Chapter 5 The Male Who Shouldn’t Care
750 Words
Lyra was locked in the west wing.
Not a cell—but close enough.
The room was larger than the servant quarters, with tall windows and heavy curtains, yet the door remained guarded day and night. Alpha Kael had ordered it himself.
“For her safety,” he’d said.
Lyra sat on the edge of the bed, staring at her hands.
They still trembled.
Whatever had exploded out of her in the kitchen… it terrified her.
A soft knock interrupted her thoughts.
The door opened.
But it wasn’t Kael.
A man stepped inside—tall, broad-shouldered, with warm amber eyes that immediately softened when they landed on her.
“I brought food,” he said gently.
Lyra stiffened. “I’m not hungry.”
“That’s what everyone says when they’re scared.”
He placed the tray on the table and stepped back respectfully.
“My name is Aiden,” he added. “Gamma of Ironfang.”
Gamma.
Third in command.
Lyra hadn’t expected someone so important.
“I won’t hurt you,” Aiden said quietly, as if reading her thoughts. “I volunteered to guard this wing.”
She finally looked at him.
Unlike the others, there was no contempt in his gaze.
Only concern.
“Why?” she asked.
Aiden hesitated. Then shrugged lightly.
“Because everyone deserves at least one person who doesn’t look at them like a monster.”
Something inside Lyra cracked.
She looked away quickly, blinking hard.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Aiden smiled faintly.
“You didn’t attack Selene,” he said.
Lyra froze.
“I felt the energy,” he continued. “It reacted to your fear. Not your anger.”
She turned back to him, shocked.
“You… believe me?”
“Yes.”
Simple. Certain.
Her chest tightened painfully.
“I don’t know what I am,” she admitted. “And I think they’re afraid of me.”
Aiden’s jaw tightened.
“They should be afraid of what they do to you,” he said.
For a moment, they just looked at each other.
And somewhere deep inside Lyra, her wolf stirred—not in rage, not in fear—
But in recognition.
Across the mansion, Selene paced her chamber like a caged animal.
“She embarrassed me,” she hissed.
Her maid flinched. “My Lady—”
“She made Kael look at her.”
Selene slammed her fist into the table.
“That omega is poison. And if she stays, I will never be Luna.”
The maid hesitated. “The Alpha ordered her protected.”
Selene smiled slowly.
“Then we don’t touch her directly.”
She turned, eyes glittering.
“There are rogues near the southern border.”
The maid’s face drained of color.
“You want them to—”
“Accidents happen,” Selene said smoothly. “Especially to rejected omegas.”
She leaned closer, voice deadly calm.
“Arrange it.”
Later that night, Aiden escorted Lyra through the gardens.
“The Alpha ordered fresh air,” he explained. “He thinks it will calm you.”
Lyra hugged herself.
“The others hate me.”
“Not all,” Aiden said quietly.
They stopped beneath the moonlight.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he added suddenly. “People are watching.”
Lyra frowned. “Watching?”
Before he could explain—
A howl split the night.
Then another.
Aiden’s expression changed instantly.
“Get behind me.”
Dark shapes burst from the tree line.
Rogues.
At least three.
Lyra’s heart slammed violently against her chest.
“They found me,” she whispered.
Aiden stepped forward, his body tense.
“You stay back.”
But as the rogues lunged—
The ground beneath them cracked.
A shockwave of silver light exploded outward.
The rogues were thrown back violently, slamming into the trees.
Silence fell.
Aiden stared in stunned disbelief.
Lyra stared at her glowing hands.
“No… no, I didn’t mean—”
Footsteps thundered toward them.
Kael appeared, eyes blazing.
“What happened?”
His gaze moved from the unconscious rogues… to Lyra… to Aiden standing protectively in front of her.
Something dark flared in his eyes.
“Why,” Kael asked coldly, “were you touching what belongs to me?”
Aiden turned slowly.
“She’s not your property.”
The words fell like a challenge.
The air went deadly still.
And from the shadows, Selene watched—
Smiling.
Because if the rogues failed…
Jealousy would finish the job.
- Writer
