Mag-log inWhen I arrived, I ignored the warriors who greeted me. I ignored the maid who asked whether I needed help. I went to my room and pulled a suitcase from beneath the bed.
I wasn't thinking about where I would go.
I didn't care. I could return to the vampire nest. I could find my brother. I could disappear somewhere nobody knew my name.
Anything was better than staying here.
The door burst open.
“Raya!”
I didn't turn around.
“Get
Lyrien’s POVThankfully, the meeting place was on the way to the location where Damon expected me to meet him. I still had enough time to stop and talk to my uncle before heading to the meeting.“Did you really have nothing to do with why Ryan changed his mind?” I asked Alexi for the third time.I wanted to make sure he didn’t force this meeting.He let out a breath in frustration. “I didn’t. I have already told you that he was the one who approached me. Not the other way around.”“It’s still hard to believe,” I pointed out. “Considering you’re never considerate of people’s feelings.”“I’m not, but I don’t like vampires. As I said, I only gave him a place to stay because it was convenient.”“A prison,” I mumbled under my breath.After that, we stopped talking until we reached the meeting point. It was in a small restaurant tucked away on a quiet street.At first, I wondered whether I had made a mistake. The place looked closed for the day, with chairs neatly arranged around the tables
Lyrien’s POVThe journey back to the hotel was painfully quiet.Dimitri kept one hand on the steering wheel and the other intertwined with mine. Every now and then, he glanced at me, but he didn't push me to talk.I was grateful for that.Because I didn't know what to say.I had gone looking for my uncle, believing that finding him might bring us one step closer to preventing the war. Instead, I had discovered a man so consumed by his grief and hatred that he couldn't even look at his own sister without seeing a betrayal.And yet, I couldn't bring myself to hate him.Perhaps it was because I had seen the pain in his eyes when he spoke about my mother. Perhaps it was because I understood what it meant to lose someone and be left with questions that could never be answered.Or perhaps it was simply because he was my uncle.“I thought he might want to know me,” I finally whispered.Dimitri squeezed my hand. “He might, one day.”I shook my head. “He looked at you as though he wanted to ki
Lyrien’s POV“Dimitri is my mate,” I said first, hoping that would calm him down, but it had the contrary effect.Ryan's attention snapped toward me.For the first time since we had entered the room, I saw something other than emptiness in his eyes. His expression changed so suddenly that I instinctively tightened my grip on Dimitri's arm.“No.” Ryan shook his head, his red eyes looking almost wild. “No, that can't be.”I swallowed.“Ryan—”“He can't be your mate!”His voice echoed through the room, and the chain around his ankle rattled as he took another step toward us.Dimitri remained in front of me, his body tense but his hands relaxed at his sides. He wasn't trying to provoke Ryan, and he hadn't shifted despite the hostility coming from my uncle.“Ryan, please listen to me,” I said, stepping slightly to the s
Dimitri’s POV“It’s a couple of minutes away from here,” Lyrien said, already moving, pushing herself off the bed.“Then let's go.” I caught her hand before she could take another step.“Lyrien,” She turned to me. “Whatever we find there, we need to be careful. We don't know what condition Ryan is in, or why my father has kept his location to himself for so long.”“I know.” She replied, her eyes hardening.“And if he really is the key to stopping this war, we can't afford to lose him.”Her fingers tightened around mine. “He is, my mother said so. I’m not sure how I’m going to convince him, but if he was the king of vampires once, he can be again.”I leaned forward and kissed her forehead.“Grab your bag, love.” She nodded and hurried toward the wardrobe.I slipped my phone into my pocke
Dimitri’s POVMy father sat across from me in the living room, looking far too comfortable for a man who had spent years making my life more complicated than it needed to be. Alexi had always been good at that. He could walk into a room and make everyone else feel like guests in his territory, even when he no longer had the authority to claim it.I leaned back against the sofa and studied him.“So,” I began, crossing my arms over my chest. “What exactly do you want to talk about now that you've arrived?”My father smiled faintly. “Straight to the point. I see nothing has changed.”“I'm not in the mood for games, Father.”“Good. Neither am I.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “We are more than ready to fight the vampires. My wolves have been preparing for the possibility of war for some time, and you can count on our support when the ti
Lyrien’s POVMy heart began to race."Damon? Does he hold that kind of power?”She nodded. “He does. Ever since my brother gave him the nest, he has done whatever he wants. But that isn’t the only danger.”She glanced toward the windows, where the moon had begun to disappear behind a bank of dark clouds."There will also be a war between the supernatural world and humans."I stared at her. “Why? Humans have never meddled with us. They don’t even know we exist.”“They do,” she replied. "Humans are becoming aware of things they were never meant to understand. Some will be frightened. Others will see our existence as a threat. And there are people who will use that fear to turn them against us."Her voice became urgent."Once those conflicts begin, they will feed each other. The vampires will fight the wolves, the humans will turn against both, and







