LUNA OF THE NIGHTBORN
img img LUNA OF THE NIGHTBORN img Chapter 2 A Voice in the Dark
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Chapter 6 The Bond That Breaks img
Chapter 7 The Stranger's Truth img
Chapter 8 Beneath the Hunter's Moon img
Chapter 9 The Vale of Shadows img
Chapter 10 The Girl with My Face img
Chapter 11 He Who Wears the Crown img
Chapter 12 The Howl Beneath the Ashes img
Chapter 13 The Path of Flame and Bone img
Chapter 14 The Monster Within img
Chapter 15 The Blood Oath img
Chapter 16 Embers Beneath the Skin img
Chapter 17 Ashes in Her Veins img
Chapter 18 The Other Nightborn img
Chapter 19 Shadows Over Bloodline img
Chapter 20 The Bond That Burns img
Chapter 21 The Moon's Gate img
Chapter 22 Shadows That Bleed img
Chapter 23 Moonborn img
Chapter 24 The Ashen Tether img
Chapter 25 Shattered Boundaries img
Chapter 26 The Veil Between img
Chapter 27 Let Them Come img
Chapter 28 Shards of Moonlight img
Chapter 29 Rise of the Marked img
Chapter 30 Ashes and Ascension img
Chapter 31 The Other Chosen img
Chapter 32 Trial by Flame img
Chapter 33 The Unraveling Veil img
Chapter 34 Beneath the Marked Moon img
Chapter 35 Born of Light, Forged in Fire img
Chapter 36 Shadows Don't Sleep img
Chapter 37 Beneath the Hollow Crown img
Chapter 38 The Vessel and the Crown img
Chapter 39 Shadows in the Light img
Chapter 40 The Price of Fire img
Chapter 41 The Echo and the Flame img
Chapter 42 The Waking Marks img
Chapter 43 What Lurks Beneath img
Chapter 44 When Fire Remembers img
Chapter 45 Flame Against the Dark img
Chapter 46 What Sleeps Beneath img
Chapter 47 The Pulse Beneath the World img
Chapter 48 The City That Waited img
Chapter 49 Flame Against the Forgotten img
Chapter 50 Ember Crowned img
Chapter 51 Beneath the Light That Remains img
Chapter 52 The Fire That Chose Her img
Chapter 53 Flame Remembers Flame img
Chapter 54 Beneath the Cracked Sky img
Chapter 55 It Breathes Below img
Chapter 56 Beneath the Breathing Stone img
Chapter 57 The Heart That Waits img
Chapter 58 The Reckoning Flame img
Chapter 59 Voice of the Flame img
Chapter 60 The Hollow King's Wake img
Chapter 61 The Flame That Remembers img
Chapter 62 Beneath the Mountain's Heart img
Chapter 63 When Stone Begins to Breathe img
Chapter 64 The Threshold of Flame img
Chapter 65 The Marked and the Forsaken img
Chapter 66 Shrine of the Lost Flame img
Chapter 67 Ashen Cradle img
Chapter 68 Descent img
Chapter 69 Vessel of Flame img
Chapter 70 The Shadow Below img
Chapter 71 The Knock Beneath img
Chapter 72 Beneath the Breathing Root img
Chapter 73 Bleeding Root img
Chapter 74 Breathing Root img
Chapter 75 The Ember's Echo img
Chapter 76 The Ember That Watches img
Chapter 77 The Burn that Remembers img
Chapter 78 The Burden of Flame img
Chapter 79 The Howl in the Roots img
Chapter 80 Shattered Oath img
Chapter 81 Ash and Oath img
Chapter 82 Footprints in the Dark img
Chapter 83 The Ash That Remembers img
Chapter 84 Beneath the Pulse img
Chapter 85 The Other Half of the Oath img
Chapter 86 Beneath the Bones img
Chapter 87 When the Flame Knows Your Name img
Chapter 88 Chains of Memory img
Chapter 89 The Choice That Waits img
Chapter 90 When the Locks Give Way img
Chapter 91 Between Fire and Frost img
Chapter 92 Out of One Trap img
Chapter 93 The White That Watches img
Chapter 94 The Door Beneath the Fog img
Chapter 95 Beneath the Shattered Basin img
Chapter 96 Beneath the Collapse img
Chapter 97 Whispers of Stone img
Chapter 98 Guardians of the Forgotten img
Chapter 99 The Altar of Ash and Flame img
Chapter 100 The Shatter of Chains img
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Chapter 2 A Voice in the Dark

Elara didn't remember fleeing.

