The Alpha's Bite

chapter five

Lyra's POV

Morning came with a guard at my cell door. Not the usual rough ones who threw food and left. This guard was female, tall and muscular, with scars across her face that spoke of real battles.

"Alpha wants to see you," she said. Her voice was neutral, but her eyes assessed me like I was a threat.

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I drag you there. Your choice."

I stood slowly, testing my new strength. Everything feels different now. Sharper. More alive. I could hear the guard's heartbeat. Could smell the silver weapons she carried. Could feel the bond pulling me toward Kael like a rope around my chest.

"Let's go then."

She led me through the fortress. I memorized every turn, every hallway, every exit. If I was going to get Finn out, I needed to know this place inside and out.

We stopped at a large wooden door. The guard knocked once, then opened it without waiting for an answer.

Kael's office was exactly what I expected. Dark wood. Heavy furniture. Weapons mounted on the walls like trophies. And standing by the window was the Alpha himself, looking like he had not slept in days.

Good. I hoped the bond was torturing him the way it tortured me.

"Leave us, Sera," Kael said to the guard.

Sera hesitated. "Alpha, is that wise?"

"I said leave."

She left, but I noticed she did not close the door all the way. Smart woman. She was prepared for trouble.

Kael turned to face me. Up close, without the crowd and the spectacle, he looked different. Tired. Younger than I expected. There were shadows under his eyes and tension in his jaw.

"You wanted to see me?" I asked, keeping my voice cold.

"Your brother is alive. Finn Hale. He's in the lower dungeons."

Relief flooded through me so intensely that Kael flinched. He felt it through the bond. Everything I felt, he felt. The realization gave me a dark satisfaction.

"I want to see him."

"I know. I can feel that you do." He rubbed his temples like he had a headache. "This bond is not what I intended."

"You intended to e*****e me. Instead, you gave me power over you. Seems like justice."

"Is that what you want? Power over me?"

I stepped closer, watching him tense. "What I want is my brother. What I want is answers. What I want is to understand why you killed my mother."

The words hung in the air between us. Kael's face went pale. Through the bond, I felt his shock. His guilt. His grief.

"How do you know that?" he whispered.

"Because the bond shows me things. Flashes of your memories. A woman with gray eyes begging for her child's life. You, younger, following orders from an older Alpha. Fire and screaming. That was my mother, wasn't it? You killed her during the Moonborne purge."

Kael sat down heavily in his chair. For the first time since I met him, he looked defeated. "I did not know she had escaped. Did not know she had children. If I had known..."

"What? You would have killed us too? Made sure the job was complete?"

"No." He looked up at me, and the honesty in his eyes shook me. "I would have questioned what we were doing. I would have asked my father why we were murdering families. Women. Children. But I was twenty-one and stupid, and I believed him when he said it was necessary."

I wanted to hate him. The bond made it complicated. I could feel his remorse like it was my own emotion. Could feel how the memory haunted him. It did not excuse what he did, but it made him human instead of a monster.

"Tell me about the prophecy," I demanded. "Mora said your father misunderstood it."

Kael stood and pulled out an old journal from his desk. "This was my father's. He became obsessed with it after a seer gave him a warning." He opened the journal to a marked page and read aloud. "When the moon meets the crown, balance shall be restored. The power that rises shall either destroy the throne or remake it."

"That's vague enough to mean anything."

"My father interpreted it as a threat. He believed the Moonborne would destroy Alpha authority. So he decided to destroy them first. By the time I realized he was wrong, it was too late. The m******e had already happened."

"What was the real meaning?"

"Balance. Not destruction. The Moonborne were not meant to overthrow Alphas. They were meant to keep us from becoming tyrants. Without them, Alphas like my father had no checks on their power. We became the very monsters the prophecy warned about."

I processed this information. Everything Finn had been researching. Everything our mother had hidden from us. It was all true.

"Why did you keep Finn alive?" I asked.

"Because he found proof. Documents my father tried to destroy. Evidence that the Moonborne were peaceful. That they served as mediators and peacekeepers. That their extinction created the power imbalance we are suffering from now." Kael met my eyes. "Your brother was right. And if Marcus or the other old guard find out what he knows, they will kill him to protect the lie."

"Then let me see him. Let me get him out of here."

"I cannot just release a prisoner. The pack would question my authority. Marcus is already suspicious about you. If I show weakness now, he will stage a coup."

Through the bond, I felt Kael's fear. Not fear of death, but fear of what Marcus would do if he took power. Fear of the pack falling into worse hands.

"Then what do you suggest?" I asked.

"A bargain. Help me understand this bond. Work with me instead of against me. In return, I will protect your brother and find a way to free him safely."

"You want me to trust you? The man who murdered my mother?"

"No. I want you to use me. Use the bond. Use my position. I am offering you access to power and resources. In exchange, you keep me alive long enough to fix the mess my father created."

It was a terrible offer. Working with my enemy. Pretending the bond was something other than a curse. But it was also the only way to save Finn and learn the truth.

"If you betray me," I said quietly, "I will use this bond to drain every bit of life from you. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"And you will tell me everything about the m******e. Every detail. Every name. Every crime."

"I will."

I took a breath. This was a mistake. I knew it was a mistake. But Finn was alive, and I would make any deal to save him.

"Fine. We have a bargain."

Kael extended his hand. When I took it, the bond flared between us, sealing our agreement. For better or worse, I was now tied to the Alpha who destroyed my family.

And I would make him pay for every sin. One way or another.