LOGINThe receiving room was too polished to trust.Lyralei sat in a chair that was somehow both elegant and uncomfortable, cleaned up and dressed in clothes finer than anything she would have chosen for herself. The fabric was soft and the cut was perfect and she hated it. The room around her was quiet, expensive and arranged so precisely that it made her more uncomfortable than Gerald’s noisy halls or Joefrey’s cold war rooms ever had.Nikolai sat across from her, calm and unreadable.Vivienne sat beside him.Lyralei kept her hands still in her lap and tried very hard not to look nervous. It didn’t work.She remembered the last time she’d seen Nikolai clearly. The portal light. His promise that he’d be expecting her. Her own hand lifting before she could stop herself and goddess above the middle finger she’d given him right before the portal swallowed him whole.Now he sat across from her like a man who remembered everything and intended to say nothing until it made her uncomfortable.Th
“Tell me everything,” Lyralei said.Laura moved to the open journal on the table and rested her hand on the worn pages. “Nikolai’s library isn’t just a collection of books. It’s a vault of bloodline secrets and old wars and dead alliances and buried sins. The book I found was tied to the First Shadow War.”She turned a page and the silver light under her skin flickered across the writing.“The journal mentions the First Alpha Queen,” Laura continued. “And four bonded Alphas.”Lyralei went still because the words felt too close to her own life.“The worst part wasn’t that the Shadow Master attacked,” Laura said. “The worst part was that the gates opened from within.” She looked up. “Someone close to the First Alpha Queen betrayed her. A Vale.”Lyralei’s chest tightened.“Nikolai Vale, First of His Line.” Laura’s jaw worked for a moment. “It said the first Nikolai opened the gates to the enemy during the First Shadow War.”Lyralei reacted sharply at the name. She knew Nikolai Vale in he
Laura stood there with silver light still faint under her skin and stared directly at Lyralei.“I dreamt about you,” Laura said. “Beat your ass too.”Lyralei froze for one second and then irritation flooded through her. She didn’t like that Laura remembered the fight and she definitely didn’t like the smug look on her face.Laura’s eyes moved over her slowly, narrowing slightly. Her head tilted like she was weighing something. She reached out and her fingers stopped just short of Lyralei’s arm before pulling back, like she couldn’t decide whether Lyralei was solid or just another trick the mark was playing on her.“You only won because you sprouted wings,” Lyralei snapped. “That still counts as unfair.”Laura’s mouth curved like she was amused but her eyes stayed sharp.The amusement faded as she looked around the altered library. The shelves stretched too high and the storm outside the windows had frozen mid-flash. Silver mist curled along the floor between the tables.“This place is
Keziah checked Lyralei's bandage again.She had already checked it twice since they left the boy's room. Her fingers moved carefully over the wrapping, making sure the cloth was secure and the wound underneath had not bled through."It looks fine," Lyralei said."I will decide if it looks fine." Keziah tightened the knot slightly before moving to the supplies she had packed earlier. She opened the cloth bundle and checked the dried meat, the bread, the herbs, then closed it and opened it again.Lyralei watched her repack everything for the third time.Keziah muttered under her breath about reckless idiots who did not know how to travel without bleeding everywhere. She adjusted the herbs, recounted the bandages, and checked the bread to make sure it had not somehow disappeared in the last two minutes.Lyralei did not stop her because she knew what Keziah was doing. The fussing was not about the supplies. It was about the fact that once everything was packed and checked and double-check
Lyralei walked through Shadowfang and felt the difference immediately.Warriors still noticed her but the suspicion was gone. Some stepped aside when she passed. Others lowered their heads slightly. A few glanced at the dark marks visible on her hands but said nothing.She didn't stop for any of them.She needed to find Keziah first.The healing area was in a quieter section of the settlement where the air was warmer and smelled of herbs. Lyralei found Keziah in the supply room sorting through bandages and dried plants stacked on wooden shelves.Keziah saw her and immediately started scolding."What the hell are you doing out of bed?" She crossed the room quickly and grabbed Lyralei's arm. "You look pale. You're walking like you're pretending not to hurt. And it’s clear you have no survival instinct."Lyralei let her fuss because she knew this was Keziah's way of caring.Keziah pulled her closer to check the bandage on her shoulder. "You nearly died yesterday and you're already roamin
Lyralei woke slowly.Her body felt heavy and sore but warm. For a moment she didn't understand where she was because the last thing she remembered was falling asleep on the floor of Joefrey's war room.Then she realized she was in a bed.A proper bed with thick furs and soft pillows. The room around her was quiet except for the wind howling outside. She was dressed in a clean tunic and trousers that weren't hers. The fabric was soft against her skin.Her body ached from the hill battle and the overuse of her mark from the night before. But it wasn't a frightening ache. It made the night feel real.When she opened her eyes fully, she found Joefrey sitting in a chair near the bed watching her.The moment their eyes met, he looked away.Lyralei started laughing.Joefrey's face went stone cold immediately like he could erase the fact that she'd caught him by looking serious enough.That only made her laugh harder."Were you watching me sleep?" Lyralei asked."I was making sure you didn't
"Gerald! Gerald! Wake the fuck up!"Someone was shaking him and the movement sent pain shooting through his entire body. Gerald opened his eyes to see Kael's worried face above him, his beta's hands gripping his shoulders."How long?" Gerald asked and his voice came out rough."Just a few seconds,"
Lyralei walked away from everyone and her emotions were suddenly a mess after her outburst. For some reason she felt shaken after challenging that stupid Elder and she couldn't for the life of her understand why the pack let him get away with assaulting little children. And why someone like Gerald
She’d taken their measure in that first exchange and Tove was definitely the weakest, Maren was rash and aggressive attacking with emotion instead of strategy, but Kessa was the real threat.The blonde hadn’t committed to her initial attack and she’d held back, testing, watching to see how Lyralei
Lyralei stared at Gerald’s departing form, fighting the urge to smirk. Since he’d arrived, he’d barely looked at her. Probably not comfortable with losing to someone he’d underestimated. Serves him the fuck right. Eliasen appeared beside her, arms crossed. Her red eyes studied Lyralei’s face wit







