Reclaiming My Broken Luna by Selene Souchon

Chapter 296: Flesh and Blood Giselle's POV

Astrid's sudden arrival sent a shockwave through the crowd.

Whispers broke out, rippling across the gathered pack members, all eyes turning to her and Ryker.

My carefully constructed plan, my painstaking performance of a frantic, grieving mother, began to unravel in that instant.

Killian rushed forward, his expression a mixture of relief and confusion as he dropped to one knee, pulling Ryker into his arms.

"Thank the goddess," he breathed, his voice thick with emotion. "Ryker, you're safe."

I watched, frozen in place, as the crowd's attention shifted entirely to them.

Everything I had worked for, all the careful manipulation, was crumbling before my eyes.

Ryker was safe. Hazel, I realized with growing panic, was still missing.

Astrid's gaze met mine for just a moment, and there was something in her eyes - something knowing, something resolute - that sent a chill down my spine.

She didn't speak, but her presence alone was enough to make me feel cornered, as though she knew what I had been planning all along.

I quickly masked my shock with worry, forcing myself to move. I rushed to Ryker, pulling him into my arms as though I were the worried mother I had pretended to be moments before.

I hugged him tightly, pressing his small body against mine, my mind racing.

His presence should have brought me relief, but it didn't.

As I held Ryker close, my arms around his small frame, I tried to summon the concern I should feel from him, but the truth gnawed at me from within.

was taken

unthinkable as it sounded, the only thing I truly cared about in this moment was

raced with images of her alone, lost, or

I had pretended to feel moments ago was now

pawn in the game I was playing. If he was lost, the pack might

she was my blood, my daughter, my future. Her safety was the only thing that

The thought of something happening to

voice as I pulled away from the hug

looks exactly like before he was lured

knew that everything was falling apart. Astrid

said a word, her presence alone made me feel cornered, like she could see right through me-like she knew

barely contained fear. "Where's Hazel?" she asked, her pleading

troubled. "I haven't seen her, Vanessa. When I

uncertainty rippling through the pack like

my chest the moment Astrid's

world tilted, and the only thing

down to Ryker's level, her voice soft and

gently, "did you see Hazel?

answer. He clung to me, his small hands gripping the fabric of

erratically, not for Ryker - but for Hazel. Where was

wildly, every possible scenario playing out in my head,

she was lost? Hurt?

Vanessa's eyes dropped from

to his hands -

it. Her

in