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CHAPTER 38

Penulis: Kelvin Foster
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-03-03 20:29:52

Chapter 38: Also There Is a Choice, and It Is Worse Than Death

Elias’s words rang in my ears like a death sentence.

*You have to wipe out what they made. You must erase your own bloodline from time. *

My blood ran cold. My breath hitched. My body refused to move.

Ethan reacted first, growling low enough to vibrate the stone walls of the chamber. "That’s not a choice. That’s genocide."

Elias stayed composed, his face inscrutable. "Call it what you will. But the Order isn’t going to rest until your kids are theirs, Jessica. They will come for them, and when that happens, you won’t be there to save them.” Not forever."

I forced myself to breathe. Made myself think beyond the horror tightening my chest. “And what is it, exactly, that you think I should do? Murder my children myself before the Order can get to them? Because you really don’t know who I am, if you think that."

Elias sighed and shook his head. "No, Jessica. I doubt if you have the fortitude to do what needs to be done. That’s
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  • Chasing my Luna    CHAPTER 39

    Chapter 39: The War We StartThe deal with Elias had the feel of a pact with the devil, but I had no illusions — we needed him. Every second lost was one second closer to the Order tightening its grasp over my children’s fates. I wasn’t going to let that happen.Our escape from the Obsidian Keep was a delicate dance of silence and urgency as we retraced our steps through the corridors. The Order would be searching for us soon, if they aren’t already.Ethan walked inches away from me, tension radiating off him in waves. "This was reckless. Even for you."I exhaled. “You think I don’t know that?His jaw tightened. "Then why agree to it? He’s dangerous."I halted and turned to face him completely. “Because we don’t know enough. We don’t have time to take our time. And because if we wait any longer, the Order wins.”Ethan’s eyes seared into me. “What if Elias betrays us?”I lifted my chin. "Then I’ll kill him myself."Ethan sighed, shaking his head, and there was a beat of silence between

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-04
  • Chasing my Luna    CHAPTER 40

    Chapter 40: The Fire We SetAs we rode through the dusky woods, the sharp oats of our horses' hooves crashing into the dirt and the sporadic hoot of an owl punctured the air. The moon was high, pouring pale silver light through the trees, but it did nothing to alleviate the heaviness pressing against my breast.The Origin Chamber. The place where it all began. Where the Order lay down the first attempts at perfecting the wolf, the first abominations that led to the monstrosities we fought now. If we could destroy it, we could cut a major artery in their power.We had one chance, and if we blew it, there would be no second try.”Elias rode next to me, his golden eyes on me with an intensity I didn’t like. He was unreadable, as usual, playing his own game. I didn’t trust him. But I needed him.He smirked. “More like it,” said Jessica, returning to her former self. Planning on how you’re going to survive this?”I didn’t look at him. “Figuring out how not to cut my back.”Elias chuckled.

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-04
  • Chasing my Luna    CHAPTER 41

    Chapter 41: No More MercyThe dust still clung to the air, a choking reminder of the havoc we had just barely escaped. The Origin Chamber was gone, crushed below thousands of tons of stone, but the war was not over. At most, we’d just signed our own death warrants.The boy we’d just rescued clung to my side, shaking, his small body quaking, and his golden eyes wide with fright and confusion.“Jessica,” Ethan said, his voice taut but steady. “We need to move. Now.”I looked around at my team — bloodied, exhausted but alive. The enormity of what we had just done weighed on me. We had dealt a heavy blow, but one in doing so had also told the Order that we weren’t simply fleeing anymore. We were fighting back.Elias dusted off his coat, as if not fazed at all. “We’ll call that better than expected,” he said.Ethan whirled on him faster than Elias had even time to move, driving him hard against what was left of a stone pillar.“You watched and didn’t do shit,” Ethan barked, squeezing Elias

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-04
  • Chasing my Luna    CHAPTER 42

