All Chapters of BEYOND THE MOON: Chapter 31 - Chapter 39

The next two weeks passed in a blur of heightened security, sleepless nights, and mounting tension that seemed to permeate every corner of the pack house. What had started as increased patrols and basic precautions had evolved into something approaching martial law.I hadn't been allowed outside the pack house grounds in ten days.The restriction chafed against every fiber of my being, made worse by the fact that I understood the necessity. Three more packs had been hit in the past week – not full-scale attacks like Riverside, but targeted strikes that left clear messages. The Shadowed Knights were getting bolder, and their intelligence network was growing more sophisticated."This is ridiculous," I muttered, pacing the length of my room for what felt like the thousandth time. Through my window, I could see the afternoon sun painting the forest in golden light, and the sight made my chest ache with longing.A soft knock interrupted my brooding. "Come in."Kayla entered, carrying

The forest called to Aria with a voice I could hear in my bones, but I couldn't ignore the weight of responsibility pressing down on my shoulders like a physical force. Watching her discover her emerging wolf should have been a moment of pure joy – instead, it felt like standing at the edge of a precipice, knowing that one wrong step could send everything I cared about tumbling into darkness.We moved through the trees in comfortable silence, Aria's enhanced senses allowing her to navigate the undergrowth with newfound grace despite never having experienced the forest this way before. Every few minutes, she would pause to examine something – a scent carried on the wind, the sound of a bird call from miles away, the intricate pattern of light filtering through the canopy above.It was beautiful to watch her discover this part of herself.It was also terrifying."Kael," she said suddenly, stopping beside a fallen log covered in moss. "There's something I need to tell you."The seriou

The attack came during breakfast, swift and vicious in the way only Reena could manage. I'd been sitting with Kayla and Adeline, discussing the theory behind werewolf transformation, when Reena's voice cut through the peaceful morning air like a blade."Well, well. Look who thinks she's too good to sit with her own family now."I looked up to see Reena approaching our table with predatory grace, her cold grey eyes fixed on me with undisguised malice. She was dressed impeccably as always – designer jeans and a silk blouse that probably cost more than most people's monthly salary – but there was something different about her today. Something more dangerous."Good morning, Reena," I said carefully, my enhanced senses immediately picking up the aggression radiating from her in waves."Is it?" She came to a stop directly beside our table, close enough that I could smell her expensive perfume mixed with something sharper – anger, jealousy, and underneath it all, fear. "Because from wh

The visions started three days after our supernatural council meeting, but they weren't like the manipulative nightmares the Council of the First had sent me. These were different – fragmented glimpses of the past that felt less like dreams and more like inherited memories surfacing from the depths of my awakening bloodline.I was in the pack library with Mira, the young historian who'd been helping me research my heritage, when the first one hit. One moment I was reading about ancient Lumina settlements, and the next I was somewhere else entirely.THE BATTLEFIELD STRETCHED ENDLESSLY UNDER A BLOODY-RED SKY, LITTERED WITH THE BODIES OF CREATURES I COULDN'T QUITE IDENTIFY. IN THE DISTANCE, A CITY BURNED WITH FLAMES THAT SEEMED TO CONSUME LIGHT ITSELF, WHILE OVERHEAD, BEINGS OF PURE RADIANCE CLASHED WITH SHADOWS THAT MOVED LIKE LIVING DARKNESS."THE WAR BEGAN WITH THE BEST OF INTENTIONS," A VOICE SAID BESIDE ME, AND I TURNED TO SEE A WOMAN WHO LOOKED STARTLINGLY LIKE AN OLDER VERSION

I found Kael in his office three hours after the incident in the hallway, staring out the window at the forest beyond with an expression I'd never seen before. The frost had finally melted from the windows, and the supernatural manifestations had quieted, but the atmosphere in the pack house remained charged with tension and unspoken fears."The symbols are gone," I said softly from the doorway, not wanting to startle him.He turned, and when his piercing blue eyes met mine, I saw something that made my heart clench with unexpected pain. It wasn't fear or doubt or even the protective concern I'd grown used to seeing there.It was grief."Are they?" he asked quietly. "Or are they just hidden until the next time your power decides to announce itself to every supernatural being within a thousand-mile radius?"The words stung, but underneath the frustration in his voice, I heard something else – exhaustion. The kind of bone-deep weariness that came from carrying too much weight for to