CHAPTER SEVEN

KAEL'S POV

The young man who entered Riven's study looked like a ghost of Lyra. Same delicate features, same grey eyes, but where hers had held warmth and hope, his held only hollow resignation.

Corbin Hart. I recognized him from pack records, though I'd never paid much attention to the omega families before.

Before her.

"Thank you for seeing me, Alphas." His voice was quiet, respectful. He kept his eyes downcast in proper omega submission.

"You said you have information about Lyra," Cassian said, leaning forward. "Where is she?"

"Gone." Corbin's hands twisted together. "She came home last night. To our family house. She... she needed help."

Something cold settled in my stomach. "And?"

"My father found out she was pregnant." He finally looked up, and the pain in his eyes was visceral. "He beat her. Told her to abort the baby. She refused and ran away."

The room went silent.

I felt my wolf surge forward, snarling with rage. Riven's hands clenched into fists on the desk. Cassian had gone perfectly still, the way he always did before violence.

"He beat her?" My voice came out deadly calm. "Your father put his hands on her?"

"Yes, Alpha." Corbin's voice cracked. "I heard everything from my room. I wanted to stop him, but I..." He looked down again, shame written across his face. "I'm an omega. He would have hurt me too."

"Where is she now?" Riven demanded.

"I don't know. She ran. I followed her to the edge of pack territory, but she crossed into human lands." He pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. "She dropped this. I think it's an address in the human city."

Cassian took the paper, studying it. "Why are you telling us this?"

"Because she told our father the baby was yours. All three of yours." Corbin's eyes moved between us. "I don't know if that's true or not, but if it is... she needs help. She's alone, pregnant, and she has nothing."

"How do we know this isn't some elaborate scheme?" Riven's voice was harsh. "Another attempt to trap us?"

"I don't care if you believe me or not." Corbin's voice held surprising steel. "I came here because my sister deserved better than what she got. From our family. From you. From everyone." He stood. "Do with the information what you will."

He turned to leave.

"Wait." I stood as well. "Your father. Where is he?"

"At home. Probably drunk by now." Corbin's jaw tightened. "He always is."

"Good."

Something in my tone made him look back at me.

"No one touches what's mine," I said quietly. "Not even an omega's father."

Corbin's eyes widened slightly. Then he nodded and left.

The moment the door closed, chaos erupted.

"We need to go after her," Cassian said immediately.

"Why?" Riven shot back. "So we can drag her back here? Force her to prove something we don't even believe?"

"She was beaten!" Cassian's voice rose. "Alone and pregnant and beaten by her own father!"

"That's not our fault!"

"Isn't it?" I cut in, and both of them looked at me. "We rejected her. Called her a liar. Sent her away with nothing. Where else was she supposed to go?"

Riven ran his hands through his hair, agitated. "This is insane. We can't just drop everything and chase after some omega who might be carrying our child."

"Might be?" Cassian stood, his usual charm completely gone. "You keep saying that, but we all know the truth. We were there. We know what happened that night."

"One night doesn't mean—"

"We knotted her!" Cassian's voice cracked. "All three of us. Multiple times. And her hormone levels are elevated beyond anything Dr. Harrison has ever seen. What more proof do you need?"

"Proof that won't ruin everything we've built!" Riven shouted back. "Our packs, our alliances, our futures—all of it goes away the moment we acknowledge that child!"

"Then maybe it deserves to go away," I said quietly.

Both of them stared at me.

"What?" Riven asked.

I moved to the window, looking out over Bloodmoon territory. "What kind of leaders are we if we can't take responsibility for our own actions? What kind of alphas abandon their mate—" I stopped myself. "Abandon a woman carrying their child?"

"She's not our mate," Riven said, but his voice lacked conviction.

"Are you sure?" I turned back to them. "Because my wolf has been going insane since she left. I can't sleep. Can't focus. Every time I close my eyes, I see her face. Hear her voice. Feel her."

Cassian nodded slowly. "Same. I thought it was just guilt, but..."

