Chapter: Chapter 72LYRA'S POVThe next time I wake up, it isn't to pain or fear, but to the quiet sounds of birds outside the window. Real, soft, living things. Not battle cries, not screams. Just...peace.For a long time, I just lie there and breath. The air smells like rain and herbs, faint traces of Amanda's tinctures lingering in the infirmary.My body still aches, but it's a tolerable kind of ache. One that I can endure.A shadow stirs beside me, and I don't need to open my eyes to know who it is."You're awake." Ethan says softly, voice low and rough in that way that always makes something twist in my chest.My lips curl into a small, sleepy smile. "You sound very excited."He exhales, half a laugh, half relief. "You've been out for a few days now. Amanda was starting to threaten me with sedatives if I don't rest."I blink my eyes open, meeting his tired gaze. "Did you?"He shrugs one shoulder, mouth tugging at the corner. "Define 'rest'."I can't help it, I laugh, though it comes out weak and hoa
Last Updated: 2025-10-20
Chapter: Chapter 71 LYRA'S POVThe first thing I feel is warmth. Not the painful, burning kind that crawled under my skin and squeezed at my bones last night... something gentler, steady. Familiar.The kind that smells like cedar, sandalwood and home.My eyes flutter open to soft light bleeding through the infirmary curtains. My head throbs dully, like I've been from the bottom of the ocean, throat burning like water had filled my lungs. Every muscle aches. My eyes itch, my consciousness on the edge."Easy, love."Ethan's voice drifts through the haze of my mind, low and rough around the edges. He's sitting by my bed, elbows on his knees, eyes shadowed by alive. Alive just as I remembered before passing out.I blink, trying to piece things together. "What... happened?""You nearly died." He says softly. There's no edge in his tone, just exhaustion. "Amanda said it's poison. Something engineered. It nearly stopped your heart."My fingers twitch beneath the blanket, brushing his hand. "But...I didn't die."
Last Updated: 2025-10-20
Chapter: Chapter 70ETHAN'S POVThe second her body slackens in my arms, my pulse spikes like a blade driven through my chest."Lyra, stay with me. Don't you fucking dare!"Her skin is clammy against my palms, lips paling, breath shallow. The wound along her side burns a sickly shade, darker than normal blood should be.I'm moving before my mind can catch up, every second she trembles in my arms feels like another nail hammered into my coffin.Warriors scatter as I barrel through the infirmary doors, nearly kicking them off their hinges, ignoring the startled cries of the healers.She weighs almost nothing, and that terrifies me more than any battle ever has. My wife, my Luna, slipping from my grasp because I wasn't fast enough."Clear a bed!" I snarl, my voice echoing. The scramble, dragging supplies closer, hands shaking. They've seen me angry before. This isn't anger. It's like an internal war waiting to be unleashed.I lower her onto the mattress, my hands reluctant to let go. Her eyelids flutter, li
Last Updated: 2025-10-18
Chapter: Chapter 69LYRA'S POVThe forest smells of iron and smoke, and damp earth, a sickening perfume of battle. My pulse hammers like a war drum against my ribs, so hard I can feel it in my breath.My hands shake, fingers slick with sweat and residual blood from the earlier skirmish.In a blur of fur, flesh, claws and blood, Ravenwood warriors had managed to outnumber and finish off a good number of rogues, following their attack on Dan.A metallic tang lingers even after the rogues retreat, or are forced back into the shadows.Dan still lays sprawled on the ground, his shoulder twisted at an unnatural angle, blood soaking through his shirt, bone jutting beneath torn flesh. Clara is kneeling beside him, hands trembling as she whispers soft nothings.Amanda is by her side, hands glowing faintly over his wounds, as she works her magic, murmuring words that shimmer like sparks.They'd both been escorted over by some guards a few minutes ago, seeing as the perimeter was slightly safer now, and Dan needed
Last Updated: 2025-10-18
Chapter: Chapter 68LYRA'S POV"No... someone's here. And they're not alone."My pulse flickers at the tension in his words, heartbeat kicking up a notch."Could it be–""I have to go check it out. The guards will make sure you get to the bunkers alongside other women and children."Just before I can ask him what he means by that statement, Ethan is already on his feet, muscles taut, danger radiating off him like a second skin. "Stay here." He barks over his shoulder as he pulls on his pants, already halfway out the door.Like hell I will. He didn't really expect me to just lie here and await his return when there's potential danger!I scramble up, ignoring the tremble in my knees and yanking on the first clothes I find. I'm restless, my pulse pacing under my skin, agitation spiking with every hurried step I take to follow him.By the time I reach the courtyard, the world has changed.The air is thick with tension and the arid scent of fear. Warriors sprinting towards the perimeter, pack members scrambli
Last Updated: 2025-10-16
Chapter: Chapter 67LYRA'S POVThe scent of lavender and burning wood from candles mixed with Ethan's cologne and natural scent, makes my chest tighten, not from fear, but from anticipation.My hands shake slightly, and not from nerves.Ethan's hands map every inch of me, reverent and possessive, as he murmurs things that make my knees weak...that I'm his, that I've always been his and he, mine.It's not rushed, it's not about hunger or urgency. It's about us, just like our first time together."You look... incredible." He murmurs, voice low, laced with rawness and hunger. My stomach flips. "Goddess, Lyra..."I swallow, the sound catching in my throat, my fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt as he pulls away letting me down on my feet briefly, but keeping us against the wall. "I didn't know you were such a good party planner."His grin is slow, predatory at my tease. "Every last detail. You deserve to feel and see just how special you are."Heat curls in my veins. The affectionate words, sharp an
Last Updated: 2025-10-16
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