All Chapters of Moon Touched : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The man in the corner hadn't touched his ale in three hours.Selene noticed him the moment he walked in. Impossible not to. He moved in a way that made other men make space without realizing: shoulders too broad, presence too heavy, eyes the color of winter sky just before snow. The kind of eyes that had seen things. The kind of hands that had done things.Now he sat in shadow, watching.Not her specifically. The room. The doors. The windows. Every few minutes, his gaze swept the tavern like he expected something to burst through and needed to be ready.Selene wiped down the bar and tried to ignore the way her skin prickled when her back was to him."You're staring again."Marta's voice made her jump. The older woman raised an eyebrow, gray-streaked hair escaping her bun as she hauled a tray of glasses. At fifty-two, Marta had run the Blackthorn Tavern for thirty years. She'd seen everything. Feared nothing. Except, apparently, Selene's poor life choices."I'm not staring. I'm observi

Selene didn't sleep.She lay in her narrow bed above the bakery, staring at the ceiling, listening to the wind scrape branches against her window. Every creak of the old building made her flinch. Every shadow moving across her wall made her hold her breath.The word was still burned behind her eyes.RUN.She'd checked the window a dozen times before coming upstairs. Nothing. Just clean glass and her own reflection looking back at her: pale, shaken, eyes too wide.But the claw marks had been real. She'd felt them under her fingertips. Five faint lines etched into the frost, gone now, but real.And the howl.That sound. Low and mournful and somehow familiar, like a voice she'd known in a dream. It had crawled inside her chest and wrapped around her ribs and stayed.Selene pressed her hand to her heart. It was still racing. Had been racing since the moment his eyes turned gold.His eyes.She sat up in bed, pulling the thin blanket tighter. Who was he? What was he? Men didn't have gold ey

They left at dawn.The sky was pale gray, heavy with clouds that promised more snow. Selene stood at the tree line with a single bag over her shoulder, a change of clothes, the pouch Marta had given her, and nothing else. Six months of life in Blackthorn reduced to what she could carry.Dian waited beside her, his wounds bandaged beneath a dark coat. He'd healed overnight faster than any human should. Selene had watched him sleep, counted the gashes on his chest knitting closed, and decided not to ask questions she wasn't ready to hear answers to.Marta stood in the tavern doorway, arms crossed, face unreadable."You take care of her," she called. Not a request. A command.Dian inclined his head. "With my life.""See that you do." Marta's eyes met Selene's. "You come back, girl. You hear me?"Selene nodded, throat tight. "I will."She didn't know if it was true.Then they walked into the forest, and Blackthorn vanished behind them.The trees swallowed the light.Within minutes, the wo

Dian didn’t sleep.He sat outside her door all night, back against the wood, listening to the quiet rhythm of her breathing.Every time it shifted, his body tensed.Every time it steadied, he forced himself to stay still.It was nothing. Just duty. Just caution.That’s what he told himself.The wolf didn’t believe him.Inside, she moved.Soft. Restless.Dian was already on his feet before the door opened. He stepped back, just enough space to look like he hadn’t been there all night.Selene stood in the doorway, hair tangled, eyes heavy.She looked at him.Then at the ground.The shape in the snow was obvious.Her gaze lifted again.“You stayed.”“I was nearby.”She didn’t blink. “You stayed outside my door all night, Dian.”A beat.“Yes.”Something flickered across her face. Not soft. Not angry. Just… something.She looked away first.“They all bowed,” she said.“Yes.”“Even you.”“Yes.”Silence stretched between them.“Why?”Dian didn’t answer immediately.“Because you are what the

Chapter 9: what renn heard Selene opened the door at dawn.The snow outside was pressed flat where someone had sat all night.She looked at it for a long moment. Then she grabbed her coat and walked to the healer's cabin.Renn was the only one awake.He was sitting on the edge of his cot, elbows on his knees, staring at the floor like it owed him something. He looked up when she came in."Couldn't sleep either?" he said."No."She pulled a stool over and sat. They stayed like that for a minute, the fire doing most of the talking."You pulled it out of me," he said."I don't really know what I did.""I do." He turned his hands over, looked at his palms. "I was in there the whole time. Watching myself. Couldn't stop it, couldn't… " He shook his head. "Have you ever been trapped inside your own body?""I woke up six months ago with no memory," she said. "So. Maybe."He looked at her. Then a short, surprised breath…Almost made me laugh. "Fair enough."She smiled. It faded."Can I ask you