All Chapters of Crown of Blood and Moonlight: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The wind howled across the cliffside, carrying the salty sting of the ocean far below. From the training field, I could always hear it—an endless rhythm that no one else in the pack seemed to notice. To the others, it was background noise. To me, it was a heartbeat calling my name. “Focus, Maya!” Damien’s voice cracked through the morning mist like thunder. I flinched, dropping my stance. The Alpha stood a few feet away, dark eyes narrowing as he studied my grip on the wooden sparring staff. Around them, the Shadow Mountain Pack wolves had already formed a circle. Some watched with curiosity. Others—like Becca and Hannah—smirked, whispering behind their hands. Naomi nudged me from the sidelines, giving an encouraging thumbs-up. “You’ve got this,” she mouthed. I tightened my hold on the staff, forcing a smile. I’d trained my whole life to be one of them, but my body never quite listened the way it should. Too fast. Too sharp. Too much. “Ag

The pack house always felt crowded, but tonight it was suffocating. Every glance, every whisper scraped against my skin like claws. I kept my head down as I carried a plate to the long dining table, pretending not to hear the gossip circling behind me. “Did you hear? Ayden’s walking funny after Damien got to him.” “Serves him right.” “Still—Becca’s not wrong. She doesn’t belong here." I gritted my teeth, about to say something. “Just ignore them,” Naomi whispered at my side, sliding into the seat across from me. “They’re jealous. Especially Becca.” As if summoned, Becca strolled into the room, Hannah glued to her side. Both carried smug smiles like they’d won some invisible game. “Oh, look,” Becca said loudly enough for half the table to hear. “The stray decided to eat with us after all.” Laughter rippled across the table. My fingers tightened around the fork. Before I could speak, Alpha Damien’s voice cut through the noise

That night, sleep refused to come easily. I tossed and turned in bed, the echoes of Becca’s voice—”freak”—burning through my mind. Every whisper, every sideways glance at training replayed in my head until my chest ached. When I finally drifted off, the darkness swallowed me whole, until there was nothing. I was standing at the cliff’s edge, the ocean crashing below. The moon painted the waves silver, and the wind carried a sound I had never heard before— Sweet Haunting Impossible. A melody that curled around my heart like a thread pulling me closer. A woman’s voice. “Maya…” I spun around as fast as I could. A figure stood in the water, hair flowing like strands of starlight, eyes glowing the same pale blue as the sea. Her beauty was otherworldly, but it was the sorrow in her gaze that struck me the deepest. The woman raised a hand, reaching toward me. Around her neck gleamed a silver pendant—spiraled like a seashe

Becca stalked down the narrow halls of the pack house, nails digging crescents into her palms. No one had said anything outright, but she saw the looks. The way Damien had stopped training early. The way Noah whispered too close to his ear afterward. And the way Maya had run off into the woods and come back quiet, shaken, avoiding everyone’s eyes. Something had happened. Something big. Becca’s lip curled as she paced in front of the mirror in her room. Maya always thought she was better. Adopted or not, she’d been treated like some kind of treasure by the pack, like Damien himself had her on a pedestal. And now? Now it was worse. Because Damien had protected her. Again. Becca’s reflection sneered back at her. “Freak,” she muttered under her breath. “Perfect little freak.”A knock at her door broke the silence. It was Drew, Ayden trailing just behind him with that smug, guilty look he always wore when Maya was mentioned. “Well?” D

(Maya’s POV) The sting of the wound hadn’t faded, though the healers swore it was shallow. I traced my fingers over the bandaged skin, jaw tight. Shallow or not, it had been meant to hurt. Meant to humiliate. My reflection in the small cracked mirror above the dresser showed more than a cut—it showed the truth I’d been fighting to hide. The necklace on my throat still pulsed faintly, its glow dim but steady, like a heartbeat no one else could hear. Naomi burst into the room without knocking, her dark curls a storm around her face. “I heard. Are you okay?” “I’m fine,” I said too quickly, though my voice cracked at the end. Naomi’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you dare lie to me. They attacked you.” She crossed her arms. “And the whole pack knows it.”My stomach turned. I could already hear the whispers in the hall, see the stares. Freak. Not like us. Dangerous. Naomi softened, coming closer. “You don’t deserve this, Maya. You’ve done