Chapter 13
760 Words
Myra's POV
The morning sunlight filtered weakly through the thin curtains, but it did little to chase away the heaviness sitting in my chest. I hadn’t slept much — every time I closed my eyes, I saw him. The way his gaze had burned into me before turning sharp and cold, like a blade dipped in ice.
I pressed a trembling hand against my chest as if I could quiet the ache there. Niva stirred inside me, her presence low and restless.
He’s our mate, she whispered again, soft but sure.
“Stop,” I muttered under my breath. “He can’t be.”
Mates weren’t supposed to look at you like that — with desire and disdain tangled together. Mates weren’t supposed to make your heart race one moment and shatter it the next.
I poured water into a bowl and splashed it on my face, trying to wash away the memory of his voice. The way he’d said my name — clipped, emotionless — like it was something that shouldn’t have existed on his tongue.
If the Moon had truly destined someone like Lucian for me, then maybe destiny wasn’t as merciful as I’d always believed.
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“Hey.”
Maren’s voice broke through my thoughts as she leaned against the doorway of the healer’s hut. Her braid was half undone, her expression curious and sharp. “You’re quiet this morning. That’s suspicious.”
I forced a smile that didn’t reach my eyes. “Just tired. Didn’t sleep well.”
She stepped closer, squinting at me as if she could see straight through the lie. “You look like someone just stepped on your heart and walked away.”
My laugh came out hollow. “You’re dramatic.”
“Maybe,” she said, shrugging, “but I’m not wrong.”
I turned back to the herbs scattered on the table. My fingers moved automatically, sorting feverweed from mint leaves, but my thoughts were nowhere near the task.
Lucian’s eyes flashed again in my mind — dark, unreadable, lingering far too long before he turned away.
Why had he looked at me that way if I meant nothing to him? Why touch me with his voice only to leave me with silence?
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Later that afternoon, while Maren and I worked near the supply shelves, one of the patrol warriors stopped by to report.
“The Moonfang Alpha passed near the southern border yesterday,” he said, his tone casual. “Didn’t cross, but his presence stirred some tension.”
My heart stumbled.
Maren whistled softly. “The cold one, right? They say he’s brutal. Doesn’t speak much. The kind of man who could stare down a storm and not flinch.”
Cold. Brutal. Detached.
The words lodged like thorns under my skin. I didn’t need to ask if they were true — I’d already seen it in his eyes.
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When evening came, the village quieted, and the weight of the day settled in my chest again. I stood outside my cabin, arms wrapped around myself as the wind brushed through the trees. The scent of pine and earth should’ve been comforting, but it only reminded me of him.
Niva’s voice was soft in my mind. You’re hurt because you care.
“I shouldn’t,” I whispered. “He doesn’t.”
For a moment, the night was silent except for the distant howl of another wolf. It echoed through me like a call I wasn’t ready to answer.
Maybe he wasn’t meant for me after all.
Maybe the Moon had made a cruel mistake.
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That night, when sleep finally claimed me, I dreamt of Lyra again.
She stood beneath the silver light of the full moon, her fur shimmering like starlight, eyes ancient and sorrowful. The forest around her glowed faintly, alive with whispers I couldn’t understand.
“My child,” Lyra’s voice flowed through the dream like wind through the leaves. “The Moon does not err — only hearts do.”
Tears pricked my eyes. “Then why does it hurt so much?”
Lyra stepped closer, her gaze piercing into me. “Because love born of destiny is forged through pain. You must endure it to see its truth.”
The world around us began to fade, and her final words lingered like an echo in my soul —
“Do not turn away from what is meant for you, even when it wounds you.”
I woke with tears on my cheeks and the taste of moonlight still clinging to my breath.
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- Writer
