All Chapters of FERAL MOON: CLAIMED BY THE LYCAN KING: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Ares Nightbane had crossed the Ironspine Range, the Whispering Vale, and the forest surrounding the human villages in less than an hour.It should have been impossible.Even for a Lycan King.Yet every league flew beneath his feet as if the earth bent for him, as if the night itself parted to clear his path.Because the moment Lyra’s blood touched the ancient soil……something inside him snapped..........It had begun at the Nightbane Fortress.Ares stood in the war room, sharp candlelight carving shadows across his jaw as his generals droned about border threats. He wasn’t listening. He hadn’t listened for months. His Lycan side had been restless, prowling inside his ribs, irritated, hungry, agitated.Barely under control.Until suddenly, his breath cut off.His claws extended involuntarily, slicing through the map table. His spine arched, every muscle locking in place. His vision went white then red. His heart slammed once, twice, then roared to life like a beast awakened.“Ares?” G

The healers left at dawn. They walked quickly, almost run, while whispering prayers to the Moon Goddess as they retreated.Not because Lyra was dying.But because the Alpha sitting beside her looked like he might kill the next person who breathed too loudly.Ares hadn’t moved. Not for hours. Not since she’d collapsed on the forest floor right in front of his castle, with blood smeared across her skin, terror in her scent.His Lycan bones still ached from shifting too fast, too far, too violently. But none of that mattered.She was awake now. Barely, but awake.Her eyes fluttered open, pupils slow to focus, lashes trembling from fever and exhaustion.Ares felt the snap in his chest again, like something inside him recognized her before she recognized herself.Like a tether, a pull, a command written into his blood.It said, Mate.His jaw clenched against the word.No, it wasn’t the right time. She wasn’t ready.“Lie still,” he ordered softly, though the steel beneath the words was unmi

Lyra had been awake for a while.She didn’t move. Didn’t open her eyes. She listened instead—to the unfamiliar silence, too deep, too controlled to be a human dwelling. To the faint crackle of fire somewhere beyond the walls. And to the presence that filled the room like gravity.Him.Ares sat close. She could feel it. The weight of his attention never left her body, not even when he was still. Especially then.Her side ached dully now, no longer screaming pain, just a reminder that something inside her had been torn and stitched back together. She breathed through it, slow and careful.And then she spoke.“You’ve been watching me.”Ares stilled.Not a sound. Not a breath. But she felt the shift immediately, like a predator realizing its prey had always been awake.“Yes,” he said after a moment. No denial. No apology.Lyra opened her eyes.The first thing she saw was him.Not the legend. Not the Lycan King whispered about in taverns and prayers. But the man—sitting in the low light, f

Lyra learned the rules of the Nightbane stronghold without anyone ever explaining them to her. The first rule was silence. Not the absence of sound… but the way every footstep softened when Ares entered a room. The way servants lowered their eyes. The way warriors who looked capable of tearing a man in half straightened like chastened children. The second rule was distance. No one touched her without permission. No one spoke to her longer than necessary. And no one… absolutely no one… questioned why a human girl was housed in the inner wing of the Alpha King’s fortress. The third rule was him. Ares Nightbane was everywhere and nowhere at once. He did not hover. He did not crowd. But Lyra always felt him. In the walls. In the air. In the subtle pressure that settled in her chest whenever he was near. Like the world itself knew who ruled it. She stood by the tall window now, bare feet sinking into thick furs, watching the forest sway beneath the rising Moon. Her body felt stron

Lyra realized very quickly that Nightbane Fortress was not built to make humans feel welcome.It was built to remind everyone who held power.The corridors were vast, ceilings too high, walls carved with ancient runes that pulsed faintly when Ares walked past. Lycans moved through the halls with controlled steps, heads lowering instinctively when their Alpha King passed.And then there was her.Human. Small. Barely healed.Walking beside him.The stares followed immediately.Not subtle. Not curious.Sharp. Assessing. Disbelieving.Lyra felt them scrape against her skin like claws.Ares felt it too.His presence shifted… widened… became heavier as his instincts rose. His hand slid to the small of her back, not touching fully, but close enough to warn everyone around them.Mine.She felt the heat of him even without contact. It curled low in her belly, unfamiliar and unsettling, making her steps falter for half a heartbeat.Ares noticed.He always noticed.“Slow down,” he murmured, bare