Rise Of A Shattered Luna (Natalie) by Kave Derry novel Chapter 368

Chapter 368 The Fractured Cure,

Chapter 368 The Fractured Core

Natalie’s POV

The inside of the lead transport couldn’t have been more different from Blackridge.

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There were no polished floors. No warm lighting. No scent of cinnamon drifting from a nearby kitchen. No quiet fireplace crackling somewhere beyond the hallway.

Everything here was built for survival.

The massive armored rig rumbled relentlessly as it climbed deeper into the northern mountains, the heavy engine vibrating beneath the steel floor until every bolt and rivet seemed to hum with life.

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Every few seconds, the tires rolled over another patch of uneven gravel, making the entire cabin shudder before settling back into its steady rhythm.

Outside, dozens of Nomadic Pack transports surrounded us in perfect formation.

I could hear them even through the reinforced walls.

The low growl of diesel engines.

The occasional crackle of radios.

The muffled commands exchanged between scouts disappearing into the dense fog ahead.

They weren’t escorting us.

They were protecting us.

For the first time since leaving Blackridge…

I wasn’t inside a fortress.

I was inside a moving army.

I sat silently on one of the reinforced benches lining the cabin wall, my hands clasped tightly together inside the folds of my worn wool coat.

The cold didn’t bother me.

Not anymore.

My gaze rested on the darkened window beside me, but all I saw was my own reflection staring back.

A woman who no longer knew where she belonged.

The rhythmic movement of the transport should have been comforting.

Instead…

Every mile we traveled felt like another thread snapping inside my chest.

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Chapter 368 The Fractured Cure.

He was growing farther away.

My home.

Every memory refused to disappear.

That was the cruelest part.

Nothing about those memories had been fake.

Baron’s laughter had been real.

The way he looked at me when he thought I wasn’t paying attention had been real.

The warmth of his embrace.

The nights he’d stayed awake beside me after nightmares.

The mornings he’d kissed my forehead before leaving for work.

All of it had happened.

All of it had been genuine.

Yet every beautiful memory now carried the shadow of the same unbearable truth.

He had known.

He had known everything while I spent years drowning in questions that only he could answer.

I closed my eyes.

The ache behind my ribs deepened until it became difficult to breathe.

Behind the silence of my thoughts, Nyx stirred.

She had been restless ever since we’d crossed the northern boundary.

Now, she lifted her head fully.

“Natalie…”

Her voice was quieter than usual.

“He’s following us.”

My eyes remained closed.

“I know.”

“Not with his vehicle.”

Her voice softened even more.

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Chapter 368 The Fractured Cure

“With the bond.”

A dull pain spread through my chest

I refused to acknowledge it.

“He’s breaking.”

“So am I.”

The admission slipped out before I could stop it.

Nyx fell silent.

The transport rolled over another rough stretch of road, the vibration rattling the benches beneath us.

Outside, a scout vehicle sounded its horn twice before disappearing farther into the fog.

“He isn’t chasing us because he wants to force us home,” Nyx whispered.

“He’s letting us go.”

I let out a bitter laugh.

“Does that erase what he did?”

“No.”

“Does it erase five years of lies?”

“No.”

“Does it erase every night where I had layed with him while he lied to my face?”

Nyx didn’t answer.

She couldn’t.

Because there was no answer.

Only pain.

I leaned my head back against the cold steel wall.

“I trusted him.”

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Chapter 368 The Fractured Core

Watching him reach across the table to squeeze my hand while promising we’d find answers together.

Holding me while I cried

Wiping away my tears.

Looking me in the eyes…

Knowing he already had every answer I’d spent years searching for.

The betrayal settled inside me like shattered glass.

“I told him everything.”

My throat tightened.

“My fears.”

“My guilt.”

“The shame I carried.”

Fresh tears blurred my vision.

“And every single time…”

I swallowed painfully.

“…he let me believe the lie.”

Nyx’s voice trembled.

“He was trying to protect you.”

My eyes flew open.

“Protect me?”

The words echoed sharply through my mind.

“I shattered my body trying to save Jensen.”

“I walked willingly into monsters because I believed there was one man capable of helping him.”

My breathing became uneven.

“I gave away pieces of myself.”

“My ribs.”

“My eggs.”

“My strength.”

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Chapter 368 The Fractured Core

accepted Injuries that still ache every morning because I thought the Witch Doctor was someone I had to find.”

My fingers curled tightly against my palms.

“And every night…”

“…I came home to him.”

Silence.

Heavy.

Oppressive.

The realization still refused to lose its sting.

“I slept beside the man I’d been searching for.”

My voice cracked.

“I loved him.”

“I trusted him.”

“I believed every word he ever said.”

Then my expression hardened.

“And he decided I didn’t deserve the truth.”

Nyx growled softly.

“He didn’t think you were weak.”

“No.”

I nodded once.

“He thought I couldn’t choose.”

I stared through the darkened window again.

“He made the decision for me.”

“He decided what I could know.”

“What I could carry.”

“What I deserved.”

