All Chapters of THE SHADOW LUNA : Chapter 1 - Chapter 6

CHAPTER ONE: THE HOMECOMINGThe forest path felt different under Lyra's feet.She'd walked this trail a thousand times before leaving for her mission five years ago. Back then, every tree, every rock, every turn had been as familiar as breathing. Now, something felt wrong. The air tasted strange. The birds sang different songs. Everything felt off. Or maybe she was the one who had changed.So she thought. Lyra shifted the weight of her travel pack and kept walking. Her auburn hair, longer now than it had ever been, stuck to the back of her neck with sweat. The summer heat pressed down on her shoulders like a heavy blanket. Her clothes were dusty from weeks of travel. Her boots had holes in them. But none of that mattered to her now. All that mattered was that she was finally home.Five years. Five long, exhausting years of negotiating peace between packs that hated each other. Five years of sleeping in strange beds, eating unfamiliar food, and missing the people she loved. Five ye

CHAPTER THREE: THE CONFRONTATIONLyra pushed open the front door of the pack house. The heavy wood swung inward with a creak that seemed impossibly loud.The music stopped immediately. The band's instruments died mid-note. Conversations cut off mid-sentence. Laughter evaporated into shocked silence. Every head in the room turned toward her.For a long moment, nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Nobody even seemed to breathe. They all just stared at her like she was a ghost. Like she was something impossible. Something that shouldn't exist.Maybe that's what she was to them. A ghost from the past. Someone they'd buried and forgotten. Someone they'd written out of their story."Lyra?" Isla's voice finally broke the silence. She stood next to Marcus, one hand on his arm, her face suddenly pale. The color had drained from her cheeks. "What are you doing here?""I live here," Lyra said. Her voice came out steadier than she felt. Stronger than she expected. "Or I used to."Marcus stepped forward.

CHAPTER FIVE Lyra's knees went weak. The room spun. She grabbed the wall to keep from falling."However," Theron continued, and something like pain flickered across his weathered face. Just for a moment. Then it was gone as fast as it came. "Because of your years of service to this pack, and because I hold some responsibility for your corruption, for encouraging your pride instead of teaching you a woman's proper place, I have convinced the council to show mercy. You will be exiled to the rogue territories for five years. Perhaps isolation will teach you what I could not. That ambition destroys women. That pride leads only to fall. That a woman's place is in service, not in seeking power.""You're doing this because you love me?" Lyra whispered. Her voice was broken. Hollow."Yes." Theron's voice was firm. Certain. He believed what he was saying. "This is the last lesson I can teach you, child. Learn it well. If you survive, perhaps you'll return humble. Perhaps you'll retur