Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart novel Chapter 360

Chapter 360

“I’m aware,” I said calmly. “Which is why phase one happens simultaneously with phase two-harassment and distraction. We make them focus on immediate threats rather than long-term preparation. We hit soft targets, create chaos, force them to spread their resources thin trying to protect everything at once.”

“Define soft targets,” Victoria said warily.

“Pack businesses,” I said. “Facilities not directly connected to the Alpha family but still valuable to the pack economy. We cause financial damage, create fear among the pack members, make them question whether harboring those boys is worth the cost.”

“That’s going to turn the entire pack against us,” Thomas said. “Right now, the opposition is mostly the Alpha family and their immediate supporters. If we start attacking random pack members, we’ll unite them.”

“Good,” I said, and saw surprise ripple through the group. “Let them unite. Let them pour resources into protecting their territory.

Because while they’re focused on defense, we move to phase three-extraction and elimination.”

“Of the boys,” Helena said, understanding clicking into place. “We wait until they’re vulnerable, grab them quickly, and complete the

original mission.”

“Partially correct,” I said. “Yes, we extract the boys. But we don’t just take them back to what’s left of the facilities. We eliminate

them.”

That brought shocked silence. Even among nightwalkers-creatures who’d existed for centuries and done terrible things in service to

our various causes-killing children was considered extreme.

“They know too much, I explained, keeping my voice clinical and detached. “They’ve seen the facilities, they understand our operations, they’ve figured out our weaknesses. As long as they’re alive, they’re a threat not just to this mission but to everything we’ve built over decades. Andy created them as weapons, but now those weapons are pointed at us. The only logical solution is to destroy them

before they can do more damage.”

“Andy would never have approved this,” Marcus said quietly. “She saw those boys as her life’s work. Her legacy. She’d want them

recovered, not eliminated.”

“Andy is dead,” I said bluntly.

“Killed when the facilities were purged by those wolves, when Lake turned on her, saving those pathetic lives, when she was surrounded by her enemies, when her precious subjects turned on their creators and burned everything to the ground. Her preferences no longer matter. Only results matter. Only survival matters.”

“And what about Lazarus? Victoria asked. “How does killing the boys help us retrieve our brother?”

‘It doesn’t, directly,” I admitted.

18:59 Fri, Jan 30

Chapter 360

“But it removes their primary value to the pack. Right now, the Alpha and Luna are protecting Riley and Lake with everything they have. But if the boys are dead, their strategic value drops to zero. At that point, we can offer an exchange-we stop attacking the pack, we withdraw from the territory, we leave them alone. In return, they release Lazarus and agree to destroy the light prison technology.”

“You think they’d accept that?” Helena asked skeptically. “After we kill their children?”

“After we kill the children they’ve known for barely a week?” I countered. “Yes, I think they’d consider it. Because the alternative is continued war against an enemy they can’t easily fight, in a conflict that’s already cost them dearly. They’re emotionally attached, yes, but

they’re also pragmatic. They’ll choose the survival of their pack over vengeance for children who were never really theirs to begin with.

It was cold logic, the kind of ruthless calculation that had kept me alive for eight hundred years. But looking at the faces around me.

I could see the plan taking hold, could see ancient predators recognizing the brutal efficiency of what I was proposing.

“There’s a problem,” Thomas said slowly. “Several problems, actually. First, the boys won’t be easy to kill. Lake can portal anywhere, and Riley is brilliant at predicting attacks and creating countermeasures. Second, even if we succeed, we’re not guaranteed the pack will

negotiate. They might just redouble their efforts to destroy us.”

Comments

✔ LIKE

Write Comments

<SHARE