All Chapters of THE BLOOD MOON LUNA: Chapter 21 - Chapter 29

Kieran's arm remained firm around Selene's waist as the chaos around them faded into a distant blur. Fallen leaves stained dark beneath their feet; steel clashed somewhere beyond the clearing, yet neither of them moved or loosened their hold. She felt his heartbeat through his forearm, too fast, and too close to hers. Something very fast passed between them, and for one heartbeat she forgot to be afraid of him. "There!" One of the masked wolves shouted, springing forward with his blade flashing toward her throat. Kieran turned before he seemed to decide to, and the edge of the blade caught his shoulder instead of her skin, yet he didn't so much as flinch. Selene pushed herself away from him, not taking her eyes away from the blood already soaking his shirt. "You're bleeding." "Run," he said, facing the attackers. "I'm not leaving you." "That wasn't a request." "Stop giving me orders." She snatched the dagger off the ground before he could argue further, turning into the fig

Victor was waiting in her chambers when she returned to Ashfang. He stood at the window with his hands clasped behind his back like a man who had rehearsed his own patience. Selene stopped in the doorway, placed her hand over the journal still tucked beneath her cloak, and felt the weight of everything she now knew settle into her spine like pins."You look tired," he said, not turning to face her."It's been a long night.""I heard." He finally turned, and whatever warmth she had once read in his expression now felt like something painted over a different face entirely. "Attacked in the woods. Rescued by Kieran Thorncrest, of all people. You spent the night alone with him in an abandoned tower.""We were being hunted, Victor. Shelter wasn't a courtship.""Wasn't it?"His words felt like a slap to her face, landing sharper than she expected. Almost immediately, she saw something flicker behind his eye. It was not concern, or the careful grief he'd worn like a second skin for five yea

"You can't leave me thirsty for more answers this way. Who's hunting me?" Selene asked."Names won't help you." His voice was flat, his tone suggesting every hint of finality."Then give me something that will."He turned his face toward the sound of her voice, blind eyes searching for something they couldn't see. A long silence stretched before he spoke again. "The Blood Moon does not choose," he said, quieter now. "It reveals.""That's not an answer." Frustration sharpened her tone, and she took a step closer, refusing to let him retreat behind riddles."It's the only one I can give you without signing both our deaths.""Try me anyway."His jaw tightened, the scarred side of his face pulling tight. "You think this began with a punishment. Wolves who broke pack law, judged and burned for it. That's the story they let survive.""It's the only story anyone's ever told me... Alongside it's my fault," her face fell."Because it's easier to believe than the truth.""So tell me the truth."

The days after Kieran's vow had settled into something uneasy, a sort of fragile truce built on a promise Selene still wasn't sure she believed. So far he had kept his word. He didn't summon or pressure her, and the only time they had reason to communicate was the occasional guarded update passed to her through Damien when he couldn't risk being seen delivering it himself. It should have felt like progress. Instead, it felt like she was waiting for the next blow to land, and she had learned the hard way exactly where that blow was most likely to come from.She'd been careful since the tower. No sleeves pushed up carelessly in front of pack members, no bruises left uncovered for gossip to build on. Victor noticed anyway, a peculiar flaw he had."You've been avoiding me."His voice caught her in the corridor outside the west hall, low enough that the two guards further down didn't so much as glance over. Selene kept walking, refusing to slow her pace for him."I've been busy.""Too