Chapter 19: Captured in Shadow
The night pressed down on the forest like a living thing, each branch casting skeletal fingers against the silver wash of the moon. Seren felt her pulse drum hard in her ears, every instinct urging her to stay close to the safety of the Moonborne Pack’s borders. But something in her bones pulled her farther—something she couldn’t explain.
Kaelen’s warnings still rang in her head. Stay within the wards. Don’t wander alone at night. The shadows are not kind.
And yet, here she was.
The forest whispered with sounds of nocturnal life: the rustle of leaves under small feet, the chirp of insects, the distant hoot of an owl. But beneath it all lurked something heavier. A silence that carried weight.
Seren’s breath clouded in the cold air. She pulled the fur-line
