CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER FIVE.

The rest of the night passed in a blur and by dawn, the servants were already assigned to their duties.

By the time the morning bell rang for breakfast, Lyra was already exhausted. She stood on a queue in the staff hall, waiting for her bowl of porridge.

The other servants consciously kept away from her, still not willing to associate.

Lyra finally held out her tray as the cook ladled out her portion. Before she could step away, a hand slammed violently into her tray.

It flew from her grip and clattered across the floor, causing her porridge to spill all over her uniform.

"Look at you," her voice dripped maliciously.

Lyra looked up. Evelyn stood in front of the queue, draped in a white fur shawl, her red lips curved into an expression of unadulterated disgust.

"Trying to play the innocent servant by day, and crawling into my mate's bed by night?" Evelyn raised her voice so everyone would hear.

The chatter died down instantly. Every eye in the room turned toward them.

Lyra wiped a smear of porridge from her wrist then held her head high as she responded "I have no interest in your mate, Evelyn.”

"Is that why I found this under Keon’s desk this morning?" Evelyn held up a blue hair tie.

It must have fallen off when Keon was trying to assert dominance the night before.

Evelyn stepped closer. "You dirty, desperate whore. You thought if you snuck into his study late at night, he’d take you back? He rejected you, Lyra! You are not worth the Heir!”

Almost immediately, the sound of Evelyn's palm slapping across Lyra’s cheek filled the air.

Lyra’s head snapped to the side. The side of her face burned instantly and within, a switch finally snapped.

She had spent three years writing his reports, three years of starving because of him. The public rejection on the day of the High moon ceremony. The humiliation within this estate.

No more.

Before Evelyn could even lower her hand, Lyra stepped into her space and struck her back.

The blow landed with enough force to snap Evelyn’s head back.

Before Evelyn could recover, Lyra swung her left hand and delivered a second, harder strike across the other side of Evelyn's face.

Evelyn shrieked, stumbling backward into one of the dining tables, knocking over cups and trays as she held her reddening cheeks in absolute shock.

"Lyra!"

A furious roar echoed from the entrance of the hall.

Keon shoved his way through the number of servants, his face red with outrage as he rushed to Evelyn’s side, pulling her up against his chest.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Keon shouted, his hand instinctively going to his hip. "Striking your future Luna?! Guards…"

"Tell them why she hit me, Keon!" Lyra yelled equally. "Tell your precious Luna why my hair tie was in your room!"

Keon froze, the color instantly draining from his face as his eyes darted nervously across the room full of watching servants. "Lyra, shut your mouth.”

"He dragged me into his room last night," Lyra said loudly, addressing the entire room. "He threw the work I had delivered aside, pinned me, and tried to force himself on me because he couldn't handle the fact that I don't belong to him anymore!"

Gasps rippled through the hall. Evelyn’s head snapped toward Keon, her eyes widening in horrific realization as she saw the sheer guilt written on his face.

"She's lying!" Keon stammered. "She's a discarded maid trying to ruin my reputation because I rejected her!"

"I am so done with your lies, Keon," Lyra interrupted, stepping directly in front of him.

"I, Lyra," she spoke the words loud enough, "hereby accept and complete your rejection. I sever what is left of our bond. I reject you as my mate, as my heir, and as my Alpha."

Keon’s lips pressed into a tight line as the lingering thread of their bond became nothing.

Lyra felt it too. The exact moment the bond disappeared.

She wouldn’t hold on anymore. She owed him nothing.

She turned her back on Keon’s pathetic frame and walked out of the hall without looking back.

He had brought her in here with a plan to use her, torture her, discard her.

Lyra caught the attention of the guards below, straightening as Alpha Killian returned through the gates.

One thought struck.

A manic smile touched her lips, her eyes lingering on Killian’s massive frame as he walked.

“I will take the only man you fear. I’ll take your father”