Chapter Thirteen: The Rise Of The Luna
1022 Words
Rhydian gasped as the blade plunged into his side, silver edges biting through flesh, the cursed dagger pulsing once as it pierced bone. He stumbled backward, eyes wide with shock, blood already soaking his tunic. The tribunal erupted in shouts, the circle thrown into chaos.
“Rhydian!” Liora’s scream cut through the noise as she ran to him, catching him before he could collapse. His weight dropped into her arms, heavy, trembling.
Kael’s howl was instant. He turned, face contorted with fury as Selene stood frozen in the circle, her hand still raised, the dagger slick with Rhydian’s blood.
“You stabbed him?” Kael roared, voice so loud it silenced the Elders themselves.
Selene blinked, disoriented, like she hadn’t expected to lose control. “I—I was aiming for her.”
Rhydian coughed, crimson dripping from his lips. “Not… fast enough,” he rasped, a crooked grin twitching at the edge of his mouth.
Kael was already moving. His claws sank into Selene’s shoulder as he slammed her to the ground. “You’ll never lift a weapon again,” he growled.
“Kael, don’t!” Liora shouted from behind him. She still had Rhydian’s weight in her arms, her hands pressing against the wound in his side. “Not here. Not like this.”
Kael looked at her, chest heaving, his claws trembling as they hovered over Selene’s throat.
Then he stood, yanking her upright and dragging her across the circle to the guards. “Chain her with wolfsbane. Lock her where even shadows can’t reach.”
The guards took her, eyes wide, fear on their faces.
The Elders descended from their stone seats, robes swirling.
“He’s dying,” Liora said, pressing harder on Rhydian’s wound. Her hands were soaked with blood, slippery and hot.
One of the healers pushed through the crowd, kneeling beside her. “Let me—”
“No!” Rhydian choked out, grabbing the healer’s wrist. His gaze flicked to Kael, who knelt beside him. “You need to listen.”
“Save your strength,” Kael said.
“There’s no time,” Rhydian whispered. “The dagger… it was meant for you. She missed. But it still… cuts through the bond.”
Kael stared at him, confused.
Rhydian’s voice dropped to barely a whisper. “There’s something beneath the Temple. A vault. Mara left something there. Letters… scrolls. A blood ritual. Selene was trying to finish it. It’s not just about the Alpha seat. She wants to control the bond. All of them.”
Liora’s heart thundered. “The dynasty…”
“She wants to rewrite it,” Rhydian said. “From blood. From death.”
His body went limp.
The healer pressed fingers to his throat. “He’s alive,” she said quickly, “but barely. We need to move him.”
Kael helped lift him, his jaw tight, his voice low. “You keep him alive. That’s an order.”
As they carried Rhydian out of the circle, Liora stood, her knees shaking, her breath shallow. Her vision swam with heat and pressure. The shift inside her wasn’t finished, her skin burned like her blood was boiling.
An Elder approached her. “You’ve shown strength… but the transformation is incomplete.”
Liora turned slowly, eyes silver, her voice low and clear. “Because it’s not done.”
Another Elder, the oldest among them, stepped forward. “Then finish it now. Show us.”
Kael looked at her. “You don’t have to—”
“I do,” she said, locking eyes with him. “For Rhydian. For us. For everyone Selene tried to break.”
She stepped to the center of the circle, took a breath, and dropped to her knees.
The moonlight above flickered. The runes on the stones glowed faintly. Liora tilted her head back and closed her eyes.
The bond flared.
A silver light burst across her skin, spreading like fire beneath the flesh. Her bones twisted not with pain, but with a strange, glorious force. Her spine cracked. Her hands curled, fingers lengthening, nails blackening into claws. Her body contorted, then grew taller, stronger.
And then, silence.
Liora rose slowly, not as human, not as wolf, but as something in between.
Her form shimmered with power, her eyes gleaming silver, her voice deeper and resonant.
“I am the Luna of the Draven Bloodline,” she said. “Not born of it, but chosen by it. I stand not because of my mate… but beside him.”
Kael stepped forward, chest rising with pride, his hand reaching for hers.
When they touched, the entire circle pulsed with energy. The runes brightened, the moon above flared, and every Elder knelt, heads bowed.
“Luna,” they murmured in unison. “She is risen.”
Kael looked at her. “Are you still you?”
She smiled softly. “I think I’m more me than I’ve ever been.”
—
Later that night, with Selene imprisoned and the council retreating to deliberate, Kael and Liora walked through the ruins of the temple courtyard. The moon hung low now, casting a softer light, no longer harsh or judging.
“She was trying to reach the vault beneath the Temple,” Liora said. “Rhydian said Mara left something there.”
Kael nodded. “We seal it. Whatever’s down there, it dies with her secrets.”
“Not yet,” Liora said. “I need to see it. Before anyone else tries to use it against us.”
He stared at her for a long moment, then nodded. “We go together. But not tonight.”
She nodded. Her hands slid into his.
“And after that?” he asked.
She leaned into him, her head on his shoulder.
“After that,” she whispered, “we rebuild the dynasty.”
A gust of wind swept across the stones, rustling the ashes of old battles, of fallen names and broken laws.
And somewhere in the dark, deep below the temple, something stirred, watching and waiting.
But above, under the stars, the Alpha and his Luna stood unshaken together.
- Writer
