Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart novel Chapter 483

Chapter 483

LAKE

“Anything, Dad assured me.

‘Do you ever get scared? When bad things happen and you have to fix them?”

“All the time, Dad admitted. “Being alpha doesn’t mean not being afraid. It means being afraid but doing what needs to be done anyway.”

‘That’s what you said about being brave, I observed.

“Because they’re the same thing,” Dad said. “Bravery and leadership both require acting despite fear. The fear doesn’t go away just because you’re in charge. You just learn to work with it instead of letting it stop you.”

I thought about that. About Dad being scared but still being alpha. About me being scared but still opening portals to help Uncle Thorne.

Maybe we were more similar than I’d realized.

“I love you, Dad,” I said.

it.”

I love you too, Lake,” he said, hugging me tight. “So much. And I’m so grateful you’re safe and that you were brave enough to help when people needed

We went back to the kitchen where Riley and Ollie were now arguing about something involving mathematical probability and tactical optimization. Normal brother stuff, even if the topics were weird.

“Everything okay?” Mom asked, appearing from somewhere. She always seemed to know when we needed her.

“Everything’s okay,” I confirmed.

“Good,” she said, then looked at all three of us seriously. “I know yesterday was scary. And I know you all handled it incredibly well. But I also want you to understand that it’s okay to be upset or worried or to have feelings about what happened. You don’t have to be tough all the time.”

‘We know, Ollie said.

“Do you?’ Mom challenged gently. ‘Because I see three little boys who’ve been through trauma and who are trying very hard to be strong and capable. And while I’m proud of that, I also want to make sure you know it’s safe to not be strong sometimes. To be scared or upset or just need comfort

Riley looked uncomfortable with this conversation. He didn’t like talking about feelings much. But Ollie climbed into Mom’s lap immediately, like hed

been waiting for permission.

‘I was scared,’ Ollie admitted. “When the lights went out and there was shouting. I thought the bad people were going to hurt everyone

“That’s a completely reasonable fear,” Mom said, holding him close. And it’s okay to be scared. What matters is that you’re safe now and that were all

together.’

I had to calculate nineteen different possible outcomes before identifying the optimal response strategy, Riley said quietly. That was stressful.”

“I bet it was,” Mom agreed, reaching out to include him in the hug despite his usual discomfort with physical affection. You did amazing work, Riley.

1/2

11:22 am P

Chapter 483

But you also don’t have to carry that responsibility alone.”

“Someone had to assess the situation, Riley protested.

And you did, Mom said. ‘But next time-if there is a next time-maybe tell an adult what you’re planning before implementing emergency protocols. So we can support you instead of you handling everything yourself.”

“That’s… reasonable, Riley conceded.

I joined the hug because even though I was supposed to be the brave one who helped save everyone, I was also still five and scared and really wanted

my mom.

We stayed like that for a while, all of us together, safe in our kitchen while the adult werewolves dealt with prisoner interrogations and security

investigations and all the complicated alpha stuff.

Eventually we had to break apart because Grandma showed up with fresh cookies and very strong opinions about proper nutrition after traumatic

events.

“Cookies have sugar which provides immediate energy and comfort, she declared, setting down a huge plate. “Scientifically proven to help with stress. I

read a study. Probably.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify