Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart novel Chapter 438

Chapter 438

ZADE

“Grandma and Grandpa have been sleeping almost the whole time,” Ollie said innocently. “I’ve been keeping watch to make sure they’re okay.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” Lumina said, moving to check on them. “That’s very responsible of you.”

I caught Lyn’s eye and saw him struggling not to laugh. We’d just witnessed Samuel and Silvia teach their grandson how to lie to his parents, drink alcohol, cheat at poker, and cover up their questionable behavior.

And somehow, it was the most wholesome thing I’d seen in weeks.

Because underneath all the chaos and the inappropriate life lessons and the absolutely terrible grandparenting choices, there was genuine love. Samuel and Silvia adored Ollie, and he adored them right back. They’d risked everything to try to protect their family. They’d survived captivity and torture and nearly dying because they refused to give up.

They were complicated people with checkered pasts and questionable judgment, but they were trying. And in their own chaotic way, they were teaching Ollie valuable lessons.

Maybe not the lessons Xenois and Lumina would prefer he learn, but valuable nonetheless.

“We should let you rest more,” Xenois was saying. “Do you need anything? Water? Food? More painkillers?”

“We’re fine,” Silvia assured him. “Just going to lie here quietly and heal. Very boring. Very responsible.”

“So responsible,” Samuel echoed.

“Okay,” Xenois said, clearly not entirely convinced but willing to let it go. “Lumina and I need to look at those documents

you stole. Figure out what Jerome was planning.”

“They’re in the study,” Samuel said, “We had Carol organize them last night when we couldn’t sleep.”

“You couldn’t sleep but you didn’t call for Lynn to check on you?” Lumina asked suspiciously.

“We didn’t want to bother anyone,” Silvia said sweetly. “So we just… lay here. Quietly. Thinking about how grateful we are

to be alive.”

I watched Xenois study his parents, clearly sensing something was off but unable to figure out exactly what.

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“Right,” he said slowly. “Well, if you need anything-”

‘We’ll call immediately,” Samuel promised.

“Good.”

Xenois and Lumina headed toward the study, leaving the room in what they probably thought was peace and quiet.

The moment they were out of earshot, Silvia’s expression shifted back to mischievous.

“That was close,” she stage-whispered to Ollie. “Good job playing along.”

“Why don’t you want Dad to know you’re feeling better?” Ollie asked.

“Because if he knows we’re feeling better, he’ll expect us to behave responsibly,” Silvia explained. “But if he thinks we’re

still recovering, we can get away with fun stuff. Like teaching you inappropriate life skills.”

“That’s manipulative,” Lyn observed.

“That’s survival,” Silvia corrected. “We didn’t live through the territorial wars by being honest about our capabilities. We

survived by making enemies underestimate us.”

“Xenois isn’t your enemy,” I pointed out.

“No, but he’s our son,” Samuel said. “Which means he’s genetically predisposed to worry about us and try to make us

behave. We have to maintain some level of mystery and misbehavior or he’ll smother us with care.”

“You two are impossible,” I said, but I was smiling.

“We prefer ‘entertaining,” Silvia said. “Now, Ollie, where were we? Oh yes, teaching you how to spot when someone’s

cheating at cards. Watch carefully. Your grandfather is about to demonstrate a terrible shuffle technique that he thinks is

subtle.”

“I’ll have you know my shuffle is perfectly subtle,” Samuel protested.

“You literally just dropped three cards,” Silvia pointed out.

“That was intentional! I’m teaching Ollie to watch for tells!”

“You’re teaching Ollie that you’re bad at sleight of hand.”

I left them to their bickering, pulling Lyn with me toward the kitchen where I could hear others starting to gather for

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breakfast.

“They’re insane,” Lyn said.

“Completely, I agreed.

“But kind of wonderful?”

“Also yes.”

We found the kitchen full of people-warriors recovering from last night’s battle, children who’d participated in an

operation they definitely shouldn’t have been part of, and Carol attempting to coordinate breakfast for what had to be at least

twenty people.

Riley and Lake were at the table, both looking significantly more rested than they had last night. Shawn was helping Carol

with something at the stove, his movements tentative like he still wasn’t sure he belonged here.

“Morning,” Riley said when he saw us. “How’s Grandma?”

“Teaching Ollie poker and giving him rum,” I reported.

“Of course she is,” Riley said, completely unsurprised. “That’s very on-brand for her.”

“You’re five,” Lyn said. “You shouldn’t be familiar enough with your grandmother’s behavior to have identified her brand.”

“I’m five but I’m not stupid,” Riley countered. “Grandma’s brand is chaos with a side of questionable judgment. It’s been

consistent my whole life.”

“Your whole life is five years,” I pointed out.

“Long enough to spot patterns.”

Lake was giggling at his brother’s sass, his earlier trauma from watching his grandmother nearly die apparently processed

enough that he could enjoy morning humor.

These kids were resilient in ways that constantly surprised me.

“Where’s Lynn?” I asked, looking around for Lyn’s twin.

“Guest room with Rivers, Carol said. “They’ve been up for hours going over the intelligence documents Samuel and Silvia

stole. Apparently Jerome was planning something much bigger than just kidnapping former alphas.”

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“How much bigger?” I asked, my good mood evaporating.

“Regional uprising bigger,” Carol said grimly. “Coordinated attacks on progressive leaders across multiple territories. The Blackwood kidnapping was just the opening move.”

“Fuck,” I breathed.

“That’s bad language,” Lake said primly.

“That’s an accurate assessment of the situation,” I corrected.

Lyn squeezed my hand, offering silent support. “We’ll figure it out. We stopped the kidnapping, rescued Samuel and Silvia, and now we have their intelligence. We’re ahead of Jerome instead of behind him.”

“For now,” I said. “But he escaped. He’s still out there, still planning, still coordinating his coalition.”

“Then we plan better,” Lyn said firmly. “We use the intelligence we have, we coordinate with other alphas, and we make sure Jerome can’t execute whatever scheme he’s developing.”

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