Chapter 37 Lina
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Lina
The pack hall was still buzzing with energy from Cole’s revelation when Knox turned back to the Thornes. They looked broken already, but justice wasn’t complete yet.
Knox stood at the podium, every inch the Alpha.
This wasn’t the man who’d kissed me senseless in Noah’s basement or who’d written me hundreds of letters.
This was the leader of the pack, the one who dispensed justice.
The distinction made my stomach flutter in ways I didn’t want to examine too closely.
“Alderic Thorne,” Knox’s voice carried absolute authority through the hall.
“You stand accused of treason against your pack. Of orchestrating attacks that killed pack members, including Blake Raven. Of conspiring with ferals. Of betraying every oath you took as a council member and as a wolf of this pack.”
Alderic’s head snapped up, defiance burning in his eyes. “For power,” he spat. “The Ravens have held this pack too long. Your family’s stranglehold needed to be broken. Someone had to-”
“SILENCE.”
The Alpha command hit Alderic so hard he dropped to his knees. I’d felt Knox use that power before, but never with such force. Even I felt the edges of it, and I wasn’t even a full wolf. The twins pressed closer to me, awed by their father’s display of dominance.
“You don’t get to justify murdering my brother,” Knox continued, his voice deadly calm. “You don’t get to explain why you tried to kill my mate and children. You had choices. You chose betrayal.”
He turned to Mary, who was trying to maintain some dignity despite everything.
“Mary Thorne, you participated in deception of the highest order. You attacked my mate physically. You attempted manipulation of pack law by lying about the father of your child. You conspired with your father in his crimes.”
Mary’s glare found me, hatred so pure it was almost impressive. But she couldn’t speak against the lingering command, could only seethe in silence.
“The evidence has been presented,” Knox addressed the pack.
“Blade’s testimony confirms Alderic paid for coordinated attacks.
The paper trail Noah found proves conspiracy going back years.
Cole’s confession revealed the truth about Mary’s pregnancy and her willingness to lie for power. How does the pack find them?”
“Guilty!” The roar was unanimous, hundreds of voices joining together. Even those who might have been sympathetic couldn’t argue with the evidence. Dead kids and murdered pack members tended to unite people in their anger.
“Death?” someone shouted from the back. “Kill them both!”
More voices joined in, calling for blood. The mob mentality was building, and part of me understood it. These two had caused so much pain, so much loss. Blake’s death alone warranted revenge.
Knox raised his hand for silence, considering. I watched him wrestle with the decision, saw the moment he chose mercy over vengeance.
“Death is too simple,” he said finally. “Alderic Thorne, for the murder of Blake Raven and conspiracy against this pack, you’re sentenced to lifetime imprisonment. You’ll rot in our cells, never seeing freedom again.”
Alderic’s face went gray. Death might have been kinder than decades in a cell, alone with his failures.
“Mary Thorne,” Knox’s attention shifted to her. “You’re sentenced to exile from all pack territories. Not just Ravenshollow, but every allied pack will be notified. You become rogue the moment you leave our boundaries.”
“No!” Mary’s shriek echoed through the hall, finding her voice as the command faded. “I’m pregnant! You can’t exile a pregnant wolf!”
“You’re right,” Knox agreed. “Which is why you’ll remain under guard until the baby is born. Then you leave. The child, however, stays.”
“The baby stays,” Cole spoke up from where he stood apart from everyone. “My child will be raised properly. With love, not manipulation. Not as a tool for power.”
“You can’t take my baby!” Mary’s composure shattered completely. “You bastard! You can’t-”
“I can and I will,” Cole said firmly. “You were willing to lie about its father for your own gain. You’ve already shown you see the child as a means to an end. That ends now.”
“But-”
“You should have thought better before conspiring to murder children,” Knox said coldly. “Guards, bring them forward.”
The guards pushed both Thornes to their knees in front of Knox. He stepped down from the podium, approaching them with deliberate slowness. The power radiating from him made even me shiver, and I watched as other wolves instinctively lowered their heads.
“This will hurt,” he said, placing one hand on each of their heads.
I’d never seen bonds broken before. Didn’t know it was possible until Knox’s power flared and both Thornes started screaming.
The psychic tearing was visceral, wrong on every level.
Even without full wolf senses, I could feel the wrongness of it.
The twins whimpered beside me, and I pulled them close, covering their ears.
