The Luna Queen - Chapter 58: Chapter 58

_Kayden's POV_
I called for a pack meeting.
Not tomorrow. Not later tonight.
Now.
Fred and Ray were already waiting outside my office. I gave them one look. “Bring her.”
Fred nodded. “Yes, Alpha.”
Ray cracked his knuckles. “If she tries to run..”
“She won’t,” I said. “And if she does, break her legs.”
I walked to the main hall. My steps were heavy and cold. My wolf, Leo, was stirring beneath my skin.
Finally, Leo growled. Finally, we show the pack who she really is.
“She fooled me,” I whispered.
She fooled all of us, Leo snarled. But no more.
By the time I entered the main hall, most of the pack had already gathered. The ranked wolves stood in front. Warriors lined the walls. Omegas stood at the back. They were nervous and curious. Whispers filled the room, but they all fell silent when I stepped onto the stage.
A moment later, Fred and Ray entered, dragging Selena between them.
She looked confused. Her silk dress was wrinkled. Her hair was undone. She stared at me, blinking.
“Kayden?” she asked, her voice soft and fake. “What’s going on? Why are you doing this?”
Fred and Ray pushed her to the center of the hall. She stumbled but caught herself.
I raised my hand and looked at my pack.
“Everyone, listen closely,” I said in a calm voice. “This is not a regular gathering. This is not about training, patrols, or territory disputes.”
I held up the lab report in my hand.
“This is about betrayal.”
A murmur swept through the room. There was confusion and shock.
Selena blinked again. “Kayden, please....”
“Silence!” I snapped.
She flinched.
I looked at the pack. “For the past several weeks, I have been drinking tea prepared by this woman. Our future Luna.”
Some people smiled, assuming this was some kind of tribute.
I tore those smiles apart.
“She has been poisoning me.”
Gasps echoed. A few wolves snarled. I saw warriors tense.
“She used Nightshade and Belladonna to weaken my instincts. Suppress my wolf and fog my mind. And...” I held up the page, “she also used a rare herb called Eranthex.”
One of the healers gasped. “That’s a bonding herb!”
“Yes,” I said. “One that mimics a mating pull. She created a false connection. A fake bond. She made me believe I had feelings for her when I had none.”
Selena shook her head slowly. She was trying to back away. “No... no, Kayden. That’s not true! I love you!”
“You don’t love me,” I growled. “You love power.”
I turned to the crowd again. “This woman made me reject my true mate. She tampered with my mind. She manipulated me, and by doing so, she betrayed this entire pack.”
Leo growled. He was furious. Let them see who she is. Let them hate her.
Selena dropped to her knees. “Please! I only did it because I cared! I thought Leah wasn’t worthy of you...."
“Don’t you dare speak her name!” I roared.
Everyone jumped. Even the walls seemed to shake.
I walked slowly to where Selena knelt. I looked down at her. She was trembling.
“Tell them the truth,” I said.
Her lips trembled. “Kayden...”
“Tell them. Or I swear, I’ll rip the skin from your throat with my own claws.”
The air turned cold.
Silence fell.
Selena looked around. She was desperate for help. But no one moved. No one came to her side.
Then, her voice broke.
“I did it.”
Gasps filled the room.
“I started drugging you two months ago,” she whispered. “With the Nightshade and Belladonna at first. Just to make you more... agreeable. I didn’t think it would hurt anyone.”
I gave her a hard look.
She kept talking.
“Then I added the Eranthex. I just wanted you to see me. To want me.”
“And what about Leah?” I asked.
She looked down.
“I made sure you rejected her.”
“How?” I asked. “What did you do?”
“I” her voice cracked. “I made you forget the bond. I kept you distracted. I told you that she was an omega and that she was not worthy of becoming your Luna. That she would not be able to lead beside you. That the moon goddess had made a big mistake by pairing you with her....anything I could think of.”
“You twisted everything,” I whispered. “You turned me against her.”
She nodded slowly. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re not sorry,” I said coldly. “You’re caught.”
I turned to the pack. “You’ve heard her confession.”
No one spoke. All eyes were on her. There was hatred and disgust.
“She has broken every law of this pack. She has dishonored the Luna title. She has used black magic. And she has tried to destroy the sacred bond between true mates.”
I looked at Fred and Ray. “Strip her.”
“What?” Selena gasped. “No! Please....don’t....”
Fred grabbed her arms. Ray yanked the robe from her shoulders, exposing her back.
I nodded.
Ray brought the leather whip. It was thick, cruel, and coated with wolfsbane.
Leo snarled in satisfaction. Make her feel what we felt. Let her bleed.
I raised my hand. “Ten lashes.”
Selena screamed before the whip even touched her.
The first crack echoed through the hall.
She cried out, her back arching.
I didn’t flinch.
Second lash. Third.
Blood appeared.
Fourth. Fifth.
She begged. She sobbed. No one moved.
Six. Seven.
Leo whispered, Not enough.
Eight. Nine.
Then ten.
I raised my hand. “Enough.”
Ray stepped back, breathing hard. Fred released her, and she collapsed to the floor. She was shivering.
I looked down at her. “From this moment on, you are no longer part of this pack.”
“No,” she sobbed.
“You will be taken to the cellar. Bound with wolfsbane. You will have no visitors. No voice. No escape.”
“I loved you,” she whispered.
“You don’t know what love is,” I said. “Love doesn’t destroy. It doesn’t lie.”
Fred and Ray grabbed her arms again and began to drag her away.
Before they could take her out of the hall, I called, “Wait.”
She looked back. She was dazed and broken.
I walked to her.
“Since when?” I asked.
She blinked. “What?”
“Since when have you been drugging me?”
She hesitated. “Almost six months. A few days before you found out that Leah was your mate.”
My breath caught.
“You did it... so I would reject her that day?”
She nodded. “It worked, didn’t it?”
I stared at her, my heart like ice.
“And why?” I asked softly. “Why do all this?”
Her voice was hollow. “Power. Money. Status. I didn’t want to become the mate of a Beta. I wanted to be Luna. I wanted to be someone.”
I stepped back. “Take her.”
Fred and Ray dragged her from the hall.
The doors slammed shut.
The room remained silent.
I turned to my pack.
“I have made many mistakes,” I said. “But this... this ends now. The lies. The poison. The betrayal. We rebuild from this day forward.”
No one cheered. No one clapped.
But I saw it in their eyes.
They trusted me again.
Leo whispered, She’s gone. But our mate is still out there.
“I know,” I whispered. “And I’ll find her.”