#14: Nyra

Nyra

I didn’t sleep.

That was the first lie I told myself.

The second was that the kiss hadn’t rattled me.

Both were exposed the moment I walked beside Lucien through the lower corridors of the keep, replaying the way his mouth had carefully fit against mine, like he’d known exactly how long I would let him linger before I shoved him away. The nerve of him, kissing me like that, saying what he said afterward with that calm, infuriating certainty.

I’d be damned if I don’t know what my mate tastes like before the bond is broken.

Strangely enough though, Lyr wasn’t reacting the way I’d have expected. Instead, she was pacing beneath my ribs, her attention fixed squarely on Lucien. She was watchful, ears up, tail stiff, the way she got when something important was about to happen and she didn’t trust the silence around it.

I didn’t trust her behaviour just then, but no matter how much I coaxed, she stayed silent, refusing to divulge her plans to me.

Lucien also wasn’t speak. The silence from both of them was suffocating so I broke it first:

“You know, if this is your idea of easing someone into a ritual, I’d hate to see what you consider intimidating.”

He didn’t slow or turn. “You’re not required to be comfortable.”

“Ah... Just the words every girl wants to hear from the man who kissed her five minutes ago,” I said dryly.

His jaw tightened, visible even from behind. “You know, this can be done with just one of us. If you’d rather return to your room–”

“No... no,” I cut in, “You’ve already dragged me halfway across the mountain. Might as well get this over with so you can kill me already.”

That earned me a brief glance over his shoulder, heated in a way that had nothing to do with anger.

Once again, Lyr didn’t lean into it like she usually did, she just paced within me, silently watching, and it was beginning to get highly suspicious.

You okay girl? I asked her.

No response.

Before I could think much of it, we emerged into the ceremony ground, a wide circular chamber carved straight into the heart of the rock. Thick roots twisted through the ceiling, splitting stone and letting moonlight spill down in pale, uneven streaks. The floor was etched with old markings worn smooth by centuries of use, lines that spoke of ritual and blood and choices made when the world was younger and crueller.

Tatia stood waiting at the centre, looking bored. Her eyes slid over me slowly, missing nothing, then moved to Lucien. “Rude to keep a lady waiting, Alpha. But just for you, I’ll forgive the transgression this one time.”

Lucien stopped a few paces from her. “Let’s get this over with.”

Tatia winked at him, then turned her gaze reluctantly toward me, “This will not be painless.”

“I’d be worried if it was,” I said.

Tatia’s mouth twitched. “Bold. I like her.”

“I don’t,” Lucien muttered.

She raised her hands, and the air shifted. Not magic exactly... it felt more like pressure, like the world drawing a breath and holding it.

Lyr lifted her head and slowly rose.

Easy, I murmured to her, though my heart had already started to race.

Tatia began to speak, her voice low and rhythmic, the words sliding into my skull rather than my ears. The markings beneath our feet pulsed faintly, a dull glow threading through the stone.

At first, it felt like someone tightening a band around my chest. Not painful, but uncomfortable, like breathing against resistance. I swallowed and held my ground.

Then Lyr leapt forward.

She slammed forward so hard it knocked the breath from my lungs, heat flaring beneath my ribs, sharp and furious and possessive all at once. My knees buckled, and I would have gone down if Lucien hadn’t caught me by the arms.

“What’s happening,” I gasped.

Tatia ignored me, words I didn’t recognize rolling off her tongue as she mixed liquids and drew symbols in the air.

Lyr lunged again, reaching for Lucien’s wolf across the space between us, as I felt a force in my chest so strong, it felt like my ribs were cracking.

“Ahhhhhhh!” I screamed in agony, helpless as my insides were being torn apart.

Lucien swore. “Stop. Tatia, stop now.”

Mate

I heard the word whispered in my head but it was in a foreign and unfamiliar voice.

Mate, was whispered in my head again and this time, it was Lyr's voice. I realized then that the first voice I heard must’ve been Lucien wolf.

The pull didn’t weaken. It intensified, roaring through me, not just toward him but through him, like the space between us had collapsed entirely. I could feel him too clearly, his presence loud and unfiltered, his wolf pressing hard in response to mine.

Lyr was fighting against the bond's severance.

Why, you little...

Tatia staggered back, her eyes wide with alarm. “That shouldn’t have happened.”

“Well it damn well did!” I snapped, gripping Lucien’s forearms as Lyr pressed harder, furious at the intrusion. “So maybe undo it.”

“I can’t,” she said. “Not like this.”

Lucien’s eyes burned. “Explain.”

“The bond resisted,” Tatia said carefully. “The connection echoed back on itself.  Instead of loosening, it amplified.”

“And what exactly does that mean?” I asked, catching my breath as Lyr retreated within me, satisfied.

“It means your damn wolves fought back,” she deadpanned.

Lyr snarled, offended on a deeply personal level.

Lucien’s grip tightened. “Well, fix it.”

“I can't,” Tatia admitted. “Not tonight, anyway. With the amount of resistance I’m getting from your wolves, this will have to be done during the full moon so that I can harvest from the strength of the Moon Goddess herself.”

With that, she packed her things quickly and left, the door echoing shut behind her.

Lucien laughed without humour. “Well, that was a disaster.”

~

We climbed back upstairs in tense silence, the amplified connection humming between us. When we got to my door, Lucien paused to look at me, breathing hard. “You feel that?”

“Lyr’s about to burst out and claim territory,” I muttered.

He exhaled slowly. “We’ll deal with it tomorrow.”

I started to nod, then: “What’s the name of your wolf?”

“Ebon.”

“Lyr really doesn’t want to let Ebon go.”

Lyr perked up at that, wagging her tail in excitement, pulling at my chest to urge me closer to him. I ignored her as best as I could, but it was hard to ignore that the bond felt significantly stronger now than before the ritual.

Lucien looked like he was about to say something, then thought better of it.

“Try to get some sleep,” he said finally, then turned on his heel and walked away.

I swallowed and walked over to my bed, still exhausted from the evening’s events. As soon as I shoved my face into the pillow, I realized his scent still clung to the fabric from when he laid on it after the attack.

I dragged in a breath and immediately regretted it.

Lyr huffed in excitement, then surged again, pressing from my chest toward him like she’d made a decision and expected me to catch up.

“Talk to me, girl,” I whispered to her. “What is it with this one man that you refuse to let him go?”

She didn’t respond, just flared again, heat curling low in my belly. I clenched my jaw and squeezed my eyes shut.

The last thing I remembered thinking before sleep took me, was that I would march back to his door in the morning and make him explain exactly what his witch had done to us.