Pack bonds were everything to wolves. The connection that made them whole, that tied them to their community and their Alpha. Having that ripped away was apparently worse than any physical torture.
When it was done, both Thornes were sobbing on the floor. They looked smaller somehow, diminished. The guards dragged them away - Alderic to the cells, Mary to be held until she gave birth.
The hall sat in stunned silence for a moment. Then someone started chanting.
“Luna! Luna! Luna!”
More voices joined in, and suddenly the entire pack was looking at me. Hundreds of wolves calling for their Luna, accepting me despite my human blood, despite everything.
“Luna! Luna! Luna!”
I stood because sitting felt wrong when they were calling my name like that. Knox held out his hand, and I took it, letting him pull me up beside him. The chanting grew louder, and I felt their acceptance wash over me through whatever connection I had to the pack.
God, I loved this man. Even covered in the metaphorical blood of justice, even radiating the kind of power that should terrify me, all I could think about was how he’d fought for us. How he’d protected our family and chosen mercy even when vengeance would have been easier.
***
After the trial’s intensity, I needed air. Knox seemed to sense it because he guided me outside while Hunt corralled the twins with promises of ice cream. The fresh air helped clear the emotional weight of what we’d just witnessed.
We’d barely made it to the courtyard when Noah appeared, jogging toward us with his phone in hand. Both Knox and Hunt tensed immediately: Noah never ran unless something was wrong.
“We’ve received word from the Moonfang pack,” Noah said without preamble.
The tension ratcheted higher. Moonfang was a few hours upstate, ruled by the Thorne family. Some distant relatives of Alderic and Mary. This could be bad.
“And?” Knox’s voice was carefully neutral.
“They crowned their new Luna. Nina Everett.” Noah showed us his phone screen. “They also sent a warning about someone named Mira Bennett, former heir to the Shadowcrest Pack. She’s been exiled, not to be taken in by any pack under any circumstances.”
He scrolled to show a photo of a woman with blonde hair and cruel eyes. Even in a picture, she radiated trouble.
“That’s all?” Hunt asked, clearly expecting more drama.
“I sent them our news in return,” Noah continued. “That Basilinna Winters was crowned as Luna here, the first human Luna in our pack’s history. And that Mary Thorne has been permanently exiled and is not to be taken in.”
We all held our breath, waiting for the rest.
“They responded positively,” Noah said, and everyone relaxed. “Congratulations on the new Luna, acknowledged Mary’s exile, no threats or challenges.”
“Good,” Knox said firmly. “They know better than to challenge us over trash like Mary.”
With the potential crisis averted, Knox turned to me with that look that meant trouble. “I have a surprise.”
“What kind of surprise?” I asked suspiciously. Knox’s surprises had a tendency to be overwhelming.
“Close your eyes.”
“Knox-”
“Trust me.”
I sighed but humored him, closing my eyes and letting him lead me through the town. The fresh air helped clear my head from the emotional weight of the trial. We walked for a few minutes, his hand warm in mine, before he stopped.
“Okay. Open them.”
I opened my eyes and gasped.
There, in Ravenshollow’s main square, sat a perfect replica of my coffee shop. Every detail was exact, from the mismatched chairs I’d collected from garage sales to the book-lined walls that made it feel more library than cafe. Even the sign was the same hand-painted one my mom had made.
“How-”
“SURPRISE!”
The door burst open and Mika and Vivi tumbled out, nearly tackling me with the force of their hugs. My best friends. My human best friends who absolutely should not be in a werewolf town.
“Boss!” Mika’s words came rapid-fire as usual. “Oh my god, you won’t believe this. When you were talking with Sarah last week in Pine Valley, this one,” she pointed at Knox, “approached us. Said he was building you a shop here and did we want to help run it for a while.”
“Girl, when he said werewolves were real, I thought he was crazy,” Vivi added, bouncing on her toes with excitement. “But also like, kinky? And then Cole showed up and literally turned into a wolf in the back room and I maybe screamed a little but also it was SO COOL and here we are!”
“You told them?” I stared at Knox in shock.
“You needed your people,” he said simply. “Your whole life, not just parts of it.”
“For a few months at least,” Mika continued, still talking a mile a minute. “Until you’re settled and can find local help. Someone needs to make sure you don’t serve terrible coffee to these wolves! They have enhanced taste buds, Lina. Enhanced! We need to up our game!”
“You gave me back my shop,” I whispered, tears streaming down my face before I could stop them.