CHAPTER FIVE

LYRA

I shouldn’t have wandered this far. That thought kept repeating in my head as I stood still, surrounded by tall trees and that all looked the same. I turned slowly, my heart beating faster with every second that passed.

This wasn’t the garden anymore. I could tell that much. The air felt different here. It was thicker and quieter. The soft sounds of the pack grounds were gone, replaced by distant rustling and the low hum of insects. The path I’d been following was gone too. There were no stones, no lights. Just dirt, leaves, and trees stretching endlessly in every direction.

“Hello?” I called out, my voice shaky. “Can someone hear me?”

Nobody answered.

I swallowed hard and tried again, louder this time.

“Hello? I’m lost. Please…”

My voice cracked. Still no response.

I turned in a slow circle. Nothing looked familiar. Every direction looked the same, and panic crawled up my spine when I realized I didn’t even know which way I’d come from.

“Okay,” I whispered. “Okay Lyra, don’t be scared.”

My voice sounded small and lost.

I took a step back, then another. My foot caught on a root and I stumbled, barely catching myself. My heart slammed harder.

This was stupid. I knew better than this. I wasn’t in a park or some open garden. I was in their land. Somewhere I didn’t understand, surrounded by people who bowed their heads to one man like he owned the ground beneath their feet.

Zeviar.

His name made me feel angry, confused, and something else I didn't want to admit.

Fear started to creep in, slow and cold. I hugged my arms to my chest and forced myself to breathe. One step at a time, I told myself. Just turn back the way you came. But even when I tried, everything looked unfamiliar.

A sound came from my left.

I froze.

It was soft at first. First it was leaves shifting and then a branch snapped out of nowhere. Someone or something was out there. My heart raced. I bent down quickly and grabbed the first thing my fingers touched: a long, thin stick. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.

“Stay back,” I whispered, even though my voice trembled. “I’m not afraid.”

That was a lie. I was terrified. The sound came again. Closer this time. I took a step back, my foot crunching against dry leaves.

Then a figure stepped out from between the trees.

“Lyra.”

His voice came from behind me.

I spun around.

Zeviar stood a few feet away, tall and solid like he belonged here in a way I never would. His expression was tight, his eyes were dark and intense, fixed on me like he’d been tracking me.

“How did you-” I stopped. Of course he did. It was his land after all. “I didn’t mean to-I was just-”

“You’re not supposed to be here,” he said, cutting me off. “This part of the land is out of bounds.”

His tone wasn’t loud. It didn’t need to be, it already carried authority.

“I got lost,” I snapped back, anger bubbling up because fear needed somewhere to go. “I didn’t exactly get a map.”

His jaw tightened. “This forest isn’t safe.”

“For who?” I demanded. “Me? Or everyone else?”

Silence stretched between us.

I hated how close he was. Hated how aware I was of him. The space between us felt charged, like something could break if either of us moved wrong.

“You brought me here,” I said finally. “You don’t get to act like I’m trespassing.”

His gaze flicked over my face, sharp and assessing, like he was seeing too much. “I brought you here to keep you alive.”

“Oh, please,” I scoffed. “You didn’t even explain where ‘here’ is.”

“You wouldn’t have understood.” That stung more than it should have.

“Try me,” I said quietly. “Because right now, all I see is a man who dragged me out of a fire, dumped me in a place I don’t belong, and expects me to just… accept it.”

His eyes darkened.

“I didn’t ask for this,” he said.

“Neither did I!” The words burst out of me before I could stop them. My chest felt tight. My emotions were crashing together. It was too fast to sort through.

“I didn’t ask to be touched and set on fire from the inside. I didn’t ask to wake up surrounded by strangers whispering about me. I didn’t ask to feel like I’m walking on ground that wants to swallow me whole.”

He took a step closer. My instinct screamed at me to step back. But I didn’t.

“That reaction,” he said slowly, “shouldn’t have happened.”

“That's what you keep saying,” I shot back. “Care to explain why it did?”

His hands clenched at his sides. For the first time since I’d met him, he looked uncertain.

“You’re human,” he said. “That should have been the end of it.”

My stomach dropped.

“The end of what?”

His gaze searched mine, like he was looking for something he didn’t want to find. “Whatever this is.”

