All Chapters of MOONBOUND DESIRE : Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

The moment Elira crossed back through the Rift, the world shifted around her.The forest—so familiar, so known—now pulsed with a strange and haunting rhythm, as if the trees themselves remembered something ancient she did not. Her boots sank into moss that shimmered faintly under the moonlight, each footfall echoing with unnatural resonance.Theron emerged beside her, silent and still. The faint marks trailing his collarbone from the visions beyond the Rift hadn’t faded; they glowed softly, delicate constellations etched in silver and shadow.Neither of them spoke.They didn’t have to.What they had seen in the other realm—what had seen them—was still settling into their bones.---Selene’s arms wrapped around Elira, fierce and trembling. “You’re here. You’re whole.”Elira didn’t respond right away. She lifted her head slowly, meeting her mother’s gaze. “We brought something back,” she whispered.Kael’s hand hovered near his blade. “What does that mean?”Theron turned, eyes still dist

The red moon hung in the sky like a warning—bloated and heavy, casting a violent hue over the treetops. It had only just risen, yet the air already pulsed with unease. Elira could feel it in her bones, in the tremble of the leaves, in the echo of her heartbeat.They had returned from the Realm Beyond not empty-handed, but changed. Empowered. Marked. And with their return came consequence.The world was shifting.And not in their favor.---“The Gate didn’t close behind you,” Naeria murmured, her eyes scanning the space where the shimmering portal had once hovered. “It fractured.”Elira stood nearby, her arms crossed, gaze on the trees. “What does that mean?”Theron answered for Naeria, his voice low. “It means it’s still open. Not visible. Not here. But somewhere.”Selene’s eyes darkened. “And anyone—or anything—can step through?”Naeria nodded slowly. “The fabric between realms has thinned. What you did woke more than just star energy. It woke old debts. Old monsters.”Kael gripped t

The forest was quiet again.Too quiet.Birdsong had not yet returned, and the wind moved the trees in heavy, exhausted sighs. Everything bore the weight of what had transpired—like the land itself was recovering from a wound.Elira stood barefoot near the altar, her cloak discarded, her hair tangled with dried leaves and stardust. Her palms still burned with faint residual heat from the tower’s destruction. The anchor’s core had exploded in their hands, severing the breach—but not without consequence.A tremor still lived in her bones.Theron stood beside her, his mark dimmed but steady. He hadn’t spoken much since their return. Neither had she. There was something sacred in the silence between them, as though speaking too soon might shatter the fragile veil of peace clinging to the camp.They had survived.But something had been left behind.Kael limped into the clearing, his left leg bound in bloodied fabric. Selene was at his side, her bow slung over her back. Her eyes were tired,

The wind was no longer whispering.It howled.Twisting through the valley like an ancient song remembered by the trees and the bones of the earth. The sky was a deep bruised gray, not stormy—but waiting. A stillness crept over the land, like breath held before a scream.Elira stood in the heart of the camp, her arms bare, the rune-ring tight on her finger. Around her, the wards pulsed faintly, responding to the strange weight in the air. The wolves moved quietly today, their laughter muted, their shoulders tense. Even the youngest ones sensed something stirring beyond the veil.Theron appeared beside her, clad in dark armor softened with a cloak of silver-threaded linen. His eyes weren’t restless—they were steady, too steady, like someone forcing calm to protect those around him.“He’s building power,” he said softly. “I can feel it from the earth. The roots are trembling.”“I know,” Elira replied. “I dream of him now. Not nightmares. Visions.”He turned toward her. “What do they show

Rain fell in silence.Not heavy, not light—just a quiet drizzle that coated the forest in silver sheen. But it wasn’t natural rain. Elira could feel the way each drop landed against her skin, tinged with something older. Something watching.The second night of the Blood Moon had begun.And already, the veil between realms was growing thinner.Theron stood beside her at the cliff’s edge, cloak dark with water, his hands clenched at his sides. They hadn’t spoken much since the Revenant’s attack. Not because there was nothing to say, but because the weight of everything had grown too heavy for words.Elira’s body still hummed with strange magic.Moonfire.That was what Naeria had called it. Power not of the Hollow nor the stars, but the moon’s sorrow given form. It hadn’t just chosen her—it had changed her. Her reflection had shifted. Her mark had deepened. And in the shadows, the wolves were starting to whisper.“Are you afraid of me now?” she asked suddenly, her voice nearly drowned ou