The Banished Shy Luna Chapter 28

The silence after Elder Selene’s words stretched sharp and suffocating.

*Alpha Toren.* Hearing his name spoken aloud in this chamber made the memory of his eyes burn hotter against my skin. I wanted to shrink into the floor, but the elders didn’t give me time.

“Sit, child,” Thora murmured gently, gesturing toward the empty chair beside her.

I obeyed, lowering myself stiffly. The elders’ stares pressed against me like weights, each one measuring, dissecting, judging.

Elder Malric, broad and grim, leaned forward first. “Tell us about your pack.”

My throat tightened. “What—what do you want to know?”

“Everything,” he said simply.

I glanced at Thora. She gave me the smallest nod. My heart pounded, but I forced the words out. “Alpha Lucas… he leads, but only when it serves him. He—he takes bribes. Families pay to join. Warriors give him tribute to stay in his good graces. If someone disobeys, he punishes harshly—or lets my father do it for him.”

Elder Cael’s hawk-like eyes narrowed. “Your father. Beta Maverick.”

“Yes,” I whispered. “He is… loyal to Lucas, but only because Lucas gives him power. He keeps order by fear. He makes sure Lyra is praised, and I… I am blamed for everything.”

Elder Jorn grunted, his heavy hands folding over the table. “And the other Beta? Darin?”

Heat rushed to my face. I swallowed hard, my hands trembling in my lap. “Darin… has taken an interest in me. When my parents withheld food as punishment, he offered me meals in exchange for… favors.”

The words felt like acid on my tongue.

A shocked murmur broke through the elders. Selene’s hand tightened on the table’s edge, her obsidian gaze flashing. “What kind of favors?”

My cheeks burned. “A kiss. Just… just small things. But he knew I was starving, and he—he used it against me.”

The room erupted with low growls. Elder Jorn slammed a fist onto the table, rattling the inkpots. “Unacceptable. Exploiting a hungry girl? Beta or not, he is a disgrace!”

Thora’s hand touched mine under the table, steadying me. Her voice was calm, but her silver eyes burned. “Kira speaks the truth. She has endured more than any wolf her age should. And yet, she endures still.”

Elder Malric leaned back, his jaw tight. “Lucas is a fraud. Maverick a tyrant. Darin a predator. That pack is rotten to its core.”

Elder Cael steepled his fingers, studying me like I was the puzzle he’d been waiting to solve. “If we divide Lucas’s pack, there are Alphas who would benefit. Stormveil could use more warriors—most of theirs were lost in the border skirmishes last winter. Silverfang has too few females to sustain their bloodlines; they would welcome the women. And Nightclaw…” His mouth curved faintly. “Nightclaw hungers for advisors and tacticians. Some of Lucas’s betas could find purpose there.”

Selene’s gaze cut like a blade. “And Lucas himself?”

Jorn’s fist struck the table with a dull thud. “He must face the Council. He will answer for his bribery and neglect. He will be stripped of his Alpha title and forbidden from commanding wolves again.”

The others murmured in agreement, the weight of their decision hanging in the room like smoke.

I sat frozen, my heart hammering. My pack—my family—shattered like glass on this table.

Then Selene’s sharp gaze snapped back to me. “And Toren. What of him?”

My breath caught.

“What do you think of him?” she pressed. “You’ve spoken with him, haven’t you? You’ve felt him.”

I thought of the elevator. Of his hand fastening my shoe. Of his lips brushing the higher curve of my hip. Of the way he fed me cake as though it were a vow.

Heat curled low in my belly. Shame followed quickly after.

“Yes,” I whispered. “I’ve seen him. I’ve… felt his presence. He’s… dangerous.”

“Dangerous, yes,” Jorn rumbled. “But what else?”

My hands twisted in my lap. “He frightens me,” I admitted. “But he also… draws me. Like I can’t look away. Like my wolf leans toward him even when I don’t want it to.”

The elders exchanged heavy glances.

Thora broke the silence. Her voice was soft but firm, full of conviction. “That is the truth of bond-fire. If Toren has marked her with his attention, he will not stop. He is not a man who yields.”

Selene tilted her head, her obsidian gaze sharpening. “Do you *want* him, Kira?”

The question sliced me open. Did I? My heart screamed no, my body whispered yes, my soul trembled somewhere in between.

“I don’t know,” I whispered hoarsely. “I don’t know who I am yet. How could I know what I want from him?”

Silence again. Elder Malric’s deep voice rumbled low. “Then she must decide soon. Because if Toren moves, there will be no undoing it.”

I wanted to sink into the floor. I wanted to vanish. Instead, I sat there in the glittering gown Elder Thora had given me, my hair sleek and perfect, my wolf restless inside me, and felt the weight of every eye in the room.

Thora squeezed my hand once more. “You are not alone in this, darling. But you must understand—your choices from here will shape not only yourself, but the fate of your entire pack.”

“And perhaps,” Selene murmured, her gaze sharp as a knife, “the fate of every wolf in this territory.”

The words hung in the air, heavy, suffocating.

Then Cael leaned forward, his voice measured but cutting. “You must understand, Kira… you are not powerless in this. You are leverage. Your testimony, your truth, could unravel Lucas’s lies. Or your choice to stand beside another Alpha could shatter his grip completely.”

My stomach dropped. My breath caught. They weren’t just asking me to speak. They were asking me to decide. My life—my choices—suddenly weighed against the lives of every wolf I had grown up beside.

Jorn’s grim voice rumbled through the chamber. “Kira, if you step forward tomorrow, Lucas will fall.”

The silence that followed was colder than ice.

Malric’s eyes, sharp and merciless, locked onto mine. “Are you prepared to break your pack?”