s gaze softened.

Cassian’s chest tightened.

Then Alaric lifted two fingers and pointed-not toward the packhouse, but toward Lance.

Command.

Understanding followed swiftly, even if the reason did not.

Cassian nodded once.

Alaric moved through the ranks with purpose, issuing rapid orders as he went.

“Lance,” he said crisply when he reached him. “The line will hold. Pine Ridge has the southern flank. Silver

Chapter 326

Fang will reinforce the east. You take command here.”

Lance blinked. “You’re leaving?”

“Yes.”

“Where are you going?”

Alaric didn’t answer directly. His eyes flicked briefly toward the packhouse, then back.

“Finish this,” he said. “Push them back over the border. Do not pursue beyond it.”

Something in his tone brooked no argument.

Lance straightened. “Understood.”

Alaric turned to Cassian.

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