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Chapter 3

Author: Cher
"What on earth is going on?"

"Why did Alpha Ryder visit Isabelle's family and even officially announce that she's pregnant?"

"But Alpha Ryder and Healer Lyra are supposed to have their bonding ceremony any day now."

The chatter outside my office gnawed at my nerves.

My phone buzzed. A coworker had sent a photo.

Ryder's hand rested gently on Isabelle's belly. His gaze was steady and protective. Around them stood the Morrison elders. Their faces were alight with joy.

A message from the coworker popped up in a tone laced with sympathy. "Why is Isabelle pregnant? They look like true mates. Are you okay, Lyra?"

I stared at the photo. Ryder had never looked at me that way. Five years in, he still hadn't formally introduced me to the Blackwood elders.

Whenever I brought up the subject, he'd say, "Your family still needs time to prove itself."

I saw it now for what it was—an excuse.

"I'm fine," I typed back, then tossed my phone aside.

Silverblood burned hotter in my veins, searing every nerve. Pain raked through me. I knew my time was running out. My life was ticking by with every second.

…

The next afternoon, I met a few friends at a cafe. I'd planned to invite them to my bonding ceremony. Instead, all I could do was tell them it was canceled. Their eyes went wide.

One of them blurted, "What? The ceremony's canceled? Why? You were so excited about your bonding ceremony with Ryder. Did you two have a falling out?"

The others crowded closer, and their faces were full of shock and confusion.

I stirred my coffee. "Ryder has more pressing matters to attend to. He has to have a pup with Isabelle. Even if it's through artificial insemination, I can't bring myself to accept it."

My friend frowned. "Isabelle? The she-wolf who says she saved him? But Lyra, you're his mate."

I managed a bitter smile. "So what if we're the Moon Goddess' chosen mates? In Ryder's eyes, the pack will always come before personal feelings."

My mind went back to the rainy night I first met Ryder. Rogues were on my heels, and he'd pulled me back from the brink of death.

From then on, I was deeply in love with this powerful, aloof Alpha.

For five years, I believed our love was unshakable. Only when Isabelle appeared did I realize how fragile my place in his heart was. I couldn't tell anymore whether what I felt for Ryder was gratitude or love.

One of my friends closed a hand over mine. "Lyra… this isn't fair."

I drew my hand back. "Fairness has nothing to do with it. I've stopped caring. Sorry, I'm tired. I'm heading home."

…

It was past 11:00 pm when I dragged myself home. I pushed the door open to find Ryder in the living room, still wearing the dust of the road.

His brows knitted the instant he saw me. His nostrils twitched. He stepped back, disgust turning his voice rough. "You smell of other wolves. Stay back."

I stopped cold. This was my home, and my mate was recoiling because my friends' scent was on me.

"You're worried it'll affect Isabelle?" I asked.

Ryder sounded as if it were only natural. "She's sensitive right now. She can't be exposed to anything that might harm the pup. From now on, tell me before you go out, and shower as soon as you get back."

I took in the angles of his cold profile, and the last warmth in me went out. I'd already become a potential threat in his eyes.

"Understood," I said, turning for the stairs.

"Wait," Ryder called after me. "I need you to do something."

I stopped with my back to him and waited. What would he want me to give up this time for the so-called greater good?

"Call off tomorrow's pre-ceremony photo shoot," Ryder said. His voice echoed through the living room.

I turned to him, keeping my face blank.

I nodded. "Fine. I'll let the photographer know."

He clearly hadn't expected me to agree so readily. He hesitated, as if whatever speech he'd prepped suddenly had nowhere to go.

"Aren't you going to ask why?"

I kept my voice even. "It doesn't matter. You're the one who makes the calls anyway, aren't you?"

Silverblood was making me weaker by the day. I didn't have it in me to argue anymore. I was dying anyway, so what did it matter if we did the photo shoot or not?

Ryder frowned and went on. "I'm not calling the whole thing off. I'm saying… someone else will take your place."
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  • The Promise That Never Saw Daylight   Chapter 17

    A few years later, at a Bluemoon Group press conference, the acting CEO declared that the company would now fall under the permanent authority of the Elder Council.Ryder, the once untouchable Alpha, surrendered every title he bore, then slipped from the world as if erased.The media erupted with speculation. Some said he'd gone mad, others swore he was already dead, and a few claimed he'd gone into seclusion in some far-off place.Yet in the quiet coastal town of Norvane, locals now and then caught sight of a tall, solitary figure.Every day, he walked into St. Corvinia's Cathedral Cemetery, carrying a bouquet of fresh evening primroses. He would place them before a spotless white headstone. Then, from sunrise to sundown, he kept his silent vigil at its side.The townsfolk came to know him as the mysterious man.The florist said to his wife, "That foreigner came again. Every single day for five years, he's bought evening primroses, never once breaking the pattern."She sighed s

