The Summons

(Lyra)

I woke up to the feeling of heaviness pressing down my chest. The night before had wrapped me in a blanket of sadness and I slept with a heart full of pain. Pain that wasn’t related to me any form.

My dreams had been restless, filled with faceless whispers, fragments of shadows that slipped away whenever I tried to grasp them. I got up from the bed and blinked at the sunlight making its way through the windows and streaming directly onto my face. The warmth did little to chase away the darkness that crept onto my bones.

The events of last night replayed in my mind over and over again like a cruel song I couldn’t turn off. The image of the silent and crowd in the moonlit courtyard, the carved memorial stone, and the way the Alpha had stood there like a man carved from stone himself. But it wasn’t his presence alone that haunted me.

It was his eyes.

Those storm-gray eyes that had met mine and for a moment stripped me bare of anything that I knew. I had felt it then, the same pull that had a hold on me since the moment I first saw him. It was like an invisible rope, pulling me to him.

A knock on the door interrupted my line of thoughts.

I pulled the blanket tighter around my body as if to shield myself from whatever stood at the door. The door slid open and a young woman stepped inside the room. She was balancing a tray on her hands as her head was bowed low, her dark hair was falling into her face as she set the tray carefully on the bedside table.

“Breakfast, miss,” she said politely, though her voice was tight and her shoulders stiff.

“Thank you,” I murmured, watching her movements. She didn’t linger too much neither did she offer a smile, and when her eyes briefly lifted to meet mine, there was something cautious in them. Not unkind, but distant.

I realized then that it wasn’t only River and the Alpha who thought me out of place. The others did too. I was a stranger here, a misplaced piece in a puzzle that didn’t want me.

The girl turned to leave but paused at the door. “The Alpha has asked to see you after you’ve eaten,” she said softly, then walked out the door without another word.

My stomach twisted at her words. The Alpha wanted to see me.

I stared at the tray of food on the bedside stand. The bread was still warm, with slices of fruit, and a steaming cup of tea but suddenly the thought of eating made me nauseous. My fingers tightened around the blanket. What did he want from me? Did he somehow know I had stood among the shadows last night, spying on their grief? What was he going to say to me?

I managed to force a few bites down, though each one tasted like paper. Then I dressed quickly, slipping into the simple clothes I had found in the wardrobe. My heart pounded harder with each passing moment as I waited.

When the servant returned, she didn’t speak one word to me instead, she gestured for me to follow her.

The hallways were quiet and lined with dark wood and tall windows that let streams of light spill across the polished floors. My reflection shone in the glass as I walked, pale and unsure of what was going to happen next. We stopped before a set of heavy double doors, their carved surface etched with patterns of roses and wolves.

“The Alpha awaits you inside,” she whispered, then walked away as though even standing near the door made her afraid.

I stood frozen. My palms had gone damp as a result of sweat and my throat dry. For a moment I considered turning back, pretending I had lost my way. But the invisible rope pulled me forward, tightening around my chest. I pushed the door open.

The study was big and lined with shelves that looked tired under the weight of leather-bound books. Maps were spread across a wide desk where he sat, his head bent as he read a paper in front of him. Sunlight slanted across him, catching the sharp details of his face. His presence filled the room so thoroughly that I felt swallowed by it the instant I stepped inside.

His eyes lifted, storm-gray and unreadable. “Close the door.”

I obeyed, the soft click of the door was sounding far too loud in the silence.

“Come forward,” he said, his voice smooth but carrying a wave of command that made it impossible to disobey. I could disobey if I wanted to, but I didn’t.

My steps felt slow, heavy, as though I was walking straight into the hands of a mangy beast. I stopped before his desk, clutching my hands together to hide their trembling.

He set the paper aside and leaned back in his chair, studying me with a gaze that stripped away pretense. “Why were you at the ceremony last night?”

My breath caught. “I—I wasn’t. I mean, I was only—”

His eyes narrowed. “Do not lie to me.”

The weight of his voice pressed down on me like a storm cloud. My throat tightened. “I couldn’t sleep,” I admitted in a rush. “I only wanted to walk, to… to breathe. I didn’t mean to intrude.”

Silence fell between us as his gaze lingered. It was sharp and knowing, as if he could see straight through the thin line of excuses I had formed.

Finally, he rose. The chair scraped back against the floor, and he moved with the grace of a predator which he was. He circled the desk and came toward me, each step slow and somewhat calculated. My heart pounded wildly, my body was tense as his presence closed in on me.

“You know what last night was,” he said, his tone was sharp. “Do you?”

I shook my head, my voice barely a whisper. “No.”

He stopped before me, so close I could feel the warmth radiating from his body. His eyes searched mine, hunting for answers I didn’t have. “You wear a mark none of us recognize. You claim to have no memory. And yet…” He leaned closer, his voice dropping. “…my wolf stirs every time you enter a room.”

The words stole the air from my lungs. I stared at him, wide-eyed, unsure if I had just misheard.

His jaw tightened, his fists clenching at his sides as though even admitting it was a battle. He stepped back suddenly, dragging a hand through his dark hair as though furious with himself.

“I don’t know what you are,” he said harshly, “but I will find out. Until then, stay out of places you don’t belong. You have no idea what you’re playing with.”

The dismissal was clear. My body moved before my mind caught up, carrying me to the door. I opened it with shaking hands and stepped back into the quiet hallway, my heart pounding in my ears.

But even as I walked away, the echo of his words clung to me. His wolf stirred. With me.