LOGINLyra’s POVMy heart was still hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird long after I had stepped back into the shadow of the sideboard.Across the mahogany table, Kendrick hadn't taken his eyes off me. His amber gaze tracked every movement I made, heavy with a sick, knowing amusement. He swirled the amber liquid in his crystal glass, leaning back against his chair with an infuriating, casual posture that radiated pure arrogance."I must say, Diego," Kendrick drawled, his voice carrying clearly across the silent hall, dripping with condescension. "Your choice of domestic staff is... fascinating. Though I suppose when you're pulling strays off the road, you can't be too picky about their appearance. Look at her face—did she walk into a door, or do your guards just practice their sparring on the help?"A collective breath hitched in the room.Across the table, Diego’s hands froze over the patrol maps. The air dropped ten degrees instantly, turning thick and heavy enough to choke on.
Lyra’s POVThe air in the library alcove was suffocating.Through the thin wire frames of my glasses, my vision was sharper than it had been in days. The fog had thinned into clean, harsh edges. I could see the dark grain of the mahogany shelves, the jagged tension set into the hard line of Diego’s jaw, and the absolute poison written across Mandy’s face as she stood in the doorway holding that heavy brass vase.Diego set me down, but he didn't jump back. His heavy hand lingered on my hip for one deliberate, possessive second before he turned to face her, his broad shoulders blocking me from her sight."I didn't realize Alpha duties included personal physical therapy for the domestic help," Mandy said, her voice dropping into a razor-sharp lilt. She stepped into the alcove, her heels clicking against the hardwood like small, metallic strikes. "Petra was looking for you, Diego. But if you're occupied, I can have her wait."Diego didn't offer an excuse. He didn't blink. He simply stare
Diego’s POVThe silence of the corridor hit me the second the latch clicked into place.My back was against her door, my palms flat against the cold, dark wood. Inside, I could hear the faint rustle of the mattress as Lyra shifted, trying to find her footing in a room she couldn’t see, in a life she couldn't remember.“Mine,” my wolf grumbled, stretching out his heavy limbs behind my ribs. “Go back in. The bed is cold.”“She’s a maid,” I snapped back, pushing off the wood and straightening my collar. She’s a New Age hand-off. We keep her alive so the treaty holds. That's it.He snorted, a low, dark rumble of pure disbelief, but he didn't fight me as I turned and walked down the hall.I didn't get far.Mandy was waiting at the end of the corridor, where the carpet met the top of the grand marble staircase. She had her arms crossed over her chest, a silk robe wrapped tight around her waist, but her posture was all razor blades."You brought her back yourself," she said, her voice dropp
Diego's POV The door clicked open, cutting through the heavy silence in the room.A young nurse stepped in carrying a thick folder and a digital tablet, her eyes darting between Lyra's still frame on the bed and me sitting in the corner.She cleared her throat. "Alpha Hunter. Dr. Carrow has approved her discharge, but given the neurological strain, her recovery protocol is extensive. She's going to need round-the-clock monitoring for the next seventy-two hours."She began reading off her tablet, her voice falling into a rehearsed, clinical rhythm."First, her sensory input needs to be drastically limited. No bright lights, no loud noise, and absolutely zero prolonged mental exertion. Her meals must be soft, rich in iron, and served at strict four-hour intervals to stabilize her blood sugar. The bandaged hand must be cleaned and re-dressed twice daily with antiseptic ointment. She cannot be left unattended for more than two hours at a time, and under no circumstances should she—""Are
Diego’s POV The WaitingThe doors swung shut behind me and I was already talking."I need someone. Now."The reception area was wide and white and too bright after the dark of the car and my voice carried the full length of it. A nurse behind the desk, young, dark hair pulled back, looked up and read my face in approximately one second and reached for the phone."Sir, if you can tell me what—""Convulsions. She's been unconscious for twelve minutes. She went cold." I was already moving toward the desk. "I need a doctor in the next thirty seconds or I'm going to find one myself."She was already on her feet.They took Lyra through a set of double doors at the end of the corridor and I followed until a nurse, older, built like someone who had stopped letting people past her as a professional decision, put a hand up."Sir. You wait here.""That's my—" I stopped.She looked at me. Waiting to hear what Lyra was.I said nothing."We'll update you as soon as we have something," she said, an
Diego's POV What She SawI heard it before I saw her.I had come down the east wing for the contracts Petra had left on the side table outside the storage room. Straightforward errand. Two minutes at most. I was already thinking about the afternoon meeting when I passed the music room and stopped.The piano.I stood in the corridor and listened because I couldn't immediately explain what I was hearing. Not the playing itself, though that was unexpected enough. It was the quality of it. Hesitant at first, one note and then another, like someone feeling for a path in the dark. Then it found itself.I did not go in.I don't know how long I stood there. Long enough that I should have moved on. Long enough that my wolf had gone completely, utterly still inside me, the way he went still sometimes in the forest just before dawn when everything paused and even the wind held itself.I stayed because I told myself I was listening for something specific. For whether she was remembering. That wa
Diego’s POVKlaus’s voice brushed through my mind before Kendrick could say another word.“She’s awake,” he said, his tone strained. “What do I do?”I swallowed hard, my heart slamming hard against my chest. My pulse quickened, my wolf alert again.“Bring her up,” I ordered. “Find a back door. No
Diego’s POV“Mate.”The word clawed its way out of my chest before I could stop it.I froze.My brow furrowed, the sound still echoing in my head. I blinked once, twice, as if that would clear it.Mate?No. No, that couldn’t be right. It sounded… wrong. Taboo. Like something out of place in the mid
Diego's POV The flames licked the sky, casting a deceptive warmth over the land. It seemed like a peaceful night to those who didn’t know better—but history would remember it as the Blood Night, the night when everything crumbled into ruin.“Run,” my mother whispered, blood streaming from her nose
Lyra’s POV I felt like a fool. I’d fallen for her again—fallen for Roselle’s soft words, her carefully painted remorse. My chest tightened with rage at myself. I had trusted her. Again. I swiped my hands across my cheeks, erasing the tears before they could rat me out. Calming my heaving chest







