RETURN OF THE BANISHED LUNA

3

DAPHNE

“How touching,” Thelma scoffed, her face contorting in disgust.

Harry stepped in front of me instinctively, his broad shoulders shielding me entirely from her view.

“You know, Harry, you're being incredibly reckless,” she continued, her eyes locked on his. “The Alpha Prince and the late Beta's daughter devouring each other just outside the palace doors. What a top-notch scandalous story. Don't worry, I won't tell a soul. I wouldn't want to damage your precious reputation and force you to marry her just to keep her honor.”

Then her eyes dropped, and her fingers slowly traced the jewelry resting against her throat.

“Do you like how the necklace looks on me, Harry? It's beautiful, isn't it? Daphne gave it to me herself. She told me she absolutely hated it.”

“That's a lie!” I gasped, trying to push past Harry's side. “Harry, I didn't—”

“Hand it over.”

He cut me off, directing his cold voice at her.

“But she—”

“I won't ask again,” Harry gritted out.

“Fine! Take the ugly thing,” Thelma snapped, hurriedly unclasping it from her neck.

A flash of raw horror crossed her features—a sudden, desperate realization of exactly how much I meant to him.

“What is going on here?”

Veronica's voice boomed across the courtyard.

Her eyes immediately landed on the chain in Harry's hand, and she cleared her throat, smoothing down her dress.

“My apologies, Prince Harry,” she said, her voice coated in fake warmth. “I've come to take my daughter's home. It's late, and I simply cannot allow foolish gossip to start around your homecoming.”

“No,” Harry said flatly.

His fingers found mine, locking our hands together. I swallowed hard, panic flaring in my chest as I tried to yank my hand free, but his grip remained firm.

“I will personally make sure Daphne gets home safely. She can stay.”

Veronica's eyes narrowed, but she forced a soft chuckle.

“With all due respect, Your Highness, she is under my care. It is highly inappropriate—”

“I am the Alpha Prince,” Harry interrupted. “And she is perfectly safe with me. Goodnight, Beta Veronica.”

Veronica's face hardened, but she bowed stiffly.

“Of course.”

“I will go with you,” I spoke up before she could move.

Harry's brows crumpled.

“Please,” I whispered in a cracked voice. “Let me go home. You can walk me to the car.”

I was so tired of fighting, and it would be better to leave with her to avoid further problems at home, where he wouldn't be.

He was about to protest, but the exhaustion in my eyes seemed to weaken him.

He pulled me closer without warning, crashing his lips against mine.

It was a public declaration made to my family.

I heard the furious sound of fading heels clicking against the ground.

When he pulled away, Veronica and Thelma were gone.

“Never give it up again,” he murmured, opening my palm and pressing the necklace into it.

“I never gave it away,” I corrected softly, looking into his eyes. “I have to go.”

I slipped away from him before he could start asking questions, rushing out just in time as Veronica got into the car.

The ride home was a descent into hell.

Neither Veronica nor Thelma spoke.

That was a bad sign, and I dreaded the moment the car stopped.

I could tell Veronica had something in mind for me, but I didn't know how bad. Perhaps increasing my chores tomorrow? Grounding me?

Goddess, my heart was palpitating, but mostly because of what I'd heard.

I didn't know whether to be careful or to run away.

The moment the car stopped, we got out.

My mind was a chaotic mess of fear and grief, and as I hurried toward the porch, my foot accidentally caught the hem of Thelma's gown.

I pulled my leg away immediately.

“Ah!” she screeched, throwing herself against the stairs.

She turned on me, her eyes wild.

“She tripped me! Mum, she's trying to rip my dress!”

Before I could speak, Veronica's palm struck my cheek with brutal force, sending me stumbling.

I hit the porch floor hard, the wood scraping against my hands as pain exploded across my face, making my ear ring.

“Ungrateful brat,” Veronica snarled, stepping over me.

Before I could even scramble backward, her hand gripped the collar of my dress, pulling me up just to strike me across the face a second time.

I collapsed back onto the ground, a low sob ripping from my throat as her heel connected sharply with my ribs.

I lay there in the dirt of the driveway, bruised, shaking, and utterly broken.

She had hit me occasionally before, but this was beyond that.

My wolf screamed inside me, wanting to tear her apart for hitting me.

The sanity I had been clinging to fractured completely, and my restraint collapsed.

“Why are you prolonging it?!” I screamed from the ground as tears clouded my eyes. I pushed myself up onto my hands. “Why haven't you killed me already?”

“Oh, I wish, but that would be illegal.”

She attempted to walk inside the house.

“You want to kill Celeste!”

She stopped in her tracks, instantly turning to face me.

“What the hell are you—”

“I heard everything you said!” I sobbed, the words tumbling out of me in a chaotic, uncontrollable rush. “I know you're planning to kill Celeste.”

Her gaze became venomous, but I couldn't stop talking. I wanted everything to end.

The despair had taken over completely, driving me past the point of reason.

“Why not kill me first?” I screeched, baring my neck to her, entirely unhinged by grief. “Kill me! I'm Harry's mate! I'm the real obstacle here! I am the reason Celeste will never be his Luna! If someone has to die to get what you want, it should be me!”

She remained silent for a second.

Her eyes widened, and so did mine.

I had just revealed everything.

Regret settled in my chest, but I tried not to let her see it.

She would break me with it if she did.

Then a low, boisterous laugh erupted from her lips, a sound intended to destroy me.

