Moonlight In Chains (Trinity and Asher) novel Chapter 185

CHAPTER 185

The clearing went silent. Even the wind seemed to hesitate.

The figure who had spoken my name stepped closer, slow and deliberate. Moonlight spilled across their face, revealing lines of exhaustion and scars that had healed wrong. But their sharp grey and steady, never left mine.

eyes,

I didn’t know them. Not personally. But the wolf did. Every subtle twitch of its muscles screamed recognition, dread, and something I couldn’t quite define.

Asher moved in front of me, protective out of instinct, but the wolf’s deep growl cut through the tension like a blade. Not at the stranger, at Asher. Warning him to stop.

The sound was low, commanding and primal. Even Asher froze.

I reached out, laying a hand against the wolf’s fur. Its body trembled beneath my touch.

“It’s okay.” I whispered. “You’re safe. I’ve got you.”

But the wolf’s pulse brushed against my mind again. Strong and purposeful. No. Protect you.

The figure stopped ten feet away, boots scraping against loose gravel. “You shouldn’t be here, Trinity.” They said, voice rough and deliberate. “This ground isn’t safe for you. Not anymore.”

I took a step forward despite the warning tone. “Then maybe you should tell me why.”

A faint, humorless smile ghosted across their lips. “Because you’re standing between a very old

mistake and the one person who can fix it.”

The wolf growled again, head lowering, shoulders squared. Elias and Dane exchanged a quick glance, both ready to intervene if it went bad. Asher shifted his stance beside me, tension running through every muscle.

“What mistake?” I asked.

The figure hesitated. “That wolf you’re protecting. It wasn’t always like this.” Their gaze flicked toward the animal, and I saw regret there, maybe even guilt. “It was one of mine once. My

second–in–command.”

Silence hit like thunder.

Elias’s jaw tightened. “Yours?”

The stranger nodded once. “When Redwater Falls was still whole. Before everything went to hell.”

I looked between them, piecing it together. “You were part of the old leadership.” I said slowly.

“I was the leadership.” The figure corrected. “Until Lydia Keene happened.”

The name dropped like is stone. The wolf lunged foward a half step, snarling, snapping the air, barely managed to grab its for before it crossed the line.

“Lasy!” Thissed.

The stranger didn’t flinch. “That name still means something, doesn’t it? They murmured, eyes on the wolf, “Even now, after all this time.”

Elias looked like he’d been punched. “You were presumed dead.” He whispered.

“Not dead.” The stranger said quietly. “Just forgotten. I walked away before she could finish what she started.

“Elias. You said that you were the old Alpha. Who the hell is this?” I asked.

“I wasn’t the Alpha. I was the Beta.” Elias said.

“You lying piece of shit.” I said,

“When he left, I had to take over as Alpha. And I dealt with the full fall out from Lydia Keen. I think that gives me the right to call myself the old Alpha, Elias said.

I felt the wolf’s energy shift again, violent and charged. The mental pulse that hit me this time was jagged and chaotic: Liar. Betrayal. Kill.

I staggered slightly, gripping the wolf’s fur harder. “It says you’re lying.” I said, breathing fast. “That you betrayed it.”

The stranger’s eyes met mine, unflinching. “You can hear it?”

I nodded.

“Then you know I’m not the one you should be afraid of.” They said softly.

Asher shifted forward. “If not you, then who?”

“Lydia.” They said, voice dropping. “The woman you know as Emily Stone. She’s not just manipulating your pack. She’s cleaning up the mess she left behind. She’s hunting down anyone who still remembers what she did at Redwater Falls.”

My stomach dropped. “You mean…”

“She’s already started.” They interrupted. “You think she attached herself to those twins by chance? You think she ended up in your territory without a reason?”

Elias spoke up, his voice rough. “We’ve heard rumors of her resurfacing. But we didn’t think she’d…” “She did.” The stranger said sharply. “And she’s stranger than before. She’s not just playing games now. She’s finishing them.”

I felt the air shift. The wolf moved slightly, lowering itself until its massive body was between me

CHAPTER 165

and the stranger. I could feel its pulse hammering through my palm protect danger now.

The hair on my arms rose.

“Why come here?” I demanded. “Why now?”

“Because you’re in her way.” They said simply. “And she’ll destroy you to keep her secret buried”

Asher stiffened. “What secret?”

The stranger’s gaze flicked toward the forest. “That’s not mine to tell.”

The wolf growled again, louder now, vibrating the ground beneath us. Its body trembled, and its eyes glowed gold in the dark. The connection between us flared hot, sudden, painful.

Don’t trust. Lies. Kill her.

The stranger didn’t move, but their tone changed, quiet and urgent. “If you care about that pack of yours, you’ll leave Moonflare tonight. All of you. She won’t stop until she’s taken everything you care about.”

Asher stepped forward, voice hard. “You think we’re just going to run? We fight.”

“You don’t understand.” The stranger said. “She doesn’t fight fair.”

Before I could ask more, the wolf suddenly howled. A deep, thunderous sound that shook the

trees. Every instinct in me screamed danger.

Elias’s head snapped toward the treeline. “Movement!”

Figures emerged from the dark, faint at first, then clearer. Half a dozen of them, moving fast and low. Their eyes glinted faintly in the light. Wolves. Big ones.

Asher pulled me behind him. “We’ve got company.”

The stranger turned sharply, scanning the forest. “Damn it. She found me faster than I thought.”

“You led them here!” Elias hissed.

“I didn’t lead them!” The stranger snapped. “She’s tracking anyone who says her name aloud. You

shouldn’t have…”

The first wolf broke through the brush, teeth bared, sprinting straight for us. The massive wolf beside me met it head–on, colliding with a snarl that shook the air. Dirt exploded around them.

“Asher, go!” I yelled.

“Not leaving you!”

More wolves burst from the shadows…too many. Elias and Dane shifted instantly, the sound of bone and muscle rearranging ripping through the night.