"It's more than guilt." I pressed my fist against my chest. "It's here. Constant. Like something's been ripped out of me."

Riven was quiet for a long moment. Then he cursed softly. "Me too. I thought I was losing my mind."

"The mate bond," Cassian said. "That's what it is. That's what we've been feeling."

"But mate bonds form at first touch," Riven protested. "We've known Lyra for years. If she was our mate, we would have known."

"Would we?" I challenged. "Or were we too blind to see it? Too focused on our duties and responsibilities to recognize what was right in front of us?"

The silence stretched.

"Even if she is our mate," Riven said finally, "even if that baby is ours... what do we do? Show up in the human world and demand she come back? She won't. Not after what we did."

"Then we make it right," Cassian said. "However long it takes. However hard it is. We find her, we protect her, and we prove we're not the bastards who threw her away."

"And our packs?" Riven asked. "The scandal? The political fallout?"

"We deal with it." I met both their eyes. "Together. The way we should have from the beginning."

Riven looked between us, conflict written all over his face. Then he cursed again and slumped back against the desk. "This is going to be a disaster."

"Probably," Cassian agreed.

"We'll be the laughing stock of every pack in the region."

"Definitely."

"And if we're wrong? If the baby isn't ours?"

"Then we deal with that too," I said. "But Riven... what if we're right?"

The weight of that settled over all of us.

"So we're doing this?" Riven asked. "Really doing this?"

"We're doing this," I confirmed.

Cassian picked up the address Corbin had left. "She's in the human city. About a hundred miles east. We could be there by tomorrow."

"No."

Both of them looked at me.

"Not yet," I said. "First, we need to handle some things here. Secure our packs. Make arrangements. We can't just disappear without preparation."

"Kael—"

"And we need to think about what we're going to say when we find her." I met Cassian's eyes. "We can't just show up and expect her to forgive us. We destroyed her. Broke her. Called her a liar when she needed us most."

"So what do you suggest?" Riven asked.

"We give her space. For now." The words hurt to say, but I knew they were necessary. "We make sure she's safe, that she has what she needs, but we don't approach her. Not until we're ready. Not until we can offer her more than empty apologies."

"And how long will that take?" Cassian asked.

"As long as it needs to."

Riven shook his head. "I don't like it. Every instinct is telling me to go to her now."

"Mine too," I admitted. "But we owe her better than our instincts. We owe her a real choice. A real chance to decide what she wants."

"What if she doesn't want us?" Cassian's voice was small.

"Then we accept that." The words tasted like ash. "And we still take care of her and the baby. From a distance, if that's what she needs."

They were both quiet, processing.

"There's one more thing," I said. "Corbin mentioned their father."

Riven's eyes darkened. "What about him?"

"He put his hands on Lyra. On a pregnant omega under our pack's protection."

"She wasn't under our protection," Riven pointed out. "We rejected her, remember?"

"Doesn't matter." My voice went cold. "He touched what's ours. That requires a response."

Cassian's smile was sharp and dangerous. "What did you have in mind?"

"A visit. To make sure he understands that his daughter—pregnant or not, omega or not—is off limits."

"I'll come with you," Riven said immediately.

"So will I," Cassian added.

I nodded. "Good. We go tonight. Make it clear. Then we start making arrangements to watch over Lyra from a distance."

"And after that?" Riven asked.

"After that, we wait. We plan. We become the alphas she deserves." I looked at both of them. "And when the time is right, we bring our mate and our child home."

The word felt right. Mate. It had always been right, I realized. We'd just been too blind to see it.

"This is going to change everything," Cassian said softly.

"I know."

"The packs won't accept it easily."

"They'll learn to."

"And if they don't?" Riven asked.

"Then they can challenge me." My wolf rose to the surface, dominant and sure. "And I'll remind them why I'm Alpha."

Both of them nodded, that same determination settling over their features.

We'd made our choice.

Now we just had to live with the consequences.

And pray that when we finally found Lyra again, she'd give us a chance to make things right.

Even though we probably didn't deserve it.