“This?” I echoed bitterly. “You mean the part where my body reacts like it’s betraying me every time you’re near?”

He didn’t deny it. That hurt more than any insult could have. He inhaled slowly, like he was bracing himself. “I should have stayed away from you.”

My chest tightened. “Then why didn’t you?”

“I can’t keep you here,” he added.

My heart skipped. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” he continued, voice hardening, “that whatever you felt, whatever you think this is….it doesn’t change anything.”

I laughed, sharp and humorless. “You think I want this?”

His eyes flickered.

“What I think,” he said slowly, “is that the longer you stay, the worse this gets. For both of us.”

“Then why bring me here at all?” I snapped, fear turning into anger. “Why bring Willow and me to a place we don’t understand, surround us with people who stare at us like we don’t belong, and then leave us alone?”

“I brought you here because I had to,” he said finally.

Something twisted inside my chest. “Then say it,” I whispered. “Say whatever it is you brought me here to say.”

His eyes darkened.

He stepped closer, and my body reacted in a way I couldn’t explain.

“Lyra,” he said slowly, carefully. “I, Zeviar Dravyn, reject you as my-”

Well,” a voice said smoothly, almost amused.

“That’s one hell of a welcome.”

Both of us turned instantly. Zeviar moved in front of me without thinking, his body going tense and protective in a way that felt instinctive.

“Now that’s rude.” The man stepping out from the trees looked like Zeviar. But not exactly, just close enough that my heart skipped.

They had the same height, same sharp features and the same dangerous confidence. But where Zeviar was cold and controlled, this man smiled like trouble. His eyes glinted with something dark and playful as they flicked between us

Zeviar went rigid.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he demanded.

The man chuckled softly. “Is that any way to greet your brother?”

My breath hitched. Brother?

The stranger's eyes met mine. Staring like I was something he owned

“I go where I please,” he said lightly. “And I’m here for what’s mine.”

Zeviar’s head snapped toward him. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“I was wondering when you’d find her,” he said lightly. “Seems I arrived just in time.”

Zeviar’s voice dropped to a growl. “Stay away from her, Orion.”

Orion’s smile widened.

“Oh, relax,” he said. “I’m not here to take what’s yours.”

He stepped closer, his eyes never leaving mine.

“I’m here to claim what you’re too afraid to.”

Before I could process what that meant, pain exploded through my body. I gasped, dropping the stick as my knees buckled.

“What’s happening?” I muttered under my breath.

The pain exploded outward, heat rushing through my veins. My heart slammed violently against my ribs making it hard to breathe.

I screamed now, clutching my chest as tears spilled down my face. “Stop-please-make it stop!”

“Lyra!” Zeviar shouted.

Orion’s smile vanished. “What’s wrong with her?”

Lyra,” Zeviar said sharply, turning to me. “Look at me.”

I tried to. But the world was spinning. My vision blurred, and suddenly memories that weren't mine crashed into me without warning.

Fire.

I saw fire. Not from the fundraiser or the hospital. This fire was older. Burning trees. A house collapsing. A woman screaming my name.

I cried out, clutching my head. “No-stop-”

My bones ached like they were being stretched and reshaped. I gasped, stumbling back as my heart began to pound violently. Like it was trying to break its way out.

“I don’t feel right,” I whispered.

Zeviar moved toward me.

Orion did too.

"Don't you dare!" Zeviar yelled, stepping in front. He looked protective and dangerous. “Stay where you are.”

I barely heard them.

And then I heard a voice.

“You’re making this harder than it needs to be.”

A feminine voice, calm and amused, spoke in my mind.

I froze.

My breathing hitched. “Who-who said that?”

Both men went still.

“What?” Zeviar demanded.

Zeviar and Orion stared at me like I’d lost my mind. “There’s no one else here,” Zeviar said slowly.

I pressed my hand to my chest, feeling my heart racing under my palm.

“I can hear someone,” I whispered.

Then the voice came again, clearer this time.

“Hi, Lyra.”

Tears burned my eyes. “Get out of my head.”

“I can’t do that. I’ve been here longer than you have.” the voice replied.

My hands started shaking. “Who are you?”

It felt like the world paused for a second.

“I’m Sky,” the voice said gently.

“Your wolf.”

What?!