Chapter 3 – The Forbidden FeelingLyra’s POV
1454 Words
Chapter 3 – The Forbidden Feeling
Lyra’s POV
For a long moment, no one moved.
The warrior still stood in the doorway, breathing hard, my torn necklace trembling in his hand. The metallic scent of dried blood clung to it, sharp and cold. I stared at it, my heart sinking into a deep, dark place inside my chest.
My necklace.
The only thing I owned.
The only thing left from my mother.
Found near "a body."
My fingers curled up, and my nails dug into my skin.
Raine took the necklace slowly, eyes locked on me the entire time—not on the blood, not on the warrior, not on the threat. Me.
"What did you found?"He asked, voice flat, quiet, and far too calm.
The warrior swallowed hard. "Only the necklace, Alpha." No body yet, but there is a blood trail—
"That's enough," Raine snapped.
The warrior stopped talking right away.
I wanted to move. I needed to breathe. I wanted to run. But my body felt like it was frozen in a moment that I couldn't control.
My voice barely came out. "I... I wasn't at the border."
Raine’s eyes flicked down to the necklace again before lifting to my face. There was something in his stare I couldn’t name—fear, maybe. Or anger. Or something more profound that I didn't understand.
“Go to your quarters, Lyra,” he said quietly. “Now.”
"But Alpha—"
“Now.”
The word cut the air in half.
I put my head down and rushed out, brushing past the warrior who couldn't even look at me.
But as I stepped into the hallway, something heavy pressed between my shoulder blades. A feeling. A pull. A presence like a hand wrapped around the back of my neck.
I didn't have to look back to know:
Raine was looking at me.
---
It was colder than any other night.
I sat on the hard floor of the omega dormitory with my knees pulled up to my chest. The other omegas whispered around me, too far to hear clearly but close enough for their fear to reach me like a wave.
Everyone had heard.
Everyone saw Raine call me into his office.
Everyone had seen the blood.
Mira slid closer to me, whispering urgently. "Lyra, are you sure nothing happened?" Why would he order you to his office alone? And your necklace—
"I don't know," I said. It was the truth. "I don't know anything."
But that wasn’t completely true.
Because my wrist still tingled where he had touched me.
A spark.
A pull.
A warmth that had no right to exist.
I covered my wrist with my other hand, trying to stop the memory from returning, trying to stop the feeling from crawling back into my chest.
Mira leaned in closer. “You look pale… did he hurt you?"
“No.”
"Did he... look at you?" she whispered.”
My heart thumped.
Yes.
He looked at me.
He watched me.
He felt something he shouldn’t have.
And I felt it too.
But I couldn’t say that.
I shook my head quickly. "He's the Alpha." He looks at everyone.”
Mira gave me a strange look, as if she didn’t believe me but didn’t want to press.
Eventually she fell asleep. Everyone did.
Everyone except me.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Raine’s hand reaching toward my cheek… right before the knock had stopped everything.
Every time I tried to settle my thoughts, the image of the bloodied necklace rose again like a nightmare.
It was past midnight when I finally stood and stepped outside the dormitory, needing air.
The wind brushed against my face, cold and restless. The moon hung high, shining down like a single bright eye watching everything below. The forest beyond the pack walls moved with shadows that seemed too alive.
I wrapped my arms around myself and took a slow breath.
Why would someone put my necklace near the border? Who wanted Raine to think I was dead?
A chill ran down my spine.
I turned toward the training field—only to freeze.
Someone was standing there.
Someone tall. Someone broad. Someone who moved like a wolf who ruled the ground he walked on.
Alpha Raine.
He was alone, his back to me, staring at the forest like he was trying to see the world beyond the trees. The moonlight made his hair shine, highlighting the strong edges of his shoulders, the tension in his stance.
His wolf was close to the surface—I could feel it from where I stood. He was bothered by something. Something had pushed him out here in the middle of the night.
I should have walked away.
I should have gone back inside.
I should have acted like I didn't see anything.
But my feet didn’t listen.
They moved on their own.
A quiet step.
Another.
And then another.
Just close enough to see the side of his face.
He wasn’t angry.
He wasn't cold.
He looked lost for the first time since I known him.
I took a deep breath. Too loud.
His head snapped toward me instantly.
Our eyes met.
And the world came to a stop.
His eyes were different now—glowing faint gold, the sign of a wolf who wasn’t in full control. But he didn’t growl. He didn't yell. He didn’t order me back inside.
He just stared.
Slowly, painfully slowly, he turned fully toward me.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked, voice low and rough.
“I… couldn’t sleep.”
His eyes dropped briefly to my bare feet, then lifted again.
He stepped closer.
Every instinct in me screamed run… and stay at the same time.
He stopped just a few feet away, close enough that the warmth of him reached me through the cold night.
“You shouldn’t wander alone,” he said.
“I didn’t… wander.” My voice trembled. “I just walked outside for air.”
“And you ended up here?His voice was soft but sharp. "With me?"”
I didn't know what to say. Not a real one. My heart had led me before my mind had a chance to stop it.
He stepped even closer, his presence swallowing the space between us.
“You fear me,” he whispered.
I did.
But fear wasn’t the only thing inside me.
There was curiosity too.
And something else. Something dangerous.
He said, "I don't want to frighten you," in a way that was softer than I'd ever heard him. "But I need to know... who put your necklace on the border?"”
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
He exhaled slowly, and something inside him loosened… only to tighten again when his eyes dropped to my wrist.
The wrist he had touched.
The wrist that burned even now.
"Lyra..." His voice broke. “Why does it feel like my wolf knows you?”
My breath caught.
I quickly said, "I'm not your mate."
“I never said you were.”
“But you…” I swallowed. “You keep looking at me like—”
“Like I can’t stop,” he whispered.
My legs weakened.
My heart thrashed.
His eyes darkened again, heat and confusion blending into something forbidden.
He took one more step.
My back hit the wooden post that was behind me.
He didn’t trap me. He didn't touch me.
But he hovered close enough that I could feel his breath, warm and uneven.
"Tell me to leave," he said softly.
“What?”
“Tell me to go,” he said, voice almost pained. “Tell me to leave you… and I will.”
I opened my mouth.
I should have said it.
I should have pushed him away.
I should have ended this moment before it grew into something I couldn’t escape.
But the words wouldn't come out.
Why?
Why couldn’t I say it?
Raine's hand slowly rose and hung in the air between us. Trembling—not in weakness, but in restraint.
"Lyra..."
He brushed a strand of hair from my face with his fingers.
It was a light touch. Careful. Forbidden.
My breathe stop.
His wolf surged into his eyes.
And then—
A scream tore through the night.
High. Sharp. Full of fear.
From the forest.
Raine turned around right away, and every muscles tensed.
"Stay here," he ordered.
He didn’t wait for my answer.
He dashed toward the trees, shifting mid-step, bones cracking into a massive black wolf.
The scream echoed again—closer now.
And then one word broke through the dark, chilling my blood:
“LYRA!”
- Writer
