Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR: 

RECLAIMING WHAT'S HERS. 

Lyra tried to speak but couldn't form words. She just stared at her daughter, memorizing every detail of her face.

"Did we make you sad?" Aiden added, his voice worried. 

"We didn't mean to."

Something in their voices, some instinct they couldn't name, made them gentle with her despite their fear.

It was the blood bond calling to them even if they didn't understand it.

"No, sweet ones," Lyra managed to whisper. "You could never make me sad. You make me..." Her voice broke.

 "You make me so happy. Just seeing you. Just knowing you're safe and healthy and loved."

"Then why are you crying?" Luna tilted her head, confused.

Because you're my babies and you don't know me. Because I held you when you were born and you're calling someone else mama. Because they stole you from me and I can't even tell you the truth.

But Lyra couldn't say any of that. She couldn't traumatize them. 

They were just children. Innocent in all of this.

"Sometimes people cry when they're happy," Lyra lied gently. 

"Happy tears."

"Oh." Luna seemed to accept this. She took a small step forward. 

"Can I give you a hug? Mama says hugs make sad people feel better."

The offer broke and healed Lyra at the same time. 

Her daughter, offering her comfort even while calling another woman mama.

"I would love that," Lyra whispered.

Luna stepped forward and wrapped her small arms around Lyra's neck. 

The feeling of her daughter's embrace after five years of absence made Lyra sob harder. 

She held Luna carefully, afraid of holding too tight, afraid of letting go.

Aiden joined them after a moment, his arms wrapping around both of them. 

And for just a few precious seconds, Lyra held her children. Her babies. 

The two most important people in her entire world.

"You smell nice," Luna said against Lyra's shoulder.

 "Like flowers."

"And you smell like sunshine," Lyra whispered back, breathing in her daughter's scent, trying to memorize it.

"That's silly," Aiden giggled. "Sunshine doesn't have a smell."

"Yours does," Lyra said. "It smells like warmth and happiness and everything good in the world."

The twins pulled back, giggling at her strange words. They looked at her with less fear now. With curiosity.

"What's your name?" Luna asked.

The question hurt more than it should have. "Lyra."

"That's a pretty name," Aiden said seriously.

"Thank you, sweet one."

"Can you come play with us tomorrow?" Luna asked hopefully.

 "We're going to be in the gardens. Mama lets us play there when it's nice."

The hope in her voice nearly destroyed Lyra. Her daughter wanted to see her again. She wanted to play with her.

 Even if she didn't know why, the bond was calling to her. 

"I would love that more than anything," Lyra said honestly.

"Promise?" Aiden held out his tiny pinky finger.

Lyra linked her pinky with his, sealing the promise.

 "I promise."

The door burst open. Sera stood there, face tight with barely controlled panic.

"Children, come here right now," she said sharply.

The twins jumped at her tone. 

They scurried back to Sera, who pulled them behind her protectively. 

She looked at Lyra with eyes full of fear and something darker. 

Possessiveness.

"Stay away from my children," Sera said quietly enough that the twins couldn't hear. 

"They're mine. You gave up that right when you left."

"I'm their mother," Lyra said, her voice stronger now. The brief moment with her children had given her something to fight for. "I will never give up that right."

"We'll see about that," Sera said coldly.

 Then her expression shifted, tears filling her eyes as she turned back to the party. 

"Someone help! She tried to take the children! She tried to kidnap them!"

Lies. 

All lies. 

But the pack wouldn't know that. They would believe Sera, the Luna who'd been here for five years. 

Not Lyra, the stranger who'd abandoned her post.

Guards rushed in. 

Helena appeared, her face a perfect mask of concern.

"I'm afraid we can't allow you near the children anymore, Lyra," Helena said gently, like she was being kind. 

"For their safety. You're clearly disturbed. Perhaps you should rest. You've had a long journey."

"They're my children," Lyra said again, but her voice was weaker now.

 Defeated.

Because what could she do? Fight the entire pack? Traumatize her children by forcing them to come with a stranger?

 They didn't know her. They didn't want her. 

Fighting would only hurt them more.

"Escort her to guest quarters," Helena ordered. "Make sure she rests. We'll discuss this situation when everyone is calmer”. 

They led Lyra away from her children's voices.

 Away from the party celebrating the life that should have been hers. Away from everything she'd survived five years of hell to return to.

In a small, bare room at the edge of the pack house, they left her alone. No guards posted outside because where would she go? This was her pack. Her territory. Her home.

Except it wasn't anymore. She was the intruder now. The threat. The scary lady who made children cry.

Lyra sat on the narrow bed and stared at her hands. The same hands that had held her newborn babies five years ago. The same hands that had just held them again, feeling how much they'd grown, how much she'd missed.

She'd promised to play with them in the gardens tomorrow. She'd made a pinky promise to her son. She couldn't break that. She wouldn't.

Tomorrow she would see her children again. Tomorrow she would start rebuilding the bond they should have had all along. It would take time, she understood that now. They didn't know her. They loved Sera. But blood called to blood. Eventually, they would know the truth.

Eventually, they would know she was their real mother.

Lyra held onto that hope like a lifeline as she curled up on the bed, exhaustion finally overtaking her grief. She will rest tonight. Tomorrow she will fight for her children.

Tomorrow she would begin to reclaim everything that had been stolen from her.