Alle Kapitel von THE ALPHA'S FORBIDDEN LUNA: Kapitel 21 – Kapitel 30

For one suspended moment, no one moved — Vale wounded and retreating, Ronan's forces flooding through the broken gates, Ashwood's exhausted warriors uncertain whether they'd just gained reinforcements or a second enemy entirely. Even the wounded seemed to hold their breath, waiting to see which way the night would tip."Alpha Voss." Ronan's voice carried easily across the chaos, calm and measured despite the violence surrounding him. "It appears I've arrived at an interesting moment.""Convenient timing," Kael said, blood still streaming from the gash along his ribs, gold-flecked eyes narrowed with suspicion even as exhaustion visibly dragged at him. "Explain yourself, or leave the way you came.""My scouts reported Lycan movement toward Ashwood hours ago," Ronan said. "I came prepared for exactly this possibility, whatever you choose to believe about my motives." He gestured, and his warriors surged forward past him, engaging the remaining scattered Lycan fighters with brutal efficie

Selene was running before she'd fully processed what she'd heard, Kael a half-step behind her despite his bandaged ribs, both of them tearing down the corridor toward the sound of that small, frightened voice. Every fragile ounce of peace from the last hour evaporated instantly, replaced by pure animal terror.The nursery — rebuilt hastily in a spare room since the fire — stood with its door wide open, the small bed inside rumpled and empty, a stuffed wolf toy abandoned on the floor exactly where it had fallen."Aria?" Selene's voice cracked as she spun through the room, searching every shadow, every corner, refusing to let herself think the worst.A soft whimper answered from the hallway closet, and Selene wrenched the door open to find Aria curled inside, knees pulled to her chest, eyes wide with terror."You're here," Selene breathed, dropping to her knees, pulling the girl into her arms. "You're safe. What happened? Where did you go?""I heard someone in my room," Aria whispered,

"Show me exactly what you found," Kael said, already moving toward the healer's quarters despite the late hour, urgency overriding exhaustion. Behind them, Selene could hear Aria being settled back to sleep by one of the younger pack members, a small mercy amid everything else unravelling.The healer met them at her door, still bleary from sleep but alert the moment she saw their faces. "The mark on the scout," she said without preamble. "You want to know if it can be hidden.""Can it?" Selene asked.The healer's expression turned grim. "With the right suppressant salve, temporarily, yes. Enough to fool a visual inspection. I should have thought of it when I cleared Councilman Edrick — I'm sorry, Alpha. I only checked for the mark itself, not for signs it had been concealed."Kael's jaw tightened. "Then Edrick could still be compromised.""Or someone else entirely," the healer said. "The salve isn't common knowledge. Whoever used it would need real familiarity with old Lycan binding p

The ride to the border took less than an hour, Kael pushing the pace despite his still-healing ribs, Selene matching him stride for stride on wolfback, dread coiling tighter in her chest with every mile. She'd left Aria in the healer's care back at Ashwood, guarded by two trusted pack members and strict instructions not to leave the room for anything short of fire — a compromise that had cost her a long, guilty moment at the gates before she'd forced herself to ride out regardless. Neither of them spoke much along the way, the silence heavy with everything neither wanted to say aloud — that they might already be too late, that Lyra's fate had already been decided somewhere in the hours since Ronan's letter arrived."Here," the lead tracker called, drawing his horse up sharply near a cluster of boulders marking the official boundary between Ashwood and Draven territory. "This is where the escort said Ronan's scouts claimed to have found her."Selene shifted back to human form, scanning

Kael didn't hesitate. He was moving before Ronan's warning fully registered, closing the distance toward Lyra and her captor with lethal speed, Selene half a step behind him, adrenaline burning through exhaustion in an instant. Every careful plan they'd made about restraint, about proof, about not acting rashly, evaporated the moment he saw the blade at Lyra's throat."Let her go," Kael snarled, gold flooding his eyes entirely.The masked figure's blade pressed harder against Lyra's throat, drawing a thin line of blood. "Another step and she bleeds out before you reach us.""Kael—" Lyra's voice was strained, terrified, but steady. "Don't. Whatever they want, don't give it to them."Ronan moved from the tree line, hands still raised, blood streaked across his face from what had clearly been a losing fight before Kael and Selene arrived. "There are two more in the trees," he said quietly, urgently. "Archers. I couldn't get close enough to warn you before you walked into the clearing.""