CHAPTER TWO

Lyra Veyra

The guards roughly dragged me from the council chamber, their hands were rough on my arms as the iron cuffs bit into my skin, bruises blooming where their grip tightened. The chains clanked with every step I took and it was too loud enough to drown out my breath but that didn't stop the verdict that kept echoing in my head.

Omega. Cursed mate. Unfit.

I stumbled back once as they shoved me into the wide doors. The square outside was packed as the wolves filled around me, their bodies were pressed shoulder to shoulder and their eyes on me. Shouts burst the moment they saw me.

“The cursed mate,” someone yelled.

“Unfit Luna,” another voice answered.

“Throw her out!”

“She pretends to be the Alpha mate, so disgusting!”

Mockery laughter followed next and they were harsh and ugly and the tears I had been trying to hold for a very long time rolled down my face but I immediately sniffed it back. 

A handful of dirt landed near my feet, scattering across the stones. One boy, no older than sixteen, spat as I was dragged past him. His mother didn't even bother to stop him, she just laughed.

My gaze found its way to the balcony. I watched Lucian standing there with the council, his broad shoulders were set, his jaw was clenched so tight and his fists were balled at his sides. For a second, I thought his reaction was real but then the words he had said the last time struck back into my head and when my eyes caught his, he turned away.

Before I could even process what else was happening, the guards forced me to kneel in the square. Elder Marrek stepped forward and the noise dropped instantly.

“By the order of this council,” he said, his voice cold and chilly, “Lyra Veyra Kane is no longer of this pack. She is to be sold by nightfall. Her disgrace will not stain Blackfang another day.”

A wave of sound crashed over me — cheers, jeers and stomps of approval. The wolves clapped each other on the back as if justice had been served. I felt their hunger for my humiliation and their joy in my downfall.

Someone shouted, “Good riddance!”

Another called, “She was never one of us!”

I clenched my teeth. Rage boiled under my skin, it was stronger than the pain I felt and then I forced the words out of my mouth.

“You think this ends me?” My voice sounded cold amongst the crowd as they all suddenly stopped to look at me, mockery smirks on their faces. “I will return. Stronger than every single one of you. And when I do, your Alpha will kneel.”

Gasps broke through the crowd. Some laughed at what I said as if my words were nothing but madness.

“She’s lost her mind.”

“Pathetic.”

“She’ll be dead before nightfall.”

But not all of them laughed. I could see it in a few people's eyes, their jaws tightening and the uneasiness that settled into their faces. Not everyone was so sure.

The guards yanked me back, forcing me down hard on the stones, but I didn't stop staring at them as the coldness in my eyes bored into their souls.

I looked at the balcony one last time and saw Lucian still, I knew he heard me and that made me give a sinister smile through the blood in my mouth.

The guards didn't like my words as one of them slammed the back of his hand across my face, hot, but I didn't give him the satisfaction of a cry.

“Walk,” he barked, yanking me forward.

They then dragged me out from the square, the chains rattling as they forced me through the streets. Wolves followed for a while, laughing and calling me names, but most drifted back when we neared the border. Only a few stayed, watching like they just wanted to see if I'd beg.

When we finally reached the edge of Blackfang’s territory, the gates loomed ahead of me. A wagon waited, its iron bars were thick and its wheels sunk into the mud. One guard shoved me hard and I crashed against the side before they dragged me to the door.

“Inside,” another growled.

They chained me to the bench with restraints. I hissed as the metal tightened around my wrists and ankles, a cruel sting that crawled through me. I felt my wolf weaken.

The gate slammed shut behind us with a sound that made my chest ache. That was it. Blackfang was done with me.

Two guards climbed into the wagon across from me. Their armor clanked as they settled, both grinning at each other. The wagon jolted forward and the horses pulled us into the forest.

“She won’t make it to the traders,” the one on the left said.

“Rogues will tear her apart before then,” the other replied, smirking at me.

I leaned back against the bars, my lip throbbing and my wrists raw and red under the chains they tied me to. My chest rose and fell steady.

The wagon rattled deeper into the forest, wheels bumping against rocks and roots. The canopy thickened, cutting off the last of the fading sunlight.

One guard shifted uneasily. “It’s getting dark too fast.”

The other scoffed. “Relax. No rogue’s stupid enough to hit a guarded wagon.”

But even he kept glancing at the trees.

But then, suddenly, the wagon lurched to the side, the wood groaning as one wheel sinked deep into the mud. The horses screamed and reared.

“What the hell —” one guard started, but claws tore through the wood, the splinters flying across.

Then a roar split the night as the wagon shook violently, then tipped. My body slammed against the bars as it crashed to the ground.

The guards scrambled, one trying to draw his blade, but a hand snatched him through the gap in the wood. His scream cut off in a wet gurgle.

The second guard fought to push the door open but he didn't make it. A flash of teeth, and in a blur of movement, he was gone. His blood splattered against the ground.

I laid twisted on the ground, my body bruised from the fall and my breathing ragged. The iron on my hand still burned into my skin, leaving me weak, but I forced myself to look.

Then I saw some figures move. They were rough, scarred and wild. The Rouges!

One then stepped forward, larger than the rest, his face slashed with scars on his face. His eyes locked on me as he reached into the wreckage, his claws wrapping around the chain at my wrists.

He then yanked my forward, the metal cutting deeper as he spoke.

“She’s not theirs anymore,” he snarled, teeth bared. “She’s ours.”