All Chapters of Beneath the Winter Moon: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

26 Chapters

Chapter Eleven

The night shift at the diner moved like a slow tide—steady, low-lit, and a little quieter than the chaos of the morning rush. The warm glow of overhead bulbs reflected off the chrome trim and vinyl seats, casting everything in a soft, amber haze. Outside, the city buzzed gently under a navy sky, headlights drifting like fireflies past the windows.Inside, the jukebox hummed a soft tune—some mellow oldie that Victoria claimed made everything taste better.Celeste didn’t flinch at the bell above the door anymore.She wove between tables with practiced calm, her apron slightly wrinkled from a long day but her eyes a little more present than they had been. The ache still lived in her chest, quiet and heavy like old rainclouds, but something in her was slowly learning how to breathe again.Not healed.Not whole.But no longer hollow.Victoria leaned against the counter, flipping through a worn notebook she used to jot down new pancake combinations and weird customer quotes. “You’ve

Last Updated : 2025-07-01

Chapter Twelve

The Alpha King's office was quiet, save for the steady ticking of the large brass clock mounted on the wall. Morning light spilled across the polished surface of his desk, catching on neatly stacked reports, contracts, and one slim receipt lying at the top of the pile.He stared at it.A charge from the high-end restaurant he kept on retainer for official business—and, occasionally, for his sister's less-than-official whims. Last night’s bill.Two entrees. Dessert. Wine. Truffle pasta.His jaw ticked.He pressed a button on his desk phone and waited.Victoria picked up on the third ring. "Yes, dearest brother?""Explain," he cut to the chase“Okay, okay. First of all—rude. Second of all, it was one dinner.”"This bill is for the restaurant I take important clients."“Yes, yes, at your fancy account-only palace of a restaurant. But in my defense, the wine was your fault. And the dessert? Also your fault. You trained me to appreciate good food.”"You ordered the lobsters, did

Last Updated : 2025-07-02

Chapter Thirteen

The days passed with a quiet rhythm Celeste hadn’t felt in a long time. It wasn’t perfect,some mornings still felt heavy, and some nights she stared at the ceiling too long,but there was something healing in the routine.Work at the diner with Victoria remained a constant. They laughed over pancakes and spilled syrup, shared late-night music after closing shifts, and found comfort in their shared silence. Some evenings were spent strolling through street markets and bookstores, while others were nothing more than the two of them wrapped in blankets on the living room floor, watching movies and sipping cheap wine. Life, for once, felt soft.And in between it all, Celeste took a quiet, personal step: she started training again.Not in the wild, brutal sparring of her old life,but in the more grounded art of MMA. There was something cleansing in it. Her body still remembered how to move. The discipline. The focus. The freedom in striking the air and feeling the power pulse through her

Last Updated : 2025-07-03

Chapter Fourteen

The diner was quiet, the kind of calm that only came in the deep hours between night and dawn. The floors were mopped, the last of the dishes drying on racks. Victoria and Celeste danced lazily behind the counter, swaying to a soft tune from the jukebox. Their laughter echoed gently in the empty booths.It was a good night. For once, everything felt light.Until 2 a.m.The door swung open hard enough to make the bell jingle violently. Three men stepped inside—lean, sharp-eyed, unshaven. There was something about them that instantly raised the hair on the back of Victoria’s neck.Rogues.She saw it in the way they moved. Too still, too alert. The predator coiled under human skin.But she didn’t say anything. Neither did Celeste. Both women stiffened slightly, masks slipping back into place.“Kitchen’s closed,” Victoria said, voice even.One of the men—tall, with a scar across his brow—smiled in a way that sent ice down her spine. “We’re not here for food.”Victoria stepped forward, pla

Last Updated : 2025-07-05

Chapter Fifteen

Victoria’s POVMy breath still hadn’t returned from being thrown back onto the ground, but that wasn’t what had me frozen.It was them.Celeste and my brother—locked in that weird, soul-shattering kind of silence that felt too loud for the room.Then he said it.Soft.Barely above a whisper.But I heard it."Mate."The word echoed in my brain like someone had rung a bell inside my skull.I’d heard him say it before. Once. When he thought no one was listening. When he explained what it would mean—what it would feel like. And I thought, when it happened, it’d be something he wanted.But he looked stunned.Celeste looked terrified.“Fuck,” Celeste whispered.And then she collapsed.“Wait—wait, wait—what the hell just happened!?” I scrambled to my feet, stumbling over a broken chair leg as I rushed toward them.He held her like something sacred, jaw tight, eyes unreadable. His silence scared me more than anything.“Is she okay?” I asked, voice sharp. “Tell me she’s okay.”

