Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart novel Chapter 367

Chapter 367

My blood ran cold. “Evidence meaning what? Shadows? Temperature drops?”

“Actual physical presence,” Zade replied grimly. “We set up the light-detection equipment after you told us about your experiences, and it triggered. By the time our response team got there, the nightwalker was already gone. But it had definitely been inside the lab, going through Lyn’s research notes.”

“Looking for what?” Lumina asked, leaning closer to the phone.

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out. Lyn thinks it might have been searching for information about his abilities-the healing factor, the gravity manipulation, all of it. Like they’re building profiles on enhanced individuals.”

“Building profiles for what purpose?” I asked, though I had a sinking feeling I already knew the answer.

“Recruitment or elimination,” Zade said flatly. “Either they want to force enhanced supernaturals to join whatever organization is backing them, or they want to identify and eliminate potential threats before they become problems. Either way, it’s bad.”

I ran a hand through my hair, feeling stress headache building behind my eyes. “We have one in our basement. A nightwalker. We

captured it almost two weeks ago.”

The silence on the other end of the line was deafening. Then: “I’m sorry, you what?”

‘Riley and Lake set a trap,” I explained, still not entirely sure how I felt about that particular incident. “Light prison in our reinforced basement cell. The nightwalker’s been contained there since, though it’s not talking.”

‘Jesus Christ, Xenois,” Zade breathed. “And you didn’t think to mention this?”

‘It’s been a hectic two weeks!” I protested. “Between integrating the kids into school, dealing with the Elder Council, managing pack security, and trying to figure out what the hell is going on, I haven’t exactly had time for social calls.”

“Fair enough,” Zade admitted. “But this is bigger than individual pack problems now. If nightwalkers are showing up in both our territories, actively infiltrating secure locations and gathering intelligence, we’re looking at a coordinated operation. This isn’t random. They’re planning something.”

“Agreed,” I said. “Which brings us to the question of what we do about it.”

“We need to bring in the other alphas,” Zade said. “All of them. Every pack in the region needs to know what we’re dealing with.”

“That’s twenty different territories,” Lumina pointed out. “Twenty different alphas, each with their own politics and priorities. Getting them all to cooperate is going to be-”

“Nearly impossible,” Zade finished. “Yeah, I’m aware. Especially since apparently you and I have become the region’s favorite outcasts.”

I frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Poetic,” I muttered. “So when we try to call a regional summit about nightwalkers, they’re going to assume it’s some kind of power

play or manipulation.”

‘Exactly. They’ll think we’re exaggerating the threat to gain sympathy, or that we’re trying to unite them against some fictional enemy so we can consolidate power, or half a dozen other conspiracy theories that will sound more plausible than the actual truth.”

“The actual truth being that ancient shadow creatures are conducting surveillance operations across multiple territories and probably planning something catastrophic,” I said flatly.

“Yeah, but try explaining that to Alpha Marcus, who thinks anything that can’t be solved with teeth and claws isn’t worth his time. Or Alpha Victoria, who’s so paranoid about outside interference that she barely lets her own scouts leave her territory. Or-

I get it, I interrupted. ‘This is going to be a nightmare.”

“That’s not even the worst part,” Zade continued, and I braced myself for whatever was coming. ‘Supernaturals have been showing up at Shadow City.”

I blinked. “Andy’s old base? I thought that place was abandoned after we took it down.”

“It was. But apparently word has gotten out about the… let’s call them ‘policy changes’ happening in our territories. Vampires, fae. werewitches, even some magical humans-they’re all congregating there, trying to figure out if this is real or some kind of trap.”