Luna. Chapter 40

(Lyra's POV)

"I'm sorry for speaking so bluntly to you before," I said to Sebastian as we walked back toward the packhouse. "I didn't know—"

"You didn't know I was your father," he finished gently. "And I was a stranger approaching you in obvious distress. Your caution was appropriate."

"But you were trying to... you were going to..."

"Yes. I was." Sebastian stopped walking and looked out at the lake. "Every year on the anniversary of your disappearance, the pain becomes unbearable. This morning, I finally decided I couldn't live with it anymore."

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologize for my weakness. You saved me, Isabella. Just by being here, by being alive." He turned to me with tears in his eyes. "You saved me from making the biggest mistake of my life."

Before I could respond, screaming erupted from inside the packhouse. High-pitched, terrified screaming that made my blood run cold.

"What's happening?" I started running toward the building, Sebastian close behind me.

"The exhibition hall," he said grimly. "Someone's in trouble."

We burst through the main doors to find chaos. Pack members were running in all directions, shouting about theft and attackers. The lights flickered ominously.

"The Goddess Stone!" a woman screamed. "Someone stole the Goddess Stone!"

Derek appeared beside us, his face grim. "Professional job. They disabled the security system and took out the power grid."

"How many?" Sebastian asked.

"At least four, maybe more. They're using the darkness as cover."

Before anyone could stop me, I was moving toward the exhibition hall. Something inside me was pulling in that direction, the same instinct that had led me to the thieves last night.

"Isabella, wait!" Sebastian called.

But I was already pushing through the crowd, following that internal compass that seemed to know exactly where the stolen stone had gone.

The exhibition hall was in complete darkness, but somehow I could see perfectly. Emergency lighting hadn't kicked in yet, but it didn't matter. I could sense movement, direction, intent.

"This way," I said, heading toward a rear exit I hadn't known existed.

"How can you possibly know that?" Derek asked, appearing beside me with a flashlight.

"I can feel it. The stone. It's... calling to me."

"From how far away?"

"Not far. They're still in the building."

We made our way through corridors I'd never seen before, deeper into the packhouse than I'd known it extended. The pull was getting stronger, more urgent.

"There," I said, pointing to a stairwell that led down to what looked like basement levels.

"Storage areas," Sebastian explained quietly. "But there are also tunnels down there. Old escape routes that connect to the lake."

"They're using them to avoid being seen."

We descended the stairs as quietly as possible, but I knew we were too late. The pulling sensation was moving away from us, toward the water.

"They're in the tunnels," I said. "Heading for the lake."

"There's a speedboat moored at the north dock," Derek said grimly. "If they reach it..."

"They won't." I was already moving faster, letting that strange instinct guide me through the maze of underground passages.

Behind us, I could hear more footsteps. Magnus's voice, calling my name. Other pack members joining the pursuit.

The tunnel ended at a concealed door that opened onto the lake shore. In the distance, I could see figures moving toward a boat.

"There!" I pointed.

But even as I said it, I knew we were too late. The thieves had too much of a head start. They'd be on the water before we could reach them.

Unless...

I knelt by the water's edge and placed my palm flat against the lake's surface. The same power I'd felt with the stone stirred inside me, but different this time. Wilder.

"Isabella, what are you doing?" Sebastian asked urgently.

"Something I probably shouldn't."

I reached out with my abilities, not toward the thieves but toward the lake itself. Water was alive in its own way, responsive to the right kind of influence.

The lake began to churn.

Not violently, but purposefully. Waves that had been lapping gently at the shore grew larger, more forceful. The calm surface became rough, dangerous for small boats.

"How are you doing that?" Derek whispered.

"I don't know."

The speedboat's engine roared to life, but the increasingly rough water made navigation treacherous. I could see the thieves struggling to maintain control as waves crashed over their bow.

Then suddenly, everything stopped.

The water went dead calm. My connection to it vanished like someone had flipped a switch. The power that had been flowing through me cut off completely.

"What happened?" I gasped.

"Someone's interfering," Sebastian said grimly. "Someone with abilities similar to yours."

"Is that possible?"

"More possible than you know."

In the distance, the speedboat regained control and roared away across the now-calm lake. The thieves had escaped with the Goddess Stone.

"I'm sorry," I said, slumping with exhaustion. "I tried to stop them."

"You did stop them," Magnus said, arriving with several other pack members. "Long enough for us to get video footage of their faces, their boat, their direction of travel."

"It won't be enough."

"It might be. But Isabella..." Sebastian knelt beside me, his expression concerned. "What you just did, influencing the lake itself, that's not a normal Sebastian ability."

"What do you mean?"

"Our bloodline can influence people, other werewolves. We've never been able to affect natural elements like water."

"Then how did I do it?"

"I don't know. But it suggests your abilities are stronger than anyone realized. Stronger than they were five years ago."

Derek exchanged glances with Magnus. "If the experiments enhanced her natural abilities..."

"Then she's more valuable to them now than ever," Magnus finished. "And more dangerous to be around."

I pressed my hands to my belly, feeling the baby respond to my stress with increased movement. "What does this mean for my child?"

"It means they'll inherit abilities no one has seen before," Sebastian said quietly. "It means they'll be hunted from the moment they're born."

"Unless we find whoever did this to you and stop them permanently," Derek added.

"How do we do that?"

"By using you as bait," Magnus said reluctantly. "By making you accessible and waiting for them to come."

"Absolutely not," Sebastian said immediately. "I just got my daughter back. I'm not using her as bait for anything."

"Then what do you suggest?" Derek asked. "Because they'll keep coming. And next time, they might be successful."

Before anyone could answer, the sound of helicopters filled the air. Multiple aircraft, approaching fast from different directions.

"Federal agents," Magnus identified grimly. "Looks like General Cassius is making his move."

"Everyone back to the packhouse," Derek ordered. "Now!"

But as we ran toward the building, I couldn't shake the feeling that running was pointless. The thieves had the stone, Cassius had his federal authority, and I had abilities I didn't understand that made me valuable to multiple parties.

I was trapped between people who wanted to use me and people who wanted to protect me.

And somewhere in the middle was a baby who would inherit all of this chaos.