    Chapter 42: Into the InfernoWind shrieked through the night as we rode grim and hard for the eastern fortress, and the gravity of the coming thing felt like an iron hand kneading my chest. The Order had stripped away so many parts of me. My home. My future. My peace.But they had never taken my kids away from me. And they never would.I gripped the reins, pushing my horse faster. Ethan rode next to me, jaw set with rage, eyes dark with intent.“You’re too quiet,” he said, his voice and the wind competing for sound.I sighed, still looking out over the horizon. "I’m focused."“You’re afraid,” he said, correcting him. “And I know you won’t say it, but I need you to say it.”I tilted my head, my voice crisp. "Why?"“Because if you own something, it can’t own you,” he said. "Fear makes people reckless. It makes them desperate."I clenched my jaw. "I don’t have time for fear."Ethan shook his head. “That’s not how it works, Jess. Whether you want to or not you have time for it. “And the o

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-05
  • Chasing my Luna    CHAPTER 43

    CHAPTER 43. A Reckoning in BloodThe room was too small, for the rage churning within me.Bryan simply stood in the doorway, his golden eyes amused as he took in my state, relaxed as though this was just another game. But I wasn’t here to play.My children whimpered behind me, reaching fruitlessly at my ripped clothes with their small hands. They had no idea what was happening, didn’t realize that the man for whom they had spent their brief lives in chains was standing before them.I intercept between them and Bryan, as my hand squeezes the hilt of my blade.“You shouldn’t be here, Jessica,” he said, smooth, quiet, casual. “I’m going to have to kill you now.”I bared my teeth. “You say that as if you ever had a choice.”Bryan sighed, and shook his head. “You never did know when to walk away, did you? Always fighting battles you never could win. That’s what I loved about you.”I snarled. “You don’t know what love is.”His smirk faded. "You had different thoughts back then.”"I used to

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-05
  • Chasing my Luna    CHAPTER 44

    Chapter 44: The War We Can’t Escape Smoke still clung to my clothes as I clutched my children, my heart racing as the fortress continued to burn. The night air reeked of ash and blood, the sounds of drones in the mid ringing throughout my head. We had succeeded in this fight—but Bryan had eluded capture. Which meant this was just the beginning. Ethan’s hand cramped on my shoulder, his stare scanning through the trees searching for a response. To our right, Selene and Dorian held their ground, swords in hand, their expressions permanently set. “We have to leave,” Rhea said, the anxiety evident in her voice. She was correct. And the next time, it wouldn’t be with cannon drones. It would be with my kids. I stared down at their chubby cheeks, their lovely eyes, which resembled my son’s, which resembled his. They didn’t notice what was happening. They didn’t find out what was going to happen next. I had attempted to avoid it. But it hasn’t been my time yet. We departed into the night, t

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-05
  • Chasing my Luna    CHAPTER 45

    Chapter 45: The Road to RuinThe Shadowfang fortress was quiet before the dawn, the air heavy with the impending doom. Warriors flowed through the hallways like ghosts, sharpening weapons, preparing armor, muttering to one other in low voices.We were marching to war.And I wasn’t going to return empty-handed this time.Bryan was outside, lurking in the wreckage of the Knox Pack, scraping whatever remnant of loyalty he could. He was dangerous, desperate. And desperation had made men reckless.I was standing in the war room, looking down at the map in front of me. The lines of old territories, faded. The broken pieces of my former home.Instead, I had walked away from the Knox Pack, an unwanted mate, humiliated and discarded.Now I was back as the woman who would kill their final Alpha.The sound of Ethan’s voice pulled me from my stupor. “Are you sure about this?”As my fingertips rested on the map, I turned to him. “We don’t have a choice.”He came closer, his eyes searching mine. “T

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-06
  • Chasing my Luna    CHAPTER 46

    Chapter 46: Bloodlines and BetrayalFissures pocked through the busted wreckage as the golden-eyed figure approached, the ground vibrating underfoot. And the air around him seemed alive with an unnatural energy, something old and something wrong.Bryan stood next to him, eyeing me with that same annoying smirk, like he’d already won.“You shouldn’t have touched this, Jessica,” he said, shaking his head. “You had your escape. You had your children. But you just had to come back, didn’t you?”My pulse thundered in my ears as I tightened my fists. “Do you think I would spare you after what you did?”Bryan laughed softly. “Still so dramatic.”Ethan stepped in next to me with his weapon drawn, his whole body vibrating with tension. “You’re stalling.”The golden-eyed figure chuckled, the sound smooth, even amused. “I like him,” he mused. “But he’s wrong. We’re not stalling.”His golden eyes flickered over to me, and suddenly, my breath caught in my throat — because I felt something.A tug i

