CHAPTER THREE – THE FALL OF THE LUNA

ELARA’S POV

This isn't real.

It can’t be real.

How can it?

How can a day go from being the happiest day in my life to the very worst?

It doesn't make sense!

No, this is a nightmare. A horrible, messed up nightmare and I am goin to wake up any second.

I have to.

But I don't.

Instead, all I can think of as they drag me through the dirt is how tortured Darius looked as they pulled me away from him. My knees scratch against the stone floor, but I don’t even feel it. Everything is too loud. Voices. Growls. Footsteps. My name is echoing like a curse.

“Elara.”

“Elara the cursed.”

“Elara the liar.”

“Traitor.”

“Witch!”

I want to scream at them. Tell them how stupid they are all being. How blind they are. They know me. They all freaking know me.

But I don’t. I just stay quiet. Head down. Let them drag me like some dead thing.

The hall looks smaller tonight. Or maybe I’m smaller. Maybe I’m the one who shrank. The air is thick, heavy with anger and hate and fear.

They are not careful with me at all

One of the men holding me pushes me forward and I hit the floor hard. My palms sting, but whatever. The real pain hits when I see who’s sitting up there.

Darius.

He is on the steps, his hands clenched with his head bowed low, like he can't look at me. His hair is sticking to his forehead with sweat. He looks wrong. Pale.

And his eyes… his eyes keep flashing between gold and black like it can’t decide what it wants to be.

There are also wolves behind him, guards, I guess. Watching him like they don’t even trust him.

For a split second, he looks at me. Just one second. And I swear… there’s something there. Something that used to be love. But it’s buried deep under all this noise and hate.

“Bring her forward,” one of the elders says.

I lift my head. Seven of them. Old. Cold. Dressed in gray. The color of judgment.

My heart is pounding and my hands won’t stop shaking. What am I going to say? What can I say? I have no idea what is going on, so how can I defend myself?

It already feels over. Like they have made up their minds before I walked in.

The crowd’s roaring behind me. Someone throws something. It hits my shoulder. I don’t even look.

The elder in the middle raises his hand and the noise cuts off. His voice is deep and empty.

“Elara of the Mooncrest Pack. You stand here accused of using forbidden magic to curse your mate, Alpha Darius.”

I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.

He keeps talking. “The seer has seen the truth in her vision. The bond between you and the Alpha was tainted under the blood moon.”

Blood moon? My brain is spinning. “That is not true,” I say, my voice breaking. “I didn’t- that can't be! I am not a witch!”

“Bring the seer,” another one says.

The crowd moves. The seer comes out slow. Her steps drag. Her eyes look dark, tired. She won’t even look at me.

Lyra’s next to her, holding her arm like she’s helping. She looks so sweet. Too sweet. Like she’s dipped in fake sugar.

“Seer,” Lyra says softly, like she cares. “Tell them what you saw.”

The seer hesitates. Her lips tremble. Then her eyes roll white again, and her voice sounds weird, far away.

“I saw the Luna,” she says. “Standing over her mate. His blood on her hands. The moon is red above her. She whispered his name before she struck.”

The crowd gasps. Someone yells, “Monster!”

I shake my head. “No! That is not true! You are lying! Why are you lying?! Why would I hurt my mate?!”

Nobody listens.

Lyra steps closer, holding something small that’s glowing. That same faint light that makes me sick.

“She hid this,” she says, voice shaking just enough to sound real. “In her room. It matches her aura.”

Aura. What a cute way to say “lie.”

I stare at the glowing thing. I don’t even know what it is. Some weird figurine. Old-looking. Nothing I’ve ever seen before.

“I don’t even know what that is!” I shout. My voice just gets swallowed by the crowd.

The elders start whispering. Words float through the air, curse, danger, betrayal.

My chest tightens. I look back at Darius. He’s shaking, his eyes half-closed, like he’s fighting something inside his head.

“Darius,” I whisper. “Please. You know me. You know I’d never hurt you.”

For a heartbeat, he looks up. His eyes flash gold. The real kind. The kind that used to hold me together when everything fell apart.

“Elara…” he whispers, voice broken.

For that second, I think maybe he remembers. Maybe he’s still there.

Then he jerks, growling low, his eyes going black again.

Lyra rushes to him. “He’s fighting the curse!” she cries. “It’s her! Her voice triggers it!”

The crowd loses it.

“No!” I scream. “It’s not me! He needs help!”

Nobody hears me.

The guards grab me again, pulling me down. My knees hit the ground so hard it burns. I look up at the elders. “Please. You have to believe me. I love him.”

The oldest one shakes his head like I’m some dumb child. “Love can turn dark, child. The moon does not lie.”

My vision blurs. My heart’s racing so fast it hurts.

The elders raise their hands. One by one.

“Banishment,” one says.

“Banishment,” another repeats.

All seven.

Silence.

They call it mercy.

It feels like dying.

The guards drag me to my feet. Everything feels heavy. Distant. I try to look at Darius again, but Lyra’s right there, whispering in his ear.

I stumble as they pull me toward the doors. The crowd’s quiet now, just watching. Some look angry. Some scared. Some almost sorry.

At the doors, I turn back one last time.

Darius is shaking. His hands rip at the chains. The metal snaps. His roar shakes the walls.

“Elara!”

Everyone freezes.

For a second, hope flares in me. Maybe he’s back. Maybe he remembers.

But when he looks up, his eyes aren’t gold anymore. They’re black. Empty.

He doesn’t see me. Not really.

The bond… it’s gone.

“Get her out of my sight!”

And that’s when I finally break.