All Chapters of Heart of the Wolf Queen: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The moon hung heavy above the forest,silver light spilling across the Blackthorn Pack’s training grounds. The airsmelled of frost and pine, and Selene’s breath curled into little clouds as sheexhaled. The night was quiet, deceptively so, but inside her chest, her heart wouldn’tstop racing.She wasn’t the girl she had been two yearsago.At eighteen, she had been scarred, broken,stumbling her way through endless drills under Damien’s harsh gaze. Now, nearlytwenty, she stood taller, stronger, her body honed by countless beatings, herinstincts sharper than she ever thought possible. She’d grown into her wolf,though she still hadn’t shifted fully. That would come the night she turnedtwenty, when the moon’s call bound her forever to her wolf spirit, when shefinally gets to meet her mate.And with that day looming so close,everything inside her buzzed with restless energy.Her wolf whispered constantly in the backof her mind now. A low growl, sometimes a laugh, sometimes a command. Soon.Soon,

The storm broke just before midnight.Rain poured in relentless sheets, pounding against the roofs of Shadowfang’s camp and turning the dirt paths into thick rivers of mud. The air crackled with tension thunder growling above, wolves shifting restlessly in the dark.I’d always thought the storm was loudest when it hit, but tonight it was the quiet before that truly frightened me. That tight, fragile stillness that made it feel like the whole forest was holding its breath.Then the howl came.It was wrong in all ways. It wasn't one of ours.The sound cut straight through the rain. For one terrible second, no one moved. Then chaos erupted.“Rogues!” someone shouted from the north gate.Damien’s voice roared through the mind-link “Everyone move in twos. No one moves alone. Protect the pack,GO”.His voice carried over the roar of the storm By the time I reached for my dagger, Damien was already there his black coat soaked through, silver eyes cutting through the downpour. I should’ve bee

The scent of smoke still clung to the trees. By morning, the once green borderlands were nothing but charred earth and silence. The healers worked through the night, and though the fires were gone, the smell of blood and smoke hung heavy over the pack grounds. Selene barely slept. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw flashes of silver fur and red eyes the rival wolves that had come in the night, striking with brutal precision. But beneath that chaos… there was something else. Something colder. She stood outside the infirmary, staring at the rising sun, the light painting the forest in dull gold. Her fingers were bandaged, streaked with dried blood that wasn’t entirely hers. “Selene.” She turned to see Damien approaching, his steps steady but his face unreadable. His shirt was torn, his arms still streaked with dirt. He hadn’t slept either. “Alpha,” she said quietly. He stopped in front of her, gaze sweeping over her injuries. “You should be resting.” “I tried,” she murm

When Selene woke, dawn had barely touched the horizon. The air inside her room was cold, still, and heavy the kind of silence that didn’t feel empty, but watched.Her head throbbed from the lack of sleep. Every time she’d closed her eyes, the memory of last night replayed the Moon’s light, the pull in her chest, the way everyone stared at her like she’d stolen something sacred.She dragged herself out of bed, wincing as her bare feet met the cold wooden floor. Her reflection in the mirror looked like someone else pale, hollow-eyed, hair tangled from tossing in restless dreams.Her wolf stirred weakly. You can’t hide forever.“I’m not hiding,” Selene murmured, pulling on her dark trousers and tunic. “I just… don’t know what to do.”The wolf didn’t reply. She rarely did when Selene was lying to herself.Outside, the packhouse buzzed with tension disguised as routine. Wolves hurried through the courtyard, some avoiding her entirely, others staring too long. Conversations stopped the mom

The days following the attack blurred together a haze of tension and exhaustion that hung over the pack like storm clouds. Warriors patrolled the borders in silent pairs, every howl in the distance answered with raised hackles and drawn blades.The Crescent Pack had survived, but peace had not returned.Selene could feel it everywhere in the suspicious glances that lingered too long, in the whispered conversations that stopped when she entered a room. She tried to ignore it, but wolves had sharp ears and sharper instincts.They didn’t hate her outright, but the air was different now. The moment Damien had announced her as his mate, everything had changed.Some wolves bowed deeper in respect. Others didn’t look at her at all. Even the children in the training yard had gone quiet when she passed.And through it all, Damien stayed close a constant shadow in her periphery.When she trained, he watched. When she ate, he made sure her plate was full. And when she slept… she sometim