Chapter 7: Exiled

The grand hall froze at the mention of a witch.

Soon, murmurs followed, voices rising from whispers to shouts.

Moon clenched his fingers, mastered his courage, and retorted loudly, "I am not a witch."

He didn’t look at the brothers again. He knew from the situation that they would not help him.

The Luna sneered at him, walking step by step before stopping in front of him. Her grand, beautiful body shadowed Moon’s crumpled stature.

Her polished, manicured nail traced Moon’s pale forehead down to the delicate nose bridge. Her voice was slow but held the power to echo through every corner of the hall.

"A wolfless human– how could she mate five raging wolves and still be kneeling here just fine? Unless she is a witch?"

Her every word was sharp and piercing. She furrowed her brows with faked concern.

"Or..."

Her voice trailed off as her gaze lingered on the five defective wolves.

"Or, maybe they are also defective there?" Silas finished the words for his mother.

Suppressed laughter and coughs filled the hall all of a sudden.

Leo’s fingers dug into his thigh so hard that a blue vein pulsed under his skin.

"Doesn’t your future Luna know if I am defective or not?" he snarled.

Ellen flinched in Silas’s arm.

"You!" Silas shouted.

"Silence."

The Alpha’s roar vibrated through the hall.

He stood up slowly, his commanding pressure pressing down on everyone present.

"Whether she is a witch or not, we will find out once we invite our Grand Witch. Lock her in the dungeon cell."

He glanced at the brothers kneeling far away from him. His eyes held no warmth of a father, only coldness and disappointment.

"As for the Heirs from the 2nd Nova*, they are no longer Heirs and shall join the Omegas starting tomorrow. The 2nd Nova will be confined within a keep’s cellar, reflecting on her incompetence."

The Luna furrowed her brows and cut in, "But my lord, if this maid is really a witch and has an ulterior motive, we must investigate if the brothers also have a connection with a Grand Witch; this could be a serious threat if left unattended."

"If the Grand Witch proves this maid is a witch, she will be burned to death in the grand square in the middle of the city. As for the five omega brothers," as for the five omega brothers," he paused for a second, searching their faces for any giveaway,

"they will be exiled from the pack; their pack mark will be removed on the altar."

He finished and turned away. His gaze lingered on Moon for a fraction of a moment that nobody noticed. As he descended from the podium, his royal red cape fluttered in the air.

The Luna’s jaw tightened as she followed behind the Alpha. Her vicious parting glance sent a chill down Moon’s spine.

--

In a dimly lit, stone-paved hallway leading to the Alpha’s chamber, hurried, urgent footsteps broke the gloom.

Alpha Vaelis was lost in his thought while the Luna approached him from behind.

"My Lord," she gasped in a strained voice, out of breath from walking fast, "why didn’t you just kill her instantly?"

Alpha Vaelis turned around.

He reached out a hand to hold her waist, lifting her chin with a fierce glint in his eyes. "Are you questioning my decision, my love?"

The Luna flinched, but her eyes were resolute, demanding an answer.

"Haven’t you always burned the humans on the spot, every time they were found infiltrating the pack?"

She looked into his amber eyes, her slender fingers circling his chest.

"She is different. She holds the power to reshape the defective wolves we need." A low, ragged laugh left his throat.

He leaned down, licking the Luna’s cheek up to her ear, his nose rubbing her nape as he murmured, "We have a great use for her."

As he lifted the Luna in his arms and carried her to his chamber, his mind was filled with the pure, beautiful face of the maid.

Alpha Vaelis threw the Luna onto the bed, forcing her to bend over, and leaned forward.

His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he remembered the scent he had caught for a second inside the hall.

His mind raced with a rush of adrenaline he shouldn’t be feeling.

Closing his eyes, Alpha Vaelis pressed on Luna’s upturned waist and thrust forward.

His ragged voice trembled with ecstasy he had forgotten for many years.

"Ugh, fuck! So tight!" he muttered against her nape.

--

On the other side of the castle, the Alpha’s decree threw the assembly into utter chaos.

The pack council and all the youth who attended were boiling with outrage.

Without Alpha’s domination, the grand hall was now filled with chatter and murmurs.

The rustling of dresses and the sounds of heels filled Moon’s ears as he slowly stood up.

Silas offered a mocking sneer, lazily flashing his middle finger at the brothers.

His eyes lingered on Moon, his lean figure, and the way he walked out with the guards.

Besides him, Ellen leaned closer. "She is really an enchantress– already caught your eye." She whispered and smiled like she was just joking. But her gripping hand said otherwise.

"How could a maid attract me, darling?" he murmured, kissing her lips loud enough to ring in his brother’s ears.

But the brothers didn’t give him any heed. They walked past the corridor, the same way they came, walked past the gravel path, and went to their distant shared house.

Ugo looked up at the castle spires and the eaves and let out a long sigh. "Forget it, we were never meant to be the pack Alpha."

"Never meant to be?" Leo rebuked sharply.

"Do you think the Alpha was going to hand over the crown if we could shift? Heh! Dream on." Axe mocked him.

"You guys aren’t thinking about our mate? He is going to be burned." Nox shouted; his step faltering for a moment.

The air felt cold and desolate all of a sudden. The brothers fell dead silent.

"He is not our mate." Rio’s cold voice tore the silence first.

Nox snapped around, his eyes red, teary, "How could you say that? He..."

Before he could finish the sentence, Axe stopped him. "Enough, don’t even try anything funny. Now we can still live, but if they find any trace of us around him, we will be burned with him."

Saying that, he burst into their yard, giving Nox no chance to speak.

Nox followed him into the yard, but stayed outside, sinking into the grass on the lawn, curling up in a bundle.

Ugo shook his head and stepped inside the room they had shared yesterday—a common room for them to gather and drink.

The passion from last night flashed in his eyes for a second.

He turned away sharply from the others, searching the wall closet for some unknown thing, only to mess up everything inside.

He took a sharp, deep breath before calming down and sitting on the bed. His calloused, long finger rubbed the bedsheet slowly.

The lingering warmth of that body was still there; they could still smell a distinct, crispy frost mixed with jasmine.

Leo rubbed his eyes, wrenching his tunic haphazardly. Two buttons popped out, flying under the bed. He collapsed onto the couch like a corpse.

Axe shot him a look but stayed silent, slowly walking toward the door leading to the backyard pool.

His expression was grave, deep in thought.

Only Rio retreated into his room adjacent to the common room and did not come out again.

The room sank into a never-ending silence.

Dry leaves swirled by the rose-tinted windows; outside, the pool water rippled lazily in the breeze, but inside, the brothers remained the same, silent, distant, and cold.

--

Moon Astra was dragged to the dungeon cell. On his way, he mapped the castle interior in his mind—an obsidian Gothic castle. Every step he took sent a dull, hollow thud through the stones, as if there was a tunnel under the corridors.

The entire castle was made of black wood and ragged stone. It felt primal yet magnificent.

Unlike his world’s glamorous fortresses or tiled courtyards, this world had the feeling of the beast world he had heard of in legend.

The corridor was slowly replaced with a narrow path.

They descended and descended; the temperature gradually turned cold and damp. His chained feet started to ache from the jagged stone underneath.

When the path ended, a dimly lit room came into view. The guards pushed him inside so hard that Moon stumbled onto the floor.

As he lifted his head, a foul, bloody smell hit his nose, making him almost throw up.