All Chapters of MOONBOUND DESIRE : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The forest breathed again.For the first time in weeks, the winds were warm. The scent of death had faded, and in its place came blossoms, damp earth, and renewal. Crimson Hollow—though bruised and battle-worn—was alive.And so was Selene.She stood on the high balcony of Kael’s den, the morning sun spilling over her skin like gold paint. Below her, young wolves trained with renewed purpose. The scars of Ashar’s invasion remained—burnt trees, broken runes, fallen stones—but there was peace.And peace felt foreign.Even fragile.“Penny for your thoughts?” Kael’s voice rumbled softly behind her.Selene turned, leaning back into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Shirtless. Warm. Safe.“I keep waiting for something else to go wrong,” she murmured.He kissed the side of her neck. “That’s the curse of leadership.”“Do you regret it?” she asked. “Claiming me? Bringing me into this?”Kael pulled her tighter. “Not even for a heartbeat.”She exhaled, burying her face in the cro

The path to Vireya wound through veils of mist, guarded by trees older than time and streams that whispered secrets in a language long forgotten. For days, Selene and Kael had trekked through these hidden valleys, drawn by the pulse of ancient magic that thrummed in her chest like a second heartbeat.And now, it stood before them.Nestled within a sacred basin surrounded by moonlit cliffs, Vireya shimmered—half-city, half-legend. White towers carved from lunar stone glowed faintly even in daylight. Crystal bridges stretched over quiet lakes that reflected not sunlight, but stars. Trees with silver bark lined the streets, their leaves trembling like wind chimes without wind.It was a place untouched by time.Selene took a slow step forward.And Vireya breathed in response.The gates opened without touch, revealing a wide courtyard surrounded by carved pillars, each inscribed with Lunari glyphs. As she crossed the threshold, warmth spread through her limbs. Her vision sharpened. Her mag

Vireya woke screaming.At first, it was the crows. Hundreds of them, black as pitch, circling the towers like an omen. Then came the scent—ash and iron—followed by a tremor that split the southern ridge in two.Kael burst into the council chamber, his blade already unsheathed. “They’re here.”Selene stood by the window, her hands resting on her belly. “Ysara?”Rowan entered a breath later. “With her army.”Lira’s wolf had already shifted, stalking the balcony. “She brought everything.”---The invasion was sudden but surgical.Ysara didn’t strike the city’s heart.She struck its outer pulse—targeting the children’s sanctum, the healing gardens, and the oldest Moonwells, where sacred energy still slept.Selene stormed the gates before the sun fully rose, her cloak trailing behind her like wings of smoke. Magic surged under her skin, called by fury and blood.“She’s trying to sever the ley lines,” Naeria said, breathless. “If she unbinds the temple from the moon’s current—”“She wins,”

The Bone Wastes whispered of death long before you crossed the border.The ground changed first—lush green fading to brittle white earth, cracked like sun-scorched skin. The trees thinned, replaced by towering bone-trees—skeletal structures made of ancient beasts long extinct, their ivory trunks humming with low, eerie vibrations.Selene rode at the front of the caravan, the twins swaddled safely in the runed cradle attached to her back. Kael rode beside her on his midnight-colored wolf-steed, his eyes sharp and scanning every movement in the distance.Behind them trailed six Lunari warriors, two elder seers, and Rowan, who never stopped muttering protective spells under his breath.“The air feels wrong,” Rowan muttered, his fingers glowing faintly as they passed a broken totem carved with blood symbols.“It’s not wrong,” Selene said softly. “It’s old.”Kael glanced at her. “You’ve never been here.”“No.” She looked ahead. “But something in my blood remembers.”---They reached the Cr

The twins turned one under a blood-orange sky.The celebration in Vireya was quiet. Not for lack of joy—but because too many prophets watched the moon with fear, waiting to see which way the stars would tilt.Selene sat with Elira in the temple gardens, weaving lunar roses into the child’s soft white-blonde curls. Elira glowed faintly as she laughed, lifting her hands toward the blossoms above.“Moondaughter,” whispered one of the temple maidens, bowing with reverence.But where Elira brought light—Theron brought storms.Kael found him that same morning, crouched by the edge of the reflecting pool, eyes locked on his own shimmering reflection. The boy didn’t move, didn’t blink. The water around him boiled slightly, steam curling upward like breath from a dragon’s throat.Kael approached carefully. “Theron?”The boy looked up.And for one flickering moment, Kael saw someone else in his son’s eyes.A shadow.A memory not his own.Then it was gone.Theron grinned and toddled into his fa