Their Forgotten Luna

Seeds of Betrayal

Cierra:

“Cierra, wake up, quickly!” Dominic’s voice, urgent and rough, shook me from the sleep I felt I had fought for.

“What’s going on? I was sleeping so—” One shake of his head stopped my grumbling.

“The elders have called another council after the rise of new evidence about the rogue attack; you are being summoned.” I shot upright, staggering from his bed and into my bedroom. My heart was hammering so fast that it ached.

I grabbed clothes, the same kind of clothes I wore the last time, only this time, I barely had time to finger through my hair and pee before Dom was pulling me alongside him to the council meeting.

The council chamber smelled faintly of smoke and cedar, its air thick with expectation. The elders sat in a crescent of carved chairs, their eyes sharp, their voices murmuring low. I stood at the center once again, pulse drumming, aware of every breath that left me.

Dane sat two rows back with the younger warriors, posture straight, jaw tight. Dominic leaned against a stone pillar near the edge, as if he’d placed himself deliberately close enough to shield me if the room turned hostile. His eyes followed me, steady and calm, a quiet strength that steadied my knees.

Elder Rowan cleared his throat. “Cierra, the Nightfall Hunt has concluded with your team victorious. And yet…” His gaze flicked to the woman seated primly at his right. “…concerns have been raised.”

Alyssa.

Her lips curved in the kind of smile that could cut without a blade. She folded her hands, soft-spoken but straightforward. “I speak only from care, honored council. Cierra is brave—there is no question. But bravery and recklessness often walk hand in hand.”

My chest tightened. “I was not reckless.”

Alyssa tilted her head, feigning sorrow. “Cierra, no one doubts your heart. But you’ve only recently… recovered from your ordeal with the rogues. You admit your memories of that night are fractured at best. Should we not wonder whether such gaps cloud your judgment?”

A ripple of murmurs ran through the chamber.

“I know what I did,” I said quickly, but my words sounded too sharp, too defensive.

“There it is,” Alyssa said softly, gesturing lightly toward me as though she pitied me. “The temper. I fear that pressure unsettles her. A true Beta needs composure.”

A few of the elders nodded, their faces solemn as they weighed her words.

Heat rushed to my cheeks. "With respect, I’ve given everything to prove myself. I fought. I led. I won. Isn’t that enough?”

“Winning a hunt is not the same as leading people,” Elder Rowan said.

My stomach dropped. The seed Alyssa had planted was already sprouting.

“Cierra,” Alyssa’s voice lowered, sweet as poisoned honey, “We only wish to protect you. Perhaps… until you are stronger, someone else should bear the burden of the responsibility.”

The chamber tilted. For a moment, I could not breathe. She wanted me sidelined—brushed aside like I was nothing but a liability.

I forced my fists to unclench because if I snapped, she would only win. “If that is your decision, fine,” I said tightly. "But don’t mistake concern for truth. I am not broken.”

Silence followed, heavy and uncomfortable.

When the council was finally dismissed, I didn’t wait for the elders to linger. I pushed past the chamber doors into the cooler air outside. My heart still hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird.

“Cierra.” I spun at the sound of Dane’s voice. He’d followed.

“You heard her,” I hissed. “You heard how she twisted everything I said.”

He exhaled sharply. “She didn’t twist it. She’s worried about you.”

I gaped at him. “Worried? She’s undermining me in front of the entire council. You think that’s her worrying for me?”

“She’s your family,” he said, as though that explained everything. “She’s always been protective. Maybe she has a point. You’re still… piecing things together.”

The words struck deeper than I wanted to admit. I stepped closer, eyes burning. “You don’t believe me.”

“I believe you’re tired, and angry, and not seeing things clearly,” he said, softer now, but no less frustrating. “Alyssa wouldn’t deliberately hurt you.”

I wanted to scream. To shake him until he saw what I saw. But instead, my voice cracked. “She’s already hurting me. You don’t want to see it. She’s trying to have my Beta seat stripped from me!” I didn’t have to have my memories to know my body had been put through hell in my life for that seat, and she was trying to take it from me.

Dane’s jaw flexed, as if he couldn’t bear the truth in my tone. He turned away, muttering, “I can’t do this right now,” and strode down the hall, leaving me raw and trembling.

The silence after him was colder than the stone walls.

I pressed a hand to my mouth, willing back the sting in my eyes. I wouldn’t cry. Not here. Not because of him.

A warm shadow moved at my side.

Dominic hadn’t followed Dane. He hadn’t stormed off or demanded explanations. He stepped closer, the heat of him brushing my arm. His voice was quiet, for me alone.

“Let them doubt,” he murmured. “I don’t.”

My breath shook. I turned, meeting his gaze, and for once I didn’t see pity. I saw certainty, sharp and unyielding.

“They see a girl,” he continued, voice low. “I see someone who led the hunt when it mattered. Someone who doesn’t break even when her own blood cuts her down.”

The words loosened something in my chest, a knot I hadn’t realized I was carrying.

My lips parted, but I couldn’t speak.

Dominic leaned slightly closer, enough that only I could hear. “You don’t need their approval to prove who you are, and you sure as hell don’t need hers. You will be my Beta.”

The edges of my vision blurred—not with tears of weakness, but with something fiercer. Resolve.

I nodded, just once, my voice steady at last. “Thank you.”

His smile was faint, almost secretive, but it burned brighter than the council’s doubt.

As I looked back toward the chamber doors, I knew Alyssa had won this round. She had planted her seeds. But seeds could be choked by stronger roots.

If Alyssa wanted to play her games, I’d learn the rules, and then I’d break every one of them.