Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart novel Chapter 379

Chapter 379

LUMINA

And they thought my sons were damaged weapons who should be locked away.

I moved through the rest of my shopping list mechanically, barely seeg what I was putting in my cart. Groceries, household items, the special ingredients I’d planned to use for tonight’s celebratory dinner-none of it seemed to matter anymore.

“Luna Lumina,” a soft voice said, and I looked up to find Mrs. Chen standing in front of me again, her expression troubled.

*I… I wanted to apologize. For earlier. For being weird when I saw you I’ve heard the gossip, and I didn’t know what to say, so I just… avoided saying anything. But that was wrong.”

I studied her face, looking for signs of deception or manipulation. But all I saw was genuine discomfort and what looked like actual

remorse.

“You don’t agree with them?” I asked carefully. “With what they’re saying about my family?”

“No,” Mrs. Chen said firmly. “My daughter goes to school with Lake. She came home last week talking about how nice he was, how he helped her when she dropped her books and some of the other kids were laughing. She said he was ‘like magic’ but in a good way. Made her

feel better when she was embarrassed.”

She paused, seeming to gather her courage.

“My husband is a werewitch too. He doesn’t advertise it-we’ve learned that’s safer-but watching your family accept Lake so openly,

watching you fight for him to be treated equally… it gives us hope. Hope that maybe our daughter won’t have to hide what she is when her

abilities manifest. Hope that this pack might actually become somewhere safe for people like us.”

I felt something in my chest ease slightly. Not all of it-the anger and hurt from the earlier confrontation were still there, still raw. But

knowing that at least some pack members supported what we were trying to do helped.

“Thank you,” I said quietly. “For telling me that. For giving me perspective beyond the gossip.”

“There are more of us than you might think,” Mrs. Chen said. “People who are glad about the changes, who want the pack to evolve. We’re

just… quieter. We don’t organize in grocery stores or spread our opinions through gossip networks. But we’re here. And we support you.”

She squeezed my arm gently and then moved away, leaving me standing in the middle of the aisle feeling slightly less like the entire pack had turned against us.

But only slightly.

Because the truth was that the gossips were louder. They were more dganized. They had the backing of traditionalist elders and the weight of centuries of precedent. And they were terrified-of change, of difference, of the possibility that the world they’d known was being replaced by something they couldn’t control.

I finished my shopping in a daze, checking out and loading bags into my car with mechanical efficiency. The drive home was a blur, my mind replaying the confrontation over and over, picking apart every word and looking for mistakes I’d made or things I should have said differently.

By the time I pulled into our driveway, I’d worked myself into a state of barely controlled fury mixed with deep, aching hurt.

Xenois met me at the door, clearly picking up on my emotional state through our mate bond. “What happened?”

“Grocery store,” I said, my voice tight.

“Gossip. About the kids, about your leadership, about your parents. All of it horrible and cruel and apparently widely believed.”

His expression darkened. “What did they say?”

I told him. Every word I could remember, every vicious implication and casual cruelty. By the time I finished, his wolf was visible in his

eyes, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

*I’m calling an emergency pack meeting,” he said flatly. “Tonight. We’re addressing this directly.”

“Xenois-

“No,” he interrupted, his alpha authority making the word absolute. “I will not have pack members gossiping about institutionalizing our children. I will not tolerate speculation about my parents’ disapproval or questions about my fitness to lead being spread through rumor networks instead of brought to me directly. This ends now.”

I wanted to argue, to point out that forcing a confrontation might make things worse. But looking at my mate’s face, at the protective fury burning in his eyes, I knew there was no talking him out of this.

And honestly? I didn’t want to.

Because he was right. This needed to end. And if that meant dragging every ugly opinion and fear and prejudice into the open where we

could address it directly, then so be it.

“I’ll start making calls,” I said quietly. “Get everyone to the pack house for tonight.”

“Good,” Xenois said, pulling me into his arms. “And Lumina? You did nothing wrong. The way you handled those women, the way you defended our family-I’m proud of you.”

I buried my face against his chest, breathing in his familiar scent and letting his strength steady me. “They want to lock our children away, Xenois. They think Riley and Lake are damaged weapons who don’t belong here.”

“Then we’ll show them exactly how wrong they are,” he said, his voice vibrating with determination. “Starting tonight.”

I nodded, pulling myself together and stepping back. There was work do-calls to make, a meeting to organize, a pack to educate about exactly what kind of Luna I was when my family was threatened.

But first, I needed to check on the boys. To make sure they were okay, that they hadn’t somehow picked up on the ugliness happening around them. That they still felt safe and loved and wanted despite what a portion of the pack apparently believed.

Because that’s what mattered. Not the gossips or the traditionalists or even the Elder Council.

My family. My children. My pack’s future.

And I would fight anyone-absolutely anyone-who tried to take that way from us.