Lost To Alpha Kael

Chapter 2

LYRA

My hands trembled vigorously as I stood there in the hall. Everywhere I looked, eyes glared back at me with the same expression. Cold, hateful, and full of disgust. They all hated me.

“I know what you are,” Elder Toren said, leaning back in his chair like he had always known this moment would come. “I warned Maren this day would come. You despicable Omega… you really had to kill your mother?”

My stomach twisted so hard I thought I’d throw up. “I didn’t ask for it,” I said, my voice already breaking. “I didn’t even want it. I was trying to help.”

“Help?” another elder barked, letting out a cruel laugh. “Help killed Maren. Help left one of the most powerful wolves of our time dead on the floor, with her daughter kneeling over her.”

“I didn’t kill her!” I yelled, louder this time. My voice was cracked from the too much crying, and I could barely breathe. “I was trying to save her! I felt something was wrong. Something dark. It wasn’t right. I tried to stop it. I swear on everything, I did!”

“And yet she is gone,” Toren said flatly, then let out a dry chuckle. “Gone… while you’re still alive.”

I swallowed hard. “Because she was stronger. She was trying to protect me.” I could hear them release that sarcastic chuckle. Well, even I didn’t believe myself anymore.

“Or maybe,” a woman on the right said sharply, “she was trying to protect the rest of us from you. We don’t know what really happened in that room. All we know is Maren is dead, and you, her useless, cursed daughter, are not.”

Those words pierced me like a knife was jabbed into my heart . I stared at the floor and bit my lip hard, trying to stop the tears from falling.

“I’m not cursed,” I whispered. “I’m not.”

“Silence,” Toren barked. “You will not speak unless spoken to.”

I bit my lip harder until I tasted blood, but I stayed quiet.

The elders leaned toward each other, whispering. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I wanted to. My ears burned with the urge to listen. And the longer the silence prolonged, the more my stomach chunned from longing to know what their decision would be.

“Lyra Ashborne,” finally someone spoke. It was Toren. “you stand accused of causing the death of Maren, your mother and our protector. Whether by intent or by recklessness, the result is the same. Blood has been spilled, and this council must decide how to respond.”

My heart raced rigorously for fear of what their likely judgement would be. “Please,” I begged, my voice shaking. “Please, I didn’t do anything. I didn’t want this. I would never hurt her.”

“She was the only one keeping that thing inside you from consuming everything,” another elder said coldly. “And now she’s gone. Tell me, girl, who will stop it now?”

I shook my head, my voice breaking into a scream. “I don’t even understand it! I barely know what it is. And I’m definitely not the cause of what happened!” Tears had begun to pour down my face this time. This was just too much. .

“Exactly,” he snapped. “You don’t understand it. And that ignorance makes you more dangerous than you realize.”

And like Toren had kicked off an engine, everyone on those seats had something terrible to say about me. About the cursed Omega. Every word piled on top of me, choking the remaining breath I had left. My chest tightened as I looked around, desperate to find at least one face that didn’t hate me. And then I saw him.

Orion.

My heart gave a tiny, broken sigh of relief. He was standing at the far end of the hall, arms crossed, eyes locked on me. But they weren’t the eyes I knew. They weren’t warm or kind. They were cold, just like everyone else’s.

“Orion,” I called, clinging to the last piece of hope I had left. My voice shook. “Please… please, tell them the truth. You know I didn’t—” My voice failed me as the tears took over. But he didn’t move. He just stood there, silent, his jaw tightening.

“Orion, please!” I begged, sobbing harder now. I stumbled toward him, but the guards yanked me back. “I swear I didn’t hurt her. You know me. You know me!”

He finally turned his head to look at me. But the eyes he gazed at me with, held no trace of the man I loved. No matter how hard I tried to deny it. “I don’t know who you are anymore,” he said coldly, intensifying the look of disgust he threw to me. And of course, those words shattered everything.

“I tried to help,” I whispered. My voice was so weak now. “I tried…”

“You failed,” one of the elders cut in. “And that failure cost us Maren.”

“Enough,” Toren said, raising his hand. “We have heard all we need.”

The room went silent.

“The council will deliberate,” he continued, “but I see no reason to delay. Lyra, daughter of Maren, you are hereby stripped of your place among us. You are banished from the Bloodfang pack and forbidden from stepping foot in our territory again.”

My eyes widened. No… I must have heard wrong. “No…” I gasped, lifting my head, my horrified face visible to all. “No, please, you can’t. This is my home. My mother—”

“Your mother is dead,” Toren said bluntly. “And you are the reason why.”

The world spun around me. My knees felt weak. “No,” I whispered again, stumbling backward. “No, no, no.”

“Take her away,” another elder ordered.

The guards grabbed me, dragging me toward the doors as I kicked and screamed. “Please! Orion! Don’t let them do this! Please!”

He didn’t move. He just looked away.

“Orion!” I screamed one last time, my voice tearing apart as the doors slammed shut behind me.

The cold night air hit me hard as they shoved me out past the gates and into the dark forest.

“Go,” one guard said, his eyes full of disdain. “Run, and don’t come back.” Then he turned and left.

I laid there for a long time, crying into the dirt where they left me. My body felt numb. I stared at the blood still dried under my nails from when I clung to my mother’s body. And then something inside me snapped.

I pushed myself up and started to run.

Branches tore at my dress. My lungs burned. My feet ached terribly. But I didn’t care. I ran until the night metamorphosed into dawn. I ran until my legs gave out and I collapsed against a tree.

“Why?” I screamed into the empty forest. “Why did it happen? What did I do wrong?”

But again, all I got in response was the howling wind.

“I tried to stop it,” I whispered again, tears streaming down my face. “I tried.”

I pressed my hands against my chest, trying to ease the pain. But just as I guessed, it was a useless effort. So I ran again. And this time, I didn’t think to pause.

I was the cursed Omega. I should have known better than to hope. The people who once gave me hope had taken it away. My mother left me with the pain of her death. And Orion, my last bit of hope, crushed it with his betrayal. There was nothing left for me here. So I ran.

I ran from everything I believed. From the identity I carried. From the life I thought was mine. I didn’t know where I was going. But I knew what I was leaving behind. And that was enough.

I don’t know how long I ran. But everywhere seemed to spin. My body grew weak. I stumbled many times, but I struggled to get up and keep going. Until my body gave up, before my mind did.

And then everything went black.

A low hum echoed in my ears. Something cool brushed my cheek. The floor beneath me was smooth and cold. My eyes fluttered open as the cold feeling woke me. My eyes ran through my surroundings in a second. Tall pillars surrounded me, and torches burned on the walls. One thing was for sure. I wasn’t anywhere near home anymore.

“What…” I breathed, pushing myself up on trembling arms. “Where am I?”

Footsteps echoed in the distance. At the far end of the massive room, a man sat on a throne of black stone veined with silver. I had never seen him before. His sharp eyes were fixed on me, and their intensity made me shiver. He didn’t speak. He just watched me, calm and unnerving.

My breath caught in my throat. “Who…” I tried to speak, but my voice failed me halfway.

I swallowed hard and looked around for a door, a window, anything that could be an escape. But there was nothing. I was fooling myself.

“Where am I?” I tried again, louder this time. “Who are you?” I shouted. Or at least I tried to. My voice kept failing me as it was too weak. Yet, all I got in return was that deep, piercing stare.