The Banished Shy Luna Chapter 33

The restaurant was unlike anything I had ever seen. Light spilled through tall glass windows that overlooked the garden outside, where fountains glittered and white roses climbed lattices in perfect bloom. Inside, chandeliers dripped with crystals, their glow bouncing across marble floors and polished wooden tables draped in cream linens. Silverware gleamed. Crystal glasses sparkled. Every detail was elegance, refinement, and beauty.

I froze at the entrance, my chest tight.

And then I felt him.

Before I even saw him, my wolf whispered his presence into my bones. My eyes found him in the far corner, where he had chosen a table with the perfect view of the gardens. He was waiting, his suit as dark as midnight, his shoulders broad and commanding. And though his posture was sharp, his eyes told the truth.

Dark circles shadowed the golden brown, proof that he had not slept—just as he had promised.

When I stepped forward, his gaze snapped to me. He rose immediately, tall and steady, and the way his eyes dragged over me—slow, thorough—made me flush all the way down to my chest. It was like he was stripping away every layer of fabric with his stare, undressing me with only his mind. My knees nearly buckled.

He pulled out a chair with surprising swiftness and waited until I sat before moving around to claim his seat across from me. His eyes never left mine.

“How did you sleep?” he asked, his voice rough like gravel and silk.

I swallowed, trying to steady my breathing. “Better than I expected,” I admitted softly. “And you?”

His lips curved faintly. “Didn’t sleep,” he said, almost proudly, though the shadows under his eyes betrayed the toll. “I told you I wouldn’t.”

The weight of his words sat between us, warm and heavy. I looked away, desperate for something ordinary to say. “It’s… a beautiful day,” I offered.

“It is,” he said simply, but the way he said it made my skin prickle—as though he wasn’t speaking about the day at all, but about me.

The server arrived, clearing his throat gently. “Would you like to order?”

Toren leaned back slightly, giving me space. “What would you like?”

My fingers twisted in my lap. “Maybe eggs… fruit?”

“Bring her both,” Toren said without hesitation, his eyes cutting to the waiter with a command that brooked no argument. “And coffee. Strong.” He glanced at me again. “Do you drink coffee?”

“I—I’ll try it,” I murmured.

His gaze softened, then sharpened again as the server left us alone.

And then, out of nowhere, his voice dropped lower. “Why aren’t you responding to me?”

I blinked. “What?”

He leaned forward, elbows braced on the table, his stare pinning me in place. “I’ve been trying to mind link with you since you walked in. You’ve ignored every word.”

Confusion rushed through me. “That’s not possible,” I whispered. “Shifters can’t mind link outside their own pack.”

His jaw tightened. “It doesn’t matter.” His voice lowered, like a growl caught between his teeth. “We’re mates. That bond should be enough.”

*Mates.*

I stared at him, the word ringing in my head. “Mates?” I echoed, disbelief shaking me.

His eyes flickered with something raw, something almost pained. “You don’t feel it?” he asked.

I dropped my gaze to my hands, trembling. “I… I don’t know what I feel,” I admitted. “I think—I need to speak with Elder Thora.”

His jaw clenched, but after a long pause, he gave a short nod. “I’ll have one of my men find her. She’ll come here.”

I nodded faintly, tears threatening to spill over. My whole world was shifting under me, too fast, too much.

And then his hand reached across the table.

His fingers brushed my cheek, tilting my chin just enough for his thumb to catch the tears I hadn’t realized had fallen. His touch was both gentle and possessive, his gaze fierce.

“It’s alright if you don’t feel it yet,” he murmured. “But I do. I know what you are to me. You’re mine. And I’m not letting you go.”

Heat rushed down my body, pooling low in my belly. My lips parted, a shaky breath escaping me.

He smirked faintly, eyes narrowing as though he could read every thought in my head. “And you do feel something. Don’t you? Or you wouldn’t react to me like this.”

I couldn’t speak. My body betrayed me with the way I leaned into his touch, the way my skin burned where his fingers brushed.

Before I could answer, the soft, commanding voice of Elder Thora broke the spell. “What is the problem here?”

I startled, pulling back as Elder Thora swept toward us, her silver presence like moonlight cutting through the haze. She glanced between me and Toren, her brows lifting ever so slightly in caution.

Alpha Toren inclined his head, but his eyes never left me. “We have discovered something… unusual.”

I found my voice, brittle but steady. “He—he says he’s been trying to mind link with me. I can’t hear him.”

Thora’s brows arched higher. “That’s to be expected. Wolves outside your pack cannot link with you.”

Toren’s voice was steel. “It shouldn’t matter. I feel the mate bond. It’s strong. But she doesn’t hear me.”

For a heartbeat, Thora looked startled—something I had never seen before. She turned her gaze on me. “Is this true?”

I nodded, voice trembling. “I hardly link with anyone in my pack either. Only with Alpha Lucas… and even then, it took days before it worked. He told me I had a difficult mind.”

Thora’s lips pressed into a thin line. “That’s no excuse. If you cannot link easily, it is because something has stunted your growth. You’ve been denied what every young wolf needs. You’ve never shifted.”

Toren’s chair scraped against the floor as he sat forward, his eyes blazing. “You’ve never shifted?”

Shame burned through me. “I wasn’t allowed,” I whispered. “It’s… a long story.”

His eyes darkened, his wolf bleeding into them. The air thickened, charged with his fury. I could feel the bloodlust radiating from him—violent, raw. And gods help me, it made me ache.

To see him furious on my behalf. To feel his strength boil over, not against me, but for me.

Desire coiled low, sharp and consuming. I clenched my thighs together beneath the table, praying he couldn’t scent the way my body betrayed me.

He leaned across the table, voice a growl. “They denied you your first shift. They crippled your bond on purpose. They robbed you of what’s yours by right.”

I shivered, both from his rage and the heat flooding my veins. “Yes,” I whispered.

His hand clenched into a fist on the table, but his other reached for mine, gripping it firmly, dominant and unyielding. His strength pressed into me, steadying, claiming.

“You’re mine,” he said again, softer this time but no less fierce. “And I will see you whole. Even if I have to burn your pack to ash to do it.”

My lips parted, breath coming fast, my pulse roaring in my ears. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t think. Only feel.

And gods help me… I wanted him to burn it all.