Banished Luna: The Mate He Sacrificed Returned To Rule

Kiera's POV:

"Kiera Mitchell, you can go back to Crescent Pack now."

The Alpha of Nocturne Pack threw a letter down in front of me, amusement lacing his mocking tone. "I thought Dominic had already erased you from his mind. Looks like I was wrong."

My hands shook as I picked up the letter. There was only one sentence written inside. "Kiera, come back."

That was all. There was no explanation for why he wanted me back, no words of welcome, and not even a simple "I miss you."

Yet somehow, those few words were enough to fill my heart with hope.

It was my twentieth birthday.

After I was exiled for three long years, my mate was finally asking me to return home.

I put on the only clothes I possessed that weren't covered in patches, tidied my hair, and splashed cold water over my face. I tried to hide just how worn-out I was and make myself look presentable before leaving.

Night had already settled over Crescent Pack by the time I arrived at the packhouse.

The great hall was glowing with light, and a long table had been prepared with an abundance of food. The rich scent of roasted meat mingled with the smell of wine, instantly lifting my spirits.

Could Dominic have arranged all of this to welcome me home?

The thought made my heart warm. After three years, he hadn't forgotten me after all.

Clinging to that small piece of hope, I walked deeper into the hall.

Several pack warriors were gathered in groups around the room. As soon as they noticed me, their expressions changed, and their eyes turned cold.

"Look who's here! She actually dared to show her face here."

"I heard she couldn't survive at Nocturne Pack."

"An omega who can't even shift is a disgrace to our Alpha."

I lowered my gaze and acted as though none of their words had reached me. Three years of exile had taught me that sometimes the best way to survive was to hear cruel words without allowing myself to react.

Instead of responding to them, I scanned the room for Dominic. He must have been waiting for me.

Then my eyes landed on Thalia Mitchell, my younger sister and Crescent Pack's strongest female warrior. She was seated beside the chair at the head of the table.

She had dressed in white, with her hair woven into an intricate braid, and there was a soft smile on her lips. The dress stretched over the curve of her stomach. She was pregnant.

Dominic Evans was sitting next to her. He was carefully cutting the food on her plate into small pieces before setting a glass of juice in front of her.

His movements were so natural and familiar that it was obvious he had done this many times.

Everything about the scene felt intimate. For a moment, the entire hall seemed to vanish. I could hear nothing except the violent pounding of my own heart.

Thalia smiled as she reached for Dominic's hand. He placed his other palm over her swollen belly, and the two of them leaned toward each other with the ease of a couple who had already shared a life together.

I curled my fingers into fists until my nails dug painfully into my palms. I needed that pain to keep me standing.

Dominic had betrayed me.

For three years, I had endured misery at Nocturne Pack while holding on to the belief that my Alpha would call me home.

I had convinced myself that he had finally changed his mind. Some foolish part of me had even believed that he might still regard me as his mate, yet I was totally wrong.

I turned around. I needed to leave before the tears came. I refused to cry in front of them, and I certainly wouldn't give them the satisfaction of watching me break.

"Kiera, stop right there." Dominic's authoritative voice came from behind me.

My body instinctively responded to his command. My knees almost buckled, but I forced myself forward anyway.

He reached me in only a few strides and grabbed my wrist. His fingers tightened around it until I felt as though the bones beneath his grip might crack. He spun me around, forcing me to face the anger burning in his eyes.

"What exactly are you doing?" His voice was dangerously low. "Thalia is eight months pregnant. I wanted you back so you could celebrate with us, and this is how you choose to act?"

He had called me back from the nightmare of Nocturne Pack just so I could celebrate his mistress's eight-month pregnancy. And I had been stupid enough to believe he had missed me. I had actually thought this feast was meant to welcome me home.

I looked directly into Dominic's eyes without lowering my head. "Dominic, three years ago, when everyone accused me of poisoning Thalia, did you ever defend me?"

He froze.

"You didn't." My voice remained surprisingly composed. "The entire pack accused me of poisoning Thalia because I was jealous of her being a warrior. They called me a vicious, useless omega. Everyone condemned me, and you never once stood up for me. And now you expect me to return here and celebrate her pregnancy?"

"That's all in the past-why are you dragging it up now?" His tone turned icy.

A hollow laugh slipped from my lips. "I was in exile for three years becaused I was wrongly accused, and you're telling me it's all in the past?"

Those three years had been hell. I had spent them barely surviving in the dirtiest, most miserable corners of Nocturne Pack.

