THE WOLF THAT SHOULDN'T EXIST

CHAPTER 5

THE WOLF THAT SHOULDN'T EXIST

"Step away from that portrait."

The command echoed through the Bloodstone Chamber.

Lyra spun around, instinctively moving in front of Mira.

A man stood at the entrance, his face partially concealed by the darkness. He wore a long black coat, and a silver blade rested firmly in his right hand.

But it wasn't the weapon that frightened Lyra.

It was his eyes.

They glowed an unnatural shade of red.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

The stranger ignored her question.

His gaze moved towards the portrait above the throne, and something resembling recognition crossed his face.

Then he looked at Lyra's wrist.

The silver symbol was glowing again.

His expression changed.

"Impossible."

Mira tightened her grip on Lyra's arm.

"Perhaps we should leave."

The stranger stepped forward.

"Neither of you is going anywhere."

Lyra lifted her chin.

"You have no authority over us."

A humourless smile touched his lips.

"Authority?"

He raised the silver blade.

"Girl, you have absolutely no idea what you're standing in front of."

Before Lyra could respond, he moved.

Fast.

Mira screamed as the stranger lunged towards them.

Lyra barely had time to react. She pushed Mira aside, and the blade sliced through the fabric of her sleeve.

A burning sensation spread across her forearm.

She stumbled backwards.

The silver weapon fell against the stone floor.

The stranger stared at the wound.

Then he smiled.

"Now I understand."

Lyra pressed her injured arm against her chest.

"Understand what?"

"Why they went to such lengths to keep you hidden."

He reached for his weapon.

"Your blood should have disappeared twenty-two years ago."

Lyra froze.

Twenty-two years.

The exact number of years she had been alive.

"What do you know about my birth?"

The stranger laughed.

"More than you will ever discover."

He advanced again.

But before he could reach her, a strange force exploded through the chamber.

The stone walls trembled.

The red crystal embedded in the door flashed.

And the stranger was thrown backwards as though an invisible hand had struck him.

His body crashed against a pillar.

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Lyra stared at her hands.

She hadn't touched him.

She hadn't even moved.

"What did you do?" Mira whispered.

Lyra shook her head.

"I don't know."

The stranger slowly pushed himself upright.

His expression was no longer amused.

It was terrified.

"She's awake."

He stumbled towards the entrance.

"She's really awake."

Then he disappeared into the darkness.

---

Lyra could barely stand.

The burning sensation in her arm was spreading, and the silver mark on her wrist had begun pulsing violently.

Mira rushed towards her.

"Let me see your arm."

Lyra pulled away.

"Something is wrong."

"You're bleeding."

"No, Mira. Something is happening inside me."

Her breathing became uneven.

A strange pressure built beneath her ribs.

It felt as though her bones were being pulled apart.

She dropped to her knees.

Mira caught her shoulders.

"Lyra!"

A growl escaped her throat.

It was deep.

So deep that the sound seemed to come from somewhere beneath the earth.

Mira recoiled.

Lyra gripped the stone floor.

"Get away from me."

"What?"

"Please, Mira. I don't know what's happening."

Her back arched.

A wave of unbearable pain swept through her body.

She screamed.

The sound echoed through the chamber, followed by another growl, louder and more powerful than the first.

Then she heard the ancient voice.

Do not resist.

Lyra shook her head.

"Make it stop!"

You have spent your entire life believing you were broken.

The voice sounded sorrowful.

But you were never broken, little Luna.

Lyra's fingers dug into the stone.

You were imprisoned.

The silver symbol spread beyond her wrist, forming delicate patterns along her forearm.

Her eyes burned.

The world around her began to blur.

Then something inside her broke free.

---

The transformation was unlike anything Lyra had ever imagined.

Her body trembled violently as her bones shifted. A wave of supernatural energy rushed through her, forcing her onto her hands and knees.

She cried out as her fingers changed, her nails extending into sharp claws.

Her dark hair fell across her face.

Then the room was filled with silver light.

Mira stumbled backwards, covering her mouth.

Where Lyra had been kneeling, a magnificent wolf now stood.

It was enormous.

Its fur was pure silver-white, shimmering beneath the faint light of the red crystal. Its eyes were a striking silver-grey, and an ancient crescent symbol marked its forehead.

The wolf raised its head.

A powerful growl shook the chamber.

Mira stared in disbelief.

"Lyra?"

The wolf turned towards her.

For a moment, Mira was afraid.

