Reclaiming My Broken Luna by Selene Souchon

Chapter 427: Weight of Failure

Astrid's POV

The hour was unnervingly still-the kind of stillness that didn't promise peace but

danger.

Even the crickets had silenced their symphony, leaving the world suspended in an uneasy pause.

Fresh guards had taken their positions outside Elara and Ryker's room, their heavy boots scuffing the floor before settling into still vigilance.

Inside, I sat unmoving, my nails absently scraping patterns into the worn armrest of the chair.

Every creak of the house, every gust of wind, felt like a warning. My wolf stirred, pacing just beneath the surface, uneasy.

Killian had checked on me earlier. He'd lingered in the doorway, his golden eyes searching mine, his mouth pressed into a grim line.

He didn't speak, didn't push me to leave. He didn't need to. He knew I wouldn't.

I wasn't leaving my children tonight.

The breeze through the open window caught the flame of a candle, snuffing it out in a final flicker.

Shadows stretched long across the room. I stood, my movements deliberate and quiet, and crossed to the window. The cold night air carried with it the faint scent of pine and something else-

something sharper.

I reached for the latch, and that's when it hit me.

A ripple of awareness prickled down my spine.

Something was wrong.

My wolf stilled, ears metaphorically pricking, senses sharpening.

The hallway torches sputtered once, their flames bending unnaturally-and then extinguished as if the darkness itself had swallowed them.

I tensed. My hand dropped instinctively to the dagger at my waist.

A faint noise-the crack of glass breaking-pierced the quiet. The acrid sting of

wolfsbane hit me next, sharp and unmistakable.

It filled the air like a poison cloud, heavy and suffocating.

"Wolfsbane!" the guard outside choked, his voice strangled before being silenced

of his body

My voice cut through the oppressive quiet,

screamed, startling

room like water

light, and their movements betrayed a

some desperate attack.

a blur of snarling teeth and flashing steel. My

was already there to replace him. They

voice, high and trembling, snapped me back to the bed. A hooded

my throat, raw and feral, as I threw myself

into the figure's shoulder, but even as they faltered, another rogue grabbed me from behind, their weight nearly taking

hand slicing blindly until I broke free. My

my lungs burned, but the rogues didn't

my voice cracking as desperation

But she didn't move.

her wide eyes shimmering with

surged toward her. I lunged, my blade finding its mark, but pain exploded in my back before I could

buckled. My vision blurred, and the

the fog of pain clouding

deadly purpose. But before he could reach her, Ryker stepped in, his small frame braced in defiance, shielding

Ryker shouted, his

usually full of childhood innocence, was now contorted in determination, his expression

terror gripping the room, despite the overwhelming size and strength of the rogue before

clutched a dagger, both

in

Too small. Too fragile. But

have my sister," he

amusement crossed the rogue's face-mocking, cruel. As if

game. As if my son was nothing more than

hesitation, the rogue

Fast. Brutal. Unforgiving.

struck Ryker with bone crushing force, his small body sent hurtling through the air like a ragdoll. The sound of his impact against the stone

sickening crack-shattered the

crumpled to the ground.

My scream was raw, ripping from my throat as I struggled against

body.

My son. My baby.

limbs betrayed me, heavy and sluggish from the poison searing through my

like wildfire, every movement a fresh wave

inch

my vision blurring.

stung my eyes. Breathe, baby.