All Chapters of Born of Moon and Magic: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Armida's POVI woke to the sound of the doorbell ringing, over and over, and stumbled out of bed still half-asleep, curious who could be at the door this early. I'd felt Demetrius come in and leave again almost immediately — though I couldn't be sure — and I wondered, not for the first time, if he was avoiding me. If he simply didn't want to see me.I hurried to answer it, and found a beautiful, slender woman standing there, all cheerful energy and bright eyes. I furrowed my brows, trying to place her."Hi, I'm Lilith," she said, laughing. "Demetrius's childhood best friend — even if he'll never admit it."She breezed past me into the house and dropped onto the couch like she owned the place, completely at home. I closed the door slowly and joined her in the living room, my mind spinning with questions. Who was she to him, really? Had they ever hoped to be mates? It wasn't uncommon in the werewolf world for men and women who weren't mates to be together anyway, rejecting the ones fate

Armida's POVThe woman eventually left, though not because Lilith had convinced her she had the wrong person. After several more questions, she seemed to realize on her own that whatever she'd been searching for, it wasn't me. Apparently she'd caught a familiar scent somewhere in the store and assumed it belonged to someone she'd been expecting to find in Black Moon. She stared at me for a few moments longer than necessary before finally apologizing for the confusion and walking away.A weirdo. That was what Lilith called her once the woman was out of earshot, and we burst out laughing."See?" she said, looping her arm through mine. "Absolutely nothing interesting."I glanced over my shoulder, but the woman had already disappeared through the entrance."You seemed pretty interested five minutes ago."Lilith scoffed. "I was interested because she was annoying me.""You're a terrible liar.""I don't lie. I simply tell people what they need to hear.""That is literally what lying is."Sh

Demetrius' POVI was halfway through reviewing the morning patrol reports when three sharp knocks landed against my office door. I looked up from the papers spread across my desk and called for whoever it was to enter.One of the younger enforcers stepped inside, chest rising and falling heavily as though he'd run the entire way. "Alpha, there's been an accident at the training grounds. Two wolves lost control during combat training — they're still in their wolf forms, and Beta Jackson was injured trying to separate them."I strode out with the enforcer hurrying after me, and by the time I reached the training grounds, several wolves had already gathered around the clearing, their presence only sharpening my irritation.Jackson stood at the edge of the clearing, one hand pressed to his side where blood soaked through torn fabric even as the wound began to close. Two young wolves stood apart beyond him, breathing heavily, fur matted with dirt, neither looking proud of himself."Shift,"

For a moment, I could only stare at Nicole.A threat.The word hung in the air long after she'd said it, refusing to disappear no matter how many times I told myself she was being ridiculous.I had done nothing to her. I'd barely been at Black Moon long enough to learn anything about it, yet she looked at me as though I'd walked into the pack intending to destroy it.My face burned. I didn't know what was worse — the accusation itself, or the fact that Lilith had heard it too."Nicole," Lilith warned.Nicole's lips curved into a small smile, but there was nothing friendly about it ."I only said what I'm sure everyone else is thinking.""Then perhaps everyone else should learn to keep their thoughts to themselves."Lilith's voice sharpened, and Nicole's smile faltered.I should have said something. I should have defended myself, or at least asked her exactly what she thought I was going to do to this pack. Instead, I stood there feeling strangely exposed.A threat.Why? Because I was

My plan was perfect. Or, at least, it was perfect in my head. I had thought through everything — what I needed, where I would go first, even roughly how I would get out of the pack without anyone noticing. The only thing I refused to think about was what would happen if I got caught. There was no point. If I let myself imagine Demetrius finding me, or an enforcer grabbing me before I reached the boundary, I would only scare myself out of doing it. And I was going home. That was all that mattered.Evening had already settled over Black Moon by the time Lilith left. I lay on my bed afterward, staring at the ceiling while I waited for night to come. The minutes seemed to crawl.Outside my window, the last traces of daylight slowly disappeared. The pack grew quieter with every passing moment, until the occasional evening chatter of pack members faded into the distance and there was almost total silence. Only the soft sway of the trees outside remained, their leaves rustling gently wheneve