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.

didn't matter to me if Ryker was taken by the

harsh and unthinkable as it sounded, the only thing I truly cared about

lost, or

feel moments

playing. If he was lost, the pack might mourn, but life would go on. I would go

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

of something happening to her

I pulled away from the hug and took a good

like before he was

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

hadn't said a word, her presence alone made me feel cornered, like she

voice trembling with barely contained fear. "Where's Hazel?" she asked, her

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

the pack like a wave. But I barely heard

thundering inside my chest the moment

as if the world tilted, and the only thing keeping me grounded was

now bordering on panic, crouched down to Ryker's level, her voice soft and urgent, filled with

gently, "did you see Hazel?

hands

beat erratically, not for Ryker - but for Hazel.

possible scenario playing out in my head, each

was lost? Hurt?

Vanessa's eyes dropped from

to his hands

I saw it.

in place,