All Chapters of CROWNED BY BLOOD: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The forest was blur around me, a dark trees, silver moonlight, the sharp scent of pine and earth. My lungs burned as I gasped for air between sobs, my ruined wedding dress catching on brambles and roots. The pain of Marcus’s rejection throbbed like an open wound, echoing in my bones, my blood. My wolf whimpered inside me, curled in on herself, too wounded to rise. I didn’t know how far I’d run, only that I couldn’t go back. Not to the pack, not to the betrayal. Not to them.I collapsed into the clearing again, my legs too weak to carry me farther. The moon’s light filtered through the trees, painting my shredded gown with silver. My hands trembled as I pressed them against my chest, trying to hold together the pieces of my heart. But it was shattered beyond recognition.Then I heard footsteps. Not heavy like Marcus’s or light like Victoria’s. Barefoot, deliberate. I sat up, every instinct on alert. A scent reached me of ancient herbs, woodsmoke, and something… familiar.From the shadow

The scent of blood hit before the first scream. Metallic and raw, it sliced through the air like a warning bell seconds before the chaos began.Rogues.I didn’t need Celeste’s training to recognize the savagery of their auras as a pack of them stormed the neutral clearing, their snarls splitting through the murmurs of political chatter and soft music. For a heartbeat, the world froze. Then, like a dam breaking, panic erupted.People screamed and scattered. Elders scrambled for safety. Warriors threw off cloaks and shifted mid-stride. I stood still, rooted by the familiar, paralyzing sense of being cornered, of danger creeping toward me while I remained unseen until I saw them.Two children. Trapped beneath a broken merchant table, eyes wide with terror. A rogue snarled, lunging toward them like a bullet.I moved.This time there was no hesitation. No doubt.Silver exploded over my skin as I shifted halfway hybrid form arms coated in fur, claws sharp and deadly, eyes glowing amber.I s

The early morning air tasted of dew and pine as I stood in the clearing behind Celeste's cabin, my boots sinking slightly into the mossy earth. Across from me, Kai stood tall and steady, arms crossed over his broad chest, a faint smirk tugging at the corners of his lips."Again," he ordered, his voice calm but commanding.I narrowed my eyes, focusing on the strange pressure building in my chest that coiled, electric pulse I’d only recently begun to understand. I locked eyes with Kai. The power surged."Submit."The word left my lips before I could think twice. The wind around us seemed to hush, and for a heartbeat, nothing moved. Then Kai’s knees buckled. He sank to the ground, one hand braced against the earth, his head bowed.My eyes widened in horror. "Kai! I didn’t mean to"He lifted his gaze to me, eyes dark with something unreadable. Slowly, deliberately, he rose to his full height, brushing moss from his pants."Well, that settles it," he said, voice roughened with something be

The moon hung low, its silver light bleeding through the carved lattice of the sanctuary's stone windows. Kai and I crouched beside a table cluttered with enchanted scrolls, glowing rune-slates, and scraps of parchment bearing sigils and blood-bound seals. Around us, the chamber walls bore an intricate tapestry of fate threads of crimson yarn we'd tied between pins and glyphs, creating a web of treachery we'd unraveled for moons. The sanctuary itself was ancient, carved from a single massive stone that had fallen from the sky in ages past. Its walls hummed with residual magic, making it the perfect place to conduct our forbidden research. Few knew of this place, hidden deep within the Whispering Woods, where even the boldest wolves feared to tread after sunset. But Kai had found it during his exile, and it had become our refuge, our war room, our last bastion of hope. But tonight, the threads told a different story. "These trade markers," Kai muttered, his fingers tracing the glowin

The moonlight filtered through the canopy as I crouched on a high branch, watching the clearing below with careful silence. The ancient oak beneath me groaned softly under my weight, its bark rough against my palms as I shifted to get a better view. Marcus stood in the center of the clearing, pacing like a caged animal. His usually pristine posture, the commanding stance that had once made my heart race was gone, replaced by ragged shoulders and a distant look in his eyes that spoke of sleepless nights and fractured thoughts. Something in him was unraveling like a tapestry pulled thread by thread, and I needed to see it for myself. The irony wasn't lost on me. Here I was, perched like a predator in the very trees where he'd once taught me to hunt, watching the hunter become the hunted by his own conscience. For nights now, I had felt the bond pull, no longer the steel rope that had once bound us soul to soul, but a whisper in the back of my mind, persistent as a heartbeat. Even after