Lyra's POV
Pain woke me before the light did.
It burned through my shoulder, sharp and molten, dragging me up from the darkness I'd fallen into. For a moment, I didn't know where I was only that the air smelled like smoke and pine and something achingly familiar.
Kaelan.
My wolf stirred weakly. Her presence was faint, exhausted, but alive. You're safe, she murmured. He's here.
That voice that bond I wanted to deny it. But I couldn't. Not when the truth pulsed under my skin like a heartbeat.
I forced my eyes open.
The room was dim, lit only by the fire crackling in the hearth. Heavy curtains blocked out the dawn, and the scent of iron and herbs hung thick in the air. I was in the Alpha's quarters.
And Kaelan Draven sat beside the bed.
He looked nothing like the ruthless Alpha I'd seen on the training fields or in the council hall. His hair was unbound, falling into his eyes. His shirt was undone at the collar, streaked with blood mine. His hands were braced on his knees, but his gaze was fixed on me with a kind of raw, sleepless intensity.
"You're awake."
His voice was low, rough from disuse.
I swallowed hard. "You look worse than I do."
His jaw tightened, but his eyes softened just barely. "You were stabbed saving my life. I don't have the right to look worse."
I shifted slightly and winced as pain flared through my shoulder. "That's debatable."
He stood, crossing the room before I could blink. "Don't move," he said, that commanding tone snapping back into place. "The wound's deep."
"I've had worse," I lied.
His gaze darkened. "Don't lie to me again, Lyra."
The way he said my name low, steady, possessive sent an unwanted shiver through me.
I looked away, focusing on the fire instead. "Where's Rowan?"
"Dead," Kaelan said simply. No regret, no satisfaction just fact. "The rest of his loyalists are being hunted down. The council will demand answers by nightfall."
I nodded slowly. "They'll want blood."
"They'll get it," he said, but his eyes flicked toward me again. "Just not yours."
I let out a shaky breath. "I didn't do it to protect you."
His lips twitched almost a smile, almost pain. "No?"
"No," I said, my voice quieter now. "I did it because I couldn't stand to watch another betrayal unfold."
Silence stretched between us, heavy with everything we weren't saying.
He took a step closer, his expression unreadable. "You fight like someone who's lost everything," he murmured. "Like someone who doesn't care if she lives."
I swallowed. "Maybe I don't."
Kaelan's hand clenched at his side. "Don't say that."
"Why?" I asked softly. "It's true."
"Because," he said, voice rough with something dangerously close to emotion, "your life matters even if you can't see it yet."
The words hung in the air like a vow.
I didn't know what to say. I'd spent so many years surviving alone, holding onto hate like armor. But now, with him standing there eyes full of guilt and something I couldn't name that armor felt too heavy to keep holding.
I looked down at my bandaged arm. "You did this?"
He nodded. "You lost a lot of blood. I almost" He stopped himself, exhaling hard. "You heal fast. Faster than most."
I glanced up sharply. "What are you implying?"
"That you're not what you pretend to be."
The air thickened instantly.
I met his gaze, forcing my heartbeat to stay even. "I told you before, Alpha. I'm just an omega."
He stepped closer, until the heat from his body reached me. "You keep saying that like it's supposed to make me believe it."
His hand lifted hesitated then brushed a strand of hair from my face. The touch was light, reverent, and it burned worse than the wound.
The bond. That cursed, beautiful, cruel thread tying us together.
I wanted to tell him the truth to scream it how I really felt but then, I couldn't, not yet.
So I forced the lie back onto my tongue. "Then why does it hurt when you lie to me?"
I froze.
He stepped back finally, dragging a hand down his face, frustration bleeding through his composure. "Rest," he said. "The council's arriving at dusk. I'll deal with them."
"And if they demand punishment?" I asked quietly.
He looked at me then, and for a fleeting second, his voice dropped into something dark and dangerous.
"Then I'll burn the whole damn council before I let them touch you."
The door closed behind him with a quiet thud.
Only then did I let out the breath I'd been holding. My wolf pressed against the edges of my mind, her voice a whisper.
He means it.
He's the enemy, I whispered back.
Maybe. But he's also ours.
And that was the most terrifying truth of all.
Kaelan's POV
By dusk, the entire estate was awake with whispers.
The Council of Alphas had arrived draped in power, arrogance, and the stench of self-interest. Their carriages crowded the courtyard like vultures circling a corpse.
Kaelan watched from the balcony as the banners of the neighboring packs rippled in the wind. Scarlet, gold, black colors of greed disguised as tradition.
He'd faced these men in war, in alliances, in endless negotiations. But tonight, they weren't here for peace. They were here for blood.
"Alpha Draven," his Beta Darius murmured from behind him, "they've been waiting in the Great Hall for nearly half an hour. They're restless."
