The Banished Shy Luna Chapter 40

Elder Selene rose slowly from her seat, obsidian eyes cutting across the room like blades. The silence that followed her movement was absolute, as though the very air itself bowed beneath her will.

“There is an issue before us,” she began, her voice low but carrying to every corner of the chamber. “An issue that requires thinking. Pondering. Understanding. And for once, not just the judgment of Elders, but the agreement of Alphas. The Alpha Gathering is the place where futures are shaped. Tonight, one such future will be decided.”

A ripple of unease moved through the chamber. Heads turned, wolves shifted in their seats. I felt every eye like a weight pressing against my chest.

Selene extended a hand toward Thora. “Elder Thora, if you would.”

Thora’s hand pressed lightly against the small of my back. Her silver gaze was steady, unyielding, as she guided me a step forward. I stumbled, my knees weak, but she didn’t let me falter.

“I wonder,” Thora said softly, her voice clear but filled with gravity, “how many of you remember this young lady as she arrived yesterday?”

Murmurs rose. Alphas tilted their heads, squinting at me as though seeing me anew.

“She came to us covered in filth,” Thora continued, her voice sharpening. “Dirt older than my shoes clung to her skin. Her clothes were stiff with grime, her hair matted. She was frightened, malnourished, exhausted. A child cast into shadow. Do any of you recall her?”

Several hands lifted hesitantly. One Alpha shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I… I thought about helping her,” he admitted, “but I didn’t want the retaliation of Alpha Lucas.”

My heart clenched. Lucas, across the room, remained still. His gaze never left mine, cold and sharp as a blade.

Thora’s voice grew harder. “And yet after a single bath, a meal, and the safety to speak freely, the truth spilled out. Not only has her family starved her, beaten her, and used her…” Her gaze cut toward my parents like silver lightning. “…they lied about their other daughter. Kira’s twin, Lyra.”

Gasps rippled through the room. Lyra stiffened beside my mother, her jaw clenching.

“They told you she had no wolf,” Thora went on. “But she does. A strong one. They manufactured pity for one daughter while using the other as their scapegoat. They gained attention, power, and sympathy at Kira’s expense.”

A low murmur swelled into outrage, several Alphas growling.

“And as if this were not enough,” Thora’s voice dropped, cutting deeper, “one of their Betas used her hunger as leverage. Trading food… for sexual favors.”

The chamber erupted. Gasps, growls, voices overlapping in horror. My father’s mouth fell open, shock written plain across his features as his gaze snapped to Darin.

Darin didn’t deny it. His jaw clenched, but his eyes gave him away.

A chorus of angry voices rose. “Disgrace!” “Beta filth!” “Unworthy of the title!”

I dared glance at my mother and Lyra. Both of them looked as though they were barely holding their wolves in check, panic and fury warring in their eyes.

Elder Cael leaned forward, hawk-like eyes glinting. “Tell me, Alphas—how would you handle this in your packs?”

The first to speak was a tall Alpha with weathered hands. He slammed his palm against the table. “I would not have allowed it to happen. Beta or not, father or not—wolves are equal under my roof. Everyone pulls their weight. Everyone relies on each other. If there is no trust, there is no pack. Only strangers clinging to the same curse of shifting.”

Another Alpha, older, his hair silver at the temples, growled low. “The Beta and the mother should be punished. They created this rot. They twisted one daughter into cruelty and abandoned the other into misery. It is their fault the pack is diseased.”

A third Alpha leaned forward, radiating dominance so strong it prickled my skin. His presence reminded me of Toren’s—power wrapped in iron. “I would exile the Beta. As for the mother and daughters—keep them, if they agree to abandon these lies. But such betrayal cannot go unanswered.”

The chamber rumbled with agreement. Voices rose, some demanding harsher punishment, others muttering about exile, disgrace, and shame.

Then Alpha Lucas rose. His chair scraped against the floor like a strike of thunder.

“Enough!” His roar silenced the chamber. He turned, his glare sweeping the room before landing squarely on me.

“You don’t understand,” he spat. “None of you do. And you never will.” His lip curled. “As of this moment, there is no place for her in my pack. She is nothing to me. I cut the mindlink. She is exiled.”

The words hit like knives. My breath caught, but I forced my spine straight.

The silence that followed cracked into chaos when several Alphas rose at once.

“I will take her,” one said firmly, his voice deep with conviction. He inclined his head toward me. “I see strength in her. Sharp instincts. She would make an excellent Beta beside me.”

Another Alpha stepped forward, his scarred hands resting on the table. “I would place her among my warriors. She has resilience enough to train the young, to lead hunting parties. A wolf born for survival.”

Then the Alpha with Toren’s level of dominance rose. His words rang like a hammer on stone. “I would have her as my Luna.”

Gasps shattered through the chamber. Lunas whispered furiously, warriors growled, the entire room shaking with the weight of the offer.

Then Toren stood.

His growl ripped through the air like a storm. “Enough.”

The sound silenced the chamber. His eyes burned, locked on mine. “She is mine. My mate. And she will come home with me.”

His words wrapped around me like fire and starlight. My stomach fluttered, heat racing through my veins. For one dizzy moment, I felt… wanted. Desired. Whole.

“Wait!”

Lucas’s voice rang out, desperate now. All eyes swung back to him. He swallowed hard, his face pale but his voice steady. “I acted too harshly. Too fast.” His gaze locked on mine. “You belong with us, Kira. Come back as my advisor. No more housework. No more sleeping outside. You’ll have your own room. Food every night. And I will finally allow you to shift and run with the pack.”

The chamber erupted again, but this time with outrage.

“You denied her the right to shift?” one Alpha snarled. “What kind of Alpha are you?”

Another slammed his fist into the table. “You would keep a wolf from her birthright? You dare call yourself leader?”

The room shook with fury until Elder Cael’s throat-clearing cut through the din like a whip. Instantly, silence returned.

Thora rose once more, her gown catching the light like moonfire. “Now, each of you will say it aloud. What would you do, knowing all you know now?”

The chamber vibrated with tension. I held my breath, waiting for their answers, knowing every word spoken here would shape not just my future, but the future of every wolf who had ever suffered in silence.