Chapter 66 The Aftermath 1

Chapter 66: Chapter 66 The Aftermath 1

Talia’s POV

Loud whispers and murmurs filled the hall now.

Wolves talked over each other, with their voices rising and falling like waves. Some pointed at Vivienne, some pointed at Celeste, and some looked at me with something like pity.

But I did not want their pity.

The healer finally arrived, rushing in with a bag in her hand. She looked around, confused, and unsure where to go.

She looked at Vivienne, then at Aldric, then back at Vivienne. Her hands hovered over her bag, unsure whether to move forward or not.

"Should I...?" she started.

Aldric shook his head. "She does not need a healer anymore. What she needs is punishment."

The word ’punishment’ hung in the air. I had dreamed of this word, whispered it to myself in the dark, and used it like a prayer. But now that it was real, it felt hollow.

The healer bowed and stepped back into the crowd.

Vivienne laughed. "Punishment? You cannot punish me. I am the Luna’s stepmother. I am family."

"You tried to kill her mother," someone shouted from the crowd.

"You drugged her drink," another voice added.

Vivienne’s smile faltered, as she looked around at the wolves staring at her. Their faces were hard, and their eyes were cold.

She forgot that she was not in Cresswood anymore, and no one here would protect her, because this was neutral territory.

Alpha Aldric raised his hand, and the whispers stopped. The murmurs died, and the hall went silent.

I could hear my own heart beating loudly, and Kaelen’s hand was still on my back, with his fingers pressed lightly, and rubbing gently as a calming reassurance.

His fingers moved in small, slow, and gentle circles, like he was trying to calm a frightened animal.

Maybe I was a frightened animal.

Maybe that was all I had ever been: scared, hiding, and waiting to be hurt again. But tonight, I was not the one hurting. Tonight, I was the one watching.

And for once, that was enough.

I looked at Vivienne. She was standing between the guards, with her chest heaving, and her eyes wild. She looked like a trapped animal.

Celeste stood behind her, crying quietly, with her hands covering her mouth.

Edmund stood near the table in silence, with his face pale, and his hands shaking. He looked like he wanted to disappear.

I sat at the main table, watching it all unfold.

And I was not bothered, because I had imagined this moment for years, where Vivienne and the Cresswood family would get what they deserved, and everyone would see her and her daughter for who they truly were.

I used to lie in the storage room at night and dream about it. About her face when she fell, about her voice when she begged, and about the look in her eyes when she realized she had lost. I imagined it a thousand different ways, but none of those dreams felt like this.

This was not sweet. It was just... empty.

And now that it was happening, I felt nothing. Just complete emptiness.

"What we have witnessed tonight is unacceptable," Aldric said. His voice was cold, hard, and loud across the hall. "The crimes committed by this woman are unforgivable."

He looked at Vivienne. She was still standing between the guards, with her dress torn, her hair wild, and her eyes unstable.

"As the eldest Alpha in this room," Aldric continued, "I declare her punishment. Vivienne Cress is hereby banished from Blackmoor Valley and the Shadowfang Pack."

I smiled, and laughed loudly in my mind.

Finally, Vivienne would be banished. She would wander from pack to pack, as a rogue, and an unwanted wolf. She would die alone, and I would not be there to see it.

That should have been enough, but for me, it was not.

Vivienne’s face twisted. She opened her mouth to speak, but Aldric was not finished.

He turned to the other Alphas. "If you agree, she is also banished from your territories."

One by one, all the Alphas nodded.

First to agree was the Alpha from the Stoneclaw Pack, followed by the Beta from the Moonshadow Pack, then last was the elder from the Frostfang Pack.

"She is no longer welcome in any pack," Aldric said.

Edmund said nothing, even as wolves turned to look at him, and whispers spread through the crowd.

"He is her husband. Why does he not speak?"

"He has not said a word since she started confessing."

"Maybe he knew. Maybe he helped her."

Edmund flinched at the words, and his hands clenched at his sides. But he still did not speak.

I watched the man who was supposed to protect me. Instead, he kept quiet and allowed his wife to turn me into a servant, and he let me sleep in a storage room while his other daughter wore silk dresses.

He was indeed very weak. In fact, I think he had always been weak.

Vivienne was right about that, but it did not make her any less guilty.

I used to wish he would save me.

When I was small, I would stand outside his door and wait. I thought if I waited long enough, he would come out, he would see me, and he would remember he had a daughter. But he never came. He never saw, and he never remembered.

Now I did not need him to save me, because I had saved myself.

Edmund’s face had gone pale, and his hands were shaking. But he did not look at Vivienne, and he did not look at me. He just stared at the floor.