Chapter Six: The Ring Left Behind
903 Words
Lyra's POV
I didn't take the ring.
Even after everyone had left the courtyard, it remained where Lucien had placed it on the stone railing, its silver crest catching the afternoon sun.
It felt like it was waiting for me.
Just as everyone else seemed to be waiting for my answer.
"I can't believe he proposed to the rejected mate."
"The Devil's Son has finally lost his mind."
"Maybe they're both cursed."
The whispers followed me all the way home.
By the time I reached Aunt Mara's cottage, my head was pounding.
She opened the door before I could knock.
"What happened at the meeting?"
I stepped inside and closed the door behind me.
"Lucien Blackwood asked me to marry him."
The basket of herbs slipped from her hands, scattering dried lavender across the floor.
"He... what?"
I nodded.
"In front of the entire pack."
Aunt Mara stared at me in stunned silence before guiding me to a chair.
"Tell me everything."
When I finished, she remained quiet for several moments.
Finally, she sighed.
"I've known Lucien since he was a boy."
I looked up.
"You have?"
She smiled faintly.
"He wasn't always the man everyone fears."
"What was he like?"
"He was kind. Too kind for the son of an Alpha. Whenever an injured wolf came to the healer's den, he was the first to offer help. He smiled often." Her expression darkened. "Then, one day... he disappeared."
"No one knows why?"
"Only Alpha Rowan and Elder Orion."
A chill ran down my spine.
The same two names.
Again.
As though they were guarding a secret too dangerous to speak aloud.
A knock echoed through the cottage.
Three slow knocks.
Aunt Mara's face paled.
"We're not expecting anyone."
She opened the door.
Standing outside was Elder Orion.
His silver beard reached his chest, and his weathered eyes settled on me with unsettling intensity.
"May I come in?"
Without waiting for permission, he stepped inside.
"I heard about Lucien's proposal," he said quietly.
"I haven't accepted."
"I know."
His gaze lingered on me.
"But you must be careful."
"Careful of Lucien?"
A flicker of hesitation crossed his face.
"Careful of the truth."
Before I could ask what he meant, he reached into his cloak and withdrew an old leather pouch.
"Your mother asked me to give you this when the time was right."
"My mother?"
My hands trembled as I accepted it.
Inside lay a delicate silver necklace with a moon-shaped pendant.
The moment my fingers touched it, warmth spread through my body.
A strange vision flashed before my eyes.
A woman with long silver hair smiled at me.
"When the darkness calls your name, trust the man with the scar."
The vision vanished.
I gasped and nearly dropped the pendant.
Aunt Mara caught my arm.
"What did you see?"
"I... I don't know."
Elder Orion's face had gone pale.
"So it has begun."
"What has begun?" I demanded.
But the old wolf only shook his head.
"There isn't much time left."
Without another word, he turned and left.
Leaving behind more questions than answers.
---
Night settled over Silver Crescent.
Unable to sleep, I stepped outside.
The forest was quiet beneath the full moon.
I clutched the pendant around my neck and wandered towards the edge of the trees.
A twig snapped.
I froze.
"Who's there?"
No answer.
Another snap.
Then a low growl.
Three rogue wolves emerged from the darkness, their eyes glowing with hunger.
"The rejected mate," one sneered.
"No Alpha to protect you now."
My heart hammered against my ribs.
I backed away.
"I don't want trouble."
"But we do."
They lunged.
Before they could reach me, a blur of black crashed into them.
The first rogue slammed into a tree.
The second flew several metres across the clearing.
The third never even landed a strike.
Lucien.
He stood between me and the rogues, his black coat billowing in the wind.
His silver eyes burned with fury.
"You chose the wrong wolf to hunt."
One rogue laughed despite the blood on his lips.
"She's worth a fortune. Every pack knows she's been rejected."
Lucien's expression turned deadly.
"You'll leave here with your lives."
"Or you'll leave them here."
The rogues attacked together.
For the first time, Lyra saw why wolves feared the Alpha's eldest son.
He moved faster than any werewolf she had ever seen.
Too fast.
His claws glowed with an eerie crimson light as he struck, sending the rogues fleeing into the night.
Silence returned.
Lucien stood with his back to her, breathing steadily.
Then she noticed it.
A faint crimson glow spread beneath the skin of his right hand before disappearing as quickly as it had come.
He clenched his fist.
When he turned to face her, his expression was calm once more.
"Are you hurt?"
She shook her head.
"No."
"You shouldn't be alone after dark."
"I didn't ask you to save me."
"I know."
"Then why do you keep doing it?"
For a long moment, Lucien said nothing.
Finally, he answered in a voice barely above a whisper.
"Because if anything happened to you..."
He stopped himself.
His jaw tightened.
"I've already failed to protect someone once."
Without another word, he turned and disappeared into the shadows, leaving Lyra standing beneath the moon with one question echoing in her mind.
Who had Lucien failed to protect... and why did saving her seem so important?
- Writer
