All Chapters of Beneath the cursed moon:The Alpha Rejected Mate : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

DAMIEN'S POVI had not slept.I had lain in my bed in the Alpha quarters the largest, finest room in the entire Ironveil Pack, with its high ceilings and its stone fireplace and its view of the whole territory and I had stared at the ceiling while Rex dismantled me from the inside out.You saw them, Rex said.He had been saying it since I got back. Over and over. A wound he kept pressing.Stop!! I told him.You saw his hand on her face.RexYou stood in the dark and you watched another male touch our mate and you did nothing.His voice was shaking with fury. Not at Kael. At me. You did nothing Damien. You just stood there.**She is not our mate,* I said. I made sure of that.*You made sure of that,* Rex repeated slowly. Like he was tasting each word and finding it poisonous. You stood in that ceremony circle and you looked at the most extraordinary thing the moon has ever put in front of us and you threw it away for a political arrangement.that felt like a blade. And now you want to cal

LYRA'S POVI never made it to the Ashwood.I had woken up that morning with one thing on my mind. Noon. Eastern Ashwood. Kael's voice saying it like it was already decided. I had dressed quickly, told my mother I was going for a walk, tucked my father's letter into the inside of my dress against my skin where it was warm and hidden and I had barely made it out of the cottage door before the two Ironveil warriors stepped into my path.Big,Broad, Faces I recognised from pack gatherings.Faces that had never once looked at me before today."Lyra Ashveil," the taller one said. Not a greeting. A confirmation. Like he was checking something off a list.I still went.*Selene,* I said.*I feel them,* she said. Quiet and alert. *They carry the Alpha's authority. This is an official summons Lyra.*"The Alpha requests your presence," the warrior said.Three words that should have been ordinary.That was not ordinary at all."For what purpose?" I said carefully.The warriors exchanged a look."Tha

The room they gave me was nothing like anything I had ever had.I stood in the doorway for a full ten seconds before I could make myself step inside.It was not over the top or dripping in luxury the way I imagined rich people's houses looked. It was just beautiful. A wide bed with dark linen and more pillows than I had owned in my entire life combined. A stone fireplace is already burning low and warm. A window that looked out over the river the silver Dawnridge river ,A writing desk. A chair by the fire. Shelves with books that had actually been read, And a bathroom.I was so excited I sat on the edge of the bed.Pressed my hand flat against the dark linen.*Selene,* I said.*I know,* she said softly.I had never had a room like this. I had grown up in a two-room cottage with a curtain between my sleeping space and my mother's and a tin bath filled with water heated on the stove. I had never had a fire that was just for me. I had never had a window with a view that wasn't someone e

After a while I fell asleep.I didn't plan to. One moment I was lying there staring at the ceiling of the most beautiful room I had ever slept in, listening to the Dawnridge river moving quietly outside my window, and the next moment I was gone.But it wasn't the kind of sleep that rests youSelene pulled me in before I even realised what was happening. I felt her the way I always did when she was doing something intentional a gentle pressure behind my eyes, a warmth that spread through my chest, and then the room disappeared entirely.I knew it was her because of the way everything felt too sharp to be a dream. Too real. The cold air biting at my skin. The smell of wet earth and silver birch trees. And two people standing in the middle of it.I couldn't get a clear vision of who was that until I walked up closer and saw it was my motherShe looked young. Younger than any version of her I had ever known. Her dark hair was loose around her shoulders and her hands were clasped in front

LYRA'S POVI found the letter when I woke up.It was sitting on the small table by the window, folded twice, sealed with a smear of dark wax that had no crest pressed into it. Just wax. Just a seal. Like whoever sent it didn't want to be identified but needed me to know it was deliberate.The wax was dusty.I noticed that immediately. The kind of dust that settles on things that have been sitting somewhere undisturbed for a very long time. The paper itself was slightly yellowed at the edges, dry and careful the way old things got when they had been stored with intention.This letter had not been written recently.My name was on the front in handwriting I would have recognised anywhere.My mother's hand. But younger than I had ever known it. Steadier. Like she had written this when she still believed everything was going to be alright.I sat on the edge of the bed for a long moment just looking at it.Then I broke the seal.Lyra,I don't have much time and I don't know if this will reac