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-06

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  • Chasing my Luna    CHAPTER 73

    Jessica stood paralyzed between Kade and Lucas, her heart hammering against her ribs and her past and future colliding before her.She should be relieved. After all these months running away, just trying to survive, desperately trying to stay alive—her pack had finally found her.But why did it feel so wrong?Lucas’s eyes were hopeful, craving for her to conform, to go back to what she used to be. Kade, however, remained unmoved next to her, barely shrouded dominance barely leashed, refusing to budge.She gulped, wavered on her feet. “Lucas… how did you find me?”His face gave nothing away. “We never stopped looking.”A twinge of guilt knotted in her chest. Had they really been searching for her all along? Or was there another reason for their mysterious re-emergence?Kade growled low next to her, catching Lucas’s ear. “She is not leaving without the truth.”Lucas’s jaw tightened. “This doesn’t concern you, Alpha. She belongs with us.”Jessica exhaled sharply. “I decide where I belong

  • Chasing my Luna    CHAPTER 72

    Chapter 72 – The AwakeningJessica’s body was weightless, floating between this world and another. This energy flowed in her veins as nothing she had ever known: primal, ancient, wild.Her wrists no longer ached. The burns had vanished, her skin as unmarred as if silver had never sullied her. But she knew better. She had experienced the pain, the torture. She had been tied up, powerless to struggle, could hardly breathe as her captors smothered her.And now?She was free.As she steadied herself, her breath came out in slow measured exhales. Lucian had run. Lucian had run from her. This man, who had tormented her, who had taken pleasure in her pain, had seen into her eyes and ran.Why?The question twisted tight in her mind, but just as she was able to settle into it, footsteps sounded in the corridor beyond.They were coming.Think, Jessica. Think fast.Her body may have healed, but she wasn’t naïve enough to believe she was invincible. Not yet. Whatever power had set her free, whate

  • Chasing my Luna    CHAPTER 71

    Chapter 71: The Trap We Never Saw ComingEmerging from the dense thicket of woodland, bursting through brush, my objective flashed through my mind, in a sing song sort of chant, skull, skull, skull. Kade was standing next to me, his fingers clenched around my wrist, his body rigid and prepared for anything. Elias trailed closely, his customary smirk replaced by grim concentration. The rogue Alpha, Maddox, hovered just outside of range, his icy gaze scanning the trees as if he were expecting a brawl.Because something felt off.The air too still, the forest too quiet. My wolf paced restlessly under my skin, her instincts prickling with that special kind of warning that got the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end.I swallowed hard. “Something’s wrong.”Kade nodded, his silver gaze sliding over to me. “I know. Keep moving.”But the feeling just got worse.With every step we took, the discomfort tightened like a spring in my belly.We were stepping into something, and it has felt

  • Chasing my Luna    CHAPTER 70

    Chapter 70: Giving In To FateUnlike most of the time though—I was half the way through the black sticky forest when I felt the knot between Kade and me, deluging the space with the pulse of connection, thick and unyielding. Whenever I walked away, it pulled me back. It was all I ever wanted, and every time I tried to shove it down, to ignore it, the damn thing flared hotter, burning up my veins like wildfire. I hated it. Hated how my body reacted to him, hated how my wolf purred in response to his presence, how she wanted him regardless of what he was.Elias must have felt it, too, because he sighed dramatically behind us. “So, are we all just not going to acknowledge how you two are giving off enough sexual tension to burn this whole forest down, or —”“Elias,” I snapped, my patience already threadbare.“What? All I’m saying is, if you two don’t deal with this, like, soon, I’m going to have to step in and —”A growl ripped through Kade’s throat so fast, so savagely, that Elias actua

