Rise Of A Shattered Luna (Natalie) by Kave Derry novel Chapter 18

Jensen’s POV

The guard didn’t knock.

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He burst into my office like he was being chased. I stood instantly, scanning behind him.

“Alpha,” he said, breathing so hard I thought he would collapse. “There’s a woman on the civilian emergency line, and she’s insisting on speaking to you.”

I looked up. “Explain.”

“She wouldn’t explain,” he said.

“Who is she?” I asked, sitting back down.

“She found someone,” he continued anyway. “On the eastern ridge, unconscious. She says it wasn’t an accident, and she mentioned something about ritual markings.”

That made my hand still.

Civilian reports were usually noise or misinterpretation, but people didn’t use the word “ritual” unless something had truly unsettled them.

“How did she get this number?” I asked. T

“She didn’t,” the guard replied. “She flagged emergency dispatch. They escalated it when she described the markings and location.”

Eastern ridge.

I stood again.

“Where is the victim now?”

“They’re diverting her to the pack hospital. Intake’s already moving.”

“Clear the perimeter,” I said. “And get out.”

The guard didn’t ask questions. He turned and left at once.

29

The moment the door shut, I stepped away from the desk and loosened my jacket.

“We have to go check it out,” Cairn said calmly. “Something seems wrong.

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“I know.”

“Ritual markings don’t confirm rites,” Cairn said.

“No.” I agreed.

“But who would dare perform a ritual?”

“I don’t know, but I guess we’re about to find out

“We’re wasting time.”

I didn’t answer. I was already moving.

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I stepped onto the balcony outside my office and didn’t bother looking around. No one would be foolish enough to be nearby.

I let Cairn take over as my bones cracked, the world tilted and sharpened as my skin tore away, and Cairn surged forward with me, seamless and familiar.

The ground rushed beneath us as we landed and ran.

The night air cut clean and cold, filling our lungs. The forest blurred, every sound sharpened.

“Felix… meet me at the pack hospital now,” I mindlinked my beta as I sped off.

We didn’t slow until the lights came into view.

I shifted back just beyond the boundary, skin reforming with practiced ease. There was no shame in nakedness among wolves; it was simply the body returning to its shape.

The nurse barely glanced up as I took the folded shorts from the emergency rack and pulled them on.

“Alpha,” she said, already moving again.

“Where?” I asked.

“Emergency wing.

The hospital was alive with motion as healers moved fast but controlled.

I intercepted one as she passed.

“Who was brought in?” I asked.

“Female,” she replied. “Found unconscious on the ridge.”

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“Condition?”

“Severe spiritual trauma.”

“Cause?”

She hesitated. “Undetermined.”

Good.

That meant no one had decided yet.

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I followed her toward the ward, my steps measured, my instincts tight beneath my skin. I had seen ritual damages before, from reckless magic to punishments.

This could still be something else.

“Stay present,” Cairn murmured.

“I am.”

The doors slid open.

The gurney was already inside.

I looked around at where the faint familiar scent was coming from but turned my attention back to the gurney.

For a moment, she was just a body under harsh light,

Then I saw her hand.

The markings weren’t wounds, nor were they cuts or burns. They glimmered faintly beneath the skin, silver paths etched along spiritual channels I knew by heart.

Something about the markings made Cairn go still.

My breath caught. Who would do this to her?

I stepped closer before I could stop myself.

Her face turned slightly as a healer adjusted the gurney.

Natalie.

My hand closed around the rail hard enough that the metal hummed.

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“When was she found?” I asked, barely keeping Cairn still.

“We’re not sure,” the healer replied. “Several hours, at least.”

“Is it wither–chill?” I asked carefully, hoping I was wrong.

She didn’t answer immediately.

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“We can’t confirm that,” she said carefully. “We need to get the pack witch to confirm that.”

That should have steadied me, but it didn’t.

Because I was staring at the markings.

And it woke terrible memories. I had seen this before.

Once.

A rogue, years ago, was brought in too late. The same markings on his hands and the same

core.

Her scent was wrong. No paper, no honeyed ink

“You recognize it,” Cairn said.

“Yes.”

“But Natalie doesn’t have a wolf.”

“I know.”

“Which means this shouldn’t present the same way.”

“I know.”

My gaze dropped back to her face; her skin was too pale. Her breathing shallow.

What was she doing out there? I asked myself, trying to keep myself from lashing out.

“If it’s not wither–chill,” I said, “what else could cause this?”

The healer shook her head. “No idea, I can’t feel her wolf.”

“She doesn’t have a wolf,” I answered.

“But I can feel her core… it’s muted.”

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“Muted?” Cairn asked.

Muted meant something had been forced quiet,

My jaw tightened.

“But she isn’t bonded,” I said. “No wolf, no pack.

“Yes,” the healer replied. “Which complicates things.”

That was an understatement.

They moved her deeper into the ward. I stepped back, forcing myself to release the rail. My hands shook once before I curled them into fists.

This wasn’t random.

Ritual damage like this required knowledge, patience, and proximity.

“Lock down the eastern ridge,” I said to the nearest guard. “Pull movement logs, vehicle records, patrol routes, and nearby security footage.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

*******

My phone vibrated, a message from pack security.

“There is no footage found, but a hobbyist was recording the sunset near the outskirts hours ago, and you need to see this.”

Drone footage.

The video was unsteady, amateur, but clear enough.

My Maybach.

A masked man pulling Natalie into a clearing.

Then the man paused, lifting his hands to adjust something on his face.

He removed the mask.

“Clark.”