Chapter 3

Lyra

I couldn’t sleep that night.

Knowing you’re about to lose your home would do that to you. But that didn’t stop my mind from returning again and again to the grey eyes of a man I do not even know. I think about the way its stare woke my dormant wolf up.

I don’t know what it means but it scares me just as much as it excites me.

My wolf went quiet again after he disappeared, but thankfully not like before. Now I can still feel her presence and for that I’m grateful.

Although it seems like she’s just waiting for him to come back.

The first light of the day filtered through the window as I pull my hair back. Looking at the mirror I see the blue and purple bruises beginning to form on my stomach from my mates affairs with his girlfriend.

Not wanting the rejection to take over my life I decided to start my day very early. Pushing the past few days to the back of my mind, I make my way out the door.

Before I can get far though I hear my name.

It’s Priya, one of the unmated wolves living in the pack house.

“Alpha Godric sent a message.”

“What does it say?” I ask wearingly.

“He has demanded your presence immediately” she says before walking away.

Me? Why?

I ponder the reasons as I make my way to the Alpha’s house which is set in the middle of the pack.

As I get close to the house a thought crosses my mind. What if he made Dylan reconsider his decision. Everybody knows an Alpha needs his true mate to be strong. I don’t know if this makes me happy. Do I dare to hope?

The main house looks different this morning without the crowd that was here the previous night. Seeing the house again, all the feelings from that night come rushing back.

I steel myself, straightening my back as I walk into the house with no idea of what awaits me.

The inside of the house smells like wood and the furnishing is old-fashioned, having belonged to all previous Alphas before the current. I am directed to Alpha Godric’s office where I knock and wait to be let in.

“Come in.” A deep voice says from inside.

I open the door and take a deep breathe before stepping through.

Alpha Godric sits behind a large desk in a room filled with books adorning the packs symbol. It’s a pristine room with towering bookshelves lining the walls from floor to ceiling. Crimson velvet drapes frame a massive window, casting a warm glow on the tiger-skin pelts on the floor.

He gestures to the chair across the desk without looking up from what he is reading and I walk towards it taking my seat.

After a minute or two of my mild panic he finally looks up. Folding his hands on the table, sharp pale eyes look at me, and I get the feeling of being assessed.

“Lyra,” he says finally. “Thank you for coming.”

“I didn’t think I had a choice.” The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them and by the look on his face I know I shouldn’t have said that.

Thankfully choosing to move on he asks, “How are you?”

“Fine.” I reply wondering where this was going and wishing we would get there faster so I could return to my life.

“That’s good.” He says nodding slowly. “What happened two nights ago was unfortunate. Dylan could have handled that better and I apologize on his behalf.”

I say nothing. I look at my hands in my lap instead because I know there are about forty things I want to say but I also know I can’t say any of them.

“You have been a member of this pack your whole life.” He continues. “You deserve to be treated with respect regardless of the circumstances.”

“Thank you Alpha.” I say carefully still not knowing where this was going.

His eyes stay on mine. “But,”

I look up.

“But?”

He leans back in his chair. “The reality of the situation is that your presence in Ashveil now creates a complication. For Dylan. For Emery. For pack stability.” He pauses regarding me carefully. “You understand how these things work. The bond between you too may have been severed but your proximity to each other still creates tension. That tension is affecting everyone.”

“Everyone?” I ask bitterly. “Or just Emery. Did she ask you to throw me out of the pack?”

“Watch your tone. You will not speak to your Alpha that way.” He says sharply.

“I apologize.” I say bowing my head and submitting to his Alpha voice.

“Pack stability affects everyone Lyra.” He goes on like nothing happened.

I look at him sitting comfortably behind his desk and seeing his resemblance to Dylan makes my chest hurt. I think about what Dylan told me the previous morning.

I need to think about my family. I think about how quickly after the rejection that visit had been. How prepared he seemed. Not hesitating even once.

He didn’t hesitate because he didn’t come to the decision alone.

“You sent him.” I say rather than ask.

He doesn’t reply.

“Yesterday, when Dylan came to see me. That was you talking, not him.”

He doesn’t confirm it but he doesn’t deny it either. He doesn’t need to. His silence tells me all I need to know.

“I want to help you Lyra,” he says instead. “I can arrange for you to be received by another pack and ensure that you have what you need to start somewhere new. I want you to see this as a fresh start, an opportunity. Not a punishment.”

“Opportunity.” I murmur. The word left a bitter taste in my mouth.

“Yes, an opportunity.”

I look away trying to stop the tears threatening to fall. This man has known me my whole life. He has watched me grow up— an orphan with no family— in his pack that never made any room for me.

All these years he has never once spoken to me and now he acts like he cares about me while kicking me out of his pack?

Looking back at him, “Can I ask you a question?”

He nods his permission.

“Why did you never tell me anything about my parents?”

