Reclaiming My Broken Luna by Selene Souchon

Chapter 430: A Price to Pay

Astrid's POV

The walls of the Packhouse had never felt so suffocating.

Days had passed since Elara was taken, but time had lost all meaning.

The world outside moved on, but inside these walls, inside this nightmare, everything was frozen-suspended in a relentless cycle of fear, exhaustion, and waiting.

Waiting for news. Waiting for a sign. Waiting for something, anything, to bring my daughter back.

But all I had were the heavy, sinking hours in between, where every breath felt like a struggle, where every shadow in the room felt like it was closing in on me.

Ryker's condition wasn't improving.

If anything, he was getting worse.

He barely spoke. He barely ate. When he did sleep, it was restless and fitful, his small hands gripping the sheets as if he were still in battle, as if he were still fighting off the monsters that had stolen his sister.

Every time he closes his eyes to sleep, he wakes up screaming his sister's name, tormented by nightmares.

Ryker is blaming himself for what happened to his sister, worsening his health.

And I... I was barely surviving.

I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Elara's terrified face, her small hands reaching

for me, the way her screams had echoed as she was ripped from my grasp.

I had failed her.

I had failed both of them.

I sat by Ryker's bedside, my fingers brushing through his damp hair, pushing it away from his forehead.

His skin was clammy, his breathing too shallow for my liking.

"Ryker," I whispered, my voice hoarse from days of disuse.

His lashes fluttered, but he didn't open his eyes.

I looked down at his hand resting in mine, so small, so fragile, and I felt the weight

easily I could lose

escaped me, and I pressed

here," I murmured. "I promise I won't

broke through my thoughts. "You can't keep going like

didn't need to. I knew that

Killian.

the only one keeping

the one making sure the warriors stayed on high alert, the one taking care of the Pack, the one managing the chaos I no longer had

also suffering just like us, ridden by guilt and anxiety, but he had

was the one trying

exhaustion in his voice, the weight of his own grief pressing into every

couldn't afford to

Ryker's. "He's getting worse," I

“Because he's

That made me flinch.

lied, my voice

Killian exhaled heavily. "Astrid."

eyes. "I don't care about me, Killian. I care

over my wrist. "And how do you think Ryker feels watching you like this?

swimming with unshed tears. "What else am I supposed to do?" My

out there, scared, alone. What

QUMS

and he reached up to cup my cheek, his warmth grounding

Astrid," he

her mother. And Ryker needs

My chest tightened painfully.

he

I wasn't doing anyone

crushing weight of

brushing my fingers

just want this to

squeezed my hand. "It

could respond, the door

grim, his presence enough to send my heart into a

Something had happened.

stood immediately, his body

back on Killian. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a folded

he said quietly.

inside me

his jaw tightening as he unfolded

words quickly, his entire body