All Chapters of Shadows Of The Rejected Luna: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

~ELARA’S POV~Everything felt like a fuzzy mess of dark grey and that gross, sharp smell of wet dirt. Each breath I took hurt felt like I was swallowing a handful of broken glass. The fever from the silver poisoning was really digging into my bones now. My blood felt heavy and way too thick, like I had hot, melted lead running through my veins.I was stuck on this crappy little cot in a hunter’s shack. The walls were leaning hard against the Black Crags. It looked like the whole place might just give up and collapse. Outside, the wind was screaming through the mountain gaps. It was such a lonely, sad sound that matched the empty ache sitting right in my chest."Stay put, Elara. Stop moving or this infection is going to spread faster than I can fix it."Kael’s voice was deep and low. It made the tiny room vibrate. He was kneeling on the dirt floor right by my feet. His big, rough hands were surprisingly steady. He’d already managed to peel off those dirty, bloody rags the palace guard

~ELARA’S POV~The ground wouldn’t stop shaking.It wasn’t an earthquake. I knew that. It was boots. Paws. Thousands of them. Hitting the dirt in the same brutal rhythm.Too close.I pushed myself up on the cot and the world tilted hard. Black spots swam in my vision. For a second, I almost laughed. Perfect time to faint.The fever was still there. My skin felt stretched too tight and itchy beneath the bandages. Every small movement burned, but the adrenaline was finally starting to take over.Through the bond, I felt a sudden, sharp blast of heat. It was Kairos. He didn't feel like that quiet, empty shell of a man I’d sensed earlier. Now, he was like a flare of pure Alpha power—bright, jagged, and totally desperate. I could see him without seeing him.Standing on the wall. High above everyone. Staring at the same horizon I wasHe was terrified. Not for his own life. But for a pack he just wasn't ready to lead or defend.“He’s waking up,” my wolf whispered.Her voice wasn’t small anym

~ELARA’s POV~The smell of the palace was the same. But I wasn’t.When I stepped through the broken main gate, something in the air shifted. It didn’t just get cold. It went still. Hard. The shadows along the cracked stone walls and the dark corners of the courtyard didn’t stay where they were. They moved. They stretched out like long black fingers and slid over the ground until they brushed against my boots.I didn’t feel like that scared girl they dragged to the cells. I didn’t feel small. I felt like a storm that had been waiting for years. Twenty-two years of silence. Twenty-two years of swallowing pain. And now I was done holding back.The first thing I saw was chaos. The Northern soldiers everywhere. Steel flashing. People screaming. I saw one of them grab an omega maid by her hair and yank her toward the stone well. It was Lila. Her mouth was open in a scream, her eyes wide and wet with the same fear I used to carry every day.“Let. Her. Go,” I said.I didn’t shout. I didn’t

~KAIROS’ POV~My claws stayed out. They scraped the wet stone in the courtyard. I stared right at Kael. That smug look on his face hit me like a punch.Kael. The man I sent away myself. I saw him standing next to my mate. It felt like a hot knife twisting deep in my belly. My wolf lost it inside my head. Pacing back and forth. Snarling loud. It wanted to tear his throat right open.Every time his hands touched Elara, heat rushed through my veins. The way he looked at her… it wasn’t casual. It wasn’t polite. It was close. Like he had stood beside her when I wasn’t there. Like he had held her together while I was lost in my own mess.I wanted to yell at him. Get away from her now. I wanted to grab Elara. Pull her deep into the palace. Lock every door. Keep the world out. Until she looked at me with something besides that cold silver stare. But my mistakes weighed me down. I let Genevieve into my head. I let my pack fall apart.I pushed myself to stand. My legs shook, but my mind didn’

~KAIROS’ POV~The Council Chamber seemed smaller today. Maybe the room wasn’t really smaller. Maybe it just felt that way. The air was thick with those old pack rules that never seem to change… and the strong flowery smell of my mom’s perfume hanging in the room.I sat at the end of the long oak table, pressing my hand against the cut on my side. Every breath pulled at it. Every small movement made it sting.A painful reminder of the brutal fight I had with Soren.But the headache blooming behind my eyes was far worse."You have lost your mind, Kairos," my mother whispered.Mara kept pacing behind the empty chairs where the rest of the council usually sat. The silk of her dress brushed against the stone floor, making a soft sound each time she moved.Back and forth. Back and forth.Her face looked pale, almost drained of color, and her eyes were wide. Fear was there… but so was anger, both fighting for space on her face.She'd told me for years that the Shadow blood was like a sicknes