All Chapters of Bound By Two Moons: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

The chamber remained silent.Aurora stared at the words carved into the throne.THE BETRAYER WEARS A CROWN.Her heart pounded.Three crowns.Three rulers.One betrayer.She slowly turned toward Lucien.Then Kael.Neither man spoke.Seraphine remained near the doorway, her face unreadable.Aurora finally broke the silence.“Someone in this room is hiding something.”Kael’s eyes narrowed.“You think it’s one of us?”“I don’t know what to think.”Lucien stepped forward.“Aurora, look at me.”She did.“If I wanted you dead, I would have had six hundred years to do it.”His voice was calm, but something in his eyes made Aurora believe him.Kael moved closer.“And if I betrayed you, I wouldn’t have spent centuries searching for you.”Aurora looked between them.“Then who?”Seraphine suddenly spoke.“There is another crown.”Everyone turned toward her.Aurora frowned.“What?”Seraphine walked toward the throne.“The crown you saw isn’t the only royal crown connected to the Moon Kingdom.”She

The palace gates exploded.BOOM!Aurora felt the shockwave beneath her feet.Outside, thousands of Shadow Army soldiers poured into the Moon Kingdom.Their violet eyes burned through the darkness.Kael’s eyes flashed gold.“They’re attacking from every side.”Lucien tightened his grip on his sword.“Then we defend every side.”Aurora walked toward the balcony.Below her, vampires and werewolves were preparing for battle.Two armies that had once been enemies now stood beneath the same banner.Hers.She looked at them.“Will they fight for me?”Kael stepped beside her.“They already are.”Lucien looked toward the battlefield.“And they’ll follow you.”Aurora swallowed.She had never asked to be a queen.She had never asked for this war.But now thousands of lives depended on her.She raised her hand.The silver crown-shaped mark on her palm began to glow.A wave of light swept across the kingdom.Every vampire froze.Every werewolf lifted their head.And then they heard her voice insid

The voice disappeared.For several seconds, nobody moved.Aurora stood beneath the three moons, surrounded by silver light.Her father was still above the kingdom.Darius remained on the palace wall.Lucien and Kael stood at her sides.But Aurora could feel something else.Something watching.Something much older than all of them.She looked toward the sky.“Who said that?”Orion’s expression changed.He looked toward the darkness beyond the clouds.“The one thing I feared.”Aurora turned to him.“You know what it is?”Orion nodded.“The reason your mother sacrificed everything.”A cold wind swept across the kingdom.Seraphine whispered,“The Devourer.”Aurora frowned.“What is the Devourer?”Orion’s voice became low.“An ancient being that existed before vampires, werewolves, witches, or even the Moon Goddess.”Lucien tightened his grip on his sword.“What does it want?”Orion looked at Aurora.“Her.”Aurora’s stomach dropped.“Why me?”“Because you are the last living vessel of the

“Aurora…”The first voice came from the eastern side of the kingdom.It sounded exactly like Lucien.“Aurora, help me.”Her heart tightened.Then another voice came from the opposite direction.“Please…”Kael.Aurora turned from one direction to the other.She couldn’t see either of them.Only darkness.The Devourer’s voice echoed through the sky.“Choose.”Aurora clenched her fists.“No.”The darkness laughed.“One of them will die.”“No.”“Choose the vampire.”A scream came from the east.“Aurora!”Her heart broke.She took one step toward the voice.Then Kael screamed from the west.“Aurora!”She stopped.Something wasn’t right.She closed her eyes.The Moon Goddess’s words returned to her.Trust your heart.Aurora breathed slowly.The Devourer wanted her afraid.It wanted her to react.It wanted her to choose.So she stopped listening to the voices.Instead, she listened for their hearts.One heartbeat.Then another.Aurora opened her eyes.“They’re both alive.”The darkness went

Aurora stood frozen.Her mother’s words echoed through the throne room.“I started the war to save you.”For several seconds, nobody spoke.The silence felt heavier than the darkness surrounding the palace.Aurora stared at Queen Elara.The woman standing before her was supposed to be dead.A ghost from a life Aurora could barely remember.Yet there she stood.Her mother.Alive.Wearing the Crown of Shadows.Aurora’s voice trembled.“I don’t understand.”Elara’s expression softened.“You were never supposed to die that night.”Aurora’s eyes immediately shifted toward Orion.“But Father said—”“I know what he told you.”Elara’s voice became bitter.“He told you that your death was necessary.”Orion stepped forward.“Elara, enough.”She turned sharply toward him.“You’ve had six hundred years to justify what you did.”Her eyes flashed.“Let me tell her the truth.”Aurora looked between them.“What truth?”Elara took a slow breath.“The night you died, the Moon Goddess came to me.”Auror