"CHAPTER 3: The SilverVengeance
544 Words
Lyra moved past Alexander, stopping in the middle of the corridor without a single moment of hesitation. As the scarred, black shadow of the Shadow Claw wolf lurched towards her, there was neither a shifting wolf nor a roar from Lyra. There was only silence, the silence of a storm that had been brewing for seven years.
A primal sound clawed its way out of Alexander’s chest, a warning: "Lyra, stand down! You can't shift!" His instinct was to pull her back, but the air around Lyra had solidified, an invisible wall.
"Stand down?" Lyra's silver eyes brightened as the tattoos on her neck and shoulder blade began to glow with a silver-white light. "This is not your Omega’s fight, Alexander. This is the fight of the Moon Whisper you created."
The black wolf felt the energy radiating off Lyra, and its furious howl shifted into a whimper of pain. It lunged at Lyra, but was caught mid-air. Lyra raised a single hand, and the curse spread through the Shadow Claw’s body like an icy wave. The wolf was neither struggling nor fighting; it was simply submitting.
Alexander watched in horror. Lyra’s power was unnatural; it didn't just hurt the wolf, it commanded it. This was a display of a power higher, more ancient, than an Alpha’s authority. At the peak of Lyra’s power, the Shadow Claw wolf scraped its bloody claws on the floor, quickly retreating down the corridor, desperate to escape Lyra.
A short, terrifying silence filled the corridor. The fight was over in seconds. Lyra turned. The silver light slowly receded from her tattoos, but the coldness in her eyes was permanent.
Alexander couldn't move, his powerful jaw slack with shock. "What... what did you do?" His voice was not that of the pack commander, but of a man who could not recognize the woman he had rejected seven years ago.
Lyra walked past him, returning to the grand hall as if the battle in the corridor had been a mere inconvenience. Her shrug suggested the terrible power she wielded was trivial.
"Did you think I would starve in exile for seven years?" she said, her voice now barely a whisper, yet it echoed in the hall. Lyra walked up to Alexander’s throne, her fingers trailing over the cold stone of the armrest. "I am no longer your mate. I am the power that has returned to destroy your pack. With or without you, this pack will kneel to me, Alpha."
Alexander watched her insolent touch on his throne. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to tear her apart, yet a part of his heart responded to the primal desire ignited by this new, dangerous Lyra. He took a harsh step toward her.
"You will not destroy my pack," he growled, closing the distance between them instantly. "Now, you will help me tend to the wounded inside. This is a battle decision. With you, I will keep this city standing."
Lyra lifted her head, and for the first time in seven years, she gave a slight smile. It was a smile of victory. "Fine, then, Alexander. Just don't mistake that for a command."
- Writer
