The Banished Shy Luna Chapter 57

Elder Thora’s hand pressed firm over my mouth, the warmth of her palm grounding me, cutting the scream before it could shred me apart completely. My chest heaved against her touch, tears burning down my cheeks as the last shards of glass clinked to the floor around us. Elder Selene was at her side, her silver shield shimmering faintly, pushing back the chaos that still thrummed in the air.

“What the hell did you two do?” Selene snapped, her voice like steel splitting through stone. Her gaze cut across Toren and Talon, both bristling with their wolves so close to the surface that the air between them vibrated.

Neither answered. They stared at each other instead—Toren’s jaw clenched so hard the muscle ticked, Talon’s nostrils flaring as his fists curled at his sides.

“Enough,” Thora hissed, her eyes like fire. “Butler!”

The door opened immediately. Her butler hurried in, efficient and unflappable despite the destruction around us. His gaze swept over the broken chandelier, the jagged windows, and finally down to me sprawled on the floor in Thora’s lap. His composure only cracked for a heartbeat before he was kneeling beside me.

Selene crouched too, her sharp eyes assessing me with cold precision. “Her hip’s out. If it heals wrong, she’ll limp for the rest of her life. Fix it now.”

The butler bowed his head toward me, his voice low, apologetic. “Forgive me, miss.”

My lips parted, terror choking the words, but Thora’s hand shifted to cup my cheek, steadying me. Her thumb brushed back damp curls, her voice gentling. “Breathe, Kira. Stay with me. Just breathe.”

And then the pain came.

The butler gripped my hip with a swift, practiced hold and snapped it back into place. The sound was a sickening crack, the agony so sharp I thought I’d split in two. My scream tore out of me, muffled under Thora’s palm. My body bucked, but she held me steady, cradling me like a child until the worst of it passed.

The fire ebbed, leaving only a dull ache and fresh tears spilling down my cheeks. My head collapsed against her lap, my chest heaving with quiet sobs.

“It’s done,” she murmured, her fingers stroking through my hair with a tenderness that made the tears fall harder. “You’re safe now.”

She tipped her face down to mine, her expression stern but kind. “Tell me what happened, child.”

I opened my mouth, but Selene cut in. “Don’t make her relive it. I’ll pull the memory. It’s cleaner this way.”

Her hand pressed against my temple, cool and firm.

“What are you doing to her?” Toren growled, his voice dangerous.

“She’s retrieving the truth,” Thora snapped. “Silence, both of you.”

But silence wasn’t something either of them could give.

“You overwhelmed her!” Talon snarled, stepping closer to Toren.

“She’s my mate, not yours—” Toren bit out, fury darkening his tone.

“I felt her,” Talon shot back, his chest rising and falling hard. “When she healed me, I felt her. You can’t deny it, Toren. You can’t take what isn’t yours.”

“She belongs to me,” Toren snapped, his wolf bleeding through the words.

Their voices pounded through me, louder and louder, clashing like blades.

And then—blackness.

Selene’s presence slid into me, her mind brushing mine. It wasn’t soft—it was invasive, prying, like hands rifling through pages of a book I didn’t know I had written. The sensation was strange, ticklish and aching all at once, pulling at the deepest corners of me.

Then quiet. Blessed, empty quiet.

For a moment, it was almost peaceful.

When I blinked again, Selene was pulling back, her eyes wide, her lips pressed thin. She turned on Toren and Talon, her voice cracking like a whip. “Stop it. Both of you, shut up!”

They both froze.

“You’re supposed to protect her,” she thundered, “not tear her apart with your egos. Do you understand what just happened? She unleashed a voice defense. Do either of you know how rare that is? How dangerous? She incapacitated half the room without meaning to—and you two idiots were so busy snarling at each other you didn’t even see it coming.”

Toren stiffened. “Voice defense?” His voice was low, rough, uncertain in a way I’d never heard before.

Elder Thora’s hand kept stroking my curls, her gaze on me instead of him. “When she screamed, she incapacitated everyone in her radius. Glass shattered, ears bled, shields cracked. It’s a defense mechanism, old and rare. Usually only pure bloodlines carry something this deep.”

My throat ached. “I… I didn’t mean to—”

“You didn’t choose it,” Thora said gently, silencing me with a look. “It chose you.”

“She has more than that,” Toren said suddenly, his gaze flicking toward Talon. His voice shook with something I couldn’t name—anger, jealousy, fear. “She healed him. With her touch.”

Talon straightened, his eyes locking on mine. “That’s when I felt it. The connection. It wasn’t just healing. It was light, Kira. Like warmth pouring into my bones. Since then… I can feel you. Our bond. Our tie.”

“That’s impossible,” Selene said quickly, but there was doubt in her voice now.

Thora shook her head. “Not impossible. Rare, yes. But not impossible.” She studied the two men closely, her gaze sharp as a blade. “If you both feel her, then the only explanation is this: not just brothers. Twins.”

The word struck like lightning.

Both Toren and Talon froze, their eyes widening.

“Twins?” Toren repeated, his voice dangerous.

“But if that’s true,” Selene cut in, her eyes narrowing, “then why hasn’t either of them felt anything for Lyra?”

The silence that followed was suffocating.

The room seemed to shrink around us.

And me? My heart thudded painfully as the words tumbled from my mouth before I could stop them. “Are you saying… me and Lyra aren’t twins at all? That Toren and Talon are the twins—and that’s why you both feel me, and not her?”

The words hung there, heavy, undeniable.

No one moved.

Thora’s hand tightened in my hair. Selene’s eyes darkened. Toren’s gaze burned into me, his jaw locked. And Talon… Talon’s eyes softened, pained, as though he already knew the truth—and it was tearing him apart.