“You are foolish, delusional little girl,” Veronica scoffed, stepping closer until her figure swallowed me. “Accusations without evidence are entirely worthless. Do you honestly think a single soul in the Ashveil Pack would believe a lunatic omega over a respected Beta who carried the pack even after her husband's death? Look at you. You are nothing. Your dead mother's pathetic, weak blood ruined any standing you ever had.”

She leaned down, her voice dropping to a whisper that pierced straight through my soul.

“Harry will never marry a girl who drags her own family through a humiliating public scandal. An Alpha needs stability, Daphne. He will marry Celeste. He will come to his senses, and he will reject you eventually. The mate bond means nothing to an Alpha if the mate is trash like you.”

The words did more damage than the beating, physically flattening me into the ground.

Before I could process the psychological horror, she grabbed me, clamping her fingers tightly around my throat and dragging me forcefully toward the porch steps.

“No! Get off me!” I screamed, thrashing at her.

Then I kicked her foot with the strength I had left.

She stumbled, and I took the opening, scrambling down the driveway as Thelma tried to help her up.

“Come back here!” Veronica screamed. “If you cross that driveway, then you won't sleep in this house tonight.”

That fueled me.

I turned and ran without thinking.

Blindly into the pitch-black night, tears streaming down my face and blurring my vision completely.

I had no destination or plan.

The gravel cut into my feet, and the cold air burned my lungs, but I kept sprinting, entirely consumed by the chaos in my mind.

I burst onto the main road in a hurry when a pair of blinding headlights suddenly cut through the darkness.

The sharp screech of tires grated against my ears as the car swerved, stopping a mere two inches from where I stood frozen in the middle of the road.

The driver's side door flew open.

Harry stormed out into the light.

He looked completely shaken, his hair wild, his chest heaving as if he'd been running a marathon himself.

“Goddess, Daph. What happened?” he asked, rushing toward me. “I knew I should have come sooner. My wolf kept hinting you were in trouble, and I thought I was just overreacting, because you left.”

His stormy eyes locked onto the heavy swelling on my cheek, the dark, blooming bruises forming along my throat, and the dirt and blood covering my knees.

A growl ripped from his chest.

“Who did this to you? Was it her? I'm going back there right now, and I am going to tear that house apart!”

He turned back toward his car, completely consumed by the need for vengeance.

He didn't know about my father or her plans to kill Celeste. He only wanted to fight because I was bleeding in front of him.

“No!” I screamed, launching myself forward and grabbing his shirt, yanking him back toward me with everything I had left. “Harry, stop! You can't go there!”

“Daphne, she put her hands on you—”

“Listen to me!” I shouted over him as I held onto his collar, refusing to explain the horror of what I knew. “Do not go there. Just take me away. Please, Harry, just listen to me!”

He looked down at my desperate, tear-stained face, his jaw clenching as he tried to restrain himself.

Then he took a deep breath before finally wrapping his arms around me.

He helped me into the car and drove back home.

As the car sped back toward the Alpha estate, the thoughts in my head began to collide.

Veronica's cruel words rang in my ears over and over again:

Accusations without evidence are worthless. Harry needs stability.

She was right.

If I spoke right then, broken and bleeding, nobody would believe me. I had no proof. I was a vulnerable omega against a powerful Beta.

I needed power and safety.

Most importantly, I needed a position that Veronica could never touch, a title that forced the entire pack to listen to my voice.

If I became his official mate, she could never silence me again.

I could barely concentrate as my mind wanted to push everything forward, make it all happen so I could finally be free.

The party was still buzzing downstairs when we arrived at the palace.

Harry ignored it all, pulling me through the back entrance and taking me directly to his room.

The moment the door clicked shut behind us, the last of my restraint vanished.

I threw my arms around his neck, pressing my lips to his.

He stiffened in surprise, his hands coming up to gently grip my shoulders and pull back.

“Daphne, stop... you're hurt. You're emotional. You deserve a real mating night, not this.”

“Don't push me away,” I sobbed against his mouth, pulling his face back down to mine. “Please. I don't want to be fragile. Just make me forget. Tell me I matter. Mark me. Make me yours.”

My desperation broke his final thread of control.

A growl bubbled up his throat, and his mouth crashed into mine with consuming heat.

He lifted me effortlessly, my legs locking around his waist as he carried me to the bed.

Everything went by in a blur.

Every touch was a desperate attempt to erase the sting of the slaps, the coldness I had become accustomed to.

Tangled in his sheets, feeling his teeth finally sink into the side of my neck to claim me permanently caused the chaos in my mind to go quiet.

The mate bond snapped into place.

For the first time in four agonizing years, I fell asleep wrapped in his arms, believing I was finally safe.

The morning sun filtered softly through the curtains, catching my eyes.

I blinked them open, a soft smile tugging at my lips.

Harry was sound asleep beside me, his strong arm wrapped securely around my waist, his breathing even.

The warmth of the bond grounded me, and the nightmare felt as though it was finally over.

I just needed him to announce our bond and complete the ritual.

Then I could expose Veronica.

I planted a kiss on his face.

“I love you,” I murmured.

He opened his eyes.

He was about to speak when a loud, aggressive pounding rattled the bedroom door.

Harry bolted upright instantly, but the door burst open before he could move.

The palace guards flooded the room.

“What the hell is the meaning of this?!” Harry roared, throwing his body in front of mine and ripping the sheets up to shield my bare skin.

The lead guard stepped forward.

“Forgive us, Alpha Prince. We have strict orders from the Council.”

My stomach dropped.

“Daphne Harold,” he said. “You are under arrest.”

What?