The Banished Shy Luna Chapter 129

What did he just say?

The words hung in the air like ash.

We have the same father.

Everything in me went still.

No sound. No thought. Just that sentence echoing in my skull over and over until it scraped.

If Douglas was my brother… then so was Lucas.

The realization hit like a blade between the ribs. My knees threatened to give, but I refused to let anyone see me fall. Instead, I shut down—emotion locked behind the same walls that had kept me alive for years.

I felt Toren’s hand touch my shoulder, steady but cautious. “Kira,” he said carefully, “talk to us. What’s going through your head right now?”

I laughed—short, sharp, humorless. “Oh, you know. Just the usual identity crisis. Turns out the psychopath who tried to have me killed is my half-brother. Totally normal Tuesday.”

Talon swore under his breath. Tyson muttered something about punching fate in the face. Douglas stayed quiet, which somehow made it worse. His silence was like a mirror I didn’t want to look into—because I already knew what I’d see there.

Toren finally broke the stillness. “If you share the same father… then why are you so different, Kira? Why aren’t they like you? Why don’t Douglas or Lucas have your power?”

Douglas’s eyes shifted to the ground before meeting mine again. “We asked ourselves the same question. Lucas and I inherited the strength, the Alpha drive—the leadership instincts. But our father’s gift… that didn’t pass to us.”

“Gift?” I echoed, my tone bitter enough to curdle blood. “You mean the little perk where my veins turn into lightning and my blood apparently heals people?”

Douglas’s mouth twitched like he almost smiled. “Something like that. No one in the bloodline has shown healing abilities for over three centuries. The last Luna who had them nearly started a war because the Council wanted her power for themselves.”

I let out a low whistle. “So, family tradition: one side breeds warriors, the other breeds chaos.”

Talon snorted softly, but Douglas went on. “It’s not chaos. It’s power that was meant to be balanced—and yours wasn’t. The Council doesn’t understand that kind of power. They only know how to fear it.”

“Shocking,” I muttered. “The Council trying to steal something they don’t understand. That’s practically their brand. Maybe they can slap a logo on it—‘Control or Conquer: Since 1347.’”

Tyson’s arm tightened protectively around me. “So that’s why they’re watching her. They want to control her. Use her.”

Douglas nodded once. “Exactly. To them, a Luna who can heal and command at the same time isn’t a blessing. She’s a weapon—a living deterrent. They’d rather break her than let her choose how to use her gift.”

I hated the way he said her, like I wasn’t standing right there.

The air thickened, heavy and cold. I swallowed hard. “Does Father know I exist?”

Douglas hesitated, and that hesitation was answer enough. “Yes,” he said finally. “He tried to see you more than once, but your mother refused. She told him she wanted to build a better life for Lyra.”

I laughed bitterly. “Of course she did. Easier to build a better life when you bury the competition.”

Toren’s jaw flexed. “She used you as penance for her own guilt.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” I muttered. “Pretty sure our family crest is just a therapy bill and a bottle of whiskey.”

Tyson huffed a rough laugh beside me. “Could be worse. Could be fragile like Lucas’s ego.”

Douglas’s lips twitched again — almost guilty, almost amused. “Father didn’t tell him. He thought it would break what was left of him. Lucas’s mind has always been… delicate.”

I crossed my arms. “Delicate. That’s one way to describe attempted murder.”

Talon stepped closer, his voice soft but edged. “So your father knew, your mother lied, and the Council’s plotting to weaponize you. Tell me again how you’re holding up, Cupcake?”

I forced a smirk. “Oh, fantastic. My family tree is basically a crime scene. I’m just waiting for someone to tell me my grandmother was a dragon and my uncle’s the damn boogeyman.”

Even Douglas huffed a reluctant laugh at that—half amusement, half regret. “For what it’s worth, you got the best of him, Kira. The will to survive. The fire.”

“Yeah, well, fire still burns when you touch it.”

Toren stepped closer, his voice gentler now. “We’ll deal with the Council and your mother later. Tonight you need rest.”

“I’m fine,” I lied.

Tyson smirked. “That’s Luna-speak for ‘one sarcastic comment away from arson.’”

He wasn’t wrong.

The energy under my skin was volatile—grief, rage, disbelief all tangled together. The world felt too small, too loud. Every breath hurt. Every truth burned.

I turned toward the house. “Let’s go inside before I decide to test how flammable my family legacy really is.”

Talon muttered, “Remind me never to make her mad again.”

Tyson grinned. “Too late.”

Toren sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “She’s ours—fire and all.”

I didn’t correct him. I just kept walking, the cold wind at my back and the truth burning in my chest. My boots squelched through the mud, and every step sounded like thunder in my ears.

But before I stepped through the door, something in me froze. There was one truth I couldn’t walk away from—not yet.

“Douglas,” I said quietly.

He lifted his head. “Yes, Luna?”

“What was his name?” I asked. “Our father.”

His posture went rigid, shoulders squaring as if I’d just thrown a blade at him. “Now isn’t the best time.”

“It’s never the best time,” I shot back, sharper than intended. “Tell me.”

His jaw tightened. “Kira—”

“Tell me.”

For a long, suffocating moment, only the rain answered. The steady drip from the eaves. The faint rustle of leaves. Then Douglas exhaled like a man bracing for impact.

“Mason Peir.”

The name hit like a thunderclap.

Tyson froze, his eyes narrowing. “Wait. Mason Peir? As in Mason and Lily Peir—the most powerful shifter couple in two centuries?”

Douglas gave a single, heavy nod.

Tyson ran a hand through his hair, swearing softly. “You’ve got to be kidding me. They own Peir Inc.—the same Peir that runs half the defense contracts in the northern territories. They command nearly a thousand wolves across three packs.”

Toren’s expression darkened. “Your father isn’t just alive… he’s an empire.”

Douglas’s gaze met mine, steady and grim. “He’s more than that, Kira. He’s watching.”