Chapter 1 – The Return

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• Fated by fire and fortune     Chapter 25 — The Last Breath of the Moon

  The night air burned with magic. Sparks of crimson and silver twisted between the trees, catching in the branches like dying stars. All around them, wolves fought and fell, their howls mingling with the cries of the dying.Selene’s blade met Lucian’s in a clash that rattled through her bones. Shadows coiled around his sword, each strike heavy with the weight of old curses. Every time their weapons met, darkness fought against light.“Your reign ends tonight,” Selene spat, pushing him back with a savage swing of the Lunaris Blade.Lucian’s smile was sharp, his eyes black pits of malice. “You think you can kill me with that relic? You think one Moon Blessed can stand against the darkness I’ve become?”A burst of power knocked her to her knees, shadows clawing at her mind, at her very soul. But even as darkness threatened to swallow her, Selene felt the light of the moon on her skin—a lifeline, a promise. The Lunaris Blade glowed brighter, humming with ancestral power.She rose.“I don’t

• Fated by fire and fortune     Chapter 24 — Shattered Oaths

  The last rays of dusk clung stubbornly to the horizon as the Bloodmoon war host assembled at the gates. The air was cold and sharp, carrying the scent of iron and pine sap. War banners snapped in the rising wind—black and silver, the sigil of the moon, the mark of vengeance. Selene rode at the head of the column, the Lunaris Blade strapped across her back. Its cold weight was a promise—and a warning. Around her, warriors adjusted armor and tightened grips on spears and swords. Every step of the horses’ hooves echoed with the certainty of what lay ahead. Kieran rode beside her, his expression a mask of focus. In his eyes, the shadow of the man who’d once vowed never to stand beside another Alpha—now unwavering at her side. As they approached the eastern pass, scouts on swift-footed wolves emerged from the gloom. One dismounted and bowed low. “Alpha,” he said, breathless. “Lucian’s forces have begun their push. The vanguard is harrying the roads, but… it’s a feint. His real army li

• Fated by fire and fortune    Chapter 23 – The Gathering Storm

  Bloodmoon’s great hall buzzed with unease.The council chamber—usually a place of cold strategy and reluctant alliances—now pulsed with tension like a drawn bowstring. Flames flickered along the sconces, casting restless shadows across the carved stone walls. The air reeked of smoke, steel, and old magic.Selene stood at the head of the war table, her armor still stained with the rot of the Black Mire, her hands gripping the edges of the oak surface as if grounding herself against the storm she was about to unleash.Around her stood the assembled leaders of the allied packs: Alpha Daren of Northwatch, his face pale at the news of Lucian’s ritual sites; Lady Thorne of Ashfen, tight-lipped and coiled with skepticism; the Flameborn twins from the southern ridge, fire in their eyes; and even grim Alpha Kael of Frostreach—silent as a glacier, but present.She’d called them here not just for unity.She’d called them for war.“The Deathborn are not just soldiers,” Selene began, her voice ech

• Fated by fire and fortune    Chapter 22 – The Black Mire

  Dawn bled over the horizon in bruised streaks of violet and crimson when Selene led her strike team from the keep. A fine mist clung to the earth, curling around their boots like ghostly fingers as they passed beneath the towering stone arch of Bloodmoon’s gate. No fanfare, no ceremony—only silence and the weight of purpose. The Black Mire lay east of their territory, past the River Drel and the forgotten bones of ancient battlegrounds. It was a place of decay and dark memory, a cursed bog that had once been the site of an elder massacre during the War of Sundering. Most wolves avoided it instinctively. Those who wandered in often never came back. Which made it the perfect place for Lucian to hide his most loyal monsters. Selene rode at the front, Kieran just behind her. With them were only five warriors—Elara, Rune, Mira, Jax, and Garrick. The best of Bloodmoon. Stealthy. Lethal. Unflinchingly loyal. They crossed the River Drel by midmorning, the water running low from the dry s

• Fated by fire and fortune    chapter 21-Shadows of the Past

  The ride back to Bloodmoon was a blur. Selene's mind raced, her body aching from battle, the scent of blood still sharp in her nostrils. Her horse thundered beneath her, its hooves pounding against the earth as the forest whipped past in streaks of shadow and moonlight. Kieran rode close, blood staining his side from a gash along his ribs, but he didn’t slow. None of them did. They couldn’t afford to—not with Lucian’s wolves trailing in the dark, unseen but felt like the press of a blade against their backs. Only when the familiar stone pillars of Bloodmoon’s outer border came into view did Selene let herself exhale. The gates opened before them, the sentries already alerted by their scent and the thundering of hooves. Healers rushed forward as warriors dismounted, wounded and weary. Selene slid from her horse, her legs unsteady beneath her. Someone reached for her arm—Elara, her second-in-command—but she waved her off. “I need the council,” Selene said, her voice hoarse. “Now.

• Fated by fire and fortune    Chapter 20 — Into the Fire

  The moon was a silver crescent in the sky when Selene mounted her black stallion, her warriors assembled behind her. The air was thick with the scent of pine and the distant hint of smoke—remnants of Southwood’s destruction lingering on the wind.Kieran rode beside her, his expression grim, his sword strapped across his back. Marcus and a dozen of Bloodmoon’s finest warriors followed close behind, their wolves restless beneath their skins. None spoke. The weight of what they were about to do pressed down on them all.“This is reckless,” Marcus muttered as they guided their horses toward the darkened forest path. “If Lucian’s wolves are still near Southwood, we could be riding into a trap.”Selene’s jaw tightened. “We need proof,” she said, her golden eyes gleaming in the moonlight. “The Alphas won’t act without it. And if we find survivors—”“If,” Kieran cut in. “We might find nothing but bones.”Selene didn’t respond. She couldn’t afford to dwell on that possibility.They rode in sil