Lyra’s POV
I dropped the rope and let my hands fall uselessly at my sides, fingers twitching as if they no longer belonged to me. They trembled so violently I thought they might lock up completely. Every muscle in my body screamed in protest. My shoulders burned like fire had been poured into the joints. My arms felt stretched, torn, like they’d been yanked halfway from their sockets. My chest rose and fell in harsh, uneven pulls of air, lungs aching with every breath.
I wanted...desperately...to collapse. To sink into the dirt and let the ground swallow me whole.
But I didn’t.
I forced my legs to hold me upright, even as they shook beneath my weight.
The Alpha Heirs were staring.
Not all of them. But enough.
Enough that the weight of their attention crawled over my skin and twisted
