MasukLYRAI didn't care about the laws of the Blackfang Pack, and I certainly didn't care about Lucian’s ego. All I could see was Tomas, a boy whose only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time, trembling as the guards tightened their grip on his thin arms. I walked straight past the elders, my boots thudding against the stone floor, and stopped right in front of the guard holding the boy."Let him go," I said. The guard looked at Lucian, his eyes wide with uncertainty, and he didn't move an inch. I turned my head to look at Lucian, who was still standing there with that arrogant, kingly mask on his face, and I felt the old familiar fire licking at my ribs. "I said untie him, Lucian. Now."Lucian let out a sharp, dry laugh that didn't reach his eyes, and he stepped down from the dais. "You don't give orders here, Lyra. You’re a guest in my halls, and I’ve already told you the boy is guilty. The matter is closed." Before anyone could react, I reached out and snatched the swor
LYRALucian stood over me, his height making me feel small but not afraid, and he looked at me like I was a fly he was deciding whether to crush or keep in a jar. He leaned in close, his voice dropping into that low, dangerous tone he used when he wanted to remind everyone who was in charge. "This is my palace, Lyra," he said, and I could feel the heat radiating off him. "This is my pack, and these are my laws. If I say the boy is guilty, then the boy is guilty. There is no debate, and there is no second trial. My word is final here, and you would do well to remember that before you find yourself back in chains."I couldn't believe my ears, and for a second, I just stared at him in pure shock. I turned away from him, looking at the semi-circle of elders who were watching us with varying degrees of boredom and malice. I walked toward them, my hands open in a gesture of desperation, begging them to see sense. "You can't be serious," I said, my voice cracking just a bit. "Look at him! T
LYRALucian sat back on his throne and he looked genuinely amused by the way I was taking control of the room, but he finally nodded and agreed to my terms. He waved a hand at the guards, and they grabbed Tomas by the chains, dragging him toward the stairs that led down to the dungeon so he wouldn't be able to hear a single word Marrek said. Marrek looked like he was in a tight spot for a second, his eyes darting around the hall as he realized I was actually going through with this, but he straightened his back and came forward with a look of fake confidence. He stood in the center of the hall, and he didn't even wait for me to ask the first question before he started talking."I caught him sneaking out of the King’s weapons room," Marrek said, his voice loud and clear so every elder in the room could hear him. "He had the dagger tucked under his shirt, and he was trying to slip through the side servant entrance. It’s the guards' fault, really. They weren't doing their jobs properly,
LYRAI was fuming, the heat of my anger making the air feel thick around me, and I walked right into the center of the room where the elders were gathered. Marrek was standing near the boy, and he turned to me with an amused expression on his face that made me want to slap the teeth right out of his mouth. He looked far too happy for a man who had just caught a child in chains, and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up."What exactly is going on here?" I asked, my voice coming out sharp and loud enough to make the guards at the door shift their heads.Marrek didn't even flinch, he just straightened his robes and pointed a bony finger at the boy huddled on the floor. "The boy has been caught, Lyra. He was found trying to steal from the palace stores. He is a thief, just like the rest of the trash you’ve brought into our territory.""That’s a lie," I interrupted him instantly, stepping forward until I was standing between him and Tomas. "I trust my pack members, Marrek. I kn
LYRA I was fuming as I watched Marrek stand there with that smug look on his face, and it took everything in me not to lunge at him right then and there. He stopped just a few feet away, leaning in close enough that I could smell his sour breath, and he reminded me of my place. He called me an exiled weakling and laughed, a dry, rattling sound that made my skin crawl, and then he just turned and walked away like he had already won the war. I stood there, shaking with a rage so hot I thought I might actually shift right in the middle of the courtyard, but then I felt Kael’s arms wrap around me. He pulled me into a hug, and for a second, the wall I had built around myself just crumbled. I cried into his chest, letting out all the frustration and the hurt of being back in this place that hated me, but it only lasted a minute.I sobered up quickly and wiped my face, pulling away from Kael so I could address the pack members who were still huddled together, looking at me like I was their
LYRAI stared at the girl on the ground and I was genuinely confused, so I told her to get up, but she didn't even flinch. She kept her head bowed and her knees firmly in the dirt, and she said she wasn't moving until I promised to take her in. I looked up at Kael, hoping he would say something to fix this weird situation, and he finally took a step forward. He looked down at the girl with his usual stony expression and asked her what she really wanted from us.The girl finally looked up and she had this look in her eyes that I recognized immediately. It was the look of someone who had been pushed until they had nothing left to lose. She said she used to be a weak omega, just like I was before I left, and her own mother had been the one to throw her out to the rogues just so she wouldn't have to deal with her anymore. She said no one in the Blackfang Pack believed she would make it through the first night, and even when she survived and grew strong, no one bothered to apologize for wh







