Reclaiming My Broken Luna by Selene Souchon

Chapter 316: Terrified Astrid's POV

Her growl deepens as I push back. She feels me, senses the shift, and her fury erupts like a storm.

She turns inward, roaring, her claws tearing at our shared mind as she tries to maintain control. The pain is blinding, but I don't stop. I won't stop.

I push harder, clawing my way to the surface, forcing myself to the forefront of our shared body.

The wolf thrashes, her rage palpable, and I feel her claws scrape against our own flesh, desperate to hold onto her dominance.

'Let me out!' she howls, her voice feral, raw, 'I will kill them!'

'No!' I scream back, pushing harder, feeling her anger tear through me like fire. 'I won't let you harm them.'

She fights, thrashing in her fury, but I can't let her win. I can't let her hurt Ryker. I won't let you!

The battle rages inside, my wolf roaring and clawing, but I feel her weakening.

I fight with every ounce of strength I have left, shoving against her dominance, inch by inch.

My body jerks violently, and I know Killian sees it - he can see the wolf tearing herself apart, trying to reclaim control.

His gaze flicks between me and Ryker, realization dawning on him as he sees the danger.

Without hesitation, Killian moves, rushing to Ryker's side, placing himself between us.

His body, battered and bleeding, shields our son from me - from the danger I've become. 'Please, stop! I beg you!'

The wolf roars, thrashing inside our mind, but I push harder, clawing through the pain. The wolf lets out a guttural snarl, our body shaking from the force of the internal struggle.

Her claws dig into the earth, her muscles spasming as I fight to reclaim control.

Finally, with a desperate shove, I push her back just enough to take control.

clears, and I'm staring at them -

stand together, Ryker's small hand clutching his father's leg as he peers out at me

My heart shatters.

dark whisper

'Kill them.'

my body aching from the battle, but I hold on,

look at Ryker one last time, my heart breaking for what I almost did - for what I still might

innocence. He looks

I can't risk

thought, I

can, putting as much distance

earth, my wolf's furious roars echoing in my mind as

once more.

Not until they're safe. Not until I'm far enough away that I

the two people I had to protect, knowing it's the only way

run until the ground

every step. My paws start to falter, and my legs buckle beneath the weight of

my body crashing to the ground, the impact

me.

sound that rips from my throat and echoes through the

wracked with spasms as my wolf fights

her desperation to

teeth as the shift begins, my bones cracking and reshaping, each change more painful than the

unwilling to release her hold on our form, and

howls as my body convulses on the ground. Shifting could be torturously slow and painful

control as my form

I

earth, fingers digging into the dirt as the fur recedes,

out, slower and more agonizing than ever before, my wolf resisting every inch of the