Chapter three_Mine
1172 Words
Lyra Pov
I scented him before I saw him.
The smell hit me the moment I stepped into the dining hall carrying a tray of drinks.
Warn cedarwood. Rain. Smoke. Something dangerously masculine beneath it all.
It wrapped around me instantly, sliding into my lungs until my entire body went still.
My fingers tightened around the tray. No. The scent pulled at me again.
Stronger this time.
Like invisible hands dragging me towards something I couldn't escape.
Around me, wolves laughed loudly while servants rushed between tables, but their voices slowly faded into the background.
Because suddenly….
Deep. Rich. Addictive.
My chest tightened painfully. I lifted my eyes slowly, and found him already staring at me.
Alpha kaiden.
The Alpha of Night fang sat at the center table dressed entirely in black, one hand lazily against his chair while powerful wolves spoke around him.
But he wasn't listening.
His silver gray eyes were fixed directly on me.
The tray nearly slipped from my hands.
The moment our gazes locked, something snapped violently inside me.
Heat rushes through my chest so fast it almost hurt, my breathing became uneven.
And suddenly every instinct inside me screamed the same thing.
Mate.
Fear crawled immediately up my spine.
No.
No no no.
Not him.
Not an alpha.
Not someone powerful enough to destroy me more without effort.
A low growl rumbled from Kaiden’s chest before he suddenly stood from his seat.
The entire hall went silent instantly.
Power rolled off him heavily enough that nearby wolves lowered their heads automatically.
But Kaiden barely noticed them. He only looked at me.
My legs moved backwards instinctively. His scent became stronger the closer he got.
It was intoxicating.
Like storms and danger and temptation wrapped into one man.
I hated how my body reacted to it.
Hated how my heartbeat sped up with every step he took closer.
He stopped directly in front of me.
Too close.
The mate bond slammed into me painfully hard. I could feel his wolf now.
Massive. Dominant. Restless.
Mine.
The word echoed inside my head so clearly that I nearly gasped aloud.
His gaze moved slowly over my face.
Then lower, studying me carefully, not softly. Critically.
Like he was trying to understand how fate could possibly make sense.
Mate,” he said quietly.
The room exploded into whispers immediately.
Shock spread across every face around us. I barely heard any of it.
Because my chest felt too tight to breathe properly.
Mate.
Mine.
For one fragile second, happiness bloomed inside me so suddenly it frightened me.
Nobody has ever chosen me before.
Nobody has ever looked at me like I mattered.
But then I saw it.
The slight disgust hidden beneath Kaiden's expression. Tiny. Almost invisible. But there.
His nose flared subtly as if scenting me again.
And realizing something disappointing.
Weak.
The realization hit me immediately. Of course, he could scent it.
The weakness. The absence of a wolf.
Around us, whispers became louder.
“The wolfless girl?”
“She's Alpha kaiden’s mate?”
“No way….”
Kaiden's eyes darkened slightly.
I watched the exact moment embarrassment crossed his face.
Not because I was ugly, not because I smelled bad.
But because I was weak.
A weak mate for an Alpha.
Humiliated burned inside my chest. I lowered my gaze quickly before he could see it.
Alpha Darren stood slowly from his chair, clearly stunned.
“Alpha Kaiden…” he started carefully.
Kaiden ignored him completely, his attention stayed fixed on me.
The mate bond between us pulsed violently.
My body reacted to him instinctively in ways I hated, his scent wrapped around me until I could barely think straight anymore.
I felt trapped inside it.
Kaiden reached out suddenly and grabbed my chin, gasps spread round the hall.
His touch burned, not painfully.
Worse, possessively.
He tilted my face upward, forcing me to look directly at him again.
“You don't have a wolf,” he murmured quietly enough for only me to hear.
The shame in those words crushed me instantly.
I swallowed hard.
“No.”
Something cold flashed briefly across his face. Disappointment, but underneath it…. Something darker.
Need.
His wolf wanted me anyway. I could feel it fighting him violently.
Mine.
Mine.
Mine.
Kaiden's grip tightened slightly against my chin before he suddenly released me.
The movement looked almost irritated.
Like touching me affected him more than he wanted.
Ronan, Kaiden's beta, stepped closer carefully. “Alpha…”
“She's coming with us,” Kaiden interrupted coldly.
My eyes widened instantly.
The hall fell silent again.
Alpha Darren frowned slightly. “You're taking her to Nightshade?.”
Kaiden finally looked away from me .
“Yes.”
Simple. Final.
Like the decision meant nothing, but my entire world had just changed.
Fear twisted painfully in my stomach.
Nightshade.
Leaving moon fang.
Leaving the only place I have ever known, even if that place had never truly been kind to me.
Kaiden's eyes returned to mine again. His expression remained unreadable, but the bond between us pulsed violently.
Hungry. Possessive. Dangerous.
“You belong to me now,” he said quietly.
The words should have been romantic, but they sounded terrifying.
Because nothing in Kaiden's face looked soft, nothing looked gentle.
He looked like a man trying very hard not to hate what the moon goddess ha given him.
And somehow…..
That hurt more than outright rejection ever could.
The surrounding whispers became louder.
Jealous, she wolves glared openly at me now while the warriors exchanged amused looks.
Kaiden pulled me slightly closer—not gently, not kindly.
Like he was claiming something already decided.
Kaiden finally released my wrist.
“Pack up what you need,” he said coldly. “We leave at dawn.”
Then he turned away, just like that, like I was no longer important.
Like I was already something he had filed away under obligation.
The hall slowly started moving again, but I couldn't.
I stood there frozen.
My chest is still burning from the bond.
Still aching from his scent.
Still shaking from the way he looked at me like a problem instead of a person.
“Lyra.”
My body stiffened.
That voice.
I turned slowly.
Caleb_stood near the side of the hall.
Watching me, too still, too intense.
Something dark crossed his face.
Jealousy. Possession. Anger.
He stepped closer.
“You're leaving?” he asked lowly.
I nodded slightly.
His jaw tightened, for a moment, he looked like he wanted to say something else.
But he stopped himself.
Instead, he reached out and grabbed my wrist suddenly.
Harder than Kaiden had, my breath caught.
“You belong to me, don't forget where you came from,” he said quietly.
The words stated control, warning and claiming.
My stomach twisted.
Behind him, I saw Kaiden staring directly at us. Just for a second the air shifted around us.
And that's when I realized that I was not just being taken.
I was being watched.
Claimed.
Possessed.
- Writer
