Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart novel Chapter 177

Chapter 177

LYNN

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I woke up to the sensation of cold stone beneath my cheek and a splitting headache that felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my skull. For a moment, I couldn’t remember where I was or how I’d gotten there, but as consciousness slowly returned, the events of the previous night came flooding back in horrifying detail.

The elders. The captive witches. The crushing pain in my chest as magical hands squeezed my heart nearly to the point of stopping. The look of cold satisfaction on Simon’s face as he watched us writhing in agony on the hospital floor.

I pushed myself up to a sitting position, my head spinning from the movement, and took in my surroundings. Stone walls, iron bars, the musty smell of dampness and despair – we were in the pack dungeons, the place where they kept prisoners awaiting trial or

execution.

Beside me, Lumina was still unconscious, her face pale and drawn even in sleep. I reached out and shook her shoulder gently, not wanting to startle her but needing to know she was okay.

“Lumina,” I whispered urgently. “Wake up. We need to figure out what’s happening.”

Her eyes fluttered open slowly, confusion clouding her features before memory returned and her expression shifted to panic. “Lynn? Where are we? What happened to Ollie?”

“We’re in the dungeons,” I said grimly, helping her sit up against the stone wall. “The elders took us after they found out about Lyn helping your son. I don’t know what happened to Ollie or Lyn or Zade.”

The mention of my twin brother’s name sent a spike of terror through my chest. Lyn had been unconscious when they’d taken him, weak and bleeding from the magical working he’d performed. In his condition, he’d be completely defenseless against whatever they were

planning to do to him.

I scrambled to my feet and rushed to the iron bars that separated us from the corridor beyond. “Hey!” I shouted at the guard sitting at a desk about twenty feet away. “Let us out of here! I demand to speak to Alpha Zade immediately!”

The guard didn’t even look up from the paperwork he was reading. “Quiet down in there, he said in a bored tone. “We’re under strict orders not to listen to anything you have to say.”

I grabbed the bars and shook them, the metal clanging loudly in the confined space. “I’m the acting Luna of this pack! You can’t just

ignore me!”

‘You’re a prisoner awaiting trial,” the guard replied calmly. “Your authority means nothing down here.”

I felt panic rising in my throat as the reality of our situation really hit me. We weren’t just being detained for questioning – we were being treated like criminals, like enemies of the pack. Whatever was happening above ground, it was serious enough that even my position

as Luna couldn’t protect me.

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19:58 Mon, Jan 26

Chapter 177

‘Where’s Zade?” I demanded, but the guard had already returned his attention to his papers, clearly done with our conversation.

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I slumped back against the stone wall beside Lumina, who was staring at the ceiling with tears streaming down her face. “He’ll come for us, she said quietly, more to herself than to me. “Zade wouldn’t let this happen. He knows Lyn was trying to save Ollie’s life.”

I wanted to share her optimism, but years of watching Zade struggle with his feelings about my twin had taught me not to put too much faith in his protective instincts where Lyn was concerned. “I don’t know, Lumina,” I said honestly. “Zade has never fully accepted

Lyn. Now that Lyn has broken pack law, publicly and obviously… I doubt Zade will interfere.”

The look of devastation that crossed her face made me wish I’d kept that thought to myself, but lying to her wouldn’t help anyone. We needed to face the reality of our situation if we had any hope of surviving it.

The hours crawled by with agonizing slowness. Neither of us had any way to tell time in the windowless dungeon, but eventually the

quality of light filtering down from the upper levels suggested that it was late afternoon. My stomach was cramping with hunger, and my

throat was parched from thirst, but no one had come to offer us food or water.

Then, finally, we heard footsteps echoing from the stairwell that led down to the dungeons. Multiple sets of footsteps, moving with

the measured pace of people on official business.

I immediately rushed back to the bars, hope and terror warring in my chest as I waited to see who was coming. When the group

finally came into view, my heart nearly stopped.

Zade was there, but he wasn’t alone. Beside him walked three of the elders from the night before – Simon, who had orchestrated our capture, along with Matthias and Gerald. All three were elderly men with stern faces and eyes that held no warmth or compassion, the kind of pack leaders who valued tradition and law above everything else.

“Zade!” I called out, gripping the bars so tightly my knuckles went white. “Thank god you’re here. Where’s Lyn? Is he okay?”

Zade’s expression was carefully neutral as he approached our cell, but I could see the strain around his eyes, the tension in his shoulders that suggested he was fighting some internal battle. When he spoke, his voice was formal and distant, nothing like the man I’d

known for years.

‘Lyn is under investigation,” he said without meeting my eyes. “He’s unconscious and being kept in isolation until he’s well enough to

stand trial.”

Simon stepped forward with a cold smile that made my skin crawl. “Alpha Zade has learned his lesson,” he said smugly. “He’s promised to personally oversee Lyn’s prosecution tomorrow morning in front of the entire pack.”

I felt the blood drain from my face as his words sank in. “Zade, tell me that’s not true,” I whispered, searching his face for some sign

that this was all a terrible misunderstanding.

But Zade finally met my eyes, and what I saw there made my heart break into a thousand pieces. “It’s the right thing to do,” he said quietly. “Lyn broke the law. He used witchcraft on pack territory, endangered innocent people with his magic. Justice has to be served.”

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Reborn From Regret A Second Chance at Luna’s Heart