Page 45 of Ashes of Honor

“This is a waste of time. Just likeIsaid,” the woman hissed and I couldn’t figure out if I wanted to attack her or Caleb first.

“Waste of time but you sat around waiting for my general to show face.” Abel bit back, taking the bait and pushing forward. He adjusted his stance carefully, his strong arm taking the lead in defense, while the other remained slightly behind.

Our backs to the cliff put us at a tactical disadvantage. Hunter may be Reina’s brother, but we’d learned the hard wayhow little that could mean to some Moores. They’d disarmed us at first approach. While it was smart on their end, it wasn’t a great sign of being on equal grounding—which is what most would want when approaching a potential ally.

The woman stepped forward over the weapons, her eyes glimmering with challenge. I studied her, from her tattered loose jeans hanging off her hips to the oversize t-shirt. She looked a mess. Like they’d been on the run and not stopped until they arrived in Monterey territory. “Were we supposed to walk through the front door?”

“Hey!” Hunter boomed. He stood now, compelling me to lift my eyes to meet his stare. “Everyone take a beat, dammit.”

I studied him. He was identical to Reina—the same sharp angles in his jaw, mousy brown waves tousled around his head, thick dark brows stark against porcelain skin. And his eyes… fierce, piercing. Just like Seth’s.

There was no denying he was a Moore. The question was how.

“How are you here?” I asked. Then, locking eyes with Caleb, “Why are you here?”

Hunter exhaled, glancing toward Reina. “If you don’t mind, I think I owe it to my sister to tell her first.” His voice was measured, but there was an edge to it. “The ‘how’ is a long story—one that’s better told once we’re out of the open. That part can wait. But the ‘why’ … I’m guessing that’s the part you care to hear about now.”

Caleb drew nearer, his strawberry blond hair ruffled with dirt and who knew what else. “You helped me. When everything pointed to me, you chose to spare me instead. Seth forced my hand. Threatened my family if I snitched. But you, you listened to your gut. I should have been executed for treason, and yet you sent me to defy the odds.”

I took an automatic step back as he inched closer. His turquoise eyes met mine as he motioned for me to remain calm. I paused, accepting his approach. Caleb reached forward and pressed cold metal into my palm before pivoting back to his accomplices. Tears pooled, threatening to release themselves into the world and betray the tough exterior I was required to maintain in this role. I didn’t need to check what he’d placed inside my hand to know what it was. Prescott’s compass. The one I’d offered Caleb at his departure.

“I am sorry to hear about his fate,” he said, voice earnest. “He was a good man. The world needs more people like you in charge, and we have every desire to make that happen.”

“Why?” Was the only word I could force out. A whisper of a word, so fragile it might splinter and vanish behind the knot tightening in my throat if I didn’t speak now.

Reina swayed on her feet, looming closer in the silence passing between our groups. I couldn’t imagine what she was going through at the moment. Between battling her emotions and what was sure to be flying off us all from the tension and the questions, I wasn’t sure how she was standing up right. Nevertheless, she remained at our side. Her stance defensive in the most subtle of ways. She would have our back because despite the pretty words flowing from Caleb and her brother, this was, on all accounts, anus versus themsituation for the time being. Until all our questions had answers and then some.

“I killed your boyfriend?—”

“Fiancé,” I corrected on impulse.

It didn’t matter now, anyway. It wasn’t as though the world knew but it felt owed. Iowedit to Jax to never let that bond we shared die or go misrepresented. I was only lucky enough to have a partner who understood, who didn’t take it as a challenge to replace him. He respected Jax and his memory.

“Fiancé,” he nodded with the slight raise of an apologetic wave. “I’m alive because, deep down, you knew killing me wasn’t the answer. Some part of you saw past the revenge and trusted your gut. And that’s the kind of instinct that keeps people alive. The kind that wins wars. The rebellion doesn’t just need a fighter—they need a leader. Someone who knows when to strike, when to hold back, when to think ahead. That’s why we want you to help lead the charge.”

“War?” Alexiares’s pupils dilated at the implication.

Hunter placed his hands behind his back, a line between his thick brows pinched. “The one against my father.”

“You expect us to believe that?” Alexiares scoffed.

“Believe what you want. It doesn’t change the fact that I’m the one leading the fight against him. I’m not my brother,” His features shifted, the warmth from when he looked at Reina drained from his expression as his jaw tightened, every muscle in his face sharp. “It’s in your best interest to keep that simple fact front of mind.”

“He’s … he’s right.” Reina chimed in, assessing her brother from the side of her eyes while turning toward us. “Hunter and Seth never agreed much when it came to our dad.”

“A little hard to believe, isn’t it? One son dies, and Ronan isn’t interested in replacing him with another.” Alexiares muttered, his eyes flickered with skepticism.

Abel swept his gaze over the group. Unease twisted his usual soft expression, “Not loving how this looks, Reina.”

Hunter’s voice cut through the tension, low and sharp. “Why do you think he’s scared of me?” His mouth curled into a humorless smile. “He raised me to be like him. To think like him.Breathelike him.”

“All things that can be used to hit him where it hurts,” the girl beside him tilted her head. There was a fox-like glint in her eyes that made me uncomfortable.

Alexiares’s gaze narrowed as he took them in. “And Caleb and this … one—how do they fit into all of this?”

“Serenity,” the woman corrected, her tone cool and unbothered.

“Fitting,” Alexiares growled.

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