Lyra woke to the sound of boots outside her door.
Not passing footsteps.
Stationary. Waiting.
For a moment, she lay still, counting breaths, listening to the quiet scrape of leather against stone. The guards hadn’t been there last night when she fell asleep. She would have felt them. The bond would have reacted.
Now it sat tight in her chest, alert and uneasy.
She rose slowly and crossed the room, pressing her palm flat against the door. The wood was solid. Too solid. When she pulled it open, two wolves stood on either side of the threshold, faces blank, posture rigid.
Neither of them met her eyes.
“Morning,” Lyra said.
One of them nodded. The other said, “Alpha orders. You’re to remain within the inner grounds until further notice.”
The words were delivered cleanly and profession
