The Banished Shy Luna Chapter 121

The rain didn’t let up. It fell harder, faster—like the sky was holding its own funeral.

Toren stepped forward, his body shifting subtly into a defensive stance. Every drop that hit his shoulders steamed in the air around his golden aura.

“What did you mean by that?” he demanded, voice low but sharp enough to cut through thunder. “Why do you want her alive?”

Douglas didn’t flinch. Didn’t even blink. His gaze stayed locked on me as if Toren were just background noise.

Before he could answer, Lucas’s voice sliced through the rain.

“Yeah, what the hell do you mean by that?”

The tone carried more venom than loyalty. Lucas stalked toward his brother, fury sparking in his eyes. “We agreed she was a threat. You said we were ending this tonight. So what’s this sudden change of heart, brother?”

Douglas didn’t even bother to look at him. “It’s not a change of heart.”

“Bullshit,” Lucas snapped. “You can’t tell me that you brought all of your men all this way, to hunt her down, and then decide you want her alive.”

When Douglas still didn’t respond, Lucas did what Lucas always did—he let his temper think for him.

With a snarl, he lunge, his hand in a fist, getting ready to strike.

He didn’t make it far.

One of Douglas’s guards—huge, silent, and faster than anyone that size had a right to be—caught him mid-strike and threw him like a toy across the clearing.

The crack of wood echoed as Lucas’s body slammed into a tree trunk and slid to the ground, groaning.

I couldn’t stop it—a single, dark laugh escaped me. “Wow. Guess family dinners are awkward for everyone, huh?”

Even Toren’s lip twitched before he smothered it.

Douglas exhaled slowly, stepping forward several feet, his boots sinking into the mud. The air around him felt heavier, more deliberate. When he finally stopped, he was close enough that I could see the faint scar running down his jaw—an old one, probably from another war.

“I have no intention of hurting you anymore, Kira,” he said quietly. “But I do need to say something… important.”

The way he said it sent a chill through me.

I straightened, glancing briefly at Toren and then back at Douglas. “Fine,” I said, crossing my arms despite the fact I was still half-soaked and bleeding. “Speak your peace before the thunder gets impatient.”

Before he could, my sister’s shrill voice cut through the rain.

“How dare you!” Lyra shrieked, running toward Douglas like she had a claim on his authority. “You just assaulted Alpha Lucas! He’s been nothing but loyal to you!”

My mother wasn’t far behind her, the picture of righteous fury with mud splattering her heels. “You should be ashamed of yourself, Alpha Douglas. Lucas has sacrificed everything for your pack! For you!”

Douglas didn’t respond. He didn’t even look at them.

But I’d had enough.

The argument became a blur of sound—shouting, insults, the slap of rain on stone. My heart thundered in time with the storm, and the bond in my chest ached like it was pulling me apart. Talon was dying, and these people were bickering like children.

Something inside me snapped.

The growl that tore out of my throat was pure instinct. My aura burst outward in a violent wave—hot, bright, and sharp enough to crush air.

The effect was immediate.

Half of Douglas’s pack dropped to their knees. Some whimpered, others gasped for breath. Lyra and my mother both hit the mud with strangled cries, their nails clawing at the earth as they tried to resist the pull.

I barely noticed. My own power felt like fire licking across my skin, fueled by exhaustion and rage.

“Enough,” I said, voice echoing through the storm. “I’m done playing polite. My mate is dying while you all argue about who gets to feel self-righteous.”

The air shimmered around me, rippling like heat off flame.

I stepped forward, locking eyes with Douglas. “You said you wanted to speak. Then speak. Because either you tell me what the hell this is about, or I walk through you and finish this myself.”

Douglas’s lips twitched—not in amusement, but in something dangerously close to respect.

For a long moment, he said nothing. The storm howled around us, thunder breaking like bones in the sky. Then, slowly, he moved.

One step.

Two.

And then—he dropped to one knee in the mud.

Toren stiffened beside me. Even the pack behind Douglas looked stunned.

Douglas bowed his head, his hand pressed flat against his chest.

“I am not your enemy,” he said, his voice low, steady. “I am your Gamma.”

For a second, I forgot how to breathe.

“You’re what now?” I asked flatly.

“I pledge myself to your service, Luna,” he continued. “To protect you from the threats outside your pack… and within it.”

The air crackled. Every wolf around us went deathly still.

I blinked, half-laughing despite the gravity of it. “You’re serious. You’re actually kneeling. In the mud. During a storm. Do you have a flair for the dramatic, or is that just a family trait?”

He didn’t answer. He stayed there—on one knee, unflinching, the mud soaking into his coat.

Toren’s jaw flexed. “You expect us to believe this isn’t some trick?”

Douglas finally raised his head, golden eyes meeting mine. “Believe what you want, Alpha. But I’ve already chosen. I will serve her. Protect her. Even from you, if I must.”

That last line hit like lightning.

I stared at him, my aura still pulsing, heart pounding so hard it hurt. There were rumors about Gammas—that they were more than guards. That some Lunas took them as chosen partners, protectors in every sense of the word.

I exhaled a shaky laugh. “Well, this just got awkward.”

Douglas didn’t smile. He bowed his head again, rain dripping from his hair. “Your enemies are coming, Luna. Faster than you think. Let me do what I was born to do.”

The storm roared around us. Toren’s growl deepened. Lucas was still unconscious in the mud. My mother whimpered something I didn’t bother to hear.

And all I could think was—

What the hell just happened?