“No!” Mary’s shriek echoed through the hall, finding her voice as the command faded. “I’m pregnant! You can’t exile a pregnant wolf!”
“You’re right,” Knox agreed. “Which is why you’ll remain under guard until the baby is born. Then you leave. The child, however, stays.”
“The baby stays,” Cole spoke up from where he stood apart from everyone. “My child will be raised properly. With love, not manipulation. Not as a tool for power.”
“You can’t take my baby!” Mary’s composure shattered completely. “You bastard! You can’t-”
“I can and I will,” Cole said firmly. “You were willing to lie about its father for your own gain. You’ve already shown you see the child as a means to an end. That ends now.”
“But-”
“You should have thought better before conspiring to murder children,” Knox said coldly. “Guards, bring them forward.”
The guards pushed both Thornes to their knees in front of Knox. He stepped down from the podium, approaching them with deliberate slowness. The power radiating from him made even me shiver, and I watched as other wolves instinctively lowered their heads.
“This will hurt,” he said, placing one hand on each of their heads.
I’d never seen bonds broken before. Didn’t know it was possible until Knox’s power flared and both Thornes started screaming. The psychic tearing was visceral, wrong on every level. Even without full wolf senses, I could feel the wrongness of it. The twins whimpered beside me, and I pulled them close, covering their ears.
Pack bonds were everything to wolves. The connection that made them whole, that tied them to their community and their Alpha. Having that ripped away was apparently worse than any physical torture.
When it was done, both Thornes were sobbing on the floor. They looked smaller somehow, diminished. The guards dragged them away - Alderic to the cells, Mary to be held until she gave birth.
The hall sat in stunned silence for a moment. Then someone started chanting.
“Luna! Luna! Luna!”
More voices joined in, and suddenly the entire pack was looking at me. Hundreds of wolves calling for their Luna, accepting me despite my human blood, despite everything.
“Luna! Luna! Luna!”
I stood because sitting felt wrong when they were calling my name like that. Knox held out his hand, and I took it, letting him pull me up beside him. The chanting grew louder, and I felt their acceptance wash over me through whatever connection I had to the pack.
God, I loved this man. Even covered in the metaphorical blood of justice, even radiating the kind of power that should terrify me, all I could think about was how he’d fought for us. How he’d protected our family and chosen mercy even when vengeance would have been easier.
***
After the trial’s intensity, I needed air. Knox seemed to sense it because he guided me outside while Hunt corralled the twins with promises of ice cream. The fresh air helped clear the emotional weight of what we’d just witnessed.
We’d barely made it to the courtyard when Noah appeared, jogging toward us with his phone in hand. Both Knox and Hunt tensed immediately: Noah never ran unless something was wrong.
“We’ve received word from the Moonfang pack,” Noah said without preamble.
The tension ratcheted higher. Moonfang was a few hours upstate, ruled by the Thorne family. Some distant relatives of Alderic and Mary. This could be bad.
“And?” Knox’s voice was carefully neutral.
“They crowned their new Luna. Nina Everett.” Noah showed us his phone screen. “They also sent a warning about someone named Mira Bennett, former heir to the Shadowcrest Pack. She’s been exiled, not to be taken in by any pack under any circumstances.”
He scrolled to show a photo of a woman with blonde hair and cruel eyes. Even in a picture, she radiated trouble.
“That’s all?” Hunt asked, clearly expecting more drama.
“I sent them our news in return,” Noah continued. “That Basilinna Winters was crowned as Luna here, the first human Luna in our pack’s history. And that Mary Thorne has been permanently exiled and is not to be taken in.”
We all held our breath, waiting for the rest.
“They responded positively,” Noah said, and everyone relaxed. “Congratulations on the new Luna, acknowledged Mary’s exile, no threats or challenges.”
