Chapter 8 She Wakes and Refuses Him
997 Words
Lyra woke to silence.
Not the quiet of sleep—but the heavy, watchful stillness of a room holding its breath.
Her body ached everywhere. A dull pain pulsed through her shoulder and chest, wrapped tightly in bandages that smelled of herbs and moonwater. The ceiling above her was unfamiliar—high, carved with symbols she didn’t recognize.
The Alpha’s chambers.
Her heart clenched.
So she hadn’t died.
A healer noticed her stirring and rushed forward. “Don’t move,” the woman said softly. “You lost a lot of blood.”
Lyra swallowed. Her throat burned. “Where… is he?”
The healer hesitated.
That told Lyra everything.
“I want water,” she said. “And then I want him gone.”
The healer blinked. “Lyra—”
“I said gone.”
The door opened before the healer could reply.
Kael stepped inside.
He looked… ruined.
Dark circles shadowed his eyes. His clothes were wrinkled, stained faintly with dried blood—hers. He stopped the moment he saw her awake, relief flashing across his face so raw it almost hurt to look at.
“You’re alive,” he breathed.
Lyra turned her head away.
That hurt more than any wound.
“I stayed,” he said quickly. “I didn’t leave. I ordered guards, doubled them. No one will touch you again.”
She laughed softly.
A sound empty of humor.
“You ordered guards after I almost died.”
Kael flinched.
“You removed them,” she continued, her voice calm and deadly. “Because you were angry. Because you were jealous.”
Silence swallowed the room.
“I was wrong,” he said quietly. “I endangered you. I—”
“Stop.”
The word cut him cleanly in half.
Lyra finally looked at him, and her eyes were clear. Too clear.
“You don’t get to explain,” she said. “You don’t get to justify. And you don’t get to stand beside my bed like you care.”
His hands clenched.
“I do care.”
“No,” she said. “You claim. There’s a difference.”
Kael took a step closer.
She didn’t raise her voice.
“If you take one more step,” she said softly, “I will scream—and I will make sure the entire pack hears me reject you.”
His breath left him in a sharp exhale.
He stopped.
“From this moment on,” Lyra continued, “I am not under your personal protection. I will not be isolated. I will not be hidden. And I will not be controlled by guilt disguised as concern.”
“You’re not safe,” Kael said. “Selene—”
Lyra’s eyes sharpened.
“So you do know.”
Kael said nothing.
“That’s interesting,” she murmured. “Because I almost died, and no one has dragged her in chains yet.”
“She’s clever,” he admitted. “There’s no proof.”
“There will be,” Lyra said calmly. “But it won’t come from you.”
She shifted, pain flashing briefly across her face—but she didn’t cry out.
“I choose my own guard,” she added.
Kael’s jaw tightened. “Who?”
The door creaked open.
Aiden stepped inside.
He stopped short when he saw Lyra awake.
Relief crossed his face, unhidden and immediate.
“You’re alive,” he said softly.
Lyra nodded. “Barely.”
Kael’s wolf snarled.
“I want him,” Lyra said, not looking at Kael. “As my assigned protector.”
The words landed like a blade.
Kael stared at Aiden. Then at Lyra.
“This is not—”
“It’s done,” she said. “Announce it publicly. Or I walk out of this pack the moment I can stand.”
“You wouldn’t survive alone,” Kael snapped.
She met his gaze, something ancient glinting beneath her calm.
“You don’t know what I’d survive.”
A knock interrupted them.
A council member stood outside, face grim.
“The pack is restless,” he said. “They saw the room. They saw the body. They want answers.”
Kael straightened slowly.
“They will have them,” he said.
As he turned to leave, Lyra spoke one last time.
“You lost me last night,” she said. “If you ever want even a chance at redemption—stop acting like I’m yours to lose.”
Kael paused.
For the first time, he didn’t respond.
Outside, Selene watched from the upper balcony, nails digging into her palms as she saw Aiden take position beside Lyra’s door.
Too close.
Too trusted.
Her smile returned—tight and venomous.
“Then I’ll just have to finish what I started,” she whispered.
And somewhere deep within Lyra’s chest, the ancient power stirred again.
Awake.
Protective.
Hungry.
Selene stood alone in the underground chamber beneath the mansion.
The torches flickered as a cloaked figure stepped forward.
“You said the omega was weak,” the man said coldly.
Selene’s lips curved slowly.
“She was.”
She placed a small vial on the stone table. The liquid inside glowed faintly silver.
“What is that?” the man asked.
Selene leaned closer, her voice dropping.
“Moonbane,” she said. “It won’t kill her immediately.”
The man stiffened. “Moonbane destroys divine blood.”
Selene smiled wider.
“Exactly.”
She straightened.
“By the time she realizes what she is,” Selene continued calmly,
“it will already be inside her.”
Above them, Lyra suddenly gasped.
Her chest burned violently.
She clutched the sheets, breath coming in sharp, painful bursts.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Aiden rushed to her side. “Lyra?”
She looked at him, fear flickering in her eyes.
“I feel it,” she whispered.
“What?” he asked urgently.
Her voice trembled.
“Someone just poisoned the moon.”
- Writer
