Chapter 14
The Moment Everything Changed
The entire courtyard waited for my response.
Ashford warriors stood frozen near the gates.
Servants watched nervously from windows above.
Even the winter wind seemed to hold its breath.
Kael stared up at me from below with fear burning openly in his eyes.
And beyond him—
Draven watched me with devastating calm.
Like he already knew my answer.
My pulse thundered painfully.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
Not to us.
Not to mates blessed by the Moon Goddess.
Yet standing between these two Alphas, I felt something cracking apart beneath my ribs anyway.
Not love.
Certainty.
“Lyra.”
Kael’s voice pulled my attention back to him instantly.
The vulnerability there nearly shattered me.
Because I knew this male.
I knew the way he looked af