"They can wait longer," Kaelan said coldly.
He was still wearing his formal uniform black tunic embroidered with silver thread but the tension in his shoulders betrayed his restraint. His mind wasn't on politics. It was two floors above, in the Alpha's chambers, where she slept.
Lyra.
His mate. His secret. His weakness.
Every instinct screamed to stay near her, to guard her himself. But that would only draw suspicion.
He turned finally, eyes hard. "Send word to Tomas. No one and I mean no one enters my quarters without my permission."
Darius brows lifted slightly. "The omega?"
Kaelan didn't answer. The look he gave was enough.
Darius bowed his head and left.
The Great Hall was alive with murmurs when Kaelan entered. The air reeked of dominance and distrust a dozen Alphas circling each other under the guise of diplomacy.
"Alpha Draven," came the oily voice of Lord Merek, Alpha of the Crimson Ridge Pack. "We heard troubling news. A traitor among the southern ranks? And your men say an omega intervened?"
Kaelan stopped before the council table. "The traitor's dead. The situation is contained."
Merek chuckled. "Contained? You were nearly killed in another Alpha's territory. That doesn't sound contained."
Kaelan's jaw tightened. "If you came here to measure my control, I suggest you remember who commands Ironclaw."
That silenced the laughter for a moment.
Then Alpha Rynold of the Frostfangs leaned forward. "Our scouts say the attack wasn't random. Rowan men weren't alone. There's talk of a name one that shouldn't exist anymore."
Kaelan's eyes flickered. "Speak plainly."
Rynold's gaze narrowed. "Silverfang."
The word dropped like a blade.
Every Alpha in the room stilled.
Kaelan's pulse quickened, though his face betrayed nothing. "That pack is gone."
"So we believed," Rynold said. "Until whispers reached us of a survivor. A girl. Hidden in a southern pack, masquerading as an omega."
Kaelan's heartbeat slowed dangerously.
"She'd be about your age," Merek said smoothly. "Strong wolf blood. Dangerous if she's alive."
The implication was clear. If she existed, she'd have every reason to hate their kind. To seek vengeance.
Kaelan kept his tone calm. "Rumors. Nothing more."
But his wolf stirred violently beneath his skin. She's ours. Protect her.
"Perhaps," Merek mused, "but we can't risk another uprising. If any trace of Silverfang blood remains, we must purge it."
Something snapped.
Kaelan's hand slammed down on the table, cracking the wood clean through. "Enough."
The room went dead silent.
When he spoke again, his voice was low, lethal. "You'll not hunt ghosts on this land. If this council needs a scapegoat, look elsewhere. I won't see another innocent slaughtered to feed your paranoia."
Merek leaned back, smirking faintly. "Innocent, you say? You seem unusually defensive, Draven. Tell us do you know something we don't?"
Kaelan's eyes met his. "Only that I've seen what your fear does to this world. It killed the Silverfangs once. It won't happen again."
A murmur swept through the hall.
But Merek wasn't done. "Careful, Kaelan. Sympathy for traitors is a dangerous thing for an Alpha to show."
Kaelan's smile was cold. "So is challenging me in my own house."
The tension coiled tight. For a moment, no one breathed. Then Rynold broke the silence. "Enough posturing. The council will reconvene tomorrow. For now, let's ensure the borders are secure."
Kaelan gave a curt nod and turned away before he did something he couldn't take back.
Lyra POV
Upstairs, Lyra stood in the shadows of the stairwell.
She'd heard everything.
Her knees felt weak, her pulse erratic.
Silverfang. The name she'd buried the one she'd sworn never to speak again echoed in the air.
And Kaelan had defended it. Defended her
Why?
She pressed a hand to her mouth, her thoughts spinning. He shouldn't have known. He shouldn't have cared. Yet he'd stood against a dozen Alphas for her without even realizing who she was
Her chest tightened painfully.
The mate bond hummed softly not cruel this time, but aching, alive.
Maybe he wasn't the monster she thought.
Maybe fate was cruel in a different way binding her to the only man who could destroy her if he ever learned the truth.
Kaelan didn't stop until he reached his chambers again.
The moment the door shut, he exhaled shakily, dragging a hand through his hair. His pulse was still thrumming from the confrontation, his wolf pacing restlessly
Kaelan POV
He felt it faint, but undeniable. Her presence.
"Lyra," he said softly.
She stepped out from the corner, eyes wide, face pale. "They're talking about my family."
Kaelan took a step closer. "You will be fine"
She didn't answer just looked at him with tears glinting in her eyes, a thousand unspoken truths breaking through the walls she'd built.
And before either of them could speak again, thunder cracked outside sharp and close.
A storm was coming.