Rise Of A Shattered Luna (Natalie) by Kave Derry novel Chapter 365

Chapter-365 The Silence Of The Rises

Chapter 365 The Silence Of The Rises

Baron’s POV

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The warehouse had fallen silent.

Not the kind of silence that followed a victory.

This one lingered like a wound left open.

Everything around me faded into the background until there was only one thing I could see.

The shattered window.

It still swayed slightly from the force with which Natalie had climbed through it.

A cold breeze slipped into the warehouse through the broken frame, carrying the last traces of her scent farther and farther av

She was gone.

I didn’t move.

My hands remained exactly where they’d fallen after removing the silver needles from her body.

The faint sting in my fingertips reminded me that only moments ago, I’d held her against me, desperately trying to keep her ali

I’d succeeded.

I’d pulled the poison from her veins.

Yet somehow, saving her life had cost me everything else.

My gaze drifted to James’s lifeless body lying in a widening pool of blood.

Once, I would’ve knelt beside him, assessed the scene, issued orders, and prepared for whatever came next.

Now…

Γ

I couldn’t bring myself to care.

The man lying dead on the concrete wasn’t the greatest loss this warehouse had witnessed tonight.

That title belonged to me.

The mate bond between Natalie and me still existed, but it no longer felt like the warm, unbreakable connection that had carried us through the bond.

It felt brittle.

Stretched so thin that every beat of my heart threatened to snap it completely.

I could still feel her.

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Chapter 365 The Silence Of The Rises

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Not her thoughts.

Not her pain.

Only her resolve.

She wasn’t hesitating.

She wasn’t looking back.

She was driving straight toward the estate.

Toward Sean and Susie.

Toward a future that no longer included me.

Her final words echoed relentlessly through my mind.

“I’m taking my children.”

Not our children.

My children.

That single word cut deeper than any blade ever had.

I had faced assassins without flinching.

I had stared death in the eye more times than I could count.

None of it compared to the look Natalie had given me before she walked away.

There had been no rage left in her eyes.

Only disappointment.

Only betrayal.

To her, every memory we’d built together had been tainted by the truth I’d hidden.

She no longer saw a mate who had loved her.

She saw a man who had decided which truths she was allowed to know.

“Baron.”

The quiet voice pulled me from my thoughts.

I turned to find Flynn standing a few feet away.

His shoulders were tense, his expression unreadable.

He wasn’t looking at James’s body or the destruction surrounding us.

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Chapter 365 The Silence Of The Rises

He was looking at me.

For several long seconds neither of us spoke.

Finally, he broke the silence.

“Was it true?”

His voice barely rose above a whisper.

“The things Natalie said…”

I held his gaze.

“It was.”

Flynn closed his eyes.

The answer seemed to steal the strength from his legs for a moment.

When he looked at me again, there was no anger in his face.

Only heartbreak.

“I can’t believe you would hurt her this way… I defended you,” he said quietly.

I didn’t answer.

His jaw tightened.

“She hates you for so long.”

His eyes met mine.

“And all along…”

“You knew.”

Silence settled between us again.

“I thought I was protecting her,” I said at last.

Flynn let out a tired, bitter laugh.

“No.”

He shook his head slowly.

“You protected a secret.”

“And you left my sister alone to carry its weight.”

He looked toward the shattered window.

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Chapter 365 The Silence Of The Rises

“She shouldn’t have to face this by herself.”

When he looked back at me, the warmth I’d known for years was gone.

“Before you were my brother-in-law…”

“…she was my sister.”

“And she’ll always be my sister.”

Without another word, Flynn turned and walked toward the broken window, following the path Natalie had taken.

I didn’t call him back.

I couldn’t.

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Because if our places had been reversed…

I would’ve chosen my sister too.

For a long moment, I remained exactly where I was, listening to Flynn’s footsteps disappear into the rain.

He never looked back.

The warehouse doors groaned shut behind him, and with that single sound, the last person who had willingly stood beside me walked away.

I was alone.

The realization settled over me with crushing clarity.

Not as the Witch Doctor.

Not as the Alpha of Blackridge.

Simply…

As a mate who had watched his woman leave, and a man who had just lost the trust of her only brother.

I drew a slow breath, forcing my emotions back beneath the surface.

There were still people depending on me.

No matter how much my world had fractured, I couldn’t afford to stand here mourning while others waited.

Turning away from the shattered window, I crossed the warehouse floor.

Beth Alora was sti!! kneeling beside the open vault, Donovan wrapped tightly in her arms.

She hadn’t spoken a word since Natalie left.

