Luna. Chapter 142

(Lyra's POV)

The drive back to Mountain Cross territory felt endless. Every mile took us further from potential allies and deeper into dangerous isolation. Magnus kept checking his mirrors, watching for surveillance or pursuit.

"We need to talk strategy," I said as we finally reached pack lands.

"What kind of strategy?"

"The kind that assumes we're now at war with the royal family."

Magnus parked outside the main pack house and helped me out of the car. My leg was still weak from the attack, requiring the walking stick Dr. Reyes had insisted on, but I was determined to project strength despite my physical limitations.

"First priority is securing the children," I continued as we made our way inside. "Both Asher and the ones we're planning to rescue."

"Security's already been tripled. Council guards, pack warriors, and some unofficial volunteers from allied territories."

"How unofficial?"

"The kind who will deny any involvement if questioned by royal investigators."

In the main conference room, Derek was waiting with Iris and several other team members from the planned rescue operation.

"How did the Council meeting go?" Derek asked, though our expressions probably told him everything he needed to know.

"Complete ambush. All our allies were called away on 'urgent business.' It was just us, Kael, and General Cassius."

"What did Cassius want?"

"Complete surrender. Stop investigating the royal programs, submit to oversight of my pregnancy, accept Council custody of both children."

"And when you refused?"

"Twenty-four hour ultimatum. Comply or face terrorism charges and have our children taken into protective custody."

Iris cursed under her breath. "They're accelerating their timeline."

"Because they know about tonight's mission?"

"Because they know we're getting close to evidence they can't dismiss or cover up."

Derek spread out the rescue operation plans on the conference table. "If they're moving fast, we need to move faster."

"What's the status of the team?"

"Ready to go. Weapons, communications, extraction routes all confirmed."

"Medical support?"

"Standing by at three locations."

"Legal documentation?"

"Council advocates are prepared to take immediate custody of any rescued children and begin formal testimony collection."

I studied the timeline, feeling the weight of everything that could go wrong. "What's the weather forecast?"

"Clear skies, new moon. Perfect conditions for stealth operations."

"And if we're caught?"

"Then we improvise and fight our way out."

A soft knock interrupted our planning session. One of Magnus's pack members appeared in the doorway.

"Luna, there's a call for you. Says it's urgent."

"Who is it?"

"Someone named Emma. She says you'll want to hear what she has to tell you."

I took the phone, stepping away from the group for privacy. "Emma? What's wrong?"

"Luna, they took Sage."

My blood went cold. "What do you mean they took her?"

"Men came to the safe house. They said they needed to ask her more questions about the royal estate. But they didn't bring her back."

"When was this?"

"Two hours ago. I tried to call sooner, but they wouldn't let me have a phone."

"Emma, where are you now?"

"Still at the safe house. But Luna, I heard them talking. They know about tonight."

"What did they say?"

"That they need to move the children before the rescue team arrives. They're evacuating the underground facility."

I felt everything collapse around us. Our one chance to save those children, and they'd moved the timeline up.

"Emma, do you know where they're taking the children?"

"No. But Luna? I heard something else. Something about you."

"What about me?"

"They said the baby you're carrying is more important than anything else. They said they need to get you before it's born."

"Did they say when?"

"Soon. Maybe tonight."

I ended the call and turned back to the team, my mind racing.

"They moved the children," I announced. "The rescue location is compromised."

"How do you know?" Derek asked.

"Emma just called. They took Sage two hours ago, and they're evacuating the underground facility."

"Then we abort," Iris said immediately.

"We can't abort. Those children—"

"Those children aren't there anymore. We'd be walking into an empty facility while they set a trap for us somewhere else."

I sank into the nearest chair, feeling the weight of failure. "So we just let them disappear again?"

"No. We find out where they've been moved and adjust our plans."

"How?"

"By using the one advantage we still have."

"Which is?"

"They want you alive. Which means they'll have to come to us eventually."

Derek looked up from the tactical maps. "You want to use Lyra as bait?"

"I want to use their obsession with her pregnancy to draw them into an engagement where we have the advantage."

"Absolutely not," Magnus said immediately. "She's pregnant and still recovering from major injuries."

"I'm not suggesting she participate in combat. I'm suggesting we use their desperation to control her as leverage."

I thought about Emma's phone call, about Sage being taken, about the children who were being moved to an unknown location where we couldn't help them.

"What kind of leverage?" I asked.

"The kind where we make them come to us instead of us going to them."

"How?"

"By announcing your pregnancy publicly. By making it clear that you're carrying the most powerful supernatural child in generations. By forcing them to act before they're ready."

"That's incredibly dangerous."

"Everything we do from now on is incredibly dangerous. The question is whether we want to be reactive or proactive."

I looked around the room at the people who'd been willing to risk everything to save children they'd never met. People who were now asking me to risk my own pregnancy to continue the fight.

"If we do this, if we make ourselves the primary target, what happens to Asher?"

"Asher gets moved to the most secure location possible with round-the-clock protection."

"And the rescued children we were planning to save?"

"We'll find them. But first we need to survive long enough to mount a proper search."

I felt the baby move, as if responding to the stress and danger surrounding us. In five months, this child would be born into whatever world we created through our choices today.

"There's one more thing," I said quietly. "Something Emma told me on the phone."

"What?"

"They found evidence. In one of the Ashwalkers we killed during the recent attacks."

"What kind of evidence?"

"Goddess Stone fragments. Embedded in the creature's body."

The silence that followed was deafening.

"They're claiming the Ashwalkers are connected to celestial wolf powers?" Derek asked.

"They're claiming we're responsible for creating them."

"That's impossible."

"Is it? Or is it exactly the kind of evidence they need to justify everything they've been doing?"

I thought about the Goddess Stone we'd recovered months ago, about its connection to celestial wolf abilities, about the power it had displayed when I'd touched it.

"They're saying our supernatural heritage is what's creating these monsters."

"And that makes us a threat to everyone."

"Exactly."

Derek stared at the tactical maps spread across the table. "This isn't just about protecting our children anymore."

"No. It's about proving that we're not the enemy they claim we are."

"How do we do that?"

"By finding out who's really behind the Ashwalker attacks. By discovering who planted those stone fragments and why."

"And if we can't prove our innocence?"

"Then we'll be hunted by everyone instead of just the royal family."

I looked around the room one more time, seeing the determination in everyone's faces despite the impossible odds we were facing.

"So," I said finally, "who wants to help me clear our family's name and save some children in the process?"

Every hand in the room went up.

"Good. Because this is about to get a lot more dangerous."