CHAPTER 9
955 Words
THE ALPHA WHO COULDN'T FORGET
Author's POV :
Cassian stood beneath the Moon.
He hadn't intended to leave the territory.
But his wolf had dragged him here.
The mate bond was faint.
Broken.
Yet still alive.
He could feel Lyra.
Not clearly.
But enough.
Fear.
Exhaustion.
Pain.
And something else.
Another male presence.
Cassian's hands curled into fists.
"Who is with her?"
No one answered.
He closed his eyes.
The bond pulsed.
A man's voice echoed faintly through the connection.
Beautiful.
Cassian's eyes snapped open.
His wolf snarled.
"Darian."
He knew his enforcer's presence.
But the other feeling was different.
Wild.
Ancient.
Dangerous.
Cassian whispered:
"Riven Blackthorn."
The Rogue King.
The one man Cassian had never been able to control.
His chest tightened.
For the first time, jealousy burned through the cold discipline he'd built his entire life.
He hated it.
He had rejected Lyra.
He had told himself she wasn't his.
Yet the thought of another man standing beside her made something savage rise inside him.
His wolf snarled.
Mine.
Cassian gripped the stone railing.
"No."
Mate.
"She isn't ours anymore."
The wolf went silent.
Cassian stared at the moon.
Then he remembered Lyra's face.
Her tears.
Her trembling voice.
Did you ever want me?
He had said nothing.
That silence was beginning to haunt him.
---
Lyra's POV :
Back in the northern forest, I couldn't sleep.
I sat beside the dying fire.
Darian was outside.
Riven was somewhere in the trees.
I held my mother's pendant.
My entire life felt like a lie.
My father wasn't a traitor.
My mother was apparently a queen.
The Council wanted me dead.
And somehow, the Alpha who rejected me had known enough to be afraid.
I looked at the pendant.
"Who were you?"
The black stone warmed beneath my fingers.
Then—
a memory appeared.
Not mine.
A woman stood before a mirror.
She looked exactly like me.
Older.
Stronger.
Her eyes silver.
She touched the same pendant.
"If you're seeing this..."
Her voice trembled.
"...then they failed to kill you."
I stopped breathing.
"Mother?"
The memory continued.
"You must never trust the Moon Council."
A tear slid down her cheek.
"And whatever happens, do not let them complete the fourth bond."
The image disappeared.
I stared at the darkness.
Fourth bond?
What did that mean?
A sound came from behind me.
I spun around.
Darian stood there.
"You saw something."
It wasn't a question.
I nodded.
"My mother."
"What did she say?"
I hesitated.
"She warned me about the fourth bond."
Darian went completely still.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
He stepped closer.
"Tell me exactly."
I repeated her words.
His expression became grim.
"There shouldn't be a fourth bond."
My heartbeat quickened.
"Why?"
"Because a shifter can only have one."
"Then why did she mention it?"
He didn't answer.
Riven emerged from the darkness.
"Because the old laws were never written for her."
Darian's eyes narrowed.
"What do you know?"
Riven looked at me.
"More than you."
"Then explain."
Riven smiled.
"Not tonight."
I stood.
"Stop deciding what I can handle."
Riven's smile disappeared.
I stepped closer.
"I've spent my entire life being lied to."
My voice shook.
"So if you know something about me, you tell me."
He stared at me.
Then slowly nodded.
"Fine."
He looked toward the mountains.
"There were once four ancient bloodlines."
"The Nocturne."
"The Sunborn."
"The Bloodmarked."
"And the Hollow."
I frowned.
"What happened to them?"
"They were destroyed."
"All four?"
"No."
His gaze returned to mine.
"One survived."
I touched my chest.
"Which one?"
Riven's eyes darkened.
"The Nocturne."
A low growl sounded from outside.
Darian turned.
His hand went to his weapon.
"Not again."
I looked toward the trees.
Something enormous was approaching.
Riven smiled.
"This time..."
His eyes glowed gold.
"...they brought an Alpha."
---
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD