Chapter 65: Shadows of the Blood Moon II

Shadows of the Blood Moon

The night wasn't just dark—it was *hungry*. It pressed against the Nightfall Pack's stronghold like a starved beast, gnawing at the watchfires until their flames guttered low. Even the stones seemed to hold their breath. Those ancient, moss-cracked slabs had survived a dozen wars, but tonight, they trembled. Smoke coiled from the braziers, bitter and greasy, but beneath it festered the stench of old blood. **Not fresh. Not yet.** Just enough to make the wolves pacing the ramparts bare their teeth at shadows.

Aria's knuckles whitened around the balcony's rusted iron rail. Below, the lake glittered like a shattered mirror, each shard reflecting the swollen blood moon. She'd always loved this view—**the pines clawing at the sky, the loon's midnight dirge**—but tonight, it mocked her. **Change was coming. Not the soft kind that crept in with dawn, but the kind that ripped roots from soil and left scars.**