Last Updated : 2025-07-06

Chapter Sixteen

The black SUV hummed low as it cruised through the still city, headlights slicing through the quiet haze of early morning. I sat in the back, bruised and breathless, my side aching from being thrown like a ragdoll. My brother sat beside me, stoic as ever, with Celeste cradled gently in his arms.We weren’t alone—our driver, Elias, focused straight ahead behind the wheel, silent, sensing the tension but knowing better than to ask questions.No one spoke. Not since the diner. Not since the word had been spoken like a curse and a prayer all at once.Mate.My brother hadn’t taken his eyes off Celeste since she passed out. Not when she shifted in his arms. Not when I whispered his name three times in a row. Not when we passed the river bend, the same one we used to race to as kids.I looked at her now, limp against him. Hair silver like moonlight, her torn shirt barely covering the bruises that bloomed along her shoulder. She looked peaceful, in a way that made something knot in my ch

Last Updated : 2025-07-07

Chapter Seventeen

The sun had begun to rise—soft, pale light bleeding across the skyline and slipping in through the penthouse windows. The night had been long, merciless. Every hour dragged by with heaviness in its shadow.Victoria sat on the edge of the couch, her leg bouncing anxiously as she stared at the floor, her thoughts spinning far too fast.“The diner,” she whispered suddenly, sitting upright. “The diner—”Her brother looked over from the window, brow furrowed.“I left it,” she continued in a near-panic. “It’s still there. It’s—blood, glass, claw marks—oh god. The morning shift’s gonna show up in less than an hour. I have to go. I have to clean it before—”“Victoria,” his voice was low, calm. Commanding. “It’s handled.”She blinked at him.“I already sent a team. The scene was cleaned, the building is locked up, and no one will be showing up for at least two days under the guise of emergency plumbing. You’re covered.”She sagged with a deep breath of relief, only to tense again.“I

Last Updated : 2025-07-08

Chapter Eighteen

One Week LaterThe week passed in a blur of split shifts, sleepless nights, and carefully bottled panic.Victoria had returned to the diner just three days after the attack—not because she had to, but because she needed to. The scent of coffee and syrup, the scratch of the chairs against tile, the buzz of the old neon sign—those were her anchors. Familiar. Human. Normal.She scrubbed the counter with more force than necessary. She made jokes that didn’t always land. She laughed too loud, moved too fast, and pretended like everything was fine when customers asked why the diner had been closed.“Plumbing,” she always said with a smile. “Total mess. Pipes exploded. I almost died.”She never said how close to dying she’d actually come.How she'd been thrown like a rag doll.How she’d bit a man’s ear off to protect someone who’d become her everything.She didn’t say how she still flinched at the sound of the bell above the door.In the afternoons, she’d take a car across the city to her br

Last Updated : 2025-07-09

Chapter Nineteen

The meeting hall was a cavernous space of high ceilings, polished stone floors, and arched windows that framed the pale morning light. It sat atop the Alpha King’s city tower, secured against threats and reinforced for secrecy. Inside, the room was filled with low murmurs, tension humming beneath every word like a taut wire ready to snap.The Alpha King stood at the head of a long obsidian table. Beside him sat his Second, and further down, the attending Alphas and Lunas from neighboring and allied packs.Victoria leaned silently against the far wall, arms crossed tight over her chest, a clipboard hugged loosely to her side. She wasn’t there to speak. She was there to observe, to report, and maybe—if she was honest—to ground herself in the hum of responsibility.Even now, a faint echo of claws raking against tile haunted her memory. The pressure of being thrown. The sound of screams. The feel of her own breath being stolen as she hit the ground. The memory lingered like smoke in her l

Last Updated : 2025-07-10

Chapter Twenty

The city shimmered in the late afternoon light; its skyline bathed in golds and soft blush tones as the sun dipped low behind the high-rises. Victoria sat beneath the striped awning of a rooftop café nestled in the upscale northern district—an intentional choice. Everything about this place screamed curated elegance, from the gold-rimmed menus to the quiet hush between tables. Perfect for two women of status to be seen while keeping their conversation far from prying ears.Across from her, Blair slipped off her sunglasses with practiced flair, letting her chestnut curls fall perfectly over one shoulder. She scanned the menu, though Victoria doubted she’d eat much.“This place is divine,” Blair purred, lips glossed and smiling. “You really do have excellent taste. But I suppose you Royals are born with that, aren’t you?”Victoria returned the smile, poised and polite. “Only if we’re paying attention.” She paused, folding the cloth napkin over her lap. “And I wanted to say—I’m sorry abo

Last Updated : 2025-07-11

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