CHAPTER 5: THE FIRST ATTACK

LYRA'S POV

Sleep will not come.

I lie on the bed in the east wing and stare at the ceiling. The room is small but clean. A bed. A table. A single window that looks out at the mountains. The guards locked the door from the outside. I am a prisoner now. Not a guest. Not a Luna. A prisoner.

My mate put me in a cage.

I turn onto my side and pull my knees to my chest. The tears are gone. There is nothing left inside me except a dull, aching numbness. My wolf is quiet. She is hurt too. She does not understand why our mate rejected us.

Neither do I.

The hours crawl by. The fortress settles into silence. I hear the wind outside. The river below. The distant howl of wolves in the mountains.

And something else.

Footsteps.

Soft. Careful. Not the heavy boots of the guards. Something lighter. Someone trying not to be heard.

I sit up slowly. My heart begins to race.

The footsteps stop outside my door.

I wait. Nothing happens. The footsteps move away. I tell myself I imagined it. I tell myself I am just scared and tired and seeing things that are not there.

But I cannot shake the feeling.

Someone is watching me.

---

I get off the bed and walk to the window. The glass is cold against my fingertips. The moon hangs low in the sky, pale and thin. Below, the courtyard is empty. The guards stand at their posts, but their backs are to me.

Then I see them.

Scratches on the window frame. Deep grooves in the wood. Fresh. The splinters are still light-colored. These scratches were made recently. Maybe tonight.

Someone tried to open this window from the outside.

My blood turns cold.

I back away from the window. My eyes scan the room. The walls. The floor. The shadows in the corners.

A black feather lies near the foot of my bed.

I did not put it there.

I kneel down and pick it up. It is long and dark and smooth. It smells like smoke and something else. Something metallic. Something wrong.

This is not from a normal bird.

I drop the feather like it burned me.

---

The lights go out.

All of them. The lantern in my room. The torches in the hallway. Everything goes dark at once. The kind of dark that presses against your eyes and makes you see things that are not there.

I cannot see my own hand in front of my face.

I hold my breath and listen.

The door.

The lock is turning.

Someone is picking it.

I stumble backward. My legs hit the bed. I crawl onto the mattress and press myself against the wall. There is nowhere to run. No place to hide. I am trapped.

The door opens.

A figure steps into the room. Tall. Wearing dark clothes. A hood covers their face. I cannot see anything except the outline of their body and the glint of something in their hand.

A knife.

"Please," I whisper. "Please do not—"

The figure moves toward me.

I scream.

---

The window explodes.

Glass shatters everywhere. Moonlight floods the room. And through the broken window, a second figure crashes inside. Larger than the first. Faster. Dark hair. Gray eyes burning with fury.

Alpha Kael.

He lands between me and the assassin. His body blocks mine. I can feel the heat coming off him. His hands are curled into fists. A low growl rumbles from his chest.

He did not even shift. He does not need to. The rage on his face is enough.

"Run," he says to the assassin. His voice is quiet. That makes it scarier. "Run now, and I might let you live."

The assassin hesitates.

Kael moves.

He is so fast I cannot follow. One moment he is standing in front of me. The next, he has the assassin pinned against the wall. His hand closes around their throat. The knife clatters to the floor.

"Who sent you?" Kael snarls.

The assassin says nothing. They struggle. But Kael is stronger. Much stronger.

"Who?" Kael shakes them. The wall cracks behind their head.

And then the assassin speaks.

Their voice is low. Female. Familiar somehow. I do not know why.

"The heir must die."

Kael freezes. His grip loosens just enough. The assassin twists free and throws something at the lantern. Smoke fills the room. Thick and black and stinging.

I cough. My eyes water. When the smoke clears, the assassin is gone.

The window is empty. The room is empty.

Only Kael and I remain.

---

He turns to look at me.

His gray eyes search my face. For the first time, I see something other than coldness. Fear. Real fear. For me.

"Are you hurt?" he asks. His voice is rough. His chest is still heaving.

"No," I whisper. "I am not hurt."

But I am shaking. My whole body trembles. He sees it. He takes a step toward me. Then stops. His hands hover in the air like he wants to touch me but cannot let himself.

I grab his wrist before I can think about it.

He freezes.

"Do not pull away," I say. "Not again."

He looks at my hand on his skin. His jaw tightens. But he does not pull away.

"What did she mean?" I ask. "She called me the heir. What heir? I am nobody. I am a servant. My father sold me like garbage. I have no title. No power. Nothing."

Kael's face goes pale.

"Kael." I squeeze his wrist. "Please. Tell me what is happening."

He opens his mouth. Closes it. Opens it again.

For a moment, I think he is going to tell me everything.

Then he pulls away.

"You need to rest," he says. "I will post more guards outside your door. No one will get in again."

"That is not an answer."

"It is all I can give you." He walks toward the broken window. The glass crunches under his boots. "Stay in this room. Do not leave for any reason. Do you understand?"

"Kael—"

"Do you understand?"

"Yes," I whisper.

He climbs onto the windowsill. For a moment, he looks back at me. His eyes are full of pain. Full of things he cannot say.

Then he jumps into the night.

---

I sit alone in the dark room. The broken window lets in cold air. The black feather still lies on the floor.

The heir must die.

What heir?

I am nobody. I have nothing. I am not even wanted by my own mate.

So why does someone want me dead?

And why did Kael look so afraid when he heard those words?

The questions circle in my head like wolves around a fire. I pull the blanket around my shoulders and stare at the dark doorway.

Someone out there wants me dead.

And the only person who can protect me is the same man who refuses to claim me.

I do not know which one scares me more.