All Chapters of The Banished Luna: She Was Meant To Rule: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

We find Donald three miles from the temple ruins, collapsed on the forest floor. Anna is kneeling beside him, sobbing hysterically, her pregnant belly making it difficult for her to move. “Help him!” she screams when she sees us approaching. “Please, something’s wrong with him!” Alistair’s warriors, those who survived Kate’s curse and managed to break free, surround them immediately, weapons drawn. But I push through, still weak but walking on my own. Donald is convulsing violently, foam bubbling from his lips. His eyes are rolled back in his head, and his body jerks like he’s being electrocuted. “What happened?” I demand. “I don’t know!” Anna’s face is streaked with tears and terror. “He just collapsed an hour ago. Started screaming about memories, about pain, about…” Her voice breaks. “About what he did to you.” My blood runs cold. The curse. Kate said it was tied to her life, and I thought she meant Donald would die when she did. But what if it’s worse than that? What i

I wake to voices arguing in hushed, urgent tones.“cannot be here right now…”“She’s my wife, I have every right…”“Your wife is in the other room, recovering from nearly losing her child!”Alistair’s voice.And someone else. A woman.Elara.I force my eyes open, my vision blurry and unfocused. I’m in our chambers, in our bed, and every part of my body aches with exhaustion.My hand immediately goes to my stomach.Still round. Still there.Relief floods through me so intensely I nearly sob.The baby is alive.“She’s awake,” a healer says from beside the bed, an older woman named Miriam who’s been monitoring my pregnancy.Alistair is at my side in an instant, his face haggard with worry.“Mabel. Thank the goddess.” His hand covers mine on my belly. “How do you feel?”“Tired,” I rasp. “What happened?”Miriam steps forward. “You went into premature labor, my lady. We managed to stop it, but it was close. Very close.”“The baby…”“Is fine,” she assures me quickly. “Strong heartbeat, still

My hands close around Kate’s throat before she can cast another spell.The silver light pouring from my body burns her skin on contact, and she screams, a sound of pure agony that echoes through the chamber.“You can’t!” she gasps, clawing at my hands. “The binding…”“Is broken,” I finish coldly. “My baby is stronger than your magic. Stronger than your centuries of stolen power.”I feel my wolf rising, merging with my consciousness, both of us working in perfect harmony with the life growing inside me.Three forces united, mother, wolf, and child.We’re unstoppable.Kate tries desperately to use her magic, dark energy crackling around her hands, but the silver light burns it away before it can form.“This isn’t possible,” she wheezes, her face contorting with rage and disbelief. “I planned everything! Every contingency! Every…”“You planned to control a power you could never understand,” I interrupt, slamming her against the wall. “You thought you could steal what we have. But this…” I

Get the children to safety,” I ordered the nearest guard. “Now.” He hesitates, looking at Alistair for confirmation. “Do what she says,” Alistair snaps, his eyes never leaving the woman at the gates. As guards rush to protect our newborns and the older boys, I study the woman claiming to be Elara. She looks perfect. Too perfect. Every detail matches the portraits I’ve seen of Alistair’s first wife, the delicate features, the gentle smile, even the way she holds herself. But something is wrong. “That’s not Elara,” I say quietly. “How do you know?” Alistair asks. “Because Kate wore her face for weeks, and this woman…” I narrow my eyes. “This woman moves differently. Stands differently. Even the way she’s touching her stomach is wrong.” Alistair’s jaw tightens. “Then who is she?” Before I can answer, the woman calls up again. “Aren’t you going to invite me in, Alistair? After all, I am your wife. The mother of your children.” She gestures to the men flanking her. “

I grab Alistair’s face between my hands and force him to look at me because I can see him spiraling, I can see the despair taking root and I know if I let it we’re finished before we even start. “Listen to me,” I say, and my voice comes out harder than I intend but I need him to hear this. “Your mother spent three hundred years planning this, fine, but she made one mistake.” “What mistake?” His voice is hollow. “She told us where she’s taking them. The ancestral castle, the place where she supposedly died.” I’m already pulling him to his feet, already moving because we don’t have time for grief or shock or any of the emotions trying to drown us both. “She gave us a location and a timeline, which means she’s arrogant enough to think we can’t stop her even with that information.” Something flickers in Alistair’s eyes, not quite hope but at least the absence of complete defeat. “We have four hours before moonrise,” he says slowly, and I can see his mind starting to work again, star