~Lyra~
I’d slept hard. The kind of sleep that doesn’t feel restful—just deep, fragmented, and heavy. Images swam behind my eyelids, disjointed and dreamlike, until a blinding light forced its way in.
Someone was prying my eyes open.
“There’s a response, Prince Kael—her pupils are reacting.” The male voice cut through the haze, sharp and clinical.
Instinctively, I flinched. When my vision finally settled, I saw a lycan in a white coat standing by my bed. And next to him—Kael. His eyes met mine, steady and unreadable.
“Princess, you’re awake?” the doctor said brightly. “I’m Dr. Zane, the royal physician.”
I nodded, moving slowly to sit up. My body still felt like it had been pulled from the river.
Dr. Zane peered at me over the rim of his glasses. “Can you see clearly now?”
“Mm.” I g
