All Chapters of DAUGHTER OF MOON AND BLOOD: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Elara POV​The shadows in the corner of Kael’s office didn't stop moving until he slammed a heavy silver paperweight onto his desk, and the sudden sharp ring of metal against wood seemed to break whatever dark spell was trying to crawl across the floor toward my feet. He didn't even acknowledge the strange darkness; he just sat there with a mountain of maps and reports scattered in front of him, and he expected me to stand there by the bookshelf and organize every single patrol log. At the same time, my shoulder felt as if it were being branded with a hot iron.​"You’ve been staring at that same map of the eastern valley for ten minutes, Elara, so either you’re looking for a way to run, or you’re even worse at clerical work than you are at hiding your identity," Kael said, his voice sounding tired and irritated as he rubbed his face with his large, scarred hands.​"Maybe I’m just wondering why you’re so obsessed with a border that hasn't seen a real conflict in years, and why you trea

Elara POV​The hooded figure with the purple blade didn't linger after Kael threw a heavy stone bench at its head, and the shadow dissolved into the floorboards like ink in water, but the message was clear enough that Kael didn't even let me go back to the archives the next morning. Instead, he dragged me out to a private stone courtyard tucked behind the Alpha’s wing, where the walls were high, and the ground was covered in a thin layer of sand, and he stood there in nothing but his training trousers with his chest bare and his muscles glowing under the early sun.​"If you're going to live in my shadow, you're going to learn how to keep your neck from being snapped the next time one of those shadow-walkers decides to crawl out of the rug," Kael said, his voice sounding like a low rumble as he tossed a wooden training dagger toward my feet.​"I told you yesterday that I don't have the reflexes for this, Kael, and my shoulder is still stiff from the stitches, so I don't see how getting

Elara POV​The high-pitched scream from the trees was still ringing in my ears when Kael threw me over his shoulder and sprinted away from the clearing, his feet hitting the forest floor with a heavy, desperate rhythm that told me we weren't just fighting soldiers anymore, but something much darker that even he didn't want to face in the open. We didn't head back toward the main pack house; instead, he veered off into a narrow ravine where the rocks were slick with moss and the air grew colder with every step, and he didn't stop until we reached a hidden opening behind a frozen waterfall that led deep into the belly of the mountain.​"We can't go back to the village yet, because that sound was a beacon, and every tracker in Silvercrest is going to be swarming this ridge within the hour if we don't find a way to mask your scent for good," Kael said, his voice echoing off the damp stone walls as he set me down on a flat ledge and started striking a flint to light a small torch.​"I thou

Elara POV​The silence on the walk back from the cave was heavy, but it shattered the second we stepped into the Shadowfang courtyard. Aria was waiting at the top of the stone steps, her arms crossed and her eyes glowing a sharp, predatory yellow. Behind her, the high council sat like a row of vultures in the shadows of the pillars.​"You’ve been gone for hours while Silvercrest scouts are crawling over our borders," Aria shouted, her voice echoing so everyone could hear. "The pack wants to know why our Alpha is playing tour guide for a spy."​"I don't owe you an explanation for how I spend my time, Aria," Kael stepped in front of me, his shadow blocking her view. "I was securing the perimeter and ensuring this girl no longer smells like a Moonshadow."​"That’s a bold claim," an elder named Harek said, leaning on his staff. "She smells like the people who killed our kin. The council demands a Scent Trial. If she’s a rogue, prove it now."​Kael’s jaw tightened. "She’s exhausted. The tr

Elara POV​The news of the burning farms didn't stop the Blood-Iron Pack from sending a formal summons for the neutral-ground gala, and Kael spent the entire morning pacing his study while he stared at the gold-edged invitation as if it were a death warrant. He eventually turned to me with a look that said he had made a choice I wasn't going to like, and he told me to get ready because I was going with him, but I wasn't going as a guest or a member of the Shadowfang council.​"You’re going as my bonded servant, Elara, because if I leave you here while the Silvercrest army is on the move, Aria will have your head on a spike before I reach the neutral border," Kael said, his voice tight as he tossed a heavy silk gown onto the bed that was a deep, dark red.​"So I’m just a piece of property for everyone to stare at, while my father is out there burning your people’s homes and looking for the key to a gate that might destroy us all?" I asked, looking at the dress which was cut low in the