The Betrayed Luna

chapter 2 Banishment

Hana

The smirk on Monica's face wavered for a split second—a fleeting flicker of doubt breaking through her typical polished demeanor. For anyone else, it may have passed without notice. But I noticed it. I felt it. That momentary pause provided me with a glimmer of hope in the crushing blackness that enveloped me.

"You have the nerve to commit blasphemy too?" she spat, venom infusing every sentence. Her honey-sweet public voice was now dripping with contempt. "Aren't you already being accused of sufficient crimes as it is?"

Her hand drifted almost involuntarily, lying guardedly over her barely-there bump. Her eyes sparkled with feigned indignation, as if she was the very epitome of an innocent, aggrieved woman. "How dare you accuse me of pretending to be pregnant? The doctor told me so."

I didn't blink. I stared back at her with unflinching intensity, my voice firm and cutting like a knife. "A doctor you bribed," I said icily. "You're the one who's lying here, Monica. Not me. You'd pretend anything—your loyalty, your love, even the pregnancy you say you have—just to scrape your way to the top."

Her eyes, once so honed at pretending to feel, clouded over like a thunderhead. A low growl shook beneath her breath from deep in her throat. "Careful, Hana," she warned, moving forward. Our noses were inches apart now, breathing air that reeked of desperation in the cold prison cell. "My wolf is stronger than yours. I have abilities beyond your wildest dreams. I have Alpha Dave under my command… while you…" Her tone fell to a whisper, ice-cold and cutting. ".you have nothing."

Every word cut like a dagger. The air between us became heavy and oppressive, each accusation a blow in a war fought silently over years. What had begun as a tenuous coalition masquerading as friendship had completely cracked.

I was about to lash back—but then the clattering of boots coming down the hallway froze us both.

The iron door burst open with a loud clang. Dave burst in, his arrival dominating the air like a thunderclap.

"What's happening here?" he thundered, his piercing eyes raking over the area. I was standing, fists balled, my spine stiffened in spite of the agony that throbbed through me. Monica,was already acting, slipping into being the ideal victim.

She stood up and leaned to one side, just far enough to look vulnerable. "Dave, Hana is accusing me again," she whispered, her voice shaking with practiced tears. "She says I'm lying about the baby. It's not true. I would never lie about something so sacred."

Dave's gaze came back to me, colder than I had ever seen. I looked into his face for the man I used to love—the man who used to say he loved me—but he was lost. Before me was the Alpha, judge and executioner.

"Tomorrow you will receive your punishment," he growled. No trial. No defense. Punishment.

Then, cutting deeper with the knife, he wrapped a shielding arm around Myla's waist. His tone fell into something softer, gentler—something reserved for mates. "Come, love. There's no need to spend your tears on someone who never cared for you."

And just like that, they walked away from me. Together. The door shut behind them, the sound ringing like a death knell.

I froze for an instant, my heart racing, then slowly collapsed to the chilly, unforgiving floor. The cell was bleak, lit only by the flash of a torch in the distance. I could hardly feel my legs. My body shook—not only with fatigue, but with pain, betrayal, and growing dread of what would happen.

My hands folded protectively over my abdomen.

"I'm sorry, baby," I breathed, hardly able to hear myself over the pounding in my ears. "I'm sorry you have to go through this."

The silence enveloped me, heavy and punitive. And then, out of the fog of hopelessness, I sensed the presence of my wolf awaken within me—a spark of life in the crushing emptiness.

We will survive, she whispered, her voice far away but unyielding.

I shut my eyes as tears streamed down my face. "I'm sorry you're weak because of me," I spoke softly back, guilt cutting through me like a knife. "You deserve better."

I don't know how long I was there. Time in the cell stretched and compressed until hours were minutes—or maybe days. Finally, the groan of the door and the clomp of guards brought me back.

Rough hands pulled me to my feet.

"Where are you taking me?" I croaked, my voice dry and hoarse.

"Time for your judgment," one of the guards told me. No emotion. No sympathy.

They hauled me through the labyrinth of stone corridors until we arrived at the great hall. It was crowded—shoulder to shoulder with members of the pack. Faces swirled together, a jumble of murmurs and slitted eyes. The onlookers lapped up the drama, attracted like moths to flame at my destruction.

In the middle stood Dave, glorious in ceremonial black and silver, a shining sword clutched in his hand, its point levelled right at me.

"Hana Beck," he thundered. "You are charged with treason and blasphemy. You tried to kill my heir. You lied to this pack with a pretended pregnancy. These offenses—" He paused, allowing the crowd to seethe in anticipation. "—are death."

Gasps ran through the hall. The sword shone more brightly in the firelight.

"And yet," I said, trying to put steel into my voice, "I am not guilty."

A shiver coursed through the crowd. Dave's face contorted with rage, and I watched his hand clench on the hilt.

"You dare to deny it?" he growled. "When the proof is so plain? But because you were once my mate and Luna, I will not kill you."

Relief fluttered through me for one, brittle moment—until his next words struck like a hammer to the chest.

"I, Dave Wilson, Alpha of the North Pack, reject you, Hana Beck, as my mate and Luna. As of this moment, you are banished from the pack. You are no longer one of us."

The crowd burst into whispers and gasps. The rejection was a physical blow to me. I stumbled, my knees buckling. My wolf wept within me—a great, anguished howl.

Agony sliced through my belly, hard and swift. Searing heat came after it, and I felt the soggy rush of blood between my legs.

"No." I whispered, my vision slanting to one side. My shaking hands pressed to my belly. Warm, wet, and red. So very red.

The world spun around me. Faces blurred. I fell, darkness sweeping in with grasping hands.