The Journey North
1059 Words
Lyra's Pov
The Northern Territory is eight hours away, and I'm spending them with strangers who look at me like I'm a puzzle they're trying to solve.
I sat in the back of the luxury car, staring out the window as Crescent Hollow disappeared behind us. Damon drove while Celeste sat beside me reviewing notes on a tablet. No one from my family came to say goodbye properly. Just a few waves from pack members who mostly looked relieved to see me go. I kept watching the side mirror, waiting for something, some last sign that leaving meant something to someone. Nothing came. The last glimpse of home faded and something tight pulled in my chest. No turning back now.
Damon tried to make conversation after the first hour. "You nervous?" His voice was friendly, but his eyes in the rearview mirror were sharp, studying me like he was trying to figure something out.
I nodded without looking at him. "Yes." My hands stayed folded tight in my lap. Celeste did not give me time to think. She handed me another document. "Review the protocol for greeting higher ranks again. You will need this."
I took the papers but my mind kept wandering. Eight hours trapped with these people who served the man I could not stop thinking about. The man whose eyes I recognized. The man who acted like he did not know me at the meeting, who stood there with a calm face and signed a contract and never once looked at me the way he had looked at me in the forest.
Damon glanced at me again after another stretch of silence. He was not subtle about studying me. "You're not what I expected," he said finally.
I turned to look at him. "What did you expect?"
"Someone more… strategic. The gold-digger type. You seem terrified."
His honesty surprised a small, shaky laugh out of me. "I am terrified."
Damon’s expression softened just a little. "Theron is not easy, but he is fair. Honor the contract and he will protect you. That is more than most get."
I wanted to ask him a hundred questions about Theron. What was he like? Why did he leave me in the forest? Why was he pretending? The words stuck in my throat. Instead I stared at my hands. Damon kept talking, almost like he could not help it. "He has been… different since he returned from pack business two weeks ago."
My heart jumped. "Different how?"
"Distracted. Angry. He was tearing apart the Wildlands looking for something."
Looking for me. The realization hit hard. He had been searching. All that time I was back home trying to pretend the forest had not happened, he had been out there looking. My fingers pressed against the mark on my neck without thinking. Damon noticed the movement.
"Did you two meet before the contract meeting?" he asked carefully.
I swallowed. "No." It was not exactly a lie. We had not met. Not properly. Not with names or faces in the light.
Damon did not look convinced, but he let the subject drop. The silence after that felt heavier.
We crossed from neutral lands into the Northern Territory a few hours later. The change was immediate. The roads became smoother. Patrols appeared at regular checkpoints, wolves in uniform saluting as our car passed. This was not like home. Crescent Hollow felt like a quiet farming community where people lived simple lives and mostly kept to themselves. Here everything looked organized. Strong. Military.
Damon explained without me asking. "We are the largest territory with the most wolves and the strongest defenses. Alpha takes protection seriously."
Celeste added from beside me, "After the coup attempt nine years ago, security became everything."
I leaned forward slightly. "Coup attempt?"
Celeste’s voice stayed even. "Theron’s father was assassinated. He took power at nineteen and made sure it would never happen again. He slaughtered everyone involved."
The words settled heavily in my stomach. My maybe-mate was a man who had killed to keep his power. A real monster in the eyes of many. Yet I remembered the forest. The way he held me. The gentleness mixed with hunger. None of it added up. I pressed my forehead against the cool window, trying to breathe through the confusion.
The city appeared on the horizon as the sun started to set. Blackridge City. Modern buildings mixed with old pack structures. It looked alive. Busy. Powerful. Nothing like the small rural pack I grew up in. People moved with purpose. Wolves everywhere, strong and alert. I felt smaller with every mile we drove closer.
Damon caught my expression. "You are a curiosity here. First Luna Theron has accepted in ten years. They will be watching."
The pressure built in my chest. Everyone would be judging me. Waiting for me to fail.
The car finally pulled up to a massive compound as night fell. It looked like both a fortress and a palace. Security wolves patrolled the grounds. Training areas showed warriors sparring even at this hour. The building itself was imposing, all clean lines and quiet power.
My small bag felt pathetic when I stepped out. Staff stood lined up in neat rows, faces formal and intimidating. An older woman with a strict posture stepped forward. "Margaret, head of the household. Welcome, Luna."
Damon got out and stretched. "Alpha is in meetings. He will see you at dinner."
They led me inside to my rooms. Not our rooms. Mine. Separate from him. The space was beautiful, large, and cold. Everything felt expensive and chosen by someone who did not know me at all. I stood in the middle of the sitting area after they left me alone and realized how real this had become.
My rooms were beautiful and cold and empty, just like the man I'd married on paper but had not even seen in two weeks. The mark on my neck burned like an accusation.
- Writer
