Rise Of A Shattered Luna (Natalie) by Kave Derry novel Chapter 40

Chapter 40 The Stolen Cufflinks

Chapter 40 The Stolen Cufflinks

Baron’s POV

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I sat in the leather captain’s chair, the cabin dimly lit, staring at the order form Natalie had given me.

My eyes narrowed as I traced the lines of her signature. It was elegantly beautiful–the hand of a woman who understood the weight of the sacred stone.

But even in the ink, I could see the ghost of her pain. This was the last thing she had designed before the fire. The last thing she had created before the Nightfang Alpha allowed her world to be turned to ash.

Several hours later, the wheels touched down. I didn’t call for a driver; I didn’t wan that Finn or the High Council could follow.

a trail

I took a rental and headed directly to Foster’s workshop. The city felt different–stale, heavy

with the stench of the Nightfang Pack’s dominance. It was a territory, and it

lay on the border of the pack.

for

I stepped into the workshop, the bell above the door chiming with a sharp, annoying

Foster, an older man with spectacles perched on the end of his nose, looked up from a workbench. He looked tired.

ring.

“Hello,” I said. I didn’t raise my voice, but the air in the small shop seemed to shift as he felt my aura. “I’m a client of the Keeper, and I’m here to collect the cufflinks she designed for me.”

I placed the order form on the counter. My long pale fingers held it flat against the wood.

Foster froze as he reached for his glasses and adjusted them and peered at the paper.

His face went through a rapid succession of emotions–confusion, recognition, and then a sudden, jarring terror.

“But… I already sent those cufflinks to the pack,” he stammered. “To Alpha Jensen.”

My face darkened instantly; the temperature in the room suddenly changed as Raze surged toward the surface.

“Did Sunny instruct you to hand them over to him?” I asked, my eyes glowing.

Foster shivered involuntarily, his hands hovering over the counter as if he were afraid I might reach across and snap his wrists.

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Chapter 40 The Stolen Cufflinks

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“N–no, Alpha,” he whispered, his voice cracking. But all of Sunny’s designs… for five years, they have always been delivered to the Nightfang pack. Jensen is the Alpha, he signs for everything she produces. It was standard procedure.”

“Standard procedure,” I repeated, my voice a low, lethal hum. I let out a cold, sharp laugh that didn’t reach my eyes.

Foster flinched as if I’d struck him.

“This was a personal commission… I am standing here with a signed order, a private watermark, and an explicit directive. And you’re telling me you handed my property to Jensen?”

I didn’t need to shout, the pressure of my aura was enough.

Foster’s face went ashen, beads of sweat breaking out on his h

“I–I’ll call Mr. Luke right now,” he gasped, fumbling for his phone. “I’ll explain the mistake. I’ll get them back.”

I watched him, trying to keep my hands steady, but all I wanted to do was to tear the building down.

Every second those cufflinks stayed in Jensen’s possession was a second of desecration. They were Natalie’s gift to me–her thank you–and now, they were sitting in the office of the man who had let her life be ruined.

Foster’s hands shook so hard he nearly dropped the phone as Jensen picked up on the second ring.

I stood there, a shadow in his shop, listening to the desperate explanation.

I heard the muffled, arrogant tone of the Nightfang Alpha through the speaker… he didn’t want to let them go.

He wanted to buy them, he thought everything had a price.

I reached out and took the phone from Foster’s trembling hand.

“I’m not selling, Alpha Jensen,” I said, my voice smooth, dark, and carrying a sharp edge of mockery. “They were custom–made for me; return what belongs to me.”

There was silence on the other end, I could practically hear Jensen’s blood pressure rising.

“We’ll talk in person,” Jensen snapped.

“No need, Jensen. I don’t want to meet you. If I did, I’m not sure I could stop myself…”

III

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Chapter 40 The Stolen Cufflinks

Stop myself from killing you.

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The thought was a dark, pulsing thing in my chest. Every time I looked at Natalie’s medical reports—the fused skin, the shattered bones in her hand, the way she cried out in her sleep for a man who didn’t come–the rage threatened to consume me. He had stood by while they broke the soul that made the world beautiful.

“Jensen,” I said, my voice dropping to a low and deadly register. “By sunset today, you’ll return my cufflinks. I’ll send you the address; if you don’t, you’ll pay the price. Your pack has assets I can dismantle by morning. Don’t test me”

I hung up, copied the number onto my phone, and handed the phone back to Foster. The man was staring at me like I was the embodiment of the death he had supposedly met.

I turned and walked out, the heavy doors of the workshop swinging shut behind me.

I sat in the rental car, my breath coming in slow, controlled drags. I pulled out my own phone and sent a message to the number.

“The Ocean City Docks. Warehouse 4. Sunset. Bring the silver, Alpha. Or I bring the fire.‘

I lit a cigarette, the smoke curling around my face in the dim interior of the car.

Jensen thought he was the most powerful man in the pack… he was, but he wasn’t untouchable.

I looked at the small mole at the corner of my eye in the rearview mirror.

Natalie wanted a new face, she wanted a new life. And I was going to give it to her.

But first, I was going to take back the only thing she had ever made for me.

I watched the sun begin its slow descent toward the horizon.

Jensen Luke had spent five years breaking her heart, and I was going to spend the next five minutes breaking his empire.