All Chapters of Captive Moon: The Alpha's Blood Pact: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The birthing chamber reeked of iron and wolfsbane, but beneath it, Elara caught a sweeter scent—new life, wrapped in the musk of her own sweat and the cedarwood of his skin. She panted, nails gouging the stone table as another contraction wrenched through her, the crimson mark on her wrist blazing like a live coal. “Steady,” he murmured, pressing a cool cloth to her forehead. His golden eyes flickered to the door, pupils slitting with tension. Outside, the den’s celebration had curdled—cheers turning to snarls, the clash of claws on stone echoing down the corridor. “Something’s wrong.” Elara grabbed his wrist, her fingers brushing the scar from Kael’s dagger. “The mark’s screaming. They’re close.” A crash split the air. The door burst open, and Lira stumbled in, her left arm streaming blood, a bloodied dagger clenched in her right hand. “Kael’s remnants,” she gasped, slamming the door shut and barring it with a chair. “A dozen at least. They breached the west wall—came through the t

The scent of jasmine clung to the den like a funeral veil.Elara paced their quarters, Ellie balanced on one hip, while he sharpened his claws against a stone slab—a nervous habit, she’d learned, when his wolf grew restless. The pup gurgled, tiny fingers tugging at Elara’s mark, and the crimson sigil flared in response.“Stop that,” Elara murmured, prying Ellie’s hand away. But her own fingers lingered on the mark, which had burned nonstop since the shadow’s visit. “We need to go to the caves. Tonight.”He looked up, golden eyes narrowing. “It’s suicide. The entrance is booby-trapped with witch’s sigils. One wrong step and—”“—we turn to stone. I read Eleanor’s notes.” Elara crossed to the table, unfurling a map Lira had sketched. “But she also marked a hidden passage. Through the old mines. It bypasses the sigils.”He tossed the stone aside, his jaw tight. “And if the witch is waiting? What then?”“Then we ask her what she wants with our daughter.” Elara met his gaze, her voice stead

The witch’s sister screamed as the dagger twisted in her shoulder, black blood oozing onto the snow. “You’ll regret that, human.”Elara stumbled back, gripping her blade. The cabin loomed behind the woman, its windows glowing like hungry eyes, and the air hummed with magic—thick, angry, pulsing with the same tar-like substance that stained the scout’s cloth.“Where are my wolves?” Elara barked, edging toward the door. The three stone figures inside haunted her peripheral vision, their faces frozen in terror. Don’t look. Keep moving.The woman laughed, yanking the dagger free with a wet squelch. Black smoke curled from the wound as it healed, her skin knitting back together. “Stone. All of them. A fitting end for creatures who think they can defy magic.” She lunged, her fingers clawed, and Elara dodged, rolling in the snow to avoid her grasp.The moonstone dagger glowed faintly in her hand—Eleanor’s magic, still clinging to the metal. Elara slashed at the woman’s legs, but she danced b

The howl echoed across the valley, a rallying cry that shook the frost from the trees.Elara clutched the vial in one hand, Ellie tucked securely in the other arm, as they followed the trail of ash. The silver-blue flame inside the vial flickered, casting eerie shadows over the snow, and with each step, the scent of jasmine grew stronger—cloying, sickly, a warning.“Stay close,” he rumbled, his wolf form sleek and black against the white landscape. His golden eyes scanned the treeline, ears swiveling at every creak of branches. “The shadow likes to play with its food.”Lira, beside them with a spear in her good hand, grunted. “Let it try. I’ve got a score to settle with a

The first frost of autumn dusted the den’s roof, but the great hall blazed with warmth.Elara sat at the long table, mending a tear in Ellie’s cloak, while the pup chased a stray wolf cub across the stone floor. Her laughter—high, bright, unburdened—mingled with the crackle of the hearth and the clatter of bowls as wolves settled in for dinner.He leaned against the mantel, watching them, a faint smile on his face. The scars from the shadow had faded to silvery lines, barely visible beneath his dark hair, but his golden eyes still sharpened whenever Ellie darted too close to the fire.“Overprotective much?” Lira said, sliding a tankard of mead across the table to Elara. She’d traded her spear for a wooden spoon these days, overseeing the kitchen with the same ferocity she’d once wielded in battle.“Can you blame him?” Elara took a sip, her gaze following Ellie as she tackled the cub, tiny claws nipping playfully. “Last month, she tried to ride a boar. A live boar.”Lira snorted. “Take