Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart novel Chapter 263

Chapter 263

RILEY

The sound of the explosion shook dust from the ceiling above us, and I knew Immediately what it meant. They had come for Lyn. After everything that had happened, after all the lies and betrayals, the people who had taken me from Mama Sophia were here to finish what they’d started.

“We need to go,” I said urgently, my hands working at the chains that held Lyn to the medical table, Lake was already moving beside me, his own fingers flying over the locks with the practiced efficiency Andy had drilled into both of us. “Now, before they find us.”

Lake’s face was set in grim determination as he freed Lyn’s wrists. The healer’s skin was a map of fresh scars that would fade thanks to his abilities, but the trauma in his eyes would take much longer to heal. “Can you walk?” Lake asked him, his voice flat and clinical,

“I think so,” Lyn replied weakly, struggling to sit up. His healing powers had kept him alive through Lake’s work, but they couldn’t erase the exhaustion that came from hours of constant regeneration.

I helped Lyn to his feet, supporting his weight as we moved toward the door. Every instinct I possessed was screaming at me to run, to get as far away from this place as possible before the fighting reached us. Lake and I could disappear into the shadows, find somewhere safe to hide until all of this was over.

But as we reached the doorway, Lyn’s hand closed around my wrist with surprising strength.

“Riley, wait,” he said, his voice urgent despite his weakened state. “You can’t leave. Not like this.”

I tried to pull away, but his grip tightened. “I have to. They killed Mama Sophia. They lied to me about everything. I can’t go back to people who murdered the only mother I ever knew.”

“That’s not true,” Lyn insisted, his healing abilities allowing him to hold on despite everything Lake had done to him. “Your family loves you. Lumina, Xenois, Ollie – they’ve been searching for you since the moment you disappeared. They want you to come home.”

“Home?” The word tasted bitter in my mouth. “You mean the place where they pretended to care about me while plotting to destroy the woman who raised me? Where they hid the truth about what they’d done?”

I could see Lake growing agitated beside me, his dark eyes darting between Lyn and the door. He understood what was happening – Lyn was trying to convince me to abandon him again, just like everyone else had done. Just like I’d done when I’d been taken to Silver Creek.

“Riley, listen to me,” Lyn continued desperately. “Sophia hurt people. She hurt you. The things she did to you, the training, the conditioning – that wasn’t love. That was abuse designed to turn you into a weapon.”

“She protected me!” I shouted, my voice cracking with emotion. “She kept me safe when everyone else abandoned me!”

“She manipulated you,” Lyn replied gently. “She made you believe that violence and obedience were the only ways to survive. But

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Chapter 263

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that’s not true. You have a choice now. You can choose to be something different.”

Lake had heard enough. In one fluid motion, he grabbed one of his torture scalpels from the nearby medical tray and drove it deep into Lyn’s hand. The healer cried out in pain and surprise, his grip on my wrist loosening as blood welled around the blade.

“Lake!” I stared at him in shock. “What are you doing?”

“What I have to do,” Lake replied coldly, pulling me toward the door as Lyn clutched his wounded hand. “He was trying to turn you against me. Just like everyone else does.”

“But he’s hurt-”

“He’ll heal,” Lake interrupted. “That’s what he does. Now come on, before they find us.”

I hesitated for a moment, looking back at Lyn as his healing abilities began to close the wound Lake had inflicted. The look in his eyes wasn’t anger or fear it was disappointment. Disappointment in me for choosing to run instead of facing the truth about my situation.

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94

But Lake was right. Everyone always tried to turn me against the people who actually cared about me. First it had been Sophia they’d wanted me to abandon, and now it was Lake. I wouldn’t make that mistake again.

We reached the door just as it exploded inward, the metal frame buckling under some tremendous force. A nightwalker came through the opening like a missile, its twisted form moving with inhuman speed as it searched for targets. Lake reacted instantly, shoving me to the side as the creature’s claws raked across his chest, sending both of them crashing into the far wall.

I watched in horror as Lake struggled with the nightwalker, his smaller frame no match for the creature’s supernatural strength. But before I could move to help him, strong hands grabbed me from behind.

“Riley!” The voice was familiar, filled with relief and desperate love. “Thank God, I found you.”

I spun around to find myself looking into the face of Xenois – the man who claimed to be my father. The man whose pack had murdered Mama Sophia and then lied to me about it. Rage filled my chest like molten metal.

“Let go of me!” I screamed, struggling against his grip. “I don’t want anything to do with you!”

“Riley, it’s okay,” he said, his voice gentle despite the chaos erupting around us. “You’re safe now. We’re going to take you home.”

“This isn’t my home!” I shouted back. “You killed her! You killed Mama Sophia and then pretended like you cared about me!”

I could see the pain in his eyes, but I didn’t care. He’d made his choice when he’d decided that his version of justice was more important than my family. He had chosen what he felt was more important, and now it was time for me to choose Lake, the only one I

had left in this world.

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Reborn From Regret A Second Chance at Luna’s Heart