When the Hidden Luna Rises novel Chapter 14

**Chained by Fate**
**Eliza Rowan**
**Chapter 14**

The night had settled in like a heavy cloak, wrapping the world in darkness. Ryan was ensconced at his desk, rifling through file after file, his expression a storm of frustration and disbelief. His brows knitted together in a deep frown, the weight of his thoughts pressing down on him like an anvil.

The edges of the papers were wrinkled and crumpled beneath his tightening grip, a testament to the turmoil whirling inside him.

At last, the truth had clawed its way to the surface.

While he had been away, Kelsey had been apprehended by the guards of the Stormclaw Pack, accused of “theft.” She had been dragged to the police precinct and subsequently transferred to the detention center, a place where shadows loomed large and hope seemed to flicker like a dying flame.

Inside those cold walls, the opportunistic she-wolves had unleashed their cruelty upon her, torturing her, beating her, pushing her to the brink of death.

In the end, it was Andrew Lawson, the Alpha of the Nightfall Pack, who had come to her rescue, bailing her out of that nightmare.

Ryan’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the edge of the desk, his rage bubbling just beneath the surface.

With a sudden, explosive motion, he hurled the files away from him. They flew through the air, colliding with the wall before scattering across the floor like fallen leaves in a tempest.

The atmosphere in the room turned icy, the air thick with tension.

His voice emerged, dangerously cold and laced with fury. “Kelsey? Theft? Beaten?”

The words felt like daggers, each one piercing through the silence.

“Who dares to lay a hand on my mate?!”

He could almost rationalize her momentary lapse in judgment. They had been embroiled in a fierce argument just before he left; in a fit of anger, he had frozen her cards, leaving her with no means to access money. Pampered and stubborn, she might have resorted to something reckless. But who—who in their right mind—would dare to touch her?

That was nothing short of a death wish.

“Speak!” His voice thundered, infused with the raw power of an Alpha, reverberating through every corner of the room.

The Beta stood before him, drenched in cold sweat, his expression one of utter dread.

“Alpha… Miss Evans stole from your safe. And… it was our own people who caught her.”

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Ryan sprang to his feet, disbelief etched across his face.

“What?”

The Beta’s voice quivered, barely managing to hold itself together. “You were preoccupied with negotiations during those days. We had a new batch of Gammas, and I neglected to brief them on Miss Evans’ status… They thought she was truly a thief.”

A heavy silence enveloped the room, thick like fog.

Ryan’s laughter erupted, harsh and devoid of humor, echoing off the walls.

“Perfect. Just perfect.”

With a swift kick, he sent the desk crashing onto its side, the ashtray atop it bursting into a shower of glass that glittered like deadly stars on the floor.

“Do my own men not know their Luna when they see her?”

The Beta’s face turned ashen, a ghostly shade of fear.

“Alpha, we truly didn’t know,” he stammered, desperation creeping into his voice.

“Get out! Bring those Gammas to me, now!”

Ryan’s roar was like a clap of thunder, shaking the very foundations of the Pack House.

Half an hour later, a line of warriors knelt in his study, their bodies tense with apprehension.

The air was thick with the metallic scent of fear.

“Alpha, spare us, we truly didn’t know she was the Luna,” they pleaded, their voices trembling.

Ryan regarded them with a cold, unyielding gaze, raising a finger to silence them.

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