The Banished Shy Luna Chapter 10

My chores were finished, every last one of them. My hands ached, raw from scrubbing and hauling, my arms throbbed from carrying heavy sacks, and exhaustion dragged at me with every step. Still, I made my way toward my family’s den, my stomach twisting with dread.

I already knew what waited for me there.

Another beating. Another round of my father’s fists, or my mother’s words cutting sharper than claws. Lyra wouldn’t let what happened earlier go—not after Darin humiliated her in front of Callie and Rina. They’d find a way to blame me, as always.

I braced myself for it. Each step toward that door felt like walking into a trap I couldn’t avoid.

But just before I reached it, a hand shot out from the shadows and yanked me backward.

I gasped, thrashing, my heart hammering in panic.

“Stop struggling,” a low voice hissed against my ear. “It’s me. Listen.”

*Darin.*

I froze, every muscle coiled tight, my pulse still racing. His grip on my arm was firm, unyielding, keeping me hidden against the wall. At first, I thought it was another of his games, another way to corner me—but then the faint murmur of voices drifted from deeper inside the den. Familiar voices.

I held my breath, straining to hear.

It wasn’t Lyra this time.

It was them.

My parents.

“…how could you?” my father’s voice thundered, raw and furious. “How could you sell yourself to Alpha Lucas like that?”

“Don’t you dare lecture me!” Mother’s voice snapped back, dripping with venom. “At least I’m doing something. What have you done for Lyra? Nothing! She deserves better, and you sit here waiting for scraps!”

My blood chilled. I pressed myself closer to the wall, the words sinking sharp as knives.

“We don’t need this!” Father roared. “We don’t need you whoring yourself out to get her a place!”

“We need a way to get Kira out of the picture!” Mother shrieked, her voice cracking with desperation. “Don’t you see? Lucas won’t look at Lyra as long as Kira’s around! That girl is ruining everything!”

My knees nearly buckled.

Father spat back, his voice jagged. “The Alpha doesn’t feel that way about either of them! You’re blind, Aleria!”

Mother’s growl cut through the air, feral and vicious. “Then make him feel it. Keep working on him. If Lyra is mated to a strong Alpha, her wolf will come. Then the Elders will stop asking questions.”

Silence followed, heavy and suffocating.

Then Father’s voice dropped, jagged with something close to shame. “You know she has a wolf. Just as strong as Kira’s. She doesn’t need Lucas for that.”

My heart stopped.

“She hides it,” Father continued, his voice breaking. “To play weak. To get the pack’s sympathy. And you encourage it.”

“She needs protection,” Mother spat, her tone like poison. “Someone strong. Lucas, or at least a warrior. That’s the only way.”

Their voices faded into the den, but the words wouldn’t leave me. They echoed inside my skull, cruel and damning.

Lyra had a wolf.

She had always had a wolf.

Just as strong as mine.

My life—the endless chores, the punishments, the mockery, the hatred—had been nothing but lies. My parents had twisted everything, turned me into their scapegoat, sacrificed me to build Lyra’s illusion of fragility. They had made me suffer, torn me apart, just to make her look weak and precious. Their chosen jewel, while I was cast into shadow.

*Why?*

Why me?

What had I done so wrong to deserve this?

A shudder rippled through me. My hands shook as I pressed them to my stomach, as though I could hold myself together. That was when I remembered Darin—still behind me, too close. His breath ghosted over the shell of my ear. Before I could move, his tongue flicked against the side of my neck, slow and deliberate.

“Mmm,” he murmured, voice thick with desire. “Delicious. I can’t wait to taste even more of you.”

Revulsion shot through me like lightning. My stomach twisted, my throat constricted, bile burning at the back of my mouth.

I jerked away, shoving at him with all the strength I had left. My heart thundered in my chest, each beat screaming at me to run.

And I did.

I tore free of his grip and bolted, not looking back. My legs carried me blindly, faster and faster, out of the den and into the open night. The cool air seared my lungs, but I didn’t stop. Branches clawed at my arms, snagging my tunic. Stones bit into the soles of my bare feet, but pain was nothing compared to the terror burning in my veins.

I ran until the lights of the den were swallowed by darkness.

I was never allowed to run with the pack. Lyra couldn’t shift, so I wasn’t permitted to either. That was the rule. That was the lie.

Now? Now I didn’t know what was true.

I didn’t know who to trust. I didn’t know anything at all. My life, my family, my place in this pack—it was all unraveling, the lies cutting deeper than any beating ever had.

At last, I stumbled to a halt at the edge of a clearing. My back slammed against the rough bark of a tree, holding me upright as my knees threatened to give. My chest heaved, each breath ragged and uneven. Tears blurred my vision, streaking hot down my cheeks.

Inside me, my wolf paced restlessly, claws dragging against the walls of my mind. She was unsettled, agitated, as if she too felt the weight of the lies collapsing around us.

I pressed my fists against my mouth to stifle a sob, my entire body shaking.

Tomorrow we leave for the Alpha Gathering.

And the gnawing pit in my stomach told me this was only the beginning.