All Chapters of Bound by the moon: Chapter 31 - Chapter 37

The fire in the hearth burned low, shadows stretching long across the stone walls of our chamber. Outside, Moon Grove slept under a shroud of fog, but inside, the weight of Thorne’s silence pressed heavier than the night itself. He sat on the edge of the bed, shoulders hunched, his hands clasped between his knees. A wolf like him should’ve looked unbreakable in every posture, but here in the dim orange glow he looked older, tired, almost haunted. I watched him from the doorway, toweling the last of the river’s cold water from my hair. “You’ve been quiet since the council.” His jaw tightened. No answer. Just the faint shift of his chest as he breathed in too slowly, as if holding something inside. I crossed the room, dropped the towel, and lowered myself beside him. His heat bled through his cloak into my skin, steady, familiar. “Talk to me.” Thorne’s hands flexed, big and scarred, fingers curling like claws before loosening again. His wolf stirred behind his eyes restless, a

The council hall smelled of old wood and rain-soaked stone. Torches lined the walls, their flames shivering in the draft that sneaked through the cracks of the great doors. I sat at the head of the table, the symbol of my rank gleaming faintly in the firelight a crown that suddenly felt far heavier than it looked. It had been three days since Cael was taken. The scent of him wild honey and silver dew still lingered in my chambers, haunting me like a promise I had failed to keep. I could almost hear his laughter in the echo of the hallways, his soft voice calling my name in dreams I woke up fighting to hold onto. Ralph prowled restlessly in the back of my mind. His growl was a low, constant hum, like a storm behind closed doors. “They’re lying,” he whispered, his voice rough with instinct. “At least half of them. I can smell it.” I didn’t need his warning to feel the unease in the room. The elders sat around me in silence that wasn’t quite respectful more like waiting for bloo

The night air hit me like a blade. Cold. Sharp. Honest. Inside the council hall, the air had been thick with lies and cheap incense. Out here, beneath the moon’s bruised glow, everything was clearer the trees whispered what men dared not say. Ralph paced inside me, restless. His claws scraped at the edges of my control, his growl a heartbeat beneath mine. He’s close, he murmured. But so are they. I didn’t ask who they were. I already knew. I shifted, half form, bones creaking and reshaping until my senses exploded the world split into scents, heartbeats, the tremor of small lives moving through grass. I caught Cael’s trail instantly. It was faint, fading wild honey and river mist but still there, curling through the forest like a prayer. “Hold on, love,” I whispered, voice half human, half wolf. “I’m coming.” Branches snapped behind me. I stilled. The air changed the faint metallic stench of bloodlust, the sour tang of rogues. And beneath it, something worse: the fam

Thorne I woke to birdsong that didn’t sound right. Too sharp. Too clean. Like the forest was trying too hard to sound alive. I blinked into the soft grey of dawn. Cael lay a few paces away, wrapped in my cloak, his chest rising slow and steady. For a moment, I just watched the gentle tremor in his fingers, the way moonlight still clung to his hair like silver dust. Alive. Thank the goddess, alive. Then the scent hit me faint, metallic, not my mate’s. I turned my palm over. The black-silver stain from last night had not faded. If anything, it had deepened, curling along the lines of his skin like ink tracing his veins. When he flexed his hand, it pulsed slow, deliberate like it had its own heartbeat. Then curled my fist, forcing it still. “Thorne?” Cael’s voice was rough from sleep, softer than I deserved. Thorne turned toward him and managed a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You should rest babe. We will move again soon.” Cael sat up, pulling the cloak tighter. “W