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

The thud of his body hitting the

voice cut through

startling

into the room like water seeping through

in the faint light, and their movements betrayed a

some desperate attack.

a blur of snarling teeth and flashing steel. My dagger met him halfway, carving a line through

there to replace him. They kept coming,

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

my throat, raw and

even as they faltered, another rogue grabbed me from behind,

my hand slicing blindly until I

my lungs burned, but the rogues

run!" I shouted, my voice cracking as desperation

But she didn't move.

with tears, locked

I lunged, my blade finding its mark, but pain exploded in my back

through my flesh. My knees buckled. My vision blurred, and the world around me warped

scream sliced through the fog

But before he could reach her, Ryker stepped

alone!" Ryker shouted,

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

gripping the room, despite the overwhelming size and

dagger, both

it in front of

Too

let you have my sister," he said,

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

As if my son was nothing more than an

hesitation, the rogue

Fast. Brutal. Unforgiving.

small body sent hurtling through

sickening crack-shattered

to

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

body.

My son. My baby.

my limbs betrayed me, heavy and sluggish from

of my wound burned like wildfire, every

dragging myself inch by inch

vision blurring. He

my eyes. Breathe, baby. Please