Rise Of A Shattered Luna (Natalie) by Kave Derry novel Chapter 72

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Chapter 72 Powder And Betrayal

Chapter 72 Powder And Betrayal

Baron’s POV

Shauna stood before me, her calm posture matching her calm expression.

“Did you personally prepare everything in this room?” I asked, trying to keep my tone low.

“I did.”

She answered without hesitation.

That was Shauna–reliable and devoted. Or so I had always believed.

I watched her eyes, searching for a flicker of guilt, a tell–tale twitch.

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I knew her well–we had survived the ruling of the pack together, and in my world, trust was a luxury that could get you killed.

I couldn’t afford to be careless, especially when it came to my children.

“Was anyone else with you when you prepared everything?” I pressed, my gaze never leaving her face.

Shauna frowned slightly, clearly puzzled about the questions, but she searched her memory.

“No one else helped me. I handled the sterilization and the placement myself. But…” She paused, her brow furrowing. “While I was airing out the bedding and setting up the monitors, Finn came by to talk to me.”

“What did he want?”

The moment the name left her lips, a dark weight settled in my chest.

Finn… Did he do this?

My expression, already hard, grew even darker.

Her shoulders slumped slightly… she had always tried to be the peacemaker between Finn and me.

“He came to vent,” she said quietly, her voice laced with regret. “He said he was worried you were giving up. too much for Natalie–that you were burning through resources and risking the Pack’s stability for a woman who might never be useful to the pack. He said he feared you’d end up with nothing in return.”

“Besides complaining, what else did he do?”

Shauna tilted her head, trying to recall the details of a conversation. “Nothing much. We were standing

right there by the bed.”

She stopped, then continued, “Then he sneezed all of a sudden, said the dust in the room was bothering

find some cold medicine and that he feeling well. He asked me to go down to the infirmary to f

for him.”

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Chapter 72 Powder And Betrayal

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The moment the words left her mouth, her eyes widened, her pupils shrinking as she looked from me to the bed, then back again.

She wasn’t a fool; she knew something was wrong, and she definitely knew exactly how a distraction

worked.

“Shit, Baron… did Finn do something?” Her voice trembled. “Does it have to do with Sean? Is he okay?”

If something had happened to Sean while she was in charge… and Finn was the only other person in the

room…

If Finn had truly done something to hurt Sean… she knows what I was going to do about it.

I didn’t answer her… I didn’t have the words. Instead, I grabbed the silk blanket from the bed and tossed it at her.

Shauna caught it instinctively.

Her eyes moved over the fabric, landing on the faint, shimmering blue powder that coated the part where Sean’s arm had rested.

Her breath hitched, a ragged sound in the quiet room.

“Is this cyan powder?” Her entire body began to tremble, the blanket shaking in her hands. “If it touches the skin of a wolf and finds even a microscopic open wound, it seeps into the bloodstream. It causes…”

She paused and stared right at me. “The person dies in agony within hours. Who did this? No… it can’t be….”

Her eyes are pleading now. “Impossible, Finn respects you more than anyone. He loves you… he knows you’d die for these kids. How could he possibly harm your son?”

I wanted to believe her, but the blue dust didn’t lie.

“Sean didn’t have any open wounds,” I said. “Under my protection, he wouldn’t. But he saw Natalie and wanted to save his mother–so he asked me to run a skin compatibility test. He was ready to be a donor.”

I leaned in, my stature swallowing Shauna. “That test would require breaking the skin… a needle prick, and the moment that happened… the toxin gets in. Sean would have been dead before the sun went down.”

Shauna shook her head, her knuckles white as she gripped the contaminated fabric. “No… there has to be a misunderstanding. Why would he ever hurt Sean? He has no reason to want the boy dead!”

“What if this wasn’t about killing Sean? What if this was just a deterrent? A way to stop Sean from donating skin to Natalie?”

G

“What?” Shauna froze, the blanket slipping through her fingers and pooling on the floor.

against Natalie?” My eyes narrowed. “That’s what I intend

“Does Finn have a g

find out.

“I’ll investigate, Baron, Shauna whispered, her voice thick with unshed tears. “I’ll check the security feeds,

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Chapter 72 Powder And Betrayal

I’ll test the residue… I’ll make sure you get answers. But what about Sean’s condition? Is he…”

Her chest ached just thinking about it.

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I had kept the twins isolated on that private island for years, away from the danger in the pack, just to keep them pure.

To think that within days of bringing them back, my own inner circle had marked them for death… it was a failure that burned in my gut.

I waved her off, my mind already moving to the next move. “I’ll handle the boy; the toxin didn’t enter his system. I’ve sent him to scrub… stay out of the medical side for now, but I want you to keep an eye on Finn. Act like everything is normal… I want to know if he leaves the house today, and I want to know who he speaks to.”

“Yes, sir.” Shauna looked like she wanted to say more, to offer some comfort or some other explanation, but she knew better.

She bowed her head and stepped back.

As she left, I thought of the message Yvonne had sent me earlier.

The delays… the missing coordinates, the way the extraction team had been sent to the wrong side of the villa while Natalie was trapped in the inferno.

If it turned out that Finn had delayed Phantom’s arrival… if he was the reason she was currently filled with burns…

I shut my eyes tight as I bit my lower lip, the sharp tang of blood filling my mouth as I sank my teeth into the flesh.

The blood we spilled together, the way he had sworn allegiance to me.

Please… don’t let it be true. Don’t make me choose between my

beta and my son.

I repeated the plea in the silence of my mind, but the Alpha in me knew that the choice was already made. If Finn was a traitor, he was a dead man.

Shauna paused at the door, looking back at me..

She could see the tension in my shoulders; she knew I was hurting.

To the world, I was the cold, ruthless Alpha of the Blackridge Pack, a man of iron and ice.

But she knew the truth–I had always treated her and Finn as my own flesh and blood. They were the only family I had before the children.

If my

most trusted friend had poisoned my son… if he had tried to murder the mother of my children…

What would that do to me?

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Chapter 72 Powder And Betrayal

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Shauna’s throat tightened, her voice barely a whisper. “Baron… maybe this isn’t what it looks like… Maybe he was being used… maybe someone else-”

“I know,” I said. “That’s why I want evidence. I don’t kill on suspicion. But if the evidence points to him…”

I didn’t finish the sentence… I didn’t have to.

I turned my back on her and stared out the window.

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