CHAPTER 3: A Dark Turn

Lyra's POV

The words sank into me slowly, and my lips parted, but no sound came out. My heart pounded so hard I thought it would burst open, and around us, the room was silent as I felt every pair of eyes fixed on me.

“I…” My voice cracked. I could not even finish.

Kael’s gaze stayed on me. He stepped closer and held out his hand.

“Come,” he said gently.

I stared at his hand, at the strong fingers waiting for me, and my feet moved on their own, and I placed my hand in his. A strange heat ran through me the moment our skin touched, and he led me to the center of the room. My knees trembled, but I kept moving beside him.

Then voices broke out.

“This is madness,” Luna Selene snapped. Her face was pale, but her eyes burned. “She is only an omega. She cannot be your fated mate.”

Beta Mason Redwood stepped forward, too.

“Alpha, forgive me, but this cannot be right. The moon goddess would never tie you to someone like her.”

I felt small again, like I had when he mocked me earlier, and my fingers twitched in Kael’s grasp, but he did not let go.

Before Kael could speak, a light began to glow above us, and everyone gasped. I looked up, and a silver mark shaped like a crescent moon shimmered in the air above me.

“The moon goddess has spoken,” the priestess said in awe. “The bond is true..!”

I felt it now, deep inside me, a spark that linked me to Kael. It was the same pull I had felt when his eyes met mine in the street, but only stronger now and clearer.

Kael turned to me and raised his voice so all could hear.

“I, Kael Stormrunner, Alpha of the DarkHowl Pack, ask you, Lyra Darkfur, to be my mate.”

My mouth felt dry, but still I managed to whisper, “I… accept, Alpha Kael.”

I felt the bond snap into place, and I suddenly felt Kael’s strength and calm as if it were my own. Around us, the crowd bowed low in respect.

But the priestess cleared her throat and stepped forward with her white robes brushing the floor. Her eyes were fixed on me, and I felt a sudden unease

“Alpha,” she said, “may I speak?”

Kael nodded, though I saw his shoulders tense.

“You may.”

The priestess studied me slowly, from head to toe, and she shook her head once.

“There is more here than you see,” she said quietly, then louder so all could hear. “The moon has shown me a warning. If you take this girl as a mate, calamity will come. Woe will follow the DarkHowl Pack!”

A murmur swept through the guests, and my stomach turned.

“What are you saying?” Kael asked sharply.

“I speak what I was shown,” the priestess replied, and she stepped closer to him. “Remember the dreams, Alpha. The ones that wake you in the night.”

Kael’s face suddenly went pale, and I saw his hand tighten slightly on mine, then loosen.

“No…” he whispered, but I did not understand.

“Do not ignore the sign,” the priestess said. “If you bind yourself to her, darkness will fall.”

Kael’s eyes closed for a moment, and when they opened, they were hard and sad. He looked at me as if he wanted to say something but could not, and then, in a voice that shook only slightly, he spoke the words I never expected.

“I, Kael Stormrunner, Alpha of the DarkHowl Pack… reject you, Lyra Darkfur, as my mate.”

I stared at him.

“What?” My voice came out thin. “No… You can’t.”

His jaw clenched.

“I am sorry,” he said, but his eyes slid away.

I felt cold, and my chest hurt like claws tearing it open.

“But you just… You just claimed me.”

“You must repeat it,” the priestess ordered me. “Say the words and release him.”

“I don’t understand,” I whispered, but the priestess only glared at me, waiting.

Everyone else stared too. Some looked sorry, some curious, some pleased. Luna Selene was smiling.

My throat burned.

“I…” I forced the words out. “I accept your rejection, Alpha Kael….”

The bond snapped again, and this time it tore apart. I gasped as if all the air had left me. Kael turned at once and strode away, and Luna Selene followed, her smile growing wider.

“Kael!” I cried, running a step after him. But the priestess raised her voice.

“Stop!” she called. “Lyra Darkfur is marked by calamity. She is to be banished at once!”

“What?” I froze.

“She is a danger to us all,” the priestess said with her tone hard now. “She cannot stay.”

“No!” I pleaded. “Please, I don’t even know why…”

Strong hands caught my arm, and I looked up into the cold eyes of Beta Mason.

“You heard the priestess,” he said. “You are an ill omen.” He gave a low laugh. “I warned the Alpha.”

“Please, don’t do this,” I begged. I tried to pull free, but his grip only tightened.

“Take her out,” Mason ordered the guards. “Escort her back to her house. Let her gather what she owns. She leaves before moonrise.”

Two guards stepped forward, and I searched the crowd for Kael, but he was gone.

They dragged me through the hall like a common criminal, and guests whispered, but no one stopped them.

At my foster mother’s house, they let me go inside alone, and Mira rushed to me at once.

“Lyra! What happened?” She saw my face and her eyes filled with tears. “No…”

“They’re sending me away,” I said in a broken voice.

“What?” She turned to the guards. “You can’t! She’s done nothing!” “Orders of the priestess and the Alpha,” one guard said. “She must leave the pack.”

Mira wrapped her arms around me.

“I won’t let them..”

“You will,” my foster mother cut in from the corner. “If the Alpha commands, we obey.”

Mira glared at her. “How can you say that? She is your daughter.”

“She is not my blood,” Mother said coldly. “If she brings doom, let her go.”

I felt tears slide down my cheeks, and Mira squeezed my hands.

“I’ll help you pack,” she said softly.

I went to my small room where my few clothes lay folded in a corner, and Mira helped me put them in a worn bag. She brushed at her eyes when she thought I wasn’t looking.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

“It’s not your fault,” I said.

When we were done, the guards pushed us toward the door, and Mira hugged me tight.

“Stay safe,” she said. “Find a way back. I believe in you.”

“I’ll try,” I said drily

The guards walked me through the streets to the gates, and I looked back once and saw Mira standing back with tears on her face while my foster mother and Lucille stood beside her with arms folded.

The guards opened the gate, and beyond lay the Wildlands, a stretch of forest and hills under the night. One of the guards gave me my bag.

“Go,” he said. “Do not return.”

“Please,” I tried one last time. “Let me speak to Kael.”

“The Alpha gave no such order,” Mason’s voice came from behind. “This is where you belong, omen girl.”

He pushed the gate shut behind me.

I stood there, staring at the wood until the sound of their boots faded, and then I turned slowly.

I started to walk with tears blurring my sight, but I kept moving. My bag hung from my shoulder, the only thing I had left.

I wiped my face, but more tears came while my mind replayed Kael’s voice when he claimed me, then the way he rejected me. I hugged myself as I walked deeper into the trees.

I had no plan and no place to go. Only the memory of a bond that had lasted less than an hour.

A branch snapped behind me, and I froze as my breath caught in my throat. Slowly, I turned my head.

Another step crunched on the ground, closer this time.

Someone was there in the shadows…!