It is a question I have asked before. Although not of him, but of pack members who have been in the pack long enough to remember and I never got a proper response. If he’s going to kick me out of his pack he could at least tell me this.

Alpha Godric’s expression doesn’t change.

“Your parents,” he says carefully, “have always been a difficult subject. One I hoped to spare you from.”

I try to stay still.

“Spare me from,” I repeat.

He leans towards me and when he continues his voice is measured and low.

“Your parents were members of this pack,” he confirms what I’ve heard over the years. “but they were not loyal. They made dangerous and selfish choices that led to the death of some members of this pack. A lot of people were hurt.” He pauses. “It is not a story I wanted to burden you with. You were a child. None of what they did was your fault.”

Dangerous choices. Death of pack members.

His words wash over me. Years of cold shoulders from pack members suddenly made a lot of sense. Years of feeling tolerated and not welcomed.

They hadn’t been indifferent towards me.

They had seen my parents' sins whenever they looked at me and hated me for it.

“What did they do?” I ask, my voice coming out very quiet.

“It doesn’t matter now,” Alpha Godric says. “That’s all in the past. What matters now is your future.”

“It matters to me,” I say.

His pale eyes search my face and seeing the determination I’m sure is there he sighs.

“They betrayed this pack. That’s all you need to know.” He says with an air of finality.

I sit with that for a moment and ask the question that has been on my mind since this conversation started.

“If they betrayed this pack then why did you keep me? Their daughter.”

Alpha Godric blinks.

I catch it even though it’s barely a flicker of an emotion. Years of learning to read people who don’t want me around has made me good at catching the things people don’t want to show. I know there’s something he’s not telling me. Something he is still hiding.

“You were an innocent child,” he shrugs.

“So it was mercy?”

“Yes, it was,” he says, and I know that’s the end of it. He won’t be answering any more questions.

I nod slowly. Taking it all in. “Thank you for telling me.” I say finally.

He nods, reaching for the papers on his desk signaling the end of the conversation. “Think carefully about the offer, Lyra. A fresh start could do you some good.”

I stand and walk to the door but his voice stops me.

“Lyra,”

I stop walking and turn towards him.

Those pale eyes look sharply into mine.

“Stay out of trouble.” he warns.

It sounds like an advice but feels like a warning.

I hurriedly close the door behind me.

I take the long way back home in an attempt to sort my thoughts. I need the air. I also don’t have the heart to face any pack member knowing what I now know.

I cut across the edge of the pack grounds, away from the training areas to the path I know will be quiet and empty at this hour.

They betrayed this pack. People were hurt. Death of members of the pack.

I think back to my conversation with Alpha Godric. I think back to how my pack members have treated me all these years and I feel miserable. The dull pain I have been feeling from the rejection is replaced by the sorrow caused by this new information and it is overwhelming.

I stop walking as I get closer to the pack border, not wanting to cross it.

I just stand on the quietest stretch of the path and breathe. The sounds from the pack are distant here—-muffled by trees and distance—and I’m grateful for it as I let the cold morning air move through me.

Stay out of trouble he said. Did he think I was going to cause any trouble for his son and the pack? Did Dylan think I was like my parents? Was that why he rejected me? Was that why they wanted me out of the pack? It was foolish of me to blame Emery.

I hear him before I see him.

Leaning against a tree at the edge of the path, his well muscled arms crossed over his chest. He is watching me with grey eyes that give absolutely nothing away. There’s a dangerous aura about him. His eyes looked empty at first glance, grey filmed over with black depth, like a void pretending to be sight.

He’s breathtaking.

My wolf goes very still and so do I as I realize we are the only ones for miles.

Is he a rogue? Is he going to kill me? Will anybody care?

“You were watching my window” I summoned the courage to say. My voice comes out steadier than I feel. My hands are also not steady and I have to press them to my side so he doesn’t notice.

He pushes off the tree, walking towards me.

“Yes.” he doesn’t deny it .

He doesn’t say anything else. No apology. No explanation.

“Who are you?” I ask, taking tentative steps back.

He notices what I’m trying to do and an amused expression appears on his face for a second before it is gone.

“Xavier Voss”

The name doesn’t ring a bell. I don’t know a Voss family in Ashveil. Although I’m not quite sure he’s from around here.

“What do you want?”

He watches me for a moment, seeming to debate something. Then he replies before I can wonder what he’s thinking.

“I want to talk to you,” he looks around. “Not here.”

“To me? I don’t know you.”

“I know you.” He replies simply.

“You’re not from this pack.” I say

“No.”

“That means you have no business on pack grounds. Are you a rouge?”

The corner of his mouth lifts at that. “Tomorrow.” He says it like it has already been decided. “There is a river that runs along the eastern border of your pack. Meet me there.”

He turns his back to me without waiting for my answer and within seconds I’m standing all alone.

As I make my way back home my thoughts are consumed by the tall, sharp faced stranger.

Am I really going to come back tomorrow?

I have absolutely no idea.