Chapter 3

LYRA POV

The ground seems to collapse under my feet.

I can’t stop staring at the stage as the beautiful she-wolf climbs onto the dais to stand beside my mate. Liana Voss, the only daughter of the Alpha of Ruby Skies Pack, is the living, breathing image of perfection. She has immaculate porcelain skin, a tall, statuesque build, lustrous platinum blonde hair, and gleaming icy gray eyes that shine like two big diamonds.

She is everything that I’m not.

Lucien goes on talking about how they’ve been dating in secret for months. How they’re the perfect match, and their union will solidify a very important alliance between their packs that will merge to become the biggest pack in the country. How that will mark a new era for Shadow Lake, making them unbeatable.

Over the sound of my shattering heart, I can barely hear him.

Suddenly, the painful truth I’d been trying to avoid is right before my eyes, clear and undeniable—Lucien never intended to accept our bond. From the beginning, he had no plans of presenting me to the pack as his Luna. All he wanted was to use me and humiliate me.

But I refuse to stand around while he disrespects me and give him the satisfaction of seeing how much his special surprise has wrecked me.

So I run.

I turn tail and bolt away, ignoring Maribeth’s screams as she scolds me for breaking the expensive glasses. Tears cascade down my face like waterfalls, blurring my vision until I almost trip. Still, I don’t stop running. Not until I’ve reached the Omega’s wing inside the packhouse.

Finally alone, that’s where I let myself fall apart.

The deepest sadness hits me like a tidal wave, the heartache unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. However, the worst is the realization that, deep down, I’d known all along Lucien was only playing with me.

I should have accepted reality and rejected him before he could even sense that I was his mate. That would have spared me the suffering. Even after we started being intimate, when I first saw the signs, I should have ended it instead of holding onto foolish hope that maybe, one day, he wouldn’t be ashamed to publicly claim me.

“I’m sorry, Lyra,” Moonveil whimpers inside my head. She’s just as heartbroken as I am, but I can also sense her guilt. “I was the one who told you to trust him. I should have seen our mate for who he truly is.”

“It’s not your fault, Moon,” I reassure her. “You might have tried to convince me, but I only believed because I wanted to. It was my mistake.”

The worst mistake of my life.

And now, I have to fix it.

“There you are, you little brat!” Maribeth’s voice thunders down the hall, immediately stealing my attention. She’s the most furious I’ve ever seen her as she stomps toward the corner where I’m curled around myself, crying. “How dare you abandon us at the Alpha’s Ceremony? We were understaffed because of you!”

I blink. Was Lucien’s party already over? Had I been crying for that long? I must have lost track of time.

“What? You don’t have anything to say about your poor behavior?” Maribeth presses, seething with rage as she stands before me. “No apologies? No excuses?”

I don’t look at her. Nor do I open my mouth. I know it’s only going to make things worse.

Besides, what would I even say? That Lucien is my mate? If by some miracle she believed me, it would only serve to further humiliate myself.

“Nothing, huh?” Maribeth scoffs. “I’ll teach you not to cause such trouble again. Get out of there and kneel!”

My knees are weak, my body still suffering from my mate’s betrayal, but I force myself to stand anyway. I walk out of the corner and kneel in the center of the room.

This isn’t my first rodeo—I’ve endured several of Maribeth’s disciplinary punishments. Still, I wait for her next command anyway.

“Take your shirt off,” she barks. I do.

Not even a second later, the whip cracks across my back, setting my skin ablaze. I manage to hold back my first cry. And the second. But by the third strike, I finally break. A dozen more come until it feels like my entire back is raw.

“Now you must have learned your lesson,” Maribeth snarls without an ounce of empathy. “But just in case you need more time to rethink your actions, I’ll order you to go to the dungeons. You are to sleep there by yourself. And you better not be late for your chores tomorrow, or my whip will sing another thirty times! Do you understand?”

“Yes,” I breathe out, my soul and body so torn I barely have the strength to speak.

“Good. Leave now, before I decide you need more lashes before bed!” she threatens, and I don’t think twice.

By the time I reach the dungeons, my tears have dried out. I wander the place built to keep rogues and prisoners, trying not to pay attention to the foul scent of old blood. Thankfully, the stone-cold room is empty tonight. I manage to find a semi-clean cell and sit there, leaning against the wall.

The stone surface is rough and cold. If I could shift into my wolf form, the soft fur would protect me, but that wasn’t an option. So I just stay there, shaking, praying the hours will go by quickly.

This isn’t too terrible anyway. I doubt I would have been able to sleep even in my bed after Lucien’s betrayal. At least here, I’m further away from him.

Or at least that’s what I think, until I hear footsteps.

Then, that unmistakable scent hits me. The fragrance I once adored alone makes me stiffen, but it’s only when his voice echoes in the cave-like space that cold dread really settles inside. Goosebumps rise all over my skin.

“There you are, you dirty Omega.”