The Vengeful Warrior Luna's Return novel Chapter 23

Astra’s POV

The sun wasn’t even up yet.

I stood at the far end of the second-floor hallway, listening to the noise drifting up from below.

They were getting ready for the “bond dissolution.”

For Packs as big as Zane and Hale, breaking a mating bond still had to be done by the orders.

With witnesses, an official list of “faults,” and, ideally, a signature from the rejected party.

That way, no one could accuse them of coercion.

Pack Hale’s main bloodline had been gutted on the battlefield years ago.

Now the only one left to stand as my witness was my great-granduncle, Gideon.

Ninety years old and still sharp as steel, Gideon had the kind of temper that made alphas think twice.

When my father fell in battle, it was Gideon who gathered warriors and rode through the night to bring his body home.

I could hear his low, thunderous growl shaking the bannister.

“Alphas straying isn’t new,” he barked, voice carrying like a war drum.

“But winning war honors and then racing to break your bond? That’s a first for me!”

I gripped the cold railing and peered down.

Gideon stood there, leaning on his bone-carved cane, wolf ears stiff with fury.

Beside him was his grandson, Silas—a grizzled wolf in his fifties—trying to steady the old man’s trembling shoulders.

Kieran’s father, the current Alpha of Pack Zane, was speaking in that calm, placating way people use when they’re trying to stop an explosion.

“Please, Elder, let’s all calm down. We asked you here today so everything can be explained—”

“Explained?” Gideon’s laugh was pure scorn, his sharp canines catching the morning light.

“My little wolf Astra has guarded your pack for a year. She’s cared for your mother, managed your affairs… and this is her reward? A broken bond?”

He slammed his cane on the floor, the sound cracking like a whip.

“Either we get an answer today, or I take Hale’s crest straight to the Alliance Council and sit on their doorstep until someone listens! Let’s see who dares deny me that.”

Kieran stood off to the side, expression carefully blank.

“When the witnesses are here, you’ll get your answer,” he said flatly.

He hadn’t called in an Alliance inspector.

Hadn’t invited any neighboring packs to witness.

And I knew why—

In our world, winning war honors and then shredding your bond was a public disgrace.

The din was broken by the guard’s voice at the door.

“Alpha Kieran. A message from Alpha Isla!”

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