All Chapters of THE BANISHED LUNA: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Chapter 12 – When the Fire DiesThe fire had burned low.Aria’s eyes opened to the dim, red glow of embers, her breath puffing in soft white clouds. The once-comforting crackle had faded into faint pops, like a dying heartbeat.She didn’t remember falling asleep.The chair’s rough wool blanket slid from her shoulders as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. The other chair by the hearth was empty. The cup Kieran had been drinking from still sat on the table, a faint curl of steam rising from the surface.He’d been here recently.Serena? she whispered inwardly.I’m awake, her wolf murmured, alert. Something’s wrong.The wolf’s unease had weight to it, the kind that wrapped tight around Aria’s ribs.She pushed to her feet, bare soles whispering over the cold floorboards. The cabin was silent, save for the occasional groan of wood under winter’s grip. The wind outside pressed against the walls, low and steady.Still… there was something else.A faint, scraping sound beneath the floor.Aria froze

Chapter 14 – Beneath the Frozen VeilThe sound came again.A faint, dragging scrape, like something brittle being pulled across stone.Kieran’s head turned toward the fissure’s narrow entrance, every muscle in his frame gone taut. His hand was already on his blade.Aria’s breath caught, the heat from the flask forgotten. “It’s close.”“Not yet,” he murmured, so low it was almost inaudible. But his eyes—silver in the lamplight—never left the gap of darkness beyond the stone.The scrape stopped.Silence swelled, heavy and suffocating. Aria could hear her own heartbeat, loud in her ears. Even Serena, usually quick with sharp remarks or warnings, stayed silent, her presence coiled tight within.Kieran leaned slightly forward, angling his head as if listening to something she couldn’t hear. Minutes stretched until the air felt frozen in her lungs. Then, with deliberate slowness, he leaned back against the cold wall.“It’s moving away,” he said at last, though there was no relief in his voi

Chapter 16 – The Wolf’s Den The Alpha’s gaze lingered, steady and unhurried, as if he were reading her in ways she could neither see nor block. Aria’s chest tightened. Serena’s presence pressed against the edges of her mind, alert and bristling. Stand tall, the wolf murmured. He’s scenting fear already. Kieran stepped half a pace forward, not enough to block the Alpha’s view, but enough to signal… something. A quiet, unspoken warning. The Alpha’s lips curved just slightly more, then he stepped back into the shadowed mouth of the gates. “Bring her in,” he said. Not to Kieran, not even to the patrol guards — but to the air, to the territory itself, as if his will were enough to carry the command. The gates yawned wider, groaning on their iron hinges. Aria forced her feet to move. Each step across the threshold felt heavier, like the air thickened the deeper she went. The space beyond wasn’t a simple courtyard — it was a small world in itself. Cobblestone paths webbed between tall

Chapter 18 – The Trial of Teeth and ShadowsThe cold stone of the training yard bit through the thin soles of Aria’s boots, but she barely felt it. The Alpha’s gaze was locked on her — unblinking, sharp, like a predator assessing the worth of a smaller creature before deciding whether to devour it.The others stood at the edges, a ring of warriors and wolves in partial shift, their breath misting in the winter air. Kieran was among them, his jaw tight, his eyes never leaving her.“Step forward,” the Alpha said.His voice was a command wrapped in silk, dangerous in its softness. Aria obeyed, each step a quiet defiance of the instinct telling her to run. Serena, restless inside her, paced along the edges of her consciousness.Stay sharp, girl. This isn’t just muscle — it’s mind.The Alpha tilted his head, studying her with the kind of stillness that felt unnatural. Then, without warning, he stepped into her space, circling her like a wolf testing scent.“You’ve crossed my border,” he sa

Chapter 20 – When the Rogues StrikeThe courtyard was hushed in the moments after the Alpha dismissed them, the cold pressing against Aria’s skin like a second, sharper trial. Warriors were dispersing in disciplined silence, Kieran close at her side though not touching, his presence a steady anchor against the strange disorientation of what she had just endured. She should have felt relief, but her heartbeat hadn’t settled. Her veins still buzzed with Serena’s restless pacing inside her. The Alpha’s words—“you’ve only survived the first bite”—echoed like a prophecy.The stillness shattered.A howl ripped through the night—high, ragged, wrong. Not the deep, resonant cry of a pack wolf but something wild, untethered. The courtyard froze, then erupted into chaos.“Rogues!” someone shouted from the walls.The gate shuddered a beat later, heavy timbers groaning under the force of claws and bodies slamming against it. Before Aria could breathe, it burst inward, snow and splinters exploding