Chapter: Chapter 155Lyra's POV The road was nothing more than a jagged scar through the forest, narrow and half swallowed by mud. The wagon lurched with every bump on the road, throwing me against the splintered boards. My wrists burned beneath the ropes, and for a moment, I actually thought the damned things were going to cut through my bones. It wasn't possible, but you couldn't blame me. It was simply my paranoia speaking loudly in my ears. Every time the wheel hit a rock, the coarse fibers dug deeper, until I could feel the sting of blood on my skin.Great. Just fucking great. Rain had begun as a drizzle, soft enough to pretend it would stop soon, but it didn’t. It thickened into a relentless downpour that drowned the sound of the horses’ hooves and turned the forest into a curtain of gray.We’d been riding for hours, maybe more. It was hard to tell. The air was cold and metallic, full of the smell of wet leather and smoke.“Stop whining about the pace,” one of the men snapped from the front.
Last Updated: 2025-11-16
Chapter: Chapter 154Lyra’s POV The first thing I felt was pain. A deep, throbbing ache pulsing through the back of my skull, dull and heavy like someone had driven a hammer into it. Hell, that description was me even being gentle about it. I felt like a million and one monkeys had been let lose in my head, and they all had the same view of starting a boy band right in the middle of my skull. It hurt trying to do anything, and the second thing I noticed was the smell. My nose picked up smoke, sweat, and something sour, like damp leather left too long in the sun.When I finally forced my eyes open, I was met with darkness. A dim orange glow leaked in from the cracks between the wooden boards above me. The floor beneath me wasn’t stone or tile, it was dirt. Cold, uneven, and littered with splinters.For a moment, I couldn’t move. My hands were tied behind my back, wrists raw from the coarse rope. When I tried to shift, the fibers scraped against already torn skin, and a soft groan slipped out before
Last Updated: 2025-11-15
Chapter: Chapter 153Xavier’s POV The morning began in silence, and for a minute, I actually allowed myself to think that something good was going to come out of it. It was the kind that usually meant peace, but peace was fragile, easily shattered, like the breath before a scream.I felt the difference before anyone spoke a word. The air in the corridors was wrong, too still, too thin, and I hated that I couldn't pinpoint the reason why, despite how hard I tried to. Every instinct in me went taut, even my wolf said the same thing. I'd been told a number of times that I could smell deceit like blood, and this morning, it stank.By the time the first guard came stumbling into the hall, pale and stuttering, I already knew something was wrong. Horribly wrong. “She’s gone,” he said, his voice trembling witg fear and something else I couldn't name “Your Grace, the Luna, she…”“She, what?” My chair scraped across the floor as I stood. “Finish that sentence carefully. I dare you.” “We can’t find her anywh
Last Updated: 2025-11-14
Chapter: Chapter 152Lyra's POV The walls of the palace seemed closer that morning, like they were listening. Every corridor whispered Xavier’s name, and the air felt heavy with his presence, as though he’d never really left the room at all.I didn’t bother packing much, just a plain cloak, a loaf of bread, and a waterskin. Anything more would make me look like what I was. A fugitive, and that was the last thing I wanted. As I made my way down one of the halls, I couldn't help but ask myself if I was doing the right thing. Everything had happened so fast, it still felt like a dream. My plan originally was to escape at night, but I thought against it. Security details were tighter at night, and I couldn't risk getting caught. My best bet was slipping out before the sun rose, or run along with it. I wasn’t even sure where I’d go, only that I couldn’t stay.Xavier was somewhere in the east wing, meeting with the guards who’d survived the night. I’d memorized the rotation of patrols, the way the servan
Last Updated: 2025-11-13
Chapter: Chapter 151Lyra's POV The light that slipped through the curtains was thin and gray, like the kind that belonged to mornings that came too soon. Sleep hadn’t been kind to me because my mind was still tangled in the words Xavier had left me with the night yesterday. The more I thought about them, the more I realized they were words that felt less like promises and more like chains.I had no idea how I'd survived after that. If someone had muttered to me that, that was going to happen, then best believe that I would have laughed their heads off. I remembered gathering my clothes and waking out of Xavier's room after his little alliance, but anything after that, I was completely clueless. Somehow, I'd managed to end up in my bed, and in my own room, and even fallen asleep too. It wasn't the best rest I'd had, and if it were up to me, then best believe that the sun wouldn't have risen this early. Or at all even. By the time I sat up, the bed beside me was empty. The imprint of his body still li
Last Updated: 2025-11-12
Chapter: Chapter 150Lyra's POV The first thing I felt was warmth. Heavy, steady warmth pressed along my back and curling around my waist like iron disguised as silk.For a few seconds, I almost let myself melt into it . It felt like the kind of safety that only came in dreams, but then memory crashed in, hard and merciless.The ceremony, the vows, the firelight. And then, Him. My eyes snapped open immediately, almost sending me into a shock. The first thing I noticed was my environment. I wasn’t on the rug anymore. I was in his bed, the sheets were soft, smelling faintly of cedar and smoke, and his arm was draped around me, his hand splayed across my stomach like a mark he’d left there deliberately. I tried to shift, but his hold tightened instantly.“Don’t move,” Xavier’s voice murmured near my ear, still rough with sleep. “It's still too early. You should stay and….”“I have to go,” I said quietly, trying to slip free. “People will start asking…..”“Let them ask.” he cut me off as his lips brush
Last Updated: 2025-11-11
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