Everyone there called me "Crescent Pack's worthless reject." They mocked me as the disgrace Dominic had driven out of his own pack.

They forced me to lick mud from their boots. They made me kneel on the floor and clean up wine after they deliberately spat it onto the ground. When winter came, they made me crawl through the snow while whipping me with belts.

The only thing that had allowed me to endure any of it was the belief that one day I would return home. And now that I had finally made it back, this was what awaited me.

"Dominic." I pulled my wrist from his grasp. My voice was calm despite everything raging inside me. "I only want to ask you one final question." I looked straight at him. "Is Thalia's baby yours?"

The question clearly caught him by surprise. His lips parted, but nothing came out.

I gave him a smile that probably looked more heartbreaking than tears ever could. "You don't need to say anything. I already have my answer."

After a long pause, Dominic leaned closer until I could feel his breath against my face. "Kiera, listen to me. If you behave yourself, I won't sever our mate bond. You'll continue to be the Luna of Crescent Pack, and I won't make your life difficult."

I almost laughed.

He had cheated on me, yet now he was standing here promising that he wouldn't make things difficult for me.

This was the Alpha I had once loved. My mother had paid with her life to secure his agreement to be my mate.

"Dominic." Thalia's soft voice came from behind us. She deliberately made herself sound weak and fragile. "Don't blame Kiera. She just came back, so it's understandable that she's upset. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have come between you two..."

Thalia slowly reached toward my hand as though she genuinely wanted to ask for my forgiveness. But I could see the satisfaction hidden behind her innocent expression. She had done this before.

Three years ago, she had played the helpless victim in exactly the same manner, and everyone had believed that I was the one who had poisoned her.

I wasn't going to be fooled by her performance a second time.

I casually brushed her hand away. My touch was so light that there was no reason it should have caused her to lose her balance. But Thalia fell anyway.

A scream escaped her as she stumbled backward and crashed heavily onto the floor.

Within seconds, a bright red stain began spreading across her pristine white dress. Blood trickled down between her legs.

The entire hall fell deathly silent.

Then Thalia's anguished cries shattered the silence. "My baby... It hurts so bad..."

Kiera's POV:

Dominic looked at me with murder in his eyes before bending down and lifting Thalia into his arms. He held her carefully against his chest as if even the slightest movement might hurt her.

"Don't worry. I'm taking you to the hospital." His voice softened in a way I had never heard before. "You're going to be okay."

Thalia pressed herself closer to him. Her face had gone pale, and tears ran freely down her cheeks. "Dominic... what if I lose the baby?"

"You won't." He lowered his head and kissed her forehead. "The baby will be fine. I promise."

I could only stand there and watch. The scene made my chest hurt so badly that I could barely breathe.

"Dominic." I spoke before I could talk myself out of it. My voice came out rough. "Do you really have to go with her? I didn't do anything to Thalia. She fell on her own..."

I never got to finish. Dominic turned toward me, and whatever tenderness had been on his face disappeared.

"You're seriously still denying it?" His voice turned cold. "Kiera, I thought three years at Nocturne Pack would've given you enough time to think about what you did. Clearly, I was wrong. You still can't admit when something is your fault."

"I didn't push her!"

"Enough." The disgust in his voice hit harder than I expected. "You've always been jealous of Thalia. She's an excellent warrior, while you're a useless omega who can't even shift. Three years ago, you poisoned her because you couldn't stand that difference, and now you've gone after her again. When is this going to stop?"

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. It was happening all over again.

Three years ago, Dominic had banished me without hearing my side or asking what really happened. Now he was doing the same thing again. He had already decided that I was guilty without even bothering to find out the truth.

"I didn't poison her," I whispered, though by then, it felt like I was only saying it for myself.

Dominic was already done listening. He turned away and carried Thalia out without looking back at me.

The celebration ended in a sour, uncomfortable silence, and I was left standing there while every pack member looked at me with open contempt.

That night, I waited for Dominic until well past midnight.

Crescent Pack turned bitterly cold after dark. Damp wind rolled in from the nearby lake while I sat on the porch with my arms wrapped around my knees, staring at the road that led to the hospital.

Dominic never came back.

A notification flashed across my phone, and when I checked it, Thalia's name appeared above a photo that broke my heart.

The photo showed Dominic sitting beside her hospital bed. He held one of her hands while his other rested gently over her pregnant stomach. The soft light made his expression look warm, and there was even a smile on his face.

