When The Moon Hides Her Crown novel Chapter 203

SERAPHINA

The fight between Ronan and Ryker had torn the Academy into chaos. The echoes of their snarls, the shattering balcony, the smell of blood, it all lingered like a haunting curse. Wolves whispered but none dared step closer to them, not even after their beasts finally relented and shifted back.

When they stood, naked, bathed in blood and carved with wounds that seemed to belong to demons rather than men, both looked less like Alphas and more like monsters dragged from nightmares. Their glares burned so fiercely that the other Alphas shrank away, terrified to even breathe near them.

By Council order, they were taken separately to the healer’s wing. Not only were they treated at opposite ends of the building, but Healer Aran himself cast a dividing spell, his magic stretching between them like a wall of chains, ensuring they couldn’t sense or reach one another until further notice.

The Academy itself fell into a silence so suffocating it felt like mourning. Not just because of Ronan and Ryker, but because of Grace. Alpha Gideon had spiraled into frantic fury, and Alpha Jude had broken in a way none of us could bear to witness. The trial that was supposed to take place that day had been canceled. Everyone was ordered to remain in their dormitories.

But I couldn’t. I held myself through the long, endless night. Still by morning, I was here.

In the healer’s wing.

I stood by the window, my eyes fixed on Grace’s pale, fragile body laid upon the bed. Alpha Jude never left her side. He sat hunched, her hand clasped in both of his as if it were the only thing anchoring him to this world. His clothes were stiff with dried blood, his eyes raw and swollen, his face shadowed from a night without sleep. He looked like a man whose soul had been ripped out.

Alpha Gideon was absent, but Asher was there. He leaned silently against the wall behind Alpha Jude, watching him with a quiet heaviness, until his gaze flicked toward me at the window. For a moment, we shared an unspoken exchange, but then Healer Aran appeared and stopped beside me.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he murmured, his hands slipping into his pockets as his eyes lingered on Grace.

“I’m ready to take the punishment,” I whispered.

He tilted his head, his gaze sharp as it fell to my face. “Then go in, if you’re that worried for

her.”

My hand trembled at my side. My heart clenched like a fist inside my chest. I wanted to, but I couldn’t. Not when I knew the truth. Not when I had failed to stop it.

Chapter 203 Blood And Silence

“Healer Aran…is she all right?” The question barely left me, my throat raw.

His answer was merciless. “No, she barely survived. Her baby, however, died in the worst way possible. And she has fallen into a coma.”

The world blanked out.

My eyes sank helplessly to Grace’s stomach, once rounded with life, now flat and lifeless beneath the sheets. The image of her lying in a pool of her own blood flashed through my mind, aligning with my vision. It hadn’t been Grace’s death I saw, it was her child’s.

The realization carved through me. Horror and guilt twisted so savagely in my chest that I could hardly breathe. Nausea coiled like acid in my gut, rising fast until I thought I would collapse.

I shut my eyes, steadying myself, but the sharp echo of approaching footsteps snapped me out of it.

“Alpha Seth Darven.”

I turned to find Mr. William, the Academy’s assistant, standing stiffly in the doorway. His voice was soft but carried an edge of formality. “You are summoned to the Grand Hall.”

Asher frowned at the words, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. My gaze, however, drifted one last time to Grace before I forced myself to turn away.

The Grand Hall was no longer a hall. It was a stage for judgment.

When I entered, every Alpha of the Academy stood in two rigid rows, their faces grim. The Alpha instructors loomed apart on a raised platform, silent shadows. Above them all, upon the highest dais, sat the man from the council, the one who had arrived with the others during the fight. Austin. That was the name whispered in dread among the Alphas.

The weight of his gaze pressed down like a mountain.

My steps slowed in the center of the hall as I felt every eye shift toward me.

The first pair I caught was Finn’s sharp, worried. But then my attention veered left, to Ronan standing silent, battered, his aura simmering with restrained violence. To the right, Ryker stood just as bloodied, just as unyielding.

While I was caught between them. Under the council’s gaze but not Austin’s.

His gaze was locked on the massive screen behind the Alphas. I followed it, only to find CCTV footage.

The grainy video from the balcony flickered across the hall, Ryker grabbing my arm, me struggling, him chasing after me like a predator. Then, Ronan bursting into frame, the brutal

Chapter 203 Blood And Silence

clash of teeth and claws as their fight ignited. The lack of sound spared them from hearing the actual issue and my secret, but it didn’t matter. Every eye in the room was silently watching, judging, questioning.

Austin finally tore his eyes from the footage. Slowly, deliberately, he shifted his gaze to me.

Those sharp, black eyes dragged over me from head to toe, lingering too long, as though peeling away every layer I wore. He didn’t speak right away but just stared and stared before he stated, “So you are the reason for their fight.”

“No,” my voice echoed in the hall, stunning everyone.

Everyone’s eyes came to me as I met Austin’s raised brows and stated, “I don’t even know these two.”

Author’s Note:

Hello everyone! This November, I’ve decided to treat you all with lots of double updates! Not daily but I will try my best to doubt update. Stay tuned–tomorrow’s the first double update!