THE LUNA WHO CONQUERED DEATH novel Chapter 57

Episode 34-1

THE LUNA WHO CONQUERED DEATH

Chapter 34: Into the Lion’s Den

We approached the Apex Industries headquarters at midnight.

Seven of us: me, Adrian, Katherine, Elena, Jade, Riley, and Maya. All dressed in dark clothing, loaded with equipment Adrian’s contacts had provided. Earpieces for communication, tools for bypassing security, and weapons–silver weapons, ironically, that could hurt Hunters just as easily as they hurt us.

“Security rotates every four hours,” Adrian murmured, studying the building from our vantage point across the street. “Guard change happened fifteen minutes ago. We have three hours and forty–five minutes before the next shift.”

“More than enough time,” Katherine said, though her tone suggested she didn’t believe it.

Riley had her shields ready, bending light around us to make us effectively invisible to cameras and casual observation. Maya’s eyes were distant, seeing possible futures, guiding us toward the path with the best chance of success.

“Left entrance,” Maya whispered. “Service door. The guard inside is reading, not paying attention. We have ninety seconds.”

We moved as one, with supernatural speed and coordination, making us faster than human security could

track. The service door lock yielded to Adrian’s tools in seconds. Inside, the guard was exactly where

Maya predicted, nose to a tablet.

Jade touched his shoulder as we passed. Her emotional manipulation flooded him with such contentment that he barely registered our presence, his mind categorizing us as authorized personnel he

didn’t need to question.

“Elevators are monitored,” Elena said. “Stairs?”

“Forty floors?” I touched my pregnant belly. “I can make it, but it won’t be comfortable.”

“Service elevator,” Adrian pointed to a secondary bank. “Less monitored. Riley, can you loop the camera

feed?”

“Already done. We’re ghosts.”

We took the service elevator to the thirty–fifth floor, close enough to Covenant operations without triggering the most stringent security. Then stairs the rest of the way.

By the thirty–eighth floor, I was breathing hard. Adrian’s hand found mine, offering support through the

mate bond.

“Almost there.”

< Episode 34

“I’m fine. Just… pregnant and climbing stairs. Not my best combination.”

Claim

We reached the fortieth–floor door. Beyond it, according to Torres’s intelligence, lay the Covenant’s main operational headquarters

“Heat signatures show twenty–three people on this floor,” Katherine said, checking a scanner. “Concentrated in three areas. Central hub, eastern laboratory, western wing.”

“Laboratory first,” I decided. “If they’re conducting experiments, that’s our priority evidence.”

Maya’s hand shot out, stopping me. “Wait. Three minutes. Someone’s coming down the hall beyond this door. If we exit now, they see us.”

We waited in tense silence, counting seconds. Finally, Maya nodded.

“Now.”

The hallway was sterile white, more hospital than an office building. Security cameras lined the ceiling, but Riley’s manipulation kept us invisible. We moved

y toward the eastern wing.

The laboratory was behind reinforced doors with biometric locks. Adrian bypassed them using equipment I didn’t understand and probably didn’t want to know about.

Inside, my worst fears were confirmed.

Medical equipment surrounded examination tables. Cages lined one wall, sized for wolves. Specimen jars filled with tissue samples, blood, and even what looked like organs, were preserved in chemical solutions.

“Gods,” Elena breathed. “This is a slaughterhouse.”

Katherine was already photographing everything, her expression carved from ice. “These samples are

labeled. Names, pack affiliations, and dates of collection. Some of these wolves disappeared over a year

ago.”

I moved to a computer terminal, inserting a drive Adrian had prepared. “Downloading their research database. Everything they’ve learned, everything they’ve done.”

Warning lights suddenly blazed red. An alarm shrieked.

“Someone triggered security,” Adrian said, checking his tablet. “But not in here. Central hub. Someone else

is in the building.”

“The missing wolves,” Maya said, her eyes distant. “They came back. For revenge.”

Through the walls, I heard howls. Wolves, but in a human building. The survivors from the northern facilities, I realized. They’d found the headquarters.

“This complicates things,” Katherine said.

“Or simplify them.” I grabbed the drive, files still downloading. “If there’s a fight happening, that’s our cover. We get to the central hub, grab whoever’s in charge, and force them to shut down operations.”

Episode 34-4-

“Or we extract now before this turns into a bloodbath,” Elena countered.

“Too late for that.” Through the laboratory windows, I saw wolves in the hallway, fighting security guards.

Silver bullets tore through flesh, but the wolves kept coming, driven by rage and pain.

Comments

LUCK DRAW >

18

19

Vote