Chapter 2 – The Alpha's Heir

The silence that followed the breach of the bond was heavier than the chains in that dungeon, which had held me captive for years.

Hatred and hostility filled Kael’s amber eyes, but then the blur set in, a wild, instinctual look that told me his wolf had scented me. I was sure of it; the air had just gone heavy with a tension everyone could feel.

But Marcus's voice rose above the babble of voices. "No. This cannot be."

He closed the distance between us, his face scrunched up with anger. "Reject her, Kael. Now. You have to prove to the pack she means nothing."

The pack gasped in unison. All eyes turned to Kael. Some were waiting expectantly, others sympathetically.

Kael's jaw tightened. He said nothing.

"Do it!" There was an impatience in Marcus's voice now. He was all of them at once, and a few wolves bowed their heads.

Kael did not lower his head. His wolf snarled deep, low, against the instinct to obey.

I stood there trembling, but I held my chin high. I wasn't going to plead with him to take me there. I wouldn't beg. Ever.

Kael’s attention now back to me. His eyes narrowed as if I were a riddle he had no interest in solving. His fists clenched.

With a snarl, Marcus said, "That wolf is a disgrace. She's brought nothing but shame on us just by being here. You are the heir, my son. You will not bind yourself to her."

The words wounded, but I would not give an inch.

"Father—" Kael started, voice low.

Marcus frowned at him and he shut up. "Do it. Renounce her. Now."

The crowd began to get louder.

"Is the Alpha's son hesitating?"

"Maybe the bond is stronger than we thought."

"He'll do what his father says. He has to.

A young female wolf murmured to a companion. "Do you think the goddess would give him a new mate if he rejects her?" Her friend scoffed. "The goddess never gets it wrong. He's stuck with her forever unless he breaks it himself."

I paid them no attention. They were irrelevant.

Kael's wolf was fighting back hard, a battle I could almost hear in our bond. I felt a painful pull in my chest, a deep conflict between what I wanted to do and what I was supposed to do. His anger wasn't just for me, but for himself, for fate, for the goddess who put us here.

Finally, Kael's voice cried out. What if the goddess had chosen her for a reason?

The crowd gasped again. I was even surprised.

Marcus's face darkened with anger. "Do not question me, Kael. The Goddess picks but I decide what is right for this pack. And this wolf will never be one of us.”

Inside I was snarling, but I had to force the calm.

“I didn’t ask for this,” I said loudly enough that everyone would hear me. "I did not ask for your son. This is no longer my bond to make.".

More gasps spread through the pack. Everyone knew about my rebellion now; the news had spread like wildfire. Marcus's eyes were glowing with pure hate. "You speak?" he growled. "You think you have the right to talk as if you're still someone with a choice?

I looked him straight in the eye, my voice as steady as a rock. "I'm talking because I've already lost everything that matters. What else is there for you to take?"

The air grew tense. Marcus's power pressed harder. A few of the wolves in the crowd shuffled.

Kael’s wolf growled again more deeply this time at his father being there. I could feel the struggle in him, the war within.

"She's got a mouth on her, that's what she's doing," a guard muttered behind me. "Who even talks like that? She wouldn't last long if she'd just keep her trap shut." The other guard chuckled. “She’s not going to last long either way.

I cocked my head slightly in order to see them. "Say that again. Louder."

They stiffened, then averted their gazes fast.

Marcus's fury only grew. "Enough of this," he barked. Kael, renounce her now and you'll find out why I was father to you."

The words were a slap in the face to Kael. His shoulders hardened. He looked back at me again. Golden. Burning.

Slowly but surely, he advanced until he was in my face. His voice dropped, scarcely steady.

“I ought to refuse you,” he said. "I should end this now.

Ingratiating: I made myself search his eyes. "Then do it."

Another ripple of gasps clung in the air. The pack was gobbling it all down.

Kael's wolf wailed inside him. I could tell through the bond. He tried, but it just wouldn’t work. His throat tightened, his lips were dry.

I stared back, unblinking. "I won't beg you to keep me. Do what you have to do."

His eyes glittered with a wild, confusing mix of anger and another feeling I couldn't identify.

Marcus advanced, screaming, “Now! Just do it now!” Kael opened his mouth. The crowd swaying in.

And then—my body betrayed me.

It started with a pull in my chest, sudden and sharp. My breath caught. My knees weakened. Heat coursed through me, not from Kael, not from Marcus. Something else.

"No," I breathed.

My wolf clawed at me, howling. Not at Kael this time. At someplace else. Someplace below.

The earth itself was calling me. My chest tightened until I could barely breathe. My vision blurred.

"What's wrong with her?" someone shouted.

"She's faking," another one jeered.

"No," a woman whispered. "Look at her eyes. Something's calling to her."

Kael reached out a hand, his fingers almost touching me, but I stumbled back.

The pull grew stronger, tugging me down, down, toward the ground beneath us. Toward the forbidden cave that everyone feared.

I clutched at my chest, breathless. My body shook involuntarily.

Marcus's voice roared above the noise. "What is this?"

I collapsed onto my knees, the ground cold beneath me. My wolf screamed inside my head, her voice panicked.

The pack stepped away in fear, whispering, murmuring.

"She's cursed."

"She's dangerous."

"She's being claimed by something else."

Kael's voice sliced through to me, sharp and desperate. "Lyra!"

But I couldn't answer. The bond that tied me to him was being ripped apart by another. Darker. Stronger.

The ground under me seemed to hum, vibrating as it pulled me toward the secret cave nobody spoke of.

My fingernails dug into the dirt as if I could anchor myself here. But the bond pulled stronger. My vision blurred.

Kael's hand finally grasped my arm. His heat anchored me for a moment. His golden eyes raked mine, circular with alarm.

"What's happening to you?" he demanded.

"I… I don't know," I gasped.

The last thing I saw was Marcus's furious face as he called for the guards.

And then the tug took over.

Darkness washed over me, and I dropped.