In all the years I had loved him, he had never looked at me like that.

Another message followed. "Kiera, Dominic's staying here tonight. Don't wait for him. You should get some sleep."

My fingers tightened around the phone.

So he really wasn't coming back.

Dominic had once promised that no matter what happened, he would always come home to me.

He had sworn that he would spend the rest of his life honoring our bond-a bond my mother had paid for with her life.

None of it had meant anything.

When I finally got up, my legs were stiff and numb from sitting there for so long. I went inside and pushed open the door to the bedroom Dominic and I had once shared.

Three years had gone by, but the room looked exactly the same.

The photograph from the day we sealed our mate bond still hung on the wall. I was wearing a white dress and smiling happily. Dominic stood beside me with his usual reserved expression, though there had been the slightest hint of a smile on his lips.

Back then, I had convinced myself that he cared about me and simply didn't know how to show it.

I opened a drawer and took out the agreement that would sever our bond for good.

I had prepared it before leaving Crescent Pack three years ago. At the time, I had been afraid Dominic wouldn't wait for me. I worried that he might meet someone better and regret being tied to me, so I drew up the agreement.

I never thought every fear behind it would actually come true.

"Kiera," I muttered to myself. "Wake up. It's time to let go."

Crescent Pack's hospital sat on the western edge of the territory. It was a small, white, two-story building, and Thalia's room was all the way at the end of the second-floor hallway.

When I opened the door, Dominic was sitting beside Thalia's bed with a piece of peeled apple in his hand. He held it near her mouth with an ease that made the moment feel far too intimate.

Neither of them noticed me standing in the doorway.

"Do you want another piece?" Dominic asked gently.

Thalia pushed his hand away. "No, you eat it. And you should get some rest."

"I'm fine."

"You still have pack business tomorrow. You can't keep staying up like this."

"I'll deal with it later," he said. "Right now, you and the baby matter more."

I forced myself to stay calm and walked into the room.

Thalia saw me first. Her smile disappeared at once, and she pulled back against the pillows. One hand went to her chest while the other grabbed Dominic's sleeve, as though I might suddenly come after her.

Dominic followed her gaze and frowned when he saw me. "Why are you here? Thalia just got stable. Your presence could upset her."

I took a moment to steady myself. "I only came here for this."

I raised the agreement and held it out to him. "Sign it."

Dominic's eyes dropped to the document, and he went completely still.

"Stop dragging this out," I said. "Once you sign, you can make Thalia your Luna. She clearly suits the role better than I ever did."

"Kiera, please!" Thalia's voice cracked as tears gathered in her eyes. "Don't do this. Dominic does care about you. If anyone's at fault, it's me. I shouldn't have stayed in your home. I'll move out tomorrow, okay?"

She pushed the covers aside and made a show of struggling to get up.

Still, I caught the satisfaction she couldn't quite hide.

"Thalia, stay in bed." Dominic put a hand on her shoulder and kept her from getting up. Then he looked at me again, clearly losing patience. "Kiera, that's enough. We'll deal with this once she's out of the hospital."

"And then what?" I asked. "You'll tell me to wait until the baby is born? After that, am I supposed to wait until the child grows up? How long are you going to keep putting this off, Dominic?"

Dominic had nothing to say.

I looked at the care he showed Thalia, and whatever hope I had left finally disappeared.

"Sign it," I said, meeting his eyes. "I'm not leaving until you do."

He studied me for a long moment. "Kiera..."

"Save your energy-my mind's made up." I stopped him before he could go any further. "You didn't believe me three years ago, and nothing has changed. If Thalia is the one you want, fine. I'm getting out of the way."

I checked the time and turned back to him. "It's late, and I'm tired. Stop dragging this out and end it properly."

Kiera's POV:

Something cold settled over Dominic's features. The edge in his tone left no room for misunderstanding. "Kiera, if you do this, don't come crying to me when you regret it."

My resolve nearly cracked beneath the weight of everything I was feeling. I swallowed hard and refused to let those emotions control me. "Sign it."

Regret had no place in me anymore.

During my years at Nocturne Pack, the memory of Dominic had been the only thing that kept me alive.

When their boots crushed against my face, when lashes tore my flesh until blood ran down my body, when they made me kneel in freezing snow and scrub spilled wine until I could no longer feel my hands, I survived by convincing myself that someday it would all end.

