Mark by Destiny. のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 21 - チャプター 30

The council chamber of Moonspire was vast, its vaulted ceilings carved with constellations, polished wood gleaming beneath shafts of morning light that spilled through high windows. But in an adjoining room more private, meant only for the Alpha and Luna, a softer conversation unfolded.Loretta sat by the window, her hands resting on her lap, eyes lingering on the gardens below where the morning bustle had begun. She had been quiet for a long while, her lips pressed tight, her thoughts circling. Finally, she spoke, voice low, thoughtful.“She reminds me of her, Dean,” she murmured, her gaze distant. “Every time I look at that girl, I see flashes of our daughter. The softness in her face, the way she speaks with quiet grace even when her heart is heavy… it’s like a shadow of what we lost.”Alpha Dean, seated across the room at a heavy oak desk, lifted his eyes from the scrolls he had been reviewing. His dark hair caught a strand of light, and his broad shoulders seemed to bear more wei

The east hall was empty now, but Ravena remained frozen in the same spot, her fists trembling at her sides. Kaelen’s words rang in her ears, cruel and sharp as blades:“You’re convenient. You’ll never be her.”She pressed her palms to her ears as if she could block the memory, but the sound of his voice dripping with contempt echoed again and again. Her knees weakened, and she collapsed into one of the velvet chairs, her breath ragged.Tears blurred her vision, but fury scorched through them. How dare he humiliate her? How dare he dismiss her as if she were a mistake? She was Luna. She was chosen. She had sacrificed everything for him.The doors opened quietly.“Ravena?” A soft voice entered the silence. Mariseth, her mother, swept into the hall, her silk gown whispering across the floor. She saw the tears streaking her daughter’s cheeks, and her face hardened instantly. “What did he do this time?”Ravena looked up, her chest heaving. “He…he doesn’t love me, Mother. He never did.” Her

Beta Rexor moved through the dim corridors of the keep like a man on a single-purpose pilgrimage. The torches guttered low; at this hour the great house of Silvermoon breathed slow and hollow. Every footstep sounded too loud to him, a clack of iron on stone that seemed to betray the secrecy of his intent.He stopped at his daughter’s half-door and listened. Behind the curtain, Ravena slept fitfully, the soft hiss of her breath a sound he had once taken for comfort. Now it made his chest ache; it was the same chest that had once held Liora close on wet, cold nights when the girl would cry at imagined wolves. He had taken that small, terrified bundle into his life without ceremony. He had called her daughter, taught her to tie her boots, wiped her fevered brow. He had watched her grow and falter under a household that loved only the beautiful, and for that he would have bled.Rexor closed the door quietly and crossed to the window. Moonlight tracked across the distant tree line, silver

The Silvermoon pack slept in uneasy silence. The feast halls were empty, the torches along the courtyard burned low, and even the night guards were drowsy from too much ale. Only one figure moved through the shadows with purpose.Kaelen.His cloak trailed behind him as he strode across the courtyard, the moonlight painting sharp angles across his face. His jaw was tight, his eyes burning with something between longing and madness. Ravena lay sleeping in his chambers, blissfully unaware that her new mate was slipping from her side.He couldn’t stay. Not when every heartbeat screamed her name.Not when Liora’s absence gnawed at him like a wound that would never close.For days, he had tried to silence the voices…Ravena’s whispers, his mother’s praises, his father’s commands. But at night, when the world grew still, he only heard one voice. Liora’s. Soft. Gentle. Begging him not to break her heart.And he had broken it anyway.Kaelen ground his teeth, pulling a small pendant from his poc

The Silvermoon palace was rarely quiet, but that morning the walls themselves seemed to shake with unrest. Servants hurried in whispers, guards stood tense at every door, and the council chamber filled with murmurs like restless thunder.Kaelen had returned at dawn…mud streaking his boots, his cloak torn, his face pale but his eyes burning with wild determination. He had said little, but the single word he had spoken spread through the palace like wildfire.“Moonspire.”Now, the Alpha and Luna sat upon their carved thrones, the great council gathered before them. Ravena stood rigid at Kaelen’s side, her nails digging into her palms. Mariseth paced like a restless hawk. And at the center of it all, Kaelen himself stood tall, shoulders squared, refusing to be cowed.The Alpha Speaks“Moonspire?” Alpha Darius’s voice was low but thunderous, silencing the chamber instantly. His silvered hair caught the light as his gaze pierced Kaelen. “You dare bring that name into my halls without proof