登入Lyra’s POV Four days had gone by with Mara, Rowan, Cassian, and Kael following me through the wilderness toward Star Pack, all of us chasing the same fragile hope. Amber. That name had become the only thing keeping me moving. We were dirty, injured, hungry, and I was pretty sure we were all partially dehydrated at this point. My mouth felt like sand, my muscles ached with every step, and every breath tasted like pine, dirt, and exhaustion. I was also pretty sure I heard Kael and Cassian grumbling more than once that if we were all wolves, this would’ve gone by much quicker. Sadly, I agreed with them. Not that I would ever admit it out loud. We followed the river as much as we could, using the water to cover our tracks whenever the ground allowed it. It slowed us down, but it also kept us just one step ahead of literally everyone tracking us. Aurelia’s soldiers. Wolves loyal to the Snow Pack. Whoever else had decided we were worth hunting through half the damn territory.
Amber’s POVWe both moved without looking rushed. Miri returned to the towels. I sat at the vanity and lifted my hair away from the mark, exposing it in the mirror just as Richard walked in. He wore black, because of course he did. Mourning suited men who liked people watching them suffer. His dark hair was tied back, his jaw clean-shaven, his Star Pack ring gleaming on his hand. He looked powerful. He looked calm. He looked like a man who had never once considered the possibility that the woman he locked away might be thinking. “Amber,” he said. His voice made my stomach turn. I lowered my eyes because survival was sometimes uglier than defiance. “Alpha.” His gaze went straight to the mark on my neck. Satisfaction softened his mouth. “You look better.” “I rested.” “You needed it.” I almost told h
Amber’s POVBeta Flynn was new. Too new for most of the council to trust and too young for the old wolves to respect without choking on it first. He had dark blond hair, quiet eyes, and the kind of controlled danger that made even stronger men watch their mouths around him. He had been raised along the borders and promoted faster than anyone expected after the last Beta died in the chaos around Lucian’s death. Richard had wanted a useful Beta. He had gotten Flynn instead. Flynn was idealistic enough to believe Star Pack could still be saved and dangerous enough to make men regret laughing at him for it. Most importantly, Flynn hated Richard. Everyone with eyes knew it. “Beta Flynn has been careful,” Miri said. “He obeys in public, but he’s been moving warriors off Richard’s private patrols and replacing them with border-trained wolves. Quietly. He also spoke with Gamma James last night.” My heart beat harder. “What did they say?” “I don’t know. They were in the lower armory.
Amber’s POVAlpha Richard had kept me locked in his penthouse since the night he marked me. That was the plainest way to say it. No pretty words. No softened edges. No pretending the silk sheets, polished floors, and silver trays of untouched food made this room anything other than a cage. He had forced his mark onto my neck and called it fate. He had pushed his claim into my skin and called it duty. He had told me Star Pack needed a Luna now that Lucian was dead, as if grief gave him permission to take whatever woman he wanted and make her useful. My throat tightened, but I refused to cry again. I had done enough of that after he left. Crying had not unlocked the door. Crying had not scrubbed his scent off my skin. Crying had not made the bite on my neck hurt less every time my pulse beat beneath it. So I stopped crying. I sat by the window instead, wrapped in a robe I had not chosen, staring down at the heart of Star Pack territory while my mind worked itself into something
Lyra’s POVFor one second, no one spoke.Then Kael said, “No.”I let out a humorless laugh. “That was fast.”“Because it is insane.”“That’s usually how my best ideas start.”Cassian’s expression darkened as he stared at the mark on the map. “Star Pack is unstable. Lucian is dead. Richard is there. Amber is there. Half the pack may be grieving, half may be looking for someone to blame, and all of them will smell us before we ever reach the border.”“Exactly,” I said.Rowan blinked at me. “I feel like you skipped the part where that became a good thing.”I leaned over the table, ignoring the pull in my sore muscles and the ache buried deep in my bones. “Aurelia would never expect me to run toward Star Pack. Not after Lucian. Not after everything. The wolves hunting us would expect us to avoid it too. Snow Pack and Arrow Pack scouts won’t want to cross straight into Star territory without permission, especially with tensions this high. Aurelia won’t push into the heart of a wolf pack un
Lyra’s POV Even after a second round that had left us smeared in each other's bodily fluids and dried blood, Mara still had not returned. Rowan was lying on the cot, trying to look like he wasn't on death’s door, and the two semi-immortal self-healing bastards that I'm now mated with and who I just fucked are standing over in the corner whispering. I started pacing, trying to get my senses back on track. My face was still bright red from sex and also embarrassment because what the fuck just happened? I'd have to shove that thought deep down somewhere to dwell on that another day. I twirled a piece of my dirty black hair in my hand as I kept trying to come up with some kind of plan to get us out of this predicament. It wasn't only the damn werewolves now looking for us, it was Aurelia. I knew Commander Rourke wouldn't like any of this, but would he really send subpar hit squads to take us out? Maybe someone forged his name, or maybe it was the council members at play? And what the
Lyra’s POV “Welcome to Alpha Academy” Not trying to look at the Alpha any longer than necessary, we both muttered, “Thank you, Alpha.” This man is seriously creepy, but in an odd way, why did he look vaguely familiar? Shaking it off, I grabbed Rowan’s hand, and under the order of the comman
Lyra’s POV I quietly slipped out of the bed, my senses alert as I observed that Rowan was taking his time. I swear, he could be more prissy than a woman. But then again, what I had said to him earlier, especially after us having sex, might have gotten him in his feelings more than he let on. With
Lucian’s POVThe human girl, they call her Lyra, is now sitting beside me in the dimly lit classroom. I had tried to object, to move away or protest, but I knew Professor Judith would quickly call my dad or, worse, my mom—both known for their strict discipline and no-nonsense attitudes. That sounde
Lyra’s POV My fingers gently traced the lamented itinerary pressed against my hand. The glint of the plastic catches the fluorescent ceiling lights, listing the classes I’ll be attending this semester, arranged in a four-block system: Leadership Classes - Senior Block 1: Diplomacy - 8:30 AM Blo







