Chapter Forty: The Blood That BindsThe dungeon pulsed with silence—a moment suspended in time.Lyra stood frozen, eyes locked on Elias's limp form in Kael's iron grip. Rowan was still struggling to keep upright beside her, his face pale, pain etched in every line. And Kael… Kael radiated cruel delight, like a predator savoring the moment before the kill."You're running out of time, little wolf," Kael said, his voice low and mocking. "Let me end this pathetic rebellion now, and I’ll make it quick. Resist, and I’ll make sure you hear every scream as they die.”The guards behind him laughed.Lyra’s fingers curled into fists.Once upon a time, she might’ve begged. Might’ve knelt. Might’ve believed she was too small to fight a king.Not now.Not after everything she’d endured.Not after dying once and being reborn.“I don’t fear you anymore,” she said, voice steady.Kael raised a brow. “Oh? Then prove it.”He dropped Elias—hard—onto the stone floor. The sound echoed like a drumbeat in he
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Rise of the ForsakenThe old roots of Ironfang ran deep—twisting through stone and silence, deeper than most wolves ever dared to tread. Lyra followed Kira through the hidden passages beneath the capital’s underbelly, where forgotten oaths and abandoned bones whispered secrets in the dark.The tunnel opened into a vast cavern, lit only by veins of glowing fungi that clung to the walls like ancient scars. Wolves—dozens of them—lifted their heads as Lyra emerged from the shadows.Scarred. Armed. Watching her.Not enemies.But outcasts.Rebels.The Forsaken.Kira stepped beside her. “They were branded traitors by Kael. Exiled. Hunted. But they’re not broken. Not anymore.”A tall man stepped forward from the crowd. His left eye was gone, a jagged scar in its place. The other eye was a bright, burning gold. “You’re her. The girl who survived the pit. The one who carries Reaver blood.”Lyra met his gaze. “I’m more than that now.”He smiled. “Good. Because we’ve waited l
Chapter Forty: The Blood That BindsThe dungeon pulsed with silence—a moment suspended in time.Lyra stood frozen, eyes locked on Elias's limp form in Kael's iron grip. Rowan was still struggling to keep upright beside her, his face pale, pain etched in every line. And Kael… Kael radiated cruel delight, like a predator savoring the moment before the kill."You're running out of time, little wolf," Kael said, his voice low and mocking. "Let me end this pathetic rebellion now, and I’ll make it quick. Resist, and I’ll make sure you hear every scream as they die.”The guards behind him laughed.Lyra’s fingers curled into fists.Once upon a time, she might’ve begged. Might’ve knelt. Might’ve believed she was too small to fight a king.Not now.Not after everything she’d endured.Not after dying once and being reborn.“I don’t fear you anymore,” she said, voice steady.Kael raised a brow. “Oh? Then prove it.”He dropped Elias—hard—onto the stone floor. The sound echoed like a drumbeat in he
Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Blood Price of the ThroneThe scent of blood still lingered in the throne room—faint, metallic, and unnervingly fresh.Lyra stood frozen in the grand doorway, her boots rooted to the stone as her heart thundered in her chest. Every fiber of her being screamed at her to lunge, to fight, to rip Kael’s smirk clean from his face.But it was the man beside him that truly turned her blood to ice.Silas Vorn.The name alone was a ghost story whispered in the barracks—of a ruthless elder who drank the strength of the young and consorted with the forbidden arts of bone magic. He had been exiled before Lyra was born, his name struck from records, his crimes buried in shame.And yet here he stood, alive, composed, draped in red like royalty.Kael rose from the High Warden’s chair, arms spread as if greeting an old friend. “Lyra. You look well, considering you’ve been wandering ruins and playing politics with the dead.”“How did you—” she started, then stopped herself. O
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Into the Forgotten ValeThe pendant Kael left behind felt like it burned straight through her palm.Silver bone, ancient runes etched along its surface—runes that shimmered only under the moonlight. The mark of the Moon Reavers. The same sigils she'd studied in forbidden scrolls when she was still a girl dreaming of valor and purpose in a pack that ignored her.Now, standing beneath the stars with the pendant clenched in her fist, Lyra didn’t feel like a dreamer.She felt like a spark about to ignite a war.---The Forgotten PathDawn was still hours away when Lyra left Ironfang.She told no one—not Rowan, not the Council, not the warriors who would have followed her into the pits of hell if she’d asked.This was her burden.She needed to know if Darius had betrayed her again—or if he was being used as a pawn by forces older than the Elders, darker than the traitorous Kael.The pendant pulsed with soft heat against her chest, guiding her toward the southeast clif
Chapter Thirty-Six: The Second SleeperThe silence after betrayal wasn’t just quiet—it was suffocating.Lyra stood alone in the war chamber, staring at the shattered remains of the Unity crest, which had cracked clean down the center when Sera's blade struck the alterstone. The morning light filtered through the high windows, pale and cold, casting long shadows across the marble floor.No one had spoken to her since dawn.Not Rowan. Not Kael. Not even Elias, who remained under armed watch, recovering in isolation.And Darius… had vanished.He hadn’t even taken a scout.He left her nothing but the ghost of a glance, and the echo of a heartbreak she hadn’t yet processed.---War WithinThe Council wanted answers. The Ironfang warriors wanted blood. The allied packs whispered of dissolving the alliance before it even began.And Lyra? She just wanted a moment to breathe.But leadership didn’t allow space for grief. Not now. Not with a second sleeper somewhere still among them—activated. W