Then she recognized the familiar eyes.

"Lyra, is that you?"

The wolf stepped closer.

And inside its mind, Lyra struggled to understand what had happened.

She could hear Mira.

She could smell the dust on the stone floor, the distant scent of the forest and the faint traces of the stranger who had attacked them.

Everything was clearer.

Everything was stronger.

And for the first time in twenty-two years, she was not alone inside her own body.

A voice spoke.

At last.

Lyra froze.

We are together again.

Her wolf.

It had been there all along.

Waiting.

---

Far away, inside Nightfall Castle, Kael Draven dropped the glass in his hand.

It shattered against the marble floor.

Darian turned immediately.

"Alpha?"

Kael gripped his chest.

A violent growl erupted inside his mind.

His wolf was no longer restless.

It was awake.

Completely awake.

And it was demanding something.

Her.

Kael's eyes darkened.

"What is happening?"

Darian approached cautiously.

"Your eyes..."

Kael looked towards the mirror.

For one brief moment, his blue eyes had turned almost silver.

Then a powerful pulse travelled through the castle.

The windows rattled.

Every wolf within the territory lowered its head.

Kael straightened slowly.

"Something has happened."

Darian frowned.

"Where?"

Kael closed his eyes.

A strange image flashed through his mind.

A silver-white wolf standing beneath an ancient stone ceiling.

A familiar symbol glowing on its forehead.

And beneath the image, a feeling he couldn't explain.

Fear.

Not for himself.

For her.

"Find Lyra Veyne."

Darian immediately reached for his communication device.

"Do you know where she is?"

Kael opened his eyes.

"No."

His voice became dangerously cold.

"But my wolf does."

---

Inside the Bloodstone Chamber, Lyra's transformation began to fade.

The silver light slowly disappeared, and she returned to her human form.

She collapsed against the stone floor, breathing heavily.

Mira immediately removed her coat and covered her.

"Oh, Lyra."

She knelt beside her, tears gathering in her eyes.

"What happened to you?"

Lyra stared at her hands.

They were trembling.

But the strange symbol remained on her wrist.

And somewhere inside her, her wolf was no longer silent.

"She's beautiful," Lyra whispered.

Mira looked at her.

"Who?"

"My wolf."

For the first time, a genuine smile touched Lyra's face.

Then she remembered the stranger.

His words.

His fear.

And the portrait.

She forced herself to stand and approached the ancient painting.

The woman depicted there looked exactly like her.

The same silver eyes.

The same dark hair.

The same crescent symbol.

But there was something else.

A small inscription beneath the portrait had become visible after her transformation.

Lyra brushed away the dust.

The ancient words were now clear.

QUEEN AURELIA VEYNE — THE FIRST LUNA.

Her knees nearly gave way.

"Veyne..."

Mira stepped beside her.

"That's your family name."

Lyra nodded slowly.

She looked back at the portrait.

"Who was she?"

Before Mira could answer, the ancient voice returned.

She was the beginning of everything.

Lyra swallowed.

"And what does that make me?"

The voice was silent for a moment.

Then it answered.

The last of her blood. The heir to the throne they stole.

Lyra stared at the inscription.

A throne.

An ancient queen.

A family whose history had been deliberately erased.

Suddenly, her entire life seemed like a carefully constructed lie.

But before she could ask another question, a violent crash shook the chamber.

The stone door began opening.

Mira turned towards it.

"Someone is coming."

Lyra stepped in front of her.

Her wolf growled.

Then a familiar scent reached her.

Cold air.

Darkness.

And something dangerously familiar.

The mate bond.

Lyra's expression hardened.

"No..."

A man's voice echoed through the chamber.

"Lyra!"

Kael Draven.

He had found her.

But this time, she wasn't the helpless girl who had knelt before him at the Moon-Binding Ceremony.

And when he stepped into the chamber and saw the enormous silver wolf standing before the throne, his face lost every trace of colour.

His wolf dropped to its knees inside him.

A single word thundered through his mind.

Queen.

Kael stared at Lyra.

For the first time in his life, the Alpha of Nightfall had no command to give.

Because the woman he had rejected was standing before him as something his entire bloodline had been taught to fear.

And behind him, a second voice spoke from the darkness.

"Your Majesty."

Kael turned sharply.

An elderly man emerged from the shadows, his eyes fixed on Lyra.

He lowered himself to one knee.

Then he bowed his head.

"The First Luna's heir has returned."

And the entire chamber went silent.