Rise Of A Shattered Luna (Natalie) by Kave Derry novel Chapter 70

4/4

#10 Free Coins

10:42 Thu, May 14

Chapter 70 Smoke And Traces

Chapter 70 Smoke And Traces

Jensen’s POV

+10 Free Gains.

The air felt stagnant, heavy with the scent of expensive alcohol and the lingering ghost of a woman who is

gone.

I reached inward again, searching for Cairn, but I found only an echoing void.

“Cairn?” I called out mentally.

Silence.

My wolf was there, but he was a ghost in his own skin.

He remained curled in the darkest corner of my consciousness, his head tucked under his paws, refusing to howl, refusing to lead.

I felt like a shell,

Without the constant low–frequency hum of my wolf’s instincts, I was just a man playing Alpha.

Every time I stepped into a pack meeting, I felt the eyes on my back.

They could smell the weakness and disconnection.

I had started noticing who watched me too closely during meetings.

If a younger, hungrier pack member challenged me today, I wouldn’t just lose the position; I’d lose the last thing holding me together.

I was an Alpha without his wolf ruling a territory I no longer had the power to defend.

I’ve been avoiding Felix ever since the incident with Sharon in the pack house.

He has been the one helping rule the pack since I’m not capable.

You are a fool, Jensen,” Cairn’s voice finally rumbled. “No one dares to challenge you as the Alpha.”

“Took you long enough,” I whispered to the empty room. “I have a feeling that Natalie isn’t gone yet, she’s Somewhere out there.“.

“She is

is ash, and yes, her urn is somewhere out there.” Cairn growled, his presence retreating once more into the shadows. “Move on, try to get back her ashes, and stop moping around. Or let someone else lead the pack… you ar

are a danger to us all.”

I didn’t open my Wasn’t

No one like her.

eyes.

ell me that I

again for several seconds. No one was left to check on me… No one to tell

#00

14

1/4

10:42 Thu, May 14

Chapter 70 Smoke And Traces

Then, the phone on my desk snarled.

The anti–hacking alert..

The tripwire I had buried deep within the laptop at the pack house had just been pulled.

That was Natalie’s laptop.

The screen was still flashing a deep, urgent message.

INTRUDER ALERT…. URGENT

Someone was inside the system.

“Where is it coming from?” I muttered, my fingers flying across the backup terminal.

I stared at the glowing lines of code, my mind racing.

That computer didn’t just contain transcriptions… it also contained jewelry designs.

+10 Free Coins

Natalie had used that machine to store the Pack’s most guarded secrets, ancient seals, territory maps, and the vibrational frequencies of the Moonstones.

Was this a rival Alpha?

Was someone finally moving to steal the transcripts now that they thought the Keeper was dead and the current Alpha was a broken shell?

But I made sure no one knows about Natalie’s death.

“Who are you?” I breathed, watching the tracer struggle to pin down an IP address.

But then, a strange thought hit me in the gut.

The way the intruder was moving… they weren’t searching for anything, it looks like they were lingering. They were looking at the art and opening the folders carefully.

They lingered specifically on the hidden folder that contained Natalie’s graduation picture from years ago.

A rival wouldn’t care about a graduation photo.

“Natalie?” I whispered, the name feeling like a prayer and a curse.

Was it possible? Had she finally come out of the shadows?

I knew it… she’s alive.

But the red flashing stopped abruptly. The data stream flatlined before I could get a lock.

I scrolled back, searching for the ping.

014

2/4

10:42 Thu, May 14

Chapter 70 Smoke And Traces

Nothing.

A blank void.

+10 Free Coms

No IP address… No digital footprint. It was as if nobody had reached through the screen, touched a file. and vanished.

“What the hell?”

The hope that had just bloomed shattered, leaving pain in my chest; I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

“If no one hacked in, why did the alarm go off?”

I called the installer like a man possessed, my voice low and cold. “The alarm went off, but there’s no sign of intrusion. How do you explain that?”

The technician stammered, feeling the lethal edge in my tone. “Alpha… there are two possibilities. One, the hacker was extremely skilled and wiped all traces the moment the alarm triggered. But that’s unlikely. There are only a handful of hackers who can do that, and none of them would bother with this.”

“And the second?”

“It was a glitch, Jensen,” Cairn’s voice echoed, mocking me. “You are hallucinating a miracle to avoid the reality of your own failure.”

The technician quickly said, “The second possibility is that someone physically moved the computer, and the system interpreted it as tampering.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

But then, I remembered that Felix had called earlier looking for me,

Felix had been in the house earlier.

I hung up and immediately called him.

“Did you touch the laptop in the living room just now?”

He sounded stunned. “Jensen, finally… I’ve been trying to get to you.”

“Answer the fucking question.” I screamed into the phone.

“What laptop? I might have… I don’t think so.” He stammered, probably surprised about my tone.

I ended the call and threw the phone hard. It shattered against the wall–just like my mood.

The fire had been massive; I’d seen the remains. I’d seen the body… So why did I still believe in miracles?

“Because you are

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify