Semua Bab Bound By Moonlight: Bab 41 - Bab 50

Braxton’s POVDawn came slow, reluctant, like even the sun hesitated to rise over this cursed stretch of forest.The mist hadn’t lifted. It hung thick and low, glowing faintly violet where the first light touched it. Every breath tasted like metal.Braxton was the first to wake. Years of soldier’s sleep had taught him that even dreams couldn’t be trusted when the air turned strange. He sat up slowly, reaching for the dagger at his belt out of habit, listening.No birds. No wind. Not even the usual soft rustle of Eastin shifting in his bedroll. Just silence, thick as fog.Then—something else. A vibration beneath his palm, faint but real, like the earth itself had a heartbeat.He scanned the camp.Lira still slept light, one hand on the hilt of her blade. Eastin was sprawled half across his pack, his breathing steady. Mirae sat a little apart, her cloak drawn close. Her eyes were closed, but she didn’t look peaceful. A faint shimmer pulsed beneath her collar — red, like embers under ski

Emry’s POVThe air was thicker here — not just mist, but living breath.Every inhale came with resistance, like the forest itself was deciding whether to let her breathe. Each step sank deeper into soil that pulsed faintly underfoot, soft and wet, as if it had veins.Braxton led the way through the fog, his black coat streaked with dew and ash. His movements were careful, steady, protective. But even he couldn’t hide the way his head turned at every creak, every low groan of unseen movement in the trees.They hadn’t spoken since sunrise. Words felt dangerous here — too loud, too easy to steal.Then, faint at first, Emry began to hear it: a hum beneath the silence. A rhythm that wasn’t her heartbeat but matched it all the same.Thum. Thum. Thum.She stumbled. Braxton caught her elbow, his grip firm. “It’s stronger, isn’t it?”She nodded, breath trembling. “It’s calling.”“Then don’t listen.”“I can’t not.”The hum swelled. Her vision shimmered. The mist parted for a heartbeat, revealin

Mirae’s POVThe forest was still crying when she found them.The sound didn’t come from wind or creatures—it came from the ground, from the roots trembling beneath her feet. Every tree leaned inward as she ran, their branches whispering her name like a warning or a welcome.When the mist broke, she froze.The clearing was scorched, circular, and wrong. The air shimmered red and silver, rippling above the ground as though the forest itself was exhaling smoke. The soil glittered like glass, still warm under her boots.At its center lay Emry—motionless, the glow still fading from her skin—and Braxton hunched over her, blood streaked across his temple, chest heaving.“Emry!” Mirae’s voice cracked. She dropped to her knees, her hands shaking as she touched Emry’s shoulder. Heat rolled off her in waves, the kind that wasn’t from fever but power.“She’s alive,” Braxton rasped, though his voice didn’t sound certain.Emry stirred, a faint sound escaping her throat. Her eyes opened halfway, and

Mirae’s POVBy dusk, the fever finally broke.Emry’s skin had cooled, though her pulse still thrummed too fast, too strong. The mark at her throat glimmered faintly beneath the dim light — silver fading into black, the shimmer of both still at war.Mirae knelt beside her, pressing a cool cloth to her brow. The smell of scorched earth still clung to the clearing, sweet and metallic, like the breath of something ancient.“She’s stabilizing,” Lira said quietly. “But we can’t stay here. The ground’s tainted.”Mirae looked up. “Tainted?”Lira pointed toward the soil where red veins glowed faintly beneath the surface. “Whatever this forest is, it remembers. We should move before it decides we don’t belong.”Eastin nodded, grim and exhausted. “There’s a ridge north of here. Higher ground, less dense canopy. We’ll rest there tonight.”Braxton’s gaze didn’t move from Emry. “She’s too weak to walk.”“Then I’ll carry her,” Eastin said. “We move now.”The Alpha tone in his voice left no room for

Emry’s POV She floated somewhere between waking and drowning. The fever had receded, yet the heat inside her hadn’t left—it had only settled deeper, coiled behind her ribs like a second heartbeat. Every time she exhaled, the air shimmered. The fire crackled somewhere nearby; Braxton’s scent—earth, smoke, wolf—was the only anchor keeping her from slipping away completely. But when she opened her eyes, she wasn’t in the camp. The world had gone silver and the forest quiet. Mist rolled like water under her feet. The moon hung low and enormous, bleeding pale light across an endless field of white flowers. And in the center of it, a figure waited—luminous, veiled, radiant and silent. Emry’s breath caught. “Moon Goddess…” The figure did not move. The veil shimmered faintly with every beat of the wind, but no words came. Emry stepped closer. “Why won’t you speak to me?” Still nothing. Only the sound of her own heartbeat echoing in the stillness. Then the scene shifted. The