Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart novel Chapter 368

Chapter 368

XENOIS

“A trap? Lumina asked.

“Think about it from their perspective,” Zade said. “For decades, maybe longer, most pack territories have been hostile to non- werewolf supernaturals. Werewitches especially have been marginalized or outright exiled. Then suddenly two major alphas start claiming they’re opening their territories to everyone? It sounds too good to be true. Like a setup to identify and capture anyone desperate enough

to believe it.”

I hadn’t thought about it that way, but he was right. If I’d spent years hiding my nature or living in exile because of what I was, I’d be suspicious of sudden acceptance too.

“So we have frightened supernaturals gathering at a former terrorist base, trying to figure out if we’re legitimate or dangerous,” I summarized. “That’s not going to cause any problems at all.”

“Oh, it gets better,” Zade said, and I could hear him moving around, probably pacing like he did when he was agitated. ‘Some of them have started organizing. Not aggressively, but they’re forming groups, establishing leadership structures, preparing for the possibility that they might need to defend themselves. If we don’t handle this right, we could end up with an entirely separate power structure in the region. One that sees traditional packs as enemies.”

“Jesus Christ,” I breathed, suddenly understanding the full scope of what we were dealing with. It wasn’t just nightwalkers hunting enhanced children. It was a complete upheaval of the regional supernatural hierarchy, with frightened refugees, suspicious alphas, ancient predators, and us caught in the middle trying to prevent everything from exploding into open warfare.

‘I can’t even get the Elder Council to fully accept one werewitch child,’ I said, hearing the exhaustion in my own voice. ‘How am I supposed to convince them to welcome entire populations of supernaturals? Or to work with other alphas who think I’ve lost my mind? Or to take the nightwalker threat seriously when they already think I’m being paranoid?”

“Same way I’m doing it,” Zade replied. “One crisis at a time, with lots of ibuprofen and the occasional urge to fake my own death and move to a tropical island.” now.’

Despite everything, I felt a laugh bubble up. ‘Is that option still on the table? Because tropical island is sounding really good right

“If I find one that’ll take us, you’re the first person I’m calling,’ Zade said. Then his tone shifted back to serious. But in the meantime, we need to deal with reality. Which means we need to figure out how to build a coalition of alphas who mostly hate us, integrate refugee supernaturals who don’t trust us, and counter nightwalkers we can barely detect. All while our own territories are questioning our leadership and someone is actively working to undermine our credibility.”

“When you put it like that, it sounds almost impossible, Lumina said dryly.

“Almost,” Zade agreed. “Which means it’s exactly the kind of stupid, complicated, probably-going-to-get-us-killed plan that seems to be our specialty. Xenois, remember that time you thought you could take on three alphas in a territorial dispute and somehow won through sheer stubborn refusal to lose?”

“That was different, I protested. “I had surprise on my side and they underestimated me.”

The silence on the other end lasted long enough that I wondered if I’d lost the connection. Then: “That’s either brilliant or the most politically radioactive idea you’ve ever had. Possibly both.”

It solves multiple problems at once,” I argued, warming to the concept. “It gives the refugees legitimacy and protection without forcing individual alphas to accept populations they’re not ready for. It creates a buffer organization that can help mediate between traditional packs and emerging supernatural groups. And it gives us allies who have a vested interest in the new system working.”

“It also completely rewrites the power structure of the region,” Zade pointed out. “The Elder Councils will lose their minds. Half the alphas will see it as a direct threat to their authority. And if it fails, we’ll have created an armed supernatural coalition with no allegiance

to anyone.”

‘As opposed to letting them organize independently with no oversight or communication channels?” Lumina interjected. At least this way we have some influence and input. At least we can try to build something cooperative instead of adversarial.”

“She’s got a point,” Zade admitted. “Though I’m not looking forward to the conversation where I explain to my elders that I’m recognizing a supernatural coalition headquartered in a former terrorist base as a legitimate political entity.”

“Look on the bright side,” I said. “After that conversation, dealing with nightwalkers will seem easy.”