Rise Of A Shattered Luna (Natalie) by Kave Derry novel Chapter 22

Chapter 22 Fire In The Bones

Chapter 22 Fire In The Bones

Sharon’s POV

The nurse froze before I even opened my mouth.

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Her eyes widened, and her body stiffened, like she was carved from stone. I could read the fear in her shoulders and even the tiny tremor in her fingers.

Dr. Johnson followed behind her, drenched in sweat. His white coat clung to him, shaking from the tremor in his hands. He kept clasping them together, as if holding himself would prevent the world from noticing his fear.

I didn’t need him fast; I needed him scared and obedient.

“She heard everything.” I said, calmly. “If you want to stay alive, you’ll help me get rid of her without any hassle.”

He tried to speak. Lips moving. Nothing. Then finally: “Killing someone… the Council… they’ll-”

I lifted a hand, pointing it at him. “If she lives, you die. Your choice.”

The stretcher arrived with Natalie. Limbs limp, unconscious, barely fitting on the frame.

My wolf stirred happily beneath my ribs. “We’re finally getting rid of her.”

I observed her closely; she wasn’t fully unconscious. Her chest rose and fell unevenly, small twitches running along her fingers.

I could feel panic coiling tight in her chest, could feel it spiral and squeeze.

Her heart pounded so loudly I could hear it over the silence.

And it made me feel alive, made me feel power.

Johnson muttered, voice breaking: “I’ll take her to the morgue. Cold enough to freeze her. Then… no one will trace it back to us.”

“No,” my head shook. “I have a better plan.”

His eyes

flicked up to mine; he was fragile, weak under control. Perfect.

“You remember

paralyzer.”

abandoned warehouse on the back hill. Take her there, inject her with a

Chapter 22 Fire In The Bones

I paused, allowing a smile to ghost across my lips.

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“Let her watch.” I whispered. “I want her to feel every second she can’t move, I’ll handle the rest. We’ll call it an accident; she wandered into the fire. Tragic, but believable.”

He didn’t argue; he never did when I was ordered.

But first… the nurse.

I watched her, fragile and trembling even as she lay there. She had tried to shield Natalie earlier…tried to put herself in the way.

She tried to protect; even now, though unconscious, she seemed like she could interfere.

I considered the risk; her presence was a variable–unnecessary and dangerous.

Why would she sacrifice herself for Natalie? Why risk her own life for someone else?

I crouched beside the nurse briefly, observing her.

“Once Natalie is dealt with,” I murmured to myself, low, precise, “we take care of her.”

I walked straight into the shadows with the nurse, the stretcher gliding ahead with a barely conscious Natalie.

My wolf paced beneath my skin, satisfied.

The warehouse rose from the darkness; the rogues I hired were in place. I scanned the perimeter. Natalie was already paralyzed, eyes open, body useless.

Perfect.

“Light it when I say,” I instructed.

One of them hesitated. “If we start too soon, you’ll inhale smoke too.”

“Doesn’t matter.” My eyes flicked back toward Natalie. “He won’t let anything happen to me. And her… she’s already trapped.”

I inhaled slowly, waiting.

I sat still, waiting for the next phase–Jensen.

མེདཔ

Jensen’s POV

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Chapter 22 Fire In The Bones

The call came, gravelly: “Alpha Jensen. I’ve got your woman. Fifty million. The old warehouse. Don’t be late.”

I froze, hand on the phone. Then a voice, thin and familiar.

“Jensen… help me!”

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“Sharon!” I screamed into the phone, but the line cut off before she could answer again.

My chest slammed, and the world narrowed.

Sharon.

Who would dare kidnap my Luna?

And then–my mind stabbed me with a thought.

Maybe… maybe Natalie.

Impossible, right?

My stomach twisted. Could she have done this? Could she have arranged Sharon’s kidnapping? Could it all be her plan?

Cairn roared beneath my ribs–low and furious, “She would never. How dare you even think it.”

The doubt recoiled under his fury. I shoved it down, locked it in the back of my mind, and tried to ignore it.

Focus.

Sharon.

Orders snapped from my mouth before I even thought, with guards moving and

ready.

I ran.

Natalie was safe–hollowed but monitored by the nurse.

money

The warehouse appeared over the hill, the smoke curling and alive. Doors smashed, flames licking the roof.

the

I threw every

Cor of

bag money aside and tore through anyway. Senses snapping, eyes scanning.

Every shadow. Every flicker of movement.

“Sharon!” I screamed.

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Chapter 22 Fire In The Bones

“Sharon! Where are you?!”

Her voice came back, weak and thin: “I’m here!‘

There.

Mid–room, tied to a chair.

Weak but alive.

I cut the ropes and lifted her. “Don’t be scared, I’ve got you.”

Her arms wrapped around me, fragile and trembling.

A dull thud behind crates made me snap my head. “What was that?”

“It hurts… smoke…” she whispered, shifting my attention to her.

I ignored it… Nothing else mattered right now.

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I scanned the chaos behind us, the smoke thick, black, and suffocating. Flames snapping, alive, and the roof threatening to fall.

I moved, step by step.

Carefully.

Every movement deliberate and careful. Heart hammering, muscles coiled.

I staggered out, full force. My lungs were burning, eyes stinging, but Sharon was safe.

The guards were already trying to put out the fire, and the healers were ready for Sharon.

The warehouse collapsed behind us.

////

I set her down gently, my eyes scanning her for any sign of burns.

Sharon shivered against me, catching her breath

Then she screamed, voice sharp, sudden:

“Jensen! Natalie! I saw her! Natalie’s still inside! She was behind the crates!”

Everything froze.

“What did you say?!”

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Chapter 22 Fire In The Bones

Realization hit like a physical blow.

I had walked past her… I left her. My true mate.

The warehouse roof, weakened by flames, gave out with a deafening crash.

“NO!”

My cry ripped through the air; I dropped Sharon. Hurled myself toward the blaze.

But the entrance was now a wall of falling timber and white–hot heat.

Cairn snarled, coiled tight, tense, furious. Alpha instincts screaming.

Nothing mattered. Only Natalie. Only her.

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