09

Lyra’s POV

I sat on the floor near the fireplace, my fingers curled on my laps as pa took a sit opposite me. He was fidgety and kept shifting in his chair.

"Pa, is everything alright? You keep fidgeting." I asked him curiously.

"I'm okay my dear. It's just that I really find it hard to talk about it." Maddox said and then he started.

“Your mother, Rhea, was like you. Kind. Gentle. Too soft for a world that didn’t know how to love softness. They treated her like dirt because she was an omega too. She was quiet, but there was fire in her. I saw it. She reminded me of her mother, my wife.

She was just a girl when they started picking on her. It was cruel, even back then.

But one day, she came home… different.

Her cheeks were flushed. Her eyes brighter.

I asked her why.

She said, "He picked up my books, Papa. He told them to stop."

I didn’t think much of it. Teenagers do reckless things. But weeks passed, and her eyes only grew softer. She looked more alive and happy.

One day, I followed her into the woods. That’s when I saw him.

Maddox paused.

"Saw who pa?" I asked curiously, my eyes widening.

"Lucien. Your father." He replied with bitterness in his voice.

I gasped, "my.....dad."

“She told me they met in secret. That she had never felt safer. But I warned her. Wolves don’t trust people easily, especially not for strangers.

Then came the mating ceremony.

She wore that pale dress. The one you have now.

She stood under the moon, praying to be mated to Lucien. But when the thread of fate appeared… it tied her to another boy.

Lucien was in the crowd, watching.

He didn’t say a word. He just turned and left.

Rhea ran after him, she followed him to the woods begging him to talk.

She then asked why he wasn’t paired to someone else at least.

That’s when he told her the truth.”

FLASHBACK

“I wasn’t given a mate,” Lucien said, his voice hollow. “Because I’m not a wolf.”

Rhea blinked. “What do you mean?”

"You heard me, I am not a wolf." He said.

"If you're not one of us then what......" Rhea gulped before she continued. "What are you?"

“I’m a vampire.” Lucien said without hesitation.

She gasped. “A what—”

He then looked away, “I understand if you’re afraid. You don't have to be with me anymore. And I'm sorry I kept this as a secret for a long time.” He then walked away.

Rhea shook her head and yelled, “I’m not afraid of you.”

Lucien stopped in his tracks and looked back at her, clearly shocked. "Why?" He managed to say.

"I ....I just don't care what you are. I love you Lucien." She said as she walked to him, closing the distance between them.

"I love you." She said again, holding his hands.

Lucien looked at her with a mixture of love and lust in his eyes. He cupped her cheeks and smashed his lips on hers. Rhea responded to the kiss, her hands finding his hair and tangling her fingers between them.

He suddenly stopped and pulled away.

"Why?" Rhea asked as she caught her breath.

"We can't do this right here, we can't be together. We shouldn't......" His words were interrupted as she placed her index on his lips, shushing him.

"Shhhh, we can. I know you feel the same way for me. Let's enjoy the moment." She said as she pulled her dress over her head.

Lucien looked at her and pulled her in for another passionate kiss, his hands touching every part of her body. Rhea moaned into the kiss as she held unto him, not wanting to let the moment end.

FLASHBACK ENDS

“Foolish girl,” Maddox said with a soft chuckle, eyes gleaming with memory. “She loved him anyway. They left the pack. Built a little cabin deeper in the forest. Said they didn’t need anyone else.

When she got pregnant, Lucien cried. Said it was a miracle. They kept it a secret. Only I knew.

But secrets don’t stay buried

“One day, a hunter saw Lucien, he was hunting for food but he didn't do it like a wolf, Said he didn’t smell right either. They concluded that he was a vampire. The Crescent elders gathered the next morning, furious.

‘Bring out the bloodsucker!’ they yelled.

Rhea refused. She stood alone, belly round with you and faced them.

They didn’t care that she was pregnant. They dragged her from the porch. Beat her. Called her traitor. Her screams echoed through the trees.

And Lucien heard them.

He arrived just in time to them torturing you mother.

He burst through them like lightning. Killed seven wolves in seconds. They tried to fight, but he was too fast. Too strong.

He saved her life that night.

But when it was over… he saw the fear in her eyes. Not because of what he was but because she knew what the pack would do to them next.

So he ran.

He kissed her forehead and vanished before the sun rose.

He never came back.

The silence stretched after Maddox stopped speaking.

The fire cracked once.

I stared at the fire. “So he left… to protect us.”

