CHAPTER THREE
1324 Words
“She carried their blood, but someone else wanted her fate.”
Aria
Lyra's scream ripped through the healer's den.
I ran. I slammed the door open and froze at the sight before me.
Lyra
Mira and Rowan were trying to hold her down. Her body arched off the bed. Her skin was burning hot, covered in glowing symbols that pulsed in and out, as if her skin couldn't decide whether to hold them.
The room buzzed. Lights flickered. The window shattered.
"What’s happening to her?!" I shouted.
"She’s seizing," Mira barked. But this isn’t medical. It’s magical."
Rowan’s voice was low, rattled. "This isn’t normal. This isn’t just wolf magic."
Lyra's eyes flew open, but they weren’t her eyes. They were glowing white, with no pupils, no warmth.
She gasped, then spoke in a voice that wasn’t hers:
"She’s coming. She sees me."
The lights blew out.
And just like that, Lyra went still.
I froze. My feet didn’t move. My hands just hung there, useless. For a second, I couldn’t hear anything, just the sound of my heartbeat pounding in my ears.
Mira was at her side. Rowan too. They moved fast.
I didn’t. I just stared at Lyra.
Too still. Too quiet.
I wanted to reach out to her, but I couldn’t. My body wouldn’t work. My mind was somewhere else.
What if I made a mistake bringing her here?
What if she were safer out there, even with no roof, no pack, no protection?
I thought this place would help. I thought Mira could fix it. But nothing was fixed. Everything was worse.
I looked at Rowan. I looked at my daughter. And for the first time since walking through that gate... I wasn’t sure I’d done the right thing.
Outside the healer’s den, Rowan cornered me before I could get a full breath.
"What the hell is inside her?" he demanded.
"Get out of my way," I was in no mood for a conversation.
He grabbed my arm. "No more lies, Aria. No more secrets."
I shook him off. "You want the truth? Fine. She was born under the Blood Eclipse. The seer said she’d carry both our curses. "That’s why I ran,” I yelled, not thinking about my words.
His jaw clenched. "You let her grow up like that? Untrained?"
"You think the council would’ve protected her?" I snapped. "You think your perfect little pack would’ve accepted a rogue child with unstable magic and no father?"
His voice dropped. "She had a father."
"She didn’t have you."
"That night should have never happened,” I muttered inaudibly. My voice was laced with regret.
If only I knew... I wouldn't fall for a drunk man's words.
His eyes flashed. He took a step forward. I took a step back.
"You think I won't use Alpha Law to claim her?" he said. "To protect her?"
My stomach dropped. "If you take her from me, Rowan, I swear to the Moon, I will burn this entire territory down."
Silence engulfed us.
He backed off. Not because he believed me. But because he saw I meant it.
Later, I sat on the edge of the guest bed, shaking. I didn’t remember walking back here. My mind kept looping Lyra’s voice, the way she said she was coming.
The door opened. Rowan entered, slower this time.
He didn’t yell. He didn’t even look angry.
He sat across from me.
"I never stopped feeling the mark," he said after a while. "Even after I married Selene. It never faded."
I looked at him. "Then why let them mark you at all?"
He stared at the floor. “Because my duty came first. My title. My father. The council. But you... You never left my mind for a moment.”
For a second, I thought he’d say more. But he didn’t.
He stood and went to the door.
“She’s still in danger,” I said quietly.
He paused, his hand on the frame.
“From who?”
I had to tell him the truth. These lies were not helping me.
“Your ex-wife,” I responded without flinching.
His head turned slightly, enough for me to see the confusion on his face.
“Selene?” he asked. “She wouldn’t... she wouldn’t hurt a child.”
“She tried to kill me when I was pregnant. "You think she’s changed?” I stepped closer.
“She was obsessed with the title. With power. Lyra is the reason I was a threat. She’s the last thing tying me to you.”
He didn’t speak. His mouth tightened, as if he wanted to argue but couldn’t.
“Do you think she’d let my daughter live when she thought of wiping me out completely?” I pressed.
His jaw clenched.
The scream echoed through the house.
High, sharp, and familiar.
It was Mira.
Rowan moved before I did. We both ran.
Back down the hall, into the den.
It was empty.
The bed was still warm. The blankets were tossed.
Lyra was gone.
Mira stood frozen near the window, her hand trembling as she pointed to the open shutters.
“I stepped out for one minute,” she whispered. “One minute.”
A commotion broke outside.
A rogue had been caught trying to sneak onto pack lands. He carried no weapons and posed no threat.
Until he spoke.
"I have a message from Selene. For the Alpha."
The guards dragged the rogue to Rowan. I followed, my heart pounding.
"I have a message from Selene. "For the Alpha," the man repeated, eyes locked on Rowan as if he didn’t care if he lived through this.
"She says the girl belongs under her protection now," he continued. "Before the dark magic finishes her."
Rowan’s fists clenched. I saw the shift ripple just beneath his skin.
My throat tightened. “She knows about Lyra.”
“That’s impossible,” Rowan muttered.
“Not.”
He didn’t argue. Just barked orders. “Double the patrols. Lock down the border. No one in or out without my mark.”
But I could see it in his face; he was in a rage. Selene wasn’t supposed to know anything. She wasn’t supposed to be close.
We didn’t wait. Rowan tracked the scent trail himself, leading a small unit through the woods behind the eastern ridge. I followed, even when I wasn’t supposed to.
The trail was fresh. Too fresh.
And then we saw her.
Selene stood in a cleared field, calm as anything, like she’d been expecting us.
She was dressed in black, hair pinned high, face clean. Too clean.
She smiled. “Took you long enough.”
Rowan stepped forward, eyes blazing. “Where is she?”
Selene tilted her head. “Right where she needs to be.”
Then I saw her.
Lyra was slumped on the ground behind Selene. Her wrists were bound with silver-threaded rope, eyes wide, terrified.
Rowan growled and started to shift.
Selene raised one hand, not to him, but to Lyra. A glint of silver pressed to her side.
Lyra whimpered.
“Take one more step,” Selene said calmly, “and I go down... with her.”
Rowan froze. His shoulders trembled from the effort of holding his wolf back.
Guards behind us raised weapons. I threw my arm out. “Don’t.”
“Let her go,” Rowan said, his voice raw.
Selene smiled. “You always chose the wrong girl. Now you can live with it.”
“Don’t touch her,” I choked out. “She’s just a child—”
“She’s your child,” Selene snapped. “And you should’ve stayed gone.”
I moved forward, hands up. “Please, Selene. Whatever this is—is-is-whatever you think she is—don’t hurt her.”
Selene’s grip tightened on the silver. “You think I came here to hide? No. I wanted you to find me.”
- Writer
