All Chapters of THE DORMANT LUNA Book 1: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

NEAH Dr. Sera stabilizes Micah within the hour. IV fluids. Pain medication. Careful monitoring of his vitals while his body fights whatever is breaking inside him. I sit in the medical wing waiting room while she works. Elena sits across from me. We do not speak. When Dr. Sera finally emerges, she looks exhausted. "He will live," she says. "But his condition is serious. The markers are activating without proper biological support. His body is essentially attacking itself trying to adapt." "Can you help him?" I ask. "I can try. But he needs what you have. Stability. A pack environment seems to facilitate smoother transitions. And possibly the mate bond helps regulate the process in ways I do not fully understand." I glance at Elena. She is staring at her hands. "Can I see him?" I ask. 

NEAH Day four of training. My body is adapting faster than I expected. The bruises from yesterday's session with Theo are already fading. Enhanced healing. One more thing to add to the list of changes I cannot control. Theo and I are running combat drills when movement catches my eye. Elena walks onto the training grounds. She is wearing gear I have never seen her in before. Fitted black pants. Tactical boots. A compression shirt that shows muscle definition I did not know my mother had. She looks like a soldier. "Let me in," she says. I stare at her. My mother. The woman who ran a self-defense studio. Who taught suburban women basic punches and how to carry their keys between their fingers. Standing on a military training ground asking to spar. "Mom, I do not think that is a good idea." Elena moves. 

 NEAH The three Alphas arrive at dusk. I watch from the training grounds as their convoys pull through the gates. Three separate packs. Three different agendas. All of them here because word spread that Iron Valley is harboring something valuable. Me. Liam stands beside me, arms crossed, every inch the warlord Alpha. Micah is on my other side, golden eyes tracking each vehicle like he's cataloguing threats. Caleb and Theo flank us from behind. We look like a united front. We are a united front. "Eastern Ridge first," Micah murmurs. "Alpha Dominic Hale. Older pack, traditional values. He'll want the Project destroyed for ideological reasons." "Northern Pine next," I add, watching a sleek black SUV pull in. "Alpha Sera Volkov. Only female Alpha in the region. She didn't get there by playing nice."

THEO I sit alone in the war room at three AM, going over the plan one final time. The maps are spread across the table. Red markers indicate entry points. Blue shows defensive positions. Yellow marks the locations where Dr. Sera's counter-agent teams will deploy. Black X's mark known serum wolf concentrations. I've memorized every variable, every contingency, every possible failure point. Not because I doubt the plan. Because preparation is how I love. I don't say it. Don't show it the way Shane does with his jokes or Miles does with his quiet care. But every hour I spend studying maps and calculating odds is an hour spent keeping the people I love alive. The door opens. I don't look up. "You should be sleeping," I say. "So should you." Neah's voice. She sits across from me, still in training clothes.

NEAH The assault begins with controlled chaos. Three simultaneous breach points. Eastern Ridge warriors hit the north gate with battering rams and explosive charges. Coastal Watch wolves scale the south wall with tactical precision. Iron Valley and Shadow Peak form the main assault on the west entrance, the one leading directly to the serum wolf holding facility. I'm with the infiltration team. Liam, Theo, Micah, Elena, and me. Our objective is simple. Reach the production lab. Destroy the serum synthesis equipment. Capture Kessler. Simple doesn't mean easy. The first wave of resistance hits us at the outer perimeter. Kessler's loyal wolves. The remnants of Marcus's defectors. They fight hard but fall quickly against four packs of natural wolves working in coordinated formation. Too quickly. "He's holding back the serum w