Xavier Defends Luna

The Council summoned them at dawn.

Luna stood in the great hall, her chin lifted, her expression cold. Damian was beside her, his hand resting on the small of her back. Xavier stood across the room, his stormy grey eyes fixed on her, his jaw tight with barely controlled fury.

The twelve Alphas of the High Council sat at the long table, their expressions grim. Elder Mathias presided over them all, his ice-cold eyes fixed on Luna with undisguised contempt.

"Alpha Queen Luna," Mathias said, his voice echoing through the silent hall. "You stand accused of using excessive force against a member of the Silver Moon Pack. How do you plead?"

Luna's Moonfire flickered at her fingertips. "I plead nothing. I protected my son."

"Tessa is a member of this pack. She has rights—"

"She kidnapped my child." Luna's voice was deadly quiet. "She held him over a cliff. She threatened to kill him. And you're worried about her rights?"

The Council members exchanged uneasy glances. Mathias's expression hardened.

"Tessa will face her own judgment. But your actions—"

"My actions saved my son's life." Luna stepped forward, her power filling the room. "If you think I'll apologize for protecting my child, you're even more foolish than I thought."

The room fell silent. Even the Council members seemed cowed by her presence.

But Mathias wasn't finished.

"You are not above the law, Alpha Queen. The Council has ruled these lands for centuries. We will not be defied by a—"

"A what?" Luna's eyes blazed silver. "A woman? An omega? A rejected mate?"

Mathias's jaw tightened. "You are out of order."

"No. You are out of order." Luna's voice rose, her Moonfire blazing. "You sit here, in your ivory tower, judging wolves you don't understand. You didn't see my son's face when that woman held him over the cliff. You didn't hear him screaming for me. You didn't feel the terror through the bond as he begged for his life."

She turned to face the entire Council, her power radiating from her in waves.

"I am done being judged by wolves who have never walked in my shoes. I am done being punished for protecting what's mine. And I am done with this Council."

The room erupted.

Voices rose in outrage. Alphas shouted, demanded order, called for punishment. Mathias slammed his fist on the table, his face purple with rage.

"Enough!"

The word cut through the chaos like a blade.

Xavier stepped forward, his presence commanding, his eyes blazing gold. He moved to stand beside Luna, his body a shield between her and the Council.

"Alpha Xavier," Mathias said through gritted teeth. "This does not concern you."

"It does." Xavier's voice was cold steel. "Luna is the mother of my son. Any attack on her is an attack on me."

"She defied the Council—"

"She defended her child." Xavier's eyes swept over the assembled Alphas, his expression murderous. "As any parent would. As any wolf should."

Mathias's face twisted with fury. "You would side with her against your own Council?"

"I would side with what's right." Xavier's voice dropped to a dangerous growl. "And what's right is protecting innocent children from monsters who would harm them."

"Tessa is not a monster—"

"Tessa held a three-year-old boy over a cliff." Xavier stepped closer to the table, his power crackling in the air. "She threatened to kill him. She did this because she was jealous of Luna. And you—" He pointed at Mathias, his finger trembling with rage. "You would punish Luna for stopping her?"

The Council members shifted uneasily. Some of them looked away. Others stared at Xavier with something that might have been respect.

Mathias's expression flickered—uncertainty, maybe, or fear.

"The Council must maintain order," he said, his voice less steady than before.

"Then maintain it." Xavier's eyes blazed. "Punish the traitor. Punish the kidnapper. Punish the monster who tried to murder my son. But do not—do not—punish the mother who saved him."

The silence that followed was deafening.

Luna stared at Xavier, her heart pounding. She'd never seen him like this—not in all the years she'd known him. He was defending her. Publicly. Against his own Council.

And he wasn't doing it to win her back.

He was doing it because it was right.

---

Mathias's shoulders slumped. The fight drained out of him, replaced by something that looked almost like resignation.

"Very well," he said, his voice heavy. "The Council will deliberate. Alpha Queen Luna will not be punished for her actions—provided she submits to a formal review of her power."

"I'll submit to nothing," Luna said coldly.

Xavier's hand found hers, squeezing gently. "Let me handle this."

She looked at him—really looked at him—and saw something she hadn't seen before. Not just regret. Not just longing.

Determination.

He would protect her. Even from the Council. Even from himself.

"Fine," she said, pulling her hand away. "Handle it."

Xavier turned back to the Council, his expression hardening. "Luna will not submit to a review. Her power is not a threat to this pack—it's a gift. The same gift that saved my son's life. The same gift that will protect this pack for generations to come."

"You can't know that—"

"I know it." Xavier's voice rang with certainty. "And if you can't see it, then you're even more blind than I was three years ago."

The Council members exchanged glances. Mathias's jaw tightened, but he said nothing.

"The Council will reconvene tomorrow," he said finally. "We will discuss this matter further."

"There's nothing to discuss." Xavier turned his back on the Council, a clear dismissal. "Luna and her son are under my protection. Anyone who threatens them answers to me."

He walked toward the doors, pausing beside Luna. "Coming?"

She stared at him for a long moment. The bond pulsed between them, warm and steady.

"Xavier—"

"Later." He glanced at her, his stormy grey eyes softening. "We'll talk later. Right now, we need to see Leo."

Luna nodded, falling into step beside him. Damian followed, his expression unreadable.

As they left the great hall, Luna heard Mathias's voice behind them, cold and threatening.

"This isn't over, Xavier. The Council will not be defied."

Xavier didn't look back.

"I know," he said quietly. "But neither will I."

---

Later that night, Luna found Xavier in the garden.

He was sitting by the fountain, his head in his hands, his shoulders slumped with exhaustion.

"You defended me," she said.

He looked up, his eyes red-rimmed. "I should have done it three years ago."

"You did it now."

"It's not enough."

"It's a start."

He stood slowly, crossing to her. "Luna, I—"

"Don't." She held up a hand. "Don't make this into something it's not. You defended me. I'm grateful. But gratitude isn't forgiveness."

"I know."

"And trust has to be earned."

"I know." He stepped closer, his voice barely a whisper. "I'll earn it. I promise."

Luna looked at him—at the man who had destroyed her, who had fought for her, who was trying so hard to change—and felt something shift inside her.

"I believe you," she said.

And for the first time in three years, the bond pulsed with something other than pain.

Hope.