The ash-cloaked Alpha stepped forward, his eyes locked on Lyra. “You wear the Queen’s crown. That makes you ours.”
Lyra didn’t move. Her mark burned beneath her skin, the sigils pulsing like flame. The spirits whispered around her, but she only heard her own heartbeat—fast, defiant, afraid.
“I belong to no one,” she said.
The Alpha’s lips curled. “Then you’ll die alone.”
Kade stepped beside her, his hand brushing hers. “She’s not alone.”
Jaren moved to her other side, his voice low. “And she’s not dying.”
The wind shifted. The forest stirred.
Lyra’s pulse spiked.
She could feel them—both of them. Kade’s steadiness, his loyalty like armor. Jaren’s fire, his chaos like a storm. Her mark responded to both, flaring with heat and light.
The rival pack hesitated, sensing something ancie
