Luna. Chapter 50

(Lyra's POV)

"Mama, up!" Asher's determined voice cut through my morning reading. At seven months old, his vocabulary was already impressive, though his pronunciation needed work.

I set down the security reports I'd been reviewing and lifted him into my lap. He immediately reached for the papers with the curiosity that seemed to drive everything he did.

"These are boring grown-up things," I told him, but he was already studying the text like he could read it.

"Boring," he repeated clearly, then pointed at a photograph of federal agents. "Bad man?"

My heart skipped. The photo was from surveillance footage of Morrison's people. How could he possibly identify them as threats?

"How do you know they're bad, baby?"

"Smell bad," he said seriously. "Even in picture."

Which was impossible. But then again, impossible seemed to be Asher's specialty.

The sixteen rescued children had been with us for three days now, and their integration was going better than I'd hoped. Emma had attached herself to me like a shadow, while the older kids were beginning to open up to Derek and the other pack members.

"Luna?" Sarah knocked on the office door. "Dr. Elena needs to see you. She says it's urgent."

I carried Asher to the medical wing, where Dr. Elena was waiting with a concerned expression.

"What's wrong?"

"It's about the children we rescued. Several of them are showing signs of supernatural abilities that were suppressed or hidden."

"What kind of abilities?"

"Enhanced senses, precognitive flashes, empathic connections. Nothing dangerous, but definitely beyond normal human range."

"Were they experimenting on the kids?"

"That's what I need to find out. Can you bring Emma here? She seems to trust you most, and I think she might have information about what was happening at the facility."

I found Emma in the playroom, teaching Asher how to stack blocks with intense concentration.

"Emma, sweetheart? Dr. Elena wants to ask you some questions. Is that okay?"

She looked scared immediately. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"Of course you didn't. She just wants to make sure you're healthy."

"Will you stay with me?"

"Every second."

The conversation that followed made me physically sick.

Emma described "games" the facility staff had played with the children. Games designed to test their reflexes, their ability to sense things they shouldn't be able to sense, their emotional responses to stress.

"They gave us medicine that made us sleepy," she explained. "Then they would do tests while we couldn't move."

"What kind of tests?"

"Blood tests. Brain scans. Sometimes they would hurt us a little to see if we could make it stop."

I had to excuse myself to throw up.

When I returned, Dr. Elena was documenting everything with clinical precision that barely masked her rage.

"They were definitely experimenting," she confirmed quietly. "Identifying children with latent supernatural abilities and testing ways to enhance or suppress them."

"For what purpose?"

"Unknown. But Emma mentioned they took some children away when they got older. Children who showed the strongest abilities."

"Took them where?"

"She doesn't know. They just disappeared."

That evening, I called an emergency meeting with Derek, Magnus, and the Council representative who'd been assigned to oversee our security.

"We need to find those missing children," I said without preamble.

"Lyra, that's beyond our current mission scope," the Council representative replied.

"No, it's not. Those children are supernatural beings who were kidnapped and experimented on. That makes them our responsibility."

"It also makes them a Council matter, not a pack matter."

"Then make it a Council matter. Officially."

"That would require Alpha King Adrian's direct authorization."

"Then get it."

"The political ramifications—"

"I don't care about political ramifications. I care about children who are probably being tortured right now in some secret facility."

Derek leaned forward. "What are you proposing?"

"I'm proposing we track down every child who disappeared from that facility and bring them home."

"That could take months. And it would put us in direct conflict with federal operations."

"So?"

"So we're supposed to be maintaining peaceful coexistence with human authorities."

"Peaceful coexistence doesn't include letting them experiment on children."

Magnus, who'd been quiet through the entire discussion, finally spoke up.

"She's right. And if the Council won't authorize official action, then we act unofficially."

"That's not your decision to make anymore," the Council representative pointed out. "Luna Lyra is under Council protection, which means Council oversight."

"Fine," I said, standing up. "Then I resign from Council protection."

"You can't do that."

"Watch me."

"Lyra," Derek said urgently, "if you refuse Council protection, you become a target again."

"I'm already a target. The only difference is whether I'm a target who can fight back or a target who has to ask permission first."

"What about Asher?"

"What about him? Do I want him growing up in a world where supernatural children can be kidnapped and experimented on with impunity? Or do I want him growing up knowing his mother fought to protect innocent kids?"

"It's not that simple."

"It's exactly that simple."

I walked to the window and looked out at the children playing in the garden. Emma was helping some of the older kids teach the younger ones a clapping game. They looked happy for the first time since their rescue.

"How many children do you think Morrison has disappeared over the years?" I asked quietly.

"We don't know."

"Dozens? Hundreds? How many families have lost children to his research programs?"

"Probably more than we want to think about."

"And how many more will be taken if we don't do something?"

The room was quiet except for the sound of children laughing outside.

"I'll call Alpha King Adrian," the Council representative said finally.

"And tell him what?"

"That Luna Lyra is requesting permission to conduct rescue operations for missing supernatural children."

"And if he says no?"

"Then we have a bigger problem than missing kids."

That night, after Asher was asleep, I sat in the garden thinking about choices and consequences.

If I pushed too hard, if I demanded too much, I could lose the security and stability the Council provided.

But if I didn't push hard enough, children would continue to suffer and disappear.

My phone buzzed with a text from Kael: "Heard about the orphanage rescue. Proud of you."

I stared at the message, surprised by how much his approval still meant to me.

I typed back: "Just doing what needed to be done."

"That's what makes you extraordinary."

"The Council might not see it that way."

"Then the Council is wrong. Those kids needed a hero. They got you instead, which is better."

Despite everything between us, despite all the pain and mistakes, Kael still knew exactly what to say to make me feel understood.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For supporting me even when it's complicated."

"It's not complicated. You're fighting for kids who can't fight for themselves. That's always right."

I looked up at the stars, thinking about the children we'd saved and the ones still missing.

Tomorrow, I'd find out if the Council would support a broader rescue mission.

And if they wouldn't, I'd find another way.

Some things were worth fighting for, regardless of the political consequences.