Alpha's Discarded Luna (Talia) novel Chapter 40

Chapter 39

Talia’s POV

The afternoon sun streams through my apartment window when my phone buzzes with an official notification.

The Starlight City Police Department has

issued a statement.

“After judicial review, Talia Perseus has been found blameless in the recent vehicular incident. The public is urged to cease spreading misinformation and online harassment immediately.”

I read it three times. It feels surreal… official validation after weeks of being the

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nation’s villain.

Regarding the witnesses: investigations confirm their accounts were fabricated for

attention and malicious intent. They have been taken into custody for spreading

false information.

The same witnesses who swore they saw everything. Who looked into cameras with righteous faces and condemned me.

Arrested. Gone.

My phone buzzes with a news alert this

time.

“Extremists who assaulted Talia Perseus

outside City General Hospital have been identified and arrested. They face charges

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of intentional assault.”

It’s all because of Raymond’s help, I know. His resources, his reach. While I was stalling Aires, he was working.

A text arrives from him: [The trolls are next. They’re being traced.]

I close my eyes. For the first time in weeks, I breathe.

The online frenzy is cooling. People are deleting posts, muting comments. The official statement carries weight–those who continue face consequences.

Some still rage, still speculate. But they’re fewer now, and shrinking. Lawsuits are 6:13

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filed against the persistent ones. When arrested, they confess easily to be hired trolls, paid to destroy me.

Finally, I can breathe in peace.

Aires‘ POV

I push open the hospital door and stop short.

Imema sits on the bed, and she’s a disaster. Eggshells cling to her hair like grotesque decorations. Something green and viscous drips from her sleeve onto the sheets. Vegetable scraps litter the blanket around her. Her forehead bears an ugly, scabbed wound, freshly treated but still haw. She’s crying into her hands,

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shoulders heaving with the loud sobs.

Nick hovers beside her like a frantic

mother hen, useless and vibrating with rage. When he sees me, he pounces.

“Alpha! Finally, you are here! Did you know, that vile woman sent those people… she tried to kill Imema!”

I study him for a long moment. His face is flushed, righteous fury radiating from every pore. “How do you know Talia sent them?”

“Because they were screaming about ‘what goes around comes around“!” He jabs a finger toward Imema, then toward the window, everywhere and nowhere. 16:13

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“They wanted her to experience cyberbullying, to feel what it’s like!

Talia was harassed online, so now she’s retaliating. She’s always hated Imema. Always made things difficult for her. Who else could it possibly be?”

I don’t respond immediately. My gaze drifts to Imema.

She hasn’t looked up yet, still crying in her hands.

“Because of chants from a crowd, you’ve decided it’s her?”

Nick sputters, thrown by my tone. “It’s obvious-”

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Imema lifts her face. Tear–streaked,

tragic, beautiful even in ruin. Her voice

trembles like a leaf in wind. “Aires,

she’s always hated me. This isn’t new information. Posting that video, destroying my reputation publicly–she’d

rather see me dead. I know she would.”

My voice comes out colder than I intend. “Imema. Why did you lie about the accident?”

She freezes mid–tremble. Then fresh

tears spill over, perfectly timed. “The car accident, I was dizzy that day. My condition had made me completely disoriented… when I woke up after the impact, I saw a car coming at me. I just assumed… I never knew it was her driving

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until later. I swear.”

Nick jumps in, eager to support, to explain, to excuse. “She didn’t even know Talia was driving! And she offered

a reward for witnesses… how could she

know they’d be liars chasing money? She’s

a victim too in all of this!”

His fists clench at his sides. “She’s dying, Alpha. She has so little time left. And now this? Talia wants her dead, and she’s using the whole city to do it!”

Imema’s voice drops to a whisper, fragile as spun glass. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Nothing I say will be believed now. The whole world thinks I’m a liar.” She wipes her eyes with trembling fingers. “Just go,13

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Aires. Don’t let me drag you down anymore. I don’t want to be a burden.”

I let the silence stretch, watching her. “The bathroom… back at the restaurant. Why did you say those things to her?”

She wipes her eyes again, movements delicate, rehearsed. “Nick told me she was neglecting Aeson, going to bars at night. I thought… if I provoked her a little, maybe she’d focus on you again and she would stop behaving so strangely. I wanted to help.”

Nick nods vigorously, like a backup chorus. “This woman has gone too far this time, Alpha! Even if she doesn’t care about Imema, she should think about you

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and Aeson! The council has reprimanded us today… own pack, led by her husband, and she doesn’t care. She has bad intentions. Bad intentions!”

I look at Imema’s tear–streaked face, Nick’s righteous fury, and the eggshells and vegetable scraps covering her like physical evidence of Talia’s cruelty.

“Focus on recovering,” I say finally. My voice is flat. “I’ll handle the online situation.”

Nick beams, vindicated. Imema’s tears

slow, replaced by something like gratitude

and relief.

Iturn and leave.

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My phone buzzes with yet another piece of the mess she created.

I answer it, like I always do.

But underneath the noise, underneath the chaos, a small, persistent thought lodges itself in my mind: What if I’ve been wrong about her all along?

I silence it and carry on.

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