Reign of the Forsaken Moon - Chapter 38: Chapter 38

Wind tore through the mountain passes as Seraphina rode harder than she ever had in her two lives. Her cloak snapped behind her like the wings of a great raven, and her hair whipped in black ribbons around her face. Each heartbeat was a drum of urgency. Each breath was a curse.
The bond screamed through her veins.
Darian was in danger.
Not the kind that left bruises or scars.
The kind that left holes in souls.
Behind her, a flight of war hawks soared on swift horses, and Mira rode at her right flank, bow slung across her back, fury in her eyes.
“You sure about this?” Mira shouted over the wind.
“He’s mine,” Seraphina growled. “And she’s not taking anything else from me.”
A Cage of Smoke and Silver
Deep beneath Hollowfang, Darian fought like a man possessed.
Blood ran in rivulets down his ribs, but he didn’t feel it.
All he saw was Celestine’s grin.
All he heard was Seraphina’s voice in his soul—raw, wild, and tethered to his heartbeat.
Celestine circled him, her claws laced with poison, her magic humming with death.
“You’re predictable, Alpha,” she mocked. “You run when she hurts. You chase when she pulls away. You fight when you should run. I almost envy her—having someone so pathetically loyal.”
Darian spat blood and smiled. “You talk too much.”
Then he lunged.
They clashed again, steel and fang, moonlight and shadow.
Behind him, Mira freed Kael, the chains snapping with a flash of her blade. The young warrior stumbled, groaning, but stayed on his feet.
“You’re lucky she loves you,” Kael rasped. “Because I would've left your sorry ass.”
Darian grunted as Celestine’s claws sliced across his cheek.
“Yeah. I’m the lucky one.”
A Luna Descends
The ground trembled.
Celestine paused mid-attack.
“What—”
A surge of power exploded through the chamber.
The shadows recoiled. The flames dimmed. The air became thick with ancient energy.
And then Seraphina was there.
Wrapped in moonlight and fury.
The Crescent Blade burned in her hand.
Celestine’s face twisted. “You came.”
“I told you,” Seraphina said, voice low and trembling. “Touch him again, and I’ll rip your soul from your bones.”
“Oh, sweet wolf,” Celestine purred. “Then come try.”
Fire and Fury
The duel was chaos and beauty.
Celestine unleashed a tide of black flame, but Seraphina spun through it, blade singing, fire kissing her skin and leaving nothing behind. Every strike was vengeance. Every parry was grief sharpened into a weapon.
Their powers collided—white and black, moon and void.
Darian tried to rise, but Kael held him back.
“She has this,” Kael whispered.
“I know,” Darian breathed. “But I need to touch her. Just once.”
The Kiss That Undid the Dark
Seraphina disarmed Celestine with a feral scream, sending the dark blade skidding across the stone.
She pinned her enemy against the wall, Crescent Blade pressed to her throat.
“Yield,” Seraphina snarled.
Celestine only laughed, eyes wide with madness.
“You’ve already lost more than you know.”
Then she vanished—dispersed into shadow and mist.
Gone.
Seraphina trembled with rage. “Coward.”
And then arms wrapped around her from behind.
Warm.
Familiar.
Home.
Darian pressed his lips to her shoulder, trailing kisses up her neck.
“You came for me,” he whispered.
She turned, eyes burning.
“I’d come for you in every lifetime.”
Their mouths crashed together—hungry, desperate, filled with everything they hadn’t said.
Steamy Reunion
They didn’t wait to return to Windrest.
There, in a quiet chamber reclaimed from Hollowfang’s ruins, Seraphina pressed Darian against the stone wall.
“You almost died,” she growled, fingers ripping open his tunic.
“You almost went full goddess,” he gasped as her mouth traced a line down his throat.
“I told you not to leave me.”
“You begged me not to stop last time.”
She laughed—a rich, dangerous sound.
“I won’t.”
She claimed him like a queen reclaiming her crown. Every kiss was a promise. Every touch was a threat. Their bodies moved in a dance of heat and want and need, tangled in sweat and moans.
Afterward, when they lay wrapped in furs and soft panting, he traced lazy circles along her hip.
“You’re insatiable.”
“You make me wild.”
“Good,” he said, grinning. “Because we’re just getting started.”
The Message
Later that night, Mira entered the chamber without knocking—because Mira was Mira—and tossed a sealed scroll onto the bed.
Seraphina sighed, pulling the furs tighter around her bare chest.
“This better not be another warning.”
“It’s from Lucien,” Mira said. “He intercepted something.”
Seraphina opened it, eyes scanning.
Her pulse froze.
> There’s a traitor in Windrest’s war council.
They’ve been feeding Celestine updates from the Luna’s inner ring.
You’ll know them by the ring they wear—a moonstone cracked across the center.
Be swift.
They’ll strike before the next crescent moon.
Darian cursed. “We just left.”
“Then we go back,” Seraphina said, rising, already dressing. “I won’t lose everything we’ve built. Not again.”
Foreshadow: The Ring
That night, as they rode beneath the stars, Seraphina remembered something.
A glint of cracked moonstone on one of the elder’s fingers.
A small thing. Insignificant.
Until now.
The traitor wasn’t just close.
They were in the room during her Crescent Trial.
Watching.
Waiting.
And they had seen everything.