MOONBOUND: THE ALPHA'S RUIN

ia's

metallic, something wrong. The torches lining the grand hall flicker, shadows stretching long and jagged against the st

e watch

es. Their silence is worse than their words. It thrums in the air, thick with unspoken doubt

y

My mate. My bonded. The fates themselves deemed him mine, yet the whispers say otherwise. A warrior

ol

ow of my people like a sickness. It festers in the barracks where warriors glance his way with barely concealed sneers. It lingers in the

parchment. "Word of the disappearances spreads faster than we can

bandoned homes and eerie, cryptic symbols carved into the trees. The first attack was dismissed as rogue interference. The

g through the oldest texts, searching for any record of such symbols. He has ventured into the w

ever force is behind this, it grows bolder. If we do nothing

ack on me. "And what of your mate? Will he lead our wa

an, searching his storm-gray eyes. He meets my gaze, unyielding,

ds will chan

heir gazes, sharp as daggers, cut into me from every angle, dissecting, judging. I could hear t

before the gathering. "An Alpha Queen bo

n. But silence does not quell t

is expression unreadable, shoulders stiff as if bracing for another blow. They had not stopped since his s

e had

nfuriated

nd them in thick waves of fabric. The highest among them, Counc

e said at last, his voice decept

but firm. "Perhaps if you spent less time listening to

ough the chamber. A

not rise to it. "It is not order we

mmered agai

it

eant, what they all meant. They did not trust Ro

d nothing. He had learned that s

I said evenly. "And

as if considering me.

as clear. The l

he chamber doors. The guards hesitated before pushing

et mine, a

g had ha

Queen," he rasped. "The ou

over the r

ammed again

I dem

re were no bodies. No signs of struggle. Just..

ch turne

, or wa

t it-the sudden tension, the s

ed forward

d. "No. This wasn't

f unease coile

forward. "Take m

him sharpl

is," he said quietly, "then

ing in his voice

and answers right then and

is gaze. "Then w

e evident. "Your Majesty, surely you

look that had silence

this was, it wasn

a mes

ended to