The Fated Mate almost Missed

Chapter 10

Chapter 10– Gavin’s POV

I didn’t leave the clearing for a long time.

The silence after Lyra walked away rang louder than any argument I’d ever been in. The space she left behind buzzed with energy—hers, mine, and his. Brian. The fiancé. The loyal warrior. The man who had everything I didn’t... except her soul.

She might not know it yet, but I did.

She was mine.

And not in a possessive way—at least, not only that. The bond wasn’t about ownership. It was about belonging. Connection. Recognition. When I looked at Lyra, it wasn’t her title or her lineage I saw. It was her. The wolf underneath the skin. The fire behind her eyes.

And when she looked at me, I saw a crack in her armor.

It was a start.

I shifted, letting my bones break and reform, fur sprouting along my spine until the world blurred into predator vision. I ran until I couldn’t think. Until the scent of pines and cold earth drowned out her voice in my head. Until the fire in my blood cooled to an ember.

When I returned to the cabin Elena and I had been assigned, she was waiting.

Curled on the couch with a book in her lap and a mug of tea in her hand, she didn’t even look up when I entered. But I saw the way her shoulders stiffened, the tension rolling off her in waves.

“You smell like blood and trouble,” she said without turning a page.

I dropped onto the armchair across from her. “Brian tried to kill me.”

She snorted. “Good. You probably deserved it.”

“I didn’t fight back.”

That got her attention.

Elena raised her eyes slowly, cool and calculating. “You let him hit you?”

“I let her see him hit me.”

Now she sat up straight, the book forgotten. “Gavin.”

“I needed her to understand,” I said quietly. “That I’m not here to destroy her life. I’m not here to dominate or command. I’m here because I can’t stay away.”

Elena’s mouth tightened, but she didn’t argue.

“She’s torn,” I added. “Not just between me and Brian, but between who she is and who she’s expected to be.”

“You think letting her watch her fiancé attack you fixes that?”

“No. But it opens a door.”

A silence stretched between us.

Finally, she leaned back, eyes narrowing. “I hope you know what you’re doing. Because if you don’t… you’re going to tear her apart.”

That was the fear, wasn’t it?

I hadn’t come here for a war. I’d come for her. But my presence had become a catalyst—breaking down loyalties, truths, and maybe even her carefully constructed sense of self.

I didn’t want to be the reason Lyra shattered.

But I would be the reason she woke up.

“I’m giving her a choice no one else ever did,” I said.

“She already had a choice,” Elena muttered. “She chose Brian.”

“No. She accepted him.”

There’s a difference. One is surrender. The other is desire.

And I know what her body whispered when I was near.

Elena rubbed her temples. “This was supposed to be a peaceful negotiation.”

“Peace doesn’t always mean silence, El.”

She stood and walked to the window, staring out into the dark. “You’re in love with her.”

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t need to.

The bond wasn’t something I could explain in words. It was primal, deep, older than either of our packs. Our wolves recognized each other instantly. It was like finding a part of yourself you didn’t know was missing.

Elena turned toward me again. “Then you better be ready.”

“For what?”

“For the day she says your name out loud and chooses you—for real. Because when that happens, this entire territory will ignite.”

She was right.

Brian wouldn’t walk away quietly. The Elders wouldn’t ignore a broken engagement. Lyra’s father would see my claim as an act of war.

But none of it mattered if she chose me.

Because I would burn this entire forest down before I let her go.

I stood and walked past Elena toward the back door. “I’m going for a walk.”

“Gavin,” she called after me.

I paused, hand on the frame.

“You only get one chance to get this right,” she said softly. “Don’t mess it up.”

I nodded and slipped outside into the cold.

The woods at night were alive with hidden sounds—leaves whispering, branches creaking, animals shifting in the underbrush. I let my senses stretch out, reaching for her scent like a compass.

I didn’t find her.

But I found where she’d been.

A spot near the southern overlook, overlooking the valley. I knew because the grass was crushed and the scent of tears still lingered.

She’d come here to cry.

And something about that cracked my chest open.

I sat there, alone under the stars, letting the ache settle in.

It wasn’t just about wanting her. It was about being worthy of her.

She was strong. Smart. Loyal. Everything a Luna should be—and more.

And she had spent too long hiding her own desires for the sake of duty.

If I could give her anything, it would be this: freedom.

The right to choose.

And when she finally did, when her lips parted and she said my name not as a stranger or an enemy, but as hers—that would be the moment everything changed.

For me.

For her.

For the packs.

I closed my eyes and whispered her name like a promise.

“Lyra.”