All Chapters of Ashes of the Broken Moon: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Chapter Twenty-Two: Between the Breaths of TimeThe first thing Lyra noticed was the silence.Not the soft, peaceful kind—but a heavy, absolute absence of sound, like the world had exhaled once and forgotten how to breathe again.She hovered in weightless darkness. No sky, no earth—just a void filled with floating specks of gold light and crumbling pieces of memories. Familiar laughter echoed for a fleeting second, then vanished, replaced by sobs. Her own voice. Her own pain.She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came.Then she fell.Not through space, but through existence—as if time itself had cracked open and she was tumbling between the seconds, between forgotten whispers and erased moments.When she hit the ground, it was not solid. It folded beneath her like paper soaked in grief.“Lyra.”The voice came from behind her. Silken. Lethal. Inevitable.She turned.Seraphine stood a few paces away. No longer a shade, no longer a whisper. Fully formed, fully real. Her silver hair

Chapter Twenty-Four: Fire Born, Blood BoundThe forest trembled with the echoes of Seraphine’s return.Lyra staggered to her feet, her knees wobbling beneath her weight. The air sizzled with her energy—too much, too fast—like lightning searching for a place to strike. Her senses had become unnaturally sharp; she could hear the leaves shaking miles away, feel the heartbeat of the soil, taste the crackle of ozone on her tongue.Killian stood beside her, tense, wide-eyed, torn between awe and terror. “What just happened to you?”“I walked the fire,” Lyra rasped. “And it walked through me.”Her hands curled into fists at her sides, and for the first time, the flames didn’t devour her—they bowed to her.Seraphine descended slowly through the rift in the sky, her body wreathed in shadows. She no longer looked like a disgraced Luna. Her power had morphed into something darker, unholy. Her ounce-silver eyes now burned black, and her voice echoed as if spoken by a thousand ghosts.“Lyra,” she

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Silence of EldersThe Obsidian Pack’s Hall of Elders was carved into the cliffside like a relic from a forgotten age—black stone, silver accents, and torches that never died. Only the most powerful voices in the shifter world were allowed within its walls. For years, Lyra had dreamed of standing here—not as a supplicant, not as an exile, but as a warrior with a voice of her own.Now she stood at the center of the chamber, every eye on her.And she didn’t flinch.“The girl returns,” sneered Elder Vorek, his fur-lined mantle heavy with silver rank. His ancient eyes glinted beneath the crown of thorns woven from sacred ashwood. “And now she thinks herself a flame reborn.”Lyra raised her chin. “I don’t think so. I know it.”The dozen elders murmured. Some with interest. Others with disdain.“I stand here as Lyra Vale. Daughter of Elira of the Celestial Blood. Survivor of betrayal. Heir to the Moonbreaker line.”More murmurs, sharper now.Elder Maelin, the only wom

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Blood on the BladeThe Moon’s Eye Temple was a furnace of flame and fury.Steel rang as Rowan’s blade clashed with Darius’s, their movements fast and brutal, like twin storms locked in a deadly dance. Sparks flew as iron met iron, the enchanted weapons pulsing with old magic — one born of the Elders’ control, the other of rebellion and fire.Lyra stood frozen for only a moment, her eyes wide with heartbreak and disbelief. Rowan — the boy in her mother's bedtime stories, the nameless savior from the shadows — was real. And now, he was the one trying to kill her.“Stop!” she shouted, her voice cutting through the roar of battle. “Rowan, please — this isn’t who you are!”Rowan’s eyes flickered — not with doubt, but with pain.“You don’t know what I’ve become,” he said darkly. “You don’t want to.”With a surge of energy, he slammed the hilt of his blade into Darius’s chest. Darius crashed to the ground, winded but alive.Lyra didn’t wait. She stepped forward, her pal

Chapter Thirty: The First Blow of WarThe blood moon loomed low over the horizon, casting the Ironfang stronghold in a veil of crimson. Fires were lit along the outer ramparts. Warriors clad in leathers, armor, and war paint lined the inner walls, their eyes flashing gold beneath the eerie sky. The air tasted like iron and ash. Every breath held the weight of something ancient stirring.War had come.Lyra stood at the highest tower, wind tearing through her braid, cloak billowing behind her like wings of shadow and light. Below, thousands of wolves — Ironfang, Stoneblood, and even rogue outcasts — waited for her command.She’d never imagined herself here: not as a Luna, not as a mate, but as a general.Behind her, Darius fastened his blade to his belt.“Scouts confirmed the Obsidian advance,” he said quietly. “They’ll reach the border by sunrise.”“And the other packs?”“They’re choosing sides. Some fear the Elders. Others fear you.”Lyra turned to face him. “Then we make them fear lo