Chapter 3

Change Eryx to hayes

Lyric to Lia

Lys’s pov

I could not comprehend what had happened and I most certainly wasn’t going to just run off with a stranger.

“No!” I shot back. “I am not going with you,” I pried my hands off the warm hands and immediately placed my palms over my eyes.

A loud sigh left the person and the calmest voice I had ever heard echoed in my ears.

“You can at least open your eyes now,”

I had forgotten I still had my eyes shut, and my eyelids stung.  It felt safer to keep them closed. If I did not see, maybe none of this was real. Maybe I would not have to face what had happened as I did not want to open them and be reminded of horrors. My shoulders stiffened as I pressed them in resistance, my head lowering further as if I could shrink away.

“There is no one here anymore, you can open your eyes,” the voice came out again, still calm but with something in it that made it sound final, like an order.

Slowly, I peeled my eyelids open, expecting blood, expecting claws, expecting another nightmare. The light was at first too much, blurring into my vision. I blinked and blinked again until my eyes adjusted, and then I saw him.

For a moment my body froze completely. I could not move, could not breathe right.

A man stood in front of me— no, not just any man. 

He was tall… much taller than any man I had ever seen. His body was strong, but not built like the warriors I knew. He looked like someone built to move fast, someone who could kill before you even realized he was there. His shirt clung to his chest, stained with blood.

My eyes trailed lower without my permission. Scars covered his arms, pale lines from old wounds. Instead of hiding them, he carried them like proof that he had survived things others hadn’t.

His face was sharp and hard. A strong jaw covered in dark short hairs and he likely hadn’t shaved. High cheekbones and a mouth that looked soft, but was pressed in a firm line now. His hair was black, messy and curling around his face, giving him a wild look.

A shiver ran through me, sharp and cold, and I stepped back until my spine hit the wall behind me.

His eyes glowed faintly, amber like melted  gold, and they  didn’t just look at me rather they pinned me in place. It felt like he could see through me, through every shiver in my body and every broken thought in my head. Those were not gentle eyes… They were the eyes of a predator.

I forced my voice out. “Who… who are you?” The sound came weak, almost a whisper, trembling as though my body was trying to keep me quiet.

He tilted his head slightly, like an animal observing prey and his movement was too smooth, not human at all.

“Hayes,” he said. His voice was deep and rough, like stone grinding against stone. “Not your enemy,” he added, softer.

A broken laugh escaped me before I could stop it. It sounded bitter, ugly. “That is what they said too.”

His jaw tightened. His face did not move much, but I felt the shift in him, like his control slipped for just a second but the glow in his eyes sharpened.

“If I wanted you dead,” he said slowly, each word heavy, “you would already be dead.”

The way he said it… it was not a threat. Not even close, rather it  was just a fact. Truth and knowing that made it worse.

My legs shook as I pressed harder into the wall behind me. My palms were soaked with sweat, sticking to the rough surface as my whole body screamed at me to run, but I had nowhere to go.

“Stay away from me,” I managed, my voice uneven.

He did not move closer, but it did not matter. His presence was everywhere as it had filled the room like air too thick to breathe.

“They will come back,” he said. His tone was calm again, like my fear did not matter to him. “The ones who sent them will not stop until you are gone. You can wait here and die, or you can leave with me.”

His words struck hard, and my chest clenched. Leave with him? A stranger? A man who reeked of blood and danger?

My body trembled. I could smell him now, stronger than before and he smelled familiar but I could not place where.

 “You want me to believe you are saving me?” My voice cracked as I whispered. 

It was times like these I needed Lia, she was my voice of discernment and now when I needed her the most she had gone silent. 

How on earth was I going to get out of this?

He finally blinked deliberately as his eyes never looked away from mine.

“No,” he said. His voice was quiet now, steady. “I want you to believe I need you alive.”

Something twisted inside my stomach. I did not know if being alive with him was better or worse than what I had been running from.

I wanted to scream and run but all I could do was stare at the man with glowing  eyes who had pulled me back from death.

And I hated that some part of me wondered if he would pull me back again.

Before I could ask him what he meant, the sound of footsteps reached my ears and Hayes had taken a battle stance— ready to pounce on the intruder.

The door pushed open without a knock and there he was, standing in the frame. Laurent!

Hayes relaxed after seeing him but his eyes were still alert.

“Lys,” he breathed, his voice breaking.

I flinched and turned my face away. “Leave.”

His boots scraped across the floor as he stepped inside anyway. “Please… hear me this time. I cannot lose you again.” His voice was soft, pleading, the voice I used to crave, but now it made me want to claw at my own ears.

“I said leave,” I hissed, my hands clenching into fists.

His eyes darted to the tall figure beside me and his jaw flexed. “Who is he?” His voice dropped into Alpha command.

The stranger didn’t answer, rather he ignored him but his gaze remained steady and calm, like he was waiting for me to decide.

Laurent turned back to me, his voice shifting again, desperate, warm. “Lys, come back home and be by  my side. We can fix this. You belong with me.”

My nails dug into my palms until my skin broke. “I do not belong to you anymore.”

“You do,” he pushed, stepping closer, his eyes burning with intensity. “You always will because you are mine, Lys. Nothing changes that.”

“No!” The word tore out of me. My chest rose and fell hard. “I begged for you. I screamed for you. I prayed for you to come for me. And you never did.”

“I thought you were dead! I felt our bond break. Do you know what that did to me? I went mad, Lys. Mad with grief and I searched and bled for you to come back to me. I even had to offer offerings to the Goddess every day.” His voice cracked, and he pressed a hand to his chest. “And when you were gone, when I was broken, Amaya was there. I did not plan it and I did not want it but  I could not survive alone. You cannot hate me for surviving.”

For a moment, the urge to believe him stirred in me. My heart warring with my brain and weak, twisted at the sound of his voice, the face of the man who had once been everything but then I remembered Amaya’s soft voice, her hand stroking her swollen belly, the way she called him love.

And I remembered the cell and my  child that I had I lost.

Tears blurred my eyes, but my voice came out hard. “I hate you.”

His face cracked like glass. “Lys…” He reached for me, but Hayes moved without a word, stepping between us. The air got heavy with the clash of power. Laurent’s eyes flared, but he pulled his hand back slowly, his breathing ragged.

“Lys,” he said again, softer now, almost broken. “Please. Don’t let him take you from me… please come home. Let me hold you again and let me make this right.”

I shook my head. “There is nothing left to make right.”

His jaw tightened, his eyes darkened and Something in his face shifted.

A loud bang shook the house, rattling the broken glass in the windows.

I jumped, my heart leaping into my throat. “What was that?” My voice trembled.

“Well,” he said, his voice low and sharp, “this house has just been sold off to a new buyer.” Laurent’s eyes cut into me, and this time there was no softness left— the mask fell completely. 

His gaze locked on me like a trap. “So you are left with no choice.”