  • The Promise That Never Saw Daylight   Chapter 16

    Ryder wasn't the same after he returned from the cemetery. He drove past Bluemoon Group headquarters without a glance and went straight back to the house he had once shared with Lyra.The moment he opened the door, a wave of silence and emptiness swept over him. Without her, the house was nothing more than a hollow shell.He stepped into their bedroom—though it had always been hers more than his, for he had so rarely spent the night there.Moving like a ghost, he drifted through the room, his fingers brushing over the things she had once touched.He shut himself inside that hollow house, severing every tie to the world, refusing to see a single soul.…The next day, Bluemoon Group's executives gathered outside Ryder's door, knocking one after another.Ezra's voice carried through the heavy wood. "Alpha Ryder! The company is in crisis! The stock has plunged by 30%! We need you to make a decision!"Another voice broke in. "Alpha Ryder! The other packs are calling for war! They cl

  • The Promise That Never Saw Daylight   Chapter 15

    "Lyra's only here to get better. She must be…" Ryder muttered under his breath.He tore down the coastal highway in the rented car, and the speedometer needle blew past the limit. His hands clenched the wheel, and his knuckles were white.He repeated the words again and again, as if saying them could hold him together.The GPS route ended at St. Corvinia's Cathedral Cemetery. The word cemetery cleaved straight through Ryder's heart.When his car halted before the ancient iron gate, the sun was sinking low in the west. Golden light spilled across the cemetery, gilding the white headstones. But the beauty only sharpened his fear.He forced the door open. His movements were stiff, and each step felt like treading on knives.The sea breeze carried its briny tang, laced with the sweetness of flowers and the dampness of earth. Yet to Ryder, it was nothing but the stench of death.The cemetery lay in stillness, broken only by the cries of seabirds and the distant crash of waves against

  • The Promise That Never Saw Daylight   Chapter 14

    Ryder's hand trembled as he called Lucas. His voice shook so hard it barely sounded like him."Where's Lyra? Please, I'm begging you. Just tell me where she is!"Lucas' voice came through, cold and distant. "You no longer have the right to see her, Alpha Ryder.""Please, Lucas!"Ryder's voice cracked. It was as sharp and fragile as glass. The Alpha who never bowed to anyone now sounded like a desperate child."I know I was wrong. I know I was a bastard! Please, tell me where she is."Lucas' reply was weighed down with disappointment. "You destroyed her last wish with your own hands. She could have slipped away quietly at your side as your true mate, carrying your love with her as she left this world. But you chose another she-wolf."Ryder was pleading now, and tears were running down his face. "I know the truth now! Isabelle lied to me! Lyra was the one who saved me! I already made Isabelle get rid of the pup. I cut all ties with her family."Lucas gave a short, bitter laugh. "

  • The Promise That Never Saw Daylight   Chapter 13

    "Did you really think I'd never learn the truth?" Ryder asked.He sat by Isabelle's bed, clutching her medical record and Lyra's report. His voice was as cold as winter wind, and the weight of his Alpha presence made the room itself seem to tremble.The color drained from Isabelle's face. Her hand flew to her stomach in a fear-induced reflex. "What are you talking about, Ryder? I don't understand…"He hurled Lyra's medical report onto the sheets. "It wasn't you who saved me three years ago. It was Lyra."Line after line in the report laid bare what had been hidden. Lyra had suffered a grave stab wound to the abdomen, the silver dagger driving Silverblood deep into her bloodstream.Isabelle's own record, by contrast, showed no injuries from that night."I…"Her voice quavered, and panic flashed in her eyes.Ryder gave a hollow laugh. "I have the infirmary's surveillance footage as well. It was Lyra who reached me first. The silver dagger ripped into her abdomen. And you, you cam

  • The Promise That Never Saw Daylight   Chapter 12

    After leaving Chloe's, Ryder drove to the home he had shared with Lyra, moving as though only half alive. Chloe's words kept circling in his mind, each one cutting like a blade against his heart.He burst into their bedroom. He had scarcely set foot inside before, always dismissing it as too feminine, unworthy of an Alpha's presence.Only now did he truly see it. The room breathed with Lyra's touch—the soft curtains, the warm wash of light, the small details he had never taken the time to notice."No… This can't be," Ryder muttered, tearing through the room for any shred of proof that Chloe had lied.He refused to believe Lyra was dying. He refused to believe he had been blind to it.Her medical report lay on the dresser in plain sight. He had walked past it time and again, but never once picked it up. A single glance would have told him she was in critical condition.Ryder lifted the report with a trembling hand. The result was the same. His fingers shook harder as he flipped th

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