One moment, she was standing in total darkness beneath the burning mark on her neck. The next, she was outside in the cold night air, barefoot and breathless, the gravel beneath her feet biting with every step. Her lungs burned, her skin stung from the wind, and her heart thudded wildly like a war drum.

Somehow, she had slipped past everyone-Kael, the elders, the guards. There had been no alarm, no chase, no hands grabbing her. Just... silence, then motion. Like something had pulled her out.

She had no memory of the in-between.

> "Keep moving. Don't stop."

That voice again. Deep. Smooth. Familiar, yet alien. It echoed in her skull like a command and a caress.

Elara's limbs were trembling. She darted across the edge of the courtyard, ducking behind one of the towering wolf statues that guarded the ancestral grounds. The stone was cold against her back, but she welcomed it-it grounded her in something real.

She pressed her palm to the burning mark on her neck. It was still glowing softly, still warm like an ember nestled against her skin. Her breaths came in gasps, fogging in the moonlight.

"Am I going crazy?" she whispered to herself.

> "No. You're awakening."

She flinched.

The voice hadn't just replied. It had felt her question, like it was inside her thoughts. It didn't sound like her inner voice-it was someone else entirely.

"What are you?" she asked, her voice barely audible.

> "Not what. Who. But we'll talk soon."

That wasn't comforting.

Then, movement caught her eye.

Across the courtyard, lit by the faint silver of the moon, stood Kael.

Half-shifted, his eyes glowed like wildfire under a calm mask that barely held back rage. His claws were out, fangs bared, his tall frame visibly shaking as he scanned the grounds like a predator sniffing blood.

Elara shrank further into the shadow of the statue, her breath hitching. Her fingers dug into the grooves in the stone.

He was looking for her.

His head snapped in her direction.

Panic rose in her throat.

She slapped her hand back over the glowing mark on her neck, silently begging it to stop shining. It pulsed under her palm like a heartbeat.

> "The mark is cloaking you-for now," the voice assured her.

For now?

Kael took a step closer.

Her entire body went still, her heart threatening to leap from her chest. If he found her, if he saw what she had become-no, what had been awakened-what would he do?

Claim her? Imprison her? Kill her?

She didn't know anymore. Everything she had believed about fate, the mate bond, her place in the pack-it had all crumbled the moment Kael said she wasn't his. And then the mark... the light... the voice.

Nothing made sense anymore.

Her fingers trembled against the cold stone as she peeked around the statue again.

Kael was now only a few steps away.

Just as he turned slightly, his nostrils flared.

He was scenting the air.

She panicked and stepped back-but someone was already there.

A tall, lean figure emerged from the shadows just behind her. She spun, startled, her mouth opening to scream-until she saw him clearly.

He was beautiful.

Striking silver eyes, wild black hair falling into his face, a faint, calm smile resting on his lips. He looked completely at ease, as if this wasn't the middle of a chase, as if wolves weren't hunting them down.

"Don't scream," he said, voice smooth but light. "You'll give us both away."

"Who-" Her whisper was harsh. "Who are you?"

He tilted his head. "Ronan."

He said it like they were old friends. Like she should already know him.

"I-what-how do you know my name?"

"I know more than your name, Elara. I know why your mark is burning. I know who you really are." He paused. "And I know you're not safe here. Not with him."

Her gaze darted back toward Kael, who was now stalking the edge of the courtyard like he could feel something just out of reach.

Elara backed up a step. She didn't trust this stranger, no matter how calm he seemed. But at the same time, he didn't feel dangerous. He felt... right. There was something in his presence that didn't set off alarms in her body. Something even familiar.

"Why should I trust you?"

"You shouldn't." He grinned. "But you're out of time."

"Elara!"

Kael's voice cut through the silence like a blade.

He had seen her.

"Now!" Ronan hissed.

Elara hesitated-until Kael growled and lunged forward, closing the distance in a single, terrifying leap.

She didn't think. She just reached out.

Ronan grabbed her hand-and in that exact moment, the world exploded into light.

Silver light.

Everything shifted. The ground disappeared. The sky melted. Wind roared in her ears, and her body felt weightless. Like she was being torn out of one world and dropped into another.

And just before the courtyard vanished completely behind her, she heard Kael's roar.

"Elara-don't!"

But it was too late.

She was gone.

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