Chapter 1

THE SENT OF DESTINY.

Lyra POV

"Kael is here!" the guards shouted.

The arrow whizzed past my face, grazing my skin, before sinking into the wall behind me. I crashed to the ground, my back slamming into the stone as I pressed my trembling hands on my chest.

"Damn it," I muttered.

It's Kael. My brother. Even over the clash of steel below, I could still hear his vow: that he'd take back what was his, no matter who he had to kill. 

In the courtyard below, swords clashed and men screamed, their cries drowned by the ringing of steel. 

I moved toward the tower window and gripped the wall.

Kael lunged at the guard and drove his sword into the guard's chest. The guard fell, and blood spread all over the ground.

I felt a sharp pain as my stomach twisted. I swallowed the pain.

This is my fault.

My throat burned as I choked back the words, If only the council had chosen my brother. A wolf howled. 

Another group joined in. Kael's warriors had brought their hounds.

Should I run away? Or I should return to my room as the weak omega that I am and let the alphas kill themselves.

I couldn't move my leg as I watched people die because of a crown I never desired.

The wind changed, bringing a smell that made my wolf uneasy.

Something caught my breath.

"No!" I held the windowsill; my omega nose didn't lie. "This can't be happening," I whispered. But my body failed me. As heat rushes through my veins.

My heart pounded as I bit my lips to keep quiet. My mate is down there in the middle of the fight. Fighting my family, as the scent grew stronger and closer.

I looked across the courtyard, and I saw him, a drake shape moving between Kael's men like a shadow...

 His eye locked on me from a distance..."You," I whispered without meaning to.

His lips curved into the faintest of smiles, as though he heard me, though the clash of steel still rang in the air.

Oh, no, Marcus Thornfield, the winter wolf. My brother's worst enemy. His pack's blood is on Kael's hand. And now he's here, cutting down my guards like a shadow.

He looked up like he felt I was watching him. His nose twitched. He smelled me. 

The fighting ended.

For a second, everything stopped. 

We gazed at each other, enemies who somehow know each other.

An arrow hit his feet.

He turned as I saw him step forward from the tower window. As his alpha pushed him to break in and take what was in the same way, my omega screamed to go to him.

Then…

"Princess!" Captain Reynolds burst in, blood streaking his armor. He bowed his head, breathless.

"How bad is it?"

"Your brother has withdrawn, Your Highness. This is just a warning; the real fight will come tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," Marcus will be my enemy. This mate, fate has chosen for me, is about to destroy all I was born to protect.

"Princess!" Captain Reynolds drew closer with a concerned voice.

"You are injured? You look pale..."

"I'm fine," I interrupted, hugging myself, though my hands trembled.

"Just tired," I said, forcing a smile.

He studied me for a moment, then sighed. "Very well, your Highness. We'll double the guards at your door tonight."

"That is not necessary..."

"It is," he cut in sharply. His eyes darkened. "Your brother... He might come for you next."

His words hit me like a stone. "Come for me?"

Reynolds' jaw tightened. "Yes," your Highness. "If Kael can't take the throne overnight, he'll take you to control it. Don't underestimate him.

"I looked away. Of course," I murmured, forcing my hands to still.

Reynolds glanced back at the door. "If you need anything tonight...

"I'll call".

He hesitated, then bowed. "Try to rest.

The moment he left, I returned to the window once more. By the time I got to the window, the courtyard was empty; only the dead bodies remained. 

Everybody has withdrawn to plan for another attack.

He tempts me. I pressed my head on the wall as I closed my eyes.

In some stories, mates are perfect. What if fate were somehow funny? What if it gives you a lover you will never love without you losing all that you loved?

"Marcus Thornfie," I called his name in the dark. It looks like being saved and cursed at the same time.

Tomorrow I'd like to choose the right alpha to settle with. Someone strong enough to give me the power I needed to take the throne and stop Kael's madness.

The council already had a list of alphas, powerful alphas from important packs, who could help me. But none of them smell like Marcus. None of them will make my heart race by just looking at them. Or any of them, the man the moon goddess has chosen for me.

I turned away from the window, my jaw clenched, not just in resolve but in defense. As if I could change fat itself.

"I, Lyra of Raven Crest, the next queen... I whispered to the empty room. I must protect my people, no matter what it will cost me. Even I was killed. Even if I spent the rest of my life asking myself what might have been."

The tower room grew colder as I stepped towards the door. Each step reminds me of the scent that comes from the courtyard.

And a thought came into my mind.

What if Marcus had felt it too? What if Marcus were pacing around his fortress right now, just as I am restless? What if fate knew exactly what it was doing?

This was reckless. It was treason.

As I left the tower room, moving towards my chamber, I couldn't forget the incident that happened that evening.

War is coming to Raven Crest.

Kael will stop at nothing until he takes what he thought was his. And somewhere out there, my mate is planning on how to destroy my family. 

But under all the fighting and hard decisions, one thing is sure.

I found him.

Against everything, my other half is out there. Nothing, no duty, no danger, would keep him from me now. But the biggest question is, what should I do?.

I don't know.

Immediately after I entered my room, I heard the guard taking their post outside my room. Then I realized one thing is certain. 

Tonight has changed everything.

There is no going back.