Episode 2: The Lost Princess
1108 Words
Lyra stumbled backward, her heart pounding wildly against her chest.
Princess?
The word echoed in her mind.
She looked from one cloaked figure to another, searching for any sign that this was some kind of joke.
“I think you have the wrong person,” she said, hastily wiping the tears from her face. “I’m not a princess.”
The figure standing in front stepped closer.
Moonlight illuminated part of his face.
He was an older man, perhaps in his fifties, with silver hair and piercing silver eyes that seemed to see straight through her.
“You are Lyra Ashbourne,” he said calmly.
Lyra froze.
No one had ever called her that before.
“My name is Lyra Hale,” she whispered.
The man shook his head.
“No. That is the name given to protect you. Your true name is Lyra Ashbourne, sole heir of the Ashbourne Dynasty.”
Lyra stared at him.
This had to be madness.
She had lost her mate only moments ago. The rejection was still tearing through her chest like a thousand knives.
Perhaps she had finally gone insane.
“I don’t know who you people are, but leave me alone.”
She turned to leave.
A sharp pain suddenly shot through her body.
“Ah!”
Lyra collapsed onto the forest floor, clutching her chest.
The mate rejection.
The pain had intensified.
The old man immediately knelt beside her.
“The bond rejection is killing her,” one of the cloaked women said anxiously.
“We’re running out of time,” another added.
The old man gently placed his hand over Lyra’s heart.
Instantly, warmth spread through her body.
The pain lessened.
Lyra gasped in relief.
“W-what did you do?”
“Only stabilized you,” the man replied. “A complete rejection from a fated mate can be fatal, especially for someone of your bloodline.”
“My bloodline?” Lyra repeated weakly.
The old man sighed.
“I suppose introductions are overdue.”
He rose gracefully.
“My name is Elias Ashbourne.”
Lyra frowned.
“Ashbourne?”
“I am your uncle.”
Silence.
Complete silence.
Lyra simply stared at him.
Then she laughed.
A broken, disbelieving laugh.
“This isn’t funny.”
“No one is joking, child.”
“You expect me to believe that?” she snapped, rising shakily to her feet. “My parents died when I was a baby. I’ve been alone my entire life.”
Elias’ expression softened.
“You were never alone.”
Lyra’s eyes narrowed.
“If that’s true, where were you all these years?”
The question struck harder than she intended.
Elias looked away.
“We were protecting you.”
“Protecting me?” she repeated bitterly. “I grew up being called cursed. I was bullied, mocked, treated like I was worthless! Where was this protection then?”
The guilt in Elias’ eyes was unmistakable.
“We could not risk exposing ourselves. Your enemies have been searching for you for twenty-one years.”
Lyra shook her head.
“This is insane.”
Elias reached into his cloak.
Slowly, he pulled out an old silver pendant.
The moment Lyra saw it, her breath caught.
It was identical to the pendant she had worn since childhood.
The pendant left behind by her mother.
Elias held up his own.
The two pendants began to glow.
Soft silver light connected them.
Lyra stared in horror.
“How…?”
“Because they were created as a pair,” Elias explained. “One for your mother. One for her brother.”
Her legs weakened.
No.
This couldn’t be real.
Could it?
Elias stepped forward.
“Your parents did not die in an accident, Lyra.”
The world seemed to stop.
“What?”
“They were murdered.”
Lyra’s entire body went cold.
“No.”
“The Ashbourne royal family was betrayed. Nearly everyone was slaughtered during what history remembers as the Crimson Night Massacre.”
Tears filled Lyra’s eyes.
“Stop.”
“You survived because loyal guards smuggled you away.”
“Stop!”
“You were hidden inside Mooncrest Pack under a false identity.”
“STOP!”
The forest fell silent.
Lyra trembled violently.
Everything she had believed about herself.
Everything.
A lie.
Elias waited patiently.
Several moments passed.
Finally, Lyra whispered, “Why tell me now?”
“Because your powers have awakened.”
“Powers?”
As if summoned by the question, a strange sensation surged through her veins.
Power.
Ancient.
Wild.
Unfamiliar.
Suddenly, silver light erupted around her.
The ground beneath her feet trembled.
Trees swayed violently despite the absence of wind.
The three cloaked figures immediately lowered their heads.
“The Moon Goddess has awakened her,” one whispered reverently.
Lyra looked down.
Silver markings had appeared on her hands.
Glowing.
Alive.
Fear gripped her.
“What’s happening to me?”
Elias smiled softly.
“You are finally becoming who you were born to be.”
The markings disappeared moments later.
Lyra stood frozen.
Nothing about tonight made sense anymore.
First, Kael had rejected her.
Now she was apparently some lost princess with mysterious powers.
“I want to go home,” she whispered.
Elias’ expression darkened.
“Mooncrest is no longer your home.”
The words hurt.
Even though she knew they were true.
“What do you mean?”
“The moment Kael rejected you publicly, your enemies began searching for you.”
“My enemies?”
“Those responsible for your parents’ deaths never stopped hunting the Ashbourne heir.”
Fear slowly settled in her chest.
“You’re saying someone wants me dead?”
Elias nodded.
“As long as you remain here, you are in danger.”
A twig snapped nearby.
Everyone instantly became alert.
The cloaked woman’s eyes widened.
“Lord Elias.”
Another snap.
Then another.
Elias’ face hardened.
“They found us.”
Dark figures emerged from the shadows.
One.
Five.
Ten.
Their crimson eyes glowed in the darkness.
Rogues.
But there was something unnatural about them.
Their bodies looked twisted.
Corrupted.
“Protect the princess!” Elias ordered.
The forest exploded into chaos.
The rogues charged.
Before Lyra could react, one lunged directly toward her.
She screamed.
A deafening growl echoed through the night.
A massive black wolf burst from the darkness, slamming into the rogue with terrifying force.
The entire forest went still.
Lyra’s eyes widened.
She knew that wolf.
Everyone in the Northern Territories knew that wolf.
Golden eyes met hers.
Kael.
The Alpha King had found her.
And judging by the fury burning in those eyes, he was not alone.
- Writer