  • Chasing my Luna    CHAPTER 69

    Chapter 69: Bound in Blood and FlameWe doubled up and ran through the very green forest, the plants meeting us and loosening up. It was sharp air, full of damp earth and pine, the wind cutting through my cloak as we staggered toward the unknown.We’d been running for hours at a punishing speed, which I didn’t mind at all. Every second I spent was another second closer to losing my kids.Kade jogged next to me, his silver eyes raking the shadows for threats. He made no sound, just concentrated, but I could sense him, a fire licking my skin. The mate bond throbbed between us, raw and undeniable, a tie neither of us had asked for but could no longer ignore.Elias matched me on my other side, the usual smirk gone. Even he knew the stakes now. The rogue Alpha—who’d finally introduced himself as Maddox—lagged just behind, studying us with inscrutable eyes.The tension was thick. We all knew what we were getting ourselves into.But we did not speak it openly.Not yet.The Moment the World C

  • Chasing my Luna    CHAPTER 68

    Chapter 68: Tethered by Destiny, Severed by DesireKade’s utterance lingered between us, dense with unvoiced weight. Come back with me. Three little words, and yet they pierced like a knife to the ribs. My pulse thundered in my ears as I fought to suppress the heat in my chest, ignore the primitive fire burning all the more brightly in his silver gaze. I had run from one betrayal to another for years, had spent my entire life knowing how to survive without depending on anyone. Now fate was brazen enough to gift me a second mate? And not just anyone—Kade. An Alpha. A man I couldn’t afford to let into my life.I clenched my fists. “You do not get to demand this of me.”Kade’s jaw ticked. “No right? Jessica, you disappeared. No warning. No explanation. You gift me with a pack council on my heels defending you as you marched straight into rogue territory armed with a fucking dagger and nothing else but your stubbornness.”“I didn’t ask you to defend me,” I hissed, my voice slicing the air

  • Chasing my Luna    CHAPTER 67

    Chapter 67: Into the Lion’s DenAs we drew closer to the river, the noise of rushing water grew louder, the current filament weaving between dense foliage like a silver snake under the moon.As Elias and I passed through the bank, we looked around. The air was heavy with the smell of damp earth, pine, and something else — something unnatural.“We’re almost there,” I gasped, the adrenaline surging.Humming, Elias rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. Too close.”I frowned. “What do you mean?”He shot me a look. “I mean, we’ve been walking through rogue territory for hours, and no one’s tried to kill us yet.”I exhaled. “You sound disappointed.”Elias smirked. “Not disappointed. Just… suspicious.”I didn’t blame him.Rogues weren’t the sitting-waiting kind. If they knew we were coming — and I had no doubt they did — then why hadn’t they revealed themselves?I glanced at the area again, my wolf stirring under my skin.Something wasn’t right.As I stepped forward, a deep voice came from the

  • Chasing my Luna    CHAPTER 66

    Chapter 66: On the Road to the UnknownThe fire was low, crackling quietly in the still night. The weight of exhaustion lay against my bones, but sleep just wouldn’t. Not when my brain wouldn’t shut up.Not when I saw my children’s faces every time I closed my eyes.Elias had settled easily into the rhythm, gazing into the flames with a dazed sort of concentration, but I could tell he wasn’t entirely at ease either. He was waiting. Watching. Not for threats — though those would surely come — but for me.He was there waiting for me to crack.I wouldn’t want to give him the satisfaction.Instead, I curled in tight at the knees and looked into the darkness past the firelight. The forest surrounding us was silent, but it was a deceptive kind of silence. The kind that listened.That waited.“We should leave at first light,” Elias murmured, breaking the stalemate of silence.I exhaled. “Agreed.”“Unless, of course, you’ve suddenly decided to head back.”I shot him a sharp look. “You know th

  • Chasing my Luna    CHAPTER 65

    Chapter 65: A Mother's SacrificeThe fire crackled quietly and threw fluttering shadows on the trees. The night was quiet but my mind was anything but.I sat with my back to a fallen log, my cloak tightened around me, the flames dancing in my eyes. The heat barely reached the chill lodged deep in my chest.Because I allowed myself to think of them for the first time in days.My babies.My heart squeezed painfully at the vision of their little faces; I curled my fists.Their smell was still fresh in my mind — soft, new, unhindered by the world. The way they curled into me while they slept, the way their little hands grabbed for me outside of their understanding of what was happening.And I had left them.I had left them.Some nights, the guilt was unbearable.Like now.“Elias moved next to me, eyes fixed and unreadable on the fire. He had been quiet for some time, but I could feel his curiosity, how he was waiting for me to say something.I exhaled slowly. “They’re safe.”Elias looked

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