Rise Of A Shattered Luna (Natalie) by Kave Derry novel Chapter 51

Chapter 51 The Trail Toward Witch Doctor

Chapter 51 The Trail Toward Witch Doctor

Jensen’s POV

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“Mr. Luke, the black market has always been a lawless void. People come here expecting blood; beatings are very common around here. When I was grabbed just now, they blindfolded and gagged me, dragging me into the shadows. I wasn’t hit as hard as you, but I took my share. It reminded me of what happened years ago.”

I turned sharply, the movement sending a white–hot spike of pain through my temple. “What are you talking about?”

Hansel lowered his gaze, his voice dropping to a whisper. “When Miss Natalie came here years ago to save you… she was beaten too. I heard she was nearly assaulted by the low–lifes at the North gate before she reached the clinic.”

The air left my lungs as if I’d been kicked again. Natalie? My gentle, soft–spoken Natalie had walked through this meat–grinder alone? How had she endured it? A young woman with no protection, no wolf to roar for her, and nothing but a desperate hope to keep her upright?

“How do you know that?” I snarled, grabbing

Hansel didn’t flinch, though my claws

Wensel by the shoulder. “Why are you telling me this now?”

starting to prick through his shirt.

“She ordered me never to mention it. She said if your surgery succeeded–if you survived–then every bruise she carried was worth it… she didn’t want you weighed down by the guilt of her sacrifice.”

The more I learned about the price Natalie paid for my life, the more monstrous I felt. I had treated her like a shadow for five years, while she had gone through all that for me.

等

I forced myself to stand, my legs shaking… the stranger’s voice from the sack replayed in my mind–that distorted, mocking tone that knew my mate and the fire. He spoke as if he were protecting her.

“Hansel,” I rasped, “who runs this place?”

“No one knows,” Hansel answered. “But the legends say the black market secrets have never been told. Years ago, a powerful family tried to seize control. The next day, they all fell ill. Within weeks, their entire bloodline was wiped out. People say the Witch Doctor himself is tied to the foundation of this place. His shop is the heart of the Labyrinth.”

My eyes narrowed. “Could it be?” I whispered, a surge of excitement warming my cold blood. “Could the force behind Natalie… be the Witch Doctor himself?”

“Where is the shop?”

“At the very end of this street,” Hansel replied.

“Then let’s go.”

Every step was a battle… My body thrummed with a rhythmic pain, but I pushed through it. I had to know. “Can we get the surveillance?”

“No,” Hansel said. “The system here is impenetrable.”

I gave a harsh, humorless laugh. A “legal” black market run by a ghost.

We arrived at the end of the street, where the red lights of the Labyrinth faded into a deep, oppressive black.

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Chapter 51 The Trail Toward Witch Doctor

Standing before us was a storefront that looked deceptively plain, with a faded board planted by the wall.

“Hades Pharmacy,” I murmured.

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“Yes,” Hansel whispered. “This is it… they say there is nothing the Witch Doctor cannot repair, but the name isn’t a boast about medicine–it’s about the price. He doesn’t want your money… no… he demands the most precious thing a person possesses. As long as you are willing to give it up, he can even pull you back from the Underworld.”

My jaw tightened until it ached. I had never looked into the man before; I had been too busy taking care of my pack to care about the little black market outside the border. But now, the question I had buried for five years was screaming at me.

Natalie had nothing back then… no pack, no family, no wealth. Nothing but her beauty and her heart.

What could she have given him? Did she trade her body? Her soul? The thought haunted me… Could Sharon be right?

I pushed the thoughts down, shoving them into the dark corners of my mind. I couldn’t afford to break yet. I stepped through the doors

Inside, the pharmacy was a temple of luxury.

The floors were polished marble, the shelves made of rare, dark woods, and the lighting was soft and amber. It didn’t look like a shop; it looked like a vault.

A guard stepped forward, his presence thick with the scent of a high–level enforcer. “Who are you? What do you want?”

Hansel stepped forward, his voice uncharacteristically deferential. “Hello. We seek an audience with the Witch Doctor.”

I stiffened… I was the Alpha of Nightfang, I didn’t “request audience“; I commanded attention. But I bit my tongue.

The guard smirked, his eyes scanning my bruised face. “To see the Master, there are rules. Which of you is the seeker?”

“I am,” I said, my voice flat and cold.

“Very well… the seeker stays, but the shadow waits outside,” he said, pointing to Hansel.

Hansel hesitated, looking at my battered frame, but I gave him a sharp nod. He bowed and stepped out into the street.

The guard pointed to a shallow basin of clear water sitting on a pedestal of carved bone. “Anyone who wishes to see the Witch Doctor must first place both hands in this water for ten minutes. If you can endure it, you earn the right. If not, the door is behind you.”

I looked at the water. It was perfectly still, so clear I could see the intricate runes etched into the bottom of the basin. “What kind of game is this?”

“The gate you must pass,” the guard replied. “No exceptions.”

My mind flashed back to Natalie five years ago. “Everyone? Women too?”

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