014: Beneath the scowl

Dax – POV

The apartment door clicked shut behind me. Muffling the distant echo of Ronon’s anger still Thrumming in my head. 

Tension clung to the walls like stale air, thick and suffocating. 1 caught sight of Lyra the moment I stepped into the dimly lit living area. She stood up, stiff as a statue. Shoulders taut. Chin slightly lifted like she was readying herself for a fight.

But her eyes… they gave her away.

She quickly turned. Brushing her face with the back of her hand, Pretending like 1 hadn’t seen the faint shimmer of tears on her cheeks. She was proud, stubborn, and so damn guarded, but 1 wasn’t blind. She’d been crying.

She always tried to hide it. Always tried to wear that iron mask of hers, scowling like the world owed her a debt and she intended to collect with interest. And maybe it did. Maybe we did.

“Have you eaten?” 1 asked softly, Careful not to Let too much concern seep into my voice.

She shot Me a glare, sharp enough to pierce armor. “Why? Planning to poison me?”

I chuckled, shaking my head. That tongue of hers, vicious, biting, but never empty. She wanted distance, to push us away, but I was done pretending I didn’t care.

“You think we’d waste good poison on you?” 1 teased lightly, easing onto the edge of the couch. “No, I just figured hunger might make you less… growly.”

She crossed her arms, glaring harder. “I’m not hungry.”

But her stomach betrayed her with a soft growl, and I tried not to Smile.

There was a strength in her that fascinated me. Lyra wasn’t delicate or sweet. She wasn’t easy to handle or eager to please. She was fire, burning, unpredictable, untamed. And that fire was what kept her alive after everything she’d been through.

Ronon couldn’t see it. Or maybe he refused to. He was too lost in his pain, too busy chasing the ghost of revenge to see the woman standing right in front of him. But I saw her. 1  saw the cracks in her armor, the way her hands trembled for half a second before curling into fists. 1  saw the girl who’d lost everything, and still hadn’t broken.

“Look, 1 asked the omegas to bring you some food,” 1 said gently. “Don’t worry. I made sure it’s not the same crap Ronon eats.”

She muttered something under her breath and dropped heavily onto the floor beside the window, curling her legs beneath her.

“You know,” 1 said, raising a brow, “there’s a perfectly good couch right here. I won’t tell the Alpha King if you sit on it.”

“Don’t call him that,” she snapped.

1 tilted my head. “What, Alpha King? It’s technically true.”

She glanced at me, her eyes simmering. “He’s a tyrant.”

“Not denying that,” 1 replied casually. “But you could sit anyway. It won’t kill your pride.”

She didn’t move. Stubborn to the bone. But I noticed how her body sagged slightly, how the usual fire behind her words dimmed just a bit. Maybe exhaustion. Maybe defeat. Or maybe… something else.

“You know,” 1 said, “I’ve been thinking, maybe you’d like to go outside for a bit. Get some air. Sightsee.”

She scoffed. “Sightsee what? This place looks like a corpse dressed up for a parade.”

1  burst out laughing. “That’s a poetic insult. You should write that down.”

She rolled her eyes, looking out the window. Her fingers drummed softly against her knee. The silence between us stretched, not uncomfortable, just… unspoken.

1  leaned back, watching her from the corner of my eye. She hadn’t screamed at me, hadn’t thrown anything. That was progress.

She didn’t trust us. Not even close. And after everything we’d done, locking her up, treating her like a criminal, threatening her, who could blame her?

But I was trying to change that. I wanted to change it.

This wasn’t about magic anymore. Or politics. Or the bond. It was about her. Lyra. The woman I felt drawn to since the moment 1 saw her, bloodied and broken in the snow, eyes burning like twin storms even then. She’d survived horrors none of us could fathom. And now, she was surrounded by three Lycans who were supposed to protect her but couldn’t even agree if she was worth saving.

My chest tightened.

Ronon wanted to reject her. Hell, he probably would do it tonight if Kael and 1  didn’t stop him. He thought she was the enemy, a pawn of Malrevok, a snake in our midst. But I’d seen enough to know better. She didn’t gain anything from the massacre. She didn’t rise from the ruins. She was buried in them.

Footsteps echoed down the hall. Ronon.

I knew that walk, heavy, determined, deadly. My gut twisted. He was going through with it.

1  stood just as the omegas entered with food. “Stay here,” I told Lyra, but she was already rising, following the sound.

1 hurried after her.

The hallway was silent but charged. Ronon stood across from her, arms folded, expression carved from stone. Lyra faced him, her chin high, but I saw the tremble in her shoulders. Her scent, anger, fear, pride, all tangled in a chaotic storm.

I stepped between them.

“Ronon,” I said quietly, “this isn’t necessary.”

He didn’t move. His eyes flicked to mine, cold and unwavering. “It is necessary. We made a mistake letting her in. I’m correcting it.”

I lowered my voice, calm but firm. “You’re letting your grief blind you. This, this won’t fix anything. You can’t punish her for something she hasn’t done.”

“She’s part of it,” he growled. “Her bloodline. Her past. Her mother—”

“She’s not her mother,” I cut in. “And you know that.”

Ronon’s jaw clenched. “She has no wolf. No pack. She’s a danger.”

“She’s powerless,” 1 countered. “And you’re about to make an enemy of someone who hasn’t even picked a side yet.”

Lyra didn’t speak. Her face was a mask, blank, unreadable, but her eyes flickered. She was waiting. Waiting for the blow. And it killed me to see it.

“She deserves a chance,” I said. “Not for the bond. Not for the prophecy. For herself. For everything she’s lost.”

“She’ll betray us,” he said, but his voice cracked, just barely.

“She hasn’t yet,” I murmured. “That says more than you think.”

The silence hung heavy.

Then, Slowly, Ronon turned away. Fists clenched at his Sides. He didn’t say a word as he walked back into his room and slammed the door behind him.

I exhaled, the tension drAining slowly from my limbs.

Lyra stood there, silent, eyes wide and unfocused. 1 turned to her.

“You okay?” 1 asked gently.

She blinked, then nodded once.

“Thanks,” she muttered. It was so sOft, I almost missed it.

I smiled faintly. “You’re welcome.”

For a moment, just a brief one. I saw something in her eyes. Something softer, something vulnerable.

And then it was gone.

She turned and walked back to the apartment, shoulders straighter thAn before.

I stayed in the hallway for a while, running a hand through my hair.

Ronon would come around. Kael was already halfway there. We’d figure this out.

But tonight, I saw something undeniable.

Beneath the scowl, beneath the pain and fury… Lyra was just a girl trying to survive.

And damn it, I was going to protect her.

No matter what it cost.