“He loved me…”

Another tear slipped free.

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Chapter 368 The Fractured Core

“…but he never respected my right to choose.”

That…

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More than anything else…

Was the wound I couldn’t forgive.

Love built without trust wasn’t love that could survive.

It became protection.

Control.

A beautiful cage disguised as devotion.

And I had lived inside it for five years without ever realizing the door had been locked from the outside.

For a long while, neither of us spoke.

The only sound inside the transport was the steady growl of the engine beneath our feet and the occasional rattle of loose equipment as the convoy climbed higher into the northern ridges.

I closed my eyes, hoping the silence would finally quiet the storm inside my head.

It didn’t.

“How do I hate someone who loved me like that?” I whispered.

Nyx finally stirred again.

“Because both things can exist at the same time.”

I frowned.

“He loved you with everything he had.”

“And he still broke your trust.”

My fingers tightened around the edge of my coat.

“I keep waiting for the anger to disappear.”

“Will it?”

“No.”

I answered without hesitation.

“But neither will the love.”

That was the cruelest part.

If he had been cruel…

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If he had treated me poorly…

If our marriage had been miserable.

Walking away would have been easy.

Instead, he’d given me a home.

A family.

A life I had cherished.

Then he’d revealed that its foundation had been built on a secret only he had the power to tell.

Love hadn’t been enough to save us.

Trust had been the missing piece.

And once that cracked…

Everything else followed.

The transport swayed as it rounded another sharp bend.

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Across the cabin, Sean had finally relaxed enough to lean against one of the thick wool blankets Ruby had tucked around him before we left.

His arm was still wrapped protectively around Susie.

She had fallen asleep with her cheek resting against his shoulder, her stuffed wolf trapped between them.

A faint smile touched my lips.

Even after everything…

Sean was still protecting his sister.

Just like his father always had.

The thought hurt.

I looked away.

No.

I couldn’t keep seeing Baron every time I looked at my son.

Sean deserved better than that.

He deserved to be loved for who he was.

Not burdened with the mistakes of the man who helped bring him into this world.

I quietly crossed the cabin and knelt beside them.

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Susie’s tiny curls had fallen across her face.

I brushed them back gently.

She sighed in her sleep before instinctively leaning into my hand.

A fresh wave of determination settled inside me.

Everything I had done…

Everything I would do from this day forward…

Would be for them.

The door separating the driver’s cabin from the passenger compartment slid open with a low metallic hiss.

My dad stepped inside.

Even in the confined space, his presence filled the cabin.

Years of wandering the northern territories had carved themselves into every line of his face.

His broad shoulders nearly brushed the steel frame as he stopped a respectful distance away.

His eyes immediately found Sean and Susie.

A softness crossed his weathered features before he looked back at me.

“They’re asleep?”

I nodded.

“Finally.”

“They’ve had a long night.”

“So have you.”

His words weren’t a question.

I looked down at my hands.

“I don’t think I’ve even begun to feel it yet.”

Waylon was quiet for a moment.

Then he sat on the bench opposite mine.

Neither of us spoke immediately.

Soine silences weren’t uncomfortable.

They simply gave grief room to breathe.

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Chapter 368 The Fractured Core

Finally, he exhaled.

“Our scouts have finished sweeping the southern ridge.”

I looked up.

“The Blackridge patrol stopped at the boundary stones.”

A muscle in my jaw tightened.

“He didn’t cross.”

“No.”

Waylon studied me carefully.

“He rode as far as the old ridge intersection.”

“He stayed there for a long time.”

Images of Baron standing alone on those stone steps flashed through my mind.

I pushed them away.

Waylon continued quietly.

“Eventually…”

“He turned back.”

The words should have brought relief.

Instead…

They left behind an emptiness I hadn’t expected.

Waylon noticed.

“I know what you’re thinking.”

I met his eyes.

“No…”

“You don’t.”

His expression remained patient.

“I know what it is to lose someone while they’re still alive.”

That made me pause.

His gaze drifted toward the fog-covered window.

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Chapter 368 The Fractured Core

lost you twenty years ago.”

His voice was steady.

“But every morning, I still woke up hoping someone had made a mistake.”

His eyes returned to mine.

“And… I got my miracle.”

A sad smile touched his lips.

“But I won’t pretend yours doesn’t hurt.”

Emotion tightened my throat.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel.”

“You don’t have to know today.”

His answer came without hesitation.

“You don’t have to forgive him.”

“You don’t have to hate him.”

“You don’t have to decide anything while your heart is still bleeding.”

The simple honesty in his words loosened something inside me.

For the first time since leaving him….

Someone wasn’t asking me to choose.

They were simply allowing me to hurt.

He slowly stood.

“The convoy will reach the northern settlement before nightfall.”

He rested one large hand briefly against the back of my seat.

“Until then…”

“Rest if you can.”

He turned toward the door before stopping.

Without looking back, he added quietly,

“Whatever comes next…”

“You won’t face it alone.”

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The door slid shut behind him.

I looked down at my sleeping children once more.

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