I imagined returning to Dominic. In my mind, he would pull me into his arms, kiss me as though he had spent every day longing for my return, and whisper that he loved me. He would see everything I had endured and murmur, "You've been through so much."

I had given him every ounce of love I possessed, only to discover that none of it had mattered to him.

If my devotion meant nothing in his eyes, then I would no longer leave it in his hands.

Dominic grabbed the pen and pressed it against the paper. A moment later, his signature was sprawled across the agreement. "Fine. I'll sign it. But unless I allow it, our mate bond cannot be broken."

Pain twisted through me as I watched his hand move. Yet somehow, every line he wrote also felt like a weight being lifted from my chest.

I reclaimed the document and held it tightly. "I won't change my mind. Be at the altar tomorrow."

I turned before he could say anything else and left without looking back.

Thalia's delicate voice reached me from the room behind. "Dominic... Kiera is clearly hurt. Shouldn't you go after her?"

There was not even a hint of concern in Dominic's reply. "No. She's acting out. She knows she can't survive without me."

"But..."

"Enough. Where would an omega who cannot even shift go after leaving Crescent Pack? There's no way she'd go back to the Nocturne Pack and become their slave again."

He sounded completely convinced. "She won't really break the bond. I know her."

I stopped outside the corner, every word reaching me clearly.

So that was why he had not followed. He genuinely believed I couldn't exist without him.

A hollow, bitter smile touched my lips. Then I continued walking.

Once I reached the house, I opened a bottle of wine and drank until there was nothing left. Eventually, I stumbled into bed.

The alcohol did little more than blur the memories haunting me. Thalia resting against him. Dominic feeding her slices of apple. His hand spread protectively over the curve of her pregnant stomach.

I wanted those images erased. I wanted him erased.

When morning came, I awoke to warmth pressed against my back.

My eyes snapped open. An arm was secured around my waist. A broad palm rested against my lower abdomen, its heat seeping through the fabric.

Dominic had come back sometime during the night. He was asleep behind me, his breathing slow and even, each exhale brushing against the back of my neck.

My body stiffened as memories of our past surged through me.

The first time I saw Dominic had been at the altar in Crescent Pack. He had arrived covered in blood, hunted by enemies who had chased him all the way to our territory.

My mother had hidden him and saved him. She paid for that choice with her life. As she lay dying, she took my hand and placed it in his. "Dominic, take care of my daughter."

He had agreed. Kneeling beside her lifeless body, he clasped my fingers and looked into my eyes. "Kiera, I'll protect you for the rest of my life."

Back then, I had trusted every word. I had believed we would grow old together. I had imagined a life filled with the affection and loyalty I had always wanted from him. Instead, he had given those things to another woman.

My phone suddenly buzzed beside me. The screen illuminated with a new email from an unfamiliar sender. I picked it up and opened the email.

My breath caught. Photo after photo appeared across the screen.

The first showed Dominic escorting Thalia into the obstetrics department, his arm around her waist as he bent close to murmur something beside her ear.

The next captured them walking through a park. Thalia's arm was intertwined with his, her rounded stomach clearly visible.

Another image showed them attending a prenatal yoga session. Dominic was positioned behind her, both hands steadying her waist as she struggled to maintain her balance.

There were more. So many more. The photographs followed her pregnancy from its earliest days all the way into her eighth month.

For three years, while I had been gone, Dominic had remained beside another woman.

A crushing ache spread through my chest. Tears blurred the screen before spilling freely down my cheeks.

I suddenly sat upright and struck him across the face.

The slap rang through the bedroom. Dominic woke instantly.

His muscles tightened, his instincts kicking in as though he expected an attack.

But when he saw the tears streaming down my face, the tension left his body, replaced by a deep frown.

He reached toward me. "Did you have a nightmare? Come back to bed. Get some more sleep."

I recoiled from his touch. When I spoke, my voice was strangely steady. "We're going to the altar now. We'll find an elder and have our mate bond severed."

His features immediately darkened. "Kiera..."

I thrust my phone toward him. The photographs remained open. "Is Thalia's baby yours?"

His eyes moved across the screen, and his expression became impossible to read.

My voice shook despite every effort to remain composed. "Answer me. Tell me if Thalia is carrying your child."

Rather than respond, he took the phone from my hand and placed it aside. "Stop with the tantrum. You don't get to ask that."

Something inside me collapsed.

Even now, after everything, he still treated my pain as another childish outburst.

I stared directly into his eyes. "Dominic, I'm asking you for the last time. Is Thalia's baby yours?"