Luna. Chapter 71

(Kael's POV)

I woke up seven hours later to find Adrian sitting in the chair beside my bed, reading a report that didn't look like casual literature.

"Please tell me that's not what I think it is," I said, recognizing the classified file format.

"Depends what you think it is."

"Intelligence on Seraphina's whereabouts."

"Then yes, it's exactly what you think it is."

I struggled to sit up, wincing as pain shot through my hip. "What did you find?"

"She's not working alone. We've identified at least three other individuals who helped with her escape."

"Ashwalkers?"

"Former Ashwalkers. The organization is fractured, but some of the more extreme members have gone rogue."

"What do they want?"

"Same thing they've always wanted. To eliminate supernatural bloodlines they consider impure."

"Meaning Lyra and Asher."

"Among others."

I thought about my son, still recovering from surgery, still vulnerable. About Lyra, who'd already survived one attempt on her life and didn't deserve to spend the rest of it looking over her shoulder.

"What's the plan?"

"Find them before they find your family."

"I want to help."

"You can barely walk."

"I can think. I can plan. I can coordinate from here while other people do the physical work."

Adrian studied my face. "This isn't about revenge, is it?"

"It's about making sure my son can grow up without someone trying to poison him. It's about making sure Lyra can live her life without fear."

"And if eliminating the threat means eliminating Seraphina?"

I thought about the woman who'd once been my mate, who'd chosen obsession over love, who'd poisoned a child to hurt me.

"Then that's what it means."

"You sure about that?"

"I'm sure about protecting my family. Whatever that requires."

Adrian nodded and opened the file. "Then let's get to work."

For the next two hours, we reviewed intelligence reports and surveillance footage. Seraphina had been spotted in three different cities over the past week, always moving, always staying ahead of pursuit.

But she was making mistakes. Leaving traces. Getting sloppy in ways that suggested she was running out of resources and allies.

"She's desperate," I observed, looking at the pattern of her movements.

"Desperate people are dangerous."

"Desperate people are also predictable."

"What are you thinking?"

I studied the map where we'd marked her confirmed sightings. They formed a rough circle around the general area where Lyra and Asher had been living.

"She's not running away. She's positioning for another attack."

"On what?"

"On us. On this facility. She knows we moved Asher here."

Adrian's expression darkened. "How would she know that?"

"Because she's been watching us longer than we realized."

I thought about the security footage from Asher's school, the woman who'd been volunteering in the lunch program. If she'd been bold enough to poison him there, what else had she been observing?

"We need to review all the security footage from the past month. Not just from the school, but from the hospital, from Lyra's apartment, from anywhere our family has been."

"Looking for what?"

"Patterns. Surveillance. Evidence that she's been tracking us systematically."

"And if we find that evidence?"

"Then we use it to predict where she'll hit next."

Adrian was already reaching for his phone. "I'll get a team on it."

"Adrian?" I stopped him before he could dial. "When we find her, I want to be there."

"You're in no condition—"

"I'm in perfect condition to end this. She's my responsibility."

"She's everyone's responsibility now."

"No. She's mine. She was my mate, my mistake, my failure to see what she was becoming. And she's targeting my family because of me."

"Kael—"

"I need to finish this. Not for revenge, not for closure, but because she won't stop until either she's dead or my family is."

Adrian was quiet for a long moment. Then he nodded.

"When you're cleared for limited duty, you can coordinate the operation. But you're not going into the field until you can walk without wincing."

"Deal."

As he left to organize the security review, I lay back in the hospital bed and tried to imagine a future where my family was safe. Where Asher could go to school without fear, where Lyra could sleep without nightmares, where I could be a father instead of a bodyguard.

It was a future worth fighting for.

And if fighting for it meant destroying the woman who'd once been my everything, then that's what I'd do.

Some choices were that simple.