Luna. Chapter 127

(Lyra's POV)

I woke up slowly, consciousness returning in waves like a tide coming in. My head felt like someone had filled it with cotton and hammers, and there was a lingering chemical taste in my mouth that made me want to throw up.

Where was I?

The room around me was small, windowless, with concrete walls and a single fluorescent light buzzing overhead. I was lying on a narrow cot, still wearing the clothes I'd put on that morning. How long had I been unconscious?

I tried to sit up and immediately regretted it as the world spun violently around me. Whatever they'd injected me with was still working its way through my system.

Aria? I called to my wolf, but got only silence in response. That was more alarming than the headache or the nausea. Aria was always there, always present in my consciousness. The absence of her voice felt like missing a limb.

Aria, please. I need you.

Still nothing. It was as if something had severed the connection between us, leaving me alone in my own head for the first time since childhood.

The sound of a door opening made me look up, though the movement sent fresh spikes of pain through my skull. The woman from the cottage stood in the doorway, looking perfectly composed and smugly satisfied.

"Ah, you're awake. How are you feeling? Dizzy? Nauseous? Unable to connect with your wolf?"

"What did you do to me?"

"Nothing permanent, I assure you. Just a little cocktail designed to suppress supernatural abilities. Think of it as a temporary leash for dangerous creatures."

I struggled to focus on her face, fighting through the fog in my brain. "You're not Shadow Den Gang."

"Clever girl. No, I'm not. Though they were useful pawns for a while. Human trafficking organizations are remarkably easy to manipulate when you offer them the right incentives."

"Ashwalkers."

Her smile widened. "Very good. Though I prefer to think of myself as a concerned citizen working to protect humanity from supernatural threats."

"By drugging pregnant women?"

"By neutralizing dangerous individuals before they can cause widespread harm." She stepped closer, her green eyes studying me like I was a particularly interesting insect. "Do you know what you are, Lyra? What you really are?"

"A woman who's going to rip your throat out when this drug wears off."

She laughed, genuinely amused. "Feisty. I like that. But no, dear. You're a weapon of mass destruction wrapped in an attractive package. You're a celestial wolf with alpha bloodline genetics and a child who combines both supernatural traditions. You're literally the most dangerous person on the planet right now."

"I'm not dangerous to anyone who doesn't threaten my family."

"Aren't you? What about when your son comes of age? What about when he starts manifesting abilities that dwarf anything seen in recorded supernatural history? What happens when he decides regular werewolves are beneath his notice?"

The possibility had never occurred to me. I'd been so focused on protecting Asher from external threats that I'd never considered what might happen if he became a threat himself.

"Asher would never hurt innocent people."

"Children don't stay children forever. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and your son is going to have more power than any supernatural being who's ever lived."

She was trying to plant seeds of doubt, trying to make me question my own child. I wouldn't let her succeed.

"You don't know him. You don't know anything about him."

"I know his genetic potential. I know what happens when celestial wolf abilities combine with alpha bloodlines. I know that the last time this combination occurred, it took three separate supernatural organizations working together to contain the resulting individual."

"When was that?"

"Twelve centuries ago. The resulting hybrid nearly started a war between werewolves and humans that would have exposed our entire community." Her expression grew cold, calculating. "He was eventually eliminated, but not before causing immense damage."

"And you think Asher is going to follow the same path?"

"I think Asher has the potential to be far worse. The bloodlines have had centuries to strengthen. The power levels we're talking about are exponentially higher."

I tried to reach for Aria again, desperate for my wolf's strength and wisdom. Still nothing. The chemical suppression was complete.

"What do you want from me?"

"Your cooperation. Your understanding that this is bigger than your maternal instincts." She sat on the edge of the cot, close enough that I could smell her perfume—something expensive and cloying. "We're not monsters, Lyra. We're trying to prevent a catastrophe."

"By kidnapping a pregnant woman?"

"By offering you a choice. Work with us to monitor and guide your son's development, help us ensure he never becomes a threat to supernatural or human communities, and both of you live long, comfortable lives under our protection."

"And if I refuse?"

Her smile turned predatory. "Then we implement more permanent solutions."

The threat was clear enough, but I wasn't about to roll over and accept it.

"You're insane if you think I'd help you hurt my child."

"I'm hoping you're smart enough to realize that cooperation is the only way to keep him alive."

She stood up, smoothing her sweater with casual movements.

"I'll give you some time to think about it. Consider your options carefully, Lyra. This offer won't remain open indefinitely."

"Where's Magnus? What did you do to him?"

"Alpha Steele is unharmed. Currently detained, but unharmed. His fate depends on your cooperation as well."

She moved toward the door, then paused.

"Oh, and before you get any ideas about heroic escapes—the room is warded against supernatural abilities, the door is reinforced steel, and there are guards posted outside. Even if the suppression drug wears off, you won't be shifting your way out of here."

The door closed behind her with a solid thunk, followed by the sound of multiple locks engaging.

I was alone, pregnant, powerless, and trapped in a concrete cell with no idea where I was or how to get home.

But I wasn't broken. Not yet.

Think, Lyra. There has to be a way out of this.

Even without Aria's voice to guide me, I could still think strategically. I could still plan. I could still find a way to protect my family.

I just had to figure out how to do it without supernatural abilities, in a reinforced cell, while seven months pregnant and still dizzy from whatever they'd drugged me with.

No pressure at all.