Chapter 2

Lyrielle

They locked me inside my room. Well, what was once my room. There was nothing left of me in there. Every piece of my life had been erased within the span of 48 hours. All those countless memories, gone.

Except for the large, imposing grandfather clock pressed close to the door. Each tick of the hand a reminder that my time was limited on this earth.

How had it come to this? I was theirs, by the right of the Goddess and the promise of Cillian’s parents. I. Was. Theirs.

Yet some part of me always knew that Gishlaine would have the last laugh. I always saw the way they looked at her, even when they knew I was looking at them.

Fear forced my heart into a rapid beat. Made it slam into my ribs with staggering force. I hadn’t felt this helpless since my parents’ demise 18 years ago.

This time, there would be nothing and no one to save me…

Curling my legs beneath me, I slid down to the floor. Felt my thumping heart and prayed that my end would be swift. The forest was brutal and unforgiving. No one beside the strongest of Alphas ever dared venture beyond the borders of their pack.

And now I was going to go into the darkness alone.

‘Not alone…’ my wolf whispered to me, the first thing she had said in days. She had tried to warn me. Tried time and time again to persuade me not to get my hopes up. I hadn’t listened.

But even if I had, where would I have gone? We have gone? There was nothing but brutality outside of our borders.

‘To them,’ she replied softly, but I brushed off her words. There was no them. No one else who would willingly take in a rejected mate. Wolves favoured the strong and culled the weak.

Sadly, I was the latter.

My raging thoughts seemed to silence her once more.

Another tick of the clock. Another ache deep inside me, knowing that I was heading toward my end. The ticking remained the only constant. Drove me close to madness.

The seconds hand seemed to fly past me, over and over again, the morning fleeing into afternoon without so much as an inch of regret and sadness flagging.

No one bothered to feed me. Why would they when they knew I would be dead before dawn? Why waste food on-

The door to the room rattled, startling me out of my eerie thoughts. But my body refused to move, frozen in place. My eyes darted to the clock, but it was only nine at night, two hours away from my execution.

Rattling again, I heard a curse behind the door before the wood splintered inward. This had me up on my feet within a second. Tingles ran down my legs, making me wobble for a bit before catching myself against the wall.

Another curse from behind the door. More splintered wood. The last impact came, and a head of golden hair slid through the shards.

Jared!

 Hope unfurled inside of me, humming to life. He was here. He would save me! He would choose me!

“Lyrielle!” He exclaimed in a harsh whisper, rushing to my side. His green eyes scanned me for any sign of abuse. Bruises. Marks. Anything out of the ordinary.

So many questions ran through me, but they all vanished the moment his arms wrapped around my frame and pulled me toward him. The steady thump of his heart against my ear washed the previous turmoil from me.

“Jared!” I whispered back and inhaled him deeply, the scent of him calming. “Where have you been?” I asked, fresh tears pricking my eyes.

He pulled an inch away from me. His eyes became bleary with his own unshed tears. “You have to understand, Lyra. Please, understand,” He begged, eyes falling away from my face. Something odd coated his voice. Regret? No, it tasted more like acid than regret.

“What’s going on?” Apprehension clawed at my insides, and my wolf perked her ears again. Raised her hackles.

“There isn’t much time to explain, Lyra. Just come with me and put this on,” he said and shoved himself away from me so he could hand me what looked like a velvet cape.

“Why won’t you look me in the eye?” I asked a tad too softly.

His shoulders stiffened, but he shoved the cape into my hands, regardless. His lips pressed into a tight line, but he refused to lift his eyes to mine.

“You know where Gishlaine comes from. You know how strong her family is…” he replied, drifting off before he could finish his thoughts.

When I didn’t immediately put the cape around my shoulders, Jared rushed forward and grabbed the thing out of my hands. He draped it effortlessly around my shoulders, fastening it at the base of my throat.

“Jared, look at me,” I asked and curled my finger beneath his chin. Sparks danced across our skin, but the moment it did, he reared away from me.

“This is the only way I know to keep you safe. The only way you can survive. I arranged everything. If you go south, he will meet you at the border just past midnight. You’ll be enslaved but alive-“

“Enslaved!” I exclaimed, my heart jumping into my throat. Nausea overcame me. I didn’t know which option I dreaded more. Death by the forest and all that dwelled inside it, or enslaved.

Realization slammed into me.

He wasn’t here to stand by his decision to keep me as his mate. He was here to barter me away. All so I could live. If anyone found out what he had just done, how he had just broken one of our oldest rules, he would be given the same fate as me.

Left to die in the forest around us.

“Please, Lyra! Just go south. They gave you an hour head start, but I am here to give you three. Three hours and you’ll be at the southern border, and you will live!” He urged.

Finally, Jared lifted his eyes to mine. Finally, he showed me just how utterly scared he was for my sake. And it petrified me.

Grasping the clasps of the cape with one hand, I nodded sternly at him. “I understand. Thank you. I know what you are risking by keeping me alive, and I don’t know how I will ever repay you for this kindness. Just know, I will always hold a place in my heart for you.”