Second Chance for the Barren Luna (Talia and Jason) novel Chapter 433

Talia’s POV

"I'll accept any punishment, Luna," Arya said softly, looking me in the eye. "Whatever you and Alpha Nolan think is fair, I'll take it."

Before I could answer, Henry stepped up and put his hand on Arya's shoulder. "If someone needs to take the blame, let it be me," he said. "Geoffrey attacked Arya and forced her to defend herself. That isn’t something she should be punished for.”

"Luna, please don't punish Arya,” Walden jumped in. “I don't blame her for what Alpha Geoffrey did. Please do not punish her.”

With Walden in favor of sparing Arya, everyone seemed to agree. He'd always been respected, and his support mattered. Some elders traded looks and whispered to each other.

"Walden was the one who nearly lost his life because of Geoffrey," Marco pointed out. "If Walden doesn't blame her, I'm not sure who's left to. She never betrayed Bloodmoon. Arya could have warned Geoffrey, but she didn't."

"If you punish Arya, you'll have to punish all of us," Della said, half-joking as she tried to lighten the mood. Others nodded and agreed out loud.

“That isn’t off the table,” Nolan added, causing Della to clear her throat nervously.

One of the older warriors near the back spoke up. "Arya has been part of the pack since she was a young girl, Luna. Whatever her brother turned into, that's his doing, not hers. She's never given this pack a day of trouble."

I smiled at how fast they rushed to defend her. "You're all so eager to protect her, but none of you even know what the punishment is." I wanted them to know I noticed their loyalty, even if they were jumping the gun.

Della grinned. "What is it then? Cleaning the training grounds? Scrubbing the whole packhouse? I hope you bought enough soap, Luna."

"Stop," Arya muttered. "I don’t want to have to clean the training grounds again.”

“I thought you would accept whatever punishment I gave you,” I teased.

Arya gave a nervous laugh, her shoulders dropping a bit. "I'll do whatever you command," she said, but I could see she was worried. Even Henry looked like he would fight me himself to protect Arya.

'As he should,' my wolf said. 'It took him long enough to show that he cares about her.'

Nolan and I looked at each other. He nodded for me to go ahead.

"After talking with Alpha Nolan, we've made our decision about Arya's punishment," I said, pausing for a moment. Everyone stared at me, waiting. Della folded her arms like she was ready to argue with whatever came next.

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