RETURN OF THE BANISHED LUNA

6

FIVE YEARS LATER

DAPHNE:

I sat at the desk in my office, reviewing the latest supply reports and security logs for the refugee settlement.

The pen in my hand moved quickly as I signed as many documents as I could.

Now, at twenty-three, I was the Director. No longer the girl who had been banished from her pack for something she didn't do. The pain hadn't faded away; I had simply learned to live with it.

I was the shield for hundreds of souls who had been discarded by the world, and every decision made within these walls rested solely on me.

The silence of the room evaporated when the door flew open with a loud bang.

"Mommy! Look!"

Lily burst into the office, her small shoes clicking rapidly against the floor.

I sighed from exhaustion.

She had made it to my office before I finished work.

She sprinted straight to my desk, her face lit up with her gap-toothed grin as she proudly held up a slightly crumpled piece of paper.

"It's beautiful, sweetheart," I said, a smile breaking across my face as I took the folded paper boat from her tiny hands, turning it over to admire her handiwork.

Lily beamed under the praise, her shoulders thrown back proudly.

I let out a soft laugh, handed the boat back to her, and tapped her nose playfully.

"Now, let's see if you can make a kite."

With an excited gasp, she spun on her heel and ran back out of the room, her laughter echoing down the hall as she went to find more supplies.

I sighed in relief because she had actually listened this time.

Watching her disappear around the corner, a bittersweet warmth settled deep in my chest.

Five years ago, when I had been bleeding and broken in the dirt, I never could have imagined that a beautiful little girl would be calling me Mommy.

Lily wasn't my biological daughter, but she had become mine in every way that mattered.

Daniel's girlfriend had tragically died giving birth to her, and months before his own sudden passing, he had insisted on making me Lily's legal guardian. I had argued with him back then, rolling my eyes and telling him he was wildly overthinking things, but looking back now, it was almost as though he had known he wouldn't live to raise his daughter himself.

Daniel had saved me when I had absolutely nothing, and before he died, he entrusted me with everything that mattered to him—his daughter and the camp he had spent years building.

Inheriting the settlement at such a young age had been terrifying, but protecting this sanctuary for both humans and werewolves who had nowhere else to go was the only way to honor the man who had given me a second chance at life.

A knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts.

I looked up to see Marcus, one of our lead guards, standing in the doorway with a tense posture.

"Director," he said in a clipped tone. "I apologize for interrupting."

I set my pen down, my focus shifting entirely.

"What is it, Marcus?"

He stepped inside, his expression grim.

"We have visitors at the main gates."

"Let them in if they have been thoroughly scanned and confirmed not to be threats."

I made to continue my work, but he adjusted his stance.

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"It's a bit urgent, ma'am," he said.

I crossed my arms.

"A werewolf pack has arrived desperately needing our help. They claim a rogue faction is using human technology against them.They cannot use basic technology available to them to identify the infiltrators. The death toll in their pack keeps rising as the rogues continue looting and killing their citizens."

My eyes widened, and I pushed my chair back with a scrape.

"Come on."

I grabbed my jacket and made my way out of the office.

I walked outside into the scorching sun, marching toward the gates with Marcus behind me.

Several vehicles were lined up, and I stood beside him, waiting for the leader of the pack.

Then—

The doors opened, and the air was violently ripped from my lungs.

My body locked up as Harry stepped out of the car with two guards beside him.

He looked different.

Older and worn.

There were new lines around his eyes that hadn't existed five years ago. His shoulders seemed heavier, as though the years had carved invisible scars into him.

My heart hammered against my ribs.

Everything around me disappeared.

For one horrifying second... I was eighteen again.

Standing barefoot in the palace courtyard, clinging to his shirt as I begged him not to reject me.

The ache of the bond snapping.

The gates closing behind me.

The feeling of dying alone in the forest.

A sudden wave of panic flared before I forced my face into an impenetrable, cold mask.

He won't recognize you, I reminded myself fiercely. Your hair is different, your scent is masked, and you're dressed like a human.

But the moment his stormy eyes locked onto mine, they lingered.

He slowly took a step toward me, as though afraid I would disappear if he blinked.

Then—

"Daph?" he whispered, his face contorting.

The nickname struck somewhere deep inside me.

My lips parted, but no words came out.

How could five years disappear with a single word?

I couldn't breathe.

Before I could even think of a response—

"Mommy! Mommy!"

Lily came running out of the main building, completely oblivious to the suffocating tension.

She sprinted right past the guards, proudly holding a brightly coloured paper kite high above her head.

She reached my side and skidded to a halt, looking up at me with wide, expectant eyes.

The sound of her voice snapped me back to the present.

I was Director Kate.

Not Daphne.

I immediately knelt down to her level, ignoring the burning sensation of Harry's gaze on me.

"It's beautiful, baby. Now give Mommy a second, will you?"

"Okay," she chirped.

She skipped a few steps away before waiting obediently nearby.

Only then did I finally force myself to look back at Harry.

He looked like he had been struck.

His face was pale, and his eyes darted from me to the little girl, his chest heaving as though he had suffered a physical blow.

"You... have a child?" he asked in a hollow tone.

I stood back up to my full height, my posture rigid as I subtly shielded Lily behind my leg.

Every instinct inside me wanted to ask him why.

Why he hadn't come after me.

Why he had believed them.

Why he had let me walk into that forest alone.

But those questions belonged to a girl who no longer existed.

I looked Harry directly in the eye, my gaze completely empty.

"Yes."

The word came out steady only because I refused to let it shake.

I let the silence hang in the air for a brutal moment before tilting my head, my voice dropping.

"Is there a problem, sir?"