[Hours Earlier — The Night Lyra Left]
ORION
She was gone.
I stood in my office, staring at the door she'd run through, and I couldn't move, couldn't breathe, I couldn't do anything but replay the look on her face over and over again. The devastation. The betrayal. The way she'd looked at me like I was a stranger. Like I'd destroyed her.
Because I had.
"Well," Karleen said from behind me, her voice carefully neutral. "That's her. Your true mate."
I turned slowly to face her.
She stood near my desk, arms crossed, watching me with an expression I couldn't quite read.
"You need to leave," I said, my voice hollow.
"No." Her voice was too calm. "I don't think I will."
I stared at her. "Karleen—"
"Three years, Orion." She stepped closer. "Three years, I've been by your side. Three year
