Chapter 59. Blood Moon

The moon rose like a blade over the Hollow Grounds.

Selene stood at the center of the ancient clearing, the earth cool and solid beneath her boots. Above her, the sky had darkened to the color of old blood, crimson bleeding through the clouds as though the heavens themselves had been wounded. The full moon hovered low and swollen on the horizon, casting a strange, shivering light across the stones and roots that marked the ceremonial circle.

It was the blood moon.

Selene felt its presence sink into her skin, heavy and intimate, like a second heartbeat echoing through her veins.

Wolves ringed the perimeter of the grounds in tense silence. Some crouched low, muscles coiled and ready, while others stood rigid with crossed arms and guarded expressions. There was no laughter and