Semua Bab The THORN LUNA: Bab 161 - Bab 170

Emily's POV It had been a blissful month of spit-up cloths, baby yawns, and a throne room that hadn’t seen blood in weeks—a miracle by Galahad standards. I was finally settling into something that resembled balance: ruling by day, rocking Aerlyn to sleep by night, and squeezing in brief moments of peace in between.Tonight, I finished my evening rounds a little earlier than usual and found myself wandering to Fayne’s room. I missed him.Not in the way a mate misses her partner after a long absence—but in the way one misses a good laugh, a steady hand, and the feeling that someone’s watching your back even in the middle of a storm. I missed the him I knew before things got… complicated.His door was slightly open, and curiosity tugged harder than caution.I peeked.And immediately froze.Fayne stood in the center of his room, shirtless, muttering under his breath like someone trying to recite a spell while wrestling an invisible bear. Wisps of shadow coiled around his feet, and he was

Fayne’s POVThe courtyard behind the Galahad estate hadn’t seen this much tension in years. The sun was high, the stone ground cracked from generations of training, blood, and pride. Now it was mine to stain again—this time not with the blood of an enemy, but my own sweat and control.She—the healer—stood in the center, arms folded, waiting. No name. No title. Just presence. That was how powerful she was.“You want to tame a beast you fed for many months,” she said, circling me slowly. “That’s no easy feat. Not at all.”“I’m not asking for easy,” I muttered, rolling my shoulders. The demon inside me pulsed like molten lava. It had grown louder lately. Hungrier. Sometimes, I woke up with claw marks on my own chest—marks I made.The healer flicked her fingers. “Then let’s begin.”The first lesson? Endurance.She forced me into a meditative state where I was made to confront the demon inside—not by fighting it, but by *listening*. At first, it laughed. It twisted my own fears back at me.

Emily’s POVIt started again—the quiet changes. The deeper breaths, the lightheaded mornings, the soft flutter beneath my ribs like a quiet reminder.I’d known this feeling before.I sat in the garden, right where Aerlyn had once tumbled through her first steps. The leaves danced around me, the wind soft, the earth warm beneath my feet. I placed a hand gently over my belly and closed my eyes.This time, there was no mysticism, no rush of visions or prophecy.Just calm. Just presence. Just… life.And in that stillness, I felt it again—*him*.A boy.There was nothing otherworldly about it, no strange pull of power or fate. Just the simple, beautiful truth of a new life growing inside me. And yet, there was something else, too. A softness. Not weakness—no. A gentleness in the way his presence settled into my awareness, quiet but certain. A soul that didn’t roar for attention, but didn’t shrink from it either.I breathed in, and smiled. A boy. Just a boy. Whole. Real. Enough.Later that n

Emily’s POVYears drifted by like petals on the wind—soft and fleeting.Aerlyn was sixteen when her gifts sharpened like the edge of a blade. She stood taller than I remembered, with my fire in her voice and Fayne’s focus in her eyes. Her command in the training fields grew more precise, and pack members had started turning their heads when she spoke.Kael, eleven now, was all light-footed charm and quicksilver wit. He followed her everywhere, not out of need, but out of devotion. Their bond had matured into something more formidable—no longer just childhood closeness, but a powerful understanding. Where Aerlyn was disciplined, Kael was inventive. She wielded strength with clean precision. He wielded unpredictability like a weapon. I’d once feared their differences would push them apart. Instead, they balanced each other like twin stars circling the same sun.One morning, I watched from the tower balcony as they sparred in the courtyard. The sun cut across the stone in long shadows,

Aerlyn’s POVThe gates of Galahad came into view just as the sun began to rise behind them, casting long gold shadows across the valley. Home. Safe. But not for long—not if what I found in Hollowpine was any indication.I dismounted quickly, handed my reins off to a stable guard, and headed straight for the central hall. My clothes were caked in dust, and my mind still raced with what I saw, what I *felt*.Guards nodded as I passed, their expressions shifting from relief to concern when they caught sight of my face. I must’ve looked like I hadn’t slept in days. I hadn’t.At the doors to the throne room, I didn’t wait to be announced.“Open the doors,” I told the sentries.They did.Inside, Mother stood near the map table, Fayne beside her. The room fell quiet as I entered, scroll still sealed in one hand, and a bloodied sash from Hollowpine in the other.Emily’s eyes locked on mine. Calm, but alert. “You’re early.”I dropped the sash onto the table. “Because Hollowpine isn’t there any