The Banished Shy Luna Chapter 159

Lucas was still sprawled in the dirt, groaning, but consciousness crept back into his eyes like a rotting tide.

He blinked up at the empty clearing where the Moon Goddess had disappeared only moments before, then snapped his gaze to Talon—alive—breathing—glowing with silver marks across his chest.

“No…” he rasped. “NO—NO! This isn’t—this isn’t RIGHT!”

Talon sat up slowly, still dizzy, still weak, but very much alive.

Lucas thrashed against the ground.

“SHE SAVED HIM?” he roared. “A low-rank mutt like HIM? HE gets her blessing? HE gets her gifts?! HE gets to be alive?!”

Tyson snarled. “Watch your mouth.”

But Lucas didn’t stop. He couldn’t. His madness was spilling out everywhere like poison.

“He should be DEAD! DEAD! She was supposed to save me! ME! I’m the one who’s meant to be with her! I’m the one who should have her power! I’m the one—”

Lyra moved.

Quietly.

Slowly.

Purposefully.

None of us realized what she was doing until it was too late.

Lucas kept ranting, spittle flying, hair wild, eyes glowing with unstable power.

“I AM HER TRUE DESTINY! NOT HIM! NOT ANY OF THEM! ME—”

WHACK.

A thick log slammed into the back of his skull.

Lucas’s rant cut off mid-scream.

His eyes rolled up.

He crumpled face-first into the dirt.

Silence crashed over the clearing like a stunned wave.

We all stared at Lyra.

Talon blinked. “…did she just—”

Tyson muttered, “Holy shit.”

Toren rubbed his temple. “Why do I feel like this is somehow going to get worse?”

Lyra stood over Lucas’s unconscious body, chest heaving, still gripping the log like she was considering hitting him again. She looked feral, furious, and weirdly… sane.

Lyra turned to me, tears trembling down her cheeks.

“Kira…” she whispered, voice breaking. “I—I’m sorry.”

Everyone froze.

She swallowed hard, eyes red.

“I know sorry doesn’t fix anything. I know I've done unforgivable things. I don’t expect forgiveness. I don’t even deserve to speak to you. But I… I needed to say it.”

My lips parted, but no words came.

Not one.

Lyra nodded slowly, as if she expected my silence.

Then she looked past me toward the limp woman lying near a tree—my pretend mother. Her mother.

Lyra jogged to her, gently helping the woman stand. The two of them didn’t look back. Not once.

They just… walked away.

Into the trees.

A hollow ache pulled at my chest.

I never thought I’d hear an apology from her. Not in this lifetime.

As the last traces of Lyra disappeared into the shadows, Mason cleared his throat, breaking the spell over the clearing.

“We need to move,” he said gruffly.

He strode to Lucas’s limp body, rolled him over, and began tying him up with thick rope, binding hands, ankles, and looping a gag over his mouth to silence him when he eventually woke.

“He won’t be unconscious for long,” Mason added, slinging Lucas’s bound body over his shoulder like a sack of flour. “And staying out here longer than necessary is asking to be found. The Council can sense power surges. They’ll come.”

He looked at me then — worried, furious, protective.

“Let’s go.”

Talon stood on shaky legs. I immediately moved to his side, slipping under his arm.

“Cupcake,” he whispered, voice raw, “don’t strain yourself—”

“Shh,” I warned. “You almost died. Let me help.”

Tyson limped forward, leaning heavily on Toren. His eyes never left me.

“You okay, Moonshine?” he asked softly.

I blinked. “Moonshine?”

Even Talon paused mid-stumble, brows lifting.

Tyson shrugged with a wince. “Yeah. That’s your new nickname.”

“When did that happen?” I asked, genuinely confused. “You always call me Moon.”

Tyson grinned through the pain. “Yeah, well… after tonight? After the Moon Goddess literally came down from the heavens, resurrected Talon, kissed his damn forehead, and granted him a new ability?” He gestured vaguely at Talon’s glowing marks. “Just calling you Moon felt… inaccurate.”

Toren snorted. “Understatement.”

Tyson continued, voice softening. “Moon is pretty, but Moonshine?” He tapped the space over his chest. “That fits. You’re light, Kira. Bright enough to blind the Council, the Goddess herself apparently favors you, and—” he gestured at the carnage around us— “you’re strong enough to bring things back from the dead.”

Talon muttered, “She better not do that for anyone else.”

Tyson rolled his eyes. “Anyway. Moonshine felt right. You’re not just touched by the moon.” He reached out and brushed my cheek with his knuckles. “You glow.”

A lump caught in my throat.

Talon leaned in and whispered, “I like it.”

Toren nodded. “It suits you.”

I swallowed hard and managed a shaky, “Okay… Moonshine it is.”

Tyson smirked. “Thought so.”

Together, we hurried across the battlefield, leaving the wreckage, the broken trees, and the blood-soaked ground behind us.

Toren squeezed my waist. “We’ll be back in the dead zone soon. Then we regroup. Then we plan.”

“Then we kill Lucas,” Tyson muttered darkly.

Talon growled in agreement.

We reached the tree line when something cold slid down my spine.

I stopped walking.

I looked around.

Someone was missing.

“…where’s Douglas?”

Mason froze mid-step. For the first time, Lucas’s limp body shifted on his shoulder, but Mason barely noticed.

He scanned the clearing, eyes growing sharper, harder.

“…he was right behind us,” Mason murmured.

“He went after the shapeshifter?” Talon guessed.

Tyson shook his head. “No. I didn’t sense him shift.”

Toren’s jaw tightened. “Douglas isn’t the type to wander off.”

I swallowed hard.

“He’s not here.”

The silence that followed was heavy.

Too heavy.

Mason exhaled slowly — but fear flickered in his eyes.

“Douglas can take care of himself,” he muttered, voice almost convincing.

Almost.

“He’ll be back.”

But the look on his face said it all:

He wasn’t sure.

Not at all.

We were almost to the dead-zone entrance when branches snapped behind us.

Talon grabbed my waist instantly.

Tyson turned, claws out.

Toren stepped forward, ready to attack.

Mason shifted Lucas’s unconscious body higher on his back, eyes narrowing. “Someone’s coming.”

My heart jumped.

“Douglas?”

Another crack.

Then a low grunt.

And finally—

a figure staggered through the brush.

Douglas.

Covered in blood.

Not dripping like before — but smeared across his chest, staining his arms, streaked in dark patches across his jaw. He limped forward, breathing hard.

Talon lunged toward him. “Douglas! Are you—”

Douglas lifted a shaky hand. “I’m fine. I’m fine—don’t—don’t rush me, gods—my ribs hurt.”

We stopped just short of him.

Tyson sniffed the air once and his shoulders dropped the slightest bit. “It’s not his blood.”

Relief punched through me so hard my legs nearly gave out.

Toren exhaled slowly. “Whose, then?”

Douglas took another breath, wiped his face with the back of his hand, smearing more red across his cheek.

“The shapeshifter,” he said hoarsely. “It… found me.”

My stomach twisted.

Talon’s voice hardened. “Did it follow you? Is it coming back?”

Douglas shook his head. “No. It won’t be coming back. Ever.”

He paused. “I made sure.”