LOGINLyra’s POVI knew exactly what I was about to do. I was going to save Prince Luca. Whoever watched, whatever they thought once they finally understood I wasn’t the weak, wolfless girl they’d always believed, none of it mattered anymore. He lay in front of me, pale, his breath dangerously shallow. I couldn’t stand here and let him die simply because I feared what my own secret would cost me.I stepped closer. Before my hand reached him, movement stirred behind me.Luna Seraphina had regained consciousness. Her eyes went straight to her son. “Luca…” She tried to stand, and Elara caught her, steadying her upright.Then her gaze found me. “What did you do to my son?”I shook my head quickly. “Nothing. Don’t worry I’ll find a way to save him.”Her eyes narrowed. “Save him?”“Yes.” I swallowed. “As his personal slave, I know a thing or two that can help.”The lie came easily enough, though it sat wrong in my chest. I couldn’t tell her the truth, that whatever healing lived inside me was tie
Lyra’s POVWendy’s laughter was still echoing through the underground chamber when she suddenly went still, her head snapping toward the passage behind us.“What is it?” I whispered.She didn’t answer. But I heard it too footsteps. Several sets, drawing closer. Her expression shifted instantly, her eyes flicking to the two enormous creatures beside her, then back to me. “Not yet,” she muttered.Before I could make sense of it, the creatures dissolved into the darkness, and Wendy followed. One moment she stood there. The next, she was gone.I barely had time to process it before the footsteps grew loud enough to fill the chamber, and the King burst through with several of his men, their faces falling the instant they took in the destruction around them.“Prince Luca!”The King’s voice shook the walls. Everyone surged forward at once. I remained beside Luca, my chest caving in on itself as I looked down at him — eyes closed, body barely stirring.“Luca!” I grabbed his hand. It was cold.
Prince Luca’s POVI stepped forward before the figure at the center of the hall could finish speaking.“That is enough.”My voice cut through the room, and every conversation died instantly. I didn’t care who was disappointed by the interruption, didn’t care about the curious faces turning toward me or the whispers already threading through the crowd.Whatever this was could wait.“We are here for an important event,” I said firmly, “and I won’t allow anything to interrupt it. We will continue with the main event, and we will uncover exactly who framed Lyra for the theft of the golden relic at Alpha Ashwood’s pack.”My eyes found her. She stood beside me, and despite everything unfolding around her, she looked breathtaking her golden hair catching the chandelier light, her lips parted slightly in a way that drew my attention entirely. Those lips. The ones I’d kissed more times than I could count, the ones that always seemed to loosen whatever anger I carried into a room. Tonight they
Lyra’s POVThe moment Luca pushed the doors open, the noise of the hall seemed to fall away not because the room had gone quiet, but because my own heartbeat had grown too loud to hear anything past it.Every eye turned toward us.Kings. Queens. Princes and princesses. Guards stationed along the walls. Important guests from packs I couldn’t even name. Even those deep in their own conversations lifted their heads toward the entrance, and one by one, their gazes dropped to our joined hands.Luca was still holding mine.I wanted to pull away. I truly did. But his fingers tightened around mine before the thought could fully form.“Don’t,” he murmured, without even glancing my way.“How did you know?” I whispered.“I know you.” He answered.Those three words somehow unsettled me more than the stares did.I kept my eyes lowered as we moved through the hall, and the whispers began almost instantly.Is that Lyra? Why is Prince Luca holding her hand?. Someone said.Isn’t she the Ashwood girl?
Lyra’s POVWendy’s hand hung in the air, fire still dancing across her fingers as she prepared to strike.I barely had time to react before Luca moved.He stepped between us, and the moment he did, the entire atmosphere shifted. It felt as though some invisible force swept through the hallway, the flames around Wendy’s hand extinguished at once, the unnatural glow in her eyes dimmed and vanished, and the tension that had filled the corridor seemed to shatter apart, replaced by an uneasy quiet.Luca stood facing me, his back to Wendy, and though his expression remained calm, there was something so commanding in his presence that the entire hallway seemed to hold its breath.“Dara,” he said, looking directly at me.I blinked. For a moment I wasn’t even sure he was speaking to me.“You don’t have to answer everything that provokes the worst in you,” he said. “Don’t let anyone pull you into becoming someone you’re not.”I lowered my eyes.“Think about it,” he went on, his voice firm but g
Prince Luca’s POVI ran towards the main hall inner room and I found out that Wendy is perfectly fine. She did that to get my attention.“Our engagement ceremony can still go on if you change your mind right now”. Wendy said to me with tears running down her cheeks. “I’m sorry Wendy, I can’t claim you now”. I patted her cheek and she slap my hands. “You are too stubborn Luca and you will regret ever hurting me, i will make your life miserable”. She said with darkness in her voice. I shook my head and left.King Judas Karl sought my attention not long after I stepped out of the main hall inner room. One of his men found me and summoned me to his inner chamber, and though I already suspected what the conversation would be about, I had no intention of avoiding it.I walked in to find my father, Alpha Lucian De Derick, and my mother already seated, several of the King’s own men positioned around the room with serious expressions fixed on the door. King Judas stood near the window, and







