CHAPTER TWO — The Pull That Wouldn’t Break
1345 Words
Lyra hardly slept.
Every time she closed her eyes, she felt his hands again. Warm, steady, dangerous. She felt his breath near her lips, his forehead pressed gently to hers, the quiet desperation in his voice when he whispered her name.
She had spent her entire life being told who she was and who she would become. Moonridge princess. Future Luna. Symbol of purity and honor.
No one had ever warned her how fast all of that could collapse with one look from the wrong wolf.
Lyra pressed her hand to her chest. Her heart had not stopped racing since the moment Rhett disappeared into the trees.
It should have faded by now.
But the mate bond was cruel.
It tightened, pulsed, demanded.
She whispered to herself, “You cannot want him.”
Her wolf snarled softly in protest.
Of course she wanted him.
That was the problem.
A knock on her chamber door made her flinch. She pulled on a robe and forced her expression into something calm.
“Enter.”
Beta Alric stepped inside. Tall, lean, loyal. His eyes scanned the room with disciplined focus.
“Your father wants you at the war council in ten minutes,” he said. “A Shadowfang wolf crossed the border again last night.”
Lyra felt her stomach twist. “Did they identify who?”
“No. He escaped before patrol arrived.” Alric’s jaw tightened. “Your father believes they are planning something.”
Lyra kept her expression carefully neutral even as her heart thundered with fear.
“They are always planning something,” she murmured.
“Princess…” Alric paused. “If you saw anything suspicious last night, you must say so. The peace between our packs is too fragile.”
Fragile was an understatement.
It was already broken, and she knew exactly who had cracked it.
She just didn’t regret it.
Lyra shook her head slowly. “I saw nothing.”
Alric watched her a moment longer, but he didn’t push. “Then be ready. This meeting will not be pleasant.”
When he left, Lyra exhaled shakily.
How was she supposed to sit across the table from men planning war… while her own heart was tangled with a Shadowfang?
The council chamber was carved stone and cold anger.
Alpha Rowan, her father, stood at the head of the table. Broad-shouldered. Silver streaks in his black hair. Voice harder than iron.
“We found fresh tracks near the river,” he said flatly. “Shadowfang trespass again.”
Lyra kept her hands in her lap so no one saw them tremble.
A warrior slammed his fist on the table. “They are testing us.”
Another growled, “Then we test them back.”
Her father raised a hand. The room fell silent. “We do nothing yet. Not until we know what they want.”
Lyra lowered her gaze. Her pulse pounded in her ears.
She knew exactly what at least one Shadowfang wanted.
Her.
When the meeting finally ended, she practically fled the chamber, needing air, needing space, needing something she could not name.
She walked toward the forest, the place where everything had changed.
Her wolf stirred the moment she crossed the tree line.
A soft, electric hum spread through her chest.
He was close.
Lyra froze. Every instinct sharpened. Her breath hitched as her wolf whispered inside her.
He’s here.
“You shouldn’t be,” she whispered into the trees.
“Neither should you.”
His voice came from behind her, deep and quiet. She turned, and there he stood. Rhett Hale. The enemy wolf who now held her fate in his hands.
He looked different in daylight. Dark hair ruffled by the wind. Golden eyes that seemed to consume everything they landed on. And the way he looked at her… as if his entire world had narrowed to her alone.
Lyra took a small step back. He mirrored her with a slow step forward.
“I told myself I would stay away,” he said softly. “I failed.”
“You cannot be here.”
“I know.”
“Then go.”
“I can’t.”
The honesty in his voice hit her harder than any lie ever could.
Rhett’s gaze swept over her, slow and intense. Not possessive. Not arrogant. Just… hungry. As if seeing her soothed something in him he didn’t know needed soothing.
Lyra swallowed. “If anyone finds you, they will kill you.”
Rhett stepped closer, close enough that she felt heat radiate from him. “If they do, it will not change the bond.”
Her breath trembled.
“Why do you talk like this is fate,” she whispered.
“Because it is.”
Lyra’s pulse raced. She hated that she wanted to believe him. She hated how easy it felt to stand this close.
She hated how her body leaned toward him without permission.
“Rhett, you and I…” Her voice cracked. “We can’t be anything.”
“I know,” he said quietly.
But his eyes said otherwise.
They said he wanted everything.
He said nothing more, but his wolf spoke for him, rising under his skin, urging him to take one more step.
This time, Lyra didn’t move away.
Rhett lifted a hand, slow and careful, giving her every chance to refuse. She didn’t.
His fingers gently brushed her cheek. Just a touch. Soft. Warm. Dangerous.
Lyra inhaled sharply.
“Tell me not to touch you,” he whispered.
She couldn’t.
His thumb grazed her jaw. A shiver ran down her spine.
The bond pulsed. Her wolf cried out for it. For him.
“Rhett…” she breathed.
He leaned in, forehead almost touching hers. His voice dropped to a low growl, rough with restraint.
“You feel this too.”
She hated how easily her truth escaped. “Yes.”
His breath brushed her lips. Her knees turned weak.
Rhett caught her waist again. Not pulling. Not forcing. Just holding her steady as if she were something precious.
“Then stop me,” he said softly. “Please. If you can.”
Lyra’s fingers curled in the fabric of his shirt.
She couldn’t stop him.
Couldn’t stop herself.
“Rhett,” she whispered, voice trembling. “I shouldn’t want you.”
“But you do.”
She closed her eyes. “I do.”
He exhaled shakily, relief and desire mixing in the space between them. His thumb traced her lower lip. She gasped at the contact, leaning ever so slightly into his touch.
Lyra’s breath hitched as he lowered his forehead to hers again, the warmth of him sinking into her skin.
The world narrowed to a heartbeat.
His heartbeat.
Hers.
Only inches remained between their lips.
One breath.
One moment.
Rhett’s voice broke in a whisper. “If I kiss you, I won’t stop at one.”
Lyra trembled. “If you kiss me, I won’t let you stop.”
The confession shocked her.
Shocked him even more.
The air between them vibrated with heat and danger.
Rhett’s grip on her waist tightened slightly. Gentle but hungry. His lips brushed hers, soft as a breath, sending sparks down her spine.
It wasn’t a kiss.
Not yet.
But it was everything.
Lyra’s fingers slid up his chest, her breath catching as their lips hovered, trembling with the promise of more.
But then—
A branch snapped.
They parted instantly.
Rhett pulled her behind him, instincts flaring to protect her even though she was surrounded by her own territory. His eyes flashed gold.
A patrol.
Lyra’s heart pounded. “Go. Now.”
Rhett hesitated. “Lyra…”
“Please.”
Her voice cracked.
He backed away slowly, eyes locked on hers until the last possible moment.
“I’ll come back,” he said quietly.
This time she didn’t tell him not to.
He disappeared into the trees.
Lyra pressed her fingers to her lips, her heart racing so fast it hurt.
She whispered into the wind, “And I will be here.”
- Writer
