Third Person’s POV
The bond still pulsed faintly against Kael’s throat, a soft, lingering warmth from the magic they’d shared—but it remained incomplete. Lyra hadn’t allowed him to return the bite.
From her hiding place beneath the silver-leaved willow, Lyra watched as Elowen slid into a waiting black car, her lips curved in smug satisfaction. Kael lingered behind, motionless beneath the moonlight, until Beta Cyrus emerged from the treeline, his scent sharp with irritation.
“You’re telling me,” Cyrus growled, his voice a low rumble, “that you let her mark you, and you didn’t return it?”
Kael’s tone was steady, far too even. “It was her choice.”
Cyrus’s brows knit together, disbelief cutting across his features. “Her choice? She’s not even your mate, Alpha. You’ve lost your mind. The Alpha of Luminara shouldn’t be marked by someone who won’t even wear his claim.”
“I don’t need her to,” Kael said, tilting his head toward the stars. “She wanted it her way, and I didn’t stop her.”
Cyrus let out a harsh breath, pacing in the shadows. “You’d hand her the stars if she asked for them.”
Kael didn’t bother to argue.
Lyra turned away before she could hear more. Her chest tightened, not just from his words—but from what the mark had stolen from her. Something in her soul felt emptied, like a wound she had sewn shut herself, only to feel the stitches tearing open again.
She didn’t follow them after that. She went home in silence.
By dawn, Kael had already brought Elowen back to Luminara territory.
That same night, the wind carried an unfamiliar scent—blood, ash, and ancient moon magic. Deep in the cursed woods beyond Solari’s borders, Kael had gone alone. His goal: the Scarlet Dawn Crystal, a relic sealed centuries ago. Elowen desired it. And Kael obeyed.
It was one of the things she had foolishly mentioned during the exhibit—how she would only bind herself to a man who could retrieve it.
Cyrus had tried to reason with him again. “That stone belongs to Luminara, Kael. It was locked away by the elders for a reason. You’re risking everything just to feed some she-wolf’s vanity.”
“I’ll bring it back,” Kael replied, eyes glowing with restrained resolve. “Even if I bleed for it.”
“The Moonstone isn’t some trinket you dig out to impress a lover!” Cyrus snapped. “Our ancestors died sealing it. That forest doesn’t forgive intruders—it devours them.”
But Kael’s expression didn’t waver.
“Those wards will tear you apart,” Cyrus warned. “The forest has a mind of its own. So does the stone. You might not come back.”
“I will,” Kael murmured. “Because she asked me to. And that’s enough.”
He did return. And he did bleed.
---
Lyra’s POV
That night, when I opened the door, the air reeked of blood and pine.
Kael stood in the doorway like a storm dragged through the dirt—mud-streaked, his ribs bound, blood caked across his temple. He didn’t bring a flower this time. No token of apology. I already knew why. He’d sent the prize ahead—to her.
“There was a rogue ambush,” he said finally, voice low, gaze averted.
I tilted my head slightly. “Of course there was.”
He nodded stiffly. “I’ll be gone for a while. Maybe a week. I need to heal.”
“Then rest,” I said quietly. “Take all the time you need.”
He hesitated, eyes narrowing as if searching for something beneath my calm. “You’re not going to ask what really happened?”
A faint, tired smile touched my lips. “No. I won’t need protection where I’m headed.”
He looked puzzled—and that was good. He didn’t understand that I was already saying goodbye. He only gave a small nod and limped away toward his quarters, leaving a trail of dirt and silence in his wake.
The next morning dawned too still, the sky painfully clear—as if mocking me.
I met my closest friends at the VIP lounge, calling it a small celebration. None of them knew it was my farewell. The laughter, the music, the champagne—it all sounded hollow, like echoes from a dream I no longer lived in.
“To Alpha Thoren!” someone toasted, raising their glass high. “May his wedding with Lyra be smooth and scandal-free!”
Lindsay snorted. “Oh please, if that man wakes up and realizes he’s married to you, he’ll probably faint from disbelief.”
I laughed softly, the sound empty. “Maybe he already has.”
Her expression sobered. “Becca, this isn’t right. Elowen? After everything she’s done? And your father—he’s using you as a pawn in a feud that isn’t even his fight.”
“It won’t matter soon,” I murmured into my drink.
Lindsay’s brow furrowed. “We’ll still see you, won’t we?”
I lifted my glass with a smile that didn’t reach my eyes. “Of course.”
We both knew it was a lie.
That evening, I returned to the Solari Pack House. I planned to face my father—Alpha Mike—one final time. My heels echoed on the marble floors, the sound too sharp in a house that had never truly felt like home.
Before I reached his study, Elowen’s laughter drifted through a half-open door.
“…He actually let me bite him!” she was saying, her words blurred by wine. “Can you believe that? I practically own him now. Like a dog begging for a pat.”
More laughter followed.
“He must be head over heels,” someone teased.
Elowen scoffed. “Hardly. He’s convenient. Does what I say when I say it. When I’m bored, I call. When I’m not, he disappears.”
A pause. Then another voice asked, “And what about your engagement to the Solari heir?”
She laughed again, loud and shameless. “That corpse? Please. If I had the choice, I’d take the Alpha of Luminara instead. He’s richer, stronger—and stupidly easy to control. Did you know he sent me the Scarlet Dawn Crystal? Can you believe it?”
I blinked once, the corner of my mouth curving upward—not in amusement, but in cruel understanding. She didn’t even realize Kael and her “ideal Alpha” were one and the same.
Poor Kael. Loyal, reckless, bleeding Kael—he’d carved himself open for someone who saw him as nothing more than a novelty.
I turned away before bile rose in my throat. I didn’t bother seeking out my father. Instead, I walked through the sleeping compound, out into the cemetery where the yew trees whispered under moonlight.
My mother’s gravestone gleamed silver. I knelt beside it, tracing the carved letters.
“I won’t end up like you,” I whispered. “You waited for love until it killed you. I’ll survive, even if it means alone.”
At dawn, a message came through—a transfer notification. Gold. Enough to buy a lifetime of silence. Half the Solari treasury wired to my account. Payment for my obedience. For my departure.
I accepted it.
And with that, I cut every tie—Solari, Elowen, Kael, all of them.
The next morning, as I sealed the last box of my things, Kael appeared at the door. I handed him a small parcel.
“Give this to Elowen,” I said.
He eyed it warily. “What’s inside?”
“My old paints and brushes,” I replied. “She wants to be me so desperately—she might as well have the leftovers.”
He didn’t yet know that I’d already filed the paperwork assigning him as her wolf knight. He belonged to her now. He always had.
“And you?” he asked quietly, tightening his hold on the box.
“I’ll be fine,” I said with a small, unbothered smile. “Moving out isn’t as hard as people think.”
It was a lie. But it was also the last thing I’d ever say to him.
When he turned back, bandages stiff and blood crusted at the edges, his voice was low. “Where are you moving? Give me your address. I’ll come by once I deliver this.”
I met his gaze, unreadable. “I’ll tell you later.”
But there was no later.
As soon as he left, I took out my phone, broke the SIM card clean in half, and tossed it through the open window of the moving car. The wind caught it, carrying it into the trees—scattering every trace of me.
By the time he returned, I was already gone.
