Reclaiming My Broken Luna (Astrid and Killian) novel Chapter 296

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.

It didn’t matter to me if Ryker was taken by the rogues, or even if he was dead.

As harsh and unthinkable as it sounded, the only thing I truly cared about in this moment was Hazel.

My mind raced with images of her — alone, lost, or worse, caught in the crossfire of the rogue attack.

The panic I had pretended to feel moments ago was now real, but not for Ryker.

He was just a pawn in the game I was playing. If he was lost, the pack might mourn, but life would go on. I would go on.

But Hazel — she was my blood, my daughter, my future. Her safety was the only thing that truly mattered.

I couldn’t lose her. I wouldn’t. The thought of something happening to her twisted my insides in a way that Ryker’s absence never could.

“Ryker, are you hurt?” I asked him in a soft voice as I pulled away from the hug and took a good look at him.

He is completely fine. He looks exactly like before he was lured to the woods.