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Her face was streaked with tears as she buried trembling kisses against her son’s forehead, as though she feared he’d disappear if she loosened her grip for even a second.

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Chapter 365 The Silence Of The Rises

The little boy clung to her with equal desperation.

Seeing them together should have felt like a victory,

ctory.

Instead, it only reminded me of the family slipping through my fingers.

I stopped a respectful distance away.

“Beth.”

She looked up slowly.

Fear flashed across her face before recognition softened it.

“Is… is it over?”

I nodded.

“It’s over.”

Her shoulders sagged with relief, and another sob escaped her lips as she hugged Donovan even tighter.

“Thank you,” she whispered brokenly. “Thank you for bringing my son back.”

I couldn’t bring myself to answer.

Because I hadn’t brought every child back.

The gratitude in her eyes felt undeserved.

After everything Natalie had just learned…

I wasn’t sure I deserved anyone’s thanks.

Donovan peeked over his mother’s shoulder, his small fingers still clutching her sweater.

His frightened eyes met mine for only a second before he buried his face against her again.

I looked away.

“Can you stand?” I asked quietly.

Beth nodded, though her legs trembled as she rose with Donovan in her arms.

“I’ll… I’ll manage.”

I stepped forward anyway, steadying her before she could lose her balance.

“The vehicle is outside. Stay with your son. I’ll bring Jensen.”

Her lips parted, as if she wanted to ask about Natalie.

Instead, she simply nodded.

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Chapter 365 The Silence Of The Rises

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She’d seen enough.

She understood this wasn’t the time.

I waited until she disappeared through the warehouse doors before turning toward Jensen.

He remained unconscious where we’d laid him after stabilizing his condition.

His breathing was steady.

The emergency treatment had worked.

Kneeling beside him, I checked his pulse one last time before lifting him onto my shoulder.

Under normal circumstances, someone else would’ve handled this.

Tonight…

There was no one else.

Every step toward the exit felt heavier than the last.

The warehouse seemed impossibly large now, every echo reminding me how quickly a place filled with people could become empty.

Outside, dawn was beginning to break across the horizon.

A pale gray light stretched over the abandoned docks, mixing with the mist rolling in from the sea.

Beth had already reached the transport vehicle.

She climbed into the back seat without taking her eyes off Donovan, rocking him gently while whispering words I couldn’t hear.

I secured Jensen in the rear compartment, fastening every restraint myself before closing the doors.

The sharp click of the locks echoed through the quiet morning.

I stood there for several seconds.

The transport was ready.

I should have gotten in.

Driven everyone back safely.

Made sure Beth and Donovan reached Blackridge without incident.

Instead…

My eyes drifted toward the fresh tire tracks carved into the wet gravel.

Natalie.

r

She’d left in such a hurry that the tracks were still sharp, cutting a clear path toward the main road.

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Chapter 365 The Silence Of The Rises

Toward home.

Toward Sean and Susie,

My heart clenched.

She would reach the pack before me.

She would walk into our home carrying nothing but betrayal

She would look at every room we’d shared and wonder which memories had been real.

I couldn’t let her face that alone.

Not because I expected forgiveness.

Not because I thought I could explain everything away.

But because if she walked out of that house with our children before I got there…

I might never have another chance to tell her the truth.

I closed the rear doors of the transport.

Then reached into the driver’s window and removed the keys.

No.

Not this vehicle.

It was too slow.

A few yards away, beneath the old loading platform, my motorcycle waited exactly where I’d left it.

Within seconds, I was beside it.

The engine roared to life beneath me, the familiar vibration rolling through the frame as the machine answered my touch.

I glanced once toward the transport.

One of the surviving Blackridge men had already emerged from the warehouse.

“You know the route,” I called.

“Get them back safely.”

The man nodded immediately.

“Yes, sir.”

I didn’t wait another second.

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Twisting the throttle, I shot out of the dockyard, the rear tire throwing gravel into the air as the motorcycle surged onto the rain- soaked highway.

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Chapter 365 The Silence Of The Rises

The Wind slammed into my face.

The engine screamed beneath m

But neither was loud enough to drown out the words that refused to leave my mind.

“You let me believe a monster stole my eggs.”

She wasn’t wrong.

I had hidden the truth because I believed the truth would paint a target on her back.

Because the moment I learned she had survived…

…the moment I discovered the Nomadic Pack had declared her dead while powerful men searched for frer bloodline…

I made a choice.

I buried my identity.

I became the Witch Doctor in the shadows.

I erased every trail that led to her.

I convinced myself that if the world never knew who she was…

…she would live.

I never stopped to ask what it would cost her if she learned the truth from someone else.

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