RETURN OF THE BANISHED LUNA

4

DAPHNE'S POV

“Harry!” I screamed, my voice cracking as the guards dragged me out into the cold stone hallway.

He rushed out a few seconds later, having only managed to pull on a pair of pants, his eyes blazing as he roared. But before his wolf could take form, the pack witch, Hannah, appeared, unleashing a restraining spell on him.

I watched in horror as the wave of magic instantly suppressed his wolf, freezing his movements.

He still tried to come after me, but the guards threw themselves in his path. Even with his wolf suppressed, Harry fought them in his human form, shoving them aside one after another. I cried out his name again and again, the bedsheet scraping against the floor as they hauled me through the palace corridors like a common criminal.

Soon, we arrived at the pack's judgment courtyard, where the morning air bit sharply into my skin.

My heart dropped.

A small crowd of pack members and elders had already formed. A large television screen had been prepared.

My heart slammed against my chest.

Suddenly, my eyes caught Veronica and Thelma standing in a corner. Veronica looked at me with venom in her eyes.

I immediately realized this had everything to do with my interaction with Harry at the ball last night.

It was a scandal.

And worse?

I had woken up in his bed.

The heavy doors behind us slammed open as Harry finally reached the courtyard, breaking free from the guards.

“I am the acting Alpha while my father is away!” Harry roared, his voice echoing off the palace walls. “Unless there is an extraordinary reason for humiliating and dragging my mate through the palace half-dressed, every single elder involved in this will answer to me!”

The First Elder stepped forward, completely calm and unbothered by his rage.

“There is indeed a reason, Your Highness. Daphne Harold has been officially accused of treason against the Crown and conspiracy against the royal succession.”

Treason?

My mind went completely blank.

What were they talking about?

My eyes widened as the crowd erupted into gasps and whispers.

I couldn't even understand what they were accusing me of.

“We call upon Beta Veronica Harold to present the evidence,” the elder announced.

Veronica stepped forward, her head bowed in humility as the giant display screen flickered to life.

The first clip began to play.

It was footage from our front porch the previous night.

It showed Thelma falling down, but the camera angle had been chosen to manipulate the truth. It looked as though I had intentionally pushed her, completely hiding the fact that my foot had accidentally caught the hem of her gown.

“I dismissed the incident at first as mere grief and jealousy,” Veronica explained to the council, her voice trembling as she wiped a tear from her cheek. “I chose not to report Daphne initially because I loved my late husband's daughter.”

Then the video continued playing.

It showed Veronica and me arguing last night, but the words coming out of my mouth stole the breath from my lungs.

“I will be Luna... Celeste will never be Luna... Anyone who stands in my way has to go... The elders... The council... I don't care. I will do what it takes.”

The angle was completely wrong.

No one could see my mouth moving, but it was undeniably my voice.

Then it showed me kicking Veronica down before running off.

The clip was real.

The audio wasn't.

The edits were terrifyingly convincing, flowing together as though they were one continuous, ruthless conversation.

I suddenly realized she must have pieced together innocent recordings of me captured by the CCTV cameras at home.

Goddess.

How was I supposed to escape this?

“I never said those things together!” I cried out, my voice shrill with panic as I looked around at the judgmental faces surrounding me. “The recording is fake! She edited it!”

Suddenly, Veronica broke down in tears, leaving no room for the pack members to doubt her.

“I loved my late husband so deeply that after his death, I chose to raise Daphne as my own daughter instead of abandoning her,” her voice boomed across the courtyard. “I clothed her, fed her, educated her, and gave her a home despite not being her biological child. Yet she constantly tried to embarrass our family, deliberately wearing plain clothing to public events so people would pity her and assume I mistreated her. I ignored her resentment for years because I believed grief made people act irrationally.”

She paused, looking up at the elders with a face full of manufactured agony.

“But after hearing her explicit threats against Celeste, I could no longer remain silent. I am the Beta, and I have to protect my pack. I wish I could continue defending her... but I can't bear it anymore. It is painful when someone you have loved and cared for hates you this much. I prayed she would change, but if I stayed silent now, I would be betraying both my late husband and this kingdom.”

Her performance was devastatingly effective.

I watched as several pack members in the crowd wiped away tears, completely won over by her lies.

Nobody believed me.

To the entire pack, I was the dead Beta's crazy daughter.

The elders turned to one another, murmuring in dark, hushed tones before facing the crowd again.

“The footage speaks for itself,” one elder said grimly.

“Threatening Lady Celeste, daughter of the Commander of the Royal Warriors,” another elder added.

The First Elder stepped forward.

“These actions amount to treason.”

“Treason against the throne is punishable by death,” he declared, his eyes locking onto mine. “Allowing such a woman to remain beside the Alpha Prince would endanger the safety of the entire kingdom.”

“Justice!” a voice shouted from the crowd.

Within seconds, the courtyard ignited, pack members and warriors alike demanding blood.

“Death to the traitor!”

The sheer terror of the moment broke whatever restraint I had left.

With an adrenaline-fueled strength, I tore myself free from the guards' grip and ran straight toward Harry.

I threw myself against his chest, clinging desperately to his shirt as sobs wracked my entire body.

Even now, his hand immediately found my back as though his body refused to let me fall.

“Harry, I didn't say that!” I begged, looking up into his eyes as the world crashed down around us. “Please believe me. You know me, Harry. Please don't let them do this to me!”

Harry looked down at me, and I could see the absolute devastation fracturing his soul.

Tears formed in his own eyes as he looked between my terrified, tear-stained face and the overwhelming weight of the evidence broadcasting on the screen.

The chanting of the crowd grew deafening, demanding my execution.

Harry's jaw clenched so hard that the veins in his neck bulged.

He raised his head, and I saw his eyes begin to water, but he blinked the tears back.

Then—

“Enough!” he roared.

His voice threw the courtyard into silence.

He looked down at me one last time.

His expression hardened.

“I have decided that she will not be put to death. But...”