Maddox nodded. “He loved her. And you. Enough to disappear.”

I swallowed hard. Something inside me stirred.

Half wolf, Half vampire. The legacy of a forbidden love. I had read about that once in the School's library. I thought it was just a myth.

“So I’m not just a wolf pa?” I whispered.

“No,” Maddox said. “You’re your mother’s daughter. And his.” "A hybrid with both bloods coursing through your veins."

Maddox’s voice faded into silence. The only sound left was the soft crackle of the firewood and the quiet whistle of wind pressing against the windows.

My heart ached with a heaviness I hadn’t known before not just from the truth about my father, but from the weight of my mother’s love. Everything she endured. Everything she protected me from.

I stood, slow and thoughtful.

“Thank you pa,” I whispered to Maddox.

He didn’t reply. Just nodded once and stared back into the flames.

I turned away, climbing the creaky steps to my small room. I pushed the door open and locked it and I dropped onto my bed, curling into the old quilt.

As I laid back, the room dim and quiet, another memory flickered to life.

FLASHBACK

A much younger me nestled in a blanket, my little fingers tugging on the hem of my mother’s dress as she stirred something in the old iron pot.

The smell of garlic and fresh herbs filled the air.

She turned and smiled, wiping her hands on her apron. “You’re hungry again, little moon?”

I nodded.

She bent down to my height and poked my nose gently. “Dinner will be ready soon. But only if you help me set the table.”

I giggled and rushed to the table, dragging a wooden stool behind me.

Later that night, after stories and supper, I curled into her side under a thin quilt as she hummed a lullaby. Her voice was gentle, like wind through the leaves. I always fell asleep to the same melody.

But there was one night… I remember it more clearly than the others.

I had turned to her, eyes sleepy but curious, and asked, “Where is my dad?”

She paused for a long time, then looked up at the ceiling as if she were reaching for something out of memory.

Then she smiled softly, touched her fingers to my chest, and whispered, “He’s in here. He’ll always be with you.”

FLASHBACK ENDS

The memory faded, and I blinked up at the shadows dancing across the ceiling.

My eyes fluttered closed, heart full with understanding.

“I understand now,” I murmured into the dark.

And then, with a deep exhale, I let myself drift into sleep…

cradled by the memory of her warmth and the strength flowing through my blood.

The night was quiet.

My dreams came slowly at first, just flashes of the moon, trees swaying, a heartbeat pounding in my ears.

Then, the world shifted.

I was standing in a forest, the trees blackened and twisted, their branches clawing at a crimson sky. Fog hugged the ground, thick and suffocating. The air smelled like ash and burnt wood.

I saw… me.

Another me standing just a few feet away, her hair wild, her eyes filled with fire and fury. She was fighting something. Shadows. Endless, snarling, writhing darkness.

“What are you doing?” I called out, stepping forward.

But my voice was hollow.

She didn’t hear me. She swung her fists at the dark figures, her body moving with both grace and desperation.

I took another step, trying to reach her, but something invisible held me back. Like thick glass between us.

“No,” I whispered, pressing my palms forward. “Let me help you.”

She screamed in rage and struck harder but the darkness kept coming.

I fought to move and to cross the space between us. My feet dragged. My lungs burned.

“Fight!” I shouted. “I’m here!”

But she couldn’t hear me.

And then… the shadows surged all at once.

They wrapped around her, pulling her down like a wave crashing over stone.

“No, no, NO—!” I screamed.

Her glowing eyes locked with mine one last time.

And then…the darkness devoured her.

I felt it. Like it happened to me.

I woke up, Gasping for air and Sweating.

My chest heaved with every ragged breath as I shot upright in bed.

The room was pitch black but something felt… wrong.

I looked down at my hands.

I saw....claws.

Long, sharp, glinting like blades in the moonlight.

My eyes darted to the mirror beside my dresser.

And I froze.

My eyes were glowing yellow

“No…” I whispered, heart pounding. “What’s happening to me?”

Then came the voices.

At first a whisper. Then a chorus.

A hundred voices. A thousand. Louder, Echoing, Screaming.

🗣️“She’s awakening.”

🗣️“She cannot be both.”

🗣️“The blood is bonding.”

🗣️“You are the key.”

“Stop!” I cried out, grabbing my head. “Get out of my head!”

I screamed, falling to my knees.

The door burst open.

“Lyra!” Maddox shouted.

He rushed toward me but before he could touch me, my vision blurred, my limbs gave out, and everything went cold.