Bound by the Unseen

(Lyra)

I followed closely behind River as he led me to the room the Alpha had instructed me to stay in. Neither of us said anything to each other as we walked into the silent Hallway.

He came to a stop in front of a door and slid it open.

“Come in, this is where you'll be staying,” he said.

I nodded behind him and walked into the room. It was too quiet, too clean. Too perfect for someone who didn’t even know her own name. I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the polished wood floors that reflected the silver moonlight creeping in through the tall windows.

Night had come rather quickly after the events of the day.

This place wasn't exactly a cage but it felt like one.

“I'll leave you to it then. We have some events tonight at the pack and my attention is needed,” River said as he headed to the door.

“What events?,” I asked faster than I would have wished, causing River to stop halfway in his steps.

“It's a rather sad event for our pack so i’ll rather not talk about it with a stranger if you don't mind,” He replied rather harshly.

“Please River, don't add this to the list of things I don't know. I am a stranger even to myself so I just need to feel like I'm aware of a few things going on in my surroundings,”

He sighed and turned his face toward me.

“Exactly two years ago today, we lost the Luna of our pack. It was and still is a dark time for us but most especially the Alpha. She was his soulmate and better half, bonded for life. When he died, a piece of him was ripped away,”

I gasped softly as I realized something.

What I saw in the Alpha's grey eyes wasn't just emptiness, it was pain. Somehow I felt like comforting him but how?

I was only a stranger.

“What happened? How did she die?”

River gave me a sad smile and headed for the door. As he placed his hand on the knob, he turned to me and answered, “That is a story for another day,”

He shut the door behind him, leaving me alone with my thoughts. My chest Rose and fell as though my lungs felt they didn't belong there.

Two years ago.

The words clung to me like cobwebs that I couldn't brush away.

No wonder his gaze felt so heavy, so sharp. It wasn’t just dominance or authority. It was grief.

His grief was wrapped in iron and sculpted into an expression that warned the world to stay away while secretly daring someone or anyone to see through it.

And I… I had seen it.

I curled my hands into the bedsheets, gripping them until my knuckles burned. Why did it matter to me? Why did it ache inside me, as though I had lost her too?

I lowered my head and looked at a reflection of myself in the polished wood. The same questions rose like unwanted ghosts. Who am I? What am I? Why can’t I remember anything except the fear, the running, the smell of blood that clung to my nostrils when I woke in that forest?

And that mark…

I pressed my wrist against my chest, though I had yet to see it myself. Whatever it was, it had the Alpha’s attention. It had River whispering like it was dangerous.

I stood up from the bed and walked to the windows. I could see torches lit, gathering flames circling the space outside. Dozens of figures stood together, all of them clothed in black. Mourning.

My chest tightened. This was the event River had spoken of. They were remembering her—his Luna.

I leaned my forehead against the cold glass and closed my eyes. I shouldn’t care. I shouldn’t want to walk down there, to see, to hear the words spoken for her. And yet…

Every part of me was restless, tugging toward something I couldn’t name.

The door creaked behind me.

I turned, startled, but no one stepped inside. Instead, a faint ripple of sparks brushed across my skin. I couldn't see it but the effect was undeniable. My heart skipped.

The Alpha.

I couldn’t see him, but I knew he was close. Somewhere down the hall, maybe already in the ceremony outside, his presence reached for me like a hand through the dark.

The peace from before washed over me again, strong enough to weaken my knees.

I clutched the window frame. “What are you doing to me?” I whispered to the night.

Of course, no answer came.

I wasn't expecting any. Everything in my head seemed to be covered by a dark cloud.

Minutes stretched into an hour. I tried to lie down, tried to close my eyes, but sleep wouldn’t come. The moon had climbed higher, giving the walls a silver look, when the sound of distant voices drifted through the air. A howl rose amongst the voices but it was not of anger, but of sorrow.

It made every hair on my body rise.

The thought came unbidden. And yet… I didn’t feel it. No inner growl, no presence beneath my skin. Only emptiness.

Still, the howl cracked me open inside.

Before I knew it, I was on my feet, moving quietly to the door. I pulled it open and peeked into the hallway. Luckily it was empty and silent.

My feet carried me before my mind could stop them. Step by step, I slipped down the corridor, following the faint sound of voices and howls.

At the end of the hall was a balcony overlooking the gathering. I pushed the door open just enough to peer outside.

There he was.

The Alpha.

He stood in the centre of the gathering, clad in black.

The torchlight painted his face in gold and shadow. His expression was as though it was carved from stone, but his eyes… even from this distance, I could see the storm raging inside them.

Dozens of pack members stood behind him, heads bowed. At his feet, a marble stone shone and it was engraved with words I couldn’t make out.

Her grave.

The Luna’s.

But the tug inside my chest only grew stronger.