Hawkfrost x Ashfur Fanfic ~ As Long as I Have You

Epilogue

The heat crept up Ashfur's pelt. The fire was roaring around him, making it so loud he could barely hear his own thoughts. Behind him stood Squirrelflight's kits, looking around with terrified, helpless expressions on their faces.

Ashfur had been waiting for this moment for years. The moment he could finally get revenge on Squirrelflight, and avenge Hawkfrost. 

Squirrelflight stood in front of Ashfur, challenging him, but Ashfur could see the fear behind her eyes. He wanted to laugh. Finally, she would experience the pain that he felt, all those moons ago. 

"Your quarrel with Brambleclaw has to stop!" she demanded over the noisiness of the fire. "Too many moons have passed. You have to accept that I'm Brambleclaw's mate, not yours."

"My quarrel was never with Brambleclaw!" Ashfur retorted. It's not about you, either! Stop making everything about yourself! "It's not his fault that he fell for a faithless she-cat. My quarrel is with you, Squirrelflight."

In the corner of his eye, Ashfur could see her kits stirring. A purr rumbled in his throat. Good. My plan is working. 

Looking back, Ashfur would've never seen himself accomplishing such a thing, but here he was. Of course, he hadn't come up with the idea all by himself. Hawkfrost had occasionally walked in his dreams, convincing Ashfur to get revenge and take back what he had lost.

"I know you think I've never forgiven Brambleclaw for stealing you from me, but you're wrong," he went on. Stealing you from me wasn't the only thing Brambleclaw did to me. But Ashfur wasn't about to open up about his forbidden relationship with Hawkfrost to Squirrelflight. Not now.

"My quarrel is with you, Squirrelflight. It always has been." 

Squirrelflight looked stunned. "Ashfur, all of this was moons ago. I had no idea you were still upset."

At that moment, Ashfur could feel a cool breeze brush past him, even in the heat of the flames. He didn't have to look in order to know it was Hawkfrost, standing beside him. Guiding him.

"Upset?" Ashfur hissed. "Squirrelflight, I'm not upset. You have no idea how much pain I'm in. It's like being cut open every day, bleeding out onto the stones. I can't believe you failed to see the blood."

Squirrelflight took a step forward, attempting to save her kits, but Ashfur hissed and pushed her away.

"Stay there!" he demanded. "I can't believe you couldn't see how much you hurt me. Who do you think sent the message to Firestar to go down to the lake, where the fox trap was? I wanted him to die, to take your father away so you could learn the real meaning of pain."

For the first time, Ashfur's moment of triumph wavered as he remembered Hawkfrost. His heart twisted with grief. 

"Brambleclaw saved Firestar then." And killed Hawkfrost. "But he's not here now. He's not here, but your kits are. If you watch them die, you'll know the same pain that I felt."

Ashfur tried to read her expression. There was something there; something he couldn't identify. Was it pain? Rage? Confusion? 

Tension burned between the two of them for what seemed like days, until Squirrelflight simply said, "Kill them, then. If you want to hurt me, you'll have to find a better way. They aren't my kits."

Out of all the possible outcomes Ashfur imagined to arise from this situation, this was the last thing that he had expected. What did Squirrelflight mean? 

"You're lying," he accused.

"No, I'm not. Did you see me give birth? Nurse them? Stay in the nursery until they were apprenticed? No."

"I fooled all of you, even Brambleclaw. They are not mine."

"And no cat in the Clan knows?" As Ashfur started to challenge her, a new plan started to arise. 

"No. They're all as blind as you to the truth."

"What do you think will happen when I tell them, then?" Maybe Ashfur couldn't hurt her by killing them, but he could hurt her in a different way. Destroy her reputation, take away her mate, maybe even have her exiled. "Will your Clanmates let you stay in ThunderClan, knowing that they let you lie to them? To Brambleclaw, to your sister, to Firestar?"

"You'll tell them?" Squirrelflight's voice was sharp with pain, and Ashfur was sure that he had her now.

"Do you really think I won't? I can still make you lose what you love most. Brambleclaw will want nothing to do with you. I will let these cats live, but you're a fool to think that I'll keep your secret."

With that, Ashfur victoriously jumped off the ledge. While this didn't go to plan, he now had something that would ruin Squirrelflight's life forever.

"I did it, Hawkfrost," he murmured under his breath. "I avenged you."

~

A/N: Anyways, because I was gone for so long, and since a lot of you didn't like the ending, I decided to post this as a little treat for you guys. Hope you enjoyed it!