Chapter 72 The Luna's Pack
Ryder POV
"It's Gio."
Her brother, the golden child who traded her to monsters. Now coordinating a siege to capture her again.
"Are you sure?" I keep my voice low, scanning the area for guards.
"Positive." Her eyes glow in the darkness. "I can feel his emotions. That specific mix of ambition and resentment. And fear, so much fear."
"Fear?" That catches me off guard.
"He's terrified." She stares at the corner office window. "Ever since I made him feel what he'd done to me, something broke inside him. But he's still here. Still trying to capture me. Whatever's driving him is worse than his fear."
"Then we kill him."
"No." She grabs my arm. "I already broke his mind once. I need to understand why he keeps coming back. What could possibly be worth facing me again after what I did to him."
I want to argue. Want to tell her that some questions aren't worth the risk. But I remember what happened in Elena's clearing. The way Gio collapsed, sobbing and broken, after Jolie made him feel years of cruelty from his victims' perspective.
"Fine." I check my weapons. "We take him alive. But if he threatens you, all bets are off."
"Deal." She takes a breath, centering herself. "There are still eight guards in there with him. Elite ones. But they're nervous. They've heard stories about what I can do."
"Good." I activate my radio. "Knox, Luna, status?"
Knox's voice crackles back. "Secondary buildings cleared. No alarms yet, do you need backup?"
"Negative. Hold position and watch our exit." I look at the main building. "We're going in."
We move across the open ground between buildings, every second expecting shouts or gunfire. But the complex stays quiet.
"They're waiting for us." Jolie whispers. "Gio ordered them not to engage until we're inside, it seems he wants to talk first."
"Since when does your brother talk instead of fight?"
"Since I made him experience empathy." Her voice is sad. "It changed him, Ryder. Not in a good way. Just in a broken way."
We reach the main door. Unlocked, just like I expected.
"Definitely a trap." I try the handle anyway.
"He's alone with the guards." Jolie closes her eyes, reaching out with her senses. "No backup or escape plan. He's either desperate or suicidal."
"Or both." I push the door open. "Stay behind me."
The building smells of dust. Moonlight filters through broken windows, casting everything in shades of gray.
We climb the stairs slowly. Each step brings us closer to the corner office where Gio waits.
The door at the end of the hallway is open. Light spills out, warm and inviting.
"How do you want to play this?" I ask quietly.
"Carefully." She moves up beside me. "I don't want to break him again. But I will if I have to."
I kick the door open.
The office is exactly what I expected—desk, chairs, maps on the walls. Eight guards positioned around the room, weapons ready but not raised. And behind the desk, looking nothing like the confident alpha I remember, is Gio Rys.
He's aged ten years in a few weeks. Dark circles under his eyes. Hands trembling on the desk. The face of a man who hasn't slept since experiencing true empathy.
"Little Ash." His voice cracks on her old nickname. "You came."
"You kidnapped an innocent girl and besieged my territory." Jolie steps into the room, moonfire flickering under her skin. "Of course I came."
"I had to." Gio stands slowly, hands visible and empty. "They said if I didn't deliver you, they'd kill Father. Destroy the entire Nightshade Pack."
That stops us both.
"Who?" I demand. "Who's threatening your pack?"
"The Council of Alphas." Gio's laugh is bitter and broken. "Turns out having a divine vessel appear disrupts their careful power balance. They want you contained, studied, controlled. And they chose me to deliver you because I'm family. Because they thought I'd be motivated."
"They were right." Jolie's voice is cold. "You are motivated. By fear. Just like always."
"You don't understand." Gio moves around the desk, and the guards shift nervously. "After what you did to me—after you made me feel everything—I can't stop feeling it. Every cruel word I ever spoke. Every time I hurt you. It replays in my mind constantly. I can't sleep. Can't eat. Can't think about anything else."
He looks at her with desperate eyes. "I know what I am now. What I've always been. A monster who tortured his own sister to protect his reputation. And the worst part? Even knowing that, even feeling all of it, I'm still here trying to trade you away. Because I'm too much of a coward to let my pack suffer for my sins."
The raw honesty in his voice makes my skin crawl. This isn't the smug alpha who arranged Jolie's sale to Thorne. This is something broken wearing Gio's face.
"So you brought an army." Jolie's moonfire grows brighter. "Besieged our territory. Took a hostage. All to deliver me to the Council."
"I told them you'd come willingly if I had leverage." Gio's voice drops to a whisper. "I didn't want more blood on my hands. Not after feeling what violence really means to the victims."
"You're right about one thing." She moves closer, and every guard in the room tenses. "You are a coward. But not because you're trying to protect your pack. Because you're still choosing the easy path. Still letting others pay the price for your choices."
"What choice do I have?" Gio's shout echoes off the walls. "Let the Council slaughter hundreds of innocent wolves? Or hand over one divine vessel who can survive anything they throw at her?"
"You could fight." I step up beside Jolie. "You could stand up to the Council. Rally other packs who are tired of their control."
"I'm not strong enough." Gio looks at his hands. "I never was. That's why I needed you weak, Little Ash. Because your weakness made me feel strong. And now that you're powerful, I'm nothing."
"Is Father even in danger?" Jolie asks quietly. "Or is this just another lie to manipulate me?"
Gio flinches. "He's in danger. The Council took him three days ago. They're holding him at their fortress until I deliver you."
"And if you don't?"
"They'll execute him publicly." Gio's voice breaks. "Make an example of what happens to packs who can't control their divine vessels."
Jolie goes very still. I feel something shift in the mate bond—not sympathy exactly, but understanding.
"You hate him." She says it like a fact. "Father. You've always resented living in his shadow. And now you have the perfect excuse to let him die while looking like the victim."