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.

taken by the

only thing I truly cared about in

of her alone, lost, or worse, caught in

feel moments ago was now real, but not for

he was lost, the pack might mourn, but life would go

daughter, my future. Her safety was the only thing

something happening to

as I pulled away from the hug and took a good

fine. He looks exactly like before he was lured to the

that everything was falling apart. Astrid stood there, quiet,

cornered, like she could see right through me-like she knew exactly what I had

Hazel?" she asked, her

head slowly, her expression troubled. "I haven't seen her, Vanessa. When I found

louder, uncertainty rippling through the pack like a wave. But I barely heard

my chest the

and the only thing keeping me grounded was the

concern now bordering on panic, crouched down to Ryker's level, her voice soft and urgent, filled with the kind of desperation only

"did you see Hazel? Do

He clung to me, his small hands gripping the fabric of my dress, but I could hardly focus

for Ryker - but for Hazel.

out in

she was lost? Hurt?

Vanessa's eyes dropped from

to his hands